Forget Maria Bello, Richard Gere, Will Smith and Eve. A Travel + Leisure survey awarded Philadelphia the title of "Least Attractive American City" this week. Say what? Are they judging on the crowds of tourists around Independence Hall?
Miami took top honors in the attractiveness category; Charleston, South Carolina, was named friendliest and Austin is the best place to meet people (we're not surprised).
If you're having a hard time finding hotties, though, try stopping in at Canvas Coffee Company where the lack of pretension should make it easy to approach the cutie adding sugar to his latte. But if your best efforts to find beautiful people fail, you can always head out of town to Pennsylvania's wine trails. In the Brandywine Valley or in Bucks County, the more wineries you visit, the better everyone looks.
Ever since we read--yes, read--The Beach, we've been fighting this vision of Bangkok as a disgusting pit of cheap, dirty guesthouses full of British backpackers. But it turns out you don't have to shack up in a hell hole next to a young, fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio. Travel + Leisure's Sarah Kantrowitz has all the dish on Bangkok's newest places to stay.
The closest any of the places comes to Beach-level guesthouse is Luxx, where Sarah promises:
Gen Xers stretch out on the lobby couches to read Lonely Planet guidebooks and Australian fashion magazines while using the free Wi-Fi.
Free WiFi? Sounds good to us!
There are a couple other options, too. The Eugenia has rooms decked out with "framed vintage maps" and "aluminum and copper bathtubs," as well as a private fleet of vintage cars for guests. And Arun Residence has great views onto the Temple of the Dawn. But good luck catching it--rooms don't come with alarm clocks. Maybe your own personal Leo will rouse you?
Did you catch our 2006 travel awards? Well, Travel + Leisure skipped handing out the cheers and jeers, and went with a list of predictions for 2007 instead. Gridskipper registered its measured approval of the Seville's Metropol Parasol, but we thought we'd break down a couple more of the hot tips for next year.
St. Lucia made it onto at least two high-profile "what's next"-type lists this year. Travel + Leisure named it the "next Caribbean hotspot," and the New York Times put it on its "Where to Go in 2007" map.
You know what that means: St. Lucia is dead.
The Times chalked St. Lucia's hotness up to the slew of high-end resorts that are opening or have already opened there, while T+L praised its hotel forecast as well as welcoming residents. They say it's one island where the locals aren't totally sick of tourists yet. Perhaps that translates into better service at sites away from your hotel?
Everyone seems to be most excited about Jade Mountain, a resort within a resort at the Anse Chastenet hotel, and it does look gorgeous. But while it may not have the beaches that St. Lucia does (and a "new" Caribbean beach destination will always be in demand), we'll be watching Dominica more closely this year.
Hey, we love to take long weekends around here. And Travel + Leisure apparently loves them too: this month's issue blows the lid off 12 destinations that aren't too far away from anywhere. The cover story breaks down places to stay, places to eat, what's good to see and do and gives us "insider tips." Here's a couple of T+L recommendations that got us thinking about booking some tickets:
Whistler: First and foremost, it's easy to get to Whistler, flying into Vancouver's great airport. Once you're in town, you don't even have to hit the slopes, as there are more art galleries and restaurants than you can shake a ski pole at. Shoppers take note: T+L likes the Path Gallery for First Nations sculpture.
Fez: Royal Air Maroc has direct flights from Casablanca, which means limited stops before landing in this imperial city full of riads and marketplaces. T+L recommends Riad Fes where you can make like royalty in the ornate courtyard.
São Paolo: Tired of Buenos Aires and Rio stories yet? Get ready for the SP onslaught. There are slick boutiques and bossa nova record stores all around, and since it's summer down south, the paulistanos are set to party.
Travel + Leisure does a fine tour of Addis Ababa, Ehtiopia, in this month's issue. Two T+L correspondents were guided by Marcus Samuelsson, the Ethiopian-born/Swedish-bred superchef of Aquavit fame who also hosts Inner Chef on Discovery Home. Samuelsson has been traveling back and forth to Ethiopia for years and he's got the tips to prove it.
First, make sure you check out the merkato, where the sights and smells can bring a tear to even the most hardened foodie's eye. Next, know your booze: tej is an Ethiopian wine made with honey and hops; if you want the good stuff, head for a round at Tej Bet. And if you are after the best food in Addis, and maybe a Samuelsson sighting to satisfy your crush, head to Habesha--it's his favorite restaurant in town. Just make sure the sauce from your dish lands on the delicious injera and not on your face--that can be off-putting.
One more thing: if you want to so much as even pretend you're hip, skip "new-Addis" establishments like Black Rose, quality as they may be. At night, it's all about traditional Ethiopian dance clubs. At Yewedal, you can get your dance on so long as you're prepared for another, more intimidating Addis activity: it's popular for clubbers to challenge others to a dance-off by verbally insulting them in front of the crowds first.
In the latest Travel + Leisure, staff members put two handheld electronic translators to real world tests: at hotels, at stores, in "emergencies," and most importantly, at restaurants, where they found that only one stored translations for "arugula."
The more accessible Lingo model retails for about $200, and features a "bizarrely detailed breakdown of Chinese food," and tips on requesting more hangers for your hotel room. Sadly, it only knows how to say "lettuce," and not "arugula." The pimped out Ectaco EW800, on the other hand, will help you navigate your arugula cravings and complain at hotels with ease, but it retails for a whopping $600.
Somewhere in the middle is the lighter Europa model by Lingo, which goes for $130 over at Flight 001. The Europa handles English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, and stores about half as many words as its bigger Lingo cousin. Though we wonder why they'd even bother to put a currency converter in, the world clock is a nice touch. Still, in a world of too many gadgets, we'll probably opt for a laptop and a book in our carry-ons, hope for the best, and go arugula-free if need be.
Fresh on the heels of her special project for Budget Travel, Girlfriend Getaways, Travel + Leisure editor Nina Willdorf, along with Andrea Bennett and Jennifer Cole, dropped a Women's Travel Special on us in this month's T + L.
What's inside? Newark International Airport chicks female travellers. This Women's Travel section is packed with a five-page photo/fashion feature of women on their way out of Newark International Airport looking stylish and heading to spots all over the globe.
While it is fun to leaf through the photos and questionnaires to see who is going where to do what, we couldn't help but notice the stereotypes that shined through:
White families travel to Canada, old sophisticated looking women go to Paris, Indians go to India, gaggles of fresh faced girls go to Europe, and cute girls in peasant dresses always end up running back to their Panamanian eco-hotelier boyfriends. What? It is true isn't it?
There's also a list of shopping, spa and volunteer trips for you and your sassy gal pals to check out when you're not buying Blahniks and Seven For All Mankind jeans.
Hey, we love to take long weekends 
