An unexpected city oasis at Hotel Cipriani

Content: Hotel Cipriani Venice, Giudecca 10, 30133 Venice, Italy

 

There are not many city hotels which also make beautiful and serene summer holiday destinations for the entire family. The hotel Cipriani in Venice is one such specimen, belonging to this illustrious, rarefied and above all small group of hotels. On a spontaneous trip with friends and family during a late August weekend, my group and I found ourselves ensconced in the trade mark luxury of this grand old dame of Venetian hotels.
We enjoyed our beautifully appointed rooms, which managed to be simultaneously elegant and relaxed, our delicious alfresco dinner at the Fortuny restaurant,  the complimentary boat shuttle to the St. Mark's Square leaving every ten minutes, the imaginative after dinner drinks at the bar including the George Clooney special, the scrumptious cuisine and delectable views of the St. Mark's Square during our second night's dinner at the Cip's restaurant. Having stayed previously at the Cipriani, albeit on a late autumn visit, we were admittedly expecting all the these wonderful treats. The real surprise of this particular hot summer's visit, was the hotel pool. It is large, it is deep, it is beautiful to behold, the water is crystal clear, the pool service is impeccable and lo and behold, children are truly welcome. A veritable miracle amongst a usually hushed, cramped and very adult atmosphere of most luxury city hotel pools. The children swam and played, the adults sunned themselves on the lovely pool lounge beds while drinking cooling cocktails, and we all ate deliciously prepared Italian cuisine at the Porticciolo pool restaurant. Summa summarum, we had a wonderful mini summer break in a heart of a beautiful, historic city which we will most definitely repeat. Who needs a beach when you've got Cipriani!!

Claridge's classically fabulous service

Content: Clardige's, Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR

I've had the great privilege of not only staying at the beautiful Claridge's hotel, but celebrating many of my family's important milestone events in its gracious and elegant rooms. Yet what amazes me each and every time I pass through the magical revolving door, that Claridge's calls its front entrance, is not the gorgeous Oswald P. Milne Art Deco lobby one is thrust into, not the elegantly flickering scented candles and tastefully arranged flowers; not the gleaming black and white marble floor; neither the breathtaking Dale Chihuly glass sculpture in The Foyer, nor the seductive painting of artist Pasnikov's wife, my absolute favourite next to the Albertina's Moonlit Night by Emil Nolde, but the most impeccable and gracious service you will find at any hotel, anywhere in the world.
Whether it's the lovely Roman, who sets the film set like atmosphere, welcoming you while holding the door open to your taxi, the efficient Greg checking you in, the lovely Jade promptly finding you a table for a quick lunch, in an already packed tea room, or the ever gracious Shamim, fashioning you a hot toddy because he's worried about your cough; truly, once you step into Claridge's, you are not really entering a hotel, but rather you get that wonderful feeling of arriving home. This inevitably is the result of the wonderful collective positive energy and management of the Claridge's dedicated staff. The ever watchful Marianne Claridge, whose portrait is gracing the lobby, would be ever so proud!

An utterly splendid lunch at La Terrazza, Hotel Splendido; Portofino, Italy

Content: La Terrazza, Hotel Splendido, Portofino, Italy

Aaahhh...take the gorgeous, scenic fishing village of Portofino and couple it with a late lunch at the La Terrazza restaurant at the magnificent Hotel Splendido, and one realizes that true happiness is not only possible, but that its recipe is refreshingly simple and indeed all natural! I had the pleasure to indulge in  one such moment of pure unadulterated happiness, on a beautiful late August afternoon! The view from  our table for four was breathtaking, the scent of the surrounding flora intoxicating, the service absolutely impeccable, the meal unforgettably delicious, in total, a truly memorable experience! Even the pesky bees wishing to partake in our afternoon of pleasure, were elegantly and holistically shooed away by the ever vigilant waiters, with a beautiful sea shell filled with burning ground coffee. Wonderful! No fleshy marble entrances, no guilded columns, over the top service, try-too-hard-to-be-inventive food, no fakeness, no pretense, no pseudo contemporariness; just good old fashioned service, freshest of ingredients, best of manners, true appreciation and love of food and hospitality and nature at its simplest and most beautiful! The world of luxury dining should take note and learn. Hotel Splendido is the antidote to a currently ever growing  trend for contrived luxury. Personally, I can not wait to go back!

A Series of Unsuccessful Renovations @ Fabios, Vienna, Austria

MalContent: Fabios Restaurant, Tuchlauben 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Fabios has enjoyed the unspoken title of Vienna's most glamorous restaurant for quite a number of years. There was nowhere quite so cool, so trendy, so in and so lust worthy to dine, see and be seen, as Fabios. Even its sleek doors shutting down for a few months, during the summer of 2012, for extensive renovations, was accompanied by innovative and funky billboards advertising the various supplies needed to complete the renovation process, all in restaurant menu format! How very London and how super imaginative! So far, so fantastic! Well, not really. My very first meal after the grand re-opening, was a fantastic flop. Yes, the service was attentive as always, but that's really where I have to cease with compliments. The restaurant seating area was expended, but the atmosphere was somewhat colder, more austere and canteen like. Absolutely no flowers or decorative touches, just a sea of empty tables. At 8pm on a Thursday night, this would be unimaginable in the good old-Fabios days!

My party of five and I were plied with many baskets of very Trattoria-ish, stale-ish baskets of bread, to make up for the ridiculously shrunk portions of food! Serving my Branzino with only a sauce of pureed vegetables and no accompaniment on offer, even at cost, is not cool, it just feels like there is a serious case of food scarcity! My summarizing impression was lots of water, bread, minuscule (in size and number) calamari in the 'Calamari Fritti' starter, white table cloths, and a shockingly expended price point, which properly sank in when I faced a 400 Euro bill for six, with no alcohol and two people sharing starters! We are not know for the size of our appetites, but not a single member of my party was satisfied!

The bar area has not fared better. The trendy bar booths have been reupholstered in cheap looking, flower reliefed purple velvet!! Go figure!! The atmosphere was more Italian village bar, than cosmopolitan chic, coupled with dense clouds of cigarette smoke, as apparently the renovation budget did not include a more efficient ventilation system! Please, restaurant Gods, please bring old Fabios back!!

Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Germany

MalContent: Luxury Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Germany

Munich in winter at minus 5 degrees Celsius, is not exactly the highlight of my Winter Solstice Dreams, but it is indeed a great European city.  I guess, just a browse at the Theresa. boutique in Maffeistraße, a quick coffee at the Cafe-Bistro Dallmayer  and the fantastic Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the Hypo-Kunsthalle, I had the pleasure of enjoying during my last visit, are all exceptional redeeming points.  My home away from home on this particular wintry trip, the luxury Hotel Bayerischer Hof, was supposed to be the true highlight. Alas, all I and my party of five wanted to do by the end of our stay, is camp outside with the Michael Jackson fans, at the base of the statue of the composer Orlande de Lassus, and not spend a second longer at the prestigious Leading Hotels, Bayerischer Hof hotel!

What went wrong, you may ask?  I guess there were warning signs from the very beginning.  As I tried to check in our party, I was informed there was NO booking, only to be told a couple of minutes later, that yes, there was a booking!  The entire check in process was very Marriott-like, and don't get me wrong, there is nothing amiss with the lovely Marriott hotel group, but I expected more from a  Leading Hotels member.  The modern lifts with the blue airport lounge lighting, downgraded this potentially beautiful historic building and clashed with every other architectural detail.  The rooms were lovely and tastefully decorated, but needed a thorough clean. The toiletries were already at a Holiday Inn level. Again nothing wrong with this efficient, budget hotel group, but when I unwrap the soap, and I find a mushy-vegetable-fat-goo sliver of a pretend soap in my palm, and I am paying five star hotel prices, I get upset.

But the nightmare did not end with the unseemly hotel bathroom amenities. As we arrived late, after a long drive and no lunch, my party and I, attempted to get a quick dinner at the hotel's Trader Vic's restaurant. The ridiculously rude receptionist, barked "we do NOT have any tables available tonight!" the second she caught sight of my shadow preceding my entrance into the restaurant. Valiantly, I soldiered on, and politely pointed out that there were a number of tables that were not occupied yet, and added that we would be very quick with our dinner, as in we would be gone in less than an hour. Still, she was having none of it. She barked and barked and barked, and I finally gave up. 

We decided we would try the hotel's rather lack luster Atelier restaurant. We were promptly, and I might add rather excitedly, told that the restaurant was now shut for the evening. The mixture of hunger, tiredness and awful hotel service, resulted in me marching off to the front desk and asking to see the front desk manager. This gentleman was an utter waste of time. After hearing my story, the following resulted; yes, he was very sorry, but unfortunately it was late (11pm), and the receptionist was foreign and did not speak good German (I am certain tonal range exists in all 'foreign' languages, just as it does in German!) , and if we were still hungry, we could try the Palais Keller. I realized I was not being 'heard', and have rather inconveniently come across a case of serious monologue-ites.

Again I gave up, and we marched on in resignation to the Palais Keller. Or, in reality, a glorified pub located in a cellar. Except, I have been to much, much nicer pubs, and there was nothing glorious or glorified about this establishment with bad ventilation. It even managed to make the wooden interior look cold, and following dinner, my hair smell like Bratwurst.  Not good. The service was slow, the food was awful; a soup so salty it left my mouth feeling like the Sahara, accompanied by equally salty pretzels, and fish that was simply destined for the bin. We left without finishing our meals and we were still hungry. The idea that a hot tea or any hot liquid might dampen our hunger, lead us to the hotel lobby cafe. There were no flowers, no decorative touches in this dark, cold lobby, with fantastic architectural potential, failed utterly by the hotel management. My chamomile tea was served with hot water in the cup and a chamomile tea bag on the saucer. I had to ask for some sugar. Three times. Resigned, we retired to our rooms.

Breakfast, the following morning was really the case of the 'same old bad'. Lovely roof top conservatory type space, stuffed with tables with horrid sateen table cloths, and I remember a great deal of baby pink napkins. The buffet breakfast was a prime example of quantity over quality.

Needless to say, we were relieved to leave the Bayerischer Hof, and to NEVER come back! I followed up this horrid trip, with an email to the management, and yes, I did get a reply. Again, they were very sorry for my party's negative experience, and it would not happen again. Except, there will not be an again!  Not even having my humble name added to the illustrious, and 'oh-so-elegant online guestbook' could tempt me!  

The Fabulous Hakkasan @ 17 Bruton Street, London

Content: Hakkasan, 17 Bruton Street, London

In our globalized world, dominated by profit hungry players and chain ideology, there are very few, all the more impressive for it, restaurant groups which truly stand out. One such rare gem is the Hakkasan Mayfair, London, member of the Hakkasan restaurant group. 

From the moment one enters this conveniently located modern Chinese Mayfair dining haven, everything becomes just so perfect, if only for an hour or so. The sweet, intoxicating scent of incense greets the diner, as the front doors magically opens, at just the right time. The maitre d', Marko, makes sure that you are seated promptly and handles any delays with amazing grace.  The buttery soft leather banquettes with intricately embroidered dragons, are not only beautiful but also divinely comfortable; the lighting is spot on; the-just-right pitch of the content customers' choir of voices, allows for even the most discreet conversations to be conducted, while still feeling intimately seated amongst fellow diners. The wait staff is attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, and any query is handled with a smile. 

The menu is beyond delicious, with my firm favourites being, 'Tofu, Aubergine & Japanese Mushroom Claypot', 'Salt & Pepper Squid' and 'Truffle Roast Duck'. For all the Asian dessert lovers, 'Coconut & Lime Tapioca' (see photo) is a must. Hakkasan's crowning glory is the cleverly designed bar. The bar top is sleek and glamorous, the bar stools are more comfortable than most restaurant chairs and seat two, and the cocktail menu is great. 'The Lychee Martini' is my current favourite.

There is a beautiful, and obviously difficult to achieve, feeling of seamlessness to the entire dining experience at Hakkasan, whether you are dining en famille, having a business dinner or being treated to a dinner date. I can honestly say that every single one of my Hakkasan, Mayfair, visits, has left me wanting more! Bon appetit!

The rather 'hairy' experience at the Do&Co Bar, Stephansplatz Bar, Vienna, Austria

MalContent: DO & CO Bar, Stephansplatz 12, 1010 Vienna, Austria

If you are in Vienna on a beautiful, crisp clear, cold December Friday night, and you wish to continue that very exciting dinner conversation with your friends over a drink, in a cozy but glamorous setting, there are a few places that can beat the Do&Co Bar am Stephansplatz. The fantastic view of the gorgeous Stephansdom, and the glamorous, international crowd, are the very obvious pluses of this popular bar.

Notwithstanding the minor minuses, inadequate ventilation for such an 'airy' environment, or the fact that this bar should not, and really cannot sufficiently double up as a hotel lobby, my biggest gripe is purely visual. The huge, beyond unattractive, and definitely unglamorous television set hovering sadly above the onyx bar, is definitely more sports bar atmosphere than luxury hotel bar feel. Still, to TV or not to TV, may be an open question, but once the choice has been made to keep this archaic contraption, please do not leave this baby unattended; or else, you may find it playing an 1980's shampoo commercial, while the nanny's blasting "Call Me Baby" on the house stereo!!