Staying Places
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL AMMAN
By: JANICE AND GEORGEMUCALOV
SOPHISTICATED OASIS TOP CHOICE IN JORDANIAN CAPITAL
When in Amman, there really is no better place to stay than at the Four Seasons Hotel Amman – it’s simply the best. The top choice for government dignitaries and corporate executives, the sophisticated 192-room hotel appeals to discriminating leisure travelers too. We shared the elevators with both the president of Brazil, who was traveling on business, and an Abercrombie & Kent group of tourists.
Once past the airport-like security at the outside gates, you enter a creamy gold, Jordanian stone and marble, high-rise oasis. The airy lobby has several smaller parlors, where
guests may take afternoon tea or a light lunch.
Large, recently refurbished rooms and suites are done in gold, camel and soft blue colors and have expansive hilltop views of the city, both modern and Bedouin-traditional – through one window, we looked out across a field of sheep, a shepherd and even a donkey, right beside a busy highway. Luxury touches include Bulgari Green Tea bath amenities, Italian linens and flat-screen TVs.
The Four Seasons is an ideal base for making a daytrip to the Crusader castle of Ajloun and the ancient Roman city of Jerash (and watching the re-enacted live chariot races) – about an hour’s drive from Amman. But at the end of the day, the hotel’s spa area is particularly welcome. We swam laps in the large indoor pool, which has a domed ceiling with star-shaped blue glass skylights. There’s also a beautiful outdoor pool surrounded by columns, open in warmer weather – magical at sunset when the city is bathed in a golden glow and the call to evening prayer resonates over the hilltops.
For dinner, the excellent Oriental restaurant artfully presents a cross-over menu selection of Chinese dim sum, Japanese sushi (with silver chopsticks) and lightly prepared Thai curries. Or go Italian at the romantic Vivace, featuring black truffle risotto and braised beef cheeks with Portobello mushroom. Either way, you’ll toddle off to your comfy bed, sated and content.
SHANGRI-LA BANGKOK
By: JANICE AND GEORGEMUCALOV
RIVERFRONT OASIS IN THE HEART OF THE CITY
The views of the longtail boats and rice barges plying the Chao Praya River are so captivating from the Shangri-La Bangkok guestrooms, you could be forgiven for sitting by your window all day long. But many more places within the grand hotel – which boasts almost a kilometer of river frontage – offer great views of Bangkok’s exotic river life too. Add to that a sweeping $60 million makeover completed in 2010, and you have one of Bangkok’s premier places to stay.
There are 802 guestrooms in two towers. Some guests prefer the smaller, more exclusive Krungthep Wing (with its own riverside lap pool), which is more traditionally decorated. We like the Horizon Club rooms on the top floors of the 25-storey Shangri-La Wing, which seem fresher, brighter and more modern. A huge carved teak headboard dominates each room, furnished with ruby-and-beige swirl carpeting, gold silk lampshades and gold-framed pictures of Thai figurines. 
But Horizon Club guests have a tough choice come morning. Should you eat a full buffet breakfast (complimentary) at the somewhat busier, riverside terrace restaurant, and sample everything from fruit smoothies to dim sum to made-to-order omelettes? Or should you enjoy the glorious views from the quieter, top floor Horizon Club Lounge with the included continental breakfast? Either way, you still get complimentary evening cocktails and canapés in the lounge (when Bangkok’s city lights are magical), late 6:00 pm checkout and free WiFi.
The organically sculpted swimming pool – surrounded by palm trees, bougain villea, orchids and bird of paradise flowers – is within touching distance of the river. And it’s a welcome retreat after visiting the Grand Palace, Royal Barge Museum and other attractions in Bangkok’s sultry heat. Fitness buffs look out at the pool and gardens too from the top-notch, expansive gym.
Day trips to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya and nightly dinner cruises can be booked on the 140-passenger Horizon river cruiser. For a romantic evening, the signature Salathip Thai restaurant serves delicious seafood and coconut curries riverside in outdoor teak dining pavilions, while fine Thai classic dancers perform.
FOUR SEASONS RESORT HUALALAI
By: JANICE AND GEORGEMUCALOV
“BARE-FOOT” LUXURY ON THE HAWAIIAN OCEANFRONT
Humpback whales are spouting and breaching in the ocean beyond the waves crashing on the black rocky reef. We’re happy watching them from a weathered lounge cabana for two, perched at the water’s edge. And we love snorkeling with the more than 3,000 tropical fish in the large, ancient lava rock “aquarium” pond. The daily manta ray feedings catch our attention too.
The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii doesn’t hug a swimmable beach. But it does enjoy a spectacular oceanfront setting. And the AAA-Five Diamond resort boasts so many other attractions, we don’t miss it.
Take the suites. As part of a $40 million renovation completed in mid-2009, Hualalai added 20 spiffy new one- and two-bedroom suites, ranging from 1,150 to 1,950 square feet of indoor-outdoor living space (boosting the total number of suites to 51). Slate floors are warmed by wool area carpets, and louvered wood doors slide open onto expansive lanais overlooking the blue Pacific. The new suites also have black slate bathrooms with huge steam showers and oils for an aromatherapy experience – a welcome feature when we return chilled after scuba diving one night. 
Then there are the expansive grounds. Meandering lava rock flagstone pathways, flanked by gnarled driftwood railings, connect rooms spread out in four crescents of low-rise buildings. Our favorite crescent curves around that saltwater snorkeling lagoon (King’s Pond), where you can sign out complimentary fins and masks at the self-service beach desk. Prefer to be pampered? Chill out in a blueand-white tented cabana by the sophisticated adults-only pool – attendants come by with watermelon skewers, Evian spritzes and iced lemon water.
We could go on. The workout facility has not just one, but three separate air-conditioned gym buildings (for yoga, cardio and weights) plus an outdoor lap pool. And the thatched roof Beach Tree restaurant invites you to plop down, barefoot, in an overstuffed sofa and try any wine by the glass. But in short, for laid-back luxury in an unmatched beachy setting, Four Seasons nails it at Hualalai.
