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See Modern Martha’s Vineyard

With a spate of revamped hotels and upgraded kitchens, a robust local art scene, and those ever-gorgeous beaches, the summer perennial has rarely looked better.

• By Julie Earle-Levine

Lambert's Cove Inn & Restaurant (Photo: Courtesy of Inn Shots)

You won’t find four-poster beds, floral wallpaper, or a doily on the toilet at the just-made-over Harbor View Hotel & Resort (from $350) in Edgartown. Though still wrapped in a white picket fence, the largest hotel on the island has officially gone modern: Its 900-square-foot suites are dressed up with black walnut floors, red cedar outdoor showers, and private gardens. Book suite 61 in the Captain Rowley cottage—it has a spacious stone patio—and lie out with some trashy beach reading.

The family-packed Winnetu Oceanside Resort (from $230) near Edgartown is a 250-yard stroll from South Beach, one of the loveliest strips of sand on the island. The resort’s rooms are freshly renovated and unfussy and loaded with domestic accoutrements like toasters, coffee-makers, and microwaves.

Partners Scott Jones and Kell Hicklin bought Lambert’s Cove Inn & Restaurant (from $220) in West Tisbury in January 2005 and immediately did away with the mounted geese and powder-blue décor. Now there are pale gold walls, ivory damask bedding, and plush dressing gowns, along with a heated, saltwater swimming pool and complimentary chairs, umbrellas, and towels for private Lambert’s beach.

Where to Eat

The Outermost Inn (Photo: Courtesy of Outermost Inn)

Brasserie–style Détente , in Edgartown, serves locally raised organic chicken and island-grown veggies in a golden-hued dining room dotted with black-and-white photos of European wineries. If you can’t snag a reservation (this has been one of the island’s most popular restaurants since opening in 2005), go before 7:30 and grab a spot at the seven-seat bar.

Owned by James Taylor’s brother Hugh and his wife Jeanne, the Outermost Inn unsurprisingly attracts a celebrity crowd: Bill Clinton, Carly Simon, Dan Aykroyd, and of course, brother James. But despite the high-profile clientele, the vibe remains low-key and casual, thanks to the meadowy surroundings, the views of the sound, and cooking that makes use of locally grown squash blossoms and arugula, herbs from the Taylors’ own garden, and just-caught striped bass.

Book at least a month ahead in the summer to secure a table at the perennially packed Beach Plum in the fishing village of Menemsha. Though the décor's a bit Pottery Barn, the ocean views and lenient BYOB policy are hard to knock. Bring a bottle of Chenin Blanc and pair it with the pan-seared halibut, served in a shallow bowl with tomato confit and basmati rice.

Island newcomer Mark Goldberg, formerly of Boston’s Mistral restaurant, mans the kitchen at Lure, the Winnetu resort’s nautically themed restaurant, which dishes out sublime Katama Bay oysters and butter-poached local lobster. Parents should request space in the family dining room, where there’s a kid-height buffet, beanbag chairs, and movies in the corner.

What to Do

Aquinnah Beach (Photo: Courtesy of Peter Simon/www.petersimon.com)

Pastel sailing paintings and wicker baskets are still being hawked like crazy in the Vineyard, but there’s been a big push to modernize the art and shopping scenes in recent years, especially in Oak Bluffs, where plans are under way to restore a church to house new galleries and live-work artists’ lofts. In the so-called SoHa (for South of the Harbor) district, the new Red Mannequin boutique (93 Dukes County Ave.; 508-693-2858) is stocked with French designer duds for kids and bright bead necklaces. Next door at Pik-Nik (99 Dukes County Ave.; 508-693-1366), you can browse vintage jewelry and art, and just a few doors down, the Dragonfly Gallery features works by locals like Renee Balter, known for her striking monoprint illustrations of island landmarks. The Alison Shaw Gallery is a great spot to pick through coffee-table books and fine-art prints, while the new hastings in the alley displays Vineyard stalwarts like Ron Hall, who shoots hauntingly vibrant landscape photos, and Rick Hoffman, who creates thickly layered abstract paintings.

Of course, it’s never all about shopping, not when there are such stunning beaches around. Head to the public strand at Aquinnah, off Moshup Trail, before the afternoon crowds arrive. After a few hours playing in Aquinnah’s clean, calm surf, dust the sand off with a hike along the mile-long base of Gay Head Cliffs, the island’s much-photographed, brilliantly colored formations, which lead directly up to picturesque Aquinnah Lighthouse. Skip the daytime tour and return on weekend nights, when the lighthouse stays open late for viewings of seriously beautiful sunsets.

Insider's Tip

Lobster-roll Fridays at Grace Episcopal Church. (Photo: From left, courtesy of Susan Safford and Danielle Zerbonne/Martha's Vineyard Times)

Martha’s Vineyard is admittedly packed with tourists in the summer, but there are at least two places where you won’t see any of them. Che's Lounge (38 Main St.; 508-693-8555), hidden in an alley off Main Street in Vineyard Haven, is a locals-only spot, though that doesn’t mean visitors can’t stop in for nighttime poetry slams and salsa-dancing sessions. And on Friday evenings from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Vineyarders gather at Grace Episcopal Church (Woodlawn Ave. at William St.; 508-693-0332) in Vineyard Haven, to chow down on delicious lobster rolls, listen to live bands, and swap fishing stories. A roll, chips, and drink, served in the church’s parish hall, will set you back $13.

Mansion House Inn & Spa (Photo: Courtesy of Julia Cumes)

The island has dozens of trails to explore, but the local favorite is Great Rock Bight, off North Road, where hikers scamper up into heavily wooded hills for stunning views of the Aquinnah Lighthouse and the Elizabeth Islands. Go in the late afternoon and pack a bottle of wine and snacks. There are few signs or markings, but it’s popular enough that you’re guaranteed to bump into an islander who can steer you toward the stairs that lead down to a remote, sandy cove. After your hike, slip into a lightweight cotton robe at the Mansion House Inn & Spa at Vineyard Haven. The Moshup Mud Wrap uses chunks of the Aquinnah cliffs mined through a “hunting-and-gathering” permit from the local Wampanoag Indian tribe. Wind down with some of the spa’s licorice root and peppermint tea, or indulge at the inn’s Zephrus restaurant with the “chocoholics platter” of chocolate strawberries and cake.

Related Links

The Martha’s Vineyard Times is filled with news about boating slips, fishing trips, and tales of overboard yachtsmen.

Martha’s Vineyard Online offers up good tips for visitors and virtual tours of places to stay.

Listen to the sounds of the island, as captured by MVYRadio.

Chinatown in New York is one of the last few authentic neighbourhoods in a city that is always searching for the next “it” place to live. Its core population is about 80,000, of which 55,000 are of Asian lineage. But residential developments and at least one five-star hotel are transforming an area that was first carved out by Chinese immigrants in the mid-18th century.

“The change is daily. It is obvious. It is irreversible,” said Stefan Gerard, who lives in a former factory on the eastern edge of Chinatown. Gerard, co-founder of Gen Art, a not-for-profit arts organisation, says: “There are no loft conversions on our street – yet. It is all still Chinese businesses but one block from us there is a new fashion boutique, Project No 8 (stocking international and local designers), a new restaurant, Bacaro, and the Swedish bar Good World. We all see the writing on the wall.”

Chinatown’s allure has been alive and well for decades, long before the gentrification of bordering SoHo, Nolita, the East Village, Tribeca and Wall Street. Its alleys are meant to be explored on foot. Its stores, selling everything from live crabs, to silk pyjamas, lampshades and rare teas, offer a different kind of shoppers’ paradise. As well as the many Chinese restaurants, there are street stalls piled high with persimmon fruits, ginger and lychees.

So what exactly is coming to Chinatown? Morgans Hotel Group is building a 270-room Mondrian hotel with a bar and restaurant at 150 Lafayette Street, which it expects to open in the second half of 2009.

W Hotels is reportedly eyeing a bank building for a new hotel. On a smaller scale, the Chinatown Holiday Inn at 138 Lafayette is being converted into a boutique hotel.

On the residential front, a one-bedroom apartment in a new construction or recently opened building costs $1,150-$1,350 a sq ft, so a decent one-bedroom at 600 to 700 sq ft costs less than $1m. A two-bedroom flat can be bought for just under $1.2m. Ten years ago there were few apartments available to buy because there were not as many conversions or new apartments, only a handful of condominiums, according to Glenn E. Schiller, of the SoHo office of the Corcoran group. Schiller, who has been selling property on the edge of Chinatown for 18 years, said: “As early as three years ago, Chinatown would have been $800 to $900 a sq ft but there has been an appreciation across all of downtown.” In spite of the rapid rise in prices, Chinatown remains extremely good value, he says, and is continuing to develop.

A 30,000 sq ft building, a block north of Canal Street, Chinatown’s main artery, will soon be converted into 14 luxury lofts. The developer is gallerist Max Protetch, whose gallery is known for exhibiting architectural renderings and happens to be one of the first to show Chinese artists. He is betting on Chinatown being the next hip area.

Apartments in his development, which involves converting the old Machinery Exchange built in 1915, will cost from $1.6m for a one-bedroom to nearly $4.5m for a two-bedroom duplex penthouse. Protetch said he looked to Chinatown because he found nothing he liked elsewhere. He fell in love with the building’s arched windows and history. The buyers to date are rich Upper East Siders and foreigners, he says.

Directly opposite Protetch’s building is 123 Baxter, a full­service, 23-unit condominium that shot up three years ago and attracted attention for its “zen spa bathrooms with rainforest showers” and Brazilian cherry floors. A large one-bedroom has been listed for $1.2m.

The big question is whether Chinatown – which started on Mott Street, Park, Pell and Doyers streets, east of the Five Points District, a formerly dangerous slum area depicted in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York – will be able to retain its authenticity.

The conversions have really only been going on in the past two years. The pace of change is conditioned by the fact that many buildings are occupied by rent stabilised and rent controlled tenants who would all need to be moved out in order for them to be converted.

Gershon Adjaye, a broker and property investment adviser with the Gersh Group, doesn’t believe the area will become overrun with condos, as SoHo has. The core has zoning restrictions that prohibit high-rise buildings and he says his Chinese clients own in New York, New Jersey and offshore but never sell their Chinatown properties. “They prefer to keep it in the family. It is not even a case of money.”

He believes the far east end of Chinatown is not an area that developers would go to. “At that point you are so far east and south that you are too far from any major neighbourhood.” But he said if you go north, Chinatown is very attractive.

He predicts there will be more small developments. “Nothing huge scale because even if you get one guy, or one family to sell a building, you need a much bigger footprint, perhaps a whole block to do a very large development.”

Wellington Chen, executive director of Chinatown Partnership, a group that was formed after September 11 to rebuild Chinatown, also questions whether the area, which has been hit hard by fewer tourists and the demise of its garment industry, will become gentrified.

“Most of Chinatown is rent controlled, five-storey walk-ups owned by Chinese or Jewish landlords.” He said these tenement buildings were mostly more than 100 years old and often in poor condition, with bathrooms in the hallways. There is no doorman or parking and only rarely is there a laundry in the building. The buildings are financially supported by ground-floor retail and restaurants that are suffering because fewer tourists are visiting the area, preferring Little Italy or SoHo. “Development is not happening in the core of Chinatown. Speculators have been circling here for years and if there was a soft spot they would have had it by now”.

He predicts that Chinatown will “age out” over time, meaning that older Chinese residents in rent-controlled buildings are dying. Some are moving to more affordable satellite Chinatowns in Queens. The area does not cater for non-Asians, he says. “Try to get a town car to pick you up. Where can you buy organic food? You can’t.”

But Gerard has no plans to move any time soon. “So you can’t buy milk or butter very easily. But you can get 16 different kinds of shrimp paste. We like that.”

end

The Qantas lounge in Sydney, AustraliaThese days, flying first-class is all about what goes on before the plane takes off, or so it would seem at some of the world's most elite airport lounges.Qantas

Sydney

The look: Created by Australian designer Marc Newson, the 22,066-square-foot lounge resembles the wing of a plane. Curvilinear oak partitions break out ten zones with chocolate- and cream-colored furnishings.

Details: The dining room, with its open kitchen and tables designed by designed by Cappellini, feels like a cool Sydney café. (The menu is devised by chef Neil Perry of Sydney's famed Rockpool restaurant.)

Who: The business crowd, well-dressed families and young fashion designers en route to New York and London for shows.

Services: Hosts will meet you curbside and speed you through customs. They can also book hard-to-get restaurant reservations anywhere in the world.

Superlatives: A sublime day spa using Payot Paris products. The complimentary facials and massages are given in rooms with vertical gardens designed by botanist Patrick Blanc.

—Julie Earle-Levine