Hotels – global hotel system

The Valamar Riviera Hotel is perched at the water’s edge in Porec, a 2,000-year-old seaside town encompassing 37 kilometers of pristine Adriatic coastline on the western edge of Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula. Once a beloved vacation spot for Habsburg monarchs, Porec is finding new life as a destination for the Adriatic pleasure-seekers who swell the town’s population during the late-summer high season, as Croatia’s coastline reinvents itself as a Riviera for the new century.

The hotel’s red-orange façade blends with the surrounding rooftops to form a distinctively Eastern European waterfront tableau. Inside, the design acknowledges the community’s seagoing history with a clean nautical aesthetic that defines the 105 guest rooms. Decorated with a crisp Adriatic blend of creams and blues — giving Greece’s classic Aegean blue-and-white color scheme a run for its money — most rooms feature an ocean-view or city-view balcony along with parquet floors and a wall-mounted flatscreen TV.

The Valamar Riviera is steps away from seemingly endless beaches, but guests also have access to the private unspoiled beauty of St. Nikola’s island via the private boat that leaves from the marina in front of the hotel. Those who elect to stay on the mainland find themselves in the heart of Porec’s old town, free to explore the Byzantine mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica or simply relax on the hotel terrace, where luminaries from the surprisingly vibrant local jazz scene give frequent concerts.

This spot on the outskirts of Santa Barbara hasn’t been a ranch, strictly speaking, for quite some time, unless one considers rustling up the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Winston Churchill and John and Jackie Kennedy (not all at the same time, mind) to be a traditional ranching activity. San Ysidro Ranch, these days, is more like what might have once been called a health farm, albeit an exceedingly luxurious one.

Rather than steaks and eggs, or whatever it was that Old West ranchers ate, guests at San Ysidro dine on California cuisine prepared largely from the gardens on premises. Post-meal you’ll retire to a room that’s big and comfortable, California-rustic in style, with a king bed, a stone fireplace and heated bathroom floors. The rooms are big and plush enough, but the suites and cottages, in addition to some extra space, add private hot tubs on outdoor patios.

Though it lacks for little in the way of thoughtful luxury, what’s probably most remarkable about San Ysidro Ranch is the understatedness of it all — in Southern California this low-key, discreet atmosphere is the absolute height of desirability. You may well see some familiar faces, but you can count on the staff to keep a secret. Sure, we dropped some big names in the first paragraph, but it took decades for those to get out — and if you’re not quite on JFK’s level, celebrity-wise, you can count on the better part of a century’s worth of discretion.

Following a lengthy postwar rebuilding period, Kuwait City’s resurgence as one of the Middle East’s most vibrant commercial centers has made it a fertile breeding ground for glittering five-star chain hotels. Famously gutted during the Gulf War, and subsequently renovated in an effort to resurrect its stately elegance, the Sheraton Kuwait stands as a resilient alternative to the breathless, overly sleek modernization that surrounds it.

Sheraton Kuwait’s 300 airy guest rooms are decorated with a palette of creams and yellows, while fetching gold accents evoke turn-of-the-century opulence without being overbearing. Bathrooms feature marble countertops, spacious glass-walled showers and the now-obligatory wall-mounted flatscreen TVs. The hotel’s location in the central business district makes for convenient sightseeing and shopping, not to mention spectacular views of the Arabian Sea. Hungry guests may want to consider working their way through the hotel’s seven(!) restaurants, which cover a remarkable breadth of international cuisines, from Lebanese to Indian to Kuwait’s first Italian restaurant, Riccardo. For business travelers, there’s wi-fi in every room, along with a robust selection of conference rooms and event halls, including a 268-square-meter rooftop ballroom with a panoramic view.

With an exploding GDP and a currency that ranks as one of the world’s strongest, Kuwait City is not a place that’s especially well suited to budget-minded travelers. And this is most certainly not a budget hotel — it’s a towering example of old-world luxury in a city that’s poised to become one of the Middle East’s most-visited hotspots.

At the accessible end of the Lake District, a mile or two above Windermere, the grandest of the lakes, there’s a family-owned country house hotel which, over the last two decades, has quietly, painstakingly made a reputation for itself. Despite a welcome modern influence in the design — and in the architecture of its graceful expansions — Gilpin Lodge is a classic.

Some English country houses fall over themselves to show how hip, how youthful, how fun they are, with a cartoonish sense of design and a self-consciously silly name for everything. Gilpin Lodge aims instead for classic country-house hospitality. You might not be audibly admonished at the table for reaching for the wrong bit of silver, but you will find you’re trusted, in some measure, to provide your own fun.

In this atmosphere of high propriety it’s perhaps a little bit surprising to find the rooms as modern as they are. Even the classic rooms in the old house have evolved with the times — they’re contemporary Georgian, not historical-reenactment Georgian. And the modern rooms and suites in the newer buildings are just plain contemporary, their clean lines and cutting-edge gadgetry lending themselves to a feel that’s much more urbane than you might expect from the Lake District.

The expansive and thougtful public rooms are meant to be lived in rather than rented out, and the spa is fully equipped. All fine indeed. But it’s the restaurant that is perhaps Gilpin Lodge’s greatest draw, serving sophisticated, award-winning dishes crafted from local Cumbrian ingredients.

How to get there:

Gilpin Lodge is located approximately ninety minutes’ drive from Manchester Airport (STN). Please contact customerservice@tablethotels.com to arrange airport transfers.

Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim has the hedonistic treatments and fine dining you’d expect from a Relais & Châteaux–listed property. What you might not expect, however, is the amount of comestibles and beautifiers grown on site. Or made, baked, dried, skimmed, picked, pickled, fermented, and so on. The resort is very much a working farm, with livestock, dairy production, even candle, oil, and soap making. Each morning leaves are selected from the herb gardens and orchards for the so-called tea corners and for the spa’s unique Galilean Harmony approach, which incorporates locally sourced flora into various scrubs and massages. Jewelers and artisans shape their wares at the crafts gallery.

The prevailing attitude might be rustic and organic (even the indoor swimming pool and two large Jacuzzis are chemical-free), but that doesn’t mean you’ll be sleeping on hemp. Rooms are decorated pleasantly, in a muted palette of earth tones and pastels; woven wool rugs in maroons and golds are about the only sign that you’re in the Middle East, in terms of the décor. Looking out the window produces another sensation entirely, as the buildings overlook the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.

Included with your room is dinner at the mostly vegetarian restaurant, where freshly caught fish is also served. Or you can eat at the hotel’s second restaurant, where meat is served. This separation of milk and meat is, of course, a firm nod to the location in Northern Israel. For more eateries, as well as a change of scenery, the lively small town of Rosh Pina is a quick jaunt.

The Vintage Hotel is a newly minted alternative to the ponderous corporate chains that swallow up business travelers and EU bureaucrats in Brussels’ European Quarter. Located a few metro stops away from the bustling administrative nexus, the Vintage’s charming retro-boutique ambience is a testament to the refreshingly personal vision of its energetic owners, Fabian and Isabelle Henrion.

What this hotel lacks in luxury-hotel amenities it makes up for in quirky personality. A former retirement home converted by the Henrions in 2009, this 29-room boutique offers an intimate experience, akin to visiting a charmingly eccentric family with a witty sense of style. Each room reflects a unique aspect of the hotel’s colorful sixties-inspired aesthetic; picture the curvy appliances and bright pastel furniture of mod-era Carnaby Street rather than blacklight posters and lava lamps. And this isn’t some soulless big-business co-opting of hip nostalgic vibes: each piece of the stylish decor has been lovingly selected by the Henrions from high-end antique shops throughout Europe.

In lieu of a standard hotel restaurant, the Vintage supplies a selection of local cheeses and fresh-baked bread as part of its daily breakfast buffet. In a typically thoughtful touch, the wine bar also offers lessons from the award-winning Belgian sommelier Tim Vandeput. For guests in search of a more expansive urban experience, the hotel is conveniently located on Avenue Louise, home to an abundance of designer stores and fine restaurants.

A W Hotel is a bit of a departure for Minneapolis, a much-needed step forward in a very traditional hotel scene. And equally, this particular hotel is a bit of a departure for the W brand, thanks to the building where it makes its home — not a purpose-built glass-faced modern structure, but the Foshay Tower, an icon in limestone since 1929. Hence the full name: W Minneapolis – The Foshay.

The building’s conversion uncovered some historic Art Deco details, many of which, now restored, are visible on the ground floor. But as you ascend to the guest floors, you move forward in time, stylistically speaking at least — the rooms are every bit as vibrantly modern as you’d expect them to be, right down to the vivid crimson accents, a W signature, and they’re stocked with all the necessities, from plush robes to flat screens and iPod docks.

Under the hip, youthful veneer, the W hotels are of course essentially the equal of any big luxury hotel, with a full-service spa, a well-equipped business center, plus a couple of fine restaurants and bars. Manny’s, the steakhouse, serves an upscale take on hearty Midwestern fare. But it’s the bar, Prohibition, that’s really unique — it’s made from Wilbur Foshay’s old office, for one, which is on the 27th floor, complete with an observation deck, installed back when the Foshay was the tallest building this side of Chicago.

Another bride, another groom, another boutique hotel in Buenos Aires. In a city crowded with hip places to stay, you have to do something to stand out from the crowd. Duque Hotel Boutique is one of those rare places that doesn’t need a gimmick or even a high concept: they just do all of the little things right.

First and foremost is the location. Duque sits smack dab in the middle of the city’s (arguably) most desirable neighborhood, Palermo Soho, a hotbed of fashionable cocktail bars and shops where good-looking locals crowd the sidewalk cafes.Second, the look: Duque mixes old and new, refined and whimsical, resulting in an atmosphere that’s warm and romantic but thoroughly contemporary.

The building still has old bones, though the interiors have been restored and shaped, so the five guest rooms aren’t overly spacious, but all are well-appointed. The decor includes tongue-in-cheek antiques like a vintage hatstand or a 1920s-style chair alongside modern amenities like flat-screen TVs and sleek linens; the color palette, fittingly, features muted black, charcoal, and white with bright pops of burgundy and cherry red. Wireless internet access is complimentary and each room comes with a mini-fridge that’s a godsend on sweltering Argentinian afternoons.

As the name indicates, the hotel also has a spa and a swimming pool, both petite but pretty — like everything on the property. It’s exactly these qualities, the small scale and the careful attention to detail, that make the Duque so lovely. And isn’t that what boutique hotels were supposed to be about? Especially in Buenos Aires, where the very concept has been watered down and the spirit lost in knock-off boutique hotels around town, the idea suddenly seems very novel indeed.

It’s not just in the area of stylish yet accessible design that the UK’s homegrown mini-chains excel. There’s also the not-so-small matter of the cooking. Among the latest on the scene is ABode, which is part-owned by the celebrated British chef Michael Caines. After some successful openings in England they’ve found themselves north of the border, turning an old Edwardian government building into the ABode Glasgow.

The concept is design-conscious, but not so fashion-forward as to be alienating. Interiors geeks will find plenty to care about, but the style-agnostic will find they’re quite able to get on with the business of being comfortable (without, as is one of the hazards of boutique hotels, feeling as though they’re wired directly into the id of some star designer). The most basic rooms aren’t enormous, but are stylish and cleverly planned — and at the high end the ABode does land quite squarely in luxury territory.

Naturally the restaurants are a large portion of the ABode’s draw, both the white-tablecloth Michael Caines and the more casual BarMC and Grill. There’s also a lounge which goes several steps beyond typical hotel-bar fare — with a separate street entrance, and DJs playing most nights, it caters to Glasgow’s notoriously lively nightlife scene.

Nowhere has the boutique hotel movement put down deeper roots than in the United Kingdom. Chic modern hospitality isn’t confined just to London, or Manchester, or Edinburgh — here even the secondary markets (and the secondary secondary markets) have stylish boutique hotels that would be the envy of some national capitals. This is a country where outfits like the ABode Chester thrive.

It’s a swanky modern glass-fronted building, with eighty-five very attractive wood-floored residential-style rooms and suites. The look is contemporary and urbane, and the details are quite up to standards — no corners are cut, with wall-mounted LCD televisions, efficient modern wet rooms and oversized enamel baths. Businesspeople will find the ABode to be more than suitable, and luxury refugees from the capital, equally, will find they’ve made very little in the way of compromise.

The gym is the equal of those in many a bigger hotel. But the ace in the hole is Michael Caines. The Devon-born chef has an outpost on the top floor, with a commanding view over Chester, the surrounding countryside, and the Welsh border. Here, needless to say, the old clichés about British cooking are laid to rest for good — just another measure of how much British hospitality has changed.