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ON WOWtraveler.net THIS MONTH Mary Gostelow's Top 10, great hotel rooftops with views. Also read exclusive Insider thoughts from Ron Andruff, former icehockey star turned dot.commer; Sheila Donnelly, top PR guru; Laurence Geller, major hotel owner: Alistair Graham, WOWtraveler concierge, and Sue Harmsworth, founder of ESPA (these change throughout the month so you may have to visit the site several times!) Here, below, are Four Seasons in Central America-Caribbean - Maldives - Sydney - Samoa - Santiago to Buenos Aires - Dalat - Paris Louvre - Rome Sistine Chapel - Dining in London, Tokyo, Cannes - Cruise on Seabourn.
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Four Seasons Central America - Caribbean
First, a trio of Four Seasons resorts. I kicked off at Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, 45 minutes northwest of Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. It is very-Mexican, with sand-colored casitas with tiled roofs, and welcome margarita kits and lovely local staff. I adored casita 400, right above the rocks and the ocean: its outdoor plunge pool is so private no-one can see you skinny-dipping.
Elsewhere on the resort are marvellous beaches, a stunning spa, a Jack Nicklaus golf course that truly has one tee and its hole separated by 174 yards of water. Some mornings, at 11 am a boat pulls in with a package of just-caught fish that the chef explains, and you can choose what you would like for dinner. Because of its layout, security here is so good that you find top-list celebrities - if you can recognise them, that is.
Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Papagayo Peninsula is just that, at the very tip of a narrow peninsula (it is a five mile hilly run back down to the development's highly modern main gate). I was in room 1721, its front at road level, its side terrace some 30 feet on stilts above the near-vertical sloping land. Yes, I had an infinity plunge pool, and there was superb golf here, too, an Arnold Palmer that often allows simultaneous views of ocean both sides of the peninsula. Highlights here included memorable local modern art, including gigantic sculptures, watching the sun set through the trees as I wallowed in the hot tub on the spa's terrace, and Italian food in Di Mare.
After all the lush greenery of the previous resorts, I went to the Bahamas, to Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma at Emerald Bay. To compensate for natural foliage, the landscapers at this very-flat area have done a valiant job with gardens and flowers, the water is really emerald colored, the three-floor houses are painted soft colors - and the golf here is Greg Norman. I would definitely go for a sea-set villa here (9301, in a pale blue and white single-floor block, open direct to the beach, and bay). This is the ideal place for kids, with one of the two main pools dedicated to activity (the other is the quiet pool), and safe beaches and careful staff. This is the resort where legendary travel professional Bill Fischer recalls seeing a butler slithering over the floor, drink held high above him, because he did not want to wake a toddler asleep on the sofa.
In fact all three resorts were great for families, for Italian and local food, for spas and fitness facilities, and golf. All three are run by marvelous people who make a lone woman feel on top of the world. And yes, all three offer that stylish Four Seasons overnight shoeclean, your shoes returned in silk-like tissue paper.Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico, Punta Mita, Mexico
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Sydney
This month Sydney's Hilton reopens, as a completely new building, it seems. The new entrance is street level - and yes, all hotels should be entered from the street but in the 'old' Hilton you had to rise to the upper, first floor, level to get in. Features include meetings for up to 3,000, an 80-foot pool and 25,000 sq ft Living Well fitness center, and a Tony Chi-designed French brasserie which has a wine wall rising through four floors. The old Marble Bar is about the only heritage aspect remaining.Hilton Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Samoa
This month also sees the reopening of Aggie Grey's Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa on Samoa. It was started in 1933 by Aggie Grey, said to be the inspiration for James Michener's Bloody Mary and now the 140-room hotel is owned by her family and the National Provident Fund of Samoa (general manager is Fred Grey, and interior designer is Brazilian model Priscilla Gaido Grey).
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Santiago to Buenos Aires
Butterfield & Robinson, the Toronto-based biking and hiking specialists, have sent me their latest brochure - and I LOVE it. The trip that really excites the most is biking from Santiago, Chile, across to Buenos Aires. It takes in the Atacama Desert, the Mendoza vineyards, and the pampas of Uruguay. Hotels they include along the way the Explorá Lodge in Torres Del Paine, the Park Hyatt Mendoza and Four Seasons Carmelo, though personally I would do my own final hotel in Buenos Aires, either the Four Seasons or the Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, opening this November.Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay, Carmelo, Uruguay
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Dalat
One exciting thing, incidentally, is that we are seeing hotels going into what was previously expedition companies' territory. In Dalat, high in central Vietnam, stay at the Sofitel, formerly the Lang Bian Palace, and they can arrange some of the best (that is to say most challenging) mountain biking that this fit person can ever remember. Far away in Ireland, the Merrion in Dublin now offers a two-day mountain trek package, working with the Dirty Boots Treks Experience. At the end of the hike, relax back in the hotel's Tethra spa.
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Paris Louvre
Want to visit the Mona Lisa in the Louvre? To save time, buy your ticket the day before, and get a museum map from its information center. As soon as the doors open at 8.30am, go in at the Porte des Lions entrance (closed Fridays), rush to the Salle des Etats and you should have 15 minutes alone with the painting, before the crowds arrive.
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London
Time for dining experiences. Designer Jeffrey Beers has made his entree into Europe with modern highlights in the 1827 Benjamin Wyatt building that forms Fifty London, at 50 St James' Street. Planet Hollywood boss Robert Earl has taken over management of the restaurants and bars here, and with the help of Alex Garland and Beers, you now have a stunning deep purple-backed mirror up the rear wall of the two-floor open staircase atrium, and a Chihuly-type white chandelier hanging in the middle. Jean Georges Vongerichten is consultant for both restaurants, the top floor dinner only V by Jean-Georges, and a Pan Asian Rama on the main floor. Do visit the basement nightclub, with below-lit catwalk-type floor and tables that are meant for dancing on. There is also a prominent casino. The only snag is that Fifty London is a club, but if you remembered him from his days at the Lanesborough, go and smile at Salvatore Calabrese in the Salvatore at Fifty bar.The Lanesborough, a St. Regis Hotel, London, United Kingdom
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Cruise on Seabourn
Want a nice cruise? Seabourn Pride has an 18 day cruise from London to New York scheduled to leave August 29th. On your way, you vist Dublin, Inverarary, St John's Newfoundland, Halifax NS and Newport RI. Want to learn to cook? Head for Orient-Express' Villa San Michele in Fiesole, above Florence. On September 16-19 you are entertained at home by Princess Giorgiana Corsini and Giovanna Folonari, both of whom will share family recipes and entertaining hints, and on the 3rd morning Countess Caterina Ballarati Piccolomini will hold court in the hotel's own cooking school.Villa San Michele, Florence, Italy
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