Leading Hotels Take the Lead, into Two New Countries
As hospitality concerns go, the Leading Hotels of the World ranks among the finest, with luxurious locations, residences that used to house royalty, and rooms fit for a … well, you know.
Now, two new properties have been added to the company’s holdings, including the 190-room Kameha Grand Bonn in Germany and the 153-room Rocco Forte Verdura Golf and Spa Resort near Agrigento on Sicily. Just letting both of these names trip off the tongue makes one want to book the next flight out.
The Kameha Grand Bonn is as LUX as they come: The entire building was conceived as one of the largest geothermal facilities in Europe (billing itself as an ecological lifestyle and design hotel), with the capability to store the heat of the summer for the winter, and the cold of the winter for cooling in the summer. How good is that?? Located on the banks of the Rhine in the center of Bonn, it looks part mothership, part museum, and just plain cool. Other features include multiple restaurants and lounges (take a glass of wine in the Baron Philippe de Rothschild lounge, or a cigar in the Zino platinum cigar lounge), a spa and fitness center with a heated, rooftop infinity pool and even a playground for the children. The Kameha is better than good; it’s great.
Rocco Forte, purveyor of European hotel finery, has done it again in Sicily. The Verdura is located on more than 500 acres of countryside and olive groves—luscious. Each room possesses the LUX element travelers love most: a view of the sea (the hotel is situated on the coast), as well as a private balcony or terraces to take it all in on. Delight in Mediterranean cuisine overlooking the Mediterranean at La Zagara or a great (read: real) traditional pizza at Liola. There are five other dining venues, to accommodate all tastes and appetite levels, tennis center with six courts, water sports, private beach and two 18-hole golf courses. The LUXing on the cake: the 4,000-square foot Verdura spa with pretty much everything one could hope for—-thalassotherapy pools in addition to regular pools, hammam, gym, outdoor treatments, even a hairdresser. Don’t walk, run, to Rocco’s.
Or at least visit the company website, at www.lhw.com, for the full list of accommodations.
Tagged in: hotel, luxury hotels, service, rocco forte, italy, germany, rhine, bonn, sicily, environmental, geothermal,
