We are thoroughly trained to expect backgrounds and historic context. This hotel presents one of the rare exceptions in the list of The Most Famous Hotels in the World. Here, the brain doesn’t immediately reach the right conclusion. When we se...
Feel the Book — while you read, listen! I boarded the overnight train 235 in Vienna at 7.29pm, and the next morning I found myself driving through the northern plains of Italy, south of the mighty Alps. I had passed through Venice after mi...
The night of July 21st 1908 still represents an unforgettable moment for the Venetian hotel business: over three thousand invited guests, personalities who had travelled especially for the occasion from all over the world, and over 30.000 Venetian ci...
"Jingle your golden room keys and for one blissful moment you’ll feel as if time has stood still. For six centuries the thick walls of this house have been breathing in history. In every silent corner you feel the heart of this unique hotel. It...
The magnificent Ball Room A perfect network of overnight sleeper trains connects major Central European cities with Florence. When my train pulled into Florence station, the first rays of the sun created this stunning silho...
Gritti Palace is set in a former noble residence, a historic building on Venice's Grand Canal, with views of Santa Maria delle Salute Church. Rooms feature antiques and Murano glass. Hotel Gritti Palace is in the heart of Venice, just a short wa...
"Stay at the Imperial and feel like an Emperor," said Charlie Chaplin during his visit. The former private palace of the Duke of Wuerttemberg, completed around 1866 and never inhabited by the duke, was converted into a hotel for the 1873 world exposi...
The St. Regis Rome, historically known as the Grand Hotel Rome, is a brainchild of hotel-genius César Ritz, who not only initiated the purchase of the hotel by the London based Savoy Hotel group, but who also masterminded its opening...
"The Excelsior - like the Colisseum or the Vatican - is a synonym of Rome. Located at the apex of the Via Veneto, the Roman avenue made so fashionable by Fellini in La Dolce Vita, the hotel still rises regally above the street commanding Fellinesque ...
Johannes Baur, born in Austria in 1795, was a visionary entrepreneur who profoundly shaped Zurich’s hospitality industry. In 1837, at the age...Read More
The historic building (top, slide to the right): The "new" Raffles main building in 1899. It opened on 18 November 1899, featuring the all new...Read More
Since decades “The Oriental”, as it is affectionately known by travellers from all over the globe, leads the lists of most...Read More
In 1952, a group of wealthy individuals including Donald Deskey, the fabled designer (among his works the Radio City Music Hall); Harvey Firestone,...Read More
You don your safari gear during the day, but you always dress for dinner. Because Mount Kenya Safari Club Nanyuki is an exclusive retreat. High on...Read More
