Condé Nast Traveller compiles a yearly “Gold List” of hotels based on the best of the best in a specific category. The categories are – best location, best ambience & design, the best rooms, best service, best leisure facilities and the best food. Why not experience some culinary masterpieces during your next holiday starting here in New Zealand and then add some of the Condé Nast Traveller 2012 ‘best hotels for food’ to your list of must stay places. We are able to book all the 2012 Gold List hotels and their restaurants.
New Zealand….The Farm, Cape Kidnappers
Set on a 6,000-acre working sheep and cattle farm in the Hawke’s Bay wine region, this 22-suite luxury resort – which also includes a four-bedroom Owner’s Cottage – is famed for its spectacular, Tom Doak-designed golf course. Most of the suites are clustered on either side of the main lodge (designed in a ‘farm-chic’ style), which contains four Lodge Suites. The spa, on a hillside above the lodge, has three treatment rooms. Activities include quad-bike tours of the farm, visits to the local gannet colony and mountain-biking. Group chef Dale Gartland and head chef Tim Pickering’s menus feature local produce, much of which comes from the lodge’s own vegetable garden and also includes local seafood, beef and lamb. The wine list is excellent.
Australia….Cape Lodge, Margaret River
This charming boutique hotel is set in its own vineyard in Western Australia’s Margaret River wine region. It has 22 bedrooms and suites decorated in a contemporary style and showcasing original works by top Australian artists, as well as a two-bedroom cottage and five-bedroom villa in the grounds. There are tennis courts and a pool. Wine and gourmet tours, cookery classes, horse-riding, fishing and eco-tours into the bush are all available. The gorgeous Cape Lodge Margaret River Restaurant, where chef Tony Howell cooks contemporary Australian cuisine with a Mediterranean twist, has a 14,000-bottle cellar. ‘There may be hipper places to eat among the vineyards,’ says Gold List contributor Mike Dolan. ‘But nowhere else showcases Australian cuisine with such finesse and flavour.’
Australia…..Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney
A slick, 563-room hotel in the Rocks district, the Shangri-La Hotel Sydney has a great many appealing features. There are 80 Horizon Club rooms for business travellers, with a lounge, complimentary evening drinks and free suit-press, and the hotel has a terrific business centre. Other attractions include an indoor pool, fitness centre, sauna and steam room; a spa opened in February 2010. The Altitude restaurant, which servesmodern Australian cuisine, has dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows with great harbour views; Café Mix is good for pasta and tandoori dishes. ‘A rising star on Australia’s modern-cuisine scene, chef Steve Krasicki ensures Altitude restaurant is famous for more than its iconic harbour views,’ says Gold List contributor Mike Dolan.
South Africa…..Bushman’s Kloof
Set on a private, 7,500-hectare game reserve in the Western Cape’s Cederberg Mountains, Bushman’s Kloof has 16 rooms and suites divided between its Main Lodge and Koro Lodge, a private villa for families and groups of friends. Guides can arrange nature drives and excursions into the bush to look at ancient rock art, as well as fly-fishing and hiking. There are four pools, a spa and a gym. Head chef Floris Smith excels in contemporary Cape cuisine, and makes fantastic use of local ingredients and indigenous herbs. Choose between elegant, formal dining at the Homestead and relaxed barbecues at Embers.
South Africa….Le Quartier Français, Franschhoek
A stylish hotel with a great reputation, Le Quartier Français is in Franschhoek (just over an hour’s drive from Cape Town) a foodie haven in the heart of South Africa’s Western Cape winelands. Accommodation comprises four suites overlooking a courtyard, two suites with private pools and 16 rooms built around a central pool. A small, two-bedroom cottage and a three-bedroom house are also available. Chef Margot Janse showcases her award-winning contemporary cuisine with an African-inspired Surprise menu in The Tasting Room. ‘It takes quite some panache to be regarded as the best restaurant in the acknowledged gourmet capital of South Africa,’ says Gold List contributor Harriet O’Brien. ‘But Margot Janse’s dishes are at once innovative, theatrical and exquisite. This is the El Bulli of Africa.’
Maldives…..Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa
Built in the style of a traditional Maldivian village, this Four Seasons resort has 96 thatched villas scattered around the island or built on stilts over the water. There’s a fantastic spa on its own little island, reached by wooden dhoni, and a great children’s club with table-tennis, snorkelling and painting classes. A stay here can easily be combined with a few days on the resort’s 39-metre catamaran. The resort has four superb restaurants: choose from menus of low-key Italian, classy Indian, Asian delicacies and freshly caught seafood.
Japan….Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo
The 38-floor Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is a cool, cutting-edge hotel in the buzzing business and shopping district of Nihonbashi. All 179 rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling windows with jaw-dropping views of the city; all combine state-of-the-art technology with sleek Asian design. Facilities include a fitness centre, five restaurants, three bars, a tearoom and the 37th-floor spa, where guests are massaged, cleansed and wrapped while enjoying a bird’s-eye view of the spectacular Tokyo skyline. The hotel is home to two Michelin-starred restaurants. Gourmands can agonise over whether to opt for Kenichi Takase’s Cantonese cuisine at Sense or eschew cutlery in favour of pipettes and syringes at the innovative Tapas Molecular Bar.
China…..The Opposite House, Beijing
Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, this 99-room, steel-and-glass boutique hotel opened in Beijing’s fashionable Sanlitun district in 2008. Its Rubik’s Cube-like green-and-yellow glass exterior gives way to a striking, six-floor atrium hung with curtains of steel mesh. Original sculptures and art installations are prominently displayed in the public areas. Other features include a gym, two spa-treatment rooms and a 22-metre stainless-steel pool illuminated by delicate fibre-optics. Three restaurants provide sustenance; the Mesh bar and Punk nightclub provide the perfect excuse to stay up late. Whether they’re preparing Mediterranean flavours at Sureño or innovative North Asian cuisine at Bei, the expert chefs at The Opposite House are up there with the very best in China.
China….Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai
The Pudong Shangri-La is famed for its location on the Huangpu River, with stunning views of the Bund and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. But it’s also worth checking into for its luxurious accommodation. There are 952 glamorous rooms and suites, including 375 added to the hotel’s Grant Tower in 2005, which are decorated in a soothing palette of browns and creams. CHI, the Spa at Shangri-La, provides treatments inspired by traditional Asian philosophies. The hotel also has two swimming pools, a health club and a staggering choice of bars, restaurants and guest lounges. ‘What sets the Pudong Shangri-La apart is the depth and range of its dining,’ says Gold List contributor Gary Bowerman. ‘All the restaurants – from modern French, inventive Japanese and classy Chinese to Shanghai’s first live cooking-station and an international buffet diner – are genuinely excellent.’
USA…..Auberge du Soleil, Napa Valley
Set in 33 acres in Napa Valley, this much-loved hillside resort has a Mediterranean ambience, with shuttered windows and a neutral colour scheme. There are wonderful views from the 52 rooms in the main building and surrounding cottages, and from the 7,000sq ft spa and a yoga pavilion. The staff are friendly, helpful and ultra-efficient; service in the renowned restaurant is attentive without being intrusive. The recently renovated, Michelin-starred restaurant specialises in ‘Wine Country cuisine’. Executive chef Robert Curry’s menu features roast lamb served with fava beans, gnocchi and goat’s-cheese-stuffed squash blossom and other equally enticing dishes; the view from the terrace, over surrounding vineyards and olive groves, is an added pleasure.
USA…..The Mark, New York
Occupying an enviable position in New York’s Upper East Side – close to Central Park and the shops of Madison Avenue – The Mark, which first opened in 1927, underwent a major revamp in 2009. Its 150 rooms and suites all exemplify designer Jacques Grange’s bold touch, with grass-cloth walls, black-and-white marble bathrooms and Thirties flourishes; his vision extends to the public areas, with orange-velvet chairs, Ron Arad chandeliers and a zebra-striped marble floor in the lobby. There is a 24-hour fitness centre and a Frédéric Fekkai hair salon. In the stylish Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges, award-winning chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten creates innovative dishes such as raw-tuna-and-wasabi pizza, and cod in a sweet garlic-and-lemon broth.
Spain….. Hacienda Benazuza, Seville
As you’d expect from the Andalucian outpost of El Bulli restaurant (now sadly closed), the food at Hacienda Benazuza is very special indeed. And so is the hotel: a 10th-century Moorish farmhouse set in a garden of orange and lemon trees just outside Seville, it has 44 rooms decorated in a traditional Spanish style, with antiques and original art (some even have frescoed ceilings). Facilities include a sunken garden, a pool with an adjacent Arab tent, and a spa with a sauna, a Turkish bath and an ice fountain. The hotel’s Alma restaurant is where chef Rafa Zafra recreates El Bulli maestro Ferran Adrià’s groundbreaking recipes. Try his ‘surprise’ tasting menu.
Italy…..Hotel Splendido, Portifino
This former monastery in the millionaires’ playground of Portofino has been one of Italy’s most glamorous retreats for more than 100 years, playing host to countless stars (among them Bogart and Bacall, and Taylor and Burton). There are 64 rooms, including 34 suites, nearly all of which have balconies with commanding views across and beyond the picturesque harbour. Facilities include an outdoor, saltwater infinity pool, a foliage-fringed tennis court, a wellness centre and spa, and access to the hotel’s own motor boat. A sister property, the Splendido Mare, is a short walk away in Portofino’s village square. An outdoor table at La Terrazza, with views over the bay, is the ideal place to enjoy chef Corrado Corti’s superb regional Italian cooking.
France….. Le Meurice, Paris
This 176-year-old Parisian grande dame is well located in the 1st arrondissement, opposite the Tuileries gardens and close to the Louvre. It has 120 rooms and 40 suites decorated in a Louis XVI style, but each of the seven floors has a different look. The top-floor Belle Etoile Suite has 360-degree views from its large terrace. The hotel’s public areas were refurbished by Philippe Starck in 2007. Restaurant Le Dalí now features a huge ceiling canvas painted by Starck’s daughter, Ara. The Spa Valmont provides an extensive range of exclusive and tailor-made treatments. Yannick Alléno’s inventive cooking at Restaurant le Meurice has won it three Michelin stars. ‘The food is superb,’ says Gold List contributor Natasha Edwards. ‘Alléno has been very clever with the terroir menu, creating something that is really original and Parisian; and the second restaurant, Le Dalí, is brilliant for a more casual meal.’
England…..The Langham, London
Recently reopened after a five-year, £80-million restoration project, The Langham now looks as sophisticated and elegant as it did when Napoleon III spent the night. Its 378 rooms and suites are the epitome of Victorian elegance, with more than a hint of chinoiserie; the David Collins-designed Artesian bar features timber chandeliers, imitation-snakeskin flooring and resin-topped tables. There’s also a health club and pool, and Europe’s first Chuan Spa, which uses elements of traditional Chinese medicine in its treatments and rituals. Roux at the Landau, where legendary father-and-son chef team Albert and Michel Roux Jr are working together for the first time in 19 years, opened at the end of 2010. Their famed culinary expertise is complemented by that of chef de cuisine – and Roux protégé – Chris King.
England…..Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London is known for its award-winning spa, sharp service and luxurious accommodation. The 173 rooms and 25 suites are furnished with antiques, and the bathrooms are stocked with Jo Malone products; the hotel unveiled its refurbished Royal Suite, complete with crystal chandeliers and Lalique lamps, at the end of 2010. With Hyde Park on one side and Harvey Nichols and Harrods on the other, the hotel is one of London’s best locations for both shopping and green space. Last year, Daniel Boulud’s traditional French restaurant Bar Boulud was joined by Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. ‘A meal at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is a hugely enjoyable feast of highly refined concept-food; the signature Fruit Meat starter is hilariously good,’ says Gold List contributor Peter Browne.
England…..Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton
Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons celebrates its 28th anniversary this year. Well-known for its two-Michelin-star restaurant and cookery school, it has 32 bedrooms in the 15th-century manor house and outbuildings. Blanc created four more Superior Suites in 2010, which include the completely white Blanc-de-Blanc and Lace, which the chef claims is the ultimate room for seduction. An annual music festival is held in the grounds; in-room health and beauty treatments are available. A vegetarian cookery course was introduced in 2011 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Raymond Blanc Cookery School. The two-acre vegetable-and-herb garden produces organic ingredients for the kitchen, where Blanc and long-time executive head chef Gary Jones produce modern French cuisine of the highest order – including the nine-course Menu Découverte and a full vegetarian menu.
St Barts…..Hôtel Saint-Barth Isle de France
This privately owned hotel overlooking Flamands Bay has 39 rooms, suites, villas and bungalows set on the beach, on a hillside or in the gardens. Three beachside, three-bedroom Flamands Villas have recently been added. The whitewashed walls, French fabrics and dark-wood furniture combine to create a chic, beach-house look, and the four one-bedroom beach suites all have plunge pools. The Isle de France Spa offers a staggering range of treatments; there are two freshwater pools, one overlooking the beach, the other set in tropical gardens. ‘All the food at La Case de l’Isle restaurant is just wonderful, and there’s always a terrific variety of fish on the menu,’ says Gold List contributor Jonathan Bastable. ‘Try the mahi mahi, a Caribbean favourite. It goes very nicely with a pineappley Chardonnay, served in a pleasing glass that is itself the size and shape of a small pineapple.’