Virtuoso Life - September/October 2008 - (Page 52) T he Editors’ List THE RITZ-CARLTON, ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LIL’ MATEYS Parents whose timbers are shivered by the specter of a bored brood on vacation find a real treasure at Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. Ritz-Carlton has long led the industry with its innovative kids’ programs, and this property is no exception. Here, young buccaneers can have a pirate-themed adventure aboard the resort’s 53-foot catamaran, Lady Lynsey. A pirate crew guides kids and their parents on a half-day quest for buried booty. Kids help navigate the waters of Great Bay to land on a deserted island, where they search for a chest filled with the kind of prize that’s dear to every child’s heart: candy and toys. Back at the 180-room resort await a white sand beach, two swimming pools, and activities ranging from Hobie Cat rides to feeding iguanas. Doubles from $269, including breakfast daily and a $50 food and beverage credit. Fabulous Family Program Kids served here: The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. FRANKA HOLTMANN, LE MEURICE, PARIS FIRST LADY OF FINE HOSPITALITY No stranger to elite Parisian hotels, Franka Holtmann has left her stamp on Paris’ finest: the Ritz, the Plaza Athénée, the Crillon. The hotelier’s most recent move was to the venerable 160-room Meurice in 2006, where, as general manager, she has transformed the hotel by employing the talents of Philippe Starck. Starck’s artful reimagining of the hotel takes inspiration from one of its most famous guests, Salvador Dalí, and was executed in concert with the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation. Under Holtmann’s watch, chef Yannick Alléno garnered his third Michelin star, and the grand hotel is flourishing with a renewed vigor. And when it comes to the Meurice’s most important asset, its guests, Holtmann is equally dedicated: She is known to gladly interrupt a meeting when children on a hotel scavenger hunt come looking for her signature. Doubles from approximate $965, including breakfast daily and wine and petits fours on arrival. Hotelier of the Year Le Meurice’s Franka Holtmann. COLIN SHORT, THE LANESBOROUGH, LONDON MR. CONNECTED Colin Short, The Lanesborough’s head concierge, has an enviable black book and a favorite utterance that says it all: “Leave it to me.” A genie in a three-piece suit, Short started at The Lanesborough in 1984. Since then he’s filled innumerable and farreaching requests. As one acquaintance put it, “If you ask for a giraffe he’ll deliver one for you the next day … but that somehow isn’t the bit that makes him special. He simply has the contacts that other concierges do not have.” Guests at the 95-room Lanesborough can take advantage of Short’s connections, as well as private butler service for each room and the hotel’s fleet of cars, including two Rolls-Royce Phantoms. Doubles from approximate $661, including breakfast daily and champagne and petits fours on arrival. Concierge Who Can Leave it to him: Colin Short. 52 V I RT U O S O L I F E
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