Articles in Checking In
Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains, St. Moritz, Switzerland – Review
There’s a certain look one would expect from a hotel in St. Moritz. A backdrop of mountains is a must. A massive façade with an imposing presence and a few towers thrown in for good measure is another. There must also be snow, the grounds groomed perfectly with it, creating a pristine white lawn. Finally, there needs to be a rather formal décor paired with a sense of the contemporary …
Villa Quaranta Park Hotel, Verona, Italy – Review
On one of my first driving trips as an adult, I headed from Austria through the Alto Adige or Südtirol in Italy towards Milan with a stop near Verona. Sadly it was only for one night but I stayed at a hotel outside the city, Villa Quaranta. The memories of my arrival are still with me. It was late afternoon on a hot day, I checked into my room, changed …
Donovan House, Washington, D.C. – Hotel Review
Washington, D.C.: home to many iconic institutions, locations, and structures, among them the Washington Monument, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, and of course, the White House. Just a ten-minute walk away from the living quarters of our president, though, is another house – the Donovan House. Perhaps not quite as well-known, thoroughly guarded, or as annually visited, the Donovan House, a Kimpton Hotel, is however, quite unique and special …
Skt. Petri, Copenhagen, Denmark – Hotel Review
When my taxi stopped at the Skt. Petri’s non-descript entrance, I did a double take. It could very well have been a department store or apartment building. Indeed, as I found out later, the structure was home to the Daells Varehus department store built in the 1930s until its conversion to a hotel roughly a decade ago. Inside, things were quite different.
Danish architect Per Arnoldi’s stark white lobby, reached via …
Kempinski Hotel River Park, Bratislava, Slovakia – Review
Bratislava’s central position in Europe has made it a much sought after launching pad for those venturing east and, as I returned from the High Tatras Mountains in the easternmost part of the country, it was a logical place to stop. The city is set in the hills of the Small Carpathians and on the edge of the Danube flats, where the mountains and the Danube River meet.
Kempinski recognized the …
Hotel Palomar DC, Washington, D.C. – Review
Situated just a few blocks away from Washington, D.C.’s lively Dupont Circle in the northwestern quadrant of the city, the Hotel Palomar DC, a Kimpton Hotel, certainly has a prime location in our nation’s capital. Once off the Dupont Circle metro stop, where neighboring streets are lined with pubs, sports bars, restaurants, clubs, dive bars, and a variety of cafes and shops, it was a mere five minute stroll to …
Westin Los Angeles Airport – Hotel Review
My first-ever mileage run found me in Los Angeles at a midway point and, given the early morning flight to London the next day, it made perfect sense to stay at the Westin Los Angeles Airport hotel. “We have you in a very quiet Club Room on the 11th floor,” the pleasant receptionist said as I checked in. “Does that mean it isn’t facing the runway?” I replied.
Why would anyone …
