GAYOT's Blog

by Jeff Hoyt

We think anytime is a great time to visit Hawaii, but we appreciate The Aloha State the most when winter hits the mainland. Fun in the sun is so much more so when you know your neighbors back home are knee deep in snow.

If you want to put sunscreen on your neck instead of a scarf, we recommend a trip to Kauai. As more and more people discover this once-remote island, developers are making over the pristine landscape. Although we’d like to stop this wave of “progress,” one advantage is that there are more top places to stay, and more top toques to satisfy your appetite. Our Kauai travel guide will tell you where to book reservations for hotels and restaurants while you’re in search of volcanoes.

Continue reading “Set Sail for Hawaii” »

by Sophie Gayot

To celebrate the start of the holiday season, the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills invited some 300 guests last night. The reception was actually a very good excuse to collect toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The foundation then distributes them as Christmas gifts to needy children. The Marines left with more than 500 presents!

Hotel general manager Mehdi Eftekari is behind this good cause. He started getting involved with the Marines’ organization sixteen years ago, when he was at the Newport Beach Four Seasons, and then brought it with him when he moved to the Los Angeles location eight years ago.

Continue reading “Toys for Tots at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills” »

 by Sophie Gayot

The pool pictured in the photo to the left of this text is at the just-reopened Hotel Bel-Air, but most guests won’t be allowed to use it. It is to be used exclusively by those high-rollers staying in the brand-new 6,775 square-foot Presidential suite. Just imagine the luxury: five bedrooms, five bathrooms, indoor and outdoor living spaces, a private dining room for ten, chef’s kitchen, study, great room with a grand piano, and that magnificent pool, all for $13,000 or so per night.

If that one-of-a-kind space is too big for you, choose from the other 58 rooms and 44 suites the historic hotel now has to offer. Twelve of them are completely new, in new buildings constructed into the hillside; make sure to ask how to get there before heading there. This is the result of two years of renovations, remodeling, and refurbishing, and somewhere under $100 million dollars invested by the Dorchester Collection to make the Hotel Bel-Air more grand and splendid than it ever was since its 1946 opening. When you own a legend, you are obliged to maintain its status.

Continue reading “Hotel Bel-Air Reopens With Great Luxury” »

Summer is in full swing, which means it’s time to fire up the grill! In the just-published July 2011 issue of our TASTES Newsletter, you’ll find all things barbecue, including our brand-new Top 10 Barbecue Grills list.

For those who like their ‘cue prepared for them, the issue offers the best barbecue restaurants in the U.S., as well as a Top 10 Barbecue Restaurants list across the country. It even shows how you can get Chicago barbecue delivered to your door so all you have to do is heat and eat!

The issue also features grilling tips, including the best ways to use wood chips in gas grills, barbecue recipes, products, books, the Top 10 Barbecue Wines, and even details on where to get top-quality, mail-order meat.

Our latest newsletter also goes beyond the grill to bring parents great ideas for cool summer getaways, including the Top 10 Family Resorts in the U.S. and Around the World as well as the best Kid-Friendly Restaurants. Environmentally-conscious travelers should check out our Top 10 Eco-Resorts Worldwide and the Top 10 Green Hotels in the U.S.

Continue reading “All About Barbecue” »

by Becky Sue Epstein

All things “Yo” come to Manhattan this June with the opening of New York City‘s first Yotel, just off Times Square. Founded by English business partners Simon Woodroffe and Gerard Greene in 2007, Yotel specializes in small, budget-priced rooms that have previously only been seen in European airports like London‘s Heathrow and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Inspired by Japanese capsule-style accommodations, Yotel has in the past been criticized for its cramped quarters and often noisy corridors. Given the quirky chain’s less-than-stellar reputation, I was expecting the worst when I went to a pre-opening reception for Yotel’s NYC outpost. Cringing, I entered the giant building a few blocks west of Port Authority. Despite the polite black-clad hosts, it was pretty stark, and made more so by a demonstration of Yobot, the large machine that grabs and stores luggage, on view behind a giant plate glass window which made it seem like we were in a factory.

However, up on the fourth floor, the space was more welcoming. First, there were more people, and second there was food — always a draw for me. This floor has several lounge, bar and restaurant areas, with various seating options, in an open, mid-century modern/Asian setting. Well-known chef Richard Sandoval (of the Zengo restaurant empire) offers fusion cuisine that includes European and New World, with a touch of Asian. Asia also influences the design of the items in the lobby shop kiosk floating near the elevators.

Continue reading “Yo! New York’s New Yotel” »

Bar BLVD in Studio City, CA offers creative cocktails in a posh, lounge-style environment

by Cara Trump 

Craft beers and themed cocktails were flowing at Bar BLVD’s grand opening on April 13 at the BLVD Hotel & Spa in Studio City, CA. Although the actual bar can only seat about six guests at its counter, the space — shared by the lobby — provides lush couch seating in a lounge-style environment. 

Attendees sipped specialty drinks named after famous Los Angeles boulevards such as the Venice Blvd lychee martini and the Hollywood Blvd (our personal favorite), a mixture of rum, fresh raspberries, strawberries and muddled mint. As guests mingled and nibbled on snacks provided by BLVD Café, a DJ was spinning a mix of dance music, adding to the chic ambience of the new bar.

Continue reading “Bar BLVD Grand Opening in Los Angeles” »

by Sophie Gayot

Even though my plane from Paris arrived late, I was not going to miss celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts that was held at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills last night.

The story started in Toronto way back in 1961 with a modest motor hotel run by Isadore Sharp, who is still the chairman of the company. Now with 84 hotels and resorts in 34 countries, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is synonymous with luxurious service, elegant spas, and fine restaurants. Key decisions that led to their success include a focus on managing only medium-sized hotels of exceptional quality; to manage, rather than own, those hotels; and to make service the brand’s distinguishing edge.

Continue reading “50 Years of Four Seasons” »

by Sophie Gayot

Fresh off the plane from Los Angeles, I headed to Le 114 Faubourg in Paris with an American friend of mine to show her how a chef can bring brasserie cuisine to a luxurious level. The restaurant is located in the Hôtel Le Bristol and is overseen by chef Eric Frechon, so I was pretty sure that the demonstration would be good. My assumption was confirmed.

At Le 114, produce is king. The cuisine, prepared by chef de cuisine Eric Desbordes, is simple, one you can have (almost) every day. Watch my exclusive video interview above with chef Frechon to learn more and see the luxury brasserie.

 

Continue reading “Paris, Produce & Purple” »

by Jeff Hoyt

Lovers, unite! With Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday this year, you have many choices of dates to celebrate with your significant other. Enjoy a romantic meal and gift-giving this Friday, Saturday, Sunday or the Monday itself. Or, wait until the following Friday and take your partner away for a three-day weekend if you have President’s Day off.

GAYOT.com offers both the best Valentine’s Day restaurants and the most romantic restaurants. We’ve even got the top 10 romantic restaurants and the top 10 places to kiss in the country, as well as the sexiest restaurants in certain cities. If you want to do it yourself, we feature a selection of romantic cookbook reviews, and your meal can be accompanied by one of our top 10 Valentine’s Day wines or top 10 romantic wines. Or, you can try one of our fine chocolates or aphrodisiacs!

Don’t forget our romantic spas, romantic hotels, and sexy hotels near you. We’ve even got the top 10 Valentine’s Day gifts, but we also recommend a couples massage. That way you’re getting as well as giving!

May you enjoy a LOVE-ly holiday.

by Jeff Hoyt

Want to get away? I mean, really, really away? How about Easter Island, considered the most remote spot on the planet? For peace and quiet, you can head out for the Outback of Australia, up to the highest mountains in Norway or down to the deepest recesses of the South Pacific. You can even visit an uncrowded part of the USA in Sarah Palin’s Alaska. “I just came back from my vacation in a yurt in Kyrgyzstan!” is sure to stop conversations at your next holiday party.

Our list of the Top 10 Remote Hotels Worldwide features far-flung destinations that promise a vacation filled with solitude. It’s part of the latest edition of our TASTES newsletter, which was published today. Make sure you stay in the loop by subscribing to our free newsletters, which include the Hotel Issue and the Annual Restaurant Issue, coming out in January. Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for the latest restaurant news, culinary events and hotel and restaurant reviews.

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