The moniker “best resort in America” is not taken lightly. There are many contenders for this title, and among them is Montage Laguna Beach. It’s an awe-inspiring property located less than an hour south of LAX, in an enclave worlds away from the hustle of Hollywood and the surrounding suburban sprawl. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the propert...
A conference date in Kiev, Ukraine, (locally spelled ‘Kyiv') afforded me the opportunity to stay at one of the newer properties under the Fairmont banner - the Grand Hotel Kiev. For those of you who have not yet visited this Eastern European city, it should definitely be on your radar. In the 20 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has f...
I first met Chef Murray Hall at a conference last August and he enthralled me with stories of just how much the quality of foods can affect the productivity of meetings and conferences. Since that time, I’ve kept a keen eye on my own diet and how certain foods affect both mood and energy levels. Needless to say, Chef Hall is right, and during our recent cha...
Somehow, someway, I was able to squeeze in a Q&A with Heather McCrory, the GM of The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, one week after she received Hotelier of the Year Honors from Canada's Hotelier Magazine and just before the hectic pre-Christmas office close. Add to that her double duty as the regional VP, Central Canada for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It'...
I am stating the obvious when I say online hotel reviews have revolutionized the way we do business. Every consumer is a potential consumer watchdog. The margins for errors are now so thin and expectations so high that all it takes is one mistake to wedge a hole between you and future business. Most hoteliers have already adapted to this emerging trend, a...
Montage Laguna Beach is a very special place. Located on an outcrop of rock overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the property commands an ideal setting as one of the country’s premier destination resorts. Within the compound proper, the Studio Restaurant commands the absolute best of the best locations — on the furthest peninsula nearest the water and a near 360-...
I’ve known the people at Timber Cove Inn for quite some time now. Maybe it’s the gentle Pacific breeze or the tranquil seclusion of sparsely populated Northern California, but the senior managers and staff at this coastal resort property are some of the nicest you’ll ever met. They also have a lot of wisdom to share when it comes to marketing a hotel that...
We are what we eat — a pithy statement, but nevertheless, thoroughly and completely true. It has taken us decades — centuries even — to accumulate the dietary acumen and scientific data to point with certainty towards what foods promote wellness and which do not. On the heels of this buildup of nutritional knowledge comes a widening public desire for heal...
When you think of Karachi, what image or emotion first comes to mind? For me, being in Toronto and inundated with the oftentimes hellfire and brimstone of American news media, this Pakistani metropolis doesn’t particularly evoke positive sentiment. I’m fairly geographically educated (I’m in the hotel business, after all!) so I know Karachi is a bustling por...
A recent issue of Condé Nast Traveler extolled the success of the Library Hotel Collection's four properties. Perennially, the organization's boutique-style hotels rank in the Top 10 (Ranking #1, #3, #5 and #6 as of this writing) of the 437 TripAdvisor listings in New York City proper. How it is that these small (not one property exceeds 103 rooms) and less...
