Chicago and its hotels win kudos in reader awards
TRAVEL MAGAZINES | San Francisco is best U.S. city, according to Conde Nast Traveler
The top 100 Readers' Choice Awards: The Best in the World are profiled in the November 2007 issue of Conde Nast Traveler ($4.50).
Hotels, resorts, cities, cruises, airlines, islands and cities were some of the subjects chosen by the magazine's readers. The 20th annual Readers Choice awards represent 532,569 readers who have participated in the annual poll since 1988.
The top rated hotel was the La Scalinatella in Capri followed by the Oberoi Udaivilas in Rajasthan and the Oberoi Vanyavillas, also in Rajasthan.
Two of Chicago's hotels made the magazine's list with the Peninsula hotel, which is the 26th top-rated hotel, and the Four Seasons, which is ranked 74.
The top cities were divided into areas or countries. In the Asia category, Bangkok was rated No. 1. Among European cities, Florence, Italy, held the top spot. In the United States the top cities were: San Francisco (1); New York City (2); Charleston, S.C. (3); Santa Fe, N.M. (4); Chicago (5); Carmel, Calif. (6); Honolulu (7); Savannah, Ga. (8); San Diego, Calif. (9), and Boston (10).
Also of interest this month is National Geographic Traveler ($4.95) magazine, which presents a detailed look at a growing movement in the United States to make vacation policy an issue in the next presidential election.
The magazine says studies show that one in four Americans have no paid leave or holidays. Traveler also points out that by comparison, "a total of 137 countries mandate some paid leave for workers, including Algeria, Djibouti, Niger and Latvia [all of which mandate four or more weeks of paid leave]."
The Traveler also says that a Seattle-based group, Take Back Your Time, "is spearheading a movement to make vacation policy an issue in next year's presidential race and is pushing Congress to mandate three weeks of paid leave for all employees." The magazine lists 20 countries and the number of paid vacation days and holidays mandated by their governments.
National Geographic Traveler's cover story showcases an independent study of 522 experts who ranked the world's best islands. The fourth annual Destination Scorecard study was conducted by National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations, which surveyed 111 selected islands and archipelagos.
Some of the top-rated islands in the survey included: Faroe Islands, Denmark (1); Azores, Portugal (2), and Lofoten, Norway (3).
Travelers looking for economic accommodations can check out Budget Travel's November 2007 issue. The magazine lists "totally charming hotels for under $150" a day. Some of the choices include: El Cortijo, Argentina (from $76 a day) and Hotel Chopin, France (from $120).