Virtuoso Life - May/June 2008 - (Page 122) DUELING DRINKS * The Ritz Paris lays claim to the Bloody Mary: Legend has it that Hemingway complained his wife, Mary, had tired of his drinking and could always smell it on his breath. The bartender mixed him an odorless cocktail of vodka and tomato juice; the next day Hemingway returned and exclaimed, “Bravo, bloody Mary didn’t smell anything!” Hotel, New York disputes the legend. The story goes that Fernand Petiot, who invented the drink – originally just equal parts vodka and tomato juice – at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, brought it to the NYC landmark and perfected the classic recipe known today. * The King Cole Bar in the St. Regis The right people, the right places – a night at these hotels can THESE WALLS All for a Song * Luciano Pavarotti issued Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Hotel a list of 102 tasks to be completed before his arrival, including replacing artwork in his suite with paintings featuring horses, blacking out windows, providing food and utensils for him to cook in his room, and hanging his portrait in the lobby. Rosewood Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, complained of “the racket” next door. When informed it was Pavarotti practicing, the guest stepped out onto the terrace for a better seat. Luciano Pavarotti: Great expectations. Bet on It * Caspar Badrutt, founder of Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, initiated winter tourism in Saint Moritz at the end of the eighteenth century (the hotel previously closed after summer due to cold, darkness, and superstitions about seasonal evil spirits). He bet a party of English clients the cost of their entire trip that if he opened the property for them during the winter they would love it. Badrutt won, and guests have been visiting ever since. TimiNg is EvErYThiNg ° Built in 1902 when few people * The owner of Ireland’s Dromoland Castle bet the entire estate on a horse in 1730. Luckily for him, the horse won. ° Queen Wilhelmina once or- lines the Louis XVI interiors. The hotel’s ongoing restoration program used more than 100,000 books of gold leaf in the last year alone. 24-karat gold At The Ritz London, dered all clocks in the Amstel InterContinental Amsterdam set an hour late to give a French envoy the impression he had arrived on time. 122 V I RT U O S O L I F E (PAVAROTTI) REUTERS/ CORBIS, (SINATRA) MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/ CORBIS owned watches, The Balmoral’s landmark clock tower has always run two minutes fast so people won’t miss their trains at Edinburgh Waverly railway station. The only day it runs on time is New Year’s Eve. * A guest at Las Ventanas al Paraíso, a
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