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Things I Love: Kimpton Hotels

I live for Kimpton Hotels. I would cheerfully live in one if I could. The hotels are all so cozy and the staff over-the-top accommodating. When traveling and staying in hotels, Kimpton is always my first choice (well, unless I'm in SF and someone else is paying -- then it's the Mandarin!).

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the relaunch party of Kimpton's recently renovated Hotel Muse on 46th Street near Times Square. The old industrial space-turned hotel is fabulous, with some of the biggest rooms I've seen in a New York boutique hotel. The balcony rooms have to-die-for views of Manhattan -- and for the prices they command, they should. If only I didn't already have a New York apartment, I'd live here (well, if I could afford to).

Posted by Sebastian / NYC / October 26, 2007 /

Things I Love: The Mansion on Delaware

While Buffalo no longer boasts its own edition of the Social Register, many holdovers of the city's high society heyday remain. One of those is one my favorite hotels on earth, the Mansion on Delaware, which was just recognized by a Zagat Survey as one of the world's best hotels! Yay!

Like Rochester, Buffalo has been in the vanguard of historic preservation, and the Mansion on Delaware is a prime example of that -- it stood empty for 30 years until being converted to a hotel in 2001.

The hotel is just one of the dozens of palatial homes that line the streets of downtown Buffalo.

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / March 7, 2007 /

Angela Adams

Last night I went to an Angela Adams trunk show and picked up a surprise or two as holiday gifts. I really love her stuff; she has such a great sense of style, with a strong understanding of space and place inspired by her hometown, North Haven Island.

Posted by Sebastian / Style / December 2, 2005 /

The many things I love: the California Coast

In case you haven't noticed, I am beginning a regular feature: The Many Things I Love (Yes, I stole the name from the MFA's infamous show). This week it's fitting that I begin with the California coast, because I just returned yesterday from Los Angeles, which bookended a spectacular trip that began 1,000 miles north six days ago. And on another level, it reinforced that California is my most popular domestic spot: this was my 25th trip or so to the state in the past five years (which only means that I have figured out how to while away all those hours spent screaming through the air in a tin can without pills or anxiety attacks).

A few recommendations: Parker Guest House in San Francisco, a beautiful hotel in the Castro whose web site does not do it an ounce of justice; and tasty Linn's Restaurant in Cambria, a few miles south of Hearst Castle, which is famous for its absolutely delish olallieberry. If you're in California's Central Coast, you have to stop in at Linn's. I just about died when my lips hit the olallieberry, so I bought a case of jam for presents (supporters of this site will now get the goods as a thank you).

Pictured below, and going clockwise: me on the beach in tiny San Simeon, Calif.; the foggy headlands of Big Sur from a turnout along Highway 1; on Cannery Row in Monterey; an abandoned relic of the past in San Simeon village with the rolling, muted brown hills of the Hearst ranch in the background.

Posted by Sebastian / October 25, 2005 /

The many things I love: Angela Adams goods

I serendipitously ran into Angela Adams yesterday in San Francisco. If you don't know her stuff, you should, and you should buy lots of it. Her rugs and handbags turn heads, and her glassware, which fills the shelves of many fine homes (and many of ill repute, such as mine), are absolutely beautiful!

Posted by Sebastian / October 21, 2005 /