Hotel roof gardens: sustainable beauty

by McLean Robbins on


Summer is officially here, and what better place to enjoy a cocktail or night out than at a chic hotel bar, preferably one with a roof and a view? More and more hotels are transforming their outside spaces into full-scale gardens that offer more than just pretty-smelling plants. Many have embraced the farm-to-table concept and are growing their own herbs, vegetables and fruits – some even have bee hives.

Here are our favorites, chosen for factors ranging from beauty to innovation and sustainability. Note that not all of these roofs are accessible to hotel guests – some are used for green purposes and others for gardens and hives:

Kyoto Grand Hotel, Los Angeles
The half-acre garden on the roof of this downtown Los Angeles hotel takes the cake for both beauty and innovation. Enjoy meandering paths, water features, and of course, beautiful plants at the Asian-inspired boutique hotel.

Gramercy Park Hotel, New York City
The former private roof club and garden at Gramercy Park Hotel opened to the public last fall and has been a coveted reservation ever since. Enjoy year-round dining and drinking in the chic garden, which has a retractable glass roof for cool or rainy days. Above the garden itself sits a hotel-planted herb, vegetable and fruit plot stocked with organic plants used in cocktails and seasonally-inspired dishes.

The Surrey, New York City
Located on the Penthouse level, and available exclusively to hotel guests, this serene escape is reminiscent of a garden found atop an Upper East Side family townhouse, with a traditional English Garden feel. This hotel garden features a heavy emphasis on trees, ivy and seasonal florals ranging from brilliant purple Salvia East Frieslands to the pink, yellow and orange Lantana. Box trees are framed by rows of English dwarf lavender. Try the “Muddled Lemonade,” which mixes the freshest herbs, fruits and spices with homemade lemonade, available with or without alcohol.

The Fairmont Royal York, Toronto
Ontario’s chic Fairmont hotel boasts not only a garden but a bee hive, whose honey is used in the dishes at EPIC, the Fairmont’s signature restaurant. First planted in 1998, all the herbs are organic, grown without pesticides and herbicides. Last year, Mason Hogue Gardens, from Uxbridge, Ontario, planted Japanese shiso, oba, four types of basil and five pepper varieties in the high-rise herb garden. Besides herbs, the garden also grows Italian red kidney beans, cherry tomatoes and dwarf cherry, pear and plum trees. Want to see more photos? Wanderlust and Lipstick has a great first person view.

Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY
More than just a garden, this upstate New York escape boasts a “green roof ” garden terrace that’s unusual because it spends much of the day in the shade. The hotel planted predominantly shade-tolerant plants that attract birds and butterflies. Want to visit? Guests can enjoy seasonal exercise classes on the rooftop.

See a gallery of all of the hotel gardens here:
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Canary Hotel, Santa Barbara
Sip a cocktail made with the fruit trees growing on The Perch, this Santa Barbara hotel’s chic rooftop terrace. The terrace includes kumquat, lemon and orange trees, which come together in the delicious concoction known as the hotel’s signature Vodka Kumquat Lemonade cocktail.

Omni Chicago
If you’re dining at Omni Chicago’s Cafe 676, chances are you’re enjoying the work of Chef Daven Wardynski, who uses herbs from his rooftop garden in many of his seasonal preparations.

The InterContinental Harbor Court, Baltimore
Employees of the InterContinental Harbor Court completed planting our herb and vegetable garden earlier this month for the rooftop garden’s second year. Herbs from the garden are used in everything from seasonal salads to seasonal mojito cocktails. In addition to the garden, InterContinental Harbor Court will be hosting a bee hive in conjunction with Baltimore Honey.

InterContinental Miami
The InterContinental Miami celebrated Earth Day 2011 by planting an herb garden, part of the hotel’s larger garden which contains full grown trees, plants and a jogging trail all on the 5th floor plaza level of the hotel, nestled in the skyscrapers.

Hyatt at Olive 8, Seattle
The hotel boasts an 8,355 square foot green rooftop, one of the largest in downtown Seattle. Urbane, the farm to table restaurant located in Olive 8, uses herbs harvested from the green rooftop in its dishes and cocktails.

Fairmont Singapore
Five floors above the Singapore skyline rest herb plots utilized in many of the hotel’s dishes and cocktails. To keep these herbs healthy and fresh, Fairmont Singapore adopted an innovative compost system that provides natural fertilizers for the plants, utilizing the waste products from thousands of worms, also nestled within the Herb Garden.

Brown Palace, Denver
While not a garden, per se, the hotel uses its rooftop space to help another living species grow – bees! The hotel boasts a massive bee hive (and has plenty of plants to keep the pollen-hungry bugs happy) and has an on-site beekeeper to harvest the honey.

US Grant, San Diego
One of San Diego’s most iconic hotels boasts a seasonal roof and herb garden that contains many of the ingredients used in the hotel’s dishes and cocktails.

Wannabe JFK airport bomber found guilty

by Sean McLachlan on


The final participant in the plot to blow up New York City’s JFK airport has been found guilty of five counts of conspiracy.

Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad was one of four conspirators who in 2007 hoped to blow up fuel tanks and fuel lines at JFK airport, causing major loss of life. The lines also run under a nearby neighborhood and the terrorists hoped to blow that up too. Two other conspirators, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir, are already serving life sentences, and Abdel Nur received fifteen years for his role in the plot.

In his defense, Ibrahim claimed he didn’t really want to blow up the airport, saying, “I just went along and hoped it would fizzle out.”

What kind of lame-ass excuse is that? Who starts something that big and doesn’t plan to finish? That would be like if I enrolled in university with the intention of dropping out my sophomore year, or had a kid with the plan to ditch him when he’s ten.

Luckily the judge didn’t buy that line either, Ibrahim will be sentenced on October 21.

[Photo courtesy USGS]

Are locals rude because tourists expect too much?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’re all familiar with the “rude American.” And, I’m sure we all are aware of the stereotypes involving people in other countries. There’s really no such thing as a popular tourist, it seems, and it isn’t unusual to hear locals described as cold, unfriendly or detached. Sure, there are exceptions to this, but enough complaints have circulated to give the claims at least a bit of credibility. Have you ever wondered why this is?

I have.

I’ve lived almost my entire adult life in cities considered to be among the rudest (Boston and New York), and I probably exemplify the complaints that tourists have about these destinations. I’ve also been a tourist and found that some of the “coldest” cities in the world (e.g., Paris) weren’t bad at all. It’s obvious that there’s a disconnect, and this has been on my mind for quite some time.

I’m starting to believe it’s that tourists expect too much. There’s a difference between being a guest in someone’s city and being a guest in his home. In one case, you make the choice, and in the other, you have to be invited. All too often, we behave as though the former implies the latter. It doesn’t, and when we make this imprudent assumption, it annoys the locals. I get it. I don’t blame them.
I came to this conclusion while riding the 3 train from the Wall Street stop last week (it was involved in the thinking I did at that point after having an experience with demanding tourists). I was running from one meeting to another, and a tourist tried to stop me to take a picture of him in front of the New York Stock Exchange. I didn’t have time, and his face showed a bit of attitude. Also, he didn’t take a second to think that “guy in a hurry” means “guy who doesn’t have time to stop and take my picture for me.”

The problem, it seems, is one of mindset. When we’re on vacation, we do our best to let go, to put the concerns of the workday (and obligations of the evenings) behind us. We want to relax, to unwind. In doing so, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the people at our destination aren’t on vacation. They are taking the kids to soccer games, hurrying to get back to the office after lunch and trying to enjoy a drink at the end of a busy day.

Sometimes, they are too busy to deal with us, and sometimes, they just don’t want to.

It’s hard to blame them, of course. All you need to do is think about how wiped out you are at the end of the day, and then wonder how you’d respond to a tourist trying to stop you on your way home … because he wants to be in a picture that has a local landmark in the background. Sure, there are times when it’s no problem. I’ve taken more tourist photos than I can count for visitors to New York. I’ve also lost track of the times I’ve had to (or chosen to) decline.

When you take your next vacation and find yourself looking for help from a local, be understanding. Realize that you may not be the most important thing on that person’s mind. And if you come to New York, I’d be happy to take your picture in front of the bull, but if I’m running past, let’s do it at another time. Deal?

[photo courtesy of Corporate Secretary]

Brooklyn Bridge celebrates 128th anniversary

by Meg Nesterov on


If you are in New York today, consider paying homage to one of the city’s most venerable landmarks: the Brooklyn Bridge, which turns 128 today. The iconic bridge opened in 1883 after 13 years of construction. As is common with mid-week birthdays, the main celebrations happened over the weekend, including a special offer to get a $28 tattoo of the Brooklyn Bridge from a local tattoo parlor. Brooklyn Tattoo illustrated 60-70 proud Brooklynites in 2010, and inks another dozen or so each month. That’s a lot of bridge enthusiasts!

Should you not want such a permanent souvenir, you can always celebrate with a walk across the bridge and a picnic at the newly-expanded Brooklyn Bridge Park (where yours truly got married 7 years ago), but forget the Champagne – no alcohol is allowed on the bridge or in the park.

Photo of Langley aircraft carrier under the Brooklyn Bridge courtesy San Diego Air & Space Museum archives.

The four locals you don’t want to take your picture

by Tom Johansmeyer on


So many of my pet peeves really do find their roots in personal experience.

I was walking up Broad Street last week, right by the New York Stock Exchange. This part of New York offers an interesting mix. There are plenty of professionals dashing from one meeting to the next, traders from the exchange (identifiable by their jackets) outside for a chat or a smoke, tourists with their cameras out the ready and even the occasional street preacher.

In a hurry, I was darting up Broad to get to the Wall Street subway station. I was short on time and patience. It’s not laudable, but it does happen. And as usual, I found myself running the tourist gauntlet so I could catch a train. One unfortunate soul stretched his arm out in front of me, camera in hand, and asked me to take his picture. I sidestepped his arm, declined and kept going.

Once I got on the 3 train, I had time to reflect on the experience. Many of us have been on both sides of that experience. We’ve been tourists looking for a helping hand, and we’ve been busy locals, trying to get from Point A to Point B with minimal headache. It’s mutually frustrating … and it’s just part of life and travel.

While we’d all love to encounter polite locals, sometimes, we do need to be realistic. Not everybody is going to be in a position to help. The first step is to know which people to leave alone when you’re looking to create a memory. Here are four locals to leave alone when you want someone to take your picture for you:1. The busy professional: if you see someone walking quickly and with a focused look – dressed in a suit or not – let him go. He has someplace to be, most likely, and it’s only polite to respect his time. You don’t know what’s on his mind or where he’s going, and while you may want your picture taken, that doesn’t translate to an obligation on his part.

2. The person who won’t make eye contact: this person may be (and probably is) avoiding eye contact for a specific reason. He doesn’t want to get roped into your Kodak moment. This behavior may be a bit rude, but again, the fact that you need someone to hold your camera doesn’t translate to an entitlement.

3. The busy parent: a parent who has his or her hands full really doesn’t need something else to worry about. Show a little respect when mom or dad is trying to deal with the kids. You can wait for someone else to walk by. Really, you can.

4. The homeless guy: trust me, you can do better holding the camera yourself.

When in doubt, look for another tourist to help you. This is what I did at Abbey Road in London – we scratched each other’s backs, so to speak. Or, you could bite the bullet and invest in figuring out how to work the timer on your camera.

It doesn’t hurt to be reasonable. Sometimes, people really are too busy to help you.

[photo courtesy of IR magazine]