hip destinations

Short Break: Valencia's Renaissance

Valencia on Spain's eastern coast is experiencing a renaissance. Not only will Valencia host the 2007 America's Cup, the first held in Europe, it has caught up with other hip cities in Europe. The skyline has been embellished with everything from an impressive contemporary art museum to the sprawling Ciutat de les Arts i de les Cienes, Santiago Calatrava's swooping collection of white, organically contoured museums and theaters. The special charm of Valencia is a mix of Seville with its crowded cafes and tree-shaded plazas, the Moorish traces and ancient monuments of Granada as well as the tumultuous nightlife of Madrid. Yet this old city by the sea also has an identity all its own, as just one spin around town will attest.
Where to stay There are a few new upmarket desinger hotels that signals Valencia's change in fortunes. We recommend the Palau de la Mar, housed in a adjoning pair of eleganat 19th-century mansions, mingles grand marble entryways and staricases with 66 sleek rooms. The white walls, chocolate-brown floors, and antique tubs provide a tranquil respite from the glamourous streets.

Just back from Marrakech . . .

Do you want to experience something different? Fly to Marrakech and indulge yourself in the fascination of this bustling city. Stay at the Riad El Fenn and enjoy a luxurious oasis. Carefully designed - this place makes you forget that you are in the middle of the Medina. The food, served on the rooftop terrace with a spectacular view of the high atlas, is home grown and organic, tastefully arranged by the skillful chef.

Short Breaks: City or Beach? Enjoy both: Barcelona

City or Beach? There is no need to decide - Barcelona offers both. Barcelona is the ideal city for a loooong weekend. Here are three hotels we recommend: Hotel Pulitzer is a new design hotel built right in the heart of Barcelona, located at Plaza Catalunya, the main cultural, historical, business and shopping area. Try to get a room with a private roof terrace. In the Gothic Quarter, also close to Plaza Catalunya, you find the Hotel Neri, a small boutique hotel in an old, gothic house. We especially recommend the high-tech rooms and the exquisite restaurant. The hotel is so small that the staff treats you like you're the owner of the house. If you are looking for an unusual, luxury experience, try Gran Hotel La Florida located on Mount Tibidabo. Twenty minutes from the sweltering masses at Gaudí's Sagrada Familia cathedral and the teeming Ramblas promenade, this unique hotel isn't exactly in Barcelona; rather, it hovers above it. Everything about this place is deluxe - the views of the town are spectacular and it features an indoor/outdoor pool that literally overlooks the entire city.

Short Breaks: The Villa Dar Zina - A quiet haven in bustling Marrakesh

Just a few minutes from the hustle and bustle of the famous Djamaa El Fna place, is the quite legendary Targa palm plantation where the Villa Dar Zina stands. Combining contemporary comfort and oriental refinement, you will live in an enchanting environment. The exceptional Villa Dar Zina is located in the heart of a luxurious garden, where bougainvilleas, palm trees, jasmin, citrus trees and orange trees grow and give off rich appeasing fragrances that delight your senses. You can rent the whole villa (including the ten staff members) or just one of the four suites and four double rooms. The Villa Dar Zina has a very special charm when the sun sets and the lamps are lit in the garden.

Envy in Amsterdam

If you are in Amsterdam and are bored with the usual open face sandwiches - try Envy, a new delicatessen restaurant. Ultra modern design with an open kitchen, oak wood fridges with chrome handles, the restaurant looks like a delicatessen shop somewhere in Italy. The food is just delicious and the ambience always busy.

City Hotel: Zurich's Hotel Baur au Lac in new glamour

Zurich's Hotel Baur au Lac is a top address in the middle of the city, ideally located at the shore of Lake Zurich (and close to the luxurious Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's premier shopping address). A perfect place to get some rest and relax in the busy City. The hotel has recently, under the pressure of the new Park Hyatt Hotel and the Grand Hotel Dolder which will re-open in early 2007, undergone a major renovation. The guestrooms have been newly decorated and the bathrooms have been completely redone and are now finally meeting international standard. Don't miss the small but well equipped fitness room on the roof-top of the building. The spectacular view of Lake Zurich and the Swiss Alps is worth the sweat of your work-out.
Best thing: The magnificent garden, a real oasis next to the Lake.
There is also a small restaurant ideally for a lunch or just for relaxing with a drink and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere.
Worst thing: The dreadful plastic chairs on the guest room's private balconies. Didn't the interior designer who was responsible for the refurnishing of the guest rooms see them?

Private Collection: La Gioia - A charming country house in Umbria

Whatever your heart desires - La Gioia extends a warm welcome. Daniel and Marianne Aerni-Kühne, a Swiss couple, have converted a 300-year-old defunct oil and grain mill into a charming country hotel. La Gioia is an oasis of tranquility and "joie de vivre". Enjoy the inspiring remoteness from everyday routine. Relax in the heart of Italy's lush green hills. An ideal place to start exploring Umbria with its small medieval villages such as Montefalco or Spoleto.
The Country House La Gioia offers one single and eleven double rooms, all of them reflecting the harmonious earthy hues of the region. The rooms are individually furbished with loving attention to detail (Marianne is a former interior designer).
A special treat is the restaurant with its open terrace. Enjoy an evening under the stars with delicious food, excellent wines from the region and the charming, discreet attention from the hosts.

Gourmet Traveler: Dining under the stars in Paris

The top two floors of the Kenzo flagship store houses the ultramodern restaurant Kong. Architect Jean-Jacques Ory's glass skylight replaces the traditional metal roof and gives you the impression to eat under the stars. Fumiko Kono’s cooking is creating a bridge between the French cuisine and modern Japanese cooking. Besides being tragically hip, the chicken dish in yoghurt and wasabi sauce is a steal considering you'd pay twice for the view alone. And the house "must" is the wine, which for some reason is one-third the price of the cocktails. After a few too many glasses, the chairs with female faces imprinted on them and the lime green fluorescent stairway designed by Phillipe Starck become even more interesting.

Private Collection: Christian Laxroix's Hôtel du Petit Moulin in Paris

Christian Laxroix has designed his first hotel, the Hôtel du Petit Moulin. Located in the trendy Marais, this 17th century building, the site of an ancient bakery, has been completely renovated. The facade, dating back to 1900, as well as the shop sign, both of which are registered as historic monuments, have been preserved. 17 rooms, ranging in style from baroque to Zen are waiting for the urban traveler. Contemporary furniture is mixed with old beams, reproduction wallpapers and screen-printed mural panels, some of which incprporate Lacroix's fashion drawings. The café is pure french bistro: tables, chairs and the bar are salvaged from old Parisian restauants.

Gourmet Traveler: Indian Food at its best in New York City

Are you up for a gourmet experience in New York City where you forget that you are in the Big Apple? Go and let yourself indulge in the wonderful world of exotic spices, tasty meals and great decor. Tamarind in the Flatiron District is a safe bet for a successful evening.

Paradise Regained: Verana - an enchanting retreat in Yelapa, Mexico

Located on a hillside overlooking the pacific ocean with a panoramic view of the mountains deep in the Valle della Sierra Oriental, Verana is for travelers looking for beauty, intimacy, tranquility and privacy. The bungalows are part of an ongoing play between inside and outside, combining traditional and modern design with the natural landscape of the jungle. The spa at Verana is carved into the rocks with a panoramic view of the bay and is surrounded by a variety of tropical plants. Verana offers a variety of activities and excursions in case you should get bored by the stunning view you can enjoy from almost every place in this exceptional resort.

Private Collection: Casa Howard - A designer B&B in Rome

Casa Howard was one of the first designer B&Bs in Rome and consists of five distinctive guestrooms. Owners Jenifer Howard Fornieris and her husband carefully watch over all the details that mean a lot to experienced travelers; best quality fabrics, an Italian breakfast with freshly-baked cornetti (sweet croissants) and home made jam from the owner's Tuscan estate served in the guest rooms, soaps from the historic Santa Maria Novella pharmacy in Florence. The concept was so successful that Jenifer added a second casa on via Sistina which is slightly more expensive than the first one on via Capo le Case. Architect Tommaso Ziffer who was brought in to apply his retro-modern touch to the rooms worked only on one other project in Rome, the much more expensive Hotel de Russie. Both casas have small hammams, and via Sistina has broadband Internet connection in every room.

More to explore: The first boutique hotel in Damascus, Syria

Damascus has its first boutique hotel, the Al Mamlouka, a flawless transformation of a traditional Damascene house into a well designed oasis of tranquility. Original features of the eight en-suite rooms include a 200-year-old fresco and a 17th century archway. Step out of such luxury and you will be within a short walking distance from vast mosques and souks that are definitively worth exploring; and for weary sightseers, there's a hammam nearby and plenty of nice little restaurants to eat.

Short Breaks: A gourmet hideaway in Brittany

Are you longing for a break away from big cities, trendy designer hotels, party crowds and unbearable noisy restaurants and bars? A place to unwind, relax and get pampered by a couple who lives for their guests and their well-being is Jane and Olivier Roellinger's "Maisons de Bricourt" in Cancale, Brittany, France.
Overlooking the bay of Mont Saint-Michel, Chateaux Richeau, an old castle-like building with 18 rooms, including 2 suites, each individually designed with a lot of charm, host the casual restaurant "Le coquillage". There you can enjoy a fabulous "plateaux de crustacés" while enjoying the view over the bay. The signature restaurant, where Olivier Roellinger and his talented crew combine local specialties with spices from his trips to the most exotic places, is located just a short drive away in the village. A private shuttle takes you there, so the rigid regulations about drinking and driving in France will not affect your experience.
During the day you can relax in the wonderful gardens overlooking the bay, walk along the cliffs or visit St. Malo, a small city with a rich history.

Up in the air: Virgin Atlantic's new Upper Class Suite

Did you sleep well on your last night flight over the Atlantic? If not - try Virgin Atlantic's new Upper Class Suite - the latest and perhaps greatest approach to airline seat comfort.
By day it is a very comfortable leather seat, with each seat enjoying direct aisle access (even the window seats). By night, it is an unusually comfortable lie-flat bed.
A mix of other services before and after each flight round out what is  overall a very positive flying experience. Virgin Atlantic's lounge, called Clubhouse, continues to be the ultra deluxe experience it always has been. They offer à la carte dining, the food is excellent and remains completely free as do drinks from their well stocked bar. The Clubhouse now offers also free Wi-Fi internet access. So once you board your night-flight, you can enjoy a good night rest in your bed at 33,000 feet.
Hopefully other airlines will adapt this approach to "civilized aviation" very soon.

Gourmet Traveler: Contemporary Dining in Paris

For quite a while dining out in Paris meant Brasseries “à l’ancienne”: heavy French food in traditional restaurants. Luckily this has changed and there are now more and more interesting places for contemporary dining to discover: Maison Blanche in the 8th arrondissement: The Pourcel brothers in the kitchen, designer Imaad Rhamouni for the décor, the City of Lights at your feet: that’s a good way of summing things up.

Some might say that the best way to view the Centre Pompidou is from six flights up, atop the centre itself, in the restaurant Georges. Run by Thierry Costes, son of celebrated restaurateur Gilbert Costes, Restaurant Georges views will amaze, and its menu continues to gain some encouraging praise. Designed by Paris-based architects Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane, Georges seats about 200 inside its imposing room. Ceilings 30 feet high display exposed silver and blue piping, while four aortic valve-like structures are the rooms main attractions. During the day, visitors of the centre are enjoining a refreshment, in the evening an interesting crowd of long-legged models, various suits, some trendy euro-trash and a few skate-rats thrown in for color are enjoying a surprisingly good buzz...