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Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Madeira Hotels / Portugal Hotels / Orient-Express Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Relaxing at Reid’s Palace in Madeira
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Eric Rosen visits Madeira...in his mind. Enjoy.
I’ve always been intrigued by the emerald isle of Madeira, a strange whalers’ haven that also produces such fine fortified wines, and one day, as I happened upon the web site of Reid’s Palace, a sprawling 19th century hotel that perches on a cliff 150 feet above the azure Atlantic in the island’s capital city of Funchal, that first opened in 1891. The resort is equal parts Riviera redoubt, tropical forest lodge, and seaside getaway. With 128 rooms and 35 suites, surely there was an accommodation for me there.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Rio de Janeiro Hotels / Brazil Hotels / → All Tags
Daydreamin' and Time Travelin' To Rio in 2016
With Rio winning the 2016 Olympics, I've been doing a little daydreaming about where I might stay in seven years' time. Assuming, of course, that I'm a millionaire by then, or at least have some great contacts in Rio, I figured I should stay at one of the best hotels in Rio de Janeiro: the Porto Bay Rio Internacional Hotel. Right now it's the #1 Rio hotel on TripAdvisor and has one other big advantage: it's directly on the beach at Copacabana. What more could I want?
The Rio Internacional (their abbreviation, not mine) has rooms overlooking the beach, and a bunch of facilities I'll be happy to use: two bars, both of which serve caipirinhas, a roof-top pool, free beach services like sunshades, chairs and showers, and fresh flowers and chocolates in your room. Room choice ranges from the superior and deluxe rooms up to the 40 square meter suites which have a veranda balcony and views over the beach.
Not surprisingly, bookings haven't quite yet opened for the Rio Internacional during the 2016 Olympics. I guess there'll be a massive price hike before then, but for now I'm budgeting on the price I'd pay this week: 745 Real ($400) for a suite, per night. Anyone want to guess how much more expensive it'll be when the athletes are in town?
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Colombia Hotels / Remote Hotels / → All Tags
Tough Choice: Office Desk or a Hammock on a Remote Colombian Island?
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K skips off to Providencia Island...in her mind. Enjoy.
After reading the UK Guardian's weekend piece on Providencia Island in Colombia – they raved – that's the new destination on my wishlist. They describe it as a tiny hidden island which is not quite Spanish at all – in fact, they say you get a "do-it-yourself Caribbean experience" on Providencia. Which sounds just like the relaxing, laidback kind of vacation I could do with.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / New Zealand Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Wine, Nature and Golf at the End of the World
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Eric Rosen travels to the end of the earth for a luxury stay. Enjoy.
Summer has not even ended yet, but the crush of autumn obligations and work has already started to feel suffocating. As longer hours, shorter days and colder temperatures threaten, I have been casting my eye around for a way to get away from it all—to the very ends of the earth if necessary—and to find a way to extend summer indefinitely. That is how I settled upon my far-flung destination of The Farm at Cape Kidnappers in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand’s North Island.
With airfares dropping on Qantas and Air New Zealand thanks to new competition from Virgin Australia, it seems like a great time to take advantage of the chance to fly halfway round the world to Auckland…and then take another hour-long flight (or six-hour drive!). Finally, we’re starting to get somewhere.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Kuala Lumpur Hotels / → All Tags
Fantasizing About Hangin' With Sharks In Kuala Lumpur
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving company's dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway; at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
With some friends hanging out in Kuala Lumpur this week, without me, pretty much the only revenge I can get is by daydreaming of staying in a hotel that's far superior to their youth hostel. Getting a killer view will probably help to make my pals jealous, and so the choice comes down to the swimming pool and tennis courts of the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur or the view of the famous Petronas Towers from Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur - two hotels which, incidentally, are the current top two on the TripAdvisor list.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Rome Hotels / Leading Hotels of the World / → All Tags
When In Rome, Go All Out With Italian Sweets
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K visits Rome...in her mind. Enjoy.
There are two reasons I want to stay in the Hotel Lord Byron in Rome, and they're both from the one paragraph of a recent Age review:
Life in the hotel centres around the library and lounge, a beautifully furnished space full of interesting, well-thumbed hardcover books, flowers, bowls of Italian sweets and fabulous framed family photos.
I'm sold by the time I know about the piles of books and the Italian sweets, but apparently there is plenty more in this grand hotel to tempt me. It's elegant, but not too stuffy; glamorous, but not arrogant. It's a five-star place that belongs to the Leading Small Hotels of the World collection, and I like the fact that it's small and tucked into a quiet (but still central) corner of Rome.
I could settle on a Junior Suite at €560 ($730) a night (the full version of the Suite is €735 ($960) a night) and I'd definitely need a booking in the Sapori del Lord Byron restaurant – apparently it's got a French chef but the food is definitely Italian-style and delicious. And I'd need to finish my evening at the hotel's Il Salotto wine bar because they say the pianist there can play anything you request. But hey, I was already satisfied just with the books and the sweets.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Kentucky Hotels / Historic Hotels / Literary Hotels / → All Tags
A Bourbon-Soaked Stay in Kentucky
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Katie K visits Kentucky...in her mind. Enjoy.
Lately I’ve been in a Great-Gatsby-decadence-craving sort of mood (as recessionary escape?). So dress me in my nattiest frock and hand me a bourbon tumbler, because I’m headed to the 1905-built Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, Kentucky, blueblood haunt and one-time writing muse to F. Scott Fitzgerald (penned into immortality as his backdrop for Tom and Daisy Buchanan's nuptials).
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Austria Hotels / Leading Hotels of the World / → All Tags
Channeling Julie Andrews in Austria
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Katie K visits Austria...in her mind. Enjoy.
The recent teases of springy weather have me in a Julie Andrews sort of mood. (I’ll tell you one thing: If my neighborhood had more — er, any — grassy hills, I would spend a lot less time blogging, and a lot more time running around singing about how, you know, alive it all is.) But rather than fantasizing about my frolics on faux hills, I’d rather let my mind drift straight to the source — specifically, the Hotel Schloss Fuschl in Austria.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Venice Hotels / Carnevale Hotels / → All Tags
Drifting to Venice for Carnevale
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Katie K celebrates Carnevale...in her mind. Enjoy.
When I drift into hotel fantasy mode, I tend to have a few requirements, depending on my mood. Sometimes paradise weather trumps all, but today I’m craving an exclusive, unrealistic adventure. You know, the sort of escapade I would have needed to plan months and months and months ago. And with that, allow me to be whisked off to Venice for Carnevale, which runs through Feb. 24. (After all, don’t you think “sinking city” pretty much defines exclusivity?)
Wedged shoulder-to-shoulder among Carnevale revelers, I’ll lose myself in Venice’s seductive mystique as I marvel at the masqueraded mobs. And when I need a break from the fray, I’ll retire to Domus Orsoni, a quaint B&B lodged in the city’s only mosaic tile-making factory.
Steps from the Jewish Ghetto in the authentic neighborhood of Cannareggio, Domus Orsoni features five rooms, each bedazzled with mosaic work (handcrafted at the on-site factory) by a different Italian artist. Maybe I’ll even sign up for a workshop to learn the traditional art of mosaic at the Orsoni studio, as I pluck from its color library (including 2,000 gorgeous hues, with 12 gold leaf varieties) to create a masterpiece to remind me of my Venetian daydream.
Prices start at 80 Euros a night for a single room.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Paris Hotels / Montmartre / → All Tags
Hiding Away in Montmartre
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Katie K fancies a trip to Paris. Enjoy.
This being V-day weekend, I’m feeling a bit sappy — so today’s daydream takes me to clichéd-for-a-reason Montmartre, Paris. In realityland, my most romantic romp in Montmartre was a closet-size rental apartment, but as you know, cubicle dreamin’ calls for a more crème brulee kind of hotel experience.
Voila, the Hotel Particulier de Montmartre, listed prominently on Conde Nast Traveler’s 2008 Hot List.
The five-suite boutique hotel is housed in an 18th-century guesthouse cached in a cobbled corner of swoony Montmartre and surrounded by well-manicured gardens (curated by landscape architect Louis Bénech, the lauded gent who renovated the Tuileries). Though each room is distinct and fascinating, I’m booking the Vegetal guest room, where pretty artist-created wallpaper evokes a treehouse feel.
At Hotel Particulier, rather than drowning in Montmartre’s schmaltzy charm I’ll be sitting pretty in a Mies van der Rohe chair, helping myself to the honor bar while admiring the avant-garde designs of Mats Haglund, a Finnish designer who has worked for Chanel, and other art and fashion luminaries.
[Photo: Hotel Particulier]
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Cayman Island Hotels / Break-Up Hotels / → All Tags
"I Got Dumped and All I Got Was This Awesome Caribbean Vacation"
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Jenn Merritt ponders a "He's Just Not That Into You" type of getaway. Enjoy.
I was just reading in some magazine some girl's account of how she got dumped by her boyfriend and so she decided it was the perfect time to quit her job and move to the Cayman Islands. While I haven't been dumped (not as of this posting, anyway), I sure would like to go to the Cayman Islands. And if getting dumped is what it takes—well, then… There's always other fish in the sea.
I bet there's plenty of fish off the Caribbean Sea-front property at Turtle Nest Inn in Grand Cayman, and from the looks of it, there's more fish than people at this small, eight-apartment resort, which is exactly the sort of thing you need once you've been dumped.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Jamaica Hotels / James Bond Hotels / Ian Fleming / → All Tags
Bonding, James Bonding, with The Goldeneye Resort
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven KatieK seeks Ian Fleming's ultimate writing hideout...in her mind. Enjoy.
Even if you’re not particularly into James Bond movies or books, chances are still fairly high that you’d willingly be whisked away to one of his exotic locales and play the part of the dashing womanizer or beguiling seductress, whichever the case may be.
At least if you’re anything like me. That’s why for this daytime romp through fantasyland, I’m headed straight to the source — Goldeneye Resort in Oracabessa, Jamaica, in the gorgeous villa where Bond creator Ian Fleming wrote 17 (!) of his iconic books. Though the resort has other plush options as well, I’ll opt to stay at the Fleming-designed three-bedroom house, which hugs a cliff lofted above the beach and still includes his writing desk.
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