BlackBook Magazine

What’s that we hear? Can it be? The pitter-patter of tiny backlashes? Your author certainly cannot even recall (though alcohol abuse may be partly to blame) a nightlife press release so vigorously decrying exclusivity as the one promoting San Francisco’s grandiose new “temple” of nighttime debauchery as Zen Compound. Based around his Temple nightclub and branding the entire space a “VIP room” (you’re all special!), DJ-owner Paul Hemming’s ZC is striving to merge Occidental decadence and Eastern consciousness into one chic, gloriously groovy and uplifting experience.

And you thought Connecticut was all Talbot sweaters and tennis on Tuesdays. In fact, not only is Bridgeport America’s #1 destination for violent crime, but good old CT even has its own little version of Sin City. And as of May 17, the Foxwoods Resort Casino, perennial host to Cheap Trick reunions, dwindling comedy careers, and couples desperately trying to rekindle the magic, gets a luxurious new MGM Grand -- 825 pricey rooms, a 4000-seat theater, and a 5500-square-foot-outdoor pool. (Size doesn’t matter? Please.) And NY chef extraordinaire Tom Colicchio adds to his crafty dining empire here with a swanky new branch of Craftsteak. Management likens the new partnership to the airline alliance trend. Only here, it’s the customers who will be plunging into bankruptcy. Mommy’s alright, daddy’s alright ...

There’s a brilliant Seinfeld joke about uptown/downtown couples suffering in long distance relationships. But only a terrible bore would demarcate their lives on one side or the other of 23rd Street. And with romantic hotel options not exactly legion in this dosh-worshipping town, the rebirth this April of the Upper East Side’s fetchingly elegant Franklin Hotel should get even ruthless corporate raiders and detached fashionistas to make for the 10128.

Despite summer in NYC being akin to taking up residence in a (really expensive) frying pan, there is the glorious consolation of being able to light up a fag while imbibing your frozen whateverberry margarita. So we welcome new outdoor partying spaces with the religious fervor of a Catholic welcoming the Pope (more, actually). Highbar, the super-fab new nightspot opening in May from Greg Brier of Aspen and Amalia, looks set to draw a flash crowd to the distinctly unflashy environs of Hell’s Kitchen (which, despite noble attempts, never actually became the new LES).

If you get past the rather twee moniker and plunk down a rather pretty penny (well, 30,000 of them), you may lay claim to the considerable charms of Santa Barbara’s newest boutiquer, the Canary Hotel (opened in late April). Luckily, the place is not a bright riot of birdy yellow. Michael S. Smith’s interior scheme actually draws upon the inviting aesthetic blitheness of Spain’s Canary Islands, with Spanish-tiled bathrooms and Moroccan accents.

Tragically, Atlantic City has enjoyed little reflective glow from the 21st-century re-glamming of its Western cousin, the chic and sparkly Vegas. (The only upside is, of course, that in AC, you can probably still find a cheap hooker.) But the Water Club, the new Borgata-branded palace of luxe-cess, should go a long way to mitigating the AC’s vice-city image when it opens in June. Arguably the NJ gambling mecca’s first serious visit from Dr. Design, the WC goes so far as to completely eschew unsightly in-house gambling facilities, in favor of fashiony retail (Just Cavalli, La Perla, etc); a zen lobby lounge, the Sunroom, complete with tranquil reflective pool; and a decidedly cosmopolitan spa. With 800 rooms and four pools, its claims of “intimacy” might be a stretch; but the interior aesthetic is, nonetheless, distinctly boutiquey. And in a particular epicurean coup, Geoffrey Zakarian will oversee the hotel’s culinary arts. Not for the surf and turf set, obviously.

Oh, you urbane things. You endlessly decry your manic, soul-sucking media lives, but how hard do you really try to break away? But here, in deepest Peru -- indeed, in the deepest canyon in the world -- awaits that ticket to mental salvation. Newly opened by Orient Express Hotels, the exquisitely serene 20-room Casitas Del Colca offers the chance to commune with nature, nourish your soul, and also do something really, really nice for someone who really, really needs you. With open fireplaces, terraces with sweeping views, a heated plunge pool, the luxurious Samay spa, and a stylish lounge-bar area, you’ll certainly want for no cosmopolitan pleasures. But the hotel has also partnered with the Mission of Sister Mary Antonia, which runs a daily soup kitchen for more than 600 needy locals; guests’ participation is lovingly encouraged. Don’t you feel better just thinking about it?

The only thing DC has more of than hot air is stodge. And though groovy 21st-century properties like the Hotel Rouge and the Hotel Helix have tried to inject some pizzazz into its staid hospitality scene, it’s still rather a Ritz-Carlton town. But if anyone can get the capital grooving, it’s unquestionably that world leader of fashionable hotel-ing himself, Jason Pomeranc. In a city where few second chances are ever granted, a former Holiday Inn gets the Thompson Hotels magic touch and transmogrifies into the sleek and sexy new Donovan House (opened April 15). A hip lounge and a rooftop pool, as well as a playful but dignified retro-mod aesthetic, should guarantee a steady stream of fabulistas (a restaurant with a marquee chef is also on the way). But it’s the rooms where it all really goes quite stylistically outré, with cocoon spiral showers and leather wraparound beds. Even money to host the next great sex scandal.

Bloody ‘ell. Visiting London these days has become almost as expensive as Sir Paul’s divorce. But Blighty’s capital is swinging more than ever, so we can’t think of a better investment for those who ... love to swing. And brilliant new openings abound for your bedding and partying pleasures. For cultured epicures, the venerated Cadogan Hotel -- where once cavorted such icons of scandal as Oscar Wilde (who was arrested here) and Lillie Langtry -- has been given a swish new update as of April 15. The hotel's elegant Edwardian rooms are now jazzed up with snappy contemporary touches, and the restaurant also got itself a designer update.

If you want to genuinely flaunt the scope of your grand ambitions, simply open a hotel in Atlanta while also opening another all the way over in Istanbul. The relentlessly multiplying W Hotels brand curiously pulls off a simultaneous trick in cities so radically different…well, they just are. In the buzzing Midtown area of Georgia’s capital, the city’s second W opened on April 1, perhaps hinting that this relentlessly business-minded town might actually be loosening its tie a bit. On-site will be a Bliss Spa, a Whiskey Bar, and an outpost of Jean Georges’ exotic Spice Market restaurant, a sort of holy trinity of modern epicurean living. And over in Turkey’s most swinging city, score another victory for those high-living secularists (in the ongoing philosophical struggle with their Muslim countrymen). The city’s first W Hotel, opening May 6, will be an unapologetic bastion of Occidental indulgences. With yet another branch of the Spice Market empire, a signature spa, and sleek, high-ceilinged rooms--some with private terraces and gardens--it’s not likely to draw a very, um, pious clientele.