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I can still see that Oregon lighthouse clearly. The cabin by the lightning field in New Mexico too. And the mystical Mexican hideaway.
Since I started writing about travel for the Los Angeles Times near the end of the last century, I've slept in close to 500 hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, not counting rental houses and cruise-ship cabins, campsites and airport seating areas. Most of these places have faded and merged in memory, but some stay with you.
For instance, the Hotel Latvija in Riga, Latvia. In the early 1990s, I checked in and found a maid sitting on my bed-to-be, smoking a cigarette and watching TV. ("Very good film. Ten minutes," she said, waving me aside.) And there was the $10-a-night tourist inn in Tabas, Iran, that greeted me with lizards, mice and knee-weakening bathroom sensory effects.
But let's save the whining for another story. I'm here to talk happy hotels — places that made me feel as if I were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
They tend to be pricey, because the world usually works that way. But this isn't just about money or luxury. These are places that stick with you, often because of amazing, far-flung locations, and often thanks to profound hospitality or institutional character, such as the multi-generational feel of Eatons' Ranch in Wyoming.
After I made the list, I realized it had no big-city hotels, even though I've stayed in a bunch. Hmm.
I found a few of these hotels in 2009, but this list reflects 18 years of traveling (including a few revisits). Each lodging has surely changed since I checked out, some substantially. (Most regrettably, my favorite under-$100 lodging, the Hotel de la Pelissaria in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France, closed late in 2009, so I had to strike it from the list.) But great places tend to endure. Along with my photos from original visits, I've included updates here, including what these places now cost. (Brace yourself.)
Here, alphabetically, are my top 14.
Bugaboo Lodge, Alberta, Canada
The scene: A mountain lodge dominated by heli-skiers in winter, heli-hikers in summer, about 200 miles west of Calgary and 30 miles from the nearest paved road. Built in the 1960s, this lodge faces the snowy molars of the Purcell mountain range, and its copters connect visitors to extraordinary hikes. As in the old days, there are no TVs or phones in rooms, but now there is Wi-Fi. (In renovations by Canadian Mountain Holidays since my summer 1997 visit, it's gained 11 rooms and a rooftop hot tub.)
The details: 16 single rooms and 19 doubles. In summer, about $2,325 per adult covers three nights, all meals and helicopter flights. In winter, rates per adult for four nights begin at about $4,460. . http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-hiking/lodges/bugaboos
Canopy Tower, Panama
The scene: Nirvana for birders and jungle junkies in the forest at Soberania National Park. It's a former radar tower, round and 50 feet above ground, with an observation deck up top, pie-slice-shaped rooms below, and striking views of the forest canopy all around. My visit: 2000.
The details: 12 rooms, $105 to $245 a night per person, including meals. The five single rooms share a bathroom. http://www.canopytower.com
Eatons' Ranch, Wolf, Wyo.
The scene: A classic dude and cattle ranch that has stood since 1904 by Wolf Creek in the Bighorn mountains. Nearest town is Sheridan, 18 miles east. If you're here, your aim is to ride, ride, ride. A fifth-generation family business with a family focus and at least a few fourth-generation customers. The 2010 season: May 29-Sept. 30. My stay: 1994.
The details: 51 cabins, of widely varying descriptions. Rates $185 to $235 a day per adult, which covers use of a horse and family-style meals in the dining room. Rates for children 3 to 17: $135 to $155. http://www.eatonsranch.com
Explora Patagonia, Chile
The scene: A contemporary lodge, plopped onto a lakeside, mountain-view plot in Patagonia's Torres del Paine National Park. Staggering scenery, splendid isolation, gargantuan bill. Guided adventures on foot, boat, bike, car and horseback are included in the tariff. Opened in 1993 (I visited in 1995), this was first in a chain of remote South American luxury lodgings that now includes Easter Island and the Atacama Desert. (None of the Explora properties was affected by the Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake.)
Since I started writing about travel for the Los Angeles Times near the end of the last century, I've slept in close to 500 hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, not counting rental houses and cruise-ship cabins, campsites and airport seating areas. Most of these places have faded and merged in memory, but some stay with you.
But let's save the whining for another story. I'm here to talk happy hotels — places that made me feel as if I were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
They tend to be pricey, because the world usually works that way. But this isn't just about money or luxury. These are places that stick with you, often because of amazing, far-flung locations, and often thanks to profound hospitality or institutional character, such as the multi-generational feel of Eatons' Ranch in Wyoming.
After I made the list, I realized it had no big-city hotels, even though I've stayed in a bunch. Hmm.
I found a few of these hotels in 2009, but this list reflects 18 years of traveling (including a few revisits). Each lodging has surely changed since I checked out, some substantially. (Most regrettably, my favorite under-$100 lodging, the Hotel de la Pelissaria in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France, closed late in 2009, so I had to strike it from the list.) But great places tend to endure. Along with my photos from original visits, I've included updates here, including what these places now cost. (Brace yourself.)
Here, alphabetically, are my top 14.
Bugaboo Lodge, Alberta, Canada
The scene: A mountain lodge dominated by heli-skiers in winter, heli-hikers in summer, about 200 miles west of Calgary and 30 miles from the nearest paved road. Built in the 1960s, this lodge faces the snowy molars of the Purcell mountain range, and its copters connect visitors to extraordinary hikes. As in the old days, there are no TVs or phones in rooms, but now there is Wi-Fi. (In renovations by Canadian Mountain Holidays since my summer 1997 visit, it's gained 11 rooms and a rooftop hot tub.)
The details: 16 single rooms and 19 doubles. In summer, about $2,325 per adult covers three nights, all meals and helicopter flights. In winter, rates per adult for four nights begin at about $4,460. . http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-hiking/lodges/bugaboos
Canopy Tower, Panama
The scene: Nirvana for birders and jungle junkies in the forest at Soberania National Park. It's a former radar tower, round and 50 feet above ground, with an observation deck up top, pie-slice-shaped rooms below, and striking views of the forest canopy all around. My visit: 2000.
The details: 12 rooms, $105 to $245 a night per person, including meals. The five single rooms share a bathroom. http://www.canopytower.com
Eatons' Ranch, Wolf, Wyo.
The scene: A classic dude and cattle ranch that has stood since 1904 by Wolf Creek in the Bighorn mountains. Nearest town is Sheridan, 18 miles east. If you're here, your aim is to ride, ride, ride. A fifth-generation family business with a family focus and at least a few fourth-generation customers. The 2010 season: May 29-Sept. 30. My stay: 1994.
The details: 51 cabins, of widely varying descriptions. Rates $185 to $235 a day per adult, which covers use of a horse and family-style meals in the dining room. Rates for children 3 to 17: $135 to $155. http://www.eatonsranch.com
Explora Patagonia, Chile
The scene: A contemporary lodge, plopped onto a lakeside, mountain-view plot in Patagonia's Torres del Paine National Park. Staggering scenery, splendid isolation, gargantuan bill. Guided adventures on foot, boat, bike, car and horseback are included in the tariff. Opened in 1993 (I visited in 1995), this was first in a chain of remote South American luxury lodgings that now includes Easter Island and the Atacama Desert. (None of the Explora properties was affected by the Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake.)
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