BRAND WATCH

CRASHINGITHW

FRIENDSDespite the name, you don't haveto shack up with strangers whenyou book with Room Mate Hotds,a new Spanish cnain. Enrique Sara-sola, a former olympic horsebackrider, foundedthe brandbased onthe idea that the best way to see acity is to stay with friends. So the

seven properties-four in Madrid,and one each in Granada, Valencia,and Mdlaga-are named forfictionalfriends and designed around theirpersonalities. Iola, for example, isa dance instructor in Milaga with apassionfor jazz, so rooms are deco-rated mostly in black, white, andctuome. The Migueletes brotherslive nearthe Alhambra in Granadaand collect wine; their "home" is arenovated 17th-century mansionwith wood-beam ceilings and agorgeous courtyard. And Marina isan oceanographer who lives 500vards from Valencia's MalvarrosaLeach. Room Mate's latest outPostis the Oscar,whichwill openinApril in Madrid s ultratrendyChueca neighborhood-the perfectplace for an "extroverted daring,nocturnal" actor. Room-rnfltehotels.com, from $90. *Geraldine Campbell

TAKE MY woRD "I wa,s in clamaica last year researching a newnovel, whlch" fi}ce Frwit of tlwl"eman, is partly $et on the island..tAlhile there, I was irnrited to read at, the Calabash Internationa,iLiterarSr Festival, which ta,i<es place at Treasure Beach everyMay. For a magical fevr da5rs, $rriter$ from Nort'h America,

Europo, and the wider Caribbean read a,nddiscuss theirwork in front of more thanI,SOO people. fhere's food, muslc, and con-versation irlto the night--a,nd atl this a€ainst themost beautiful backdroPof the beach andblue seabeyond." -Anfi;eal*vy

Fruit of the Lenpn witl &reteased on February 1.MsitBudgetTravelonline.com toread an excerpt. CatabashFestiwl: May 2H7, ?O0Z(cahbashf estlvaloq, f r€e).

BudgetTravet 27February 2007