Gay dream hotels

Check-in time can
be the most exhilarating moment of your vacation. No
matter how much drama is going on in your everyday life,
when you make your grand entrance into a hotel lobby
you enter another world— and can even become
another person if you so desire.

In every sense of
the word, you have arrived. We hopped around the globe
to scope out hotels that offer distinctive experiences that
we can't help but love. Now let's go jump on some
beds!

Where We Go For a Roll in the Hay
Farmer's Daughter (800-334-1658;
www.farmersdaughterhotel.com) Los Angeles

Some of L.A.'s
more hipster-ridden boutique hotels take themselves too
seriously -- with burned-out models masquerading as hotel
staff members. We love the country-themed Farmer's
Daughter, not only for its fabulous new restaurant,
Tart, but for its tongue-in-cheek blend of hip and
wholesome, catering to a healthy mix of gays, straights, and
wannabe Price Is Right contestants (located across
from CBS Studios, the hotel lobby features a Polaroid
shrine to contestant guests of yore).

A face-lift
in 2000 took the 40-year-old property from a run-down
whore of a motel to her current incarnation as sassy
blue-ribbon beauty queen. The No-tell Room -- with its
mirrored ceiling and full wet bar -- is a nod to her
sordid past. (Psst…the busiest bars in West Hollywood
are just a mile away.)

Where We Get Down (To Business)
Great Eastern Hotel (+44-20-7618-5000;
www.great-eastern-hotel.co.uk) London

"You make my
heart go boom-boom," reads the red neon sign above the
reservation desk at the Great Eastern Hotel. Situated within
the square mile of the city (the main financial
district within greater London), this Victorian-era
gem, polished up in 2000 with subtle modern touches
like, oh, a six-floor atrium is ideally suited to satisfy
the business-meets-pleasure demands of the gay or
lesbian business traveler.

Private
turn-of-the-century dining rooms are equipped with
state-of-the-art teleconferencing systems. And although all
267 bedrooms come with an ergonomically designed
workstation wired with two-line telephones and
high-speed Internet access, no two rooms are alike. The
four (count 'em!) bars and restaurants are also refreshingly
distinct—from the Fishmarket, a sea-green room
decorated with plaster cherubs, to the Temple, a
former Masonic temple with mahogany-paneled walls and
an overhead zodiac.

The giddy gilded
age comes alive—drowning out all thoughts of merger
deals, buyouts, and other bothersome business
transactions—when Immodesty Blaize, dubbed the
"queen of British burlesque," hits the stage.
Boom-boom, indeed.

Where We Go to Cozy Up to the Slopes
Adara Hotel (604-694-2139; www.adarahotel.com)
Whistler, Canada

We love that
Adara Hotel has taken the quirky-minimalist boutique hotel
aesthetic found in major urban centers and transported it to
the heart of Whistler Village, just steps from the
Blackcomb and Whistler Mountain gondolas. (Instead of
a trophy deer hanging from the wall, antler insignias
are etched into the mirror in the elevator vestibule and
stitched into gray wool throw pillows.)

During Whistler's
gay ski week in February, you can count on Adara
attracting a style-conscious queer crowd looking to up the
ante on the ultimate ski-trip fantasy. Rooms contain
Werner Panton desk chairs, huge walk-in showers, and a
"floating fireplace" that seems suspended in midair.
Preloaded iPods and laptops are available for complimentary
use if guests demand a reality check.