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The Getaway: This Is Las Vegas?

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 30 November 2013 | 17.35

Isaac Brekken for The New York Times

Clockwise from top left: Yoga Among the Dolphins at the Mirage Hotel & Casino, a jogger runs past the Bellagio, tea and a vegetarian plate at the Mandarin Oriental and a vitamin C shower attachment at the MGM Grand.

Just after dawn, when the steady clang of slot machines slowed to an irregular heartbeat and most of Las Vegas was soused or sleeping — I was jogging. The sidewalks were empty. They no longer belonged to hucksters, heartbreakers and flocks of friends, decked out and glassy-eyed. They belonged to me. I ran past the hushed fountains of the Bellagio, over eye-popping cards for escorts and strip clubs that littered the streets like ticker tape on my way to the first of several weekend fitness classes: Yoga Among the Dolphins.

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Isaac Brekken for The New York Times

Hikers explore Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

There was a time when yoga and Sin City were like fire and ice. But practicing a tree pose while a family of bottlenose dolphins looks on is just one of many health initiatives being introduced by hotels once known only for bars, buffets and smoky casinos.

The Mirage Hotel & Casino has cornered the dolphin-Ashtanga market (we'll revisit that later), but its competitors have their own offbeat mind-body prescriptions. Trump Hotel recently introduced a boot camp class outside on the Strip. Aria Resort & Casino offers an hourlong "indoor hike" through the 3.8 million-square-foot property and adjacent Shops at Crystals. MGM Grand has Stay Well rooms where shower water is infused with vitamin C and air-purification systems promise to reduce toxins. And the Mandarin Oriental's Tea Lounge serves vegan food and "health & wellness" tea blends that sound hallucinogenic, with names like "peace through water" and "introspection."

Las Vegas, it seems, has begun to follow the lead of other major tourist destinations. After all, wellness isn't just good for you — it's good for hoteliers. "Wellness tourism" is a $438.6 billion worldwide market and it's projected to grow almost 10 percent a year through 2017, according to a study conducted for the Global Spa & Wellness Summit by SRI International, a nonprofit research institute.

I'd been to Vegas a couple of times, though it's not my idea of a vacation. I aim to unwind. Las Vegas winds you up. But a healthy Vegas getaway? It was too amusing an option not to explore. To see how far I could push it, I set personal ground rules: No alcohol. No buffets. No smoking. No gambling. All of that, of course, is built into the guts of this town. Yet there are other deeper stories: of railroads, the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the desert with its wild burros and ancient Joshua trees. Such places provide ample opportunity for fresh air and exercise. But not, it would seem, the Strip, that four-mile or so stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Pity the reluctant visitor who ends up here for the obligatory convention or party. What respite could she (or he) find? There was only one way to know: I would go to the heart of the Strip and limit all healthful endeavors to its environs (with one exception). And with that, I set off alone, with a duffel bag of sneakers and spandex, to roll the dice on wholesome Las Vegas.

It was Saturday night and MGM Grand smelled like a frat party. The lobby was teeming with young people vogueing for smartphone cameras: men in sunglasses, women who one day would master walking in platform stilettos, but not tonight. I snaked through stanchions and joined the check-in queue somewhere behind a woman in sneakers and a white veil as the Icona Pop song "I Love It" blared: "I don't care! I love it! I don't care!"

Ten minutes later I received a room key emblazoned with the word "rejuvenate" and felt a twinge of anticipation. Yet walking to the elevators with my duffel was like being a steel ball in a pinball machine. I zigzagged amid partygoers and slot machines, past the Corner Cakes Pastry Shop near which I encountered stacks of my weakness: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I looked away and sped by, hitting everyone and everything, or maybe they were hitting me. Still, with each thwack I reminded myself that I was getting ever closer to rejuvenation.

Or not.

Shrieks. Laughter. Something that sounded like barking. Was there a party ... in my room? I cautiously put the key in the lock. No. But it sure sounded that way. I tossed my bag on a chair and called the front desk. Security kindly offered to quell the party but I didn't want to spoil the fun. I just wanted a room change. While on hold, I skimmed some nearby information cards.

"Get all the zzz's you need," said one.

"Who knew Las Vegas could feel so rejuvenating?" said another, noting that the room's "wellness technologies from real-estate pioneer Delios, in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Deepak Chopra, are designed to help you tailor your Las Vegas experience and make it whatever you'd like it to be — including relaxing."

I was still on hold. After hanging up, calling back and getting a supervisor on the phone, I was told they didn't have another available Stay Well room. I pointed out that if a hotel bills a room as a place to "get all the zzz's you need," guests have a reasonable expectation that the room will have some measure of tranquillity.

"We did not modify the walls," the supervisor said, adding that the Stay Well rooms are no quieter than any other room at MGM Grand.


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In Transit Blog: A Ski Spot That’s Remote, No Frills and Not for Profit

The community of Terrace, British Columbia, has taken a purist's approach to the ski season the last few years, forming My Mountain Co-op, Canada's first nonprofit ski community cooperative, a no-frills outfit where amenities are secondary to the sport itself.

A group of local residents and businesses had been raising money to buy Shames Mountain, about 20 miles west of Terrace, since 2010, and in January they succeeded, The Guardian reported. Now instead of leasing the mountain to offer lift services and runs, each member owns a little bit of the mountain.

"We don't have fast chairs or fast tow bars, but we have world-class skiing, a huge amount of snow, and it's beautiful here," David Jephson, a member of the cooperative, told The Guardian, which reported the mountain's average yearly accumulation at 480 inches.

The cooperative operates only two chairlifts, one tow bar and a modest lodge for food and beverage sales and equipment rentals. Overhead is kept low with a small paid staff for operations and volunteers to perform maintenance. The closest accommodations can be found in Terrace, and Vancouver is a 17-hour drive away (nonstop flights are an hour and 45 minutes).

But what it lacks in hotels and restaurants is made up for with reasonable lift prices (an adult day pass is 50 Canadian dollars; rental packages start at 34 dollars) and a lack of crowds on its 28 runs, spanning 141 acres. Even the Shames Express, a yellow school bus that takes skiers and their gear from Terrace to the mountain, is just 10 dollars  round trip.

Though the group would like to open more runs eventually, and perhaps add a few rental cabins on the mountain, the main goal now is just to build a base of customers, April Rivard, an administrator for the cooperative, said in a telephone phone interview. "We need to get those skiers first," she said.

Air Canada has helped by increasing the number of flights from Vancouver to Terrace to 34 a week, The Guardian reported. And WestJet began similar service this week.


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Imprint: My Upper Peninsula

About 10 years ago, before we sold our farm in northern Michigan and moved to Montana, I was accustomed to driving the five hours north to a cabin we kept near Grand Marais on Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula. I made the drive countless times over the 25 years my wife, Linda, and I owned the log cabin that sat in the middle of 60 acres bisected by the Sucker River. If you'd been spending a month at a time in Hollywood, which I frequently was as a screenwriter in those years, there's nothing like returning to a farm with horses and chickens, and then on to a fairly remote cabin off a two-track road where when you try to sleep at night you hear a river flowing, probably the best sound on earth.

If you take out your Rand McNally you'll note that the Upper Peninsula is a long piece of land, over 300 miles, and thickish in places. It is about 30 percent of Michigan's land mass but contains only 3 percent of its population. Growing up in northern Michigan I was early on mystified by the Upper Peninsula even before I traveled there. In the 1960s I went up a number of times, and it did not cease to mystify me with its wildness. While camping I would study maps to try to figure out where I was other than within a cloud of mosquitoes and black flies, that irritating species that depends on clean water, of which there is a great deal in the U.P. There is little or no industry, and all of the mines are closed; therefore you can drink the water directly from Lake Superior — at least I always did on my long beach walks. There was a place near Grand Marais of nearly 60 miles of undisturbed beach, no people, no dwellings, just beach and water.

Louis Agassiz, the great Harvard zoologist, was also mystified by the Upper Peninsula during an expedition in the 1850s with the geologist and physician Douglass Houghton, the virtual father of the peninsula whose name is affixed to many Michigan features. Agassiz was stunned by the immensity of the virgin forests. When he got home to Cambridge, Mass., he shared his notes and conversation with his neighbor, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and thus we have that famed piece of doggerel, "Hiawatha," that is exposed to every schoolchild, like it or not. I know Native Americans who think the poem is ludicrous, but then they are understandably touchy.

My first novel, "Wolf," is set in the Huron Mountains west of Marquette, the largest city in the Upper Peninsula, and features a young man, lost in every respect including geographically. These aren't mountains in the Western sense but a seemingly endless expanse of green hills. On my first trip there, camping and fishing with a friend, we were lost for two days though we never felt imperiled. We caught trout near a waterfall and slept wonderfully aided by a little booze and the thundering water. There are plenty of black bears around but of no concern as they go to great lengths to avoid you. There were a few wolves howling nearby when we were brook trout fishing in the gathering dark. We finally made it out of the Huron Mountains in my old Ford station wagon by fording a pond on top of a huge old beaver dam. I was quite happy to reach the civilization of a tavern.

As a child living in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, I felt cheated with a winter of light snow. Light snowfalls rarely happen in the Upper Peninsula, which can get 300 inches a year along Superior, a preposterous amount. I loved visiting in the winter though I couldn't reach my cabin because of the deep snow. These people have learned over the centuries how to deal with the vast accumulations of snow. I was never truly inconvenienced.

There is also a tradition in the Upper Peninsula that you never pass by anyone needing help. An Ojibwa Indian once towed me 60 miles after I broke a fan belt on Fourth of July weekend. He seemed startled that I couldn't install a fan belt. A gas station had a spare, which he installed. He wouldn't accept money so I stuffed a C note in his wife's pocket. She smiled, having more sense than he did. Where can you find someone to tow you 60 miles and install your fan belt? Only in the U.P.

Jim Harrison is the author of over 35 books, including "Legends of the Fall," "The Road Home," "Dalva" and, published next month, "Brown Dog," a collection of novellas.


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In Transit Blog: On New Buses, It Will Be ‘Buckle Up’

A new seat belt rule is meant to make buses safer than ever.

The rule will require lap and shoulder seat belts for every passenger and driver seat on newly manufactured motorcoaches and other large buses, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last week.

The rule, which must be implemented by November 2016, is expected to significantly reduce the risk of death and serious injury in frontal crashes and the risk of occupant ejection in rollover crashes, the agency said.

"While travel on motorcoaches is overall a safe form of transportation, when accidents do occur, there is the potential for a greater number of deaths and serious injuries due to the number of occupants and high speeds at which the vehicles are traveling," David Strickland, the agency's administrator, said in a statement.

On average, 21 motorcoach and large bus occupants are killed and 7,934 are injured in crashes each year, according to government data; with seat belts, fatalities could be reduced by up to 44 percent and the number of moderate to severe injuries by up to 45 percent.

Some buses, like school and transit buses are exempt. So are existing buses.

Several companies have already begun voluntarily purchasing buses that include seat belts. Megabus, for example, has equipped every bus purchased since 2006 with three-point lap/shoulder seat belts, the company said.

In a telephone interview, Bella Dinh-Zarr, the North American director of Make Roads Safe and director of road safety for the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society — nonprofit groups that work for safer roads worldwide — called the new requirement an important one.

"The safety community has advocated for seat belts in buses for decades," but there has been a general perception that large buses are safer because they are so much bigger than other vehicles, Dr. Dinh-Zarr said. "This ruling really helps cement the fact that no matter what type of transportation, seat belts are important."

Consumers can check the safety records of carriers through the Department of Transportation's search tool, or by using its SaferBus mobile application.


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In Transit Blog: Calendar: Coming Events in New Orleans; Philadelphia; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 26 November 2013 | 17.36

Réveillon Dinners, New Orleans Dozens of restaurants in New Orleans plan to celebrate the region's culinary past with the annual Creole holiday tradition of Réveillon (French for "awakening"), a ritual said to date to the 1800s, when a lavish meal was served to break the fast after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Nearly 50 of the city's restaurants, including Restaurant R'evolution, above, will serve Réveillon prix fixe dinners the entire month of December, featuring food similar to what the Creole families who began the custom enjoyed.

Historic Houses of Fairmount Park Holiday Tours, Philadelphia An annual tour, the Charms of Fairmount Park, a Philadelphia tradition that this year features six historic 18th- and early-19th-century Fairmount Park mansions — Cedar Grove, Mount Pleasant, Laurel Hill, Lemon Hill, Strawberry Mansion and Woodford Mansion — will be open to the public on Dec. 5 to 8 and Dec. 12 to 15. Hosts at the houses tell stories about the property's owners, history, architecture and decoration.

The Polar Express Train Ride, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Saratoga & North Creek Railway becomes the Polar Express Train Ride during the holiday season. Inspired by the book and movie "The Polar Express," the train takes passengers round trip from Saratoga Springs along the Hudson River to an imaginary North Pole (the Adirondack town of North Creek). Guests travel on festively decorated vintage train cars, sip hot chocolate, read along with the illustrated story and sing Christmas songs. The train will operate twice daily through Dec. 29, with Amtrak connections from New York City. Hotel packages are available.


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Heads Up: Amid the New, Glasgow Looks to the Past

Enzo Di Cosmo

An exhibition on the Red Road apartment buildings, marked for demolition, at the People's Palace museum.

In September, the Foster and Partners-designed Hydro arena opened to much ado in Glasgow's gritty Docks area. The translucent ultramodern building — Wi-Fi-enabled for up to 12,000 users — glowed a thousand colors and beamed spotlights up and down the River Clyde. Outside, vendors hawked rainbow wigs and tartan clan mugs. Inside, live Twitter feeds scrolled across 145 oversize high-definition screens. Rod Stewart opened the space with a bang of a show that brought out plaid-clad Glaswegians and their teenage children (and grandchildren). Mr. Stewart closed with a ripping "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" but rather than a crooner's finale, it seemed more like a question the newly tarted-up city was asking itself.

Modern-day Berlin might own the phrase "poor but sexy," but Glasgow was both long before the Wall rose and fell. Yet today it's more Pritzker than poor thanks to two Norman Foster projects and the adjacent Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum. The buildings are just three of 250 development projects aimed at transforming the waterfront by 2025. Although many locals are exuberant, some are critical. (The Hadid building houses a dull Transport Museum, which some call a £74 million garage, and the Hydro chose English-raised Rod Stewart over a number of Glasgow-born musicians for opening night.)

As Glasgow's skyline becomes more starchitecture-studded, a wave of nostalgia is sweeping the city. There's a boomlet of city tours emphasizing Glasgow's working-class roots, restaurants serving near-forgotten dishes and several museums showcasing its scruffy past. Glasgow's gritty yesteryear is best explored at the People's Palace, a museum of the city's social history, staging a yearlong exhibition on Red Road, eight high-rise apartment buildings now marked for demolition. Glasgow City Heritage Trust opened a new exhibition called Shops, running through December and featuring signage of Glasgow's historic shops. The City Council sponsors about 20 heritage trails that explore Glasgow's past, including one introduced in March that maps the city's tragic fires.

For years, Glasgow has seen itself as the "anti-Edinburgh," its starchy neighbor about an hour's drive away, but as the city has evolved into a gentrified metropolitan area of 2.5 million over the last decade, it's slowly turned away from its roots.

"Though the city has never been shy of inviting international talent in, it may, at times, have overlooked just how much local talent had to offer," said Neil Baxter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. "But no worries about Glasgow becoming some sort of homogeneous city. It's big enough, blousy enough and rough enough to provide something for all tastes."

As a glossier Glasgow takes shape, old Glasgow has become more alluring. Existing buildings are resisting renovation while new ones are built to look weathered, or "lamb dressed as mutton," to reverse a popular local saying.

The West End's Ubiquitous Chip opened in 1971, and its walls remain decorated with the local artist Alasdair Gray's murals, while the kitchen turns out upgrades of old Scottish food like Lapsang souchong-smoked salmon and venison haggis with turnip cream. The Merchant City neighborhood has no shortage of these places. The Butterfly and the Pig is a vintage tearoom where you can get unadorned wheat bread sandwiches filled with egg and watercress, as well as fish cakes, on mismatched floral plates. At All That Is Coffee, a new coffeehouse and artisan showroom, the chicken-wire windows showcase an old bicycle. The deconstructed coffee joint is in warm latte-carrying distance of the Briggait, a fish market abandoned for years before reopening as artists' studios in 2003. Across the street is MacLeod Highland Supplies, a blue-fronted shop where you can peruse bagpipes, drums and obscure accessories like sporrans, spats, sgian dubhs, kilt pins and garter flashes.

The lead singer of the indie band Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch, is an avid Glasgow explorer. He produced, wrote and directed the feature film "God Help the Girl," set in Glasgow which will have its premier on the film festival circuit this winter. "I like to walk around the city and look for bits and pieces of the old city," he said from the Brel restaurant, where he is an occasional D.J. His favorite spots include Relics, a West End shop selling old biscuit tins and vintage 20th-century signs; the Forth and Clyde canal, which "runs into the heart of town from the country like an 19th-century High Line"; and Central Station.

"It may be harder to find these days," Mr. Murdoch said, "but there are still a few places where Old Glasgow exists."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 22, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the period during which the Briggait, a fish market, was abandoned before reopening as artists' studios. It was used by artists from 2003 to 2008; therefore it was not abandoned for 20 years before reopening as artists' studios in 2009. In addition, a picture caption misidentified the photographer who took the photo of the People's Palace museum. He is Enzo Di Cosmo, not Jim Dunn.


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In Transit Blog: An Early Start for Cyber Deals

Updated, 3:33 p.m. | It seems Cyber Monday can't come soon enough for some hotels and resorts this year. Many are getting into the holiday spirit early, offering discounted rooms, spa vouchers and lots and lots of free drinks to travelers before they've even had a chance to cook their turkey.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts begins its sale a week early, on Monday, Nov. 25, with 40 percent off regular room rates at participating properties across all of its brands in North and Latin America, including Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, Le Méridien and Aloft.

Dates of travel at hotels are limited, beginning Monday and ending Jan. 26, 2014. Those looking at resort stays have a little more leeway, with travel dates extending through April 27, 2014. The Westin Snowmass Resort, a ski-in, ski-out property near Aspen, Colo., will offer rooms at $129 for double occupancy during that time.

Some hotels are offering special enticements to catch the eye of online shoppers on actual Cyber Monday, Dec. 2. The Out NYC hotel in New York is giving away two tickets to the "Hot Mess Drag Revue" at XL, the hotel's nightclub, two drinks at its restaurant, Ktchn, and a $20 voucher for the hotel spa. That's in addition to the 25 percent discount on rooms for stays between January and March 2014.

The Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is luring guests with opportunities for pampering. Guests staying two nights from Monday through April 5, 2014, get a $75 resort credit, to be used at either the Wilderness Adventure Spa or for food and beverages. The $299 package price (for double occupancy) also provides free transportation to and from the airport and waives the resort fee.

A sale from R.E.I., the adventure travel company and outdoor gear retailer, will offer those traveling to Italy any time in 2014 a 20 percent discount on its Cinque Terre hiking trip (the last sale was more than two years ago). That is $700 off the member rate of $3,499 (plus $20 for a lifetime membership) for a tour through five fishing villages along Italy's Mediterranean coast, guided by locals and including most meals, luggage transport and all in-country transportation.

And one upscale Caribbean boutique hotel, the Rendezvous in St. Lucia, which caters to couples only, has thrown off promotions altogether in favor of the simplest deal of all: 50 percent off of a four-night stay between Dec. 10, 2013 and May 24, 2014.

Opened in 1904, the Hotel Wolcott, located just a few blocks from the Empire State Building in New York, was designed by John H. Duncan, the architect of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's tomb. The hotel, which began as a residence for transients, once housed famous writers like Mark Twain and Henry Miller and received landmark status in 2011. On Monday, the hotel is offering three nights for the price of two on stays between Jan. 2 and March 31 ($240- $360, plus tax; use code "step3″). Those staying in early March get to help celebrate the hotel's 110th anniversary.


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In Transit Blog: Walkabout: Medellin, Reimagined; The New ‘Longest Flight in the World’

Walkabout

A weekly capsule of travel news curated by our writers and editors.

Medellin, the city once known as the murder capital of the world and home to cartel boss Pablo Escobar, has undergone a decade-long campaign to soften its image and appeal to travelers. The urban renewal has not only cut down on crime, but led to several inventive strides in architecture, technology, fashion and, of course, night life. (Bloomberg)

An airline holds the title for 'longest flight in the world.' Paradoxically, the flight time is almost two hours shorter than the previous record-holder. (Jaunted)

With so many of the world's premier destinations already mapped out, finding a place that's not teeming with other tourists can be challenging–it can also be worthwhile. Here are seven of them. (BBC Travel)

Today, Chicago's O'Hare Airport launched AIR Chicago, a 24-hour airport radio station, designed to provide travelers with updates on flight delays, weather and business news. (Gadling)


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In Transit Blog: Cellphone Calls on Planes? Flight Attendants Say No

Written By Unknown on Senin, 25 November 2013 | 17.35

The Federal Communications Commission received immediate pushback on a proposal  on Thursday for cellphone use during flights from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

Tom Wheeler, who became chairman of the F.C.C. earlier this month, said that a proposal to "expand consumer access and choice for in-flight mobile broadband" had been circulated, according to a brief statement posted on the F.C.C. website.

"Modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules," Mr. Wheeler said. "I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, the F.A.A., and the airline industry on this review of new mobile opportunities for consumers."

The Association of Flight Attendants' quick rebuttal came in a release saying that it opposed any changes that would allow in-flight voice calls.

"Flight attendants, as first responders and the last line of defense in our nation's aviation system, understand the importance of maintaining a calm cabin environment," the release said. "Any situation that is loud, divisive, and possibly disruptive is not only unwelcome but also unsafe."

The association said that passengers also "overwhelming reject cellphone use" in aircraft cabins, citing polls and surveys that had been conducted over the years.

"Besides potential passenger conflicts, flight attendants also are concerned that in emergencies, cellphone use would drown out announcements and distract from life-saving instructions from the crew."

"The F.C.C.'s piece in this whole puzzle of devices on planes has to do with signal interference," Mark Wigfield, a spokesman for the F.C.C., said on the telephone Thursday evening.

The proposal notes, he said, that there are systems in place on planes in Europe and Asia that use picocells to connect phones with networks.

"We're asking the question: If we put this in place, is it safe?"

But ultimately, he said, it will be up to the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines to determine whether they want to install the equipment and pay for the connections. "That's all going to be a cost," he said.

Once the proposal is refined it will be published for comment from the public, airlines and anyone else with an opinion on the matter.

Tell us what you think about passengers being able to make calls during flights in the comments field below.


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In Transit Blog: Calendar: Coming Events in New Orleans; Philadelphia; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Réveillon Dinners, New Orleans Dozens of restaurants in New Orleans plan to celebrate the region's culinary past with the annual Creole holiday tradition of Réveillon (French for "awakening"), a ritual said to date to the 1800s, when a lavish meal was served to break the fast after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Nearly 50 of the city's restaurants, including Restaurant R'evolution, above, will serve Réveillon prix fixe dinners the entire month of December, featuring food similar to what the Creole families who began the custom enjoyed.

Historic Houses of Fairmount Park Holiday Tours, Philadelphia An annual tour, the Charms of Fairmount Park, a Philadelphia tradition that this year features six historic 18th- and early-19th-century Fairmount Park mansions — Cedar Grove, Mount Pleasant, Laurel Hill, Lemon Hill, Strawberry Mansion and Woodford Mansion — will be open to the public on Dec. 5 to 8 and Dec. 12 to 15. Hosts at the houses tell stories about the property's owners, history, architecture and decoration.

The Polar Express Train Ride, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Saratoga & North Creek Railway becomes the Polar Express Train Ride during the holiday season. Inspired by the book and movie "The Polar Express," the train takes passengers round trip from Saratoga Springs along the Hudson River to an imaginary North Pole (the Adirondack town of North Creek). Guests travel on festively decorated vintage train cars, sip hot chocolate, read along with the illustrated story and sing Christmas songs. The train will operate twice daily through Dec. 29, with Amtrak connections from New York City. Hotel packages are available.


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Heads Up: Amid the New, Glasgow Looks to the Past

Enzo Di Cosmo

An exhibition on the Red Road apartment buildings, marked for demolition, at the People's Palace museum.

In September, the Foster and Partners-designed Hydro arena opened to much ado in Glasgow's gritty Docks area. The translucent ultramodern building — Wi-Fi-enabled for up to 12,000 users — glowed a thousand colors and beamed spotlights up and down the River Clyde. Outside, vendors hawked rainbow wigs and tartan clan mugs. Inside, live Twitter feeds scrolled across 145 oversize high-definition screens. Rod Stewart opened the space with a bang of a show that brought out plaid-clad Glaswegians and their teenage children (and grandchildren). Mr. Stewart closed with a ripping "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" but rather than a crooner's finale, it seemed more like a question the newly tarted-up city was asking itself.

Modern-day Berlin might own the phrase "poor but sexy," but Glasgow was both long before the Wall rose and fell. Yet today it's more Pritzker than poor thanks to two Norman Foster projects and the adjacent Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum. The buildings are just three of 250 development projects aimed at transforming the waterfront by 2025. Although many locals are exuberant, some are critical. (The Hadid building houses a dull Transport Museum, which some call a £74 million garage, and the Hydro chose English-raised Rod Stewart over a number of Glasgow-born musicians for opening night.)

As Glasgow's skyline becomes more starchitecture-studded, a wave of nostalgia is sweeping the city. There's a boomlet of city tours emphasizing Glasgow's working-class roots, restaurants serving near-forgotten dishes and several museums showcasing its scruffy past. Glasgow's gritty yesteryear is best explored at the People's Palace, a museum of the city's social history, staging a yearlong exhibition on Red Road, eight high-rise apartment buildings now marked for demolition. Glasgow City Heritage Trust opened a new exhibition called Shops, running through December and featuring signage of Glasgow's historic shops. The City Council sponsors about 20 heritage trails that explore Glasgow's past, including one introduced in March that maps the city's tragic fires.

For years, Glasgow has seen itself as the "anti-Edinburgh," its starchy neighbor about an hour's drive away, but as the city has evolved into a gentrified metropolitan area of 2.5 million over the last decade, it's slowly turned away from its roots.

"Though the city has never been shy of inviting international talent in, it may, at times, have overlooked just how much local talent had to offer," said Neil Baxter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. "But no worries about Glasgow becoming some sort of homogeneous city. It's big enough, blousy enough and rough enough to provide something for all tastes."

As a glossier Glasgow takes shape, old Glasgow has become more alluring. Existing buildings are resisting renovation while new ones are built to look weathered, or "lamb dressed as mutton," to reverse a popular local saying.

The West End's Ubiquitous Chip opened in 1971, and its walls remain decorated with the local artist Alasdair Gray's murals, while the kitchen turns out upgrades of old Scottish food like Lapsang souchong-smoked salmon and venison haggis with turnip cream. The Merchant City neighborhood has no shortage of these places. The Butterfly and the Pig is a vintage tearoom where you can get unadorned wheat bread sandwiches filled with egg and watercress, as well as fish cakes, on mismatched floral plates. At All That Is Coffee, a new coffeehouse and artisan showroom, the chicken-wire windows showcase an old bicycle. The deconstructed coffee joint is in warm latte-carrying distance of the Briggait, a fish market abandoned for years before reopening as artists' studios in 2003. Across the street is MacLeod Highland Supplies, a blue-fronted shop where you can peruse bagpipes, drums and obscure accessories like sporrans, spats, sgian dubhs, kilt pins and garter flashes.

The lead singer of the indie band Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch, is an avid Glasgow explorer. He produced, wrote and directed the feature film "God Help the Girl," set in Glasgow which will have its premier on the film festival circuit this winter. "I like to walk around the city and look for bits and pieces of the old city," he said from the Brel restaurant, where he is an occasional D.J. His favorite spots include Relics, a West End shop selling old biscuit tins and vintage 20th-century signs; the Forth and Clyde canal, which "runs into the heart of town from the country like an 19th-century High Line"; and Central Station.

"It may be harder to find these days," Mr. Murdoch said, "but there are still a few places where Old Glasgow exists."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 22, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the period during which the Briggait, a fish market, was abandoned before reopening as artists' studios. It was used by artists from 2003 to 2008; therefore it was not abandoned for 20 years before reopening as artists' studios in 2009. In addition, a picture caption misidentified the photographer who took the photo of the People's Palace museum. He is Enzo Di Cosmo, not Jim Dunn.


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In Transit Blog: An Early Start for Cyber Deals

It seems Cyber Monday can't come soon enough for some hotels and resorts this year. Many are getting into the holiday spirit early, offering discounted rooms, spa vouchers and lots and lots of free drinks to travelers before they've even had a chance to cook their turkey.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts begins its sale a week early, on Monday, Nov. 25, with 40 percent off regular room rates at participating properties across all of its brands in North and Latin America, including Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, Le Méridien and Aloft.

Dates of travel at hotels are limited, beginning Monday and ending Jan. 26, 2014. Those looking at resort stays have a little more leeway, with travel dates extending through April 27, 2014. The Westin Snowmass Resort, a ski-in, ski-out property near Aspen, Colo., will offer rooms at $129 for double occupancy during that time.

Some hotels are offering special enticements to catch the eye of online shoppers on actual Cyber Monday, Dec. 2. The Out NYC hotel in New York is giving away two tickets to the "Hot Mess Drag Revue" at XL, the hotel's nightclub, two drinks at its restaurant, Ktchn, and a $20 voucher for the hotel spa. That's in addition to the 25 percent discount on rooms for stays between January and March 2014.

The Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is luring guests with opportunities for pampering. Guests staying two nights from Monday through April 5, 2014, get a $75 resort credit, to be used at either the Wilderness Adventure Spa or for food and beverages. The $299 package price (for double occupancy) also provides free transportation to and from the airport and waives the resort fee.

A sale from R.E.I., the adventure travel company and outdoor gear retailer, will offer those traveling to Italy any time in 2014 a 20 percent discount on its Cinque Terre hiking trip (the last sale was more than two years ago). That is $700 off the member rate of $3,499 (plus $20 for a lifetime membership) for a tour through five fishing villages along Italy's Mediterranean coast, guided by locals and including most meals, luggage transport and all in-country transportation.

And one upscale Caribbean boutique hotel, the Rendezvous in St. Lucia, which caters to couples only, has thrown off promotions altogether in favor of the simplest deal of all: 50 percent off of a four-night stay between Dec. 10, 2013 and May 24, 2014.


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In Transit Blog: Calendar: Coming Events in New Orleans; Philadelphia; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 24 November 2013 | 17.36

Réveillon Dinners, New Orleans Dozens of restaurants in New Orleans plan to celebrate the region's culinary past with the annual Creole holiday tradition of Réveillon (French for "awakening"), a ritual said to date to the 1800s, when a lavish meal was served to break the fast after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Nearly 50 of the city's restaurants, including Restaurant R'evolution, above, will serve Réveillon prix fixe dinners the entire month of December, featuring food similar to what the Creole families who began the custom enjoyed.

Historic Houses of Fairmount Park Holiday Tours, Philadelphia An annual tour, the Charms of Fairmount Park, a Philadelphia tradition that this year features six historic 18th- and early-19th-century Fairmount Park mansions — Cedar Grove, Mount Pleasant, Laurel Hill, Lemon Hill, Strawberry Mansion and Woodford Mansion — will be open to the public on Dec. 5 to 8 and Dec. 12 to 15. Hosts at the houses tell stories about the property's owners, history, architecture and decoration.

The Polar Express Train Ride, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Saratoga & North Creek Railway becomes the Polar Express Train Ride during the holiday season. Inspired by the book and movie "The Polar Express," the train takes passengers round trip from Saratoga Springs along the Hudson River to an imaginary North Pole (the Adirondack town of North Creek). Guests travel on festively decorated vintage train cars, sip hot chocolate, read along with the illustrated story and sing Christmas songs. The train will operate twice daily through Dec. 29, with Amtrak connections from New York City. Hotel packages are available.


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In Transit Blog: Cellphone Calls on Planes? Flight Attendants Say No

The Federal Communications Commission received immediate pushback on a proposal  on Thursday for cellphone use during flights from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

Tom Wheeler, who became chairman of the F.C.C. earlier this month, said that a proposal to "expand consumer access and choice for in-flight mobile broadband" had been circulated, according to a brief statement posted on the F.C.C. website.

"Modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules," Mr. Wheeler said. "I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, the F.A.A., and the airline industry on this review of new mobile opportunities for consumers."

The Association of Flight Attendants' quick rebuttal came in a release saying that it opposed any changes that would allow in-flight voice calls.

"Flight attendants, as first responders and the last line of defense in our nation's aviation system, understand the importance of maintaining a calm cabin environment," the release said. "Any situation that is loud, divisive, and possibly disruptive is not only unwelcome but also unsafe."

The association said that passengers also "overwhelming reject cellphone use" in aircraft cabins, citing polls and surveys that had been conducted over the years.

"Besides potential passenger conflicts, flight attendants also are concerned that in emergencies, cellphone use would drown out announcements and distract from life-saving instructions from the crew."

"The F.C.C.'s piece in this whole puzzle of devices on planes has to do with signal interference," Mark Wigfield, a spokesman for the F.C.C., said on the telephone Thursday evening.

The proposal notes, he said, that there are systems in place on planes in Europe and Asia that use picocells to connect phones with networks.

"We're asking the question: If we put this in place, is it safe?"

But ultimately, he said, it will be up to the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines to determine whether they want to install the equipment and pay for the connections. "That's all going to be a cost," he said.

Once the proposal is refined it will be published for comment from the public, airlines and anyone else with an opinion on the matter.

Tell us what you think about passengers being able to make calls during flights in the comments field below.


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Heads Up: Amid the New, Glasgow Looks to the Past

Enzo Di Cosmo

An exhibition on the Red Road apartment buildings, marked for demolition, at the People's Palace museum.

In September, the Foster and Partners-designed Hydro arena opened to much ado in Glasgow's gritty Docks area. The translucent ultramodern building — Wi-Fi-enabled for up to 12,000 users — glowed a thousand colors and beamed spotlights up and down the River Clyde. Outside, vendors hawked rainbow wigs and tartan clan mugs. Inside, live Twitter feeds scrolled across 145 oversize high-definition screens. Rod Stewart opened the space with a bang of a show that brought out plaid-clad Glaswegians and their teenage children (and grandchildren). Mr. Stewart closed with a ripping "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" but rather than a crooner's finale, it seemed more like a question the newly tarted-up city was asking itself.

Modern-day Berlin might own the phrase "poor but sexy," but Glasgow was both long before the Wall rose and fell. Yet today it's more Pritzker than poor thanks to two Norman Foster projects and the adjacent Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum. The buildings are just three of 250 development projects aimed at transforming the waterfront by 2025. Although many locals are exuberant, some are critical. (The Hadid building houses a dull Transport Museum, which some call a £74 million garage, and the Hydro chose English-raised Rod Stewart over a number of Glasgow-born musicians for opening night.)

As Glasgow's skyline becomes more starchitecture-studded, a wave of nostalgia is sweeping the city. There's a boomlet of city tours emphasizing Glasgow's working-class roots, restaurants serving near-forgotten dishes and several museums showcasing its scruffy past. Glasgow's gritty yesteryear is best explored at the People's Palace, a museum of the city's social history, staging a yearlong exhibition on Red Road, eight high-rise apartment buildings now marked for demolition. Glasgow City Heritage Trust opened a new exhibition called Shops, running through December and featuring signage of Glasgow's historic shops. The City Council sponsors about 20 heritage trails that explore Glasgow's past, including one introduced in March that maps the city's tragic fires.

For years, Glasgow has seen itself as the "anti-Edinburgh," its starchy neighbor about an hour's drive away, but as the city has evolved into a gentrified metropolitan area of 2.5 million over the last decade, it's slowly turned away from its roots.

"Though the city has never been shy of inviting international talent in, it may, at times, have overlooked just how much local talent had to offer," said Neil Baxter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. "But no worries about Glasgow becoming some sort of homogeneous city. It's big enough, blousy enough and rough enough to provide something for all tastes."

As a glossier Glasgow takes shape, old Glasgow has become more alluring. Existing buildings are resisting renovation while new ones are built to look weathered, or "lamb dressed as mutton," to reverse a popular local saying.

The West End's Ubiquitous Chip opened in 1971, and its walls remain decorated with the local artist Alasdair Gray's murals, while the kitchen turns out upgrades of old Scottish food like Lapsang souchong-smoked salmon and venison haggis with turnip cream. The Merchant City neighborhood has no shortage of these places. The Butterfly and the Pig is a vintage tearoom where you can get unadorned wheat bread sandwiches filled with egg and watercress, as well as fish cakes, on mismatched floral plates. At All That Is Coffee, a new coffeehouse and artisan showroom, the chicken-wire windows showcase an old bicycle. The deconstructed coffee joint is in warm latte-carrying distance of the Briggait, a fish market abandoned for years before reopening as artists' studios in 2003. Across the street is MacLeod Highland Supplies, a blue-fronted shop where you can peruse bagpipes, drums and obscure accessories like sporrans, spats, sgian dubhs, kilt pins and garter flashes.

The lead singer of the indie band Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch, is an avid Glasgow explorer. He produced, wrote and directed the feature film "God Help the Girl," set in Glasgow which will have its premier on the film festival circuit this winter. "I like to walk around the city and look for bits and pieces of the old city," he said from the Brel restaurant, where he is an occasional D.J. His favorite spots include Relics, a West End shop selling old biscuit tins and vintage 20th-century signs; the Forth and Clyde canal, which "runs into the heart of town from the country like an 19th-century High Line"; and Central Station.

"It may be harder to find these days," Mr. Murdoch said, "but there are still a few places where Old Glasgow exists."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 22, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the period during which the Briggait, a fish market, was abandoned before reopening as artists' studios. It was used by artists from 2003 to 2008; therefore it was not abandoned for 20 years before reopening as artists' studios in 2009. In addition, a picture caption misidentified the photographer who took the photo of the People's Palace museum. He is Enzo Di Cosmo, not Jim Dunn.


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In Transit Blog: An Early Start for Cyber Deals

It seems Cyber Monday can't come soon enough for some hotels and resorts this year. Many are getting into the holiday spirit early, offering discounted rooms, spa vouchers and lots and lots of free drinks to travelers before they've even had a chance to cook their turkey.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts begins its sale a week early, on Monday, Nov. 25, with 40 percent off regular room rates at participating properties across all of its brands in North and Latin America, including Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, Le Méridien and Aloft.

Dates of travel at hotels are limited, beginning Monday and ending Jan. 26, 2014. Those looking at resort stays have a little more leeway, with travel dates extending through April 27, 2014. The Westin Snowmass Resort, a ski-in, ski-out property near Aspen, Colo., will offer rooms at $129 for double occupancy during that time.

Some hotels are offering special enticements to catch the eye of online shoppers on actual Cyber Monday, Dec. 2. The Out NYC hotel in New York is giving away two tickets to the "Hot Mess Drag Revue" at XL, the hotel's nightclub, two drinks at its restaurant, Ktchn, and a $20 voucher for the hotel spa. That's in addition to the 25 percent discount on rooms for stays between January and March 2014.

The Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is luring guests with opportunities for pampering. Guests staying two nights from Monday through April 5, 2014, get a $75 resort credit, to be used at either the Wilderness Adventure Spa or for food and beverages. The $299 package price (for double occupancy) also provides free transportation to and from the airport and waives the resort fee.

A sale from R.E.I., the adventure travel company and outdoor gear retailer, will offer those traveling to Italy any time in 2014 a 20 percent discount on its Cinque Terre hiking trip (the last sale was more than two years ago). That is $700 off the member rate of $3,499 (plus $20 for a lifetime membership) for a tour through five fishing villages along Italy's Mediterranean coast, guided by locals and including most meals, luggage transport and all in-country transportation.

And one upscale Caribbean boutique hotel, the Rendezvous in St. Lucia, which caters to couples only, has thrown off promotions altogether in favor of the simplest deal of all: 50 percent off of a four-night stay between Dec. 10, 2013 and May 24, 2014.


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Pursuits: Why Bungee Jump When Wine Awaits?

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 22 November 2013 | 17.35

Brendon O'Hagan for The New York Times

Chard Farm winery on New Zealand's South Island.

There is something incongruous about sipping a well-structured, deeply aromatic pinot noir at a beautiful winery while watching people fling themselves off a bridge, even if they are attached by a bungee cord. But in the Central Otago region on New Zealand's South Island, adrenaline-fueled adventure sports and leisurely visits to photogenic vineyards are equally popular options.

My wife and I were taking advantage of the region as a restful break between multiday hikes through the Fiordland National Park, but we decided to eschew the madness of the river-bound plunge in favor of the safety of a wine tour. I'm happy to say we made the right choice: We hadn't planned our trip, a three-month excursion that served as a delayed honeymoon, with a wine theme in mind, but the pure, relaxing joys of the 18 wineries we ended up visiting in Central Otago, one of the world's southernmost wine-producing regions, became a wonderful discovery.

During our visit in the late New Zealand summer, about a month before this year's grapes would be harvested, we started our tour at Chard Farm, a winery that sits in the high desert of the Gibbston Valley, overlooking the ice-blue waters of the fast-moving Kawarau River. We sipped a gewürztraminer — Rob Hay, Chard's winemaker and owner, said he wasn't a fan, but he grew it for his German wife, Gerdi — as we watched gutsy souls leap from the Kawarau Bridge, one of the world's first bungee-jumping outposts.

There are three distinct subregions to sample in Central Otago. The Gibbston Valley, which sits between two mountain ranges, is higher (and cooler) than the two other appellations, Cromwell and Bannockburn, which lie 20 or so miles to the east. The Kawarau River flows through the valley in a deeply cut gorge and into Lake Dunstan, a man-made body of crystal green that divides the two towns.

On the South Island, sparsely populated compared with its northern sibling, even the major state highways twist up and around mountains, routinely narrowing to one-lane bridges. The road to Chard Farm climbed steeply off the highway, loose gravel hugging a vertiginous cliff face; there were no guardrails. It occurred to me that we might end up in the Kawarau River — and without a bungee. Happily, our guide, Jim Ashe, managed to navigate the slippery gravel. (We found Jim, who ferries tourists to his favorite wineries in a minivan, through a brochure at our hotel.)

The vineyards that open themselves to tourists and tastings vary widely in Central Otago. Mt. Difficulty, perhaps the most commercial of the lot, offered a restaurant that required reservations; busloads of tourists poured into it as their vehicles parked next to a helicopter landing pad out front. We opted to sit on swinging couches on its covered patio, looking out over Bannockburn in the valley below.

Next door, at Gate 20 Two, the tasting room — the cellar door, in Kiwi parlance — was much less formal. Pauline McKinlay, who runs the tiny vineyard with her husband, welcomed us into her foyer. (I could see his stocking feet reflected in a mirror as he sat on the couch, watching television.) Across the street, at Domain Road, the tasting experience consisted of two benches under the shade of a tree outside a restored gold miner's cottage, where the winemaker Graeme Crosbie casually chatted with Jim while we tasted, Crosbie's dog making figure-eights around our feet. Jim bought a bottle of Mr. Crosbie's sauvignon blanc for his own dinner that evening.

All three vineyards sit on Felton Road, around Bannockburn, a row of purveyors who had some of the most delicious pinot we found. While Oregon or California pinots are light and hint at damp forest floors on the nose, Central Otago's are known for exhibiting deep red fruit notes, and occasionally a bit of spice. The 2010 vintages from Mt. Difficulty and Gate 20 Two were the two best wines of the 300 or so I tasted in New Zealand.

Cromwell, home to most of the better-known wineries in the region, sits below an oddly terraced high desert landscape. The area first attracted miners looking for gold in the late 1890s; during their hunts, they leveled hills and mountains, creating artificial plateaus that still exist. Some of the wineries even use the old buildings the miners left behind. At GeorgeTown, a vineyard just outside Cromwell, the tasting room is a low-beamed structure no bigger than 200 square feet, built as part of a mining settlement a century ago. Taller sippers will have to hunch slightly to fit in a space where six or seven miners would have slept.

Lodging options today have improved, but not by a lot. In Queenstown, we spent several nights in the Sherwood, a 1950s-type motel with a charmingly campy medieval motif. In Cromwell, after four days in the backcountry, we could only find a Top 10 campground — a budget-friendly combination campsite, motel and collection of cabins. (A Pat Benatar concert had sold out every other room in town.)

But we were in Central Otago to do more than sleep. On our second day in Cromwell and Bannockburn, this time without Jim's assistance, we again found the contrasts that make the region attractive to both the casual tourist and the most obsessed oenophile. A dusty road along the shores of Lake Dunstan leads to Carrick, one of New Zealand's larger producers. Here, we had a typical New Zealand vineyard lunch, the tasting platter: stuffed olives, chorizo, roasted cherries, local green-lipped mussels and cheeses were on virtually every vineyard menu we encountered.


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36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.

Charleston is known mostly for its complex, magnolia-tinged history, for hospitality as grand as the stucco homes that line the fabled Battery, for its surrounding beaches and increasingly for its food scene. But Charleston also has an important tie to a Christmas icon. In the 1820s, Joel Roberts Poinsett, a native son and the first United States minister to Mexico, brought a red winter-flowering plant back to his home state and eventually Euphorbia pulcherrima became the ubiquitous botanical symbol of the season. You'll see plenty of poinsettias around Charleston during the holidays, and winter, in general, is a great time to visit. Crowds are fewer, and with the not-too-hot, not-too-cold temperatures, you can still spend plenty of time outdoors — either downtown or just across the river in the lovely Lowcountry town of Mount Pleasant.

FRIDAY

4 p.m.
1. Shopping Central

Since the early 1800s, the Charleston City Market has been a center of commerce, and with its renovation a few years ago, it's never looked so good. The main section of the market, the Great Hall, was enclosed and got skylights and a more expansive, elegant layout. The Historic Charleston Foundation offers all things Charleston, including ornaments shaped like favorite downtown buildings ($20). Check out the Charleston Hat Man and the Charleston Shoe Company, which sells look-good, feel-good shoes billed as perfect for cobblestones or cocktails (starting at $100 a pair). For a recharge, sip a macchiato from the high-end grocery/cafe, Caviar & Bananas.

6 p.m.
2. Up on the Roof

Because Charleston is on a peninsula with views in almost every direction, it's no wonder that rooftop bars are the rage. The perfect perch is the bar at the Market Pavilion Hotel, near City Market, which offers a panorama view of the harbor. Plexiglass around the perimeter and heaters keep it warm on evenings that pass for chilly. The bar menu is dominated by "M" drinks: imaginative takes on mojitos ($14 to $16), martinis ($13 to $16) and margaritas ($8.50).

7:30 p.m.
3. Son of Husk

Charleston, a city of 126,000, is home to a concentration of world-class dining normally seen in cities five times the size. For the past few years, the king-daddy of Charleston restaurants has been Husk, and several worthy spots are following in the footsteps of Husk's executive chef, Sean Brock. For instance, Two Boroughs Larder (the name refers to the restaurant's location, in the emerging area known as the Cannonborough and Elliotborough neighborhood) offers an ever-changing menu in a stripped-down interior with pantry items such as retro tea towels and locally blended cocktail mixers for sale. Recent standout dishes included an heirloom tomato salad, duck confit (with black olives and green garbanzos) and a heritage pork neck dish made with charred onions and chanterelles ($75 for two).

9:30 p.m.
4. Fill Your Tank

As long as you're in the neighborhood, stop in at Fuel Cantina, a renovated Esso station. The décor is blue-collar cool, with old gas pumps and signs as accents. The roll-up garage doors are glass; the sconces are made from pump handles. Though burgers, fish tacos and sandwiches are served here, it's best for a beer (16 types on tap, including its own brand) or an "antifreeze" shooter, a blistering green combo of vodka, pineapple juice and melon liqueur. If you still have energy, try your skill at a game of bocce on the back patio.

SATURDAY

9 a.m.
5. Wheels on the Ground

The quickest way to soak up all the city's marvels is on two wheels. Rent beach cruisers from the Bicycle Shoppe, where you can also pick up route suggestions. The best place to see the spectrum of architectural styles here, including the classic "single house" with porches running along one side, is south of Broad Street. Don't miss Legare Street with its famous wrought-iron gates or wee, brick-paved Stolls Alley. Rainbow Row — a stretch of 18th-century townhouses in sherbet hues — is a few pedal pushes away. The narrow, shady streets open up to the Battery on the southern tip of the peninsula. Catch your breath (then lose it again taking in the view of the harbor) at White Point Garden.

Noon
6. Who's Got Soul?


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In Transit Blog: At Toronto Aquarium, Jellyfish Get a Tank of Their Own

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, now the largest indoor aquarium in the country, opened last month with more than 1.5 million gallons of salt- and freshwater habitats housing 16,000 marine animals spanning more than 450 species of fish, invertebrates and one reptile, the green sea turtle.

In addition to daily shows by educators, both inside and outside of tanks, visitors will have the opportunity to sign up for free guided tours through the facility's life support systems room and animal husbandry areas; and can view the world's largest kreisel jellyfish tank in Planet Jellies, an exhibit featuring the Pacific sea nettle, moon and spotted lagoon jellyfish, among several other varieties.

"It's the first of its kind for Toronto," Andy Dehart, the aquarium's director of husbandry, said in a phone interview, adding that the educational elements and interactive exhibits, like the many "touch pools," where visitors can feel horseshoe crabs, stingrays and bamboo sharks, make it seem like a science museum, as well.

"There's something about being face to face with a shark whose face only a mother could love," Mr. Dehart, who has also served as an adviser to the Discovery Channel's Shark Week, said of the sand tigers in the Dangerous Lagoon exhibit. They are accompanied by several other species like wobbegongs, zebras and California horn sharks.

Mr. Dehart also noted the aquarium's 100-year-old lobsters, weedy and leafy sea dragons, and the rarely displayed lumpfish, which he described as "a rugby ball with a suction cup on its stomach," which allows it to live on the ocean floor in strong currents.

The lumpfish is part of the Canadian Waters exhibit, the inhabitants of which come from the deep Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as well as from the Great Lakes Basin and are highlighted by the giant Pacific octopus, wolf eels and a two-story-tall kelp forest with waves simulating the surges on the shoreline of the Pacific Northwest.

The aquarium is one of three owned and operated by Ripley Entertainment, the amusement attraction company. It is open every day. Ticket prices are 29.98 Canadian dollars for adults, 19.98 dollars  for children and seniors and 9.98 dollars  for those ages 3 to 5


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In Transit Blog: JetBlue Joins PreCheck Program

The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday that JetBlue Airways would join its roster of airlines participating in its PreCheck airport security program. JetBlue is the ninth airline to be included, joining Southwest, which announced its participation last week, Alaska, American (which now also includes US Airways), Delta, Hawaiian, United and Virgin America.

PreCheck's expedited security screening process allows travelers to leave their shoes, light outerwear and belts on, leave 3-1-1-compliant liquids and gels in carry-on bags and keep laptops in their cases as they move through security scanners.

While airlines are joining the program, only a select number of preapproved United States and Canadian citizens are eligible to participate.

That group now includes members of the armed forces, including reservists and members of the National Guard; certain members of frequent flyer programs for the airlines mentioned; members of a United States Customs and Border Protection (C.B.P.) Trusted Traveler program and Canadian citizens who are members of the C.B.P.'s Nexus program.

For JetBlue passengers, the service is available to members of any of the T.S.A.-approved Trusted Traveler programs mentioned, as well as to some who meet the T.S.A.'s low-risk security profile standards, though the exact details of how those travelers are chosen is still unclear. Passengers must also be using one of the 22 JetBlue terminals currently offering PreCheck service and must check in using the airline's mobile application. There are plans to expand the program to eligible passengers using paper boarding passes by the end of March 2014, according to a statement released today by JetBlue.

With most major domestic airlines now participating in more than 100 airports nationwide, it should not be long before the T.S.A. is ready to open up the application process to even more "lawful permanent residents" of the United States, as the agency described them.

In fact, the open application process, which will require an annual fee, should be available before the end of the year, according to the agency's release, which also stated that as always, no individual will ever be absolutely guaranteed expedited screening, as the agency will continue to conduct random and unpredictable security checks.


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Surfacing: A Dublin Neighborhood Pushes Its Boundaries

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 21 November 2013 | 17.35

Derek Speirs for The New York Times

The year-old Vintage Cocktail Club.

The cobbled quarter of Temple Bar has long maintained its tourist-destination status with overpriced pints of Guinness and a reputation for wild bachelor parties. While these traits endure, entrepreneurs have begun to reclaim the historic streets flanking the south side of the Liffey River. Now, locals are being lured back into the compact neighborhood. The common theme is pushing boundaries, from a secret cocktail bar to restaurants showcasing flavors beyond the typical Irish canon. With fallen prices and available real estate from the economic downturn, the heart of city center Dublin is experiencing a creative revival.

CRACKBIRD

Joe Macken has opened two popular spots within Temple Bar's borders: Skinflint (pizza) and Crackbird, his ode to chicken. Crackbird serves tasty, spicy fare such as soy garlic wings and Sichuan pepper roast chicken.

60 Dame Street; joburger.ie/crackbird

MEETING HOUSE SQUARE

Derek Speirs for The New York Times

Meeting House Square.

Home of the weekly Temple Bar Food Market, the neighborhood's outdoor living room, Meeting House Square features a retractable rain roof. The small square, with a stage and performance space, welcomes film series, concerts and literary readings, rain or shine.

Meeting House Square; meetinghousesquare.ie

INDIGO & CLOTH

Derek Speirs for The New York Times

Indigo & Cloth.

The men's boutique opened an outpost here in February. While Indigo & Cloth has existed as a brand since 2007, this venue brings sophisticated looks and high-end labels like Oliver Spencer to the neighborhood. Clement & Pekoe coffee, a specialty brand, is served at its brew bar; fashion magazines are ample while you sip.

9 Essex Street East; 353-1-670-6403

VINTAGE COCKTAIL CLUB

A solid door marked VCC signifies this year-old speakeasy-style bar (ring the doorbell to enter) along one of Temple Bar's cobbled alleys. In a town of pints and whiskey, a properly balanced cocktail is something of a novelty — especially served late after pubs close around midnight.

15 Crown Alley; 353-1-675-3547


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The Getaway: Finding a Luxurious Home Away From Home

HomeAway

A vacation rental in Riviera Maya, Mexico, from Luxury.homeaway.com. Rates, which can vary greatly, start at $1,550 a night.

Websites like Airbnb and Couchsurfing have long helped travelers save money by renting and swapping their homes (or merely their couches) rather than pay for hotels. But as the sharing economy evolves, and as luxury travel grows, rental and home swap sites are increasingly catering to travelers with the desire (and budget) for a more sumptuous home away from home.

While a spotlight is on luxury properties, vacation rentals both high and low offer more space, privacy and amenities than most hotels. Little wonder then that the number of people renting vacation homes has continued to rebound since the recession. More adults in the United States are choosing to stay in rentals, according to a report by the market research company PhoCusWright, and the portion of the vacation rental market booked online has grown rapidly, moving from 12 percent in 2007 to 24 percent in 2012.

All of this comes despite concerns about how much sites like Airbnb cost states like New York (where it's often illegal to rent your apartment while you're away) in lost hotel tax dollars, as well as potential safety and health-code violations.

TripAdvisor.com, which has a database of more than 400,000 vacation rental listings, deepened its commitment to the rental market this year by rolling out a "peace of mind guarantee," assuring travelers who rent through TripAdvisor's online payment system that they will be reimbursed up to $10,000 if certain problems arise, such as if the home "does not materially match the description" or if "the guest cannot enter the home." The guarantee is provided by FlipKey, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor. (More information: Tripadvisor.com/pages/peace_of_mind.html.)

New rental models and sites like Tansler.com and Cosmopolithome.com continue to sprout. Yet there is perhaps no surer indicator of the popularity of renting than the announcement late last month that in 2014 Expedia.com will begin including on its website vacation rentals in the United States and Mexico from HomeAway.com. If you can't wait, the travel search site Hipmunk.com already does this, allowing users to search for apartment, home and private room rentals from Airbnb and HomeAway as well as hotels.

HomeAway, which owns several vacation rental sites including VRBO and VacationRentals, is among the travel companies branching into the luxury market with Luxury Rentals from HomeAway. The listings can be found at Luxury.homeaway.com, which includes villas, estates, castles and private islands in 40 countries.

Jon Gray, HomeAway's senior vice president of the Americas, said the new site is something of a response to research showing that luxury travel is one of the fastest-rising segments of the industry. He also cited a PhoCusWright report that asked travelers about the leisure travel accommodations they used in the last year and found that more chose to stay in upscale hotels in 2012 compared with 2011. And, he said, HomeAway's internal studies show that travelers consider that "the most important element of making a vacation luxurious is the accommodation."

A recent search on HomeAway for a rental in Mexico turned up an oceanfront, six-bedroom villa in Cabo San Lucas with indoor and outdoor showers, Wii and a 60-inch LCD TV in the living room for $3,500 to $4,500 a night. On the Thai island of Koh Samui, there was a beachfront villa with decks, gardens and an entertainment area, AV room and bar for $1,100 to $2,415 a night. And in the Bahamas? A private island for $75,250 to $119,000 a week. Known as Peacock Island, it has three villas with a total of seven bedrooms, a staff of 13 (including a chef and a masseur), an infinity pool, a tennis court, a yoga deck and a gym. To get there, the owners recommend booking a 15-minute charter flight from Nassau — $800 one way.

HomeAway's listings are evaluated based on "luxury characteristics" — location and kitchen features are examples — by travel professionals at Andrew Harper, the luxury travel review company that publishes the Hideaway Report newsletter. The site has more than 800 properties with amenities like cinemas, wine cellars, yachts and helicopter landing pads.

The nightly prices are high, though as Mr. Gray pointed out, most renters travel as a family or in groups and would otherwise have to book multiple hotel rooms. They wouldn't have common areas in which to eat or watch television, he added.

Home swap sites, which allow members to trade their houses or apartments, are also making sure that travelers who want certain high-end amenities can easily find a match.

On Lovehomeswap.com, one of the larger home exchange clubs, members can refine search results for things like at-home gyms, pools and balconies. They can also filter properties by selecting options such as "ski chalet," "on the river" and "by the sea."

Some homes are available for either swapping or renting, and the site offers three monthly subscription tiers: silver ($15.75), gold ($19.08) and platinum ($20.75).

Travelers looking for something a bit more permanent may also find that it's becoming simpler to find and acquire vacation properties in upscale resort towns.

Vacatia.com, an online start-up, is striving to be the StubHub for vacation ownership timeshares: Visitors to the site can find resale deals on timeshares or fractional interests, while owners of properties can market and sell them. The site has more than 13,000 listings in the United States and North America, including Westin's Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas in Maui, Hawaii; Grand Residences by Marriott, Lake Tahoe in California and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina.

Given the appeal of being at home, even if it isn't yours, maybe it's no surprise that the very places renters and swappers shun — hotels — are also embracing the trend.

At WestHouse New York, a luxury boutique hotel opening in Manhattan next month with rooms starting at $499 a night, guests will be referred to as "hotel residents" and will have access to common spaces with names like "the den" and "the terrace."

As for the atmosphere, WestHouse promises to be "reminiscent of a luxurious private residence."


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Heads Up: Amid the New, Glasgow Looks to the Past

Jim Dunn/Glasgow City Council Museums

An exhibition on the Red Road apartment buildings, marked for demolition, at the People's Palace museum.

In September, the Foster and Partners-designed Hydro arena opened to much ado in Glasgow's gritty Docks area. The translucent ultramodern building — Wi-Fi-enabled for up to 12,000 users — glowed a thousand colors and beamed spotlights up and down the River Clyde. Outside, vendors hawked rainbow wigs and tartan clan mugs. Inside, live Twitter feeds scrolled across 145 oversize high-definition screens. Rod Stewart opened the space with a bang of a show that brought out plaid-clad Glaswegians and their teenage children (and grandchildren). Mr. Stewart closed with a ripping "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" but rather than a crooner's finale, it seemed more like a question the newly tarted-up city was asking itself.

Modern-day Berlin might own the phrase "poor but sexy," but Glasgow was both long before the Wall rose and fell. Yet today it's more Pritzker than poor thanks to two Norman Foster projects and the adjacent Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum. The buildings are just three of 250 development projects aimed at transforming the waterfront by 2025. Although many locals are exuberant, some are critical. (The Hadid building houses a dull Transport Museum, which some call a £74 million garage, and the Hydro chose English-raised Rod Stewart over a number of Glasgow-born musicians for opening night.)

As Glasgow's skyline becomes more starchitecture-studded, a wave of nostalgia is sweeping the city. There's a boomlet of city tours emphasizing Glasgow's working-class roots, restaurants serving near-forgotten dishes and several museums showcasing its scruffy past. Glasgow's gritty yesteryear is best explored at the People's Palace, a museum of the city's social history, staging a yearlong exhibition on Red Road, eight high-rise apartment buildings now marked for demolition. Glasgow City Heritage Trust opened a new exhibition called Shops, running through December and featuring signage of Glasgow's historic shops. The City Council sponsors about 20 heritage trails that explore Glasgow's past, including one introduced in March that maps the city's tragic fires.

For years, Glasgow has seen itself as the "anti-Edinburgh," its starchy neighbor about an hour's drive away, but as the city has evolved into a gentrified metropolitan area of 2.5 million over the last decade, it's slowly turned away from its roots.

"Though the city has never been shy of inviting international talent in, it may, at times, have overlooked just how much local talent had to offer," said Neil Baxter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. "But no worries about Glasgow becoming some sort of homogeneous city. It's big enough, blousy enough and rough enough to provide something for all tastes."

As a glossier Glasgow takes shape, old Glasgow has become more alluring. Existing buildings are resisting renovation while new ones are built to look weathered, or "lamb dressed as mutton," to reverse a popular local saying.

The West End's Ubiquitous Chip opened in 1971, and its walls remain decorated with the local artist Alasdair Gray's murals, while the kitchen turns out upgrades of old Scottish food like Lapsang souchong-smoked salmon and venison haggis with turnip cream. The Merchant City neighborhood has no shortage of these places. The Butterfly and the Pig is a vintage tearoom where you can get unadorned wheat bread sandwiches filled with egg and watercress, as well as fish cakes, on mismatched floral plates. At All That Is Coffee, a new coffeehouse and artisan showroom, the chicken-wire windows showcase an old bicycle. The deconstructed coffee joint is in warm latte-carrying distance of the Briggait, a fish market abandoned for 20 years before reopening as artists' studios in 2009. Across the street is MacLeod Highland Supplies, a blue-fronted shop where you can peruse bagpipes, drums and obscure accessories like sporrans, spats, sgian dubhs, kilt pins and garter flashes.

The lead singer of the indie band Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch, is an avid Glasgow explorer. He produced, wrote and directed the feature film "God Help the Girl," set in Glasgow which will have its premier on the film festival circuit this winter. "I like to walk around the city and look for bits and pieces of the old city," he said from the Brel restaurant, where he is an occasional D.J. His favorite spots include Relics, a West End shop selling old biscuit tins and vintage 20th-century signs; the Forth and Clyde canal, which "runs into the heart of town from the country like an 19th-century High Line"; and Central Station.

"It may be harder to find these days," Mr. Murdoch said, "but there are still a few places where Old Glasgow exists."


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In Transit Blog: New Minibar Offerings: Handbags and Jewlery

The Quin, a new luxury art-themed hotel on Manhattan's West Side, has a unique take on the minibar. In addition to a traditional fridge with snacks and drinks, the 208 rooms have a "provisions cabinet" selling high-end items like jewelry, handbags and cuff links.

Much of the merchandise will come from Bergdorf Goodman, the department store near the property, and Linda Fargo, the store's senior vice president, fashion office and store presentation, will select the products and change them seasonally.

The options for fall, for example, might be the latest exotic skin handbag or a pashmina shawl. Goods outside of Bergdorf's include chocolates from the Belgian brand Neuhaus, candles and cards made for the Quin and costume jewelry from the designer Siri Willoch, who has created pieces exclusively for the cabinet.

"We want to be different by not just having another minibar," the general manager Holly Breuche said in a telephone interview.

"The cabinet will give our guests the chance to get a sense of the latest fashion trends out there and also what's around in the neighborhood," she said.

Prices for the items, she said, will be 15 to 20 percent lower than in stores and range from $28 to $8,000.


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Q&A: Will Forte on the Glories of the Great Plains

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 20 November 2013 | 17.35

Paramo/Paramount Vantage

Bruce Dern and Will Forte in "Nebraska."

In the new film "Nebraska," Will Forte plays the dutiful son to Bruce Dern's curmudgeonly father who is convinced he has become a sweepstakes millionaire.

To collect the imaginary winnings, the two embark on a road trip from Billings, Mont., to Lincoln, Neb., which the director Alexander Payne captured on film by mounting a camera on the R.V. used in "About Schmidt," another of his films.

Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived in New York City during his turn on "Saturday Night Live," Mr. Forte said coastal cities were about all he had known before shooting began in this stretch of the Great Plains.

"It was such a change to see this completely different geography," he said. "There was such a beauty there that I saw and wasn't prepared to see."

Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Forte on exploring Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and, of course, Nebraska. 

Q. What sort of terrain did you see from the road?

A. Billings has some beautiful mountainous areas, so you'd be going through a lot of beautiful hills. Wyoming is the same way, a lot of mountains. Then you get into South Dakota, and the soil seemed to get a little bit more red, from what I remember. Then everything flattens out once you get to Nebraska.

It's certainly a lot of corn, Nebraska, but I found it really beautiful. I thought it was going to be this real monotonous visual experience, and it wasn't. There was a lot of texture to it. It kept reminding me of a van Gogh painting — these big beautiful circular corn husk bales, the way the light would hit them and the shadows they'd cast. Brilliant hues of yellow — it was really striking.

Would you recommend going on a road trip with Bruce Dern? 

He's the best driving companion of all time. He's just this vibrant, really fun person — the exact opposite of the character he plays in the movie.

Any favorite shooting location? 

Mount Rushmore — it's a classic. I went there two years ago, when I happened to be in North Dakota. I figured, I am 41 years old, what are the chances I'll be back here again? So I rented a car, get down there, and it's snowing. I could still see the faces, but barely. It was like someone was holding 10 screen doors in front of it. Little did I know that I'd be back to film a scene there, and that day was crystal clear. It's such an iconic image, Mount Rushmore. There's something about it that I love. And the surrounding area is beautiful too — the Black Hills, which is very green, so I'm not sure why it's called Black Hills.

Did you take any detours while shooting?

I had an extravagant weekend and went to Omaha. Somebody told me it was like the Portland, Ore., of the Midwest, and that's a good way to put it. It's very laid-back.

We stayed in the Magnolia Hotel, which was really charming, and there were some restaurants that were so tasty. I would put the Boiler Room up against any restaurant in New York. And there was a place where I had brunch that was to die for — to die for — Dixie Quicks in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which borders Omaha. I had some delicious biscuity concoction. I tell you, if I lived out there, I would be a much larger person because I don't think I could stay away from that place.

And if anytime you're shooting through Buffalo, Wyo., stay at this hotel called the Occidental Hotel. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stayed there, so did Teddy Roosevelt. It's made up as it was back then, this old-timey décor, and the restaurant they have there, the Virginian, was delicious.


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In Transit Blog: Update for a Global Medical App

HTH Worldwide, which offers health insurance and other products to those travelling internationally, has made updates to its mobile application, mPassport, adding more translations of drug names and medical phrases and providing regional health alerts.

Users are already able to find and make appointments with English-speaking doctors in the HTH International Provider Community in more than 180 countries. The enhancements to the app add access to city health and security profiles, informing users about vaccination requirements and current safety issues in each area.

The app's translation service has an expanded list of medical terms and phrases in up to 12 languages, as well as a global drug list showing the names of foreign medications and their equivalents in the United States.

For HTH insurance plan holders, direct payments can also be arranged through the app. And for HTH Global Citizen and Global Navigator insurance plan holders, the app will help users reach HTH physician advisers to request guidance on obtaining second opinions and to locate doctors in areas where HTH providers are not available.

"Today's world travelers rely on their mobile devices for a variety of vital resources," Alex Wood, the managing director for HTH Worldwide, said in a release from the company. "The recent updates to the mPassport app make it easier for travelers to find trusted care in a foreign city when they need it."

The mPassport service is available to all those with HTH health plans, and through a subscription service for those without a plan. The app itself is free and can be downloaded on iTunes and Google Play and at Amazon.com.


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Check-In: Hotel Review: The Graham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The Graham Georgetown

The rooftop bar at the Graham.

Starting at $309 for a Luxury King.

Basics

The Graham offers sleek rooms in a convenient Georgetown location and a great rooftop bar at a reasonable price. Formerly the Monticello, the Graham reopened in May 2013 —  under new owners and management, Independent Collection —  after a nearly yearlong renovation. The 57-room, seven-floor boutique hotel, named after Alexander Graham Bell, one-time Washington resident, has a chic, funky ambience. The lobby resembles a boudoir with Art Deco-inspired and contemporary twists — a gramophone, a gold-hued chandelier and a gas fireplace.

Location

On a quiet side street in the heart of Georgetown, the Graham is a two-minute walk from the waterfront, and just around the corner from Georgetown's shopping and restaurant epicenter, the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.

The Room

We booked weeks in advance, so our Luxury King Junior Suite was a bargain at $219 before taxes. (The usual starting rate for this type of room is $339.) Our spacious white bedroom had large windows offering lots of natural light but so-so views of a few trees, the backs of brick buildings and a bit of the C&O Canal. The plush bed featured feather pillows and a feather duvet.

The Bathroom

It was big and bright, with two sinks, white marble-lined walls and floor, and a shower with Mexican mosaic tiles (but no bathtub). Toiletries were by Bulgari.

Dining

Breakfast, dinner and weekend brunch —  but, oddly, no lunch —  are served in a small basement restaurant with the feel of a smart drawing room (dark wood, pearl-colored leather bar seats, exposed brick) and a limited menu. It was out of orange juice and croissants when we arrived just before 10 a.m. "It's Sunday," our friendly water apologized. "I'm out of everything." Room service is also available, and though our restaurant meal —  fruit and a waffle —  was tasty enough, there are better options within walking distance.

Amenities

The real draw of the Graham, for local residents and guests alike, is the roof deck, with a full bar, serving housemade fruit-infused cocktails, and panoramic sunset views — from the Kennedy Center and top of the Washington Monument to the spires of Georgetown University. Turquoise canvas and brown wicker couches, which should be reserved, add to the playful South Beach vibe. (When the weather turns cold, there are space heaters, and blankets are also available.) The crowd is a reflection of Georgetown itself, a mix of preppy and international, and the low-key week-night atmosphere turns into a singles scene on weekends. When we returned from a late dinner Saturday, there was a line out the door, and a stylish clipboard-wielding hostess. (Hotel guests can bypass the line and head straight to the roof.) But not everything is as nice: The "gym" consists of a lone elliptical machine, an exercise bike and some free-weights in a windowless room off the lobby.

Bottom Line

The Graham embodies the duality of Georgetown, a neighborhood that is both a raucous night-life haunt and home to genteel Washington society. Tranquil, modern rooms paired with a vibrant rooftop offer hotel guests equal parts serenity and excitement, not to mention a tucked-away spot from which to start exploring the city. 

The Graham Hotel, 1075 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, D.C.; 202-337-0900; thegrahamgeorgetown.com.


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