Portable Mind: A sort of travel guide

The Catherine Wheel

When friends visit Manhattan, I wage an internal battle over where to take them. Because I keep a running list of "where to go next", I usually deal with the entertaining dilemma by emailing them excerpts from that list. In other words, "you choose". And truthfully, it's better than letting them pick a place unassisted - the last time I did that, I ended up at Dave & Busters. Last week it was the Bowery Hotel that was taken from my list. We'd dined at Kelly & Ping, had drinks at the Merc Bar until my friends were ready to go back to the hotel (pulling me away from sneaking glances at the very hot guy sitting at the table next to us) for a nightcap.

One of my friends, a Brit, said at dinner that night that he didn't like New York because it's just a 'wannabe London' (glad he cleared that up for us). He also commented on a place we went the last time they were in the city (on my suggestion) - a lowdown rock bar called Motor City. He told me that it was 'fake', not a real dive bar. As if the owners of Motor City were at a Lower East Side business development council meeting and said "Hey, we have a great idea for a theme bar! We'll call it Motor City and plaster band stickers all over the walls, play Motorhead really loud and model our bathroom after the one at CBGB's - you know, with a mirror that's blacked out, unflattering green lighting overhead and no toilet paper. Tourists will love it!"

Anyway.

The Brit loved the Bowery Hotel. It's the opposite of Motor City. Eye candy for the Lower East Side where visitors can feel like they're being edgy and experiencing "New York subculture". But the hotel has nothing to do with the neighborhood other than the address. Well, the old neighborhood at least. In some opinions, that's a good thing. For others, the verdict is still out. That said, it's a sexy place. The lobby and main lounge areas are filled with textural elements like mahogany walls, oriental rugs and tapestries in rich jewel tones and velvet lounge chairs. Lighting is low and warm. If the hotel were a person, it would be Marianne Faithfull; if it were music, it would be a Catherine Wheel song. The guest rooms stray from the feel of the lobby a bit, with hard-edged furniture and stark white walls in both bath and bedroom, giving the room a cold feel on first take. It takes a while (or a few glasses of wine) for the atmosphere to warm. Once you settle in, it's the purposeful details you'll start to notice. And my friend Amee says the minibar rocks.

Room 310

TED postscript, the important details of where I stayed: The Spindrift Inn, located right in the heart of Cannery Row. I wasn't sure what to expect, considering Steinbeck's pictorial description ~
Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses.
Of course, that was written in 1945 so things have changed as far as I could tell, save for the quality of light and me feeling like the gathered and scattered...
Each room at the Spindrift has a fireplace and is located either on the street side or on the water. The hotel feels as though you are staying in a warm and comfortable home, and the service was personal and attentive. My rate was $149 per night, the hotel has WiFi at $9.95/day, valet parking, Aveda amenities and spa services are available. TED aside, it was a great place to escape to and I will definitely go back.

Free Your Mind

This post is about a different kind of travel - armchair travel, if you will; the kind of travel that is all about where your mind can take you.

Every October the town of Camden, ME. is host to the mind-expanding conference Pop!Tech. It's the perfect time of year for deep thought, it seems; the crisp air keeps you alert (and when you begin to fade, the chill forces you to run for a cup of warm caffeine) and coastal Maine is the perfect backdrop for dreaming/pondering/reflecting, or at least sorting out all the ideas you've tried to cram into your head for three days.

I missed much of the conference this year due to illness and work-related activities, sorry not to have caught such lumineries as Will Wright, Richard Dawkins, Tom Friedman or the Yes Men... but the few presentations I did see were as powerful and thought provoking as ever. Chris Anderson on the economies of scarcity and abundance; Tom Barnett, who always puts the political landscape into sharp perspective for me; hilarious and refreshing Kent Nichols, proving Chris Anderson's point that the world of media distribution has changed forever (as if anyone had any doubt); and Alex Steffan's passion to change the world. Alex, who closed Day One with one of the most powerful presentations I have ever heard simply because everything he said was accessible and clear, and everyone got it ("wows" were heard all around me), has a book that will launch next week called World Changing: A Users Guide for the 21st Century and you can buy it here... 

Travel Notes: The Inn at Ocean's Edge, located 5 miles from the center of Camden, is worth the short drive for spectacular ocean views and superior comfort. This year while my mind was on overdrive, my body got to rest at their Ducktrap property, 2 more miles up in Lincolnville Beach and somewhat off the beaten path. Ducktrap is a series of private (modern & luxurious) cabins and a main lodge that feel like a private camp, lacking other hospitality-style buildings or other people, for that matter. I stayed in the lodge, 7 private rooms surrounding a spatial community living area with a huge fireplace. The common area opens up to a large deck set with Adirondack chairs, overlooking the Atlantic ocean in the distance. Breakfast is served at the Inn but you can opt to have your breakfast delivered to your door at either property. Even at the remote-ish Ducktrap all the rooms have free wi-fi, which amazes me; I can't even get that at most hotels in Manhattan. The inn has an infinity pool and full service restaurant that was recently featured in Gourmet, and I was told by the innkeeper that by the time I return for next year's conference, a full spa will be up and running. My room rate for mid-October was $225/night.

Photo found on Flickr PopTech 2006

A Tale of Two Cities

On a recent mission to find reasonably priced hotels in Manhattan, I was pleasantly surprised...

When I think about living in Manhattan, my vision does not include a 250-sq ft. 3rd floor walk up for $3k per month in Alphabet City; rather, it is a 2b2ba, hardwood-floored, high-ceiling'd apartment with a view, located in a graceful building on a wide, quiet street. Last week I came close to the dream by staying in a small hotel on W 79th and Columbus called Park 79.

Gazing up at the front portico, the former apartment building surrounded by grand architecture on tree-lined West 79th street inspired fantasies of what lay inside... my perfect pied-a-terre. In reality, the hotel is not glamorous but the rooms are clean, comfortable and incredibly reasonable at $159 per night. The bath felt brand new and was stocked with amenities, more than I expected at such a small property. A simple front lobby and incredibly accomodating staff provided a low key vibe that made me feel right at home. Park 79 is a lovely hotel for travelers wanting to experience a calmer, quieter Manhattan yet be close to great restaurants (Jacques Imo, Arte Cafe) and bars (Evelyn Lounge, Prohibition); or for locals who are tired of the downtown Soho House-Gansevoort-Bungalow 8 scene. On a balmy summer night, it is the perfect neighborhood to relax in.

The following night I moved myself to a completely different neighborhood, perhaps in a moment of temporary insanity - Times Square. Think: sweaty, humid, summer heat; a swarming tourist season and loud theater traffic. And it was garbage day.

Times Square is not a neighborhood I frequent. I spent plenty of time there when I was young and underage (fake IDs accepted)... it was dirty & crimeridden then and it is a neon-corporate-branding nightmare now. It is also the neighborhood where Hotel QT is located and I was intrigued. The vision of Andre Balazs (The Mercer, Chateau Marmont, The Standard), how could such a hip place exist in the heart of the city and be affordable?

Set in the middle of W 45th street with a bright orange and white sign, the hotel appears to barely fit on the block, it's so small. The lobby and front desk act as a newsstand so while you're checking in you can pick your poison (Sapphire Gin? Bikini for the pool? Trojans?). Front desk girls are gorgeous, of course, styled to complement the hotel decor and once you've got your room key, you're handed a card that informs you of the evening happenings on property. Most incredible is the pool that sits in the middle of the hotel, propped up in a glass room like a sculpture to be admired from every vantage point; while waiting for the elevator or chilling at the bar, you can watch the beautiful people get wet (theoretically, anyway).

Room 1401 was the size of my bathroom at home, but no matter - the design is so smart and efficient, I immediately understood it. The bed, situated on a platform with storage underneath, took up 50% of the space and overflowed with a huge comforter and pillows. A plasma television sat on the wall at the end of the bed and a small table with chairs occupied the rest of the space in the room. With a mini fridge in the closet, a lovely overhead shower in the bath and a rate of $169 per night, Hotel QT fit just right.

I felt I'd found two perfect city crash pads, each one telling a different New York story... until I left Hotel QT and noticed a curious building across the street... a gothic-looking structure, painted completely black with gaslights burning over the entrance. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I inquired at the QT front desk and was told that it is the Night Hotel. Sounds a bit scary, but I think I'll take the dare on my next overnight. If you must get into trouble... 

Stringing Me Along

I have been debating whether or not to write about a recent visit to the Soho Grand hotel (NYC) and this article prompted me to do so ~ Strings can be pulled on hotel review sites.

While moonlighting as a contributor to Hotelchatter.com I posted about my disappointment in the Soho Grand, a once favorite hotel that I feel has gone downhill. I stayed at the hotel about a month ago because a great rate was available and when I checked in, was told I'd been upgraded. I didn't think much of it, as I travel all the time and occasionally get lucky. I was surprised, however, when I opened the door to my room and found myself in a massive space (by NYC standards) housing a huge, fluffy bed... especially considering I'd commented on how uncomfortable and flat the bed seemed the last time I was there. On the desk in the room sat a lovely fruit platter, bottles of Evian and personal note from the hotel GM welcoming me back to the property. All was in order, the room and bath pristine, atmosphere reminiscent of the hotel I used to love.

Very curious.

I have never met anyone who works for the Soho Grand and they shouldn't know me from any other guest. I surmised from this that I had been flagged as a result of the Hotelchatter posts and they were trying to make it up to me. On one hand, I appreciate the effort from the hotel. It's in their best interest to accomodate a guest who has had a mediocre (or worse) experience and the SG did a nice job - my stay last time around was decidedly better. I still wonder though, did the hotel expect something from me in return? I haven't decided. Optimistic by nature, I like to think that hoteliers are paying close attention to bloggers and the new medium of online consumer reporting in an effort to better their facilities and services. Maybe I am simply one of the lucky to have realized the fruits of my blogging labor?

What a drag it would be if the care that went into my stay last month was not taken the next time around. I'll have to return to the hotel to find out for sure, next time using an alias...