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15 Top Foodie Hotels
Valaer Murray May 16, 2007PAGES: 1 2
See our slideshow of 15 Top Foodie Hotels.
So are the reputations of the restaurants themselves enough to book hotel reservations? After all, there are so many factors that go into choosing a place to stay, from location to price, but for some die-hard foodies, the preference that hotel guests receive when dining at the property's exclusive restaurant may be enough. As Washington Post food critic, Phyllis Richman, said, "If I want a reservation at an over-popular hotel restaurant, I might then book its hotel."
For instance, the
An early purveyor of the upswing in amenities was the Wynn Las Vegas, where the full-service casino model lends itself well to dramatic hotel dining. While many critics deride the celebrity chef craze, claiming that the chefs are never onsite, Herrera believes Steve Wynn contradicts the stereotype: "He has developed chefs to be the benchmark," he said. And with 11 recognizable names, from Daniel Boulud to Alessandro Strata, at the helm of its respectable restaurants, the Wynn is a foodie's paradise. Atlantic City (an unlikely location for gourmands to flock to) tries to employ the Vegas model, but only the Borgata succeeds. It has carefully cultivated its fine-dining repertoire by recruiting two one-time Iron Chefs, Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay; Flay's very first steakhouse is now the resort's mainstay.
After asking a panel of food and travel experts for their take on the top hotel dining, we noticed that while most of the picks were in cities and tourist spots, a few are in more unexpected places, like the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va., The Peabody in Memphis, and the Montage in Laguna Beach. These out-of-the-way properties have the cache of being destinations, adding to the travel experience as a whole. And of course a hotel stay can be made memorable by special details that include food. Richman warmly recalls the room service at Seattle's Inn at the Market: "I'd wake up to watch Pike Place Market open up, breakfasting on room service from the little health food cafe below."
Now that hotel restaurants are shrugging off their dowdy reputations, some travelers are still getting used to the idea of "staying in." Slashfood.com blogger Sarah Gim remembers an astonishing meal at San Francisco's Cortez when she stayed at Hotel Adagio: "We had just gotten in, and too tired to go anywhere else, we ate in the hotel restaurant. We were, obviously, surprised by it."
With picks from six food and travel experts, we've put together a list of 15 of the top foodie hotels—so you can anticipate an amazing meal in addition to a wonderful night's sleep.
See our slideshow of 15 Top Foodie Hotels.
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