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2159 PG 32-35 TRAVEL F_Layout 1 23/12/2011 11:11 Page 32

Dream on Clockwise from left: Casa do Conto, Porto; Monte Carlo Beach Club, Abu Dhabi; Florence Welch, playing Optimus Alive (Portugal) in June Travel Edited by Chris Moss twitter.com/timeouttravel

bedrooms are discreetly decorated in a pared-down classical style, and there’s a muy romantic terrace for drinks or dining. Hotel Primero Primera, Calle Doctor Carulla 25-29, Tres Torres (+34 934 175 600/ www.primeroprimera.com). Doubles from £126 (incl breakfast). Bengaluru Eat & hearLocals consider Get up and go CounterCulture to be Bengaluru’s up- and-coming crucible of cool. On most You’ve got your full holiday allocation to take and an empty weekends this restaurant, in a restored factory, is live gig central diary. Here’s our hit list of global hotspots, events and hotels and a great place to catch little-known for 2012, compiled by Time Out’s international editors indie bands. On Sundays, the space plays host to languid afternoon barbecue sessions. At other times, Abu Dhabi lie around channelling Riviera chic. amazing bar, a restaurant controlled CounterCulture specialises in kooky, See Abu Dhabi has big plans for Go for a stroll on the beach once the by Jordi Vilà (a young talent of experimental cuisine, liberally Saadiyat Island (www.saadiyat.ae) – sun begins to dip and if you’re lucky Catalan cuisine), a bakery, a wine garnishing its creations with garden- it’s set to become a major art you might even spot one of the shop and a multi-use hall where grown herbs and veggies. destination in a few years’ time, endangered hawksbill turtles that you can enjoy the best gig of the CounterCulture, 4th Cross, when outposts of the Louvre and the nest in Saadiyat’s sand dunes. week or the latest creations of Dyayasandra Industrial Area, ITPL Guggenheim are completed. Until then, Monte Carlo Beach Club (+971 2 656 Barcelona designers. Rd, Whitefield (+91 80 4140 0793/ there’s plenty to keep visitors busy, 3500/www.monte-carlo-beach.com). Fàbrica Moritz, Ronda de Sant www.counterculture.co.in). whether you’re into galleries or golfing. Doubles from £268. Antoni 39 (+34 934 23 54 34/ Stay It’s quite unlikely you’ll escape The visitor centre hosts regular art www.moritz.cat). the din of Bangalore’s teeming traffic exhibitions, and the Saadiyat Beach Barcelona Stay Primero Primera, a new hotel in if you check into a luxury hotel on one Golf Club, designed by Gary Player, Eat, drink & hearFàbrica Moritz is the ultra-bourgeois Tres Torres of the main drags. Ista is an exception. has gorgeous views over the Gulf. one of the most exciting new venues neighbourhood, is like an English Though equidistant from a bustling Stay For beach action, the island’s built in the city in the last decade. club reimagined (by designers Núria mall and one of the city’s maddest Monte Carlo Beach Club is the place to It comprises a brewery with an Pérez-Sala and Ana Galofré). The traffic junctions, Ista is smart, chic FERNANDO GUERRA, SERGIO GUERRA FERNANDO 32www.timeout.com/travel January 5 – 11 2012 2159 PG 32-35 TRAVEL F_Layout 1 23/12/2011 11:12 Page 33 Travel

Stoned again Clockwise from left: Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas; Moca, Los Angeles; , playing Optimus Alive (Portugal) in June

and almost silent. It also has the best Stay Despite the daft shopping suburb of Bangsar. Run by rooftop pool in the city. name, BoBo (it means local stylists and designers, it is Ista, 1/1 Swami Vivekananda Rd, ‘idiot’ in local slang known for its jersey basics, reworked Ulsoor (+91 80 2555 8888/ but, claim the owners, vintage (some dating back to the ’20s) www.istahotels.com). Doubles from here stands for and original designs. Three separate £107 (excl tax). ‘Bohemian Bourgeois’) areas stock a mix of vintage, little remains one of the black dresses and tailored menswear, Berlin sharpest hotels in and super-trendy colour-blocking See & hearAmid a wide range of Buenos Aries. In a pieces. We hear rumours that the ‘Nights of…’ dedicated to everything converted 1920s owners are planning to incorporate from science and books to theatre and mansion in the low- a dining space in the store; let’s hope music, Berlin’s standout nocturnal slung, high-living Palermo it’s true. event is the Long Night of the district, it attracts its fair share of Never Follow Suit, 28-2 Jalan Telawi Museums, held twice-yearly in more locals thanks to a restaurant-bar that Florence 2, Bangsar (+60 3 2284 7316). than 100 of the city’s cultural excels at two unconventional (for Hear Florentines leave the city in Stay Finding a quiet place to stay in institutions. The venues stay open till Buenos Aires) pastimes: pre-dinner droves for the summer, which might business-minded, high-altitude Kuala 2am, laying on a range of live events – drinks and afternoon tea. explain why the Estate Fiorentina Lumpur can be , so the Anggun , readings, theatre and BoBo, Guatemala 4882, Palermo festival has so many great cultural boutique hotel comes as a pleasant performance –to make this one of the (+54 11 4774 0505/www.bobohotel. events in English –or maybe it’s surprise. Although comfortable most eclectic cultural nights in com). Doubles from £142 (excl tax). because there are more Americans in rather than luxurious, it’s a lot closer Europe. This year’s are on January 28 the city than in most small US towns. to a traditional KL experience than and in autumn 2012. Chicago Three stunning locations –the recently can be found in most of the city’s www.lange-nacht-der-museen.de Drink Punkish hipsters and tattooed restored Amphitheatre at Le Cascine, chain hotels, and it has a roof garden Stay Hidden within the shell of a retro types hang out at Delilah’s, but the city’s contemporary space at Le with views of the city. landmark art deco dance hall, the it’s surprisingly friendly and Strozziare and the Biblioteca delle Anggun, 7 & 9 Tengkat Tong Shin, Ellington Hotel in smart unpretentious. More Oblate –are the city’s off Jalan Bukit Bintang (+60 3 2145 Charlottenberg is one of the classiest importantly, this bar main sites of recreation, 8003/www.anggunkl.com). hotels in Berlin. Simple white and boasts an awe-inspiring with concerts, plays, Doubles from £61. wood rooms are filled with light from wall of more than 400 film, bilingual theatre double windows, and Sunday jazz whiskies, bourbons and and the like. Yet there’s Las Vegas brunches in the central courtyard ryes, including limited A number of also room for such See Everyone knows what you can evoke a bygone era of sophistication. shots of owner Mike cheap, cool charmingly eccentric do in Vegas: gamble, eat, drink and The Ellington Hotel, Nürnberger Miller’s house blends, diversions as, say, lose 24 hours and several hundred Strasse 50-55, Charlottenberg (+49 sourced from some of the festivals are sandcastle competitions dollars without even realising. So 30 683150/www.ellington-hotel.com). world’s finest distilleries. springing up on Lungarno Beach. why not do something different? Red Doubles from £100. Advice: take it slowly and on Portugal’s www.firenzestate.it; Rock Canyon National Conservation drink beer chasers. coastline www.commune.fi.it Area is just 20 miles away from the Buenos Aires 4771 North Lincoln Stay At the Torre city’s gaming emporiums and one of Eat & drinkAldo’s Vinoteca y Avenue (www.delilahschicago.com). Guelfa, the city’s tallest privately the most stunning examples of Restorán is a Russian doll of a Stay Hotelier Ian Schrager did a 180- owned tower, you can admire the natural beauty in the US. Once there, restaurant as it’s within a wine store degree turn and went for inclusivity renaissance skyline from the rooftop you can tackle a 13-mile scenic bike within a hotel in cool, cobblestoned with Public Chicago, the first in his bar and appreciate the fourteenth- ride or a host of outdoor sports –or San Telmo. Wall-length mirrors, soft planned boutique chain. Public took century architecture around you in just enjoy the view from the top of the lighting and a striking central bar are over the Ambassador East Hotel pretty pastel-coloured rooms that are Calico Hills, which is much more draws, but celebrity sommelier Aldo building – a famed rat-pack hangout – as comfortable as they are rewarding than the one you’ll get Graziani has made vino the star: more and enlivened the 1920s wood aesthetically pleasing. Number 15 is a from a roulette table in the Bellagio. than 500 top labels selected at blind features with a simple coat of white romantic den with a private garden; www.redrockcanyonlv.org tastings and – best of all –sold at retail paint and upcycled floorboards. But at the rooms on the first floor are less Stay Back on the strip, the hot price. The art deco restaurant serves weekends the lightsdim, the lobby ostentatious and priced accordingly. new hotel on the block is The an exquisite modern Argentinian bars fill to capacity and you’ll be Torre Guelfa, Borgo SS Apostoli 8 Cosmopolitan. The complex ticks all menu; have slow-cooked lamb in a rich lucky to land a reservation at the (+39 55 2396338/www.hoteltorre the boxes for the requisite Vegas malbec jus –if you can, just this once, hotel’s Pump Room restaurant less guelfa.com). Doubles from £100. experience, with gambling, pools, resist a perfect sirloin steak. than three weeks in advance. shopping and modern art spaces, and Aldo’s Vinoteca y Restorán, Moreno Public, 1301 North State Parkway Kuala Lumpur on April 26 a pool party hosted by 372, y Defensa (+54 11 5291 2380/ (+1 312 787 3700/www.publichotels. Shop Never Follow Suit is unlike French dance duo Justice. Oh, and

ALAMY/BECKY REDMAN/PENNIE SMITH ALAMY/BECKY www.aldosvinoteca.com). com). Doubles from £124. any of the other shops in the party/ none of your friends will have stayed January 5 – 11 2012www.timeout.com/travel 33 2159 PG32-35TRAVELF_Layout123/12/201111:12Page34 Travel with camping £95. com). June 13-15.Weekendticket Optimus Alive (www.optimusalive. short commute bybus. bed down inLisbonanddothe picturesque Monsanto; youcould city, and campingisavailablein on the shorelinejusttowestof resurrected Stone Roses.It’sstaged and therecently Florence And TheMachine, Optimus Alive. Thisyearitfeatures up along thecoast,chiefofwhichis cooler and betterfestivalsspringing but there areanumberofcheaper, ‘’isgettingtheheadlines, districts, is astrikingblendof Príncipe Real andBairroAlto Independente, on theborderof connotations. The brandnew 34www.timeout.com/travel Stay Festival Lisbon com). Doubles from£115. 7000/www.cosmopolitanlasvegas. Boulevard South (+1702698 The Cosmopolitan, 3708LasVegas MGM Grand andCaesarsPalace. here yet, unlikeVegasstaplessuchas Forget traditional ‘hostel’ The corporate rockof January 5 –112012 its location likealotof rather than shyawayfrom heart of touristLA,but Hollywood, right inthe Sunset is situatedinWest Stay lake.com). www.foldsilver (+1 323 6639636/ Boulevard West Sunset Lounge, 2906 Silver Lake gay crowd. show for apredominantlyLatin over for amind-bogglingfloor At weekends transvestitestake middle-aged Latino bartenders. bohos, hardcore fashionistasand old-timer locals, youngSilverLake playing to amixedcrowdmadeupof Motorcycle Club andTheKills,all , BlackRebel music. Past performersinclude Lake into LA’sfinestdestinationfor the late ’90shasbeenturningSilver proprietor Scott Sterling,whosince foresight and enthusiasmof of astonishing bands,thankstothe venue The Foldplayshosttoanarray The Grafton on Doubles from £67. independente.pt). 1381/www.the (+351 21 346 de Alcântara, 81 Rua de SãoPedro Hostel & Suites, The Independente near-perfect. Sunday brunch is the restaurant –the beer garden andtry make time toseethe for exploring Lisbon, using it asyourbase Tagus. As wellas overlooking the with private balconies as well asfoursuites over 13 dormrooms with 111 bedsspread fixtures and fittings, and ultra-modern sumptuous detail Hear Los Angeles dive bar andmusic smallish, cash-only Unassuming, festival.com.au). 9362/http://melbourne.laneway 45 Moreland St,Footscray(+613 Footscray Community ArtsCentre, figures and humanisticanimals, , depictscrime who works tothetunesof provocateur of theAussieartscene, than 400 artworksbyAdamCullen, the city, TheCullenfeaturesmore Doubles from £115. www.graftonon sunset.com). Boulevard (+1 3236544600/ The Grafton, 8462WestSunset saltwater pool outback. mind. There’s alsoarathercool all themed withHollywoodhistoryin Formerly a speakeasy,itssuitesare hotels in thearea,ithasembracedit. Hear Melbourne Stay features Girls, M83,SbtrktandEMA. Community Arts Centre.Thisyear DJs to itsnewhomeinFootscray number of on-the-cuspbandsand best, and attractsanimpressive Melbourne remains theoriginaland Asia through winterandspring. tours cities acrossAustraliaand dirty back street,Lanewaynow Avalanches-headlined party ona from two guysthrowingan festival. Having grown Australia’s best music Laneway remains but Melbourne’s event it startedoutas, niche counter-culture and was recentlyarrestedfor possession of firearms,aslingshot One of fourArtSeriesHotelsin It might notbethe com.au/cullen). Doubles www. artserieshotels. (+61 3 90981555/ with kitchenettes, and but they’re allfurnished and a Taser(allinthe varying configurations, there are tapasand contemporary The 113 roomscomein Prahran 3181 Chinese restaurants name of art,course). from £155. downstairs. Commercial Rd, The Cullen, 164 knows what in Vegas… you can do Everyone com). Doubles from£118. 65/www.lamaisonchampselysees. Jean Goujon, 8th(+331407464 La Maison ChampsElysées,8Rue or two. bar is atopspotforChampagnejulep sculptures. Downstairs, theall-white and outsized woodenmushroom gems, wine bottlestunedintolamps cabinets filled withgiantrocksand century shop, withdarkwooden like a modernisttakeonnineteenth- the Curiosity CaseSuite,whichfeels Margiela design. Forarealtreatbook raised eyebrows withitsMartin area, La MaisonChampsElyséeshas in Paris’s exclusiveTriangled’Or 10 10/www.cafelacigale.com). Rochechouart, 18th (+3315579 Café la Cigale,124Boulevardde you can enjoythemtothelastdrop. are served inindividualshakersso alternative and lo-fi.Fruitycocktails spins a goodmixofgarage,punk, sets, and therestoftimeDJ small stage isusedforoccasionallive painted by USartistPhilFrost.A of venues –includingthenearbyCafé Thierry Costes. It’spartofanewwave bar created byPhilippeStarckand next door, isanartyrestaurantand brother of thelegendaryconcerthall even better. For means the newone,inPorto,mightbe Europe’s best-value festival–which Sound, in Barcelona,isprobably June 7-10. Tickets€75. (www.optimusprimaverasound.com). Optimus Primavera Sound and Neutral MilkHotel’sJeffMangum. including Björk, YoLaTengo, more than 100acts,withheadliners Festival Porto Stay Drink & hear Paris Launched just afewmonthsago The original Primavera totem pole heads grinning, multicoloured brightened up by with grey concretewalls high-ceilinged space is post-industrial: a touch of class.Thestyle quartier giving the Pigalle du Trianon –thatare Café la Cigale,little € 75 you gettosee a much-needed 2159 PG 32-35 TRAVEL F_Layout 1 23/12/2011 11:13 Page 35

Stay The Casa do Conto is like an suburb into one of the capital’s hottest architecture and design museum, destinations. Even the prospect of with beds. From outside it looks like paying close to £25 for a trip to the a nineteenth-century townhouse, observation deck (450 metres up) but inside is a clever balance of hasn’t deterred the crowds: group modernism and minimalism, from bookings are currently being taken rough concrete staircases to neo- six months in advance. industrial inner walls, with ceilings Tokyo Sky Tree, 1-1-13 Oshiage, that feature award-winning Sumida-ku (+81 3 3626 0634/ typography by R2 Design. The hotel www.tokyo-skytree.jp). also hosts a variety of cultural events. Stay Effortless minimalist chic is to Casa do Conto Arts & Residence, Rua the fore at Claska, which describes

da Boavista 703, Cedofeita, near itself as more of an ‘inn’ than a hotel Travel Downtown and Boavista (+351 22 20 and is tucked away from the hectic 60340/www.casadoconto.com). Darkness falls The Long Night buzz of the city. Art looms large, from Doubles from £82 incl breakfast. of the Museums, Berlin pieces by global design names dotted around the public spaces to a gallery Rio and shop that display and sell art and Lounge Every summer a new trend Cine Joia Praça Carlos Gomes, 82 get a real sense of the city, stay in a cool design products. Its 12 rooms are takes over Rio’s beaches. Generally Liberdade (+55 11 3231 3705/ traditional hanok guesthouse. in high demand, so book well ahead. the movement of cool people has been www.cinejoia.tv). Sophia Guesthouse, just off one Hotel Claska, 1-3-18 Chuo-cho, outwards and southwards, to strips Stay In the heart of old São Paulo, on of Seoul’s most youthfully artsy Meguro-ku (+81 3 3719 8121/ like Barra da Tijuca. But this year the up after decades in decline, , has an authentic dynastic www.claska.com). Doubles from £163. looks set to be the summer of inner- Normandie Design Hotel’s grey- feel. The dark-wood Josean city after-hours fun, with crowds walled exterior is plain, but inside structures and courtyard make Additional research by Yolanda taking advantage of improved there’s something seductively ’70s you feel like you’ve gone back 150 Zappaterra and Sasha Gallick security and hitting the sand at about the leatherette and stripy years, creating a great contrast to – Arpoador Beach until after nightfall. surfaces. Many bars and restaurants and respite from –modern Seoul For more destinations visit Stay Leading the charge in a new have opened in the area, making it on your doorstep. www.timeout.com/travel.

breed of accommodation in the city, ideal if you fancy something slightly Sophia Guesthouse, Z.Bra is a stylish affair – as its Leblon off the tourist beat. Sogyeokdong 157-1 address demands – with ’40s and ’50s Normandie Design Hotel, Avenida (+82 2 720 5467/ furniture inside and a modernist Ipiranga 1187, St Iphigenia (+55 11 www.sophiagh.com). exterior. Budget travellers get sleek, 3311 9855/www.normandiedesign. Doubles from £33. retro bunks with compartments for com.br). Doubles from around £75.50. iPods and laptops, and the luxury Tokyo private rooms are pretty sumptuous, Seoul See It’s been hard if petite. Hear Two simultaneous rock to ignore the Tokyo Z.Bra, Av General San Martin 1212, festivals, Jisan Valley and Pentaport, Sky Tree over the Leblon (+55 21 3596 2386/www. offer a dilemma usually solved by the past couple of years zbrahostel.com). Doubles from £140. bills. Originally, the Incheon-based of its construction: Pentaport event reigned supreme, but the successor to the São Paulo a fallout out among organisers led in Eiffel-esque Tokyo Hear Former cinema Cine Joia was 2009 to the inaugural Jisan. Since Tower looms at a reborn in late 2011 as the city’s most they take place around the same time height of 643 metres eagerly awaited new music venue. as Japan’s Fuji , they over the city, placing The 1952 building has had a loving draw big acts already headed for that it second only to restoration, and now contrasts event, but this year should see a Dubai’s Burj Khalifa features such as an original mosaic- decent smattering of home-grown as the tallest tiled facade with a new diamond- talent, such is its growing appeal structure in the shaped bar. The sloping floor allows both in Korea and abroad. Late July. world. Due to open perfect views of the bands, while a Jisan Valley Rock: San Haewolli 28-1, in May, it has been ‘light mapping’ system beams Majang-myeon, Icheon City, Gyeonggi chronicled in projections onto 3D surfaces to Province (www.valleyrock festival. obsessive detail by change the look of the place entirely, mnet.com); Pentaport: near Dream the local media, depending on the band playing. The Park, Incheon and is helping only downside seems to be the sound (www.pentaportrock.com). transform its east system, which has a way to go before Stay There are all sorts of swanky end surroundings

SERGEJ HOROVITZ SERGEJ it matches the impressive visuals. hotels to choose from in Seoul, but to from a dowdy January 5 – 11 2012www.timeout.com/travel 35