Starting in Geneva, our small group of six took a train to Visp, then rode the Glacier Express for an hour through breathtaking Alpine valleys to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. The mountain was awesome, but our most lingering memory is most likely to be Hotel Aristella (Steinmattweg 7, 3920 Zermatt, Switzerland; phone +41 0 27 967 20 41).
Less than an hour’s drive west of the Auckland airport on New Zealand’s North Island is Bush Sand & Sea B&B (26 Te Aute Ridge, Bethells Beach, Waitakere City, Auckland, N.Z.; phone 0064 9 810 9584). Nestled in thick rainforest near Bethells Beach (Te Henga), this charming cottage sleeps two to four.
by Harriet Hughes; Alexandria, VA
Accor Hotels will consolidate its budget brands starting in 2012. The least-expensive chains — Formule 1 and Etap — will be renamed Ibis Budget and have blue signage and logos. Current Ibis hotels (red logos) will retain their designation. Accor’s All Season chain will be renamed Ibis Style and sport green signage and logos.
I am so grateful to ITN subscriber Nancy Anderson (Feb. ’07, pg. 67), who told of her excellent experiences with Mehmet Ozbalci, owner of Turfantastik (Millet cad. Inan Is Hani No. 5/610, Aksaray, Istanbul, Turkey; phone [90] 212 589 33 25). I had kept her article, as I knew I wanted to visit Turkey.
We’ve all been in a new city and obtained a map showing locations of various sites. On a trip my wife, Anne, and I made to Seville, Spain, in April-May ’11, we made sure to get a map, then note that on its table of hotels, ours was number 61.
REPORT ON SWITZERLAND…
On the Saturday closest to the full moon, enjoy dinner at sunset in a field on a hilltop farm in Jamaica’s St. Elizabeth parish. The monthly dinner, prepared at tableside, has a rotating menu. Among dishes that have been served are local fruit cocktail, lamb with coconut milk and penne with lime basil.
“There’s no denying it: traveling in Ethiopia is not easy.” So says my Lonely Planet “Guide to Ethiopia and Eritrea” in the chapter “Getting Started.”
I had never really thought much about Panama City beyond its canal, but my wife, Rose, and I ended up making plans to join a Friendship Force (Atlanta, GA; 404/522-9490) group from Olympia, Washington, for four days there in April ’11 before the group went on for a week’s home hosting in Santiago, Chile, and then Alajuela, Costa Rica.