FRHI Regional Coverage Report, Americas September 2014 by Hadley Schroll

Region – Americas Public Relations Monthly Report September 2014

FRHI HOTELS & RESORTS PUBLIC RELATIONS - REGIONAL MONTHLY REPORT

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LIGHTS,

CAMERA,

ACTION

Robert Mercure of Quebec’s Château Frontenac settles in for a new era of glamour at the revamped hotel

PLUS THE 2014

HOSPITALITY MARKET REPORT hoteliermagazine.com

YEARS

ARTFULLY CRAFTED Robert Mercure, GM of the Fairmont Le Ch창teau Frontenac, led renovations at the iconic property, where the signature dining room, Le Champlain, was re-imagined as a British manor

SEPTEMBER 2014 HOTELIER

hoteliermagazine.com

PROFILE

PHOTOGRAPH BY RENAUD PHILIPPE

A LA MODE QUEBEC CITY’S CHATEAU FRONTENAC GETS A FACELIFT AND SHOWCASES ITS HERITAGE IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT BY HELEN CATELLIER

hoteliermagazine.com

AS ANY HOTELIER KNOWS, running a hotel business is a challenging endeavour at the best of times. But, add a multimilliondollar renovation to the mix, and suddenly there’s an entire new dimension of stress to overcome. Just ask Robert Mercure. For the past three years, the affable GM of Le Château Frontenac has been directing the impressive, top-to-bottom renovation of Quebec City’s iconic hotel.

SEPTEMBER 2014 HOTELIER

PROFILE

P H O T O G R A P H , T O P L E F T, B Y R E N A U D P H I L I P P E . A L L O T H E R P H O T O S B Y D I G I TA L D I R E C T. C A

A STORIED PAST Le Château Frontenac’s majestic summit setting (above) features postcard views of Old Quebec and the St. Lawrence River; Le Sam bistro (right) pays a nod to traditional rail cars and harkens back to the days of the CP Railway; meticulous care and craftsmanship breathed new life into the lobby’s historic features (below)

The goal of the $75-million project, which began in spring 2013 (the copper roof on the main tower was replaced in 2012) and completed this past June, was to refresh and modernize the heritage property with contemporary finishes while preserving its historic charm. “The renovated Château tells the story of a celebrated hotel from the past meeting the contemporary luxury design of today,” says Greg Keffer, principal and studio leader at Rockwell Group in New York City, the firm tasked with transforming the

tones and clean lines. And the traditional and heavy furniture pieces, such as the canopy headboards, were swapped with clean looks for a quiet yet luxurious setting. Starting at $239 during low season, these rooms are scattered throughout the hotel and come in a variety of sizes. Fairmont Gold, the boutique hotel within the Château, was modernized and expanded from 46 rooms to 60, while the Gold lounge grew by 33 per cent, giving guests additional space to unwind. The transformation was influenced by the glamour, fashion and nostalgia of French design,

lobby, restaurants and bar. “It embraces the modern-traditional juxtaposition by maintaining many of the original architectural features and mixing in contemporary furnishings and finishes.” All of the hotel’s 611 guestrooms were updated, and nearly 330 were completely overhauled with contemporary decor, furnishings and bathrooms. In the process, a third, mid-range room category called Deluxe was born. The more classical colours and bold prints of the old design were replaced with muted

A NUMBERS GAME

STATS AND FACTS FROM THE TOP-TO-TOE RENO AT LE CHATEAU FRONTENAC $75 million spent on renovations | $6.5 million spent on new copper roof | 611 guestrooms renovated | 330 guestrooms overhauled | 14 guestrooms added to Fairmont Gold | Fairmont Gold lounge expanded by 33 per cent | 4 treatment rooms added to spa | Fitness centre expanding 100 per cent | 400-year-old artifacts prominently displayed | 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting space added, accommodating 2,000 for cocktail receptions | 3 new F&B concepts hoteliermagazine.com

SEPTEMBER 2014 HOTELIER

PROFILE

P H O T O G R A P H , B O T T O M R I G H T, B Y R E N A U D P H I L I P P E ; A L L O T H E R S B Y D I G I TA L D I R E C T. C A

MODERN MASTERS Centuries-old artifacts excavated from the property surrounding Le Château Frontenac are proudly displayed in museum-quality showcases (above); the new guestrooms reflect muted tones and clean lines for a quiet yet luxurious setting (below)

particularly the style of Coco Chanel. It’s reflected in the furniture and the two-tone contrast in some of the details, including the black-and-white panelling on the walls, bathroom floors and vanities. Starting at $369 during low season, Fairmont Gold is the priciest room category. The remaining and most basic guestrooms, known simply as Fairmont, were renovated in 2007 and, this time around, received softgoods updates. They’re inspired by traditional royal tones of blues and golds but in more subtle palettes. They give the rooms a sophisticated and timeless feel. White marble, polished chrome fixtures, glass doors and painted walls make the bathrooms brighter and cleaner. In

hoteliermagazine.com

some instances, where soaking tubs existed as part of the bedroom, walls were moved to enclose the entire space and enlarge the bathroom. These rooms start at $219 in the hotel’s low season. New York City-based Wilson Associates was commissioned to redesign the guestrooms, in addition to the corridors and meeting rooms. The goal was to blend modern design with the Château’s medieval- and Renaissance-inspired architecture. But the individuality of the guestrooms made space planning a challenge. “It required us to be very selective of the furniture and materials to ensure it would scale properly and function within each space,” says Joanne Yong, SVP, principal

at Wilson Associates. “As with all historical buildings, there were a lot of unforeseen ‘extras’ that can’t be found in the drawings, but have to be discovered by walking into every room and then redesigned to adapt to the odd flying beam or stray corbel on the wall. We respect the history of the building and integrated all of its quirks and charms into our design, as opposed to removing them.” The Spa du Château — operated by Amerispa — and the Club Frontenac fitness centre were also enhanced to further stimulate the leisure market. A few of the rooms next to the pool were captured to enlarge the spa, increasing the number of treatment rooms from three to seven. And a new extension will be added to the gym this fall, doubling its size. The renovation was tackled in rotating phases and didn’t come without challenges. “Trying to make something modern and relevant from years of reorganization, additions and updated designs proved challenging but a rewarding finish,” says Rockwell’s Keffer. For example, removing 16 century-old chandeliers from the lobby, cleaning every crystal and arm, rewiring the electrical and draping them with mixed-metal chains for a modern interpretation was a labour of love that required meticulous attention to detail. The same level of care and craftsmanship revived other features such as the copper roof, quarter-sawn oak wall panelling, mouldings, gilding and the

SEPTEMBER 2014 HOTELIER

PROFILE

DID YOU KNOW? In late September, visitors can take a virtual jaunt around the hotel with the new app tour. Combining video and historic images, it guides users throughout the property without leaving the hotel lobby. The app is free for download on both Google Play and iTunes

SEPTEMBER 2014 HOTELIER

hoteliermagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY RENAUD PHILIPPE

original fresco ceiling. Original artifacts were given a new sense of importance in museumquality display cases that now line the corridors of the lower level. An archaeological dig around the property uncovered thousands of heirlooms. Near 400-year-old cannonballs, glassware and china are prominently displayed along with antiques from the original hotel itself, such as furniture from the 1920s designed by the Maxwell brothers (the architects responsible for the hotel’s expansion in the 1920s), a room key from the early 1900s and silverware engraved with the hotel logo. Quebec’s natural landscape inspired several design elements, including the main lobby, which features large, Italian, blue-onyx backlit panels reminiscent of the St. Lawrence River. A custom-made, 15-ft.-tall chandelier in the grand stairway is made from thin pieces of glass

arranged in a spiral pattern to mirror the icicles that form during the cold winters. The space was also reorganized to create a more open layout. For the check-in area, Rockwell Group created custom desks covered in antique mirror and added custom rugs and ombré draperies. Most of the furnishings were acquired locally from Canada and fabrics were sourced from Italy, France and the U.S. But apart from updating the look, one of the biggest catalysts for the renovation was the need to increase meeting space. In the past, groups were turned away. “We were losing pretty good opportunities in the past because ... we could not accommodate larger groups or we could not accommodate many groups at the same time,” explains Sylvain Fortier, EVP, Residential, Hotels and Real Estate Investment Funds for Ivanhoé Cambridge in Montreal, which owns the Frontenac. In addition to renovations of the grand ballroom, 15,000 sq. ft. of meeting and banquet space was added

— a 75-per-cent increase in capacity — making it the second-largest meeting space in town, after the convention centre. The hotel now offers 23 multipurpose meeting rooms and accommodates 2,000 people for receptions. The look is inspired by a wealthy businessman’s wardrobe with pinstriped wallpaper, light fixtures reminiscent of cufflinks, leather drapes, horned button details and accents of Hermès orange. A new group check-in on the lower level accommodates larger parties that request a private welcome area. The new separate entrance provides guests with another sense of arrival and makes it even easier for business clients to attend functions. There’s been tremendous interest in the revamped space. “We’ve had an explosive growth of backlog,” says Mercure. “In fact, we’re 14,000 room nights ahead of pace. It’s the strongest backlog of confirmed conventions in the 120-year history of the hotel,” he adds. On the foodservice front, the Château boasts three new culinary concepts. Seating 150, Le Champlain is the signature dining room featuring local cuisine and tasting menus. Design was inspired by an English manor house with luxurious, highly textured materials such as leather, brass and walnut. Le 1608 wine and cheese bar is open to the lobby where guests can sample cheese, wines and accompanying condiments. The city’s winters served as a design inspiration for the icy tones of grey, silver, platinum and blue. And Le Sam bistro, built in a large veranda overlooking the river, pays a nod to traditional rail cars and harkens back to the days of the CP Railway. It features an open kitchen and serves cocktails and casual gourmet fare. Management is confident the new F&B offerings, combined with the increased capacity, will maximize the hotel’s group business — traditionally stronger in the fall and spring — during the summer months.

“Quebec [City] is very dynamic in the summer,” Mercure says. “So the whole destination offer, combined with the new capacity, is an interesting and new element that wasn’t available to people before.” Fortier also believes the new dining options will attract locals and solo travellers, too. The local market is important in softselling the hotel to others, he explains. “If, as a ... guest of the hotel, you see a lot of buzz, a lot of energy and a lot of people in the restaurant or at the bar ... you feel like you’re at the right place. It’s very important in creating the guest experience.” Though the local and domestic market is solid, Mercure sees an upswing in U.S. visitors, since the exchange rate has become more favourable, and there’s a renewed interest in leaving the country. “A big part of our market is the northeast corridor or the West Coast,” he explains. “We sell ourselves ... as an alternative to Europe without the jet lag and without the huge expense.” To target this growing market, a dedicated, full-time sales person was added. A combination of word of mouth and marketing is key to recouping the costs of this tremendous investment. And, though Ivanhoé Cambridge is unloading many of its hotel assets, there are no plans to sell the Quebec City landmark. “We want to concentrate on office, retail and multi-res going forward, but this is the exception to the rule,” discloses Fortier. “[The Château Frontenac] is a significant asset for Quebec and Quebecers. It has a long history, is very visible and is the picture you have in mind when you think about Quebec City. It’s our postcard asset in Quebec.” u hoteliermagazine.com

UNIQUE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

NEW HOTEL AT THE SUMMIT OF THE MONTMORENCY WATERFALL INVITATION FOR PROPOSALS - QUÉBEC CITY REGION

The Société des établissements de plein air du Québec is seeking a promoter interested in designing, financing, building, and operating a hotel at the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, the second most visited tourist site in the Québec City region. Combining the operation of the Manoir Montmorency, an elegant villa with a long history, overlooking the western cliff of a waterfall that is 83 metres in height, the future hotel will feature a unique site for its clients, which is also a marvel due to its natural environment and its unobstructed view of Québec City, the Island of Orleans and the St. Lawrence River.

For more details about this unique business opportunity, contact sepaq.com/proposals

Proposals will be accepted until

OCTOBRE 10, 2014 AT 3:00 PM (EST)

9/23/2014

What Wake-up Call? Catering to Sleepers-In - NYTimes.com

What Wake-up Call? Catering to Sleepers-In By Shivani Vora September 22, 2014 11:41 am

The travel industry is geared toward early risers: activities and tours tend to begin in the morning, and breakfast is usually served for a limited time. That’s finally changing with more hotels, cruise lines and tour companies catering to travelers who like to sleep in or want a leisurely start to their day. Crystal Cruises, for example, has a Late Risers Adventures program beginning this fall where popular shore excursions on its itineraries will be offered in the afternoons instead of the typical 8 a.m. Angleterre & Residence, on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, has a Saturday night Late Riser Package, with rates starting at 289 Swiss francs (about $389) during which Sunday brunch is until 2 p.m. and checkout is at 4 p.m. The Inn at Dos Brisas, a Relais & Châteaux resort in Washington, Tex., has a late risers’ culinary class for $200 a person with a 1 p.m. brunch cooking session and brunch afterward. The Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, Ireland, offers breakfast until 11 a.m., and guests at the Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada who want to hit the slopes late can buy ski lift tickets for as little as two hours instead of investing in a full-day pass. The Four Seasons Hualalai in Hawaii has night golf, with tee times beginning at 7:30 p.m., and Access Trips, a Seattle active-travel company, has several trips suited for late-risers

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/what-wake-up-call-catering-to-sleepers-in/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=travel&_r=0

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What Wake-up Call? Catering to Sleepers-In - NYTimes.com

including a weekend in Sonoma, Calif., with an 11 a.m. hike. The later-start strategy is a logical one, according to MalakaHilton, the chief executive of the Sarasota, Fla., travel consultancy Admiral Travel International. “Travelers are getting younger, and this younger guest tends to want to enjoy night life or late dinners, so the thought of a 7 a.m. wake-up call or an early morning tour is not that appealing,” she said.

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/what-wake-up-call-catering-to-sleepers-in/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=travel&_r=0

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Silence is the latest trend in luxury resorts By Leigh Gallagher @leighgallagher SEPTEMBER 17, 2014, 6:30 AM EDT

The (quiet) beach at Parrot CayCourtesy of Como Hotels and Resorts

People will pay a lot of money for some peace and quiet. I am what might politely be called sensitive to noise. When I was growing up, the sound of Garrison Keillor’s muffled, nasal bass coming up through the floorboards of my bedroom from the kitchen just before dinnertime drove me crazy; I would pound the floor and plead with my parents to turn it down. (They finally bought me a white noise machine from the Sharper Image.) Today I sleep with earplugs and keep extra sets in my office and in my handbag for emergency backup quiet. I am the one on the subway giving the evil eye to anyone talking too loudly, dropping notes under the doors of upstairs neighbors about their music habits, and skulking around the office trying to identify the source of the speakerphone conference call. I would set up residence in an Amtrak Quiet Car if they’d let me. It’s not overstating things to say that silence is my drug of choice. (You might wonder why I live in New York City. It’s a fair question.) So last year, when I decided to splurge on a five-day vacation after a busy work stretch, my destination of choice was Parrot Cay by COMO, a tranquil, Zen-like luxury resort in the Caribbean’s Turks and Caicos Islands. It’s a place that had long been on my bucket list, and when my beau and I arrived, I knew why. The place is on its own island, so you take a speedboat to get there, then drive three miles through

mangrove trees, and even after you arrive you hardly see or hear anyone. (We were also traveling in May, an off-peak time of year and a favored month for the clamor-averse.) There’s not much to do at Parrot Cay—beach, yoga, meditation classes—and our days were simple, quiet, and far removed from our day-to-day jobs in New York (though for some reason I chose this particular week to read Lean In). Even our nights were quiet and still—there’s none of that pressure to “go into town” when town is a 40minute boat ride away. All of this helped time pass more slowly than it might have elsewhere. On our last night, a pair of complimentary T-shirts arrived in our room adorned with the resort’s slogan for the season: “Silence is the new luxury.” I almost teared up. This hotel and I, we were one. Turns out it’s not just me, and it’s not just Parrot Cay. The latest trend in luxury travel doesn’t involve thread count or a seaweed-mud wrap. It’s silence. Hotels from luxury resorts to business-travel chains are marketing things like noise-free zones, triple-paned glass, soundproof walls, and serene settings where the whole sell is the ability to hear a pin drop.

A tranquil moment at Parrot CayCourtesy of Como Hotels and Resorts

Some of this is related to the “mindfulness” trend taking the world by storm—Zen gardens and meditation rooms are de rigueur at many places, and Eat, Pray, Love–style silent retreats are a dime a dozen. It also takes its root in the desire to disconnect from our devices; more and more hotels now offer some kind of “digital detox” package. But a growing number of destinations are promoting the absence of noise not as part of a broader spiritual message, but as a virtue in itself. Consider: The Beverly Hills Hotel is finishing a three-year restoration that paid particular attention to noise reduction; there are now double layers of drywall between rooms, extra padding underneath carpets, door seals that drop down and help reduce “noise transfer,” and TVs that are programmed so that they can’t exceed a maximum volume. (Rejoice! The adjacent-room hotel TV is a silence worshiper’s worst enemy.)

At Chewton Glen, a luxury getaway in Hampshire, England, guests can stay in treehouses at the edge of a forest; the doors have a concealed hatch through which staff can deliver room service without making a sound. The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel offers the chain’s first “Quiet Zone,” a floor designed for travelers coming in from long flights or between layovers. Declared a noise-free zone, rooms have triplepaned, soundproof windows; the floor has no bellmen, no housekeeping, and no room service from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The trend makes sense for a number of reasons. Noise complaints regularly top hotel guest satisfaction surveys, while our overwired world has us hooked up and plugged in 24/7—we all need a little stillness to sit and catch our breath. Plus, let’s face it, the world has gotten a lot more obnoxious. Who wouldn’t want to escape the loud-talking group of teenagers next to you at your favorite restaurant, or the guy strutting around the airport gate holding a hands-free conference call that could pass for performance art if it weren’t so annoying? One of the world’s ultimate quiet zones, the aforementioned Amtrak Quiet Car, was actually cooked up by a group of commuters who persuaded their conductor to try out dedicating an entire car as noisefree. It caught fire; Amtrak soon expanded it, and the Quiet Car now holds cultlike status among regular riders of its rails (for more on the Quiet Car, visit Fortune.com). At Parrot Cay, the “Silence is the new luxury” line actually came from a guest, says Crawford Sherman, regional director of COMO Hotels and Resorts, Parrot Cay’s parent. But he says it’s a big part of the appeal. Silence plays a role in many of the company’s properties; Sherman even draws a distinction between the “mountain silence” at the COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali, and Parrot Cay’s silence, which he maintains is more of an “ocean silence.” (At the mention of different strains of silence, I realize I may be a silence novice.)

At the Mayflower Grace, visitors “take their cue from the surroundings.”Serge Detalle

Several months after my stay at Parrot Cay, I took a trip to another noise-free refuge, the Mayflower Grace, a 30-room hotel and spa in Washington, Conn. (Washington is one of the silent-est places I have ever been; if there were ever the need for a headquarters of the Noise-Averse of the World society, this would be it.) At the Mayflower, silence is not marketed per se, but it’s a main draw for the stressed-out New Yorkers who go there; the relaxation room at its spa, where “inside voices” are encouraged, is an ethereal sanctuary; there’s also a labyrinth maze for taking contemplative walks and a Shakespeare garden. The hotel’s head of marketing, Allison Kline, says that while there’s no official policy on noise, guests pick up on the cues of their surroundings; the spa naturally encourages quiet, but not so much at the Tap Room in the main lodge, a cozy pub and piano bar. “Certainly in the Tap Room, people will get louder, as expected,” says Kline. Indeed they did, the night my mom and I enjoyed a festive dinner there chatting it up with the locals. Silence is golden, yes, but every now and then there’s nothing wrong in balancing it with a good, oldfashioned raucous pub. The Sound of Silence PARROT CAY BY COMO $350 and up comohotels.com/parrotcay MAYFLOWER GRACE $400 and up gracehotels.com/mayflower BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL $445 and up beverlyhillshotel.com FAIRMONT VANCOUVER AIRPORT $300 and up fairmont.com CHEWTON GLEN $970 and up chewtonglen.com Additional reporting by Robert Hackett This story is from the October 6, 2014 issue of Fortune. Direct Link: http://fortune.com/2014/09/17/silent-luxury-resorts/

LOOK GREAT

PARADISE,

Home and Away

Take a journey—if not in body, then in mind—to unique spas both here and abroad Article by Margaret Swaine

The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is at the edge of Lac Beauvert.

The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Reflections Spa, Alberta Situated in Alberta’s magnificent Jasper National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and surrounded by snow-capped peaks, The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge gives visitors a great Canadian lodge experience. Charming cabins exude rustic elegance, and the entrance to the Reflections Spa is designed with water features that flow over tiers of natural rock. A lounge, accented by pine and stone, provides a restful place to relax by a fire. With the lodge’s beautiful mountain vistas, sparkling lakes and an abundance of wildlife, it’s not surprising that this is often named Canada’s number one golf resort. The lodge was first constructed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and opened in 1922, and the golf course is the design of the famous golf architect Stanley Thompson. After a day on the links, I took a relaxing swim in the heated outdoor pool (other options were to use  E HOM

TRAVEL PLANS • JASPER From Edmonton or Calgary international airports it is a four- or five-hour drive respectively to The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. Flights to either city from major cities in Canada are frequent on Air Canada (air canada.com) and WestJet (westjet.com). Brewster Travel Canada (brewster.ca) offers daily bus transportation between Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Via Rail (viarail.ca) and Rocky Mountaineer (rockymountaineer .com) are rail alternatives. • SAN JUAN Non-stop flights on WestJet go weekly from Toronto and Calgary into San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport; Air Canada also has non-stop flights. Descriptions of treatments and accommodations in this article are the author’s observations. Services and conditions (and flight information) may change.

SEPTEMBER 2014

the sauna or steam room to heat up and help relax my muscles). Then, I was off to the spa. I went for a 30-minute body scrub followed by a 60-minute “golf performance” massage. For the scrub, my therapist used an exfoliating product from Ener-G, a line of luxury, plantbased body products created exclusively for Fairmont spas by Kerstin Florian International. After the scrub, she applied a much-needed hydrating body lotion from Ener-G. The massage included stretching and acupressure to release the tension in my muscles after more than four hours of golf. My therapist also laid lavender-infused hot towels on my back, and put alpine balm on my feet and neck to relieve the soreness. Non-golfers will find many other activities at the resort such as hiking, swimming in the pool, using the fitness centre and more. In winter there’s skiing, and in October there is a special “Dark Sky Festival package,” an event that celebrates Jasper as a great place for stargazing. Foodies will appreciate that Cavell’s restaurant at the lodge sources its food locally: Spring Creek Premium beef from Vegreville, Fort Macleod’s Fairwinds Farm goat cheese, and Twin Meadows organics such as lettuce greens and other vegetables from McBride by the Fraser River. Cuisine choices include dishes to serve all types of ailments and requests such as sugar-free, gluten-free and low-fat. Our group loved the relaxed atmosphere at Moose’s Nook after our golf game and spa treatments. The restaurant served top-notch AAA Alberta beef and homegrown micro-greens, and honey from the resort’s own beehives. Golf, spa and delicious food–my kind of day! fairmont.com/jasper The boathouse on the shores of Lac Beauvert.

Remède Spa’s relaxation area at The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort.

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Remède Spa, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is often overlooked by Canadians, but this Caribbean island is a great destination. Fast facts: It is an unincorporated territory of the United States; the U.S. dollar is the official currency; and many people speak both English and Spanish. I was surprised to learn that it’s a huge culinary centre; it’s home to talented chefs and offers local coffee, cacao and rum that go into lip-smacking recipes and awesome drinks. San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital city, has Spanish colonialstyle buildings, the most historic of which are found in Old San Juan with its cobblestone streets lined with shops, galleries and restaurants. The 195-hectare St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, one of the top luxury hotels in Puerto Rico, is about 35 minutes by car from San Juan, on a former coconut plantation in a secluded area surrounded by the ocean, rivers and El Yunque National Forest. Guests can tee off at the challenging golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., enjoy spa pampering, savour the cuisine of famous international chef Jean-Georges at Fern restaurant, lounge at the pool esplanade or bask on the pristine, sandy beach. A floating pathway delivers guests to the secluded massage villas of the Remède Spa. (You can go to the spa as a day guest.) After a great 60-minute massage that included a head massage with light oil, and the use of hot stones and hot towels to relax and open the muscles on tight spots in my body, I had access to the women’s-only garden (there is a separate one for men). It houses a steam room, sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, and open-air showers. To cap my day off in style, I dined at Fern on shrimp salad with champagne vinaigrette and grilled octopus with hot black-pepper sauce. Sitting at my table, I gazed upon the ocean as the sun set in glorious pink and orange hues, and felt very fortunate indeed. stregisbahiabeach.com G Y AWA

For where to buy, see page 116.

46 Best Health

BRING HOME THE SPA

Enrich your bath with L’Occitane En Provence Roses et Reines Gentle Bath Salts. ($24, 310 g)

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TRACY SHUMATE (PRODUCT)

LOOK GREAT

9/2/2014

HOTELSMag.com

NEWS

DC hotel adds pollinator to bee initiatives

By Ann Bagel Sto rck o n 9/1/2014

In anticipation of adding a pollinator bee hotel to its collection of rooftop honeybee hives next spring, Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown is displaying a pop-up pollinator bee hotel in its lobby and serving a pollinator menu in its Juniper Restaurant. The hotel first welcomed more than 100,000 Italian honeybees in May 2009 and now hosts three beehives on its rooftop, which enhances the property’s culinary program. A pollinator bee hotel is a collection of nesting materials — wood, twigs, fallen branches, soil and pithfilled holes — designed to attract, support and protect native, lost and solitary bees by replicating their natural nesting sites. This allows the bees to breed, lay eggs and seek protection from predators. The pollinator menu at Juniper includes “Salad in a Jar” — honey and goat cheese mousse, greens and edible flowers with a lemon-thyme vinaigrette; seared scallops in tigers milk served with mandarin and apple slaw, vinaigrette and bee pollen; and sweet corn pannacotta, rooftop honey cake and grilled watermelon for US$72. Each time a guest orders the menu, a portion of the sale goes to the District of Columbia Public Schools’ Junior Beekeepers Program. Earlier this summer, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Launched its first pollinator bee hotel at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, and Fairmont plans to roll out the offering at more hotels next year.

http://www.hotelsmag.com/Industry/News/Details/52328

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9/10/2014

Best golf courses in the Canadian Rockies - CNN.com

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IN THIS ISSUE September 2014 2 NEWS David McLay Kidd brings yet more of his native Scotland to the Paciﬁc Northwest with his latest course, Gamble Sands.

4 GOOD DEALS It comes at a price, but elite luxury like you’ll ﬁnd on offer at The Boulders in Arizona makes for money well spent.

5 SHORT SHOTS There’s no reason to kick around the idea of heading to Northern New Jersey’s Crystal Springs Resort— with a current deal, it’s a goal worth fulﬁlling.

7 RENOVATIONS Rees Jones turns the ﬁfth hole at New Zealand’s spectacular Kauri Cliffs GC upside-down—well, almost.

8 EVENT PLANNER A weekend of jazz—and other cool stuff, like golf— is on the horizon at Kiawah Island Resort.

10 GRUB OF THE GREEN Kansas City and Carolina come to Western Canada via the Fairmont Banff Springs’ new restaurant, Stanley’s Smokehouse.

11 INNOVATIONS A reversible golf course is on the horizon in Northern Michigan’s Forest Dunes from designer extraordinaireTom Doak.

13 CHECKING OUT A local outing by the USGA underscores the joy of the quick hit.

Pictured: As ever, architectTom Doak is a man with a plan—and an ingenious one at that.

MetGolfer TRAVELER The

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E M E T R O P O L I TA N G O L F A S S O C I AT I O N

M G A G O L F. O R G

GRUB OF THE GREEN ▼

The Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, Canada (www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/) , will never be confused with, say, Kansas City or the Carolinas—its majestic mountains are just one giveaway—but the resort now does have something in common with them: Barbecue. Banff Springs’ newest eatery, Stanley’s Smokehouse, is surely unique to Canadian golf courses and offers lovely views of its famed Stanley Thompson layout as well as the surrounding mountains and rivers…but you’re here for the ﬁne ’cue, y’all, under the direction of executive chef jW Foster (yes, that’s how you spell it). Big eaters can lay into “The Pit Master,” which offers a threesome of brisket, pulled pork and house smokie—a pork spiced sausage with cheddar cheese inside. Photo by Communication Links

INNOVATIONS ▼

Reversible windshirts, sure, but a reversible golf course? That’s what design maestro Tom Doak (www.renaissancegolf.com) has planned for his forthcoming layout at Forest Dunes GC (www.forestdunesgolf.com) in Northern Michigan (pictured). By “reversible,” there will be two distinct 18-hole layouts that use the same greens but play clockwise one way and counter-clockwise the other way. Since players will want to play the track both ways, as Doak notes, “You are getting two golf courses in one.” While the idea of a reversible course sounds beyond exotic, the Old Course at St. Andrews (www.standrews.com) is one of the many Scottish links that used to be played in reverse come winter to spread out wear and tear. As ever, what’s new is often old.

PlHS

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SEPTEMBER 2014 $4.99

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To the uninitiated, Whistler, Canada,

Oh Canada!

conjures snow globe images of the Winter Olympics, fleece jackets and

Fantastic outdoor activities in

aprcs ski cocktails. A few days up north

Whistler don't always involve snow. Golf is also a top attraction here. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MICHAEL HILLER

doesn't have to focus on refrigerator

sports - there's even more of an outdoor

focus during the warm season.

W W W. M YAV I D G O L F E R . C O M

The area has a booming f-bod and culture with at least two of them," says Andrew scene, dominated by fresh-catch cuisine, Smart, the director of golf at Nicklaus local produce, craft breweries and legions of North golf course. artists and musicians. September, when days are cool and the The sister mountains of Blackcomb and sun slips away late, is an ideal time to enjoy Whistler also have a secret weapon tucked Whistler's many charms. Tlie golf season deep into their verdant creases: incredible is short - just May to mid-October - but golf. Fishing, mountain biking, hiking and once you get there, you'll never have to cycling attract devoted crowds, but it's the

hop in your car until you head home. This

the moment you step into the clubhouse. Staff members each wear nametags with quirky nicknames, classic rock music plays on the sound system, and nearly everyone admits to spending more time snowboarding or biking than working. The one nota ble exception: the greenskeepers, who must never sleep, since Whisder Golf Club has the best kept greens in the region.

mountain hideaway is so compact and so On this valley course with few elevation Sure, Wh iscler has a laid-back and woodsy well-planned, you can reach everything by changes, Palmer forces you to conquer large, fast greens and swirls of microclimates that reputation, but scratch the surface and foot, chair lift, taxi or gondola. jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent jones Jr., take you through mist, sun and wind. From you'll find that Whistler is all about play ing hard. Backcountry sports arc a religion Arnold Palmer and Bob Cupp all designed the golf course's location on the valley floor, here. It would be a mistake, though, to get excellent courses here. you can easily imagine skiers threading down Palmer got to Whistler first, penciling in the slopes of Blackcomb under the thick ski caught up in all the adrenaline rushes like four-wheeling, glacier skiing and zip-lining Whistler Golf Club in a valley below the lift cables that stitch up the mountainsides like - there's just too much good golf to play. main village. The club bills its course as a dark threads on rumpled, white bedshects. As an older design. Palmer's course plays "With four great golf courses here, I Palmer design with Whistler's laid back can guarantee you're going to fall in love attitude, a tagline that hits you in the face relatively short - 6,722 yards - yet it crosses golfers who go hunting for eagles.

AV I O G O l - F E R

of the glacier-capped Coast Mountains pop

the same mountain creek three times in 515

"We see him all the time," a marshal told

yards, all on the par-5 11th. Generous fairways and receptive new bencgrass greens are a bigparcof the courses charm, though 1'!! admit to being distracted by a couple of peregrine falcons that buzzed overhead, a beaver building his lodge near

me later. "He builds his winter den on Bear

into view from nearly every fairway.

Island," the nickname for a stand of fir trees

As you chug up and down the mountain side, wrapping around then above the Euro pean-style Whistler Village, pause on hole Nos. 9 and 12; that's where O'Rourke says

No. 10 {and what must have been a vacation

and a chunk of exposed granite on the left side of the 13th fairway. With the bear busy rustling around the sixth, the white tail deer seemed to have no issue hanging o u t a t N o . 11 .

you might spot a well-known black bear

that frequently sneaks onto the course from

home adjacent to No. 15) and a squirrel den

My foursome didn't spot any bears on the his nearby den. in the hollow of a tree trunk near the 14th, Chateau Whistler golf course, the moun RTJ Jr., couldn't have picked better whose owner has a penchant for hoarding tain's top course, but that doesn't mean they mountainside acreage for his 18-hole lay weren't there. out. Talk about location - clutching the golfballs. "You often see them on No. 9 or No. tilt-a-whirl ridges of Blackcomb Mountain One recent morning, I witnessed play on

a few holes come to an abrupt stop. One 12," said head golf professional Padraic - Chateau Whistler has plenty of it. Look up from practically any of the group then another moved quickly toward O ' R o u r k e . T h e F a i r m o n t C h a t e a u W h i s t l e r h o t e l greens, half of which were replaced this the banks of a creek running along the right side of the sixth fairway, cameras and cell owns and manages the Robert Trent Jones spring with new bentgrass surfaces, and phones in tow. There, a large black bear was Jr. design, which opened in 1993. While you'll catch yourself mentally shushing lumbering through the brush, snatching the course runs short - 6,635 yards - there's down any one of a dozen ski runs you can berries and in no obvious hurrv. nothingeasy about its 142 slope rating. Views trace in the distance. W W W, M YAV I D G O L F E R . C O M

Sure^ Whistler has o laid-

back and woodsy reputa tion, but scratch the surface and you'll find that Whistler is all about playing hard. Located 20 miles north of Whistler Village, golf course architect Robert Cupp, a pro tege of Nicklaus', unspooled this 7,001-yard, par-72 course over former potato fields that snug up against Mount Currie. The routing is trickier than you'd expect at first glance, thanks to Cupp's uneven fairways, dips and swales that create the toughest layout of the four area courses.

Stiff winds pop up out of nowhere, caus ing you to rethink your club choice again and again. The routing unpacks a suitcase of trouble when you least expect it, too. On the par-5 fourth, for example, the same creek zigzags across the fairway four times, weaving between high fescue on the right and tall fir trees on the left. If your ball doesn't land in the drink here, Cupp placed ponds and streams on all but two of the rest of the 18 to finish the task.

Locations Nicklaus North Golf Course

8080 Nicklaus North Blvd., Whistler, B.C. 604-938-9898 or 800-386-9898 w w w. n i c k l a u s n o r t h . c o m Chateau Whistler Golf Club

4612 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, B.C. 800-684-6344 \vsvsv.chatcauwhistler.com Whistler Golf Club

4001 Whistler Way. Whistler, B.C. 604-932-3280 or 800-376-1777

Juniors design feels seamlessly ince- Just as the Fairmont Hotel calls the Cha- wsvw.whistlergolf.com grated with the mountain. Exposed rock tcau Whistler course its own, the Four Sea- Big Sky Golf and Country Club faces, ravines, waterfalls, rocky streams and sons stakes its claim on Nicklaus North, Pcmberton, B.C. precarious ledges all stitch the fairways to Opened three years after Chateau Whistler, 6 0 4 - 8 9 4 - 6 1 0 6 the fabric of the mountain, which Jones "Nick North" was quickly crowned the best www.bigskygolf.ca adorned with bunkers shaped to echo the new course in Canada and remains a local The Fairmont Chateau Whistler snowdrifts high in the mountains. favorite. Fifteen of its 18 holes might as well 4599 Chateau Blvd., Whistler, B.C. Every hole is framed like a Bob Ross be divining rods: each weaves water into its 6 0 4 - 9 8 3 - 8 0 0 0 painting, but that doesn't mean your score routing and occasionally snares it into play, w w w. f a i r m o n t . c o m will be pretty. Good players can run out Glacier-fed lakes lie still as glass, colored a J G of room off the tee, and the penalty can be magical steely green by the minerals trapped severe. Better to put your driver away and in the water. At 6,908 yards, Nick North is / \ Uchitel Hiler is ,i member oflhe Society of American let the 400-foot elevation change work in the longest course in Whistler, Travel Writers and the Golf Writers' Association oj y o u r f a v o r. B i g S k y G o l f a n d C o u n t r y C l u b i s a l i t t l e America. Heisthe Travel Editor for AlADGOLFER If you can only play one course near the tougher to get to than the other courses in Magazine. You can jolow his travels on EscapeHatchvillage, this is it. Whistler, but the payoff is worth the effort. DalLis.com and on Tivitler: @j\UkeHiller. 70

AV I D G O L R E R

Travel

Left: A sampling of Marcus Samuelsson’s Bermuda-inspired fare Below: The pink sands at Horseshoe Bay

Savvy Traveller

What to Pack

Boxwoods and palms at the Bermuda Botanical Gardens; (inset) Mark Twain takes a carriage ride.

Outside the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art

ONG THOUGHT of as an island, Bermuda is actually an archipelago of more than 180 smaller land masses. The pink sand, championship golf courses and a GPS reading that’s smack dab in the middle of the North Atlantic west of North Carolina (or about 850 miles due south of Nova Scotia) make it a quick and easy getaway for Canadians. But Bermuda is undergoing a reinvention of sorts, eschewing its stiffupper-lip reputation for more sporty, sexy offerings. It goes beyond pink sand and golf: there’s a multi-generational, multi-cultural mix best experienced in the country’s business hub, Hamilton. You’ll find that its hottest restaurants, hotels and nightclubs hug the city’s natural harbourfront – hand-rolled sushi and a rum swizzle, anyone? There’s a laid-back yet sophisticated all-ages appeal to the place but still has its British-roots

reserve, suitable for a slightly more refined sensibility. Take the Hog Penny Pub in Hamilton, for example, for a traditional mix of Indian curry and a pint of on-trend locally crafted beers. We said it was easy, didn’t we? Here, more reasons why Bermuda should be on your radar. IT’S SO HOT, IT’S COOL New York City überchef Marcus Samuelsson treated the island with a pop-up restaurant this summer, Samuelsson at HP, at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. He previewed his brand of internationally infused cuisine – Samuelsson is Ethiopian-born but was raised in Sweden by his adoptive parents – that will be on the menu at his permanent dining spot there come spring 2015. The hotel itself is having a bit of a makeover – to the tune of $70 million, which includes a revamped, full-service marina. www. fairmont.com/hamilton-bermuda

96 – SEPTEMBER 2014 everythingzoomer.com

IT INSPIRES Samuelsson’s not the only forward-thinker to land here. Mark Twain spent 187 days on the island, most in residence at the Hamilton Princess – he was often seen smoking cigars and signing autographs from the veranda – and later at Old Bay House in Pembroke Parish. Ian Fleming and John Lennon were also island habitués, and Michael Douglas has a home here (his mother was born in Bermuda). IT’S COMPLICATED BUT IN A GOOD WAY It’s not quite Canadian, American or British but, like Canada, it’s part of the Commonwealth and is self-governing. Unlike Canada, it’s considered a British Overseas Territory. But who cares? It features the best of all three worlds and is Englishspeaking. A rich maritime history, a British heritage shared with Canada, along with a familiar blend

PHOTOGRAPHY, FOOD COURTESY OF FAIRMONT HAMILTON PRINCESS; VIVIAN VASSOS (GARDENS, MUSEUM, BEACH)

Bermuda Short “You go to heaven if you want to. I’d rather stay right here in Bermuda” —Mark Twain

of European and African cultures that combine seamlessly, particularly due to a common appreciation of etiquette. They play cricket here and drive on the left-hand side of the road, the American greenback is accepted currency, many of its citizens have been educated in Canada (the mayor of St. George, a UNESCO world heritage site, is a University of Toronto grad) and their Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art is supported by the Bermudiana Foundation of Canada. IT’S A NATURAL WONDER The whole country is a sub-tropical garden, so rich it even encroaches the roadways, giving the sense you’ve just carved the route through this forest. Green thumbs will revel in the green space of the Botanical Gardens, near the museum. Subterranean enthusiasts will marvel at

the absolute beauty and stillness of the Crystal Caves. Delicate crystallized formations hang like chandeliers and mini-glaciers from the roof and create optical illusions in the reflective pools below. This underground cavern was discovered in 1905 by a pair of boys who lost their cricket ball down a hole. Twain is also on its guest list. IT’S THE DRESS CODE Men wear the famed Bermuda, those tailored shorts, particularly those sourced from the country’s go-to English Sports Shop in Hamilton – and we’re not talking plaid, cargo or camo-print here but worn with a sports coat and tie. And it looks good. Really good. —Vivian Vassos www.gotobermuda.com; via Toronto, it’s less than a three-hour non-stop flight on either Air Canada or WestJet.

Start with a carry-on suitcase that allows for no-brainer organization. The hard-sided Ebby Rane Quartermaster, below, is an investment piece but, for the frequent flier, four cases for liquids, jewelry, even your tech toys and wires – plus a shoe case and a leather clutch – add up to a simple, three-step packing process in a made-to-last design. www. ebbyrane.com A lightweight pant with a tailored silhouette that’s made from a giving fabric that also retains its shape – and looks great straight from the plane to the pub. For women, try Banana Republic’s Sloan Collection slim-fit ankle pant. For men, try Mark’s Denver Hayes Flextech wrinkle-free and stain-resistant pant. Sailing while there? If you’re prone to motion sickness, try a drug-free solution: PsiBands can help relieve nausea due to travel (and even chemotherapy or post-operative nausea from anesthesia). Waterproof and adjustable, the Health Canadacleared bands’ strategically placed buttons apply acupressure to points on the inside of the wrists associated with increasing tolerance to and reducing symptoms of nausea. www. pureeau.com; www.psibands.com

for the author’s photo journal, go to www.everythingzoomer. com/Bermuda-slide-show

9/23/2014

Oprah sweats it out in hotel gym… just like the rest of us - The Washington Post

Reliable Source

Oprah sweats it out in hotel gym… just like the rest of us 

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By Emily Heil September 22 at 3:46 PM  Follow @emilyaheil

Oprah Winfrey’s “Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend” at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 20. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Hey isn’t that…Oprah Winfrey, working out like regular folk at Balance Gym inside the Fairmont Hotel on Friday? Ahead of Winfrey’s visit to Washington this weekend for her “Life You want” weekend seminar, word was that the TV-host-turned-guru-of-all-things was going to get her sweat on at SoulCycle, the celeb-favorite gym with a new location in Foggy Bottom. But she didn’t turn up at the trendy fitness spot — and now we hear that Winfrey was instead working out oldschool-style, on the treadmill of a hotel gym. Sporting http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/09/22/oprah-sweats-it-out-in-hotel-gym-just-like-the-rest-of-us/

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9/23/2014

Oprah sweats it out in hotel gym… just like the rest of us - The Washington Post

black athletic pants and a pink top, Winfrey was all smiles and friendly to fellow patrons, we’re told. The only clue that this wasn’t your typical convention attendee burning off last night’s buffet dinner in between sessions: the Divine Ms. O wore fashionable dark sunglasses during her session, spies say. A hotel rep wouldn’t say whether Winfrey stayed at the hotel.

Read more Reliable Source: Why Obama loves the Jefferson Hotel D.C. VIPs’ weekend around town ‘Top Chef’ Bryan Voltaggio pleads guilty to DUI Even more surreal estate, Party Diary and Love, etc: Sign up for The Reliable Source newsletter. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Emily Heil is the co-author of the Reliable Source and previously helped pen the In the Loop column with Al Kamen.

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Celebrity Scoop / Oprah Winfrey / Fairmont Hotels / Sweet Suites / Washington DC Hotels / → All Tags

Oprah Winfrey Wears Her Sunglasses in the Hotel Gym, So She Can, So She Can... Where: 2401 M Street, NW [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20037 September 22, 2014 at 5:32 PM | by juliana | Comments (0)

...keep track of the visions in her eyes? It's been a while since we checked in on the hotel habits of Oprahy Winfrey but this sighting by theWashington Post is kind of amazing.

Spies told the paper that Oprah trooped down to the Balance Gym at the Fairmont Washington DCin Georgetown and hit the treadmill. Sporting black athletic pants and a pink top, Winfrey was all smiles and friendly to fellow patrons, we’re told. The only clue that this wasn’t your typical convention attendee burning off last night’s buffet dinner in between sessions: the Divine Ms. O wore fashionable dark sunglasses during her session, spies say. From now on, we will be wearing sunglasses in the hotel gym. Fake it 'til you make it, ladies! At the very least, it will help us feel slightly less mortified about tripping over the equipment in front of everyone (this actually happened to us last week.) So we know where Oprah walked it out but where did she actually stay? This being DC, where powerful dignitaries and other elite VIPs are constant visitors, the Fairmont's suite offerings are up to Oprah's standards, especially those new Ambassador suites. But this Fairmont also sports the hotelwithin-a-hotel concept, Fairmont Gold. Booking one of these gets you a private check-in, dedicated personal service and access to the Fairmont lounge where complimentary cocktail canapés are served between 5 and 7pm. This sorta sounds perfect for Miss O (and us.) We also think she'd die for the high-end Fairmont Gold Chesapeake Suite, a 1,500-sq.ft. space designed by eco-design firm Kelly LaPlante Organic Interior Design, using organic materials, rapidly renewable resources and recycled items. There's also a dining table for 10, original artwork by local artist Jon Wassom and the option of a king bed or one king and two double beds (through a connecting room.) Rates for the Fairmont Gold rooms start around $600 a night. Rates for the regular rooms are around $400 a night. Suites are obviously above our pay grade. [Photo via Oprah Winfrey/Facebook] Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America

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9/23/2014

For a new take on San Francisco, explore Nob Hill and Russian Hill

For a new take on San Francisco, explore Nob Hill and Russian Hill Loading Photo Gallery Alex P ulaski | Special to The Oregonian By Alex P ulaski | Special to The Oregonian on September 03, 2014 at 7:00 AM, updated September 03, 2014 at 7:05 AM If you've done San Francisco a dozen times and concluded that you've seen it all, consider exploring a couple of the city's incongruous neighbors: Nob Hill and Russian Hill. Though similar-sounding and leaning against each other, they were born under different stars and channel a completely different vibe. Nob Hill was a playground for the city's wealthy founding fathers and remains home to elegant hotels and sights; Russian Hill was named for a Gold Rush-era burial site of seven Russians, and offers a tapestry of shops and restaurants that summon comparisons to Portland's Alberta or Hawthorne neighborhoods. If you start your visit, as we did, on Nob Hill, you can absorb the area's history and get oriented through a walking tour with Hobnob Tours (www.hobnobtours.com). From there you can walk or grab a cable car to most of the city's most worthwhile sights, and explore Russian Hill by day or night. Elegant Nob Hill Even if you don't stay there, The Fairmont San Francisco (fairmont.com/ san-francisco) is worth a visit just to drink in its breathtaking lobby. The rooms are similarly fine, with heavy, marble-topped furnishings, plush carpeting, gorgeous porcelain and brass lamps, and, from some rooms, a million-dollar view to downtown and the bay. It's the kind of place where you feel compelled to speak in a hushed voice, and listen carefully for the echoes of the past. Just down the street, the Scarlet Huntington (huntingtonhotel.com) also takes you back to another time at its Big 4 Restaurant on the ground floor â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a monument of burnished wood, plush green leather, brass and copper. A recent renovation has reimagined the rooms in an Asian motif that has jarred some longtime patrons, but the hotel's career staff members are grace personified. Our guide with Hobnob Tours, Margot Heltne, met us in the Fairmont's lobby, where she shared a collection of old photographs of the silver kings â&#x20AC;&#x201C; James Fair, James C. Flood, John Mackay, and William O'Brien -- who made their fortunes through claims on Nevada's famed Comstock Lode. Fair bought the lot where the Fairmont now stands. His daughter, Tessie, inherited the property and built a Renaissance-style hotel that was extensively damaged in the great fire of 1906. Renowned architect Julia Morgan, who went on to design Hearst Castle, was hired to restore it. http://blog.oregonlive.com/travel_impact/print.html?entry=/2014/09/for_a_new_take_on_san_francisc.html

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9/23/2014

For a new take on San Francisco, explore Nob Hill and Russian Hill

Heltne guided us through the hotel and outside, where Flood's brownstone home still stands, though it has been home to a male-only social club for 125 years. "Back in the boom times a lot of Southern women came to San Francisco, and of course there were all the miners," Heltne said. "The effect was that you had this mix of Southern chivalry and Western shovelry." Members of another famous foursome in California history – the Big Four who built the Central Pacific Railroad – also constructed homes on Nob Hill. The site of Collis Huntington's home is now a park. Where Charles Crocker lived now stands Grace Cathedral (gracecathedral.org), whose soaring vault, stained glass and wall murals are surpassed only by its Ghiberti Doors, a replica of the famed bronze doors crafted for the Duomo in Florence during the Renaissance. Shopping in Russian Hill To make your way down from Nob Hill to the shops and eateries on and around Polk Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood, you can either stay on your feet or grab a cable car for the short ride. You'll want to take a detour at some point to walk (don't drive!) the neighborhood's most famous sight – the eight hairpin turns that make a block of Lombard the "crookedest street." We started our exploration with breakfast at La Boulange Bakery (laboulangebakery.com). It's part of a chain, but also cozy and remarkably cheap (baguettes, pastry and a mixture of coffees and juice for four for under $15). You can watch this neighborhood wake up on a weekend morning as we did, sitting on a street-side table over pastries. Along Polk resides an eclectic mixture of shops, from lingerie to hardware to sporting goods. We found a packed farmers market on a Saturday morning, and an assortment of delis with fruits and flowers on display out front. Restaurants and bars abound. Amid all these choices, a few favorites emerged: * Cheese Plus (cheeseplus.com) is a first-rate wine and cheese shop, with notes posted on favored selections, like those you find at Powell's Books. You'll bump into a French Sancerre next to an Oregon pinot noir from Ken Wright, and deli cases populated with a double cream cremont from Vermont, a Stilton from England, a Rogue River blue reserve from Oregon, and on and on... * The Russian Hill Bookstore (russianhillbookstore.com) has new and used books, first editions, games, stationery and a nice selection on San Francisco and its history. * Café Zitouna (sfcafezitouna.com) doesn't offer any pretense in the décor, but the owner may end up waiting http://blog.oregonlive.com/travel_impact/print.html?entry=/2014/09/for_a_new_take_on_san_francisc.html

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9/23/2014

For a new take on San Francisco, explore Nob Hill and Russian Hill

on you, and the Moroccan food is hot, flavorful and authentic. Try the tea, redolent of mint and steeped in sugar. We boarded the cable car one night after dinner there, and I asked the operator whether he wanted to see our tickets. "No," he said, "all I want to see is your smile." Easily done. It hadn't been hiding for long. -- Alex Pulaski ÂŠ 2014 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/travel_impact/print.html?entry=/2014/09/for_a_new_take_on_san_francisc.html

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9/30/2014

Spa-La-La: The Willow Stream Spa in Montreux, Switzerland (NY Luxury)

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