We don’t hear a lot about Como Hotels hear in North America. But that could change. Soon. There are nine hotels currently in the portfolio and three more are planned, including on at 24th and Collins in Miami Beach; close to the South Beach insanity but far enough away at the same time. The group was started by a woman from Singapore who had stayed in many hotels in London but didn’t find one to her liking. The emphasis is on stylish design and service, but they don’t aim to be a youthful, exuberant place. “It’s for people who have Read more
Asia
Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic win could be good news for Toronto after all. My first thought, having watched and covered the Olympics and Olympic bidding since back in 1988, was that supporters of a Toronto 2024 bid would’ve preferred to get Europe out of the way and were pulling for Madrid or Istanbul, which is in Europe but on the cusp of Asia. But the more I think about it, and that’s a dangerous game when you talk about the International Olympic Committee, the more I think this could play out nicely for North America. The 2022 Winter Olympics appear destined Read more
HANOI – I arrive in Vietnam and the first sign I notice on the side of the road is a giant, powder-blue sign affixed to an apartment building with giant red letters that scream “English for Future.” Yeah, I guess you could say this country has adapted rather quickly. It was only 40 years ago that the USA, the country where I was born, was bombing the living bejeezus out of this part of this most beautiful of countries for reasons most Americans never quite understood. But a lot has changed. The government here labels itself as a Socialist republic, Read more
BANGKOK – Being on the 32nd floor of a hotel overlooking the Chao Phraya river in this city is a pretty cool place to watch a thunderstorm. Kinda ruined my shot at dining outdoors at the luscious-looking Thai restaurant here (see photo of the seating area by the river) at the Peninsula Hotel, but I’ll try tomorrow for a drink anyway. It’s my first visit to Thailand and, naturally, first to Bangkok. So far, so good. I had fabulous and spicy Tom Yum Goong soup at the outdoor café here overlooking the river, as well as a dish of minced Read more
Here are two blogs from various visits to Hong Kong, one of the world’s great cities. HONG KONG – This is a huge, bustling, wild and teeming city. No doubt about that. But one of the things I love about Hong Kong is that you can get away from it all far easier than in many cities. There’s Victoria Peak, of course, where you can walk for a couple miles amid hanging vines and towering trees and gaze down at not only the buildings of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon but also vast ravines and wide open stretches of ocean Read more
