The Windsor Court Hotel Reopens in New Orleans

The legendary New Orleans establishment has opened again with a full range of services. The Windsor Court is well-known as one of the world’s finest hotels, with overly-spacious suites, superb service and cuisine, and the finest collection of European art in the South. In its 20 year history, the Windsor Court has remained a fixture at the top of all the World’s Best lists (Conde Nast, Travel and Leisure, Andrew Harper’s Hideaway, you name it…) Post-Katrina, the hotel is not only housing clients associated with the city’s rebuilding, but is also offering a “Returning Home” rate for locals who need a place to stay while overseeing home repairs. The rate of $235 a night includes suite accommodation, breakfast for two in the New Orleans Grill, and parking. Additionally, the hotel can stock your refrigerator with groceries and configure the in-room phone line to accept forwarded calls from your home or business.

The Windsor Court Hotel, Official Site

The Windsor Court Hotel, Five Star Alliance

Intercontinental Hotels Group to Open Hotel Indigo in Knoxville

Opening in Spring 2006, the centrally-located Knoxville hotel will be Intercontinental’s fifth Hotel Indigo. (Other locations include Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville and Dallas.) The 126-room, seven-storey property will be a conversion from an independent hotel, featuring artwork and furniture that change seasonally. What is the brand Hotel Indigo? It is billed as a brand developed for conversions, to rejuvenate properties that “aren’t reaching their full potential, but are poised for success post conversion.” Hmmm, sounds a little sketchy. But Intercontinental further explains that this “lifestyle boutique hotel defined a new category of hotels targeting the needs of consumers who are ‘trading up’ to affordable luxury and service, but still seek value and style.” The Knoxville Hotel Indigo will feature plush bedding, whitewashed wood furniture, spa-style showers, hardwood floors, wireless internet, personalized service, and fitness studio. Sounds swell. But has anyone actually stayed in a Hotel Indigo—who can provide some insight?

Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas at Sea Island Resorts, Georgia

Sea Island Resorts is absolutely brimming with good cheer and merriment this holiday season. They’ve put together a bunch of events sure to delight the whole family. Activities include: ballroom dancing, nightly elf tuck-in for the kiddies, crafts workshops, holiday bingo, and a Stables Christmas Party-- complete with horses parading in their holiday best, games, and a bonfire for roasting s’mores. The best part of the deal is the guaranteed White Christmas, with a special delivery of blown snow at the Beach Club. Take advantage of the 12 Days of Christmas Package, which includes room, breakfast for the family, welcome gift, Reindog parade, Family Holiday Show, elf tuck-ins, and lots more events. Rates: Ocean House Nature View and Deluxe Ocean View - $350. Ocean House Ocean View - $425. Lodge - $525. Two night minimum required, available December 18 through December 30 (excludes NYE).

Cloister at Sea Island, Official Site

Cloister at Sea Island, Five Star Alliance

The Lodge at Sea Island, Official Site

The Lodge at Sea Island, Five Star Alliance

Spotlight On: Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C.

From now until February 28, 2006, check out an exclusive exhibit at The Gallery at Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. Renowned French painter Jean Marc Huss explores themes that span thousands of years; his works of oil on canvas depict Buddha images dating back to the Khmer Empire. How cool. After you check out the exhibition, check into the hotel’s Presidential Suite, voted one of the best in the world by both USA Today and Elite Traveler. After all, the three-bedroom suite is the choice of heads of state when visiting the nation’s capital-- the very height of luxury. Details include: panoramic views from the floor-to-ceiling windows, two balconies, living room with grand piano, chess table and telescope, a kitchenette, exercise area, and a truly spectacular bedroom. Get this: the master bedroom features a TV above a windowed, infinity-edge SOK tub that fills from a ceiling height nozzle. Wow.

Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C., Official Site

Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C., Five Star Alliance

Spa, Sun and Surf at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica

Business meeting in LA? How about taking it poolside at Shutters on the Beach? It’s got one of the most spacious pooldecks of all the luxury hotels in LA, with full restaurant and bar service along with high-speed wireless internet access. (Not to mention the Jacuzzi with spectacular ocean views.) Shutters conjures images of crisp, white linens matched by whitewashed walls-- the sun-filled spaces the epitome of understated elegance. With a recent interior redesign, the spacious rooms are classy, elegant and reminiscent of a private beach cottage. This is beachfront living at its finest, just minutes from all the fine dining, luxury shopping, outdoor adventure and museums on offer in LA’s neighborhoods. Jog along Santa Monica’s 22 mile beachfront trail, then indulge in a custom treatment by Ole Henriksen at the hotel’s ONE spa. At the Getty Center, forget the art; the building itself is an architectural triumph (comprised of blocks of unpolished marble with imbedded fossil specimens), with a killer view to match. Over the weekend, head to the Santa Monica’s Farmers Market before hitting the luxury boutiques on Main Street or Montana Avenue.

Shutters on the Beach, Official Site

Shutters on the Beach, Five Star Alliance

Palate Perfection: Delfina Restaurant in San Francisco

The cat’s been out of the bag for sometime about this perfect Mission trattoria, but I still start salivating when someone mentions the menu. Even just a nibble of antipasti will suffice. Especially when it’s prosciutto San Danielle with fuyu persimmons and Parmigiano. And believe it or not, the all-organic menu’s not even the best part. Despite its chic clientele and happening atmosphere, this place remains true to its Mission environs—the staff friendly, tattooed, and down-to-earth.

Heli-Skiing in Alaska and Switzerland

I admit it; I’ve never done it. But after a few beers the other night with a couple who lead springtime Heli-skiing tours in Alaska, I was well on my way out the door. Who needs the tropics when I could ski snow-capped peaks and glacier-carved mountains all by my lonesome?! (And I’m no ski junkie.) Up in Alaska, the winter season runs from late February until May. Heli-skiing operations like Points North Heli-Adventures (utilizing over 1,000 sq miles of skiable terrain in the Chugach mountains) provide an average of 20-25,000 feet of vertical per day. (Excursions average 6-10 heli runs and $850-900 a day.) I checked out a feature in Outside Traveler’s Winter issue, which was equally as convincing about heli-ski tours in the central Alps. Apparently heli-skiing trips in Switzerland used to be rather boring—a daytrip appended to a traditional lift-skiing vaca at the big resorts. But this season, adrenaline hounds can experience SwisSkiSafari’s Ultimate Journey, as described by the Outside author:

“a four-day, five-night, fine-wine-and-slide luxury tour that zips skiers around the country’s top resorts in privately chartered B3’s and Bell 407’s. You start in Verbier (about 1,000 miles east of Geneva), then fly east to Zermatt and Saas Fee, making backcountry drops in between—wherever the snow is best. Doing 5,000- to 7,000-vertical-foot runs in a single push can hurt, but returning every evening to top-notch digs and massages blunts the pain.”

Bring it on! Can anyone advise me-- additionally-- about good operators in the Rockies?

Indoor Water Parks Open in the Northeast: Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos

Live in the Northeast? Don’t worry about flying to Florida this winter when you can take your swimsuit to a water park!, a recent AP article counseled. Hmmm, a lodge in the Poconos vs. Miami Beach. Somehow-- I muse-- it’s not quite the same thing… But read on, loyal reader, the concept is pretty sweet. The park in question just opened in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains (very convenient to the whole Megalopolis of the East Coast), and another one is opening soon in New York’s Adirondacks. Great Wolf Lodge is a 78,000 sq ft indoor water park, with 401 suites (log cabin style), an arcade, spa, restaurants and fitness center. This is a full-service family resort, and the kids go gaga over the water park’s 11 slides, wave pool, winding river, and whirlpools. The price ranges from $189 in the off season to $569 for a luxury suite during the holiday peak.

New York’s 8th Annual Chocolate Show

Though perhaps a bit trite after my last news alert, I can’t resist passing on the news about New York’s Chocolate Show. I missed the fashion show opening on the 10th, but Gridskipper and Luxist provided nice descriptive reviews, and reading about it is half the fun! Hurry over to the Metropolitan Pavilion, to get your chocolate fix, before it closes on the 13th.

George Clooney’s Las Ramblas, Las Vegas

This is no Vegas heist. George Clooney has graduated from robbing Vegas casinos on film, to actually developing them. Clooney, along with night-club extraordinaire Rande Gerber, Related Las Vegas and Centra Properties, have partnered to create Las Ramblas—a $3 billion luxury hotel-condo-casino complex. Its namesake, the legendary boulevard in Barcelona, inspired the urban plan of an outdoor pedestrian promenade lined with European cafes and boutiques. (So guests can feel like they’re actually walking through a city! How novel.) The 25-acre development is situated along Harmon Avenue, just west of the Hard Rock. Along with 4,400 hotel and condo units, Las Ramblas will have a 30,000 sq-ft spa, swimming pools, upscale shopping and a 40,000 sq-ft casino. Not to mention the best and chic-est nightlife. After all, these are the guys whose After Midnight Company (evolved from The Whiskey Bar brand) has helped revolutionize and innovate nightlife across the country. Scheduled to open in 2008. Strict dress code, folks.