December 2011 travel news: editor's picks
December 2011 travel news: editor's picks
Stamberg Aferiat Architecture - the studio behind Shelter Island House (see W*144) - has designed The Saguaro hotel in Scottsdale, integrating its trademark aesthetic of high American Modernism and zinging colours. The brainchild of New York-based hotel developers Sydell Group, the 194-room lodging is inspired by the hues of the indigenous wildflowers of Arizona and houses chef Jose Garces' 'Distrito' restaurant, serving modern Mexican cuisine. Saguaro spa offers a wide variety of invigorating beauty treatments and massages, and, for a further health kick, there are a wide array of activities available, from hiking to golf. Run by Joie de Vivre - California's largest boutique hotel collection - Saguaro Scottsdale is soon to be followed by Saguaro Palm Springs, due to open in February
4000 N Drinkwater Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251; tel: +1.480 308 1100; www.jdvhotels.com
Writer: Lauren Ho
Amsterdam's Damrak area just got a boost with the opening of The Exchange. The 61-room hotel is the latest offering from independent curator Suzanna Oxenaar and art historian Otto Nan (previously of the Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy, Amsterdam, and the Llove Hotel in Toyko). Eight students from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute were selected to 'dress' the rooms. With fabric designs created in collaboration with Dutch Studio Ina & Matt and the Dutch textile museum, room inspiration ranged from Marie Antoinette to wallflowers and denim jackets. Merging three historical buildings from different periods, the structure took shape under the direction of local architecture firm Onswerk and was constructed to accommodate mini-department store 'Options!' as well as 'Stock'- an all-day breakfast restaurant serving locally sourced fare
Damrak 60, 1012 LL, Amsterdam; www.exchangeamsterdam.com
Writer: Lauren Ho
Archer Street Cocktail Bar and Lounge, London, UK
Siobhan MaGill and Sian Parry-Jones have added a new cocktail lounge with a distinctly alpine feel to Soho's bulging bar scene. Lined with distressed wood-paneling and with cosy alcoves, the new London drinking spot offers an inventive cocktail menu that includes 'Tea Thyme' (a gin-based drink shaken with Gran Marnier, pink grapefruit juice and home-made lemon thyme syrup) and 'Pulp Fiction' (vodka, vanilla sugar, fresh lemon, aooke and beetroot juices). Pop-up entertainment comes courtesy of the all-singing, all-dancing waiting staff
3-4 Archer Street, London, W1D 7AP; tel: 44.20 7734 3342; www.archerstreet.co.uk
Writer: Lauren Ho
Copenhagen's skyline has an impressive new addition in the jagged shape of Bella Sky Comwell. The two towers were created by local practice 3XN Architects and are marked by a triangular-patterned façade designed to insulate solar heat and maximise energy efficiency. The two volumes lean away from each other to allow for the best views. Bella Sky might be a big hotel to furnish - it is the largest in the Nordic region, with 814 rooms - but the owners haven't scrimped on quality. Spread through the hotel is furniture by the likes of Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl and Hay, while bathrobes and slippers are by Danish fashion designer Camilla Staerk
Center Boulevard 5, 2300 København S, Danmark; tel: 45.3 247 3000; www.bellaskycomwell.dk
Writer: Lauren Ho
Sited on the shores of Lake Balaton, Central Europe's largest lake (known as the ‘Hungarian Sea') a new retreat in the Badacsony wine region is making us feel rather thirsty. The hotel's design concept – conceived by Hungary's Geppetto Studio - and spa treatments are both inspired by the local tipple. Enter the hotel and you are faced with a reception desk made from wine barrels, while traditional wine-cellar-decorating techniques have been used on bedroom walls, and above the restaurant hangs a striking bottle installation. In the dark volcanic stone spa – lined with frescoes that explain the basics of the wine-making process - massages are infused with grape seed oil
Bonvino, 8258 Badacsony, Park u. 22, Hungary; tel: +36 87/532-210; www.hotelbonvino.hu
Writer: Sara Henrichs
Located between Hoi An and Danang city, right in the middle of the country's long east coast, this new luxury beach resort is the perfect escape for a post-Christmas detox. The rooms and three private villas incorporate Vietnamese décor, large balconies, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the East Sea and Marble Mountains. The Green House restaurant offers mix of Vietnamese bites and Mediterranean dishes. One of the highlights is the VIE Spa, where you can enjoy treatments such as Mountain Air to energize and uplift or Expansive Sea to calm and de-stress. Once you have reenergized, you can wander off to Halong Bay.
Truong Sa Street, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District, Danang, Vietnam; tel: +84.51 1398 1234; danang.regency.hyatt.com
Writer: Sara Henrichs
Part of the Dorchester Collection, the Hotel Bel-Air has relaunched after two years of refurbishment. The Rockwell group and Alexandra Champalimaud teamed up to create a new feel for the hotel based on 1940s, 50s and 60s Hollywood glamour. They have spruced up the whole property, instilling it with fresh energy. The 103 guestrooms and suites are built into the hillside, featuring expansive sliding glass windows, outdoor terraces with fireplaces and private pools, offering sweeping canyon views.
Star chef Wolfgang Puck is a fitting catch for the restaurant, as he also happens to be a part time actor. Thankfully, the bar and lounge still serves up the same memorable cocktails, such as like the Bespoke Negroni (Hendrick's Gin, Campari, Aperol, Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth) or the ‘Papa Doble' a.k.a. Hemingway Daiquiri (Ron Zacapa Sistema Solera 23 Rum, Maraschino Liqueur, Grapefruit Juice, Lime Juice). The La Prairie spa also fits neatly with the glamorous aesthetic, offering treatments such as a Caviar massage and a Platinum Rare facial.
Hotel Bel-Air 701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles CA 90077, USA; tel: +1.310 472 121; www.hotelbelair.com
Writer: Sara Henrichs
The duo behind The Wolseley, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, have just opened another eatery with a refreshing take on the traditional European grand café. Once again they called in David Collins Studio, who created a refined 1920s space filled with wood, metal, brass and mirrors. The predominantly dark green interior features leather banquettes, while their signature graphic appears on cast-bronze signs applied to pillars at the entrance. Like its sister restaurant, The Delaunay is an all-day operation serving mitteleuropean fare, but additionally incorporates 'The Counter', with a more cafe-like feel. Also based on The Aldwych (but with a separate entrance), the eat-in or take-out menu offers casual dining throughout the day
55 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BB; tel: 44.20 7499 8558; www.thedelaunay.com
Writer: Lauren Ho
With a still intact trove of stately Art Deco mansions and tree-shaded boulevards, Shanghai's old French Concession quarter remains a magnet for enterprising, style-conscious restaurateurs and wine merchants looking for a more intimate setting to the city's bristling skyscrapers. The latest addition to the neighbourhood is Kartel. Locally-based French designers Thomas Dariel and Benoit Arfeuillère gutted the interiors of the fin-de-siecle manse and turned it into a louche three-storey wine lounge. The space is a dramatic mix of exposed concrete walls, raw textured pillars, mirrored walls, custom-made furniture (including bathtubs reshaped into sofas and chrome plated armchairs) and bold slashes of colour. The fusion of past and present elements is at its most expressive in the timber-decked rooftop terrace which has incredible views of the French Concession's nostalgic roofline, framed by the distant towers of downtown Shanghai
Fifth Floor, No 1 North Xiangyang Road, Shanghai; tel: 86.135 1143 2633 www.kartel.com.cn
Writer: Daven Wu
More than a decade after launching his now-global nuevo-Peruano restaurant empire, chef Gaston Acrurio has finally arrived in New York with the opening of La Mar Cebicheria. Set in a high-wattage location along Madison Square Park, in the former Tabla space, La Mar showcases Acurio's contemporary take on traditional Peruvian classics. Spread over two levels of a one-time bank - and designed by New York-based architect Stephanie Goto - the restaurant incorporates a casual ground-floor bar area that leads to a formal, upper-level dining room. The latter is accessed via a monumental staircase, set against a wall, designed by artist Brent Kabayashi, comprising 8,000 individual kernels of corn. In the restaurant, Kabayashi has devised another elegant confection - a cloud-like Chandelier featuring more kernels, suspended on piano wire. As for La Mar's food, executive chef Victoriano Lopez's mostly fish-based menu of traditional ceviches, sashimi-like tiraditos, creamy causa casseroles and hearty meats and stews, richly evokes Peru's Pacific coast and Andean interior, right in the heart of Manhattan
11 Madison Avenue; tel: +1 212-612 3388; www.lamarcibecheria.com
Writer: David Kaufman
Part of the new Swisstouches brand, this 318 room business hotel has just opened in Xi'an, the ancient capital of China, close to the legendary Terracotta army of Emperor Qin. Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates, the interiors were inspired by Switzerland, incorporating the red hue of the national flag and cuckoo clocks that chirp up to announce happy hour in the Club Lounge. An impressive spa covers two floors, offering a large pool and China's first private Jacuzzi cabins. The top floor bar offers great views over Xi'an and has become the fashionable spot to be seen. Try its Choco Martini, made from delicious Swiss chocolate
22 Feng Hui South Road, GaoXin District, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710065, China; tel: 86.29 685 88888; www.swisstoucheshotelxian.com
Paris-based architect Ed Tuttle put Phuket on the design map when he conceived the Chedi resort many years ago, and now he has given it a new lease of life under the name Surin. Tuttle, who made his name by working on the Park Hyatt Place Vendome and many of the Aman Resorts, teamed up with Bangkok-based designer Jon Vorapot Somton to give the hotel a fresh, light and airy feel, incorporating local materials, traditional Thai designs and modern amenities. The 108 thatched-roof cottages have private verandas and secluded sun decks. And the Lomtalay Thai Restaurant, overlooking Pansai Bay, has an excellent selection of seafood. The location is also a winner, being just 20 minutes from the airport and the party destination that is Patong Beach
Pansea Beach, 118 Moo 3, Choengtalay, Talang, Phuket 83110, Thailand; tel: +66.76 621 580; www.thesurinphuket.com
Following the restoration and opening of the Temple Hotel (see W*152), the new Temple Restaurant is the next phase of extensive renovations to a 600-year-old temple in the heart of Beijing's hutongs, behind the Forbidden City. Australian architecture and design firm, Hassell, has given the space a modern spin. The man behind the eatery is Maison Boulud's Ignace Lecleir, whose restaurant menu of contemporary European fare includes dishes such as seafood tartare with cauliflower velouté, suckling pig with caramelised apple compote and salted caramel tart
No.23 SongZhuSi, Shatan Beijie, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100009 China; tel: +86.10 8400 2232; www.temple-restaurant.com
