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WILD WYOMING

A GOURMET IN VIRGINIA

PUERTO RICO: THE 51ST STATE?

LINDSEY VONN’S VAIL

AMERICAN BEAUTY

Your guide to luxury in the USA

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Redefine extraordinary in Antelope Canyon, Arizona.

Discover this land, like never before.

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Exhilarate your senses in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Discover this land, like never before.

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© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012. Published by TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, and printed by Polestar UK Limited. Colour reproduction by groupfmg.com. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph. Ultratravel is a registered trademark licensed to The Daily Telegraph by PGP Media Limited

Features8 American classics We pick four quintessential experiences for

the year ahead: a festival of sport, from baseball in Chicago to the

Super Bowl in New Orleans; an art tour of New York; riding coast to

coast on a Harley; and flying an L-39 fighter in a remake of Top Gun

16 A state for all seasons From big skies and bison on the

high plains in summer to the winter wonderland of Jackson Hole,

Wyoming is where the wild things are, says Jeremy Schmidt

25 Vonn on Vail Lindsey Vonn, the greatest female skier of all

time, joins other champions in choosing their top US ski resorts

28 The gracious South Douglas Rogers enjoys culinary pleasures

aplenty on a road trip from the green hills of Virginia to the Smoky

Mountains of Tennessee

34 Puerto Rico revival The exotic Caribbean island, a US territory,

is reliving the glamour of its past with a new wave of high-end openings

CONTENTS

Island outpost Cayo Diablo in Puerto

Rico, the US territory tipped to become

America’s 51st state (page 34)

COVER The whirlpool and heated

pool at Amangani, the luxury resort

in Wyoming. TRUNK ARCHIVE

Regulars41 Ultra intelligence Heli-shopping in New York; small luxury lodges in Alaska;

California’s tennis hotel perfects its service; and America’s airport for gourmets

42 Travelling life Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie, based in San Francisco for the

America’s Cup, talks about his favourite travel experiences ashore and afloat

34

PAGE 14 HOT SHOTS

Download the Blippar app and use

your smartphone to step inside

the cockpit of an L-39 fighter jet,

for the full Top Gun experience

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If you think the British are obsessed with sport, consider the Americans. They’re nuts about it. In

Cincinnati, Ohio, the first day of the baseball season (pictured) is marked with a parade and a day

off work – and the rest of America celebrates, too. No team commands quite the same mystique

as the New York Yankees, with their 27 World Series titles and billion-dollar stadium in the Bronx –

unless it is authenticity you crave. Then the atmosphere of Wrigley Field, home to the perennially

underperforming Chicago Cubs, is unsurpassed. For American Football fans, the Super Bowl, to be

held this season in New Orleans on February 3, is the most glamorous sporting showpiece on the

continent: for pageantry, little can beat the spine-tingling rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” or

the screaming fly-past of F-16 fighter jets. Even regular games can be captivating, not least those at

the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium. By contrast, with basketball, unless you have seen

a game up close, you can never know the power of LeBron James’s slam-dunks for the Miami Heat,

or the timing of Kobe Bryant’s defensive blocks at the Los Angeles Lakers. For hoops at the highest

level, head to Miami, and for the most febrile atmosphere, try to catch the Boston Celtics at home.

Thomson Sport (0845 805 6762, thomsonsport.com), Sports Events Travel (0845 003 2213,

sportseventstravel.co.uk) and Great Atlantic Travel (00 1 800 888 8233, greatatlantictravel.com) can

book tailor-made packages to the Major League Baseball, Super Bowl and NBA basketball games.

3 MORE SPORTING CLASSICS

SAILING The America’s Cup (americascup.com) takes place in San Francisco from September 7-22,

2013, with the current Cup holder – Oracle Team USA – facing the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

MOTOR RACING The roaring success of last month’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, has

fans of Formula 1 (formula1.com) eagerly awaiting the next one, from November 15-17, 2013.

RODEO Las Vegas is home to the national finals (nfrexperience.com) run by the Professional Rodeo

Cowboys Association, testing skills from steer-wrestling to bull-riding, from December 6-15, 2013.

1 FIELDS OF DREAMS

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Sony DSC-RX100 £549 (020 3564 4264, sony.co.uk).

The world’s best compact camera combines a fast,

bright Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens with a 20.2-

mexapixel sensor that’s about four times bigger than

those found in traditional compacts. It features Sony’s

trademark “Sweep Panorama” function for seamless

wide-angle shots, and there is also a 3.6 x zoom

for getting closer to the on-field action.

the ULTRA ACCESSORY

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All-American events, experiences and adrenalin highs in the coming year

Playing the game Patriotic flag-waving

and a fly-past on Opening Day at the Great

American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio

the NEXT BIGU.S.

ADVENTURE

LEGENDARY BRANDS. ABUNDANT SELECTION. REAL SAVINGS. Ann Taylor Factory Store, Banana Republic Factory Store,

Barneys New York, BCBG Max Azria, Chloé, Cole Haan, Diesel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Tahari, Gucci, Guess, J.Crew, Jimmy Choo,

Juicy Couture, Kate Spade New York, Kenneth Cole, Last Call by Neiman Marcus, Lucky Brand, Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th,

Samsonite, Theory, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Tumi and more at savings of 25% to 65% every day. Stores vary per center.

VISIT PREMIUMOUTLETS.COM for a complete list of brands and centers worldwide, including: Desert Hills Premium Outlets®

(Los Angeles area), Las Vegas Premium Outlets® (2 area locations), Orlando Premium Outlets® (2 area locations),

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets® (New York City area) and Wrentham Vi l lage Premium Outlets® (Boston area).

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2 INSIDE NEW YORK’S ART SCENE

theULTRA ACCESSORY

Tumi iPad bag £195 (020 7493 4138, tumi.com).

Large enough to accommodate an iPad, credit

card and a few personal possessions, this bag is

nevertheless small enough to carry about all

day, across the body, without developing shoulder

strain. In a range of bright spring colours, from

marigold to raspberry for contemporary

dressers, or racing green for classicists.

Tate, with its galleries in London, Liverpool and St Ives, has some of the finest contemporary curators in the world and

a network of pre-eminent global art connections. From next year, that expertise can be tapped by British visitors to America,

thanks to the holiday offshoot, Tate Travels. Its first art tour of New York, starting on October 31, 2013, will take inspiration from

Tate Liverpool’s Glam! The Performance of Style exhibition, which evaluates international art from the Seventies. It will focus

on American artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Laurie Anderson, and their worlds around SoHo. Led by

such experts as art lecturer Grace Adam and art historian Harriet Landseer, the trip will combine private tours to galleries such

as the Whitney, PS1 and Brooklyn, pre-opening visits to the new Museum of Contemporary Art and the Artists Space gallery,

a reception at The Drawing Center, and visits to the studios of Sarah Sze and painter/sculptor/photographer Matthew Barney.

Tate Travels (020 3582 9261, tatetravels.co.uk) is offering a five-night art tour, staying at The Standard hotel, beside the new

High Line walkway in the hip Meatpacking District, from £3,206 per person, based on two sharing and including flights.

3 MORE ART AND CULTURE TOURS

WEST COAST Martin Randall (020 8742 3355, martinrandall.com) has a 12-day architecture trip in September 2013, taking in

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Scottsdale and Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute in La Jolla, from £4,740 per person with flights.

THE OLD SOUTH Audley Travel (01993 838700, audleytravel.com) includes grand plantation mansions along the Mississippi

plus jazz and the old French Quarter of New Orleans on an 11-day tour costing from £1,695 per person including flights.

EAST COAST ACE Cultural Tours (01223 841055, aceculturaltours.co.uk) has an 11-day guided tour in October 2013, visiting

the Frick and the Met in New York, plus a host of lesser-known smaller galleries in New England, from £3,640 including flights.

theNEXT BIGU.S.ADVENTURE

In the frame Clockwise, from

top left: the new Museum of

Contemporary Art; Andy Warhol

and Jean-Michel Basquiat; and

a suite at The Standard hotel

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theNEXT BIG U.S. ADVENTURE

Few combinations are as quintessentially American as bikes and blues,

especially when the name Harley-Davidson is added to the mix. A new

exclusive two-week Easy Rider Movie Tour, to be launched next year by the

motorcyle rental company Eagle Rider, will take bikers through some of the

most awe-inspiring scenery in the United States. The route begins in Los

Angeles and finishes in New Orleans, where riders will take in highlights of

the music scene. From California, they will travel to Death Valley and on

through Arizona, Monument Valley in Utah (pictured, top), New Mexico and

Texas to Louisiana on a 2,718-mile trip celebrating the 1969 film Easy Rider.

Two of the tour guides were friends of the film’s director, Dennis Hopper.

This is a deftly devised holiday, retracing the route in the film and exploring

locations where the most compelling scenes were shot. Bike hire is, of

course, included – with Harley-Davidson among the marques on offer.

EagleRider (00 1 310 321 3180, eaglerider.com). From Britain, Bon Voyage

(0800 316 3012, bon-voyage.co.uk) offers the holiday from £4,150 per

person (based on two people sharing a room – and bike), including flights.

3 MORE CLASSIC AMERICAN ROAD TRIPS

ROUTE 66 The original, iconic road from Los Angeles to Chicago covered

2,448 miles, much of which can be driven still, with all the legendary kicks.

NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY Running from Natchez, Mississippi, almost to

Nashville, Tennessee, this pretty 444-mile route was used by early settlers.

HIGHWAY 1 On the West Coast, this 660-mile drive skirts beaches, cliffs

and the pounding Pacific and is at its best between LA and San Francisco.

3 COAST TO COAST ON A HARLEY

Les Ateliers Ruby Costume Pavillon helmet

£570 (00 33 1 40 28 93 07, ateliersruby.com). The

flagship Pavillon model has a chrome trim and

nappa lambskin lining, and can be customised

using the French company’s “Sur-Mesure”

service – as was this Easy Rider-style design.

theULTRA ACCESSORY

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A town for grown-ups with no desire to grow up.

From exotic ice creams and sky-high roller coasters to pools, magic shows,

celebrity chefs, designer and outlet shopping, golfing and spas,

there’s more to Las Vegas than you know.

VisitLasVegas.co.uk

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4 IN THE SLIPSTREAM OF TOP GUN

It was the must-see American film of 1986 – Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, engaging in aerial

combat with Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) in some of the most thrilling aviation scenes ever shot. Now, the

generation inspired by the film can feel the adrenalin rush for real, looping over the mountains and deserts of Nevada or

California (above) at the controls of an L-39 combat jet and picking their own dogfight with a friend (here turned enemy).

Combatants make sorties in separate jets, flying in formation and learning manoeuvres before going full throttle into battle,

pitching, climbing steeply and pulling up to 5G. Throughout, moves are recorded on camera by a film production crew of

six. It’s not for the faint-hearted, yet no previous jet-flying experience is required. While rookies do get to work out combat

tactics and manoeuvre the aircraft, they are accompanied by a qualified L-39 pilot who also has hands on the controls.

Incredible Adventures (00 1 941 346 2603, incredible-adventures.com) offers a range of Top Gun experiences, flying from

Los Angeles, San Diego or Las Vegas. The three-flight Dogfight Over Mojave package costs from $15,000 (£9,460) for two.

3 MORE AERIAL ADRENALIN RUSHES

ZERO GRAVITY Experience weightlessness aboard a modified Boeing 727 as it performs parabolic arcs to create

a zero-gravity environment similar to space. The Zero Gravity Corporation (00 1 703 894 2188, gozerog.com) is offering

flights from $5,198, departing from Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Austin and Cape Canaveral.

ACTIVE VOLCANOES See the extraordinary pyrotechnic drama of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on a two-hour flight by light

aircraft from Kapalua. Hawaii Active (00 1 808 871 8884, hawaiiactive.com) is offering trips from $400.

STUNT ACROBATICS Experience vertical snaps, hammerheads and inverted flight aboard a two-seat, state-of-the-art

Extra 300L aircraft, with a pilot talking about the moves and letting you try the controls. Millionaires Concierge (00 1 954

564 7074, millionairesconcierge.com) offers 45-minute flights from Miami starting at $2,800.

theULTRA ACCESSORY

theNEXT BIG U.S.ADVENTURE

Ray-Ban RB3025 55 Polar Aviator sunglasses £178 (0845

602 1073, houseoffraser.co.uk). Aviator sunglasses were originally

developed in 1937 for American pilots, and these frames carry more

kudos than most. They are the very ones worn by “Maverick” (Tom

Cruise) in Top Gun, and they are a practical choice for flyers. The

“teardrop” shape of the polarised lenses helps deflect sun glare,

while the gold metal frame makes them hardy as well as iconic.

FEEL THE THRILL OF THE TOP GUN EXPERIENCE

BLIPPAR HOW IT WORKS

1. Download Blippar for free from the App Store or Google Play.

2. Hold your smartphone or tablet over the image of the jets (above).

3. See the pilots engage in aerial combat over the Mojave desert.

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From the big skies and extreme weather of the high plains

to the alpine crags and lake-spangled valley of Jackson

Hole, Wyoming offers drama aplenty – and some stylish

places to stay. Jeremy Schmidt, a former park ranger,

paints a portrait of the state through the changing seasons

WYOMING

Callof theWILD

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Weather runs through it The Snake River, a popular

spot for fly-fishing, meanders through the Grand Teton

National Park, with the Teton Range as a backdrop.

Inset, opposite: a bison, impervious to the Wyoming winter

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etting to Wyoming, the only way is

up. Up from the coasts, up from Chicago

and Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Up from

neighbouring states – Montana, Idaho, Nebraska,

Utah. Colorado might argue the point. They have some

higher mountains down there, but even so, driving north

from Denver to Wyoming is an uphill trip. That might

explain why residents feel a kind of superiority based on

geography. Looking down, in the topographic sense, on

the rest of the country is like riding a tall horse through

a crowd of footsore pedestrians. Getting high feels good.

Elevation is good for conversation, too. People in

Wyoming endlessly discuss their high-altitude weather.

The worse it gets, the better it is for talking.

“We got only two seasons here, winter and the last

week of July.”

“That’s wrong. We got four. Nearly winter, winter,

more winter, and… whoa, that went fast.”

“How do you know it’s summer? You wear shorts

under your parka.”

True, it can be cold here. Some years it does snow in

July, but it can also be scorching hot – and windy. People

here are so used to leaning into the howling gale that,

when it stops, they all fall down. So they say.

Behind the jokes is a fondness for the place. Having

lived in north-west Wyoming for 40 years, I’ve enjoyed all

the jokes and come to believe that bad-weather humour is

a kind of understatement, a tactic for locals who by their

nature are disinclined to boast. Like a grumpy old man

with a soft heart, they can’t admit how much they love this

sweet, often achingly beautiful part of the world. Spring

arrives in April. Summer lasts two or three months.

Autumn, a season of golden leaves and indigo skies,

might linger into November. Winter outshines them all.

Some basic geography: Wyoming is America’s tenth-

largest state, and the least populated. A straight-sided

box measuring 360 by 280 miles, it has roughly 560,000

residents. About half the state is high plains, covered with

sagebrush and bounded by mountain ranges with lovely

names: Bighorn, Uinta, Wind River, Absaroka, Teton,

Gros Ventre, and more. All of them are part of the Rocky

Mountains, stretching from Yellowstone National Park to

the lesser-known Medicine Bow range on the Colorado

border. The Rockies divide the continent. Rivers on one

side flow to the Atlantic Ocean, on the other to the Pacific.

This applies from the Arctic to the tip of South America.

In Wyoming, however, there is a twist. Near the middle

of the state, the watershed bifurcates around a huge

high-altitude depression called the Great Divide Basin.

Water that falls there leaves only by evaporation.

Scarcely anyone lives near the basin and even wildlife

is sparse, but this is typical of Wyoming’s open plains. It’s

a long way between settlements but don’t call it empty. It

is full of open space and dry rock and galaxies spinning in

the night sky. It looks tough out there, yet beauty abounds

on the high plains, even in winter – perhaps especially in

winter, when drifting snow turns vast expanses into

a white Sahara. Beautiful, intimidating, potentially

dangerous, it’s a bad time and place to run out of petrol.

Summer, on the other hand, is the time of sweetness,

in part because every living thing has to get its growing

done in a hurry before the return of frost. Hereford cattle

mingle with bands of pronghorn, the American version of

antelope. Rivers wind through broad valleys, clear water

tumbles over coloured gravel in the mottled shade of

cottonwood trees thirstily crowding the banks. Trout flash

in the icy pools. Ranchers draw a portion of the water to

irrigate hay fields, rich green and intoxicatingly fragrant.

Meadowlarks on fence posts, soft breezes on warm July

nights: for many of us, these are the things of paradise.

Others say head for the mountains, by which they

usually mean the north-west corner of the state, home of

Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. They are

right. There is no over-stating the appeal of these places.

GRoof of the world A Cessna jet at Jackson Hole Airport; the Grand Prismatic Spring in

Yellowstone National Park; and an excursion on horseback for guests at Amangani

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AMANGANI, Jackson Hole

Perched high in the mountain

valley of Jackson Hole, this

stylish property (above) offers

trademark Aman cool and

brings a touch of panache to

its wild setting. Public areas,

with their floor-to-ceiling

windows and tall walls of

stone and redwood, exude

grandeur while bedrooms are

cosier spaces furnished with

faux fur and cowhide. This is

a place for all seasons, with

lots of snow in winter,

a profusion of wildflowers in

spring, and, in summer, the

nearby Snake River to explore,

with fishing rods or kayaks.

Doubles from $870 (£547) per

night (rate includes dinner).

Bookings: 00 1 307 734 7333,

amanresorts.com

FOUR SEASONS JACKSON

HOLE, Teton Village The

beauty of the Grand Tetons

can be admired from the

outdoor whirlpools of this

mountain resort, which offers

ski-in, ski-out access in winter

and some of the best snow

sport in America. Summer

provides outdoor options

ranging from fly-fishing to

ballooning and wolf-watching.

Interiors, including the hotel

lobby (above), are quirkily

contemporary in their styling.

Doubles from $573. Bookings:

00 1 307 732 5000,

fourseasons.com/jacksonhole

SPRING CREEK RANCH,

Jackson The views are

spellbinding at this retreat set

within a wildlife sanctuary at

the top of East Gros Ventre

Butte. Accommodation in

rustic wooden buildings

ranges from inn rooms to

private condominiums.

Summer activities include

riding, hiking and chuckwagon

dinners (wagon rides to picnic

spots), while winter presents

a variety of outdoor action

from sleigh rides and skiing

(downhill, cross country, heli)

to winter wildlife safaris in

Yellowstone, from this month.

Doubles from $195. Bookings:

00 1 307 733 8833,

springcreekranch.com

THE HIDEOUT LODGE, Shell

Valley Under the big skies of

north-central Wyoming, this

113-year-old ranch (below) at

the foot of the Big Horn

Mountains is the real thing –

with no rough edges. Up to 32

guests can be accommodated

in comfortable log cabins and

casitas, spending their days

on cattle drives or other horse

rides. Alternative action is

available in the form of fishing,

hiking and biking. Evenings

often revolve around gourmet

feasts in the dining room

in the main lodge.

Doubles from $461 per night

(based on a four-night stay).

Bookings: 00 1 307 765 2080,

thehideout.com

HOTEL TERRA, Teton

Village Chic, urban and

eco-friendly, this modern hotel

(above) in the heart of Teton

Village is an antidote to alpine

kitsch. Each of the 132 sleek

bedrooms is equipped with

state-of-the-art technology,

while facilities include

a rooftop hot tub and an

infinity pool overlooking the

mountains. Concierge staff

will arrange outdoor

adventures, from downhill

and Nordic skiing to summer

riding and paragliding.

Doubles from $129. Bookings:

00 1 307 739 4000,

hotelterrajacksonhole.com

5 PLACES TO ENJOY THE WONDERS OF WYOMING

The Tetons are quintessential alpine crags rising 7,000ft,

unencumbered by foothills, above the lake-spangled

valley of Jackson Hole. It’s no wonder people are drawn

here, whether driving the family car stuffed with camping

gear or joining the gaggle of private jets at the most scenic

airport in America, seven miles north of Jackson. The first

set heads for campsites with million-dollar views. The

second revels in those same views from resorts such as

Amangani and Hotel Terra (see Five places to enjoy the

wonders of Wyoming), from palatial log houses in the

south of the valley, or from the ski slopes. Only three per

cent of land in Teton County is privately owned, making

this one of the most exclusive property markets in the US.

The two tribes come together on hiking trails, or on

a boat trip down the Snake River with fly rods, or in

the town of Jackson, which in spite of its high-end art

galleries (do you need a life-size bronze moose?) tries

hard to project an image of down-home cowboy tradition:

boardwalks, architecture straight out of a Western film,

and staged desperado shoot-outs on the town square.

There are still cowboys in Jackson, but you’ll have to

look beyond the costumes of the wannabes. Wyoming

men and women, the ones who live out there under the

big arcing sky and actually run cattle for a living, tend

towards understatement. Braggadocio is for the spaghetti

cowboy, that fellow with a handlebar moustache strutting

the boardwalks with spurs clicking and leather chaps

flapping. Genuine ranchers leave their country threads at

home when they come to town. If they come at all.

In winter the mountains pile up snow, billows of it, soft

and deep. It’s real winter, cold enough for the snow to

come down as soft as a baby’s breath and stay that way.

But here’s a secret: it’s not so cold. It can be awful, just

like the Wyoming jokes. But when the wind is still, as it

often is, and the sun is strong, which the thin atmosphere

makes possible, the days can be practically balmy.

You can visit Yellowstone in January, to prove the point.

It will be cold up there, where the elevation averages

around 8,000ft. The snow will be deep. And if you’re really

lucky, you’ll see it on a morning when the temperature

falls well below zero. Thirty below? Forty is possible.

Stay at the Snow Lodge in Old Faithful, a good

comfortable hotel close to the famous geyser. Bundle up

and go out at dawn. Watch for bison covered with frost;

they don’t show up well against the snow and the white

hot-spring mist that shifts, dreamlike, in the pale light.

As the sun rises, the fog banks move like the tide going

out to reveal geysers – there are dozens here – billowing

atomically upward. Conifers covered in ice stand in

silent homage. Ravens croak from high branches. Within

minutes, you feel the strength of the sun’s rays warming

your shoulders, and understand why people in these parts

come to cherish winter enough to joke about it.

British Airways (0844 4930787, ba.com) flies from

London Heathrow to Dallas Fort Worth, and connects with

onward flights to Jackson Hole with American Airlines

(americanairlines.com). Return fares cost from £740.

THE DETAILS

Yellowstone National Park (nps.gov/yell). America’s first national

park, with the world’s largest collection of geysers. Grand Teton

National Park (nps.gov/grte). Mountains, hiking, fly-fishing on the

Snake River. Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins (00 1 866 439

7375, yellowstonenationalparklodges.com). From $99 (£62) per night.

HE

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BISON COVERED IN FROST DON’T SHOW UP WELL AGAINST THE SNOW AND THE WHITE HOT-SPRING MIST

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VAILThe Arrabelle at Vail Square

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Celebrating twenty-five years of expertise in luxury tailor-made holidays

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CHRIS DAVENPORT

ASPEN COLORADO

One of the world’s

most accomplished

big-mountain skiers,

Davenport skied all 54 of

Colorado’s 14,000ft peaks

in a year, and has also skied Everest.

“As a lifelong skier and a lover of the finer things

in life, I see Aspen as a little winter paradise. It’s

a resort where there are endless choices in terms

of things to do, from mountain activities to visiting

the countless restaurants, bars and boutiques.

A perfect 24 hours in Aspen looks like this: if

it’s a powder day, the question of exactly where to

ski can be a tough one, but I nearly always go for

Aspen Mountain, which is a sure bet, having

76 runs to choose from. Even if there is no fresh

snow, you can do some top-to-bottom laps down

the perfect groomers on Spar Gulch, the main

highway gully run. After riding the gondola (which

is state-of-the-art, with iPod docking stations

included), I usually do a Face of Bell run from the

top down to the gladed ridge known as the

Dumps. Alternatively, I’ll do Kristi’s to Jackpot.

The spot I don’t think really gets the respect

it deserves is the lower mountain at Aspen

Highlands. In a way, that suits me because, while

LINDSEY VONN

VAIL COLORADO

Widely regarded as the

greatest female skier of all

time, she has won gold at the

2010 Winter Olympics, two

World championships, four

overall World titles, and

World Cup races in all five

disciplines of alpine skiing.

“I’ve skied at every major resort, and Vail

has the best snow, a huge amount of skiable

terrain, and variety: you can ski all season and

never do the same run twice. Living in this town

has helped me to become a good downhill skier.

I was 11 when my parents took the decision to

move to Vail to support my skiing. I’m eternally

grateful because, back then, they didn’t know

whether I would be Jo Slow or a future Olympian.

I have loved the place since the day I arrived.

A great day for me starts with breakfast at The

Little Diner (00 1 970 476 4279, thelittlediner.

com), which does the best bacon and eggs –

setting me up nicely for a day on the slopes.

Then, if it’s a great powder day, I head to Game

Creek Bowl and hit the back bowls such as

Blue Sky Basin, China Bowl or Earl’s Bowl for

something a bit more challenging. If I feel the

need for speed, then it has to be Lindsey’s. I was

honoured, and a little shocked to be honest,

when this classic Vail run was named after me in

2010. It is definitely the most challenging descent

on the mountain: icy, fast and rarely groomed.

But, as I always say to people: if you’re not

falling, you’re doing something wrong.

Skiing isn’t the only thing to do in Vail. The

place is really cosy and quaint, quite close in feel

to European resorts, from the chalet-style

architecture to the traditional après-ski scene.

Favourite places to eat include The Red Lion

(00 1 970 476 7676, theredlion.com) and Pazzo’s

Pizzeria (00 1 970 476 9026), for the best pizza

outside of New York – or, for something a little

more upmarket, Larkspur (00 1 970 754 8050,

larkspurvail.com) or Centre V at The Arrabelle

(00 1 970 754 7700, arrabelle.rockresorts.com).

Last year, Vail’s $2-billion (£1.25-billion)

renovation was completed, and new boutiques,

restaurants and hotels have opened, including

The Arrabelle (see restaurants, above). I love

the dark wood and the design, modelled on a

European chalet, and the fact that each morning,

a ski valet delivers your gear to the slopes. That’s

if you’re not sitting in the rooftop hot tub, which

overlooks the Eagle Bahn gondola, waiting for

the powder day. You won’t have to wait long…”

With skiing an option in more than 30 states, where should visitors head? Four

top skiers pick their favourite US resorts, for thrills on and off the mountain

CHOICES OF THE CHAMPIONS

All hail Vail The Colorado ski slopes

on which Lindsey Vonn (left,

and below left) honed her skills

EY

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KRISTEN ULMER

SNOWBIRD/ALTA UTAH

One of the pioneers of the

extreme-ski revolution,

Ulmer skied moguls for

the US Ski Team and has

subsequently pursued

a career jumping off cliffs and skiing

deathly descents all over the world.

“Ten years have passed since the marriage of

Alta and Snowbird. What will they call themselves,

I asked myself at the time: Snalta? Albird? Would

these rival resorts lose their identities, I wondered;

but I needn’t have worried. The joining of what

used to be two completely different resorts was

the best thing that ever happened. A single lift

ticket now gives access to the largest ski area in

Utah (and, many would argue, the most advanced

terrain in the country), but the resorts have

remained the same independent, world-class

places they have always been – and the famous

powder is as soft and light as ever.

Alta is more locally-focused and less glitzy, the

place where Telemark skiers, weathered locals and

young free-skiers convene to sample moguls,

powder and chutes free from snowboards (the

resort remains strictly skiers-only). Snowbird, by

comparison, is the more glamorous resort; here

you are more likely to join the boarders taking the

Aerial Tram to the top of the Cirque to feast on

a bowlful of powder. Silver Fox run is one of my

favourites. It is north-facing and the snow is always

good in there, whether it has snowed or not.

To finish off the day, I love sliding into the

giant après-ski hot-tub at The Cliff Lodge

(00 1 801 933 2222, theclifflodgeandspasnowbird.

com). It can accommodate 20 people comfortably,

although I’ve seen parties of 50 squeeze in. The

hotel is the place in Snowbird, with a great spa,

restaurants, swimming pools and rooms with

views of the Wasatch Mountains, and, rare

for America, the ability to ski in and ski out.

For entertainment, I would definitely

recommend Aerie on the10th floor of The Cliff

Lodge (see above), which is a great American

gastropub; to catch a big game, I would head to

The Tram Club sports bar in Snowbird (00 1 801

933 2222); and for nightlife, go to Salt Lake

City, just 40 minutes away from Snowbird/Alta,

whose image as a quiet Mormon town has

changed massively in the past few years.”

‘UNTRACKEDPOWDER,CHALLENGINGTERRAIN AND BIG VERTICALS ARE WHAT APPEAL, AND JACKSON HOLE HAS THESE IN SPADES’

TOMMY MOE

JACKSON HOLE WYOMING

A winner of both gold and

silver in the 1994 Winter

Olympics, the five-time US

national champion has,

since retirement, taken

part in the making of extreme skiing films.

“I’ve raced all over world, but Jackson Hole is the

resort I quite literally call home. For 18 years I’ve

lived here, yet I never tire of the terrain. When the

sun is shining on one of those dreamy powder

days, I still get that same excitement I did as

a teenager. It helps that the Wyoming scenery

is second to none: the resort is less than a mile

from Grand Teton National Park, with Yellowstone

only a short drive away. What’s more, Jackson

Hole is a year-round resort, so when I finally pack

away the skis in spring, out come the walking

boots, fishing rod, mountain bike and kayak.

But skiing is my first love and my approach to

the sport has never changed. Untracked powder,

challenging terrain, steeps and big verticals are

what appeal – and Jackson Hole offers these in

spades, whether you are losing yourself in the

serene Tetons with some backcountry skiing or

finding your nerve to take on some of the

incredible chutes and couloirs back in the resort

itself. The Alta Chutes, below the Sublette Quad

chair, are a particular favourite of mine. And then,

of course, there is Corbet’s Couloir, the most

famous run of all. There are plenty of skiers who

come to peer over the edge but never take the

plunge (it looks much worse from the top). I can’t

say it’s something I do every day but, when the

conditions are right, I still like to drop in and give it

a go. The best place to contemplate all this is at

the Couloir (00 1 307 739 2675), at the top of the

Bridger Gondola, which offers fine dining and,

at 9,000ft, even finer views of the whole valley.

Despite its reputation, this is not a resort that’s

only for experts. There are now good intermediate

options, with new lifts which have cut journey

times to the easier slopes, and better grooming

on the Après Vous and Rendezvous mountains.

You certainly don’t need to be an expert to

compare notes over a few cold ones at the

Mangy Moose (00 1 307 733 4913, mangymoose.

com): the après-ski institution at the bottom of the

pistes, which is more welcoming than it sounds.

With its new high-end restaurants, condos and

hotels, this ol’ cowboy town has come a long way.”

the crowds are waiting for Highlands Bowl to

open, I am usually on Audacious, making

untracked powder turns entirely on my own.

If you’re in the mood to show off, and fancy

getting hollers from those riding the chairlift above

you, then head down the lift line of Chair Six

(FIS Chair) on the first run of a powder day. Or you

can go under the Deep Temerity chair-lift at

Highlands; the only reason to do this, really, is to

show everyone how amazing you are.

At the end of the day, once my legs are cooked,

I will meet friends for après-ski at the Sky Hotel’s

39 Degrees bar (00 1 970 925 6760, theskyhotel.

com), a great social spot where you can boast

about the day’s ski exploits. Dinner has to be

at Matsuhisa (00 1 970 476 6628, matsuhisavail.

com), one of America’s finest Asian restaurants,

where Nobu’s cuisine wows the palate. Finally,

I would lay my head down on a Frette pillow at

The Little Nell Hotel (00 1 970 920 4600,

thelittlenell.com), where they welcome you by

name, make you feel like a local, and pamper you

so much that you never want to leave.”

Sloping off Big-mountain skier Chris Davenport

in action and, top, a gondola high above

Aspen Mountain, one of his favourite spots

���LCKI8KI8M<C�

o place lends itself to stereotypes quite like the American

South. A year ago, when I moved with my family from New York to a small

town in Virginia, I was packing more than my bags. I was packing

a mental filing cabinet’s-worth of hoary clichés. Nothing is certain, but

I knew this: the South would be a place of fried food, banjo-picking

hillbillies, and Southern belles sipping mint juleps on the porches of

antebellum mansions. My Yankee wife tried to explain that we were

moving only an hour west of Washington DC, but what did she know?

Heck, we were below the Mason-Dixon Line, and those were the Blue

Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Trail, that I could see from my

porch. I pictured moonshiners tending their stills on starless nights.

So, on weekends in my new home, I made it my job to go looking for

those archetypes. Cue my surprise when the wild foothills I thought

I had moved to turned out to be more Home Counties than hillbilly. The

region known as the Virginia Piedmont, which begins a 30-minute drive

west of Dulles International Airport, is basically Hampshire with better

weather: a lush land of tumbling green hills, gracious horse farms and

gorgeous 18th-century stone mansions that are more Downton Abbey

than Scarlett O’Hara’s Tara. As for the food, horsey villages such as

Middleburg and The Plains (where Robert Duvall has an estate) are dotted

with bistros and gastropubs serving the latest in local, seasonal, farm-to-

table fare. So much for the world of fiddles and fried green tomatoes.

To find out just how sophisticated and gracious this part of the South

can be, I set off to explore the country inns and restaurants of the Blue

Ridge and its environs, a corridor stretching from northern Virginia to the

Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, 500 miles to the south. Here, according

to New York magazines, a property called Blackberry Farm was changing

the way well-heeled Americans eat, live and spend their leisure time.

The village of Little Washington was my first stop, and for good reason.

It’s not often you can say a restaurant changed a nation’s way of life, but

you can make that case for The Inn at Little Washington. It was in 1978 that

a self-taught chef named Patrick O’Connell stumbled upon this foothills

settlement of fewer than 300 people, took a lease on an abandoned petrol

station and opened a restaurant. “No one in America drove to the country

for food back then,” O’Connell, now 61, recalled. “Restaurants were in

N

Southern comforts Clockwise,

from top left: the North Parlour at

The Greenbrier; Jeff Ross, the garden

manager at Blackberry Farm; Little

Washington; gourmet food made

from local produce; and horses

in the country town of Keswick

THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

LCKI8KI8M<C���

Grace& flavour

On a road trip from the green hills of Virginia to the Smoky

Mountains of Tennessee, Douglas Rogers discovers a world

where the dining is fine and the living easy

Days 18-21: New York

The Trans-American Rail Tour21 DAY HOLIDAY

Days 1-3: London to San Francisco. Fly to San Francisco for three nights, including a guided tour to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf and Alcatraz. You then have free time to explore at leisure.

Day 4: Yosemite National Park. Travel by train through California’s Central Valley to Merced for a coach tour of Yosemite’s natural wonders.

Days 5-6: To Las Vegas. Travel by train to Bakersfield then cross the Mojave Desert for two nights experiencing the bright lights, casinos and glitzy shows of Las Vegas Strip.

Day 7: The Hoover Dam & Flagstaff. Cross Nevada into Arizona, visiting the Hoover Dam and joining Route 66 to Flagstaff for two nights.

Day 8: The Grand Canyon. Travel in vintage carriages on the Grand Canyon Railway to see one of the world’s most awe-inspiring sights.

Day 9: Monument Valley. Drive through rugged Navajo and Cowboy country for one night in Durango.

Days 10-11: US Railroads. Travel on the spectacular Durango and Silverton Railroad to Silverton before continuing to Grand Junction for the night, then through the Rockies on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad for two nights in Denver.

Days 12-13: Denver & Rocky Mountain National Park. Enjoy a free day in Denver and take a coach tour into the majestic National Parks, watching out for wildlife.

Days 14-15: Denver to Chicago. Travel to Chicago for one night, including a sightseeing tour and time to explore. Board the overnight Lake Shore Limited to Buffalo.

Days 16-17: Niagara Falls. Transfer for a one night stay within walking distance from the awesome sight. Board the Maple Leaf service to New York City.

Days 18-21: New York, New York. A sightseeing tour includes Central Park, Fifth Avenue and a harbour cruise past the Statue of Liberty followed by free time to experience this exhilarating metropolis. On Day 20, fly overnight to London, arriving on Day 21.

From San Francisco to the city that never sleeps, this epic rail adventure includes the most iconic cities, natural wonders and unforgettable experiences from the West to East Coast of America.

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11 departures between17th April & 9th October 2013

21 day holiday from£3,098

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T h e j o u r n e y i s j u s t t h e s t a r t o f t h e adventureG R E A T R A I L

J O U R N E Y S

Scheduled flights London to San Francisco and New York to London

Rail and coach travel

17 nights’ hotel accommodation

2 overnight train journeys in two-berth roomette (meals included)

Guided city tours of San Francisco, including Alcatraz, Chicago and New York

with a Manhattan harbour cruise

Excursions to Yosemite National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

3 iconic Amtrak journeys & 2 heritage railroad excursions

Transfers & luggage handling in USA

Accompanied by a professional Tour Manager throughout

You couldn’t organisethe same inclusive holiday

yourself for less.

Las Vegas & the Golden West15 DAYS FROM £2,225

Awe-inspiring scenery at the Grand Canyon contrasts with the glitz and

splendour of Las Vegas.

Tracks of the Deep South14 DAYS FROM £2,345

From Nashville, home of Country Music, to the Blues, Soul and Rock ‘n’ Roll of

Memphis and the jazz of New Orleans.

New England in the Fall10 DAYS FROM £1,795

Spectacular colours and mountain scenery come together on an autumn rail adventure

on America’s East Coast.

FOR BOOKINGS BEFORE 23 DEC 2012. TO CLAIM

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ONLY

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DEPOSIT

LCKI8KI8M<C���

Land where history is made

Monticello (top), a former home of

Thomas Jefferson. Right: Patrick

O’Connell of The Inn at Little

Washington, which has changed the

direction of American dining.

Far right: O’Connell’s truffle popcorn

NORTH

CAROLINA

VIRGINIA

KENTUCKY

WEST

VIRGINIA

Blackberry Farm

The Inn at Little

Washington

100 miles100 miles

TENNESSEE

The Inn at

Willow Grove

The Greenbrier

cities.” But he had an idea. A devotee of Julia Child and French

cooking, he started to serve upmarket cuisine inspired by trips he

and his partner had made to the great country restaurants of France.

Within six weeks, The Inn at Little Washington had been hailed

as the best restaurant within a 150-mile radius of the US capital.

Practically overnight, there was a sea-change in America’s culinary

consciousness. Politicians and celebrities beat a path to O’Connell’s

door, and East Coast chefs started to replicate his methods and

recipes. Today O’Connell is a legend, and his concept of a gourmet

country inn (he added rooms a few years later, inspired by English

country-house hotels) has been emulated across the country. There

would be no French Laundry without The Inn at Little Washington.

I half-expected The Inn to be a bit stuffy: all pinched country

elegance. Instead, I entered something like a Parisian bordello, with

hand-painted ceilings, 17th-century French tapestries, and nooks

with velvet furniture lit by lamps under silk shades, all the work of

the English set designer Joyce Evans. My suite, named for the French

Laundry chef Thomas Keller, gleamed with gold-leaf mirrors.

The Inn has 18 rooms and cottages in this and other buildings

around town, one of them being the Mayor’s House, a favourite of

the Washington elite who have made O’Connell’s place their diner.

Helicopters land in the field just beyond the herb gardens and,

on weekends, black limos making the 68-mile drive from DC decant

senators and Supreme Court justices for dinner.

So, what of the food? I found a cosy corner table and dived

into the tasting menu. What a journey: seared foie gras

served with the inn’s own fig

marmalade; sweet Nantucket Bay scallops

sautéed with curried cauliflower from the

garden; a rare, gamey tenderloin of local

beef that came with a pastry filled with

custardy bone marrow. The highlight,

though, was the opener: lamb carpaccio

Caesar salad ice cream – the dressing

frozen into little scoops. The taste of that

salad will live with me for ever.

The next day, I continued south,

taking winding country lanes through

the foothills, the Blue Ridge literally

turning blue in the autumn sun.

Little Washington to Keswick and

Charlottesville is pretty much all horse

country, but in recent years it has become wine country, too.

Wine Enthusiast recently rated Virginia as one of the top 10 wine

destinations in the world – remarkable, given that there was only

one winery when O’Connell moved here in 1978. Now Donald Trump

owns one, as do the rock star Dave Matthews and AOL founders

Steve and Jean Case. I stopped for lunch at Barboursville, a gorgeous

Tuscan-style estate whose Octagon blend is served in the White

House. It’s owned by an Italian company. Virginia is the new Napa.

Along with the wineries have come new inns selling their wines,

and I spent my second night at one of the best: The Inn at Willow

Grove, a handsome 18th-century Piedmont plantation-style mansion

fronted by white pillars, just outside Madison, on Route 15. The

building was in disrepair when the New Jersey businessman David

Scibal and his art-dealer wife, Charlene, bought it in 2010. Several

million dollars later, it’s a chic, urban-meets-plantation retreat, filled

with modern art and catering to hip young DC couples. My balcony

suite looked out over fields and forest, and I learned that, just beyond

the treeline, stands Montpelier, the former home of President James

Madison, drafter of the United States Constitution. A small miracle

was that the landscape had barely changed since Madison’s time;

I was looking at what he saw.

The other side of the mountain called. After a visit to Monticello,

home of another founding father, Thomas Jefferson, overlooking

Charlottesville, I crossed the Blue Ridge on Interstate 64 and drove

an hour west into West Virginia. I love a grand old resort hotel,

and The Greenbrier, established in 1778 as a “European Cure”

‘VIRGINIA IS A LAND OF ROLLING HILLS AND STONE MANSIONS’

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and society playground, is the most famous of them all.

Green fields gave way to cold, grey mountains. This is

coal country, which may not be fashionable now, but back

in the day made this area like Silicon Valley. Still, it was

a surprise to turn off the main street of White Sulphur

Springs and see it there: a giant white wedding cake of

a hotel, with 721 rooms.

The Greenbrier sits on 6,500 acres, has three golf

courses, a hunting lodge, and – bizarrely – a nuclear

bunker under its 1962 West Virginia wing. It was in 1959

that President Eisenhower, a regular guest and a good

friend of the local golf pro Sam Snead, gave a secret order

to the resort owners, the C&O Railway Company, to build

a fallout shelter to house the US Congress, in case of

a nuclear attack. Incredibly, the shelter remained secret,

even to the hotel staff, until 1992. I did a bunker tour on

my first morning, the guide Terry Thompson walking me

through the decontamination showers and dormitories.

Apparently, once a week for 30 years, under cover of

darkness, military vehicles delivered rations to the shelter.

Thompson was working there at the time. “Didn’t you

know?” I asked. “Everyone just heard rumours,” she said.

Shelter apart, the highlight for me was the stunning

décor, starting in the lobby: a split-level space of

black-and-white tiled floors, bright green wallpaper and

blood-red carpets – the signature baroque style of the

post-war New York designer and socialite Dorothy Draper.

For centuries The Greenbrier had been the retreat of

the rich and famous, as well as local families, but

after the 2008 crash, it looked as though it might

finally close. Enter Jim Justice, a West Virginia coal baron,

who bought it in 2010. After a major marketing campaign,

the glamour and stars are back: the actor Ben Affleck,

for instance, and local girl made good Jennifer Garner.

The Greenbrier Classic is now part of the PGA tour, and

Nick Faldo is building a holiday home in the grounds.

There have been other changes, too: a swanky

underground casino, an ice rink, a bowling alley, four

restaurants, and a boutique shopping complex. It’s a city

in itself. And yet the original feel remains, right down to

the Dorothy Draper wallpaper. Justice has been coming

here since he was a boy, and he wants to keep it that way.

It was a six-hour drive from here to the Smoky

Mountains, down Interstate 81, on the western side of the

Blue Ridge, and on to my final stop – Blackberry Farm. At

Lexington, I took the Blue Ridge Parkway exit and drove

20 miles south on the Parkway to Otter’s Peak, a steep

overlook, with breathtaking views either side. Thomas

Jefferson once thought this the highest point in America,

and had some of its rocks collected for the building of

the Washington Monument. As for the Parkway, built in

the 1930s under Franklin D Roosevelt, it’s a monument

in itself: a smooth but bewildering traverse of a million

hairpin bends that would take days to complete. Instead,

I rejoined Interstate 81 at the next exit, and nudged into

Kentucky and Tennessee.

It was late afternoon when I finally pulled up at

Blackberry Farm. A 4,200-acre Relais & Châteaux resort

30 miles south-east of Knoxville, it’s a luxury working

farm at which guests get to learn from the property’s

artisans: gardeners, cheese-makers, brewers and even dog

trainers who teach their animals to sniff out truffles. It’s

the farm-to-table ethos in its purest form – except guests

get to sleep in sumptuous wood cabins, each with a porch,

crackling fire, flat-screen television and steam-bath.

I checked in, had my car taken from me, and was given

a map of the farm and keys to a golf cart. Unless you are

walking or riding horses, this is your transport while here.

My first meeting was with the garden manager Jeff

Ross, a dashing fortysomething with an encyclopaedic

knowledge of obscure plants and heritage seeds. I met

him in front of his office – a tumbledown shed with

a tin roof – and was given a tour of the garden, from its

unusual seeds to its Sea Island peas, winter radishes

and land cress. The farm either grows its own produce

or sources it from nearby farmers and suppliers, and

Jeff also leads foraging expeditions in the mountains for

mushrooms, nuts and blackberries, many of which go into

guests’ meals. “The whole county is our garden,” he said.

Next I paid a visit to the “preservationist” (maker of

jams and pickles) in the pantry. Blackberry Farm makes

all its own preserves, and a pickled smoked-onion recipe

had just been chosen by Starbucks for its sandwiches – so

the preservationist was busy. Down the hill, meanwhile,

the cheese-maker was tending to a group of guests,

and the brewer was offering a tasting of his three beers,

including his classic “Saison” ale. My favourite artisan,

though, was Jim Sanford, a former elephant trainer, now

teaching a team of Logotto Romagnolo dogs (which he

brought back from Italy) to sniff out truffles on the land.

“I can train anything with four legs and a tail,” he said.

Blackberry Farm is not all about food, however.

Activities from fly-fishing to horse-riding and clay-pigeon

shooting can be selected from an elegant hand-made

leather binder in each guest room, although I found riding

my golf cart on the steep trails to be just as much fun.

Whatever the adventure, the joy was in the food at the

end of it. There are two areas where meals can be taken:

the Main House dining room for breakfast and lunch,

and The Barn for dinner (jacket required) – an actual

barn transplanted here from Dutch Pennsylvania. And

what meals they served – every bit as unique and

imaginative as those at The Inn at Little Washington.

I tried poached trout in buttermilk consommé with

watercress, hearth-roasted shrimp and grits made with

preserved tomatoes, plus a bacon and caramelised onion

tart with leaf lard. I felt I was in a cathedral, not a barn.

As I write, I have open in front of me a copy of The

Foothills Cuisine of Blackberry Farm, the restaurant’s

recipe book. I am going to make something from it

tonight. And I will never look at those mountains from

my front porch in quite the same way again.

United (0845 607 6760, united.com) flies from London

Heathrow to Washington Dulles from £474 return. Holiday

Autos (0800 093 3111, holidayautos.co.uk) offers a week’s

hire of a four-door economy car from £149.

THE DETAILS

The Inn at Little Washington (00 1 540 675 3800, theinnatlittle

washington.com). For 35 years, this has been a top gourmet

destination. Doubles from $425 (about £267); dinner from $158.

The Inn at Willow Grove (00 1 540 317 1206, innatwillowgrove.

com). This former plantation house, in 40 acres, offers contemporary

farm-to-table cuisine. Doubles from $250; dinner from $75.

The Greenbrier (00 1 855 453 4858, greenbrier.com). National

Historic building dating from the 18th century, with sulphur springs

and spa. Doubles from $219; five-course tasting menu from $95.

Blackberry Farm (00 1 865 984 8166, blackberryfarm.com).

Boutique resort set in more than 4,200 acres in the Great Smoky

Mountains, acclaimed for its locally sourced food. Doubles from

$995; dinner from $125 (all prices exclude drinks and taxes).

SO MUCH FOR THE SOUTHERN WORLD OF FIDDLES AND GREEN TOMATOES

BE

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Artisanal Clockwise, from top left:

truffle-hunting dogs; The Barn at

Blackberry Farm; and a salad of

seasonal vegetables from the garden

MORE INFORMATION DiscoverAmerica.com

Find your island and find long stretches of untamed white-sand beaches and too

many shells to count. Find world-renowned nature parks, fishing and hundreds of

other reasons to breathe the fresh air and sigh in relief. Find it all just minutes from

Southwest Florida International Airport. Visit FortMyers-Sanibel.com to find your

island today, or call 01737 644 722 for a free Lonely Planet guidebook.

breathe naturally.

surround yourself with the things

that matter most.

���LCKI8KI8M<C�

In its Sixties heyday, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico was a tropical retreat

for Hollywood stars and Presidents. Now, that glamour is being revived

with a swathe of high-end resorts and gourmet restaurants. Richard Grant

is charmed by the exotic US territory that sees its future in stars and stripes

The 51st state ofAmerica?

PUERTO RICO

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Restoration drama The private dipping pool

at Su Casa, a beachfront villa at Dorado Beach

converted from a 1920s plantation house.

Opposite: a cupola at San Juan Cemetery

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH BY KEN KOCHEY

THE AESTHETICAT THE RESORT

IS CLEAN, SIMPLE, AIRY

AND CLOSE TONATURE,

A CELEBRATIONOF THE BEACH

CENTRAL FLORIDA’S YOUNGEST THEME PARK

Purchase tickets and save at LEGOLAND.com!

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick and Knob configurations, the Minifigure and LEGOLAND are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2012 The LEGO Group. LEGOLAND FLORIDA IS A PART OF THE MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP.

STAR WARS™ and all characters, names and related indicia are © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.

LCKI8KI8M<C���

hy Puerto Rico? I put the

question to Eric Christensen, the developer hired by

Ritz-Carlton to create an ultra-premium Reserve property

here at Dorado Beach, on the north coast of the Caribbean

island which last month voted in favour of becoming

America’s 51st state. He was shuttling around the site in

a golf cart, calm and relaxed given that the grand opening

was only a month away, and there were still bulldozers

churning up mud and a thousand things left to do.

“Well, obviously we’ve got an incredible location here,

and that was a major draw, but Puerto Rico has a lot of

advantages for us,” said Christensen. “It’s accessible

through a good international airport and, being a US

territory, has infrastructure that works. A lot of people

speak English and genuinely welcome tourists. On

some of the smaller, poorer Caribbean islands, service

can be problematic – but that’s not an issue here. There’s

a tradition of great service.”

The real clincher was that the Puerto Rican

government guaranteed the loan for the first phase of the

$1.2 billion (£750 million) Dorado Beach development, as

part of a big new push into the luxury travel market. For

many decades, tourism on the island was geared towards

budget-conscious Americans who wanted beaches,

casinos and the same franchise restaurant chains they

knew from back home. Those tourists are still coming, but

in the past few years, five-star resorts have been opening

all over the island, and Dorado Beach will undoubtedly be

the jewel in the crown. Already, says Christensen, Ricky

Martin has bought one of the adjoining residences, and

A-list celebrities whom he isn’t prepared to name are

scrambling over each other to book retreats and weddings

at Su Casa, a restored 1920s hacienda in the secluded

heart of the resort that can be rented for $30,000 a night.

In style and flavour, all the new luxury developments

borrow to some extent from Puerto Rico’s cultural

heritage, a mélange of Latin American, Afro-Caribbean

and North American influences, famous for hospitality,

rum cocktails, old colonial architecture, vibrant nightlife

and a great love of celebration. There are 21 bank-closing

national holidays in the Puerto Rican calendar, and most

of the 70-odd towns on the island also have festivals

honouring their patron saints, plus carnivals. Here, you

are never more than a few days away from a street party.

“Life is short and the most important thing is to enjoy

yourself,” said the driver who picked me up at the airport.

“We love to get together with our families, put on our best

clothes and celebrate. We have a plantain festival, an

orange festival, festivals for tomatoes, flowers, cocoa,

coffee and even for a small fish called the ceti.”

Driving through the capital San Juan, you pass

American chain stores, Spanish-language billboards and

artworks celebrating the Taino Indians, the original

inhabitants of the island. Their universe was upended

when the Spanish arrived at the end of the 15th century,

inadvertently introducing smallpox to the island, along

with Christianity and subjugation. The Taino population

was decimated by the new disease, and the survivors

forced to work on sugar plantations alongside African

slaves. This mixing together of Spanish, Native American

and African bloodlines forms the basic stock of the Puerto

Rican people, and following the Spanish-American war of

1898, they were all declared United States citizens.

The North American influence is most vivid in the

Condado district of San Juan. A high-rise strip of hotels

and condominium towers, between a lagoon and the

Atlantic, it looks and feels like Miami. At street level,

luxury boutiques are interspersed with bars, casinos,

restaurants and souvenir shops. Kayakers in the lagoon

swirl up phosphorescence with their paddles at night.

It used to be that eating in Puerto Rico was a choice

between classic American fare and the native cuisine,

which is tasty but perhaps over-dependent on pork, fish

and plantains fried together in various ways. But as

I discovered at Perla, the flagship restaurant of a chic new

hotel called La Concha, those days are now gone. Under

a domed ceiling scalloped like a clamshell, I ate the most

exquisite fennel-dusted scallops with truffled white bean

stew, and one of the best filet mignon I’ve tasted. The

4,000-strong wine list came loaded into an iPad, and

a few bottles cost upwards of $3,000.

Luxury is nothing new in Puerto Rico. The Vanderbilt

family, railroad tycoons from New York, opened the

island’s first high-end hotel in Condado in 1919. For the

past eight years, it has been in the process of

refurbishment and restoration, and the grand entrance

lobby, two bars and restaurant are now open to the public,

although the rooms aren’t finished yet. The chef, Juan

José Cuevas, has worked in two three-starred Michelin

restaurants in Spain, and he cooked me a lunch I will

never forget, wonderfully fresh and light and inventive,

incorporating native herbs I had never tasted before.

Just a few miles from Condado, and bearing no

resemblance to it whatsoever, is Old San Juan, the walled

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Edge of America Top to bottom: the contemporary Perla

restaurant, based on a clamshell, at La Concha resort in

Condado; street musicians; and a doorway in Old San Juan

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and fortified city that the Spanish started building in 1508,

and defended for many centuries against pirates and

attacks by the British, French and Dutch. Wandering its

cobbled streets and leafy plazas, admiring the big heavy

doors, ornate balconies and shady inner courtyards, I felt

glad that the Arabs had occupied southern Spain for 800

years and influenced its architecture so profoundly. Here

was the Moorish Andalusian style transplanted into the

New World, executed with grace and harmony, and

beautifully restored over the past three decades. Parrots

and hummingbirds flit through the plazas, gigantic

bougainvilleas spill over whitewashed stone walls, and

a small army of cats keeps down the rodent population.

For elegance and charm, there is no better place to

stay in Puerto Rico than Hotel El Convento, a restored

17th-century convent on the same plaza as the cathedral.

You enter through studded wooden doors 20ft high and

cross a marbled floor to an interior courtyard shaded by

a 300-year-old tree. The staff are welcoming and attentive,

and complimentary wine and cheese are served at sunset

on an open-air terrace with views across the city and bay.

I could quite happily have spent a month there, getting to

know the many cafes, tapas joints, salsa and reggaeton

clubs, art galleries and museums of Old San Juan, and

perhaps sinking into cocktail-sodden dissolution like

Johnny Depp’s character in The Rum Diary.

But I had an appointment at the Ritz-Carlton Reserve

at Dorado Beach, perhaps the most eagerly awaited hotel

opening in the Americas, if not the western hemisphere.

I arrived in the midst of a PGA tournament, on one of the

four adjoining Robert Trent Jones golf courses, and was

immediately whisked away in Eric Christensen’s golf cart.

“The people who can afford to stay here are the most

difficult in the world to impress, and luxury alone is not

going to do it,” he said. “So what we’ve tried to do is to

create a place so rich in detail, history and narrative, that

they get caught up in it and keep coming back for more.”

I was expecting something fantastically opulent with

huge gold lions, but the aesthetic at Dorado Beach is

clean, simple, airy and close to nature —a celebration of

this extraordinarily beautiful beach and the magnificent

old trees on the shore. Laurance Rockefeller built one of

the world’s first eco-resorts on this site in the 1950s, and

Christensen’s team has taken that legacy as inspiration.

“We went to extraordinary lengths to avoid cutting down

trees, which drove our construction guys crazy,” he said.

“Instead, we built around the trees.”

At the entrance is an immense fig tree, shaped like

something out of a fairy tale, and hung with 30 lanterns.

The reception is open-air and the whole design aims to

dissolve the lines between inside and outside. Rooms

have doors that slide all the way back into the walls and

disappear. Each has a private pool and an outdoor shower.

There is no bar in the bar, dissolving that barrier too.

Instead, cocktails will be made and explained at the guest

tables. The chef, José Andrés, described by Christensen as

a “mad genius”, will be creating his magic in the dining

room, rather than behind closed doors in the kitchen.

The spa is designed to look 100 years old, and in some

areas has a steampunk look, with Victorian-industrial

light fixtures and an apothecary that will be full of

medicinal plants in big glass jars. Botanists and plant

healers will be on hand to prescribe treatments, and

you can climb up into a treehouse for a massage.

Nothing here can be bought in a shop, or ordered from

a supplier. The furniture and fixtures are all specially

designed and built by artisans in Bali and Thailand,

lending a subtle Asian undercurrent to the design.

Walking through Dorado Beach is more like being in

a giant art installation than a hotel resort. What you

marvel at most is the creativity involved, and the fact

that Ritz-Carlton gave it so much leeway. The property is

also an object lesson in sustainability. It has a silver

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

certificate, hard to achieve in a luxury resort. Developers

used recycled materials, installed state-of-the-art

energy-saving technologies, and built a wind- and solar-

powered facility, with all its systems exposed. It is here

that Jean-Michel Cousteau, the environmentalist son of

Jacques Cousteau, will run a children’s camp. “He’ll

teach them underwater photography, take them night

snorkelling, and show them how to process photographs

and how a green building works,” says Christensen.

I get the feeling that Dorado Beach was a satisfying

project to work on. “Oh, absolutely,” Christensen agrees.

“I did Euro Disney, which was fantastic, but this has been

something else. To bring together the most creative people

in the industry, and to give them almost free rein in

a place like this — that’s the most fun I can imagine.”

WEXAS Travel (020 7838 5892, wexas.com) is offering seven

nights in Puerto Rico from £1,599 per person, room only,

based on two sharing a superior room at Hotel El Convento.

The price includes return flights, seven days’ car hire and

insurance. Trailfinders (020 7368 1200, trailfinders.com/

puertorico) is including Puerto Rico in its 2013 programme,

with five-night holidays available from £899.

THE DETAILS

Ritz-Carlton Reserve’s Dorado Beach (00 1 800 836 3124,

ritzcarlton.com). Opening on December 12, 2012, the former

Rockefeller estate in Puerto Rico will have rooms from about £1,000

per night – if you can get a reservation. Hotel El Convento

(00 1 787 723 9020, elconvento.com). This landmark treasure in the

heart of Old San Juan is gorgeously decorated with Spanish antiques

and tapestries. Gloria Vanderbilt is a frequent guest, and visiting

heads of state often stay in the marbled presidential suite. Rooms

from £112 per night. The Ritz-Carlton San Juan (00 1 787 253

1700, ritzcarlton.com). Offers a more classic interpretation of luxury

than its sister property in Dorado Beach: opulent rooms, stone lions

around the pool, a private beach, extensive spa facilities and two

first-rate restaurants. Rooms from £249. La Concha (00 1 787 721

7500, laconcharesort.com). Located in Condado, this award-winning

beach hotel has a chic, fashionable feel with club music pulsing

in the lobby, and a late-night cocktail scene. Rooms from £149.

Old-world elegance Clockwise, from top: Hotel El Convento, a restored 17th-century

convent in San Juan; a model at Dorado Beach; and Palominito islet off Puerto Rico

I COULD HAVE SPENT A MONTH THERE, GETTING TO KNOW THE CAFES, TAPAS JOINTS AND CLUBS

MORE INFORMATION seepuertorico.com y DiscoverAmerica.com

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TAILORMADE TRAVEL WORLDWIDE 020 7368 1200FIRST & BUSINESS CLASS TRAVEL 020 7368 1400

trail⌥nders.com/luxuryusa

3 nights 5� from£899Includes a FREE room upgrade

& Sunday brunch cruise

• Times Square location

• Stylish design • Luxurious roomswith Westin Heavenly® Beds

See the USA in Style with Trailfinders & Starwood Hotels

Love Travel, Love Luxury...

Love Trailfinders

All holidays include international �ights – call for more luxury USA holiday o�ersPrices are per person based on two people sharing & are subject to availability. Valid for selected March - May 2013 departures.

The Westin New YorkAt Times Square

3 nights 4� Hollywood &4 nights 5� San Diego

from£1,479Includes 1 days convertible car hire

W: • Trendy Rooftop bar

• Rooftop CinemaUS Grant: • Historical landmark

• A Luxury Collection Hotel

W Hollywood Los Angeles

& US Grant San Diego

4 nights 4+� from£1,049Includes a Vista helicopter 6ight

over Golden Gate Bridge & Alcatraz

• Fabulous Union Square location

• Four acclaimed restaurants

• Historic, landmark hotel

The Westin St FrancisSan Francisco

7 nights 5� from£1,849Includes a Blue Skies

of Oahu Helicopter 6ight

• ‘Pink Palace of the Paci⌥c’

• Iconic 1920s hotel • Luxurious spa

• Superb Wakiki beachfront location

• A Luxury Collection Hotel

The Royal HawaiianWaikiki

Why Trail"nders?

• Firsthand advice from our extensivelytravelled consultants

• Access to exclusive o>ers only availableto Trail⌥nders clients

• No credit card charges unlike most othertravel companies

• Complete peace of mind with unrivalledcare and ⌥nancial protection

• 24 travel centres across the UK

• Trusted for more than 42 years

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* Prices based on selected departures Feb - June 2013. Main image: South Beach, Miami

To order a brochure or book visit travelbag.co.uk or call 0845 872 7586Visit your local Travelbag shop: London, Alton, Brighton, Cheltenham, Knutsford, Solihull & Winchester

Your USA Travel Specialists

Established in 1979, Travelbag is an expert when it comes to travel in the USA. Our reputation for value, independence, specialist knowledge and bespoke experience means thousands of travellers put their faith in Travelbag every year.

BOSTON

3nts 3* Courtyard by Marriott fr £599pp

3nts 4* Radisson Hotelfr £639pp

3nts 5* Langham Bostonfr £749pp

Includes return Economy Class flights with Delta. Upgrade to Business Class one way fr £899pp

CHICAGO

3nts 3* Essex Inn fr £649pp

3nts 4* The Sheratonfr £672pp

3nts 5* The Fairmontfr £729pp

NEW YORK

3nts 3* The New Yorkerfr £559pp

3nts 4* The Manhattan at Times Square fr £599pp

3nts 5* The Intercontinental fr £679pp

MIAMI

5nts 3* South Beach Hotelfr £749pp

5nts 4* The Mondrian South Beach fr £999pp

5nts 5* SLS South Beachfr £1,099pp

LAS VEGAS

3nts 3* Circus Circusfr £599pp

3nts 4* Luxor Hotel & Casino fr £639pp

3nts 5* The Cosmopolitanfr £699pp

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NEW STRINGS ATTACHED

Rancho Valencia, the 49-room Relais&Château property in

southern California, is best known in America for its tennis

programmes, with coaching by top US pros on 18 hard courts.

But, following a $30-million (£18.8-million) refurbishment, the hotel is

clearly hoping to lure such regulars as Bill Clinton and Bill Gates to

healthy pursuits that don’t require a racquet. Its 2.5-acre spa, which

opened in September, now features three pools, a 1,000sq-ft open yoga

pavilion, classes from hot yoga and ballet barre to zumba, plus a range

of treatment rooms, some with fireplaces and outdoor showers.

After a game or treatment, guests can cool down with a popsicle

(try avocado, or cucumber and melon) freshly made on the premises.

Doubles from £440 (ranchovalencia.com). Air New Zealand

(0800 028 4149, airnewzealand.co.uk/special-deals-usa) has

return flights to Los Angeles from £608 in economy.

85,000 Average number of visitors per

year to the Santa Fe Opera Festival

101,780Cost in dollars, per week, of

Chalet Elisa in Aspen (firefly-collection.com)

1851Year of the first America’s Cup

yacht race, 45 years before the modern Olympics

From May, it will be possible to

jet to Alaska in just 10 hours from

Britain – via the unexpected

stopoff of Reykjavik. From May to

September only, Icelandair flights

will depart from Glasgow or

London Gatwick, costing from

£693 return. While America’s

49th state is mainly one big

wilderness, it has a surprising

number of small luxury lodges

from which to explore the

country. Entree Alaska

(entreedestinations.com/alaska)

has a 10-day trip taking in

highlights of the state, hiking,

snowshoeing, kayaking and

ice-fishing, with short trips on

helicopters and seaplanes, from

$10,469 (£6,570). For those who

prefer to see the country from

the sea, American Safaris takes

guests into Glacier Bay to spot

whales from inflatable boats,

grizzlies from kayaks, and calving

glaciers from the warmth of an

on-board hot tub. Steppes Travel

(01285 880981, steppestravel.

co.uk) has a seven-night trip

from £2,795, excluding flights.

2Restaurants by Michelin-starred

chefs at the new Los Angeles International Airport

TOP DESTINATION

ALL ABOARD FOR ALASKA

intelligence

FASHIONABLY THRIFTY

With the favourable exchange rate (currently

$1.59 to the £1) and prices lower than they have

been for a decade, it is hardly surprising that more

than a million Britons visited the Big Apple last

year. This winter, with bargains in mind, many will

head for Woodbury Common, an hour’s drive from

New York, where Tom Ford, Reed Krakoff (the

Coach designer, whose biggest fan is Michelle

Obama), Breitling and Canali have all opened their

first ever outlet boutiques. With discounts

averaging 40 per cent off recommended retail

prices – a classic black-lace pencil skirt from Tom

Ford’s 2011 winter collection (left) cost $400

(£250) last month – traffic jams are likely. But with

savings like that, it is worth considering

a helicopter transfer from West 30th Street in

Manhattan (from $3,600 return; libertyhelicopter.

com) or a private car, from $98 an hour, through

The Surrey hotel (thesurrey.com; doubles from

$560). In addition to 60 other Premium Outlet

Centres in the US, Simon Property Group owns and

operates “destination” malls including The Forum

Shops in Las Vegas, Copley Place in Boston, the

Florida Mall in Orlando and Sawgrass Mills near

Miami, as well as Ontario Mills in southern

California and The Great Mall in northern California.

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en Ainslie CBE, 35, is the

most successful Olympic sailor of all time, having

won gold in four consecutive Games since 2000.

He has been World Champion 10 times, European

Champion nine times and was last month named

World Sailor of the Year 2012. Currently based in

California to train for the America’s Cup, he lives in

Lymington, Hampshire, where he went to school.

How many holidays do you take a year?

One: normally a sailing holiday, believe it or not. It’s

nice to be able to relax and enjoy a boat, rather

than race it. I wouldn’t be any good at a beach

holiday; I need to be doing something active.

Favourite holiday sailing spots?

The Greek islands and the Caribbean. Places like

the British Virgin Islands are easy to sail around and

have lots of character – but if you want a bit more

adventure and a longer voyage, St Barts, St Kitts

and Nevis are all beautiful islands.

Plans for your next holiday?

It would be nice to go skiing, because I haven’t

been allowed to for so long. I went six years ago to

a chalet near Chamonix and loved the fresh air,

the breathtaking scenery – and the sport.

Favourite spots in America?

I’ve travelled all over – New York, Miami, Seattle.

I also really enjoy San Francisco, where I’ve been

based for the past few months.

Any tips for visiting the city?

I do quite a lot of cycling to keep fit and I tend to

head for a beach called Stinson, about 10 miles out,

which is on a beautiful little cove. There’s a steep

climb up Mount Tamalpais en route, but it’s worth it.

What about restaurants?

Ozumo, an Asian fusion restaurant downtown, is

very relaxed, with a good bar and great Asian food.

Favourite hotel in America?

The Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District of New

York is a lot of fun, and it has a nice rooftop pool.

I love New York: it is mad, and so intense.

Great spots to sail on the US coast?

San Francisco, which has its own micro-climate.

Because of its position, air is sucked under the

Golden Gate Bridge, so you are guaranteed winds,

as well as a warm climate and gorgeous scenery.

Do you travel light or heavy?

With all my sailing kit, I need a big suitcase. On

holiday, though, I take just my Tumi roller bag, which

is big enough for my computer and quite a lot of

clothes. If I need a suitbag, I take the one my mum

gave me about 20 years ago for my birthday.

Your favourite city for a weekend away?

Barcelona, which is good fun and has a great

climate. Last year I went to the Amalfi coast and

stayed at the Bellevue Syrene in Sorrento, with

beautiful, big classic rooms overlooking the gulf. We

chartered a speedboat – the best way to view the

coast – and also went to Capri, which was lovely.

Ever been on safari?

Once, to the Selous game reserve in Tanzania,

where I went walking in the bush with an armed

guide. The highlight was having a coffee just outside

the tent one morning, hearing a rustling sound

and seeing an elephant’s trunk appear about

two feet away. I sat there in total disbelief.

Favourite restaurants abroad?

Catalina, at Rose Bay in Sydney Harbour, where the

seafood is amazing and the wine great, too. On

a couple of occasions I’ve tried their Penfolds

Grange, which is a pretty special wine.

Other great spots in the city?

Palm Beach just north of Sydney, which is on the

most beautiful headland. You’ve got Pittwater

natural harbour on one side, the ocean on the

other and a wonderful horseshoe-shaped beach.

Anywhere you’d like to revisit?

New Zealand, where I lived for a bit and visited the

North Island: Ninety Mile Beach, Lake Taupo and

Rotorua, but didn’t have enough time to explore.

And Newport, where I’d love to spend time sailing.

Your perfect day on holiday?

A light breakfast near the water, a bike ride or a run

to feel good about the day, then a nice lunch and

maybe something fun, like golf, tennis or sailing.

Best place for lunch if you’re sailing?

Doyles fish restaurant in Vaucluse, right on Sydney

Harbour. It serves the most amazing seafood

and you can see the boats from your table.

Could you enjoy a break away from the sea?

I guess I could, but I do love the ocean. Friends

went on an expedition across South America on

horses, which sounded amazing, if a bit extreme.

The most romantic place you’ve stayed?

Vatulele, a tiny island off Fiji, just a mile by half

a mile. When I was training in Australia, I went for

Christmas and there were lots of parties, eating and

drinking – as well as Hobie Cats to play on.

Favourite souvenirs from abroad?

I’m a binge shopper: I don’t shop much, but when

I do I buy a lot – and America is great for sports

gear: Assos stuff for cycling, and Nike for running.

My casual wear is mainly Henri Lloyd.

Top tips for places to stay in Britain?

The St James’s Club in London, off Piccadilly. They

really look after you and the breakfast is good.

What luxuries do you like on holiday?

Business-class seats. I have a bad back – well, that’s

my excuse anyway – but it really helps

with jetlag, too, if you’ve had a decent sleep.

Best airlines?

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic: the crews

are polite, the seats are comfortable and they

both have good global networks.

Essentials on holiday?

Having good friends and family around.

The most glamorous room you’ve stayed in?

At Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz, I was upgraded to

the most ridiculous room, overlooking the lake. The

price was off the scale, and only on request.

Your greatest adventure?

The Transpac [Transpacific Yacht Race] from LA to

Hawaii, which took five days. Landing in Hawaii was

beautiful; we came in at night and all we could see

were the lights and the outline of the mountains.

Other unforgettable sights at sea?

The stars. You don’t need them to navigate any

more, but they’re so beautiful when you’re out on

the water. We often see dolphins and whales, too.

The roughest place you’ve been?

I went to a regatta in Brazil on my own, and I hadn’t

bothered to book a hotel. I ended up in a place

where the only way of getting anywhere was in

a little rowing boat, which took forever.

Do you offset your carbon when flying?

No, because I’ve no idea whether these schemes

work. I support a charity called ShelterBox, which

sends boxes of useful things to disaster areas.

Interview by Lisa Grainger

TRAVELLING LIFE Ben Ainslie

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The Olympic sailor on San Francisco’s secrets, his love of the Big Apple and glamorous hotels from St Moritz to Fiji

Landing in Hawaii was

beautiful. We came in at

night and all you could see were the

lights and the outline of the mountains

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Expand your horizons on the plains of North Dakota.

Discover this land, like never before.

List of Boutiques available on www.chanel.com

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