Alex Bozikovic
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 2:07PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 4:46PM EST
THE ART OF THE RENO
Another week, another spectacular New York hotel reopens after another major redo. This time, it's the Surrey on the Upper East Side, best known as the hangout of choice for New York's art scene in the eighties. These days, the main attraction is the food, thanks to superchef Daniel Boulud's recently reopened Café Boulud and new Bar Pleiades. But the hotel also has an art collection that includes work by Jenny Holzer, and a chic decor – traditional with hints of modernism – by designer Lauren Rottet, with all the in-room gadgets one would expect and Pratesi bathrobes. www.thesurrey.com
YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND…
A rotating hotel may seem like a completely insane idea, but architects keep promising to make it happen. In 2007, an Italian designer announced plans for a tower in Dubai (where else?) in which each of the 80 floors would turn 360 degrees. The “Dynamic Tower” is still just a dream, but a British architecture firm says it is working on a similar concept for Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Slated for Solta Island, this one is more modest: just three storeys, with the entire 61-metre-wide building spinning on a giant turntable. No word on who the developer is, when construction is slated to begin, or whether it will have free Wi-Fi.
CRUISING TO THE BEACH
The great appeal of cruising is comfort: You can see foreign beaches and then head back to the ship for dinner. But Carnival Cruise Lines is pushing that principle one step further, letting passengers go from ship to private island without setting foot anywhere in between. Dubbed (seriously) the Magical Flying Beach Chair, a chair-lift-like contraption will whisk passengers from the line's Cruise Centre in Roatan, Honduras, across to the island. There, a 160-metre stretch of sand, beach volleyball and “myriad watersports” await. www.mahoganybaycc.com
GETTING SPOOKY
It's Oct. 31, and there will be Halloween parties everywhere – but where better to celebrate than in L.A., where they really know how to dress in costume? The West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval will draw about 400,000 people, populating Santa Monica Boulevard with all manner of ghouls (not to mention Ricki Lake). www.weho.org/halloween/
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