TOP HOTELS

Ritz
15, place Vendôme, 1st arrondissement
Phone: (33) (0) 1 43 16 30 30
Fax: (33) (0) 1 43 16 31 78
Open year-round. 42 suites from €1,010-6,000; 133 rooms €470-700. Rooms for disabled. Restaurants. Room service. Conference facilities. Valet parking. Spa. Pool.

The world's most famous hotel has entered the 21st century with highest-tech facilities, but without having betrayed the character that won the Ritz its reputation. Even if nowadays you can change the video program or make a phone call without leaving your bed or marble bath (Charles Ritz was the first to provide private bathrooms for his clients), nothing has altered the pleasure of stretching out on a wide brass bed surrounded by fine antiques. Add to that an atmosphere of luxury so enveloping that a new word, "ritzy," had to be coined for it. Impeccable staff. The health spa was modeled on a thermal spa of antiquity, and the restaurant, L'Espadon, has its own garden.



Top New Year's Eve Spots

Ring in the New Year at one of these festive locations around the world. Sip on a flute of champagne in the City of Lights, party the night away on three different occasions in Bangkok, or engage in a Sin City celebration in the good 'ole U.S. of A.

72 Hours in Vermont

With its characteristic crimson and gold-leafed autumns, the fall season is Vermont's legacy to the world, drawing "flatlanders" to the hills of this northern state. Regardless of whether your agenda is relaxation or adventure, the Green Mountain State can accommodate.