A luxurious way to relax in Paris If youre flying to Europe for a holiday then the chances are youll arrive sometime in the early hours of the morning and, upon trying to check into a hotel, youll be politely (or not so politely as the case may be) told your room wont be ready until the afternoon. Either youre in for a long wait in the lobby, a jet-lag-hazed wonder around the city or perhaps simply the embarrassment of nodding off into your caf latte and morning croissant in a river side brasserie. Finally a solution is coming to Paris! Europes first nap bar has recently opened in a small passageway off Avenune de lOpera in the centre of the city. For just 12 you can buy a quarter of hours snooze, (or 27 for a Royal Siesta of 45 minutes) in a zero gravity chair or on a massage bed, with low light and relaxing music to help ease you into peaceful rest. No one would disagree that sightseeing can make you feel weary and the bar is rapidly proving...[more »]

As part of its new nationwide expansion, Joie de Vivre has announced it will open its first hotel in Chicago, next month in March. It will be the brand’s second location outside of California. The Hotel Lincoln derives its name from its Lincoln Park location and the 184 rooms in this boutique hotel have views of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan, both nearby. All rooms will have been renovated in time for the opening, with the new decor reflecting a “eccentric-meets-collegial preppy” style, according to Andrew Alford of Dirty Lines Design, the firm hired for the project. On property dining includes Perennial Virant, which features a farm-to-table seasonally changing menu from award-winning chef Paul Virant. The hotel overlooks the Lincoln Park Zoo and is near DePaul University and attractions such as the Chicago History Museum and Lincoln Park Conservatory. This makes it a good base for both business and sightseeing during a stay in the city. Plugging in random dat...[more »]

The Vegas version of the other City of Lights. Smack in the middle of the Vegas Strip in Nevada is a slice of Paris. You probably won’t hear much French being spoken, or see many classy, well-dressed femmes sipping cafe au lait, but technically you will be in Paris. Paris Las Vegas, that is. You might need to adjust your point of view a bit and embrace the Vegas version. Paris is typical of the many “theme” hotel that cropped up in the nineties. Included in the design, an homage to it’s namesake, is 541-foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower (in the casino), a sign shaped like the Montgolfier balloon, and a diminutive Arc de Triomphe. The front of the hotel suggests the Louvre and the Opera House in Paris east. By current standards of “all suites hotels,” rooms here are on the small side and the place in general is looking tired. The Paris could use a re-fresh. Vegas has abandoned the theme hotel/casino in recent years with the rise of amazing, mo...[more »]