Editors’ Picks: Best Boutique Hotels
DECEMBER 31ST, 2009
Editors’ Picks: Best Boutique Hotels
Sometimes charm trumps square footage. Herewith, our favourite boutique hotels.
With gold-leaf mahogany beds, French tapestries and Louis XV-glam, it’s impossible not to get the lovey doveys at Auberge Pierre du Calvet. Built in 1725, celeb fans include Aidan Quinn and Benjamin Franklin. From $295, www.pierreducalvet.ca
Marianne Wisenthal, Montreal editor
The perfect hotel for party people and culture vultures, Toronto’s Drake Hotel
hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. In fact, it’s hipper than ever
with ‘What’s in the Box,’ a Boxing Week music festival that celebrates
the best of 2009. Five bands, five nights, five bucks. From $189, www.thedrakehotel.ca
Athena Tsavliris, Toronto editor
The 15-room Hotel Deseo
in Playa Del Carmen is beachy minimalism at its best. And it’s the
little touches that make it magical, like classic Mexican movies
projected on the exterior wall and the phrase ‘away from you’ that
reflects up from the bottom of the pool. From US$178, www.hoteldeseo.com
Joy Pecknold, Vancouver editor
For understated luxury check into the Hotel Raya on Italy's Aeolian Islands. Playing briscola and sipping Campari on a whitewashed terrace at sunset is pure bliss. From $450, www.hotelraya.it
Athena Tsavliris, Toronto editor
For its warm ambiance and fine design, Le Petite Hotel is an ideal spot to hide away and forget about the world with your man. From $140, www.petithotelmontreal.com
Elsa Vecchi, Montreal editor