I’m not sure why rooms with a fireplace are so attractive to me since I have a fireplace at home, but I’m quick to click “buy now” whenever a hotel features a bit of flame. Fireplaces are so romantic that…
Logging Some Romance
Category: Hotels
Southernmost Shelter
Three Inns I Always Want to Return to
Some places stick in your memory even decades after you’ve been there. There’s magic in their atmosphere, or good fairies floating in their mirrors, or memorable scents in their soaps that bring serenity on a visit. No matter how far…
Italy on a Budget: Rome Can Be Reasonable by Staying at the Hotel Suisse
Indulging in some multigenerational travel with the youthful adventurer, the Bashful Adventurer books a stay in the Hotel Suisse Rome. Will it work out?
How to Choose a Hotel in Cancun
With so many hotels in Cancun to choose from, is the Hyatt Regency Cancun the right decision?
Remember the Plaza?
The Rose Club at the Plaza Hotel provides a perfect refuge from a winter afternoon. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
The ladies’ lounge at the Plaza Hotel’s Rose Club was surprisingly in disarray on a recent afternoon. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
After a carriage ride through Central Park, crossing 59th Street for a cocktail at the Plaza Hotel seemed a logical next step. There in the land of Eloise, though, the reality was not quite as perfect as my memories of the place. The Oak Bar is closed, the result of some apparent arrears in rent payments. (It should reopen in a couple of months, a concierge maintained. For now, padlocks remain on its doors. There’s a lawsuit.) The Palm Court just seemed crowded. Tea is okay in the Champagne Bar, but, really, I just wasn’t up for cocktails in the lobby.
Up to the Rose Club we went. The ambience was perfect for a wintry Saturday afternoon. Dark and paneled, the place offered refuge with nice lighting. My mistake was heading for the ladies’ lounge. Trash bins were overflowing and the place was a mess. The attendant just commented, “We’ve been busy.” Doing nothing, apparently.
I was soothed by our Irish coffees, which were perfect and overflowed with freshly whipped cream. Refrain from using the facilities, and you’ll be just fine.
© Lori Tripoli
In Favor of Small Hotels
I can’t imagine a better way to introduce the Youthful Adventurer to Europe than landing at Marco Polo airport in Venice, taking a water bus to Piazza San Marco as dusk descends, and then walking the narrow streets to tiny…