THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020 ST 3Arena
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TMAGAZINE.COMWith travel restrictions holding on account of
the ongoing battle against the pandemic,
we’re left to reminisce about past trips or
plan far ahead, choosing some uncertain date
for a future one. In lieu of the real thing,
though, those can be pleasant exercises,
especially when they involve conjuring a
room with a view — whether of the Amalfi
Sea or Rio’s Corcovado Mountain — or at
least with easy access to a glamorous lobby
bar. On the occasion of T’s Travel issue out
this weekend, we asked a range of creative
types to tell us about their favorite hotels.
More at tmagazine.com.The Brewery Gulch Inn,
Mendocino, Calif.
The Brewery Gulch Inn is a reclaimed red-
wood A-frame, spacious but not sprawling,
set on a promontory above the wild Pacific in
Mendocino, Calif. It isn’t a slick design pal-
ace. It doesn’t have troves of scurrying staff
members and a smug, officious concierge.
But it is luxurious, in the truest sense — that
is to say, going there is like stepping out of
the workaday world and into bewitching
beauty. I went on my honeymoon in Decem-
ber of 2018 (ah, the Old World!). It was the
off-season and there weren’t many other
guests. In our room, the fireplace was lit and,in a miracle of timing, in front of it sat a tray
with bowls of still-hot soup and warm bread,
as well as cheeses, fresh salads and a bottle
of zinfandel from a winery a few miles down
the road. It was glorious — perfect, actually.
We ate in leather armchairs with woolly
throws over our knees, the fire crackling and
the windows ajar to the crashing surf and
salt air. In the morning, we woke to sun
pearling through sea mist, and the air was
iridescent and golden all at once. The days
went on this way, enchanted and outside of
time. The trip home was like waking from a
dream. Now we are, all of us, trapped in
another kind of dream. But someday this
shall pass, and when it does we’ll go back to
the Brewery Gulch and it will be sublime.
AYANA MATHIS, author and professorSeku Bi, Dakar, Senegal
I’m not traveling for leisure at the moment,
but for the past two years my husband and I
have taken a trip together right after Christ-
mas. This year’s was meant to be to Dakar.
My husband is a diplomat and used to be
stationed there, so I thought, “We should go.”
December is the perfect time to visit and,
when we decided on it, my friend Yodit Ek-
lund had just opened her hotel, Seku Bi, in
the heart of the city. I’ve never been to Sene-gal, and to experience this incredible hotel —
apparently, it has a really excellent Italian
restaurant — as if with a local... well, I was
really looking forward to that. I’ve been to
Egypt and I’ve been to Morocco, but I’ve
never been to AfricaAfrica. I want to buy
furniture and art there. And I want to just
discoverand immerse myself in this predomi-
nantly Black country with an amazing his-
tory and culture. I can’t wait.
VICTOR GLEMAUD, fashion designerLa Casa Que Canta,
Zihuatanejo, Mexico
In Mexico, we have such incredible hotels
and beach destinations. There’s this hotel
called La Casa Que Canta that’s on the Pacific
Coast in Zihuatanejo, and it’s just so beauti-
ful. So I am thinking of that. There is also a
place I have always wanted to visit — and
I’m hoping that this winter I can — called La
Huella in Uruguay. It’s on José Ignacio beach
and has a restaurant known for its gorgeous,
simple, delicious food. So many beach hotels
don’t have good food, but La Huella is an
exception. The pandemic has been so intense
that I’d only want to go on a relaxing vaca-
tion right now, and I associate that sort of
trip with the beach and being able to hang in
a boat on the water.
GABRIELA CÁMARA, chef and restaurateurRaffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor,
Siem Reap, Cambodia
At some point in my single adult life I devel-
oped the habit of going to hotels by myself,
and not for work — I’d check in with a book
and read, uninterrupted, like Laura Brown in
Michael Cunningham’s novel “The Hours”
(1998). I’m no longer single, but if I were,
suddenly, able to get on a plane and go some-
where to read alone, I would absolutely get a
suite at the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in
Siem Reap, Cambodia. I’d read over Negronis
in the Elephant Bar, over dinner at the Cui-
sine Wat Damnak restaurant and on a chaise
by the pool, which looks like the emerald-cut
sapphire cocktail ring of a goddess. And I
would not intrude on the other guests but I
would, after all this time in quarantine, exult
in the pleasure of their company, the pleasure
that comes from reading alone in public
surrounded by others.
ALEXANDER CHEE, author and editorWANDERLUSTThe Hotels That Dreams Are Made Of
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JAY GRAHAM (BREWERY GULCH INN);
ELISE FITTE-DUVAL (SEKU BI); VIA RAFFLES HOTELS & RESORTS(RAFFLES GRAND HOTEL D’ANGKOR); IMAGE PROFESSIONALSGMBH/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (LA CASA QUE CANTA)