The Lobby from SPG

Four Block Radius: Town Restaurant

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 08:29:05 -0500

Barely a block away from the St. Regis Hotel is Town restaurant, a richly appointed and high-ceilinged temple of haute, nouveau, French, American, and most every other popular luxe cuisine influence. Chef Geoffrey Zakarian does everything to the extreme, though it's not crazy food -- it's just big flavors, big ingredients, and of course, big prices. A few seasonal selections are joined by dependable menu options like escargot risotto, Basque veal tongue, or duck steak. Even the non-seasonal items rotate in and out every few weeks, so be prepared for some reasonable safe gustatory adventuring (though no guarantees about harm done to your wallet). Meal-closers are a particular highlight, with the molten-chocolate-filled beignets called "one of the city's great desserts" by New York magazine.

Vanouver Art Gallery Vacations

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 08:15:55 -0500

If you live in the northwest, you probably already know that the Vancouver Art Gallery is one of the region’s top museums. The Westin Grand Vancouver offers the chance for art-lovin’ visitors to make a weekend out of their visit with the Vancouver Art Gallery Experience. Prices start at $229 a night and include free admission to the Gallery and a buffet breakfast for two. The Vancouver Art Gallery is currently offering special exhibitions of work by Bryan Jungen and of British pop culture-related art. Their permanent collection includes art from British Columbia that stretches back more than 100 years.

Self-Erasing Flash Drives

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 07:12:31 -0500

Here's a nifty piece of James Bondesque gadgetry. The Kingston Self-Destruct Privacy Flash Drive is a 1GB flash drive with a kick. The drive, which requires a password to access, will automatically erase and scramble all data after 25 failed password attempts. Aimed at the business market and government agencies, it uses encryption schemes that make the drive virtually unreadable post-erase and flexible password requirements. As far as the technology? It has a 128-bit AES and transfers at 24MB/read and 14MB/write, putting it in the upper ranks of the flash drive market.

Friday Links

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:47:40 -0500

• Lufthansa Special Prices for World Cup [Flyaway]
• Michaelangelo Demand Beats Museum's Peak [The Guardian]
• What to Tip the Concierge [Smart Money]
• Want to Go Bowling in London? [Wallpaper*]
• The World's Best Coffee Shop? [Concierge]
• A Revitalized Toronto Pins Its Hopes on the Hobbits [New York Times]

iRock Wi-Fi Detector

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:00:49 -0500

When traveling, there’s always the dreaded curse of the Wi-Fi. And don’t pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about. When sitting around a (insert coffee shop/restaurant/bar/park here) and trying to use your laptop to check for that urgent e-mail, you’re all set… but you can’t find a signal anywhere. The first generation of Wi-Fi hotspot detectors, well, didn’t do the job. But the folks over at Gizmodo recently pointed out the joys of the new iRock Wi-Fi Sentry. The souped-up Wi-Fi detector not only seeks out signals with deadly accuracy, but can pinpoint the direction of the signal and the strength too. Not bad for twenty dollars.

[Via Gizmodo]

Where to Stay for the Big Dance

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 07:37:30 -0500

The NCAA Tournament is plowing through the sweet sixteen, and by Sunday the teams will be winnowed to the Final Four. Then the tourney packs up and moves to Indianapolis, where the final three games of the season will be played. Needless to say, this is a big event for college basketball fans and Indianapolis boosters alike.

Whether you’ve booked your room for this weekend, or have plans to be staying in Indianapolis sometime soon, the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites is a solid bet for accommodation. It’s got everything you’ll need to prepare for the game, including high-speed internet in the rooms and a heated whirlpool to soak away the pre-game jitters.

Placed smack dab in the center of the city (in the famed Keystone at the Crossing), the Sheraton is connected by skyway to the Indianapolis Fashion Mall. That means you don’t have to brave the elements to buy any last minute face-paints for the game if it’s unseasonably cold. What a relief!

aloft Quintuplets to Arrive in Dallas

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 07:01:04 -0500

More and more cities are announcing plans to create new aloft hotels. The latest launch notice came in from Dallas-Ft. Worth, with developers planning to build five alofts in and around town. The new properties are slated to spring up at locations in downtown Dallas, Frisco, Las Colinas, Plano, and in the Ft. Worth downtown arts district near Texas Christian University. Groundbreakings on all five Dallas-area aloft sites is scheduled to take place this year, with the new hotels opening up in 2007 and beyond.

Tips for Easier Flying

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 07:57:11 -0500

We might all think we're seasoned fliers, but when something goes wrong we suddenly become incorrigible toddlers demanding our way. Just think, if we prep ahead of time, as is the case with most everything in life, we realize how much smoother flights can go. Fodor's alerts us to some tips for flying hassle-free that include leaving early (so the wedding's on Saturday, do you really want to get there that morning?), aiming for smaller, local airports if you can (shorter lines, easier navigation) and leaving ample connection time (take the recommendation and tack on 20 mins). Sure, they might seem obvious, but when you make your next reservation keep these and the other tips in mind and you'll stay calm and tantrum-free.

image via mavarin.com

Sweet Honeymoon Deal

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 07:55:40 -0500

It’s hard to resist any service that actively encourages shirking work, especially anything to do with--gasp--wedding plans. Starwood’s Honeymoon Concierge is no exception. As weddings themselves get more elaborate, honeymoons have been getting the short shrift. Newlyweds are too exhausted from planning their nuptials to actively engage in celebrating connubial bliss. Not fair!

The Honeymoon Concierge will register you for gifts, help you plan the honeymoon based on what you’d like—including choosing hotels, finding good deals, and even pointing out good restaurants—all for free. The Concierge will even call you after you sign up.

The only improvement to this service we could think of involved palm fronds, peeled grapes, and a sedan chair. Now we just have to find someone to pay for the whole thing…

Las Vegas Roundup

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 07:21:58 -0500

Travel media monolith Lonely Planet recently did a Las Vegas podcast. Now we know that half the fun of Las Vegas is the visual goodness of over-the-top stage shows and pyrotechnic hotel and restaurant promotions, but we think that Lonely Planet did an okay job of covering goings-on in the city of blackjack and Wayne Newton. Meanwhile, the folks over at the New York Times ran two parallel Las Vegas articles: Vegas on $1000 a day (Barry Manilow, sports gambling, a shooting range with submachine guns) and Vegas on $250 a day (The Liberace Museum, free drinks at a gallery opening… and a shooting range with submachine guns). More in Las Vegas? Well, there’s our own Starwood property—The Aladdin.

The Pros of Packing Light

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 07:17:49 -0500

No matter how nice your hotel room, you have to put up with a lot to get there. One of the most enduring hassles of travel is hauling your luggage around, which in turn leads to the most enduring dilemma of travel -- what to pack? The light-packing evangelists at One Bag believe in just that: one bag.

But that's just the beginning. One Bag offers an annotated suggested packing list, but the site also has extensive advice on types of luggage and ideal methods of efficient packing. You might think you need to pack for everything from beach time to a coronation ball. But hey, you can always use a few Starpoints to spring for laundry service, so why not travel light?

Right On, Right Bank

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:46:47 -0500

Paris is a big place, and getting from one end to the other can be something of a problem. Le Meridien Etoile Paris, located on the city’s Right Bank at the Porte Maillot metro stop, is perfectly located as a base of operations to see the rest of the city. It’s a short hop—just fifteen minutes—to standbys like the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay.

Nearby, and also on the Right Bank, is the restaurant Bon (tel. 01-40-72-70-00). They serve fresh continental cuisine in a restaurant with an interior designed by Philippe Starck. It has an ever popular secret back room, but the main dining area, filled with billowing white curtains, is just as stunning. As for the food, patrons can choose how they would like it prepared and how it’s garnished. Think of it as the world’s fanciest Macaroni Grill.

Fashion/Function

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:04:05 -0500

Actually I get it; if you're already putting time, attention and funds towards high fashion clothes and matching luggage, you might as well have high-end accessories to go with them. Your $2 travel size toothbrushes have uncomfortably stiff bristles and come in some hideous shade of fluorescent plastic, as opposed to the MARKO brush offered by OHSO accessories, which looks a lot like a chrome fountain pen, and functions a lot like one as well by self-applying toothpase via an internal reservoir.

No, a designer travel toothbrush selling at $20 is not over the top. But just let the product speak for itself. Gizmodo's bemused take on the MARKO's promo shot featuring either a male model or a member of fashionable rock group Interpol "demonstrating action in an urban environment to sell you a toothbrush" is still right on the money.

Green Juice from Mexico

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 07:59:21 -0500

Andy Venkatesan is the executive chef at both the El Careyes Resort and the El Tamarindo Resort in Jalisco, two of the finer Latin American jewels in the Luxury Collection. He recently gave thelobby.com the recipe for the signature drink of his two resorts, simply called “Green Juice”:

(solid ingredients – use in small amounts)
· Celery
· Cactus leaves (nopales)
· Cucumber
· Spinach
· Alfalfa

(drinks to blend into)
· Pineapple Juice
· Grapefruit Juice
· Orange Juice

Put ingredients in a blender; puree until smooth.

Think of it as a high-end V8; it’s non-alcoholic, easy to make (we’ve even seen cactus leaves in our local Whole Foods recently) and thoroughly addictive.

Le Meridien Montparnasse Towers Over the Rest

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 07:52:26 -0500

Now’s the time to hit up Paris. It’s after spring break, but before the tourist crush of the summer, and the days aren't horribly short anymore. The Le Meridien Montparnasse is in the only part of Paris zoned for skyscrapers, which gives it a homey touch for Manhattanites.

Just because there are skyscrapers doesn’t mean it’s without artistic cred. Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald both frequented neighborhood haunt Le Dome in addition to Papa’s famous cafés of choice in the Saint-Germain-des-Près.

As a gourmand himself, Papa would likely have appreciated the gourmet buffet-style restaurant Justine at Le Meridien Montparnasse. It’s hard to tell if he’d be impressed with high-speed internet access, 45,000 square foot convention center, or lithographs by famous artists/Montparnasse residents in the rooms, but they’re a pleasant addition nonetheless.