The folks at The World’s 50 Best Bars have put out a list of the best 50 places for a drink in North America, and Canada is well-represented. Four bars in Toronto, two in Montreal and one each in Vancouver and Halifax made the list, which is pretty good if you ask me. Canada is quite small in population, so to snag eight out of 50 spots when you’re up against both the U.S. and Mexico is pretty terrific. Civil Liberties, located on Bloor Street West near Ossington Avenue in Toronto, cracked the top 10 by finishing tenth overall on Read more
cocktails
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA – Fantastic restaurants. Beaches that stretch on just shy of forever. A great, walkable downtown. Amazing chocolates. A great harbor tour. And a luxurious, family-friendly resort. I grew up in California and spend a good deal of time there. But somehow I’d never spent a night in Huntington Beach until last month. My flight from Toronto to LAX was delayed eight hours, so I pretty much had only one day. But I got a pretty good idea how you could make a great visit work, so here’s my experience. WHERE TO STAY I was able to spend Read more
I love a hotel that provides a real sense of occasion. The Ritz Carlton San Francisco does that in spades. The minute you pull up to the front doors you’ll be thoroughly impressed by the architecture. The hotel occupies a brilliant, white, neo-classical building on Nob Hill that was built in 1909 as the Pacific Coast headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. It’s got character galore, including magnificent columns that march across the front of the building and tremendous detail in every corner and facade, not to mention nook and cranny. But that’s just the exterior. The lobby is Read more
By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) NAPILI, MAUI, HAWAII – I was scrolling through Instagram the other day and found a post from my friends at the Napili Kai Beach Resort on Maui. It was a photo of a little coastal path that runs along the point and stretches from Napili Beach to a group of hotel rooms on a rocky point of land that separates Napili Bay from Kapalua Bay. I hadn’t given it a ton of thought before, but as I gazed at the photo I started to think of how many times I’ve Read more
The phrase “game changer” gets thrown around a lot. For the Pearle Hotel and Spa in Burlington, it fits like a proverbial glove. This is a truly luxurious, design-forward property on the shores of Lake Ontario, with the feel of a posh lakehouse and a tremendous food and drinks scene. The design was done by Studio Munge, which has overseen several posh hotel designs in Canada, including the iconic Park Hyatt in Toronto’s Yorkville district. The 151 guest rooms, which are beautifully appointed and feature floor-to-ceiling windows, are meant to reflect the richness of the changing Canadian seasons. There’s also Read more
