sean and narcissus


kulm hotel trip advisor post

I stayed at the Kulm with a friend last December, on our way from Zurich to Zermatt by train, which is one of the coolest train trips that you can take- word to the wise.

First off, any hotel that figures out when you will be arriving at an airport, or in this case, train station, without you telling them and sends someone to fetch you deserves major props, I was impressed. But when the guy they send is in the hotel’s livery and the ride is an awesome, crested, vintage limousine with a ski rack, well– be still my heart.

The hotel has very impressive, Grande public spaces- lots of gilt, red velvet, crystal, dark wood, and oil paintings that may have been bought off of some ailing aristocratic family– if I remember correctly. The rooms are done to a very high standard (although that standard may belong to your grandmother). Ours had gorgeous views of the lake and mountains, miles of wainscoting, a couple of club chairs and enough pastel tartan to satisfy all of geriatric female Scotland. The bathroom was on the smaller side, but functional and luxurious, and the products are pinch-worthy.

The highlight, design-wise, of this hotel is the 60s alpine-mod indoor pool and spa area which sits behind a wall of glass fronting lake and mountains. I could have sworn I saw a younger Sean Connery seducing a knowing blonde beauty pool-side.

We stayed pre-season, so the hotel was rather empty, nice for examining the objets d’art but a bit dull when the evening kicks in if you are looking for action. Badrutt’s was far livelier in terms of, well, in terms of anything, so we mostly cocktailed there, then hit the “clubs.”

Breakfast was typical for 5 star Swiss hotels, although service was a bit too eager. I’m sure the season’s recruits evened out by the full swing of things in February though.

Overall, lovely St. Moritz Grande Dame.



walking through union square and the financial district
November 17, 2007, 5:08 pm
Filed under: hotels, people, restaurants, san francisco, travel

after i dropped off tom’s indian visa application yesterday, i started wandering around though union square. i stopped in the new barneys for the first time. as stores go, this one was nice but for barneys it kind of sucks, doesn’t even come close to the new york or beverly hills stores… too bad. mostly it lacks the luxury of open space. the men’s department feels boxy and the space doesn’t flow. plus, they don’t have dries van noten at this location, boo. as i was walking past the levi’s flagship store, i remembered reading about this body-scan thing that they had there and went in, but no dice, they had gotten rid of it. walked down maiden lane to admire shop window’s then bought a package of parliament ultra lights at a 711 on market street.

continued down market into the financial district ( i love how neighborhoods flow into one another in san francisco) in order to better aquaint myself with this part of the city. i love the office tower at 555 california street, its beautiful, and the space around it is awesome- it makes it feel as though you are entering a temple of something.

i continued down to embarcadero center which is also pretty cool close-up, it looks as though you are staring up at jagged cliffs. my grandfather used to work in one of the office towers here, but i wasn’t sure which one. had a coffee from tully’s and went into walden books to consult the san francisco guidebooks on my choice of restaurant for lunch. i was excited because tom told me not to spend more than $40 or else it would look to expensive when he does his expenses. anyway, spending $40 on lunch is not something I do very often (usually $4.25 lo mein special or a home-made sandwich) so I wanted to go somewhere really cool. flipped through the book and called my mom for a recommendation. she suggested one market, mostly because she used to live in the same building as the chef, and had a funny story about making him spaghetti-o’s once. anyway, i decided that i wanted an incredible view, so i decided on the top of the mark. walked through the le meridian hotel to check it out and ask the concierge if i would need reservations for lunch, which i didn’t. the lobby and restaurant were sleek and cool, but small for such a large hotel. on the cab ride over saw about forty people dressed in fairy costumes along california street.



san francisco mini-vacation
November 17, 2007, 4:10 pm
Filed under: fashion, food, hotel bars, hotels, san francisco, shopping, travel

i am a huge fan of free afternoons in other cities, so when tom realized that he needed a visa for india by sunday, i volunteered to fly up to san francisco to get it for him.

 fun day, spent walking around, shopping, lunching, drinking in hotel bars, also walked the labrynth at grace cathedral.