ANTIGUA – I didn’t find what I had hoped for in my shower. But I found a new, favourite hotel. I spent a few days on this lovely Caribbean island last week. The first few nights were at a very nice place called Sugar Ridge. The last night was one of the top places I’ve ever laid my head. And that includes a lot of incredible hotels, folks. The road to get to Hermitage Bay Resort is rather, um, unassuming; a bouncy dirt track with potholes big enough to hold a Smart Car or, as one local told me, big Read more
hotels
ANTIGUA – I can’t verify that there are 365 beaches on this island, one for every day of the year. The tourist board says it’s true, and tourist boards never inflate their numbers. Right? All I know is I took a five-hour drive around the south part of the island the other day and spotted a dozen or so of the spiffiest, most alluring stretches of sand I’ve seen in a long time. I had plans to see a good half or two-thirds of the island. But a worker at the lovely Sugar Ridge resort I’m staying at convinced me Read more
California Restaurant Month coming, Farewell to a Canadian tourism legend and New Year’s at the Ritz
Quite the week here in Toronto for tourism/travel types. And I haven’t even attended a Christmas party yet! Things kicked off nicely – very nicely – on Thursday when the folks at California Tourism put on a ridiculously tasty lunch at a cooking showcase spot downtown. Southern California chef Suzanne Goin, who owns four restaurants and also has a chef husband who runs a few of his own, made some of the tastiest treats I’ve tried anywhere. Just amazing. Mind you, California has incredible, year-round produce to work with. And Goin used it; luscious red grapes she pounded with a Read more
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – Beautiful views. Fabulous food. Colourful culture. And a great, chic hotel. This has always been one of my favourite towns, with truly iconic sights and just about anything you could ask for in a vacation spot. We started our weekend with a visit to the unbelievable farmers market on Arizona Ave. There were organic vegetable of just about type and size; leeks and limes, Japanese turnips, ripe orange persimmons, giant bush-sized bunches of romaine lettuce, crisp apples and strawberries as red as a shiny fire truck. They put a lot of pride on organic products in Read more
MONTREAL – You’ve cruised Crescent St. You’ve paraded through the Plateau. And you’ve wandered the streets of Westmount. Looking for something new in Montreal? Check out Griffintown, Little Burgundy and the burgeoning Saint-Henri neighbourhoods for some fun shops and tasty treats. Our tour guide, the delightful Rene Lemieux, drove us through Griffintown, which feels a bit like the Distillery District with old warehouses and factories converted to condos and a forest of construction cranes building new condos and a new ALT Hotel, part of the lovely Le Germain group. We also toured Little Burgundy, which used to be home to Read more
