Online - May 23, 2007

Devil in the Details IV

Excellent and Quirky Hotel Perks

With travel hassles on the rise, hotels have to find new ways to make you happy. Plus, you can put your own damn chocolates on your pillow. These amenities are pretty much worth the trip.

Ultimate Arrival
Talk about arriving in style: The concierge at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab will send the luxe Augusta 109 Executive helicopter to fetch you for the nine-minute ride from the airport to the hotel’s 28th-floor landing pad.

Horsing Around
At the newly opened Hotel Cheval in Paso Robles, California (the new Napa), you’re escorted to dinner in a carriage drawn by a Belgian draft horse named Chester. Giddy-yes.

Heli of a Living Room
It’s more copter madness at the grand Winvian in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut, where no two cottages are the same. The kookiest? Helicopter, which has a full chopper at the foot of the bed. Climb in and play with all the switches, or just watch TV.

Lovely in London
No need to schlep your cosmetics if you’re staying at London’s Berkeley Hotel, where a blue leather Smythson box full of swish makeup and brushes is yours for the stay. Can’t bear to leave it behind? Take it — for a mere $3,000.

Every Little Thing You See Is Magic
Just up the road in elegant St. James’s, Picasso and Matisse drawings casually hang on the walls of the amazing spanking-new Mews suites at The Stafford.

The Brazilian
Not only do you get refreshing coconut water upon check-in at Txai Resort in Bahia, but you get it in an ecofriendly, handmade goblet crafted by a local artisan who happens to be on staff at the beach.

Angling and Repose
Fish for trout near Inverlochy Castle and your personal ghillie will clean your catch and send it to the hotel chef for a little almondine action.

Artful Lodgers
Forget the ho-hum hackneyed gift shop; 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, has a huge — and serious — contemporary art gallery on site.

Lights, Camera, No Action
Watch the sun rise over Ayers Rock from your luxurious tent at Voyages Longitude 131° in Australia or venture into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park with a private guide to see glorious sunsets and starry skies.

Still not satisfied, you beast? Find more in Devil in the Details III.

  Global Art Scene, Honeymoon, Luxury Travel, Outdoorsy