Relais & Chateaux Announces New Members
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Relais & Chateaux Announces New Members
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Catégorie : Monde - Économie du secteur
- Rachats groupes ou hôtels
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- Baby Elephant Preserve, Helicopter and Treehouse Cottages Reflect Members' Unique Character -
- Restaurateur Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park the Only Stand Alone U.S. Restaurant Named -
Relais & Chateaux, a collection of the world's finest intimate hotels and gourmet restaurants, announced its newest worldwide members at its annual Congress today. A total of 31 new members were accepted into this prestigious organization, which now has 480 properties in 56 countries.*
Relais & Chateaux reviewed 100 candidates around the world with a commitment to selecting only outstanding properties with truly unique character. Each new member represents the guiding principle of Relais & Chateaux: to create for guests moments of exceptional harmony and unforgettable celebrations of the senses. In the U.S., only one restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, and three resorts -- Winvian, The Inn of the Five Graces, and Hotel Fauchere, earned this exclusive distinction. Three outstanding chefs at Relais & Chateaux properties in North America were also named Grands Chefs Relais & Chateaux.
For over half a century, discriminating travelers and gourmands worldwide have come to expect the extraordinary from Relais & Chateaux. With the addition of Camp Jabulani in South Africa, an astonishing self-sustaining camp that protects elephants and houses a five-star property that harmoniously blends with the African bush; and Winvian, a whimsical collection of accommodations in Connecticut's Litchfield Hills that includes Treehouse and Helicopter cottages, this year is no exception.
"Our newest members offer truly unique and unforgettable experiences for our guests," said Jaume Tapies, international president of Relais & Chateaux. "We are delighted to welcome them into our family, where personal generosity and hospitality are a way of life."
New U.S. Members
Eleven Madison Park, New York, NY: Set in a magnificent art deco dining room in New York City, with soaring ceilings and lush views of historic Madison Square Park, Eleven Madison Park serves Chef Daniel Humm's modern, pure and market-driven French cuisine. It joins only a handful of Grands Chefs Relais & Chateaux in New York -- Per Se, Daniel, Aureole, Le Bernardin, and Jean Georges.
Danny Meyer, renowned restaurateur and owner of Eleven Madison Park, has a profound and poignant connection to Relais & Chateaux. Meyer's father discovered the small inns of Relais de Campagne, predecessor of Relais & Chateaux, while living in France in the 1950s. Inspired by the organization's concept of the Route du Bonheur (the Road to Happiness), a road that connected small inns throughout the French countryside, he founded Open Road Tours, which arranged driving trips to Relais & Chateaux properties in France. From the age of 7, Danny spent time at Relais & Chateaux properties, where he learned first-hand about cuisine and hospitality and became smitten by the lifestyle. His father eventually opened the Seven Gables Inn, in St. Louis, Missouri, and the crowning achievement of his life was when the inn became a member of Relais & Chateaux.
"Just as it was for my father, becoming a member of Relais & Chateaux is a peak career moment for me," said Meyer. "It is an affirmation by the finest hospitality organization in the world of Eleven Madison Park's achievement, and I am incredibly proud of our team. As a young boy, I first learned what a soulful hospitality experience could feel like by staying at Relais & Chateaux properties. In fact, I still have the diary I kept during that time. I have imagined and hoped for this day for a long time, and I can't even begin to express how much this means to me."
Winvian, Litchfield County, Connecticut: Set amidst 113 acres, Winvian was created to recharge and indulge. Fifteen different architects designed individual cottages that combine the whimsical with the traditional, the modern with the historical. Examples include: the Helicopter cottage, which features a fully restored 1968 Sikorsky HH36 Sea King Pelican helicopter and the Treehouse, a two-story cottage suspended among the trees ten meters off the ground that allows guests to sway with the breeze and touch the leaves.
The Inn of the Five Graces, Santa Fe, New Mexico: The Orient and the Old West meet at this hotel, whose name relates back to the Five Graces of Tibetan culture celebrating the human senses. Originally known as Seret's 1001 Nights, the inn is a truly magical and fanciful transformation to another world. The exteriors are traditional old Santa Fe with intriguing architectural details, including hand carved ceilings and columns from Tibet and a Jain altarpiece. Ira Seret, an internationally known importer of Oriental rugs and antiques, and his wife Sylvia, a designer, opened their 22- suite inn in an historic neighborhood of Santa Fe in 1996. The property is a showcase for the Serets' decorating talents.
Hotel Fauchere, Pike County, Pennsylvania: Founded in 1852 and family operated for 124 years, the Hotel Fauchere was meticulously restored and reopened in 2006. The classic Italianate-style property has 16 rooms, all with marble baths, two restaurants, a patisserie and an adjacent spa. The public areas feature a collection of Hudson River School paintings. The hotel's Delmonico Room features contemporary interpretation of classic cuisine, while the more casual Bar Louis offers bistro-style global cuisine, including its signature Sushi Pizza, as well as a giant photograph of Andy Warhol and John Lennon above the bar. The Hotel Fauchere is located on the upper Delaware River, 75 miles from New York City, in Milford, Pennsylvania. It is near the Grey Towers National Historic Site and the Pike County Historical Society's Columns museum, which displays the famous blood-stained Lincoln Flag, which cushioned the dying president's head after he was assassinated.
New Grands Chefs Relais & Chateaux North America Three North American chefs at established Relais & Chateaux properties have also just been named Grands Chefs Relais & Chateaux. They are: Christopher Brooks of Blantyre (Lenox, Mass.), Jason Robinson, The Inn at Dos Brisas (Brenham, Texas), and Jonathan Gushue of Langdon Hall County House Hotel & Spa (Canada) join the contemporary elite of fine dining in recognition of their passion, creativity, experience and expertise.
New Relais & Chateaux Guide Faithful to the motto, "All Around the World, Unique in the World," Relais & Chateaux has unveiled a redesigned Guide for 2009, which features a larger format, customized pages for each property and a new column, "Unique in the World," that highlights the truly unique character of each property. Descriptions such as a truffle field with 600 oak trees, a helicopter cottage and a beach reserved for children provide glimpses into the experiences that travelers can enjoy. Prominent author Douglas Kennedy, Relais & Chateaux's first ambassador for 2009, has written a forward for the newly formatted Guide. 800,000 copies will be distributed in six languages in 60 countries.
"We all need ways to escape and seek out places that provide us with a way of seeing the world in a different way," said Kennedy. "When you arrive at a Relais & Chateaux hotel or restaurant, you arrive somewhere that isn't afraid to trumpet its uniqueness. The new Guide will allow readers to immediately identify each property's extraordinary qualities to draw inspiration for their next destination."
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