Top U.S. Hotels for Thanksgiving

Leave it to HotelChatter to add some spice to T&L’s hotel recs for your family feast this year. Get the inside scoop on the best Thanksgiving grub, whether you’re craving roasted scallops or some traditional turkey with all the fixin’s. My vote's for the Ritz-Carlton New York-- what about you?

Discover Bhutan with Aman Resorts

The walls have come down. For centuries the Kingdom of Bhutan has been closed to the outside world, its cultures and customs a mystery to the West. Sandwiched between China to the north and India to the south, Bhutan straddles high mountain valleys and remote, unspoiled wilderness. The kingdom has preserved its beautiful Mahayana Buddhist way of life, uninfluenced by the outside world. Forget coffee-table books; now is your chance to see this marvel with your own eyes. By decree of the king, visitors are now allowed to step inside the mountain walls and experience Bhutan in style: Amanresorts is the first foreign company allowed to open a series of luxury properties throughout the kingdom. Amankora opened its first location in June 2004 in Bhutan's Paro Valley. Located 2,500 meters above sea level, the luxury hotel features magnificent wood-paneled interiors, traditional wood burning stoves and glorious views of the surrounding snow-capped peaks. The eight-suite Amankora Punakha is the second resort property, accessed by crossing a suspension bridge over a river. It is situated in lush rice fields near one of Bhutan’s most significant fortress monasteries.

Take advantage of the tailor-made Aman Journey, a circuitous route through the country’s diverse landscapes, for guests to experience and discover the ancient traditions of the Himalayas at each of four luxurious Aman hotels. In November and December of 2005, the Amankora circuit will be further extended with the openings of Amankora Gangtey in the remote Phobjikha Valley and Amankora Thimphu, in the Thimphu Valley, the site of Bhutan's capital city. Amanresorts will book all flights, ground transportation and take care of visas on behalf of guests. Double suites from $900, with an additional $289 for the Tourism Development Fund tax.

Amankora, Official Site

Amankora, Five Star Alliance

Get Fresh With Beauty Products Sky-High

OK, so I´m guilty of reading inflight magazines (along with—um-- the Economist and Finding George Orwell in Burma*), but how else to hear about the latest Inflight Kit from Fresh? Convenient zippered bag includes cleansing towelettes with lotus and pomegranate, in-flight mask, and post-flight serum with green coffee. $130

*ok, ok, add to that the occasional US Weekly probe of Brangelina and TomKat also. It´s just sooo scintillating…

Flying with Fido: Travel with Pets to Europe

This month's issue of National Geographic Traveler explains the regulations required by the European Union when traveling with a pet. It's pretty gnarly. Not just rabies vaccinations-- we're talking microchips embedded in your little mutt. You may want to skip the bureaucratic mayhem and leave Fido at home. The rules as outlined by the United Kingdom's DEFRA

Where to Stay in the City by the Bay: St Regis San Francisco

Premiering November 1st, the exquisite St. Regis Hotel is right next door to SF MOMA and across the street from Yerba Buena Gardens. The hotel incorporates the historical Williams building, which now houses 260 light-filled rooms, a signature restaurant and the 9,000-square foot Remède Spa. Room highlights include leather-textured walls, sleek window seating, 42” recessed plasma television and soaking tubs in each luxurious bathroom. The San Francisco Grand Opening Getaway Package includes services of the signature St. Regis Butler and complimentary valet parking for the duration of your stay. From $329 per night with a two-night minimum stay from November 1-December 30, 2005. Or take advantage of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Package, which includes two VIP tickets to MOMA and two continental breakfasts, with room rates from $399, valid for Thursday through Sunday arrivals.

St. Regis Hotel, Official Site

St. Regis Hotel, Five Star Alliance

Hot Tables in Washington DC: Indebleu

The hype is right. This place is sizzling. (Not just the hotties working there.) Last night I tested a wild mushroom dosa (Indian meets truffle oil?) and the best damn lobster I’ve ever had. Make your ressies here.

Getting Toasty with Ghouls and Ghosties

Head south of the border for Halloween’s biggest party. November 2 is the Day of the Dead in Mexico, a cultural celebration rich in tradition. The graveyard setting may spook you out, but they certainly come to life during this annual festival. On el dia de los muertos, the deceased are welcomed to hang with the living; altars are covered with food, and tombstones are draped with colorful gifts.

Closer to home, check out the annual Halloween exhibit at the Met in New York. This month, Travel and Leisure reports on "The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult" (Sept. 27–Dec. 31). The exhibit shows how affiliates of the 19th-century Spiritualist movement sought to prove the existence of beyond-the-grave communication. Apparently you can even see ghosts in the pix! I’m so there.

Make Way for Mayakoba

Cancun is a mess. Mangrove swamps and coral reefs were paved over for towering high-rises and wet t-shirt contests. God bless the eco-friendly developers at Mayakoba, who are creating a new kind of luxury community just south of there on the picture-perfect beaches of the Riviera Maya. We’re carefully observing this ecoproject, which is ambitious and unique, and may set the standard for responsible, sustainable development worldwide. Mayakoba is a community of five luxury hotels—including Fairmont, Viceroy, Banyan Tree, Rosewood, and La Casa Que Canta—set within sugar white beaches and lush mangrove lagoons. Among all these celebrated resorts (of which the Fairmont Mayakoba is the first to debut in December 2005), guests can experience a range of spa and culinary choices.

Fairmont Mayakoba, Official Site

Fairmont Mayakoba, Five Star Alliance

The Lonely Planet of Airport Guidebooks (Almost)

Ever been lost in the psychedelic maze at Charles de Gaulle airport? Never again, thanks to a new world airport guide, brought to our attention by the savvy folks at Gridskipper.

Buzzworthy: Faena Hotel + Universe

Phillipe Starck has done it again. After conceiving the Hotel Delano in Miami, Mondrian in LA, and New York’s Asia de Cuba restaurant, the master designer continues to knock our socks off with the extraordinary Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires. Decadent, lavish, imperial—the hotel is a contemporary, stylish masterpiece housed in a historic building. The hotel’s “Universe” is a sophisticated multifunctional space that includes an intimate library, elegant restaurants, a swimming pool (i.e. poolside-pretty-people-watching), a caberet, spa with hammam, and academy, offering tango and cooking classes. Each of the 105 rooms have river views, revealed behind automatic velvet curtains and Venetian blinds. Instead of a concierge, personal assistant or butler, lucky guests get “Experience Managers”— who organize every minute detail of the guest’s Porteño experience, including tango dancing, antiquing or—for the brave—polo-playing. We’re all about the hotel’s flexible check-in/check-out policy. (Guests check in whenever they want, and are guaranteed a 24-hour stay.) And with the peso still weak, the glam Latin capital is enticingly cheap. Thus living it large-- whether for a few nights, or a few months-- is not tough.