Intelligent Travel

Tree-Hugging Lodge Opening in Montana

We recently gave you an up-close and personal look at the Proximity Hotel, an eco-savvy hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. Now IT brings you another style of eco-dwelling: The Lodge at Sun Ranch, opening  June 6.

Located on Sun Ranch’s 26,000 acres in Montana’s Madison River Valley, the intimate Lodge (16 guests max, please) boasts a lengthy list of love-the-earth tactics, beginning in the rooms themselves. The Lodge uses biodegradable shampoos, organic cotton linens and towels, and detergents free of hazardous chemicals, among a slew of other guest room eco-amenities.

The Lodge remains green throughout the rest of the property, too, and brings in guest speakers to promote conservation education. And it should come as no surprise that one of IT's favorite touches is the Lodge's sustainable cuisine, which uses organic, natural and local ingredients.

The Lodge on Sun Ranch even plants 10 trees in the Amazon through Trees for Travel for every guest to offset carbon emissions. (We can’t imagine how many trees other hotels would have to plant to achieve the same goal.)

Before you consider “booking it” to Big Sky Country, have a look at National Geographic's recently released MapGuide for the area, and read about Montana's cinematic history and scenery. Bike enthusiasts and/or history buffs should check out Adventure Cycling Association's week-long pedaling trip through Montana's historical hot spots.

Photo: The Lodge at Sun Ranch

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Good Things Come in Green Packages

With Earth Day rapidly approaching (that's April 22nd), many hotels are now offering packages to take advantage of the day. Here's a roundup of some of the properties we've found that are doing their bit to help save, and celebrate, the Earth:

You can leave the car behind and save the Earth one step at a time with 70 Park Avenue Hotel's Eco Step Savings package, starting at $259 per night, through May 31. Guests at this midtown Manhattan hotel receive a pedometer to count your steps throughout the day, a walking map of the city, and a welcome organic chocolate and wine amenity.

Our friends at Hotel Chatter report that the J.W. Marriott in Desert Springs, California, now has a $399/night package that offers two date scrub spa treatments, an organic honey tasting, and free admission to the nearby Living Desert (with the exchange of a used cell phone). Ever wary of greenwashing we were glad to hear from HC that:

[T]he resort has a whole bunch of environmentally-friendly initiatives like electric-powered golf carts, a 50-million gallon lake that uses reclaimed water and is home to migrating birds, and green housekeeping cleaning products. Even better, ten percent of the proceeds from the package will be donated to the Living Desert Organization.

Checking In: The Ritz-Carlton Moscow

Not quite a year old, the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, is all the buzz in a city that just recently confirmed that it's the world's most expensive city. With views of Red Square, the 334-room hotel features over-the-top amenities, including a vodka sommelier who oversees 400 varieties of the drink, the glass-domed O2 Lounge where you can dip into a caviar sushi roll, and a nightlife butler who helps guests navigate Moscow's trendy club scene. Associate editor Susan O'Keefe recently checked in with Oliver Eller, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, and asked him how to make the most of a an overnight stay or day-visit to his opulent hotel and city.

Tell us about some of the features that make the Moscow Ritz-Carlton unique. How does it speak to the destination? Caviar at turndown?

Our large guest rooms measure from 452 sq. feet and feature high-tech amenities such as flat screen TV’s and finger touch panels for controlling lights and curtains. The Jeroboam restaurant is run by Three-Michelin Star Chef Heinz Winkler. Recently, the restaurant has been recognized by Time Out Moscow magazine as Moscow’s best restaurant in 2007. And the panoramic views from the 12th floor O2 terrace lounge over the city center are breathtaking.

When I step out of your hotel, what will I see within a mile's walk? Any personal favorite shops, restaurants, or must-see attractions?

[We have a] great location adjacent to Red Square and the Kremlin, on the famous Tverskaya Street, Moscow’s main avenue. [And there's] Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Christ the Savior Cathedral, Pushkin Museum for Arts, Bolshoi Theater, famous luxury shopping malls GUM and  TSUM, the largest exhibition hall Manege, the Russian Historical Museum, Armory etc. I personally like the Kamergersky street. It is a pedestrian zone with many small restaurants and cafés. In summer it is the best place to sit on the terrace, enjoy the beautiful summer weather and watch Muscovites strolling by.

Literary Lodging: New York's Library Hotels

We've covered bookstores--even one you can sleep in–but bookish hotels? Bookworms take note: The financially-strapped New York Public Library sold one of its branches in midtown Manhattan to Orient Express Hotels late last year to the tune of $59 million. In cash.  Located at 24 West 53rd Street, the Donnell branch opened in 1955 and is in desperate need of repairs, according to news reports. It will close its doors this fall.

The Orient Express property, dubbed the "21" hotel, will be connected to the exclusive 21 Club restaurant, and is due to open in 2011. If you're as saddened as we are by the need for the library to hold a fire sale in order to stay afloat, fear not: In exchange, the hotel will build a brand new state-of-the-art-library on three floors of the hotel building.

In the meantime, if you're hungry for a place to bed down with books, try the Library Hotel, a concept boutique property organized around, you guessed it, the Dewey Decimal System.

Each of the 60 guest rooms is filled with tomes devoted to a specific category (Botany, New Media, Slavic). A terraced Poetry Garden and "Writer's Den" are available to guests. And if you crave the real deal, the public central branch is just a block away.

Share your thoughts: What do you think of the public library taking up residence in a private hotel?

Photo: Writer's Den, courtesy Library Hotel

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Checking In: The Hotel Hershey Turns 75

Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe caught up with Brian O'Day, the general manager of The Hotel Hershey, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and is still as sweet as ever.

    

The Hotel Hershey when it opened in 1933, and the hotel today.

Hi Brian, Congratulations on Hershey Hotel's 75th anniversary. We've all heard Hershey Pennsylvania is the "sweetest place on Earth." Is it really true?

Absolutely! It's a great place to live, work and raise a family. There's always plenty to do here, yet it still maintains its small-town flavor and feel.

What's the story behind The Hotel Hershey?

The hotel had long been a dream that Milton Hershey and his wife Kitty shared. Mr. Hershey built his hotel in the 1930s, right in the midst of the Great Depression. It was his goal to ensure that nobody in town was unemployed during that time. He created 600 construction jobs, and the projects he developed are now called his "Great Building Campaign." The campaign was about building structures, obviously, but also about building hope that the country would recover and life would go on. The hotel is built on the highest point in the area—on top of what's called "Pat's Hill"—so it has the most spectacular view of the town below.

Can you tell us about Mr. Hershey, the inspirational man behind the brand? I understand he started a boy's school that continues to serve kids in the area?

It's an amazing success story. He gave his entire fortune (when he was still alive!) to establish a school for disadvantaged children. He built the entire town as an idyllic community. It's wonderful working for the hotel, because we're owned by the trust that Mr. Hershey established. So we're all working for a "higher purpose," as our profits are returned to the trust to help perpetuate the Milton Hershey School. Today there are 1,700 boys and girls living and learning in Hershey because of Mr. Hershey's generosity and foresight.

In what ways is chocolate used at the hotel?

We're very creative in our use of chocolate and try to incorporate it into our menus, themes and retail offerings. (Have you heard about our chocolate diamonds or chocolate pearls, which we sell at our Jeweler?) Naturally we use chocolate in our culinary programs; chocolate desserts are a natural. However, Ken Gladysz, our executive chef, also incorporates it into savory dishes and entrees. He uses it as a rub or in sauces. One of the most popular dishes in our Circular Dining Room is our Cocoa-Seared Scallops. We also serve chocolate butter (as well as sweet cream butter) to accompany our chocolate cherry bread.  And at breakfast you can't miss our famous chocolate bread pudding. I'm getting hungry just talking about it!

So what does a guest received at turndown?

Naturally...a goodnight Kiss!

Hotel Confidential: Dislocated Hip

Travelers tracking the hot hostelry usually brace themselves for a haughty hotel staff who specialize in putting the "snoot" in snooty. From South Beach to downtown L.A., a chilly check-in can strangle delight no matter how many Aveda amenities appear by the sink. So it's a pleasure to come across a hotel that's both stylish and friendly. Downtown San Diego's 10-month-old Ivy (600 F Street; +1 619-814-1000) will make a guest feel both fussed over and cool at the same time.

As luck had it, I spent my two-night stay in a handicapped-accessible room. Usually a design afterthought, my room at the Ivy was certainly the coolest one I'd ever been in. (Though it lacked the funky design flair in the hotel's 6th-floor suites, with their see-through shower panels between bath and bedroom. Those frost up at the flick of a switch for the more shy among us). But my room more than sufficed, what with its fresh fruit, complimentary copies of Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone and the Keurig coffee machine, an idiot-friendly device that dispenses shots of Green Mountain dark roast with a flourish. So intent on playing barista, I almost didn't notice the wall-mounted HDTV.

Hotel Confidential: For the Kids

Associate editor Susan O'Keefe shares her favorite kid-friendly hotel activities and amenities. Got any she needs to know about?

Anyone who has young ones knows that when traveling with children it's all about the hotel pool, at least that's the case with my three children. And, if there is a pool (especially one with slides or waves) you can often leverage some off-property time for exploring the area just as long as you build in plenty of time for swimming. Other amenities like kids' clubs are hit or miss, depending on what types of activities and programs are offered. Hotels are beginning to heed the parents' call that one-room kids' clubs with a few video and board games are not the answer to recreation nor experiential travel, even if it may allow more reading time for mom and dad. We all want to feel good about vacationing and part of that is exposing ourselves to experiences and trying new things. Same goes for the kiddies.

Ritz-Carlton Naples, Florida, has just launched Nature's Wonders, an environmentally-focused program for guests who want to connect with nature. Off-resort activities include naturalist-led Back Bay walks, mangrove visits, and even a trip to a hospital for recovering sea life. At the heart of the program is the new Nature's Wonders sanctuary where budding marine biologists can hold turtles and starfish and view aquariums hosting sharks, eel, Florida's spiny lobsters, and grouper. When I visited, four new baby alligators had just arrived and two iguanas were showing off. A small lab invites kids to explore slides and petri dishes with pint-size microscopes. And a Nature Vision Theater features the finest, ahem, nature flicks from National Geographic and Discovery. Nature's Wonder charges a daily fee for its programs (full- and half-day), but it hosts a daily open house for guests—adults and kids alike—who want to check out the aquariums and reef life.

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica, located in the country's northwest Guanacaste province, offers complimentary kids' adventures through their Kids for All Seasons program. Young guests get to hunt local insects, reptiles, plants, and hermit crabs or make art with treasures collected from the beach. Teens will dig their own hang-out pad called Taunis, outfitted bright-colored furniture and surfboards, where they can dock their iPods or play video games. But the coolest factor by far is in the activities: kids can sign up for hip-hop yoga, hang gliding, and zip-lining through treetops.

Hotel Central: Seaside Chic

Associate editor Susan O'Keefe rounds up a bunch of news from the hotel beat... 

Gated Community: Guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City not only receive access to a private key to the gated Gramercy Park—the city's only private park—located across from the hotel, but they also are welcome to have brunch, continental breakfast, and evening cocktails on the Private Roof Club and Garden—an indoor/outdoor space exclusive to guests on the hotel's 16th floor.

Seaside Chic: While it continues to be expensive to travel to Europe, we love that the chic, modern Best Western Masqhotel in La Rochelle, France, an architecturally rich city on the Atlantic coast, offers guest rooms starting at $134 on their website. The hotel is bright and airy with interiors that blend large pieces of abstract artwork with contemporary furnishings done in leather, plastic, steel, and chrome. With direct access from Paris on the TGV (under three hours), La Rochelle offers fresh sea air and the charming Vieux Port (Old Harbor) where visitors can check out one of Europe's largest aquarium, walk around the picturesque old city, dine at dozens of seafood restaurants, and promenade along the city walls lit up at night.

The Inn at Little Washington Celebrates 30 Years

From time to time Hotel Central editor Susan O'Keefe likes to check in with industry folks—from GMs to chefs and housekeeping staff—for a behind-the-scenes chat. She begins with a talk with Patrick O'Connell, proprietor and chef of the acclaimed Inn at Little Washington, an elegant English country hideaway in Rappahannock County, Virginia, tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains about two hours from Washington, D.C.

At the end of this month (Jan. 28), the Inn will celebrate its 30th anniversary. A gala dinner will be held on April 9 in Washington, D.C. that will benefit YouthAIDS. Foodies can snag one of the 500 tickets at $575 per person (includes wine and gratuity). Guests dining at the Inn's five-star restaurant from now until February 8 (except for Tuesdays and Saturdays) will receive a gratis glass of Dom Perignon champagne and a $30 gift certificate compliments of Patrick and his staff.

Happy Anniversary Patrick. After 30 years and receiving nearly every award ever bestowed on a restaurant and inn, where do you go from here?

We just keep going and continue doing what we're passionate about. We're becoming a self-sufficient farmstead with the recent addition of our own agricultural area that includes an orchard of Montmorency cherries—a small but full-of-flavor cherry that will be used in our jellies and clafouti dessert in the restaurant. We're raising a colony of bees for pollination and for creating our own honey, we'll introduce sheep and llamas that will graze in a meadow. We've developed a network of local farmers who custom-grow vegetables that aren't the size of my leg—small zucchini and eggplant that are flavorful. Pathways to this area will link to the inn and cottages and allow guests to walk to the orchards, see what's growing in the herb and vegetable gardens—all featured in our dishes daily.

You added your kitchen ten years ago and designed it to look like the dairy room of Windsor Castle. Anything new being added to the Inn?

This past summer we added the Claiborne House—named for my good friend Craig Claiborne who was the food editor of the New York Times—a fabulous two-bedroom hideaway with its own dining room, a library filled with Craig's cookbooks, living room, media room, and formal garden created by Dutch landscape designer Guy Williams. Craig celebrated his birthday in this house. We also have added the Gamekeeper's Cottage, a two-story retreat that is a departure from the opulent interiors of the Inn, and features a decor that I call "elegant rusticity." It has limestone floors, a stone fireplace, a large soaking tub, and an outdoor dining pavilion with pastoral views.  Every detail looks as if it's been there forever. It will allow guests to have a closer connection to nature.

What are some of the signature elements of the Inn that a guest can expect during their visit?

The Inn offers a sense of place, but also a sense of personality. We gauge every guest's mood from the moment they set foot in the door, and make it our mission to make them happy and have their experience be life-changing. There are fresh flowers everywhere, our Dalmatian greets guests wearing a strand of pearls (appropriate since 30-year anniversaries are celebrated with pearls), tea is served daily in the library, breakfast can be brought to your room, if you prefer.

Hotel Confidential: Books by your Bedside

For all you wordsmiths in our midst, a Portland hotel hopes to make your wildest fantasies a reality. That is, if you dream about lodging somewhere with a cataloged lending library.

In December, the Italian Renaissance-style Heathman Hotel, built in 1927 and located in the downtown cultural district, unveiled its 4,000-title library—and a coinciding package, called “Books by your Bedside.” The $229-per-night package promises perks like a free hardcover book written by an author who has also slept at the Heathman (past guests include Tom Wolfe, Wallace Stegner, John Updike, and Alice Walker), a travel reading light, a tour of the library, and some enticing swag from local independent bookstore behemoth (and Rolf Potts favorite) Powell’s. Plus, Heathman vows to make a donation in each guest’s name to SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), an Oregon nonprofit that promotes literacy for children.

Heathman’s library boasts signed editions from seven Nobel Prize winners, 14 Pulitzer Prize winners, five U.S. poets laureate, and 2,000 books from the collection are on display in the Mezzanine Library’s custom-designed bookcases. It’s one of the largest hotel libraries in the country and received distinction by AAA this year as the country’s only independent hotel with a library of its scale.

And—yes, it does just keep getting better—rather than typical dime-a-dozen hotel art, Heathman’s 150 luxury rooms all feature works by regional artists, and, of course, the hotel’s efforts to earn an EnergyStar certification tug at our eco-loving heartstrings.

Whether you book a room at the Heathman or not, be sure to peruse our travel library for some of Traveler's handpicked reads.

Photo: John Valls

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Backcountry Bliss

Traveler Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe shares her favorite rustic version of a getaway ski weekend.

About this time every year, I long for a getaway that embraces winter and all its offerings. Snowshoe Mountain ski resort in West Virginia (about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Washington, D.C.) has all the trappings a snow-lover could desire: dozens of ski slopes (14 are open for night skiing), a snow-tubing hill, marked trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, guided evening snowmobiling tours, and several hot tubs and indoor pools to take off the winter chill.

Accommodations at Snowshoe range from hotel guest rooms to mountaintop chalets, but I recommend the remote Sunrise Backcountry Hut for a stay that, personally, takes me back to my childhood winters in Indiana where the snow drifts would reach ten feet and school would be canceled. Tucked away two miles out on the Cheat Mountain Ridge Trail beneath towering spruce trees, the Backcountry Hut is a rustic, cozy cabin featuring a wood-burning stove, plenty of windows to gaze out at the nature wonderland around you, and light wood furnishings.

There's also a full kitchen, but don't bother lugging provisions for dinner. Instead just sit back with a glass of wine while your personal "hutmaster" prepares a gourmet four-course dinner for you (and up to seven friends) that includes entrées such as New York strip steak, glazed salmon, and duck a l'orange, paired with homemade soups, baked bread, and followed by a comforting dessert and after-dinner drinks. After a night of playing board games and running outside in your boots and pj's to stargaze, you'll tuck in under thick quilts only to wake up to the smells of breakfast—eggs, bacon, muffins, fresh juice—being whipped up by the hutmaster. Fortified, you can forgo the ride in the antique military ambulance back to the main ski area and instead snowshoe back.

Prices for the Backcountry Hut are $999 per night for lodging up to eight people. Transportation to the hut departs at 6 p.m. and returns at 10 a.m. the following day. Hut rental includes lodging, dinner, breakfast, and transportation to and from the Hut (though you may also snowmobile, snowshoe, or cross-country ski in, weather permitting). For reservations visit online or call 877-441-4FUN.

Photo: Showshoe Mountain Ski Resort

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This is Your Brain on Vacation

Some of us like to give our brains a break while on vacation. Then there are those people who might want to take their downtime to bulk up on their mental acuity. Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe reports on a new trend in "brain fitness" programs for people on the go.

Do you Sudoku? Crave crosswords? Thrive on mind teasers? Banking on the fact that mental fitness might be on your mind, hotels and resorts are jumping on the brain fitness bandwagon and offering guests programs to help them clear the mental cobwebs and relax while on the road.

"Everyone should take a brain fitness vacation or adapt their regular vacations to include aspects of brain health," says Alvaro Fernandez, CEO and co-founder of SharpBrains, a company that works with cruise lines, hotels, and  other organizations to define and prepare activities for brain fitness. "Travelers should arrange for experiences on the road that address the aspects of good brain fitness: mental exercises, physical fitness, good nutrition, and stress management." (You can read about Fernandez's own brain fitness vacation to Europe here.)

Offering up games, quizzes, and coaching sessions, these hotels are helping to make this a trend:

• Westin Hotels & Resorts starts the new year with the BrainBody Fitness program. Upon check-in, each guest at their 150 properties will be given a selection of simple brain exercises to do each morning, afternoon, and evening for the duration of their stay to aid in memory, focus, and performance. Westin's mental mind-benders have been developed by brain scientist Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA and a leading physician/scientist in the fields of memory and longevity. The brain fitness regimen is coupled with a physical fitness exercises developed by fitness guru David Kirsch, who has helped celebs, like Heidi Klum and Liv Tyler get back to their pre-pregnancy shape. "Stimulating your mind and body together positively affects brain power and makes people feel happier and more energized than just doing physical exercises alone," says Dr. Small.

• Canyon Ranch Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, will host a brain science retreat from January 17-21, 2008. Guests will learn how to keep their minds sharp and their memories strong through a series of presentations with brain experts, relaxation techniques, and diet and exercise.

Hotel Confidential: Sustainable Eats on Vail's Slopes

Traveler's Hotel Central editor Susan O'Keefe whets our appetite for some new meal options at Vail Resorts.

The next time you pull off the slopes for a juicy hamburger served at one of Vail Resorts 40 mountain dining venues, it will feature all natural hormone- and antibiotic-free beef. Rob Katz, chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, has partnered with two neighboring companies, Coleman Natural and Horizon Organic, to bring "Good Food on a Grand Scale" to its five resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone (in Colorado) and Heavenly (in California and Nevada). Starting this season, Vail Resorts is purchasing 90 percent of its fresh meats—beef, poultry, pork, and deli meats—from Coleman Natural, and 87 percent of its fresh dairy (butter, cheese, milk, and yogurt) will be organic, with an increase in organic products planned for the following year. This month, they began serving organic cheeses on sandwiches, pizza, and burgers. Katz adds that the initiative, being called the largest resort undertaking to offer natural meats and organic dairy in North America, is about "the investment we are making in our guests, particularly kids, to ensure that we are doing our part to make our dining experience as healthy, clean and natural as the activities that happen every day on our mountains.”

IT applauds Vail Resorts commitment to sustainable menus, and loves the idea of green skiing being extended from the slopes to the plate.

Photo: Vail Resorts

Hotel Confidential: Early Bird Special

Welcome to Traveler's newest column, Hotel Confidential. Traveler's Hotel Central editor, Susan O'Keefe, is just back from St. Petersburg, Fla., where she attended the Historic Hotels of America annual meeting at the salmon-colored Don CeSar Beach Resort on St. Pete's beach. You'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the deal she found while she was there.

The Don has a wonderful incentive program to get people to check out of their hotel room early, especially great when you have to make those early morning flights anyway. The "Back to the Beach" program asks guests to vacate their room before 10 a.m. on the day of departure so housekeeping can get in there and clean it for the next guest (and who doesn't hate waiting around the hotel lobby for their room to be ready?).

Guests who depart before 10:00 a.m. can enter into a weekly contest to win a return two-night complimentary stay at the oceanfront resort. If you're a morning person, there's even more incentive to be an early riser: Early birds who check out before 8 a.m. receive three entries, before 9:00 a.m. receive two entries, by 10 and you receive one entry. One stay per week is given away. The return stay certificate is valid for two nights in a standard room (based on availability, valid Sunday through Thursday).

And while IT loves to sleep in, knowing that getting up early means you could be back for a return visit is enough incentive to set the alarm.