New York & Hamptons (Part II)

My love affair with NYC continues…It just gets better every day! More new tips for having the best of New York:

Hotels.

*London NYC Hotel – Well priced, cool atmosphere, and great design. HUGE suites!
*Chambers Hotel – Bad, bad, bad! No gym, showers don’t work, wrong attitude, too dark…Don’t go there!

Restaurants:
*Da Silvano - Still great for an outside lunch.
*Cafeteria – SO OVER!
* Spice Market – Reborn and kicking ass.
* The Kitchen (Mercer Hotel) – Deserves every five stars. The food is to die for and the service is perfect.
* Le Bilbouquet – My favourite for lunch. Small, smart and sharp!
* Spotted Pig – The new place to see and be seen. No reservations so get yourself ready for an easy hour waiting. Not so sure if its worth it…Especially if you know proper gastro pubs in London.
* Bakery & Café – Very local. Went for a drink there and heard dinner is amazing.

The Hamtons experience:
For a long time that I wanted to visit this part of the Empire state. Imagined beautiful beaches with nice restaurants, lively bars and smart nightclubs, small charm hotels, young atmosphere…Almost like the Cote D'azur of America.
I could not be more wrong! The Hamptons (albeit out of season) is boring as hell!! Its like Boca Raton but with no white Rolls with red interiors.
* Vine Street Café – Can't say I didn’t like this restaurant… buzzy and a sweet ferry ride to the door!

London NYC suite

London (Part II)

HOME.

Top Five Restaurants, Hotels and Nightclubs and Private Clubs in London:

Restaurants: Zuma, Nobu Barkeley, J Sheeky, Ivy, Hakkasan

Hotels: Browns, Ritz, Sanderson, Claridges, The Connaught (it's being done up...)

NightClubs: Shadow Lounge (very gay friendly), Boujis, Crystal, Mahiki, Tramp.

Private Clubs: Soho House, Ronni Scott's, Annabell's, The Ritz Casino, Bungalow 8.

Soho House (SHOREDITCH HOUSE)

New York City (Part I)

Ok lets start with the NYC top menu for this year.
EAT in Morimoto, DaSilvano, BuddaKan, Nobu, Cipriani (Soho).
THROW UP at Mr. Chow.

DRINK at Soho House (need to be member or get in with one).
PISS ON THE GLASS in Gansevoort Hotel bar.

DANCE at Cielo and Hiro.
GET INTOXIATED at Mr. Black

DREAM at W Hotel (Times Sq.), The Hudson, Soho House, Gansevoort Hotel, 60 Thompson.
INSOMNIA in the Soho Grand and the Paramount.

Antwerpia

Lived in Brussels and never got to Antwerpia (LAZY MAN!) but got some tips from my aSmallWorld.net friends.

Great place for shopping fans!
Cocodrillo and Oxford for men. Verso, Princess Blue, A La Mode, Dani May and 2n3 for the girls.
Best shopping area is on Nationale Street. Do not miss Dries Von Nooten.
If the weather is nice go to Strantwerpen for after-shopping-drinks!

So many restaurants to choose from.... Anything in particular you like?
*Hippodroom - Belgian/French
*Pomphuis - International/Fusion
*'t Zuiderterras - Belgian/Brasserie style
*Dock's Cafe - Seafood
*Bar Italia - Doh!
*Kommilfoo - belgian
*Pazzo - italian

Madrid

Flying to Madrid is always a good idea! Can’t get fed up with it. Love it all! The shops, bars, restaurants, clubs and hotels. Sadly the Hotel Villa Magna was sold and is about to close. For that I have a list of some other hotels that you might enjoy.
Hotel de Las Letras, great for the gay guys, next to La Chueca.
Wellington Hotel
Santo Mauro
Hotel Ritz Madrid, a Ritz!

Get fat in Casa Lucio, Iroco, La Maison (great design and very trendy), Cafe Oliver, Piu di Prima, Astrid y Gaston and the Paradise @ the Tyssen Museum (open only for summer).
Also...
The terrace in the Urban Hotel for drinks. Archys and Suite to burn that fat!

Hawaii

After a long, a very long flight, I finally got to Kawai, Hawaii.
Yes, it is true, the beaches are amazing and the weather is great. But nothing else apart from that. The hotels are not that good and the restaurants are even worst. Too much of an amarican style going on there...

If you are looking for perfect relaxing days by the beach try Asia!

London (Part I)

Living in London for almost one year now, got a very nice surprise for my birthday. A suite at The Ritz. OK, London has great hotels and many of them are younger and cooler then the Ritz...But come on...Take a look at this suite! Where can you find this in 2007 apart from THE RITZ!?



My 2nd surprise...A visit from Portugal. My buddy Benny!

Dead Sea rocks!

Going back to a party in Jordan (Kempinski @ Dead Sea)...

The drinks might be mine, not the shoes! Dirty mind. Bitch!

Monte Carlo

If you think Monte Carlo is glamorous I think its more a wannabe then real glamour. The reality is that it is a Tax haven and whilst of course there is loads of money there, most of the super rich simply use it as an address. And actually they live elsewhere! For the real glamour go to La Colombe d’Or for dinner in Saint Paul du Vence.
BUT if you have your ticket booked have dinner in:
Le Grill, Le Louis XV, Maona Fuji, Altovia and La Saliere.
Of course Jimmy in Cannes is a tick in the box…Specially for Russian hookers!

My little secret near Monte Carlo...Eze! Please dont miss it.
Apart from being a beautiful village, Eze has one of the most amazing hotels in France. The Chevre d'Or from Relais&Chateaux.

From the hotel terrace...Not bad huh!?

Saint Tropez

My ass in Nikki Beach!

Dont miss dinner in:
Bahn Hoi, Chez Fuchs, Bayader in Hotel Byblos, Club 55, Villa Romana and The Strand.

Although everyone talk about the Hotel Byblos (Come on...! Whats so great about it!?) I recomend the Hotel Pan del Palais, mucher better.

My sweet aSmallworld.net party!

Rio de Janeiro

Get fit before you go...


EAT in: Barra Brasa do Rio, Porcao Ipanema, Sushi Lemblon, Juice Co Lounge and old fashioned Antiquarius.
SLEEP in: La Maison, Caesar Park and of course Copacabana Palace.
DANCE in: Two Lounge, ZeroZero and Nuth Lounge.

Jordan

Fly to Amman, which is the capital city and gateway to the country. If you need some rest, book a room for the night at The Hyatt or Intercon (which is where the US troops stay (yummy) - when transiting or w/e release from Iraq. Once fresh and ready to drive for hours, get yourself to Wadi Rum a breathtaking desert - Lawrence of Arabia territory. Renting a jeep and geting a local guy to drive you around is the best option. You can either do it as a day trip or go local and camp in the desert - the real deal means a romantic experience but no loos or showers. A new luxe camp is bineg built in the desert but won't be ready till 2010.

Add to your trip a hard camel ride in Petra. You'll need walking shoes and a sense of humour. The walk through the siq to the treasury is once in a lifetime. And if you are hapy to walk upwards for an hour or rid a donkey go to the upper Monastery. The best place to stay is The MovenPick, which is by the entrance. There's also a fun Flintstone style bar at the entrance to the site, which dates from 80ad - built into the rocks.

The cherry on top of the cake is the new Kempinski Hotel @ the Dead Sea. Do not miss this one!!

I think the pictures talk for theirself...

Ibiza

Restaurants:
Array S'esparta
Balafia
Juan Y Andrea
El Torrent.

Get a sunbed in Sa Trinxa and a nightbed in Las Brisas.
If you are loaded and into yaghts ask for Patricia @ Windrose.Int

Hong Kong (Part I)

Restaurants- Indochine 1929, Spoon, China Club and the amigo. After that? Mac Donalds and Pizza Hut. Guess what...You are broke!!
Nightclubs- Kee Club and the Feather Boa...NICE!
Dont miss a walk in the peak. Night and day.

Bahrain

1. restaurants with lounges:

La Cave - good steak

Mirai - new wave japanese, always a great choice

Trader Vics & the mythai lounge (weather permitting) - big and busy

Zoes - busy

Monsoon - good Thai food

Mezzaluna - old bahraini house converted into a restaurant and lounge

Olivetto - good italian fare with a nice lounge area

Brazil - food is nothing special, but they have a lounge upstairs

If you're in the mood for a proper steakhouse, plums at the Ritz is excellent..

2. bars and clubs:

Bjs - one of the bigger nightclubs

JJs - irish bar with karaoke on mondays if i'm not mistaken

Likwid - small club but always fun, monday might be their latin night

Club Seven - nice setting for a club but it could be an off night.

Sherlock Holmes - an institutional pub at the Gulf Hotel

Fiddlers Green - Irish Pub at the Diplomat Hotel

The bar at the Novotel overlooking the water is nice, decent terrace

3. Arabic cafes for smoking sheesha (flavored tobacco):

Al Wadi

Bindaira Cafe (The Aali Mall)

P.s. Bargain with the taxi drivers!!

Koh Samui

The new Four Season in Koh Samui. 5 star service, beaches to die for and each villa with its own private pool. Cant get better then that...

The what they call design Hotel The Library, avoid!