The Other Congress in Town

We don't usually spring for Relais and Chateaux properties in our travels, but we can dream, right? So we were intrigued to learn that the organization is meeting in D.C. this week. Unfortunately, none of the events, which includes a black-tie affair tonight at Union Station, is open to the public. But many attendees, including such celebrity chefs as Patrick O'Connell of the Inn at Little Washington, can be spotted at the Willard and J.W. Marriott hotels along Pennsylvania Avenue, where they're staying. Travel section contributor Sue Kovach Shuman checked out the scene:

The Relais and Chateaux Association, a group of invitation-only, privately owned hotels and gourmet restaurants in 55 countries, opened its 33rd international congress in Washington Sunday. A clue that some of these hoteliers (and clients, we suppose) don't live like the rest of us: They arrived via private jets and their own planes.

The organization is welcoming 34 new members, including five in the U.S.: Castle Hill Inn and Resort in Newport, R.I.; the Inn at Dos Brisas, in Brenham, Tex. (between Houston and Austin); L'Auberge Carmel, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.; Restaurant Cyrus in Healdsburg, Calif.; and Restaurant Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

Just what kind of places are we talking about? Well, take the Inn at Dos Brisas, with just four guest rooms (the smallest of any member hotel). A "country retreat" in your own casita at the 300-acre former horse farm starts at $1,450 for two nights for two people and includes horseback riding, fly fishing and skeet shooting. For $200 more, add a couples massage. A less expensive option (hey, it's only money): the casita with free activities -- the swimming pool, fishing, and gazing through the electronic telescope at the Texas sky -- at $500 per night double.

An entirely different experience -- the 19th-century New England seacoast -- is possible at Castle Hill Inn and Resort, which sits on a 40-acre peninsula at the west end of Newport's chichi Ocean Drive. A room for two in the Agassiz Mansion (built in 1874 and loaded with Victoriana) costs $239 a night in January and February, for example; on a July weekend, the mansion's Turret Room costs $1,619. For that sum, you get a double oversize soaking tub in the turret with a 360-degree view. Beach houses sleep four and range from $339 midweek in winter to $1,209 in July.

Worldwide, there are 470 members. Getting a Relais and Chateaux invitation is akin to applying for college acceptance: Aspiring members must put together an application that focuses on what makes them unique and explain why they should be considered. And as with a college application, there's an emphasis on good grades as well as tiny details.

Have you ever stayed in an RC-designated place? What did you think -- worth the extra bucks?

By K.C. Summers |  November 27, 2007; 2:28 PM ET  | Category:  Hotels , K.C. Summers
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Posted by: Sasquatch | November 27, 2007 11:30 PM

Posted by: Liz | November 28, 2007 11:10 PM

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