Town Talk
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Tysons Corner might not be the classiest Ritz in the country, but the location is shopping-amazing. It’s attached to Tysons Corner Center Mall, where Lacoste, Anthropologie, Juicy Couture, L’Occitane, Stuart Weitzman, De Beers, Betsey Johnson, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, J. Jill, Kenneth Cole, West Elm, BCBGMacaZria meet Saks Fifth Avenue, Lebanese Taverna, See’s Candy and more meet up just to keep us, the shoppers, happy!
For after shopping, the spa is indulgence squared. Take a dive in the saline pool (no chemicals!), and then check in for a 50 minute Reiki Energy Healing, Self-heating Mud massage—or really hit the pampering hard with the Ultimate Day of Beauty, which is 300 minutes of a Therapeutic Massage, a European Facial, a gourmet Spa luncheon, a Deluxe Manicure with Paraffin and Deluxe Pedicure with Paraffin. Hello! This is called service.
Last but not least, the food here is excellent, as is the bar (very comfortable and welcoming). The name of the restaurant is unfortunate - ENTYSE—but don’t let that throw you. The farm-to-table approach of cooking doesn’t let down—highly recommended, the Organic Amish Chicken with Potatoes Puree, Glazed Vegetables and Chicken Jus—and is accompanied by picks chosen by the very charismatic Sommelier Vincent Feraud.
If you’re looking for the perfect Mother’s Day getaway, look no further than this Ritz property.
The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner
http://www.ritzcarlton.com
1700 Tysons Boulevard
McLean, VA 22102
Hotel (703) 506-4300
Spa (703) 506-2694
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/25/10 at 02:12 PM
So who, in Baltimore, offers private late model, luxury sedan service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with experienced, business-attired drivers, for a flat rate fare, with airport “meet and greet” services (if so requested), and airport transfers, point-to-point services, event transportation, etc., etc., etc.? ExecuCar. For those who travel a lot, you’ve probably used the ExecuCar services already, as they’re found in D.C., N.Y.C., San Francisco, L.A., and 10 other major business cities. Having ExecuCar in our city comes not a moment too soon; with the new Hotel Monaco downtown we needed to bump up our luxury travel. We needed something more comfortable than a taxicab and more cost-effective than a limousine. This is just another way that Baltimore is turning away from its Smalltimore reputation.
Book your ExecuCar reservation online, or call (800) 410-4444
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/22/10 at 07:59 PM
The lobby is seeped in history-meets-society. The halls smell like a new pack of cards. The rooms are as distinguished as Brioni suits. Here, smack on the cusp of the White House lawn (one long block away), is the historical, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, Beaux-Arts architectural wonder—the luxury 4-star Willard Hotel.
If you’re looking for the best hotel to hit the snooze button on early in the morning to take advantage of the Smithsonian Museums, the Willard is the place to bed down. And if you are a museum fanatic, you really will want to stay close, as the Smithsonian consists of not one museum, but 19 museums, 9 research centers and over 140 affiliate museums around the world. Lucky for the D.C. traveler, you only have to cover the first 19.
The hotel offers major indulgence, with all the basics of a luxury hotel (huge rooms, marble bathrooms, heavy wooden furniture, flat screen TVs, wired-to-the-hilt everything, and then some). And the 17 pieces of equipment (including treadmills, cycles and weight training) in the Fitness room, followed by a spa treatment (or two or three), will help you pump up or wind down for or from the museums.
WHY STAY? This is the real Washington, D.C., where all the Presidents have been staying or eating almost since the day it opened in 1818. Calvin Coollidge lived here; Ulysees S. Grant took his afternoon cigar and brandy here; Abraham Lincoln was smoked in pre-inauguration by famed detective Allan Pinkerton to keep him safe from a possible assassination; and more pedestrian celebrities joined, among them, Gypsy Rose Lee, Emily Dickinson, P.T. Barnum, Houdini, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, P.T. Barnum and more. Perhaps the most amazing celebrity incident came when, in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his “I Have a Dream.”
WHERE TO EAT?
Café du Parc is an amazingly authentic French bistro (they’re quite rare in the States, actually), where most D.C. natives go for their puff pastries and morning breakfast meetings. And even though the Occidental Grill and Seafood restaurant might overpower it with history (and photos to back up that history), the food at Café du Parc is perfect for any meal… and so easily accessible from the guest rooms or off the street (plus, no stuffy suits and ties required). Highly recommended is the pate plate.
WHAT TO DO IN-HOTEL?
The Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa at the Willard offers 80 minute Swedish Massages that make leaving the hotel to visit the D.C. museums and monuments almost seem second in priority. Why leave to go anywhere when you can be this indulged.
The Willard Washington Interncontinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, D.C., 2004
1-877-270-1390
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/18/10 at 07:44 PM
Mickey and Minnie have come back to the 1st Mariner Arena, bringing with them the usual Disney suspects: Donald Duck, Goofy, Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, Timon, Pumba, Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, all the princesses and more.
This year the choreography is particularly spectacular, as if the cast and crew took some sort of magic fairy dust, because there’s not a dull step. The lighting crew deserves a special round of applause, as they backdrop and forefront the skaters, making them appear as if they’re skating inside a rainbow.
Maybe no other town loves to bring its kids to a Disney show as much as Charm City. This is a Baltimorean’s ritual. So get your tickets fast!
WHAT:
Disney On Ice—100 Years Of Magic
WHERE:
1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore
WHEN:
February 3-7
TICKETS:
Ticketmaster.com
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/03/10 at 07:33 PM
People who live in Baltimore often think it’s a big hassle to go the 45 miles to D.C. because of the traffic. They’d be right. It kind of is. But there are alternatives. On the weekdays, the MARC train is easily accessible and very inexpensive (don’t even think about taking an Amtrak unless you want to spend an extra $20 or so for no real reason). The weekends, Amtrak is the only way to get back and forth from Baltimore to D.C. without a car. But there’s even an alternative for that. Drive on in to the New Carrollton metro station, park and take the metro into wherever you want to go. The worst part of driving to D.C. is driving IN D.C., so ditch the car early and enjoy the benefits of public transportation.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/01/10 at 11:50 AM
