On the Leading Edge of Luxe 10 Hotels To Know
From clever cocktails to underwater fun for kids, these forward-thinking properties lead the way when it comes to innovation.

(BY YEMAYA MAURER | Virtuoso Life | September/October 2007) Every year hotels raise the bar for standard-issue amenities and offerings, taking our expectations with them. From destination dining and happening bar scenes to thoughtful programs that help communities and the environment, the best hotels improve our quality of life, if only for a moment with a magnificent massage, or in more profound ways through philanthropic endeavors and unmatched excursions. Here’s a look at some of the most innovative people, programs, and services at top hotels today.

1. Impressive Restoration
Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

WHAT WE LOVE: Old-world opulence meets new-world innovation Just nine months after closing for Asia’s most extensive hotel renovation (which came with a $140-million price tag), the legendary Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong reopened its doors last September on a date selected by the property’s feng shui master. Reincarnated, the now tech-savvy hotel boasts 502 spacious guest rooms and more suites than ever before – each dressed with handcrafted furnishings such as steamer-trunk-inspired cabinets fitted with iPod docking stations and s-video ports for connecting laptops to plasma TVs.

WHAT WE LOVE: Insider access
When a guest of the lavish 105-room Stafford asked Frank Laino where to practice tai chi on horseback, the seasoned concierge didn’t blink. With 25 years’ experience, Laino exemplifies a connected concierge’s network and ability to deliver. “I help guests experience real London and mix with locals,” Laino says of introducing travelers to the area’s hidden treasures, including great local pubs and small galleries. And e-mail makes it even easier to take advantage of Laino’s services: Send him your London wish list before you even arrive, and Laino – with access to sold-out events, the area’s best seats, and those impossible-to-reserve tables – will take care of the rest.

What We Love: A room with a view
At the 33-room Château de la Chèvre d’Or, an intimate oasis in the heart of the French Riviera, esteemed chef Philippe Labbé’s two-Michelin-star restaurant perches on a precipitous hill above the Mediterranean, offering views as stunning as its seasonal cuisine. The aristocratic elegance of the dining room reflects the flawless French service. Guests may start with lollipops of wild strawberries with balsamic vinegar foam, then indulge in blue lobster with green zebra tomato marmalade, all perfectly paired with wine from the 20,000-bottle cellar.

Request a table by the large picture windows overlooking Cap Ferrat and the coast, and be sure to check out the dizzying array of cognacs and armagnacs.

What We Love: Clever cocktails with class
Master mixologist Thierry Hernandez constantly reinvents classic cocktails at Le Bar du Plaza Athénée in Paris, where the dramatic ambience evolves with the changing crowd. The night may begin with a quiet, intimate feel, but the energy soon escalates and the vibe ignites with the arrival of the city’s glitterati. As if Hernandez’s signature Rose Royale (chilled raspberries steeped in eau-de-vie, crushed, and topped with champagne) weren’t innovative enough, he recently introduced Alco-Mist, a selection of alcoholic atomizers in flavors such as strawberry daiquiri that are sprayed on guests’ tongues and presented with flavored wafers.

Don’t miss the stylish gel cocktails, individual squares of spirits presented like sushi – platters include
the B-52 apple martini and a piña colada.

What We Love: Pint-size ocean adventures
Just two years ago, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman worked with renowned undersea explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau to create the industry’s most innovative and extensive children’s program. Young travelers ages 4 to 18 explore the natural jungle gym of mangroves via pontoon boats and scrutinize sea life from 100-foot depths aboard the spacious Atlantis XI submarine. As part of the new underwater videography program, kids can record their sea-dwelling friends on camera while snorkeling. On land, resort-wide scavenger hunts reward eco-savvy tykes with prizes ranging from recycled Frisbees to earth-friendly canvas bags. The surprise? Parents often tag along.

What We Love: Ruff-ing it in the lap of luxury
For the pinnacle of canine comfort, St. Regis Resort offers the Pamper Your Pooch Package: During an overnight stay in one of the oceanfront property’s 400 rooms, Fido receives a personalized welcome letter, silver food and water bowls, treats, biscuits and bones, and a variety of pet amenities, including chew toys from Sniffany & Co., Bark Jacobs, and Dog Perignon. At night, discerning dogs get their beauty rest on exclusive St. Regis doggy beds.

What We Love: Guilt-free indulgence
Eco-conscious travelers satiate the senses at Soneva Fushi, a Maldives resort in pursuit of complete carbon neutrality that continually redefines a responsible leisure lifestyle. Guests in the 65 villas on this lagoon-embraced island learn reef ecology from the resident marine biologist and find nourishment at Me Dhuniye Restaurant, which highlights locally sourced ingredients, many of which grow in the resort’s organic garden amid lush, unmanicured vegetation. Soneva Fushi’s energy-saving efforts today – offsetting guests’ flight emissions, using salvaged building materials (think roof beams made from old telegraph poles), filling swimming pools with filtered seawater, and creating irrigation-free landscaping, among other things – will help it become carbon-free by 2010. In the meantime, everything the resort provides – from locally produced soaps to rechargeable flashlights and fair-trade coffee – is easy on the environment.

What’s ahead? Soneva Fushi plans to fuel watercrafts with coconut-derived biodiesel and convert land vehicles to battery power or fuel-cell units.

What We Love: Do feed the elephants
Talk about hands-on: The Four Seasons Tented Camp offers an up-close-and-personal Thailand exploration. Arriving in a long boat, camp guests don a traditional mahout outfit and begin the transformation from tourist to regal elephant-trekking explorer. And through an organization cofounded by the resort, guests can adopt elephants in need of rescuing, to be integrated into the camp and cared for.

When not driving the friendly giants through steamy jungles, cruising or fishing the mighty Mekong, or learning the secrets of Thai cuisine and the craft of traditional basket weaving, guests feast on fireside dinners and take in the sunset from their elevated and tented rooms, complete with king-size beds and hammered-copper bathtubs.

What We Love: Putting children first
Something about Cambodia’s contrasting beauty and poverty inspires guests arriving at Amansara Hotel, the 24-suite oasis and former guesthouse of King Sihanouk, to ask what they can do to help. Fortunately, Amansara’s Guest Community Help Program provides creative opportunities to get involved with local organizations. Resort-hosted performances top the list: Children of Sangkheum Orphanage entertain with Khmer dances while youth members of traditional artisan groups stage shadow-puppet shows. One guest committed indefinite funding toward packs of books, pencils, clothing, and soap that hotel staff distribute to children in the countryside, while others give medicine or money to the Angkor Hospital for Children, one of nine local organizations supported by the resort. Amansara staff estimate that one in five guests ask how to get involved in local community-building efforts, one way or another.

What We Love: Twenty-five years of Four Seasons savvy
To win the prestigious United Kingdom Hotelier of the Year award would be a lifetime achievement for most hoteliers, but Four Seasons’ John Stauss, who earned the accolade last year, says his proudest achievement comes daily, knowing he consistently meets and exceeds guests’ expectations. “We listen to guests and understand what they would like to get out of a visit,” Stauss says. Credit his success to an engaging personality and an obsessive passion for improving the hotel experiences, but Stauss says it’s his relationships with guests, staff, and travel partners that ultimately distinguish him from others.