Lodging

The red brick facade of the historic Incentra Village House.

Last weekend, I abandoned my children and husband for a weekend jaunt to my other favorite city.

Yep, Frisco mama became Manhattan mama for three lovely days.

My cousin, who is like a sister to me, and I share birthdays on the same week of November. With the incentive of low off-season fares on Jetblue and an invitation to stay a night at the Incentra Village House, I jetted off across country on the red-eye, while Jules took Amtrak down from Boston.

Scorpios raised on the East Coast know the dismality of November weather. But we were willing to chance it. It turned out we were blessed with an incredibly stellar Indian summer weekend.

The cozy Victorian parlor with windows to Eighth Ave.

We spent the first night on the Upper East Side with friends where we strolled through Central Park that afternoon, dined on Spanish tapas at Quixote in the Chelsea Hotel, and got styled with VIP treatment at Gotham Comedy Club to see Jake Johansen. (My husband is their house photographer and has considerable juice there — thanks D!)

On Sunday we checked into Incentra Village House, two cozy, historic adjacent red brick guesthouses built in 1841. According to Lonely Planet, it is New York’s first gay inn and with a room named for Stonewall, I gather that’s true. It definitely has a gay friendly vibe. Rates for the studio rooms range from $169 to $279, depending on the number of occupants; the Bishop suite goes for $199 to $309. Vincent, our host that night, was charming and helpful, steering us toward some of the neighborhood landmarks.

Our room, the Washington, faced bustling Eighth Avenue but due to double-paned windows was surprisingly quiet. It was spacious by New York standards with a queen-sized bed, teeny bathroom, fireplace, kitchen area, and a loft with a full-sized futon. It felt like having our own little Manhattan pied-a-terre. With the exception of the rather dim lighting, I loved it.

The adjacent townhouse where we checked in houses a charming Victorian double parlor with a baby grand piano. Vincent invited us to kick back and watch the season finale of Mad Men in the comfy drawing room.

But it is the location that really shines. In the West Village above Abington Square and just blocks from Chelsea to the north and the Meatpacking district to the West, it is an eating, drinking, shopping, and people watching mecca.

We walked for miles around the Village, popping in to shoe stores, galleries, and shops, and dined on decadent pastas in Little Italy that night, where the waiter plied us with free wine.

The High Line in New York.

When Jules left a few hours before I had to make my way to JFK on Monday, I headed off to discover the High Line, a beautiful urban park created on the tracks of an former elevated freight train line next to the Hudson River. It was totally amazing and worth the blisters.

The weekend flew by but was definitely worth the effort to satisfy my New York jones and spend a long weekend with my sistercuz.

Incentra Village House
32 Eighth Avenue
New York City, NY 10014
(212) 206-0007

Photo credit: Lisa Dion

Inn on Castro caters mainly to a chiefly gay clientele.

On Sunday, June 28 San Francisco celebrated its annual Pride parade. The city’s gay population and their supporters came out (not pun intended) en masse to celebrate at parties in various locations around the city, but no place more than in the Castro district.

It occurred to me that in the 10 months I’ve contributed to this blog, I hadn’t covered any place in the Castro. Time to change that.

Inn on Castro is a restored Edwardian building one-half block up Castro Street from Market Street. Eight rooms on three floors are available at the inn, and for larger parties, three spacious and well-appointed apartments are located nearby.

Innkeeper Jan de Gier has owned the Inn on Castro for 26 years. He gave me a tour of the inn decorated with modern furnishings, original art, and fresh flowers. Most rooms have mini fridges stocked with water and soda, all have robes, flat-screen tvs, DVD players, and free wi-fi. The patio suite has a relaxing, well-tended outdoor garden with a view. A full breakfast is served daily. One sweet touch is that the extensive collection of napkins and fine china are rotated daily as well.

The living room in the Douglass St. apartment.

Jan also took me across Market Street to his other properties on Douglass and Caselli sts. Apartments are located in residential areas, off of the main hub of the Castro.

As we drove around the Castro, Jan pointed out some of his favorite spots including Toad Hall, Trigger, Sumi Sushi, Anchor Oyster Bar, and the fabulous piano bar Martuni’s.

An informed innkeeper with a passion for where he or she lives is a true treasure. Jan de Gier is one such person.

We hit it off well, chatting about architecture, food, art, death, relationships, and philosopy.  When he found out I’d never been there, he insisted on taking me to Kite Hill Open Space, which it turns out is not a good place to fly a kite (”too windy, It actually has a down draft”) but was named for the small birds of prey called kites that occupy the hill most of the year.

It was breathtaking. A view of the city I’d never seen in the 19 years I’ve lived here. With the Castro in the forefront, its gynormous rainbow flag flapping in the wind, and the bay receding behind City Hall and the downtown skyline, it was impossible not to feel Pride. Thanks, Jan.

Inn on Castro, 321 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114; 415.861.0321

Photos by Lisa Dion