Travel + Leisure has come out with its annual “It List” of the top 100 new hotels in the world.
The only Canadian property to make the list was The Ace in Toronto.
“Canada’s first Ace property ticks many of the brand’s familiar boxes: a bustling lobby with people on laptops working by day and drinking by night; in-room acoustic guitars and curated vinyl; and walls hung with works by Toronto artists. It’s also one of the city’s boldest buildings,” the magazine said.
The Ace Hotel, Toronto. Photo Courtesy The Ace Hotel.
The Ace in Sydney, Australia also made the list.
New York City had seven hotels in the top 100, including Aman New York and the Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad.
There are a full 10 listings for my home state of California:
Conrad, Los Angeles
Palihouse, West Hollywood
Beacon Grand, a Union Square Hotel, San Francisco (formerly The Sir Francis Drake)
Short Stories Hotel, Los Angeles
The Line, San Francisco
Sensei Porcupine Creek, Rancho Mirage (Greater Palm Springs)
Stanly Ranch, Auberge Resorts Collection, Napa Valley
Nick’s Cove — Marshall (Marin County, an hour from San Francisco)
The Madrona, Healdsburg
Villa Mara — Carmel-by-the-Sea
Dubai. ZQ Lee/Unsplash Photo
CANADA-DUBAI FLIGHTS ON THE RISE
The website Simple Flying says Emirates has announced that Dubai-Toronto – currently five weekly – will become daily as of April 20. The move came shortly after Canada and the UAE announced a deal to allow airlines in each country to increase flights by 50%.
Simple Flying notes that there’s still considerable room for expansion, and wonders if Emirates might add Vancouver, or if Air Canada might start flights between Montreal and Dubai. WestJet also could launch Calgary-Dubai.
The Eternal City of Rome. JIM BYERS PHOTO
EUROPEAN DEMAND GROWS: UNITED ADDING DOZENS OF NEW INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS
USA Today reports that Google Flights recently analyzed search data between Dec. 22 and March 22 to determine the most popular travel destinations between June and August of this year. London, England took the top spot for 2023, followed by Cancun, Paris, Orlando and Rome. That’s three European destinations.
Contrast that to last summer, when the top five were Orlando, Cancun, Las Vegas, London and New York (three U.S. destinations and only one in Europe).
Recognizing the trend (USA Today says United’s international bookings in March were 15% higher than last year), the airline announce it will fly to more than 110 international cities this summer. There are some two dozen new routes, including San Francisco to Rome, Auckland, Brisbane, Hong Kong and Osaka, Los Angeles to Melbourne, Chicago to both Barcelona and Shannon, Ireland and Newark to Stockholm. Flights to Tokyo have been added from Los Angeles, Newark and Washington Dulles, indicating a surge in demand for flights to Japan.
