Conde Nast Traveler Unveils Its Annual Hot List

    NEW YORK, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Conde Nast Traveler's 10th annual
 May "Hot List" issue is the insider's guide to the newest, hottest, sexiest
 hotels, restaurants, spas, and nightclubs opened all over the world in the
 past year. To develop the list, the magazine's editors checked out hundreds
 of new properties around the globe, rigorously evaluating each one on a
 standard set of criteria. The result is a definitive guide to the world's
 most exciting new establishments.
     The Hot List features 130 new hotels and resorts, 82 new restaurants,
 25 new nightclubs and for the first time, 55 hot new spas whose design,
 service, location, (and, if appropriate, food) transcend industry
 standards. Conde Nast Traveler's editorial staff sifted through the sea of
 properties that opened in the past year, and called upon a global network
 of editors and field reporters to visit each one.
     The hotel findings show amazing diversity -- from Tasmania's exquisite
 3- bedroom Avalon Coastal Retreat to Shanghai's 511-room behemoth, Regent.
 Hot and trendy doesn't have to mean pricey. Check out -- and into -- 34 of
 the hottest hotels under $200-per-night. The 130 hotels and resorts on this
 year's Hot List encompass 54 countries on 6 continents.
     The U.S. properties named to the list include:
 
      * The Chamberlain, Los Angeles, CA
      * Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
      * Hotel Solamar, San Diego, CA
      * Tower 23, San Diego, CA
      * Hotel Vitale, San Francisco, CA
      * St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco, CA
      * The Huntley, Santa Monica, CA
      * Les Mars Hotel, Healdsburg, CA
      * Hyatt Grand Aspen, Aspen, CO
      * Keyah Grande, Pagosa Springs, CO
      * Standard Miami, Miami Beach, FL
      * Twelve Hotel & Residences, Atlanta, GA
      * Mansion on Forsyth Park, Savannah, GA
      * Resort at Paws Up, Greenough, MT
      * Whiteface Lodge, Lake Placid, NY
     While most of us probably don't travel just to eat, all of us certainly
 eat when we travel. Food has no rival: it provides insight into another
 culture, paves a shorter path to meeting the locals and serves as one of
 life's most savory pleasures. Conde Nast Traveler roamed the globe -- from
 Australia to Vietnam -- and unearthed 82 of the newest, most irresistible
 restaurants out there. New York City reigns as the food capital of the
 world, with nine new restaurants on the list including new places by
 superstar chefs David Bouley and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
     Restaurants in the U.S. making the Hot Tables List include:
 
     California:
      * Tower Bar, Los Angeles
      * Pizzaiolo, Oakland
      * Island Prime, San Diego
      * Supperclub San Francisco, San Francisco
 
     Colorado:
      * Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder
 
     Florida:
      * Restaurant at The Setai, Miami
      * Afterglo, Miami Beach
      * Restaurant BT, Tampa
 
     Hawaii:
      * Town, Honolulu
 
     Illinois:
      * Alinea, Chicago
 
     Massachusetts:
      * Mare, Boston
 
     Nevada:
      * Alex, Las Vegas
      * Joel Robuchon at the Mansion, Las Vegas
 
     New Mexico:
      * La Mancha Restaurant and Bar, Galisteo
 
     New York:
      * Brooklyn Fish Camp, Alto, New York
      * BLT Fish, New York
      * Del Posto, New York
      * Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano, New York
      * Morimoto, New York
      * Perry St., New York
      * Telepan, New York
      * Upstairs at Bouley, New York
 
     Virginia:
      * Vintage Kitchen, Norfolk
 
     Washington, D.C.:
      * Zengo
     Spas are today's lifestyle essential, as varied in their approaches to
 pampering and wellness, as they are ubiquitous. Conde Nast Traveler's
 editors donned their robes in the world's newest, from intimate day-spas to
 sprawling resort facilities. In the last ten years, the number of U.S. spas
 has quadrupled to more than 12,000. Spas earn more money per year than ski
 resorts, theme parks or motion pictures.
     Spas in the U.S. making the Hot Spas List include:
 
     Arizona:
      * Spa Avania, Scottsdale
      * VH Spa for Vitality & Health, Scottsdale
 
     California:
      * Peninsula Beverly Hills Spa, Beverly Hills
      * PSYC, Palm Springs
      * Bliss San Francisco, San Francisco
      * Remede Spa, San Francisco
 
     Florida:
      * Spa V, Miami Beach
      * Standard Miami, Miami Beach
 
     Georgia:
      * Blue Medspa, Atlanta
 
     New Mexico:
      * Absolute Nirvana Spa, Santa Fe
 
     New York:
      * Cornelia Day Resort, New York
      * Okeanos Club and Spa, New York
 
     Nevada:
      * Spa at Wynn, Las Vegas
     This year's survey of the most alluring nights on the town taps in to
 the trend of hot hotel bars with sky-high views. One distinctive example is
 Pure, a Las Vegas nightclub overlooking the entire Sin City strip, but many
 neighborhood bars and live music venues also make the list.
     Nightclubs in the U.S. making the Hot Nights List include:
 
     California:
      * Mini Bar at the Parker Palm Springs, Palm Springs
      * Altitude Skybar & Garden Lounge, San Diego
 
     Colorado:
      * Corridor 44, Denver
 
     Massachusetts:
      * OM Restaurant and Lounge, Cambridge
 
     Michigan:
      * Centaur Bar, Detroit
 
     Nevada:
      * Pure, Las Vegas
      * Tao, Las Vegas
 
     New York:
      * G Spa & Lounge, New York
 
     Texas:
      * Bar Belmont, Dallas
 
     Washington, D.C.:
      * Tabaq
     Full reviews of each hotel, restaurant, nightclub and spa can be found
 in the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler, on newsstands April 25, 2006.
     About Conde Nast Traveler:
     Conde Nast Traveler's philosophy of "Truth in Travel," where writers
 pay their own way, travel unannounced, and are independent from the travel
 industry, is unique to the publishing industry. The result is that Conde
 Nast Traveler reports on travel the way consumers experience it: freely,
 fairly, honestly. The editorial leader in the field, Conde Nast Traveler
 has won six National Magazine Awards, the highest honor in magazine
 publishing. Conde Nast Traveler, the 2005 Zagat Survey Best Travel Magazine
 and a 2004 Advertising Age "A-List" magazine, has a rate base of 750,000
 and is published by Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
 
 

SOURCE Conde Nast Traveler