Articles by Shannon McClatchey
The House Hotel, Nisantasi, Istanbul – Review
Celebrated Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk describes Istanbul as “an archipelago of neighborhoods” and, from my personal experience, they all exhibit their own unique character. Nisantasi, part of the Sisli quarter on the European side of Istanbul, has always been an upscale neighborhood known for its cafés and exclusive shops. Here on Abdi İpekçi Street, Istanbul’s premier shopping street, is one of the four House Hotel locations.
The low-key entrance, one that doesn’t …
Gibson Hotel, Dublin, Ireland – Review
Dublin’s dizzying pace of change never ceases to amaze. Case in point is the Docklands neighborhood, where the year-old Gibson Hotel has opened. When I was last in Dublin, four-and-a-half years ago, this area was still dominated by derelict buildings and ancient warehouses from Dublin’s maritime past. Fast forward and the whole area – now called Point Village – is in the vanguard for trendy neighborhoods. The past two years …
The May Fair, London – Hotel Review
When it comes to London I’ve stayed in a number of hotels varying from the absolutely horrid (flashbacks to 1970s England from my childhood visit) to the sublime and everything in between, so I was excited at the prospect of staying at the May Fair Hotel on a recent visit. Situated in the Mayfair district, you couldn’t ask for a better location. With the Green Park tube station around the …
Twenty Five Lusk, San Francisco, California – Restaurant Review
Ask someone where Lusk Street is in San Francisco and they would probably shrug their shoulders. In fact, I’ve probably walked past this street a dozen times, but this quiet alley in the China Basin neighborhood hides an amazing dining experience.
From the outside the building could be yet another non-descript rehabbed warehouse. With the $15M renovation of this 1917 meatpacking and smokehouse facility the architects have managed to keep the …
21C Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky Review
Imagine taking a modern, boutique hotel and dropping it into the middle of your favorite art museum. That’s the best way to describe the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky; the city best known for the Kentucky Derby, horse country, and bourbon. The two dedicated and passionate art collectors who created the 21c Museum Hotel wanted to highlight another aspect of Louisville: its growing arts community.
The 21c Museum Hotel …
2011 Infiniti QX56 Review
While the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ may be applicable to some brands, the people at Infiniti chose to throw that logic out the window with their 2011 QX brand where sales were already up 200% in 2010. Infiniti took their tag line of “inspired performance” to task by focusing updates on several areas – most impressively with their technology – and executed pretty successfully.
I …
W New York
New York City has hotel rooms for every taste and budget and, when it comes to boutique hotels, the city is the epicenter. The Starwood Hotels W chain is acknowledged as the brand that once epitomized the boutique hotel and the grand-daddy of that chain is the W New York. My decision to stay there was based purely on nostalgia: it had been my home away from home …
