The New Destinations
And the mother of all new luxuries. Off with whose head?
BlackBook
December 03, 2007
TALLINN, ESTONIA
tallinn.ee/eng
Estonia is officially the most wired nation in the world, and with that comes all the free-market fervor old Soviets were always sniffing at. Its buzzing capital is split exactingly between its utterly charming, spit-polished medieval Old Town, with a stylish café or bohemian bar on virtually every corner, and its modern City Centre, with designer shopping and lots of sleek, occidental upscale nightlife. Chic hotels (Merchant House, The Telegraaf, the sublime Three Sisters) are swiftly proliferating. If it helps, imagine an entire city being Nolita. but with excellent Russian food and affable locals. —Ken Scrudato
CASCAIS, PORTUGAL
cascais.net
Fast becoming a not-so-well-kept-secret, the once small fishing port-turned-resort town of Cascais is only 20 minutes by car from Lisbon. Stay off the beaten path at the Farol Design Hotel. Stylishly dramatic cliffside accommodations are highlighted by a sea-salt swimming pool and a happening bar scene by night. Serenely complemented by quaint beaches and narrow pedestrian streets, tour the very modern Santa Maria Lighthouse Museum or pop down the road to the glamorous Casino Estoril, Europe’s largest. And a visit to the new Ellipse Foundation is a must, housing over 400 works of contemporary art from the collection of Joao Oliveira-Rendeiro, and recently exhibiting the photographs of fashion visionary Hedi Slimane. —Robyn Dutra
TRIANON PALACE & SPA, VERSAILLES
trianonpalace.fr
Luxury spas these days are selling so much “Zen” that it’s a wonder they don’t just install them in monasteries. But if you’re more the wanton, Ancien-Regime-decadence sort, the extravagantly revamped Trianon Palace & Spa has got a room waiting just for you. A mere 20 minutes from Paris, and still basking in the cool glow of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Versailles is for lovers. And it’s for lovers of vainglorious pomp. The Trianon spa itself is 30,000 square feet of classical majesty, but with any and all manner of futurist body pampering on offer—including a rather serious-sounding apparatus called the celluM6. Post-treatment, take time to ponce about like an EM Forster character in the newly restored gardens. It’s like 1789 never happened. —Ken Scrudato
Posted by Brent on Thu May 22, 2008 at 12.28 am
Hi, I was doing a search for Tallinn photos for a project I’m working on and I came across yours. Your photo unfortunately isn’t Tallinn, but a photo of the port of Helsinki. I’ve been there many times. Sorry to disappoint you!