Another hotel very much on my wish list is Le Gray in Beirut set to open in November. Two close friends of mine are Lebanese and both they and other adventurous travelers whose taste I trust have completely sold the city to me--amazing food, nightlife, and culture, plus great skiing and beaches really close by. I was all ready to go before the trouble started a couple of summers ago, but things seem to be relatively calm again. With the news that Gordon Campbell Gray (behind London's One Aldwych and Carlisle Bay in Antigua) is opening an 86-room property with a rooftop pool, juice bar, spa, and great views of the the Mediterranean and Mount Lebanon, I need to book a winter trip. If things continue to be peaceful there, I think Beirut is set to be one of the "it" cities of next year--think Istanbul and Marrakech when a new influx of fashionable hotels and restaurants arrived.

Two hotels I am very curious about are, unfortunately, elusive in terms of finding out concrete details regarding opening dates. One is the Setai in Punta d' Este, which the Times reported would be open at the end of 2006 but still is not. The other is the Warapuru in Brazil, designed by Anouska Hempel. It was also supposed to open a couple of years ago (I believed it would be and put it on my 2007 It List, but now new management is saying that it will be opening in 2009 as aquapura itacaré. Sometimes I just enter the old website to listen to the sounds of the rain forest and waves that play while you look around the site (I know it's a bit odd, but it is strangely relaxing when on deadline; maybe they thought it would keep people from thinking about the delay). Anyway, I will keep you posted on actual opening dates and will share some other promising-sounding new hospitality entrants in coming posts.