Category: Hotels

Luxury Hotels That Life Up To The Hype!

St. Regis Bal Harbour

Still looking for an elegant and luxurious home away from home while you travel with your family for the remainder of the summer ? Why not try any one of these insanely beautiful and soignee hotels listed here? All of them stemmed from The World Top 100 Hotels in the United States and Canada, from The Robb Report. 
There are so many fine choices to look at, (from the Mandarin Oriental in Atlanta, The Four Seasons in Santa Fe, to the Waldorf Astoria here in New York). But alas, time only allowed for simply nine of which I’ve had the pleasure of staying in. For the complete list, check out the article directly from The Robb Report. Hope you’re enjoying your time in the sun!


Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta
Four Seasons Santa Fe
Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas
The Nines
Waldorf Astoria
Mandarin Oriental San Francisco
Four Seasons Seattle
The Hay-Adams

Images via The Robb Report

Legendary Luxury Hotels to Fall in Love With

The Suite Life
Visit our Top 7 choices of the most glamorous places to stay this holiday season.
Signature Suite at Hôtel Metropole
The Bentley suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City
Bentley theme suite, St Regis, NY
The newly renovated Hotel Jerome, in Aspen Colorado has never looked better
English elegance at the Madarin Oriental, London
The lure and excitement of being in Tangier rises to the top at the Laurence of Morroco Hotel
One of the few places where great fashion ideas took shape: The Coco Chanel Suite at The Ritz, Paris
The Elton John Suite at The Ritz Hotel, Paris

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La Dolce Vita di Fendi

Fendi Casa’s Dining Room
LUXURY LIVING
Fendi Casa made a stunning ultra-chic showhouse (the first of its kind) at NYC’s ubber cool Setai Hotel. The world famous iconic Italian designer unveiled a contemporary home collection in the posh quarters of the private residences at 400 Fifth Avenue. I was quite impressed with their Italian fashion and accessories brand, which were sleek, modern and sophisticated.

For this highly anticipated project, FENDI CASA has transformed the expansive three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom penthouse 2N into a vision of contemporary elegance.

With a clear focus on rich materials and clean lines, the 3,292-square-foot residence features their own leather sofas and chairs, lacquer furniture, signature rugs and chandeliers in tones of champagne, ivory, black and chocolate, meticulously paired with the property’s lush hardwood and stone finishes. As a final touch, modern art from the renowned Hirschl & Adler Galleries were on loan to create a stunning, visually compelling image only rivaled by the breathtaking, floor-to-ceiling views enjoyed from every room.
In choosing 400 Fifth Avenue as the locale for its first New York City show home, FENDI has selected a building acclaimed for its inspired, contemporary design and exclusive amenities and services. Opened in 2010, the 60-story building encompasses a collection of 169 upper-floor private condominium residences, along with the award-winning hotel Setai Fifth Avenue, named the 2012 Best Hotel in New York City by U.S. News & World Report Travel. “It was extremely important for us to partner with a building that evokes a similar design sensibility,” said Raffaella Vignatelli, President of Luxury Living – FENDI CASA. “With the exceptional penthouse at 400 Fifth Avenue, we have found an ideal environment in which to showcase FENDI’s trademark style.”  Designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates and expertly appointed by interior design firm DAS Concepts, 400 Fifth Avenue boasts imported Italian cabinetry, hand-laid black-oak flooring, stone countertops, state-of-the-art appliances and panoramic, floor-to-ceiling views. Among its many exceptional offerings, the building houses Ai Fiori, the three-star Italian restaurant from celebrated chef Michael White, along with Bar on Fifth, Auriga Spa and Julien Farel Salon. Residents also have access to premier hotel services, including in-home catering, valet parking, linen and turn down service, and housekeeping, as well as unique on-call services such as pharmacist, physician, dentist, airport transportation and childcare. 


For more information about The Residences at 400 Fifth Avenue, visit www.400fifthavenue.com or contact the sales office at (212) 736-3500.


Family Room
Guest Bedroom
Living Room
Master Bedroom

“We are so pleased FENDI has chosen 400 Fifth Avenue as the site for its first New York City show home,” said Giuseppe Rossi, executive vice president of Bizzi & Partners Development, developer of 400 Fifth Avenue. “For more than 80 years, FENDI has established itself as a world leader in high fashion and design, renowned for its innovation and commitment to using the finest materials. We share in those same principles and are delighted to collaborate with this esteemed company.”

Public Interest



SO CHIC!
Summer travels means staying at chic hotels all over the globe. I’ve always had a deep fondness for the ultra chic ones. At present, I’m thoroughly impressed with PUBLIC Chicago and finds it extraordinarily grand. As an interior designer, I often scrutinized the decor of the hotels I visit or happen to be staying  – even down to the silverware. How about you?

Stately Presence
Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC Hotel in Chicago
Hotelier/perfectionist, Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC hotel is located in a landmark building of Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Despite its name the hotel is discreet and has a very private feel. In truth, this is a home away from home with cool lighting, decorative art deco door knobs, attentive service, “non-colors” decorations which provide a serene, elegant, and non-sterile look. But there’s nothing colorless about the hotel’s ambiance, especially the Pump Room, once home to the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra. The various times that I stayed there, I’ve always set aside some time to come down and experience their beautiful and energetic bar/restaurant. PUBLIC Chicago is the sort of hotel that suits my design aesthetics to a T. If I was to design a hotel, it would come up pretty close to PUBLIC. And it will be simply splendid.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s lively Pump Room Waiting Area
The Library Bar

 Pump Room
The Screening Room
Penthouse Suite
Minimalist Glamor
And so to bed…

Photos courtesy PUBLIC Chicago
All rights reserved

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The New Textile Collection from Christopher Farr and Kit Kemp

Crosby Street Hotel V.I.P. Theater/Screening Room

The Crosby Street Hotel celebrated International design fabulously, this past June the 21st. British Interior Designer and the creative force behind Firmdale Hotel Group interiors, Kit Kemp launched a new collection of textiles and rugs in collaboration with Christopher Farr Ltd. The hot, steamy night in New York’s early summer set the mood for the evening’s mischief.

Descending into the cellar of The Crosby Street Hotel we were refreshed by coolness, both in temperature and style. Hand-knotted rugs and handsomely displayed fabrics with embroidered and printed gorgeousness caught our eye and sparked conversation.

A bevy of design professionals were peppered throughout. Cooling down were Kit Kemp, Christopher Farr, Matthew Bourne, Ronald Bricke, Patrick Hamilton, Leah Blank and Bryan Dicker.
Not only was the crowd fun, but the cute and attentive staff kept our palette excited and our glasses full. It was the perfect kick-off for Summer Design fun.
As we minced through the crowd looking at the rugs and textiles…we discovered the V.I.P. Theater/Screening room with cushy seats covered in a Hermès like luxe leather. Swooning ….. Now we knew the source of the gasps of excitement. The only disappointment was that there was no mezzanine to perch from. Photos on the event can be found at Facebook/highendweekly.
The Crosby Hotel is located at 79 Crosby Street, NYC | 212.226.6400
Article Contributed by POP

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The Weekender: Shanghai: the Art Deco pearl of Asia

Please join me in welcoming our guest blogger, Richard Rabel. Richard is a New York-based interior designer and art advisor, with a keen eye for some of the most exquisite objets d’art and design. A multi-linguist with a ten-year career as a senior officer and specialist in a London-based international auction house, twenty years of art and design study and over thirty years of international travel, Richard has lived in seven countries and has had access to some of the most exquisite and exclusive spaces. From San Francisco to Mexico City, Sao Paulo to Geneva, Istanbul to Delhi and Sydney to Shanghai, the breadth of his travels has cultivated his eye and contributed to defining his exacting taste and modern aesthetic.
Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s was a bustling international city with government officials and businessmen from England, France and Germany rubbing shoulders with Russian aristocrats exiled from St. Petersburg, American gangsters from Chicago, not to mention the glamorous remnants of China’s Imperial Court. So it is no surprise that with money flowing freely into this capitalist hub, fashion and styles from the West followed too.
The star of the city was (and still is) the Bund, a riverside promenade graced by hotels and offices of the foreign banks and businesses that made Shanghai the most important city in Asia in the first half of the 20th Century. But where did this melting pot of aristocrats, starlets, international business moguls and government officials converge? They did so at The Cathay Hotel, built in 1929 and one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture and decoration in the city.

Can you imagine the feeling as you came in from the crowded, grimy streets into the elegant octagonal lobby? This was the most luxurious hotel in the city and was known for the jazz band that played in the 9th floor restaurant. The interior was decorated with Italian marble and Lalique glass, while the furnishings were imported from France. This was the jazz age on speed!

Photos courtesy Fairmont Hotel Group

Today, after a half century of communist ownership as the Peace Hotel, the Canadian Fairmont Hotel group has restored the hotel to its previous glory and has once again, made this THE hotel to stay in Shanghai. History repeating itself! 
Written by Richard Rabel from the Modern Sybarite™

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Dream Hotel Downtown

Wait a minute. Was that Jack Dorsey at the bar with a group of what’s look like his buddies from Silicon Valley? And guess who just “downloaded” her presence, accompanied by a small army of bodyguards? Yes, it’s the pink Friday superstar, Nicki Minaj. Warning: Checking in at the Dream Hotel Downtown may cause some serious celebrity whiplash.






Not that I mind that at all. I like visiting the Dream for those frivolous reasons, but I also like its cutting edge surreal and contemporary design. Discovering whimsical design details in a hotel brings me some relief, because the space suddenly doesn’t have this “decorated” feel to it. The design of this hotel manages to pull this off, as it offers their guests wistful decor combining traditional and modern elements. The loft-inspired guestrooms and suites are something to behold. How do you describe modern elegance, cosmopolitan glamor, mixed with top-notch service? Simple, the answer is DREAM.
Guestrooms
The main lobby area
Pool Terrace Suite
Courtesy of the Dream Hotel Downtown

The Weekender: Caudalíe Spa at The Plaza Hotel





The Star Treatment 
Located inside an iconic building tucked right next to Central Park is this 8,000 square foot destination spa that goes by the name of Caudalíe Vinothérapie® Spa. This exotic haven situated in the 4th floor of The Plaza Hotel encompasses the signature design elements of Caudalíe’s worldwide spas which represent total warmth, tranquility, combined with elegance.

The decor is all about precious cherry wood, a mix of natural materials, smooth dark stones and symbolic vine sculptures. The overall result is a space that is intimate, modern, with tremendous ambiance. Guests pad around this extensive property while enjoying services like, honey & wine wrap, red vine barrel bath, crushed cabernet scrub, fresh grape massage and a menu of their world-famous facials with grape and active vine patents, along with Caudalíe’s products that purify, firm, energize and illuminate their skins. Over the holidays, my friends Donald and his wife visited this spa, and indulged their senses with these signature treatments:
  • Refreshing massage under a Vichy shower
  • Energy® wrap
  • Slimming wrap
  • Caudalie massage* for two: divine duo!
  • Pregnancy message
  • Caudalie grand facial treatment
  • “Premier Cru” treatment.

Plaza Vine

Husband and wife team, Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas, revolutionized the spa world in 1999 when they introduced the first-ever Vinothérapie® Spa in the heart of the Châteaux Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard (Bordeaux, France), harnessing the untapped, restorative power of grapes and grapevine polyphenols. Caudalíe is rated the second best spa in the world by Travel & Leisure and “Hot Spot” by Condé Nast Traveler, it is a world-renowned destination with treatments and techniques developed exclusively for their spas – a second in the Rioja region of Spain whose property was designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, followed by Les Etangs de Corot in Versailles.
For Mathilde, The Plaza is special in many ways, “I want for this first Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa in the US to offer New Yorkers a sample of French life and our “Art of the Vine” in the heart of this always moving city.
Caudalíe Spa
The Plaza Hotel
One West 58th Street, Floor 4 
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212 265 3182 
Hours: Open 7 days a week, 11am – 6pm

Cover photo: Plaza Vichy Shower

French Paradox Lounge
An 800 sq ft. Wine Lounge stocked with wines from Château Smith Haut Lafitte, the family estate and vineyard of Caudalíe founder, Mathilde Thomas. The Lounge features an imposing wine cellar of wood and bissazza tile, with a floor of slate grey tiles interspersed with elegant rugs and comfortable chairs and couches.
Photos courtesy of Caudalíe
All rights reserved

The Weekender: Endless Summer

Capri, c’est fini!

The last few days, I’ve been thinking allot about Capri, Italy. In this blog, I often talk about my hotel experiences. Either those I’ve been to, or those I’ve yet to explore.

The J.K. Place Capri is perched on a cliff above the sea, and it boasts breathtaking, ringside views of the waves.  As well as a sense of being on a yacht, with its pale-wood floors and jauntily striped textiles which you will find throughout the beautifully decorated 22-rooms hotel.


The J.K. Place Capri is the sort of hotel that is definitely high on our family’s list. A few years back, one of my designer friend stayed at this hotel which is located off above the main ferry port of Marina Grande.

 Now married with children, my friend is about to embark on another adventure to Capri, and he’s been recalling his memories of this town and the hotel, as they’re getting ready to take off in the middle of next week.

The main dining room is mainly all white (but exceptionally attractive with accents of fresh flowers and beautifully designed pillows), which makes it a heavenly welcome, especially during those 
morning breakfasts.  
The penthouse suite is spectacularly designed with muted tones so as not to distract from the main attraction – the ocean view.  How gloriously inviting is this view?

The hotel was stylishly decorated by Florentine decorator Michele Bonan.  The design feels like the house of a refined and wealthy collector, and the accents throughout the place are a bit feminine, and at times, nautical.

There are splashes of bright and pastels colors throughout the hotel, to enliven the eclectic sprinkling of antique furniture.  All the public places have dark-wood floors which give J.K. Place
Capri a true sense of being a resort hotel.
Recent pieces in sixties-retro style, wing chairs, statues and framed atelier drawings decorate the downstairs lounge, and library. All these elements contribute to a feeling of a home away from home.
Although a bit out of the way (which I think is part of its charm), you will have to take the funicular or a car to reach Capri town, but the hotel is well worth the effort, and I look forward to discover it one day. But for now, I will have to live vicariously through my friend Bernard and his wife Sophie. 
225 Via Provinciale Marina Grande
Marina Grande, Capri
Italy 80073
Tel: 39 081 838 4001
* Don’t forget to participate in our End of Summer Giveaways, listed here on High End Weekly™.
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The Weekender: Relax, Unwind and Pamper

Spa Pampering Treatments at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City

What a week it’s been! With the US avoiding defaulting on their debt by a hairsbreadth, and just a few moment ago Standard & Poor’s downgraded the US long-term sovereign credit rating to AA+ from its top rank of AAA, I say it’s high time for some Spa Therapy.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be booking mine ASAP, and yes, the spa of choice will be the Mandarin Oriental Hotel New York. Without a doubt, it is THE TOP Spa Destination, and here’s the reasons why:
It boasts six multi-functional treatment rooms with private showers
Thai Yoga Suite with deep soaking tub and water features
VIP Spa Suite with fireplace and private steam & shower

    Separate men’s and women’s heat experiences – vitality pool, amethyst crystal steam room

    Separate men’s and women’s relaxation lounges
    Oriental Tea Lounge
    Spa cuisine
    Spa boutique to extend your experience at home
    Exclusive Mandarin Oriental Signature Spa Products

    Of course going to the spa won’t solve this world’s woes, but it will certainly rejuvenate your spirit and help your body and mind prepare for the next round of life’s unexpected travails.

    Mandarin Oriental Hotel New York
    80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street
    New York, New York 10023
    T: 212.805.8800

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