Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview With Heidi Sherman Mitchell

Aired July 21, 2003 - 11:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you're looking for an island paradise, Bali may be your best bet. It won "Travel and Leisure"'s 2003 award as the world's best island. All the magazine's top travel spots for this year are featured in the August issue. And joining us from New York to talk about the winners is "Travel and Leisure" associate editor Heidi Sherman Mitchell. Good to see you, Heidi. How are you?
HEIDI SHERMAN MITCHELL, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE" ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Good. How you doing?

HARRIS: Doing OK. I'm very curious about this list. I've just got the name here -- I've just got the titles, rather. I want to see what you came up with here. Let's get right to it. The best city in the world overall is...

MITCHELL: Sydney.

HARRIS: Sydney again.

Again, actually. It's the sixth out of the eight years that we've done this. The sixth time out of eight years that our readers have voted it the best city. And I've never been, but I can see why they vote it, just from looking at these images. There are 40 beaches there including Bondi Beach which is where all the surfers hang out.

HARRIS: Hey, I've been there.

MITCHELL: Oh, you have been there?

HARRIS: I actually have been there. And everything they say about it is true.

MITCHELL: Yes. And the shopping's incredible and the hotels are amazing and the harbor is just stunning with the opera house and the Sydney Harbour bridge, which they call the "Coat Hanger." And the people are friendly. It's sort of got everything you need in a city.

HARRIS: You know what? That's a great collection of traits, I have to say. I have been there. And you're right about that Sydney -- the whole harbor area right there is absolutely gorgeous. Hard to have a bad time in Sydney. And people are very cool down there, too.

All right, how about here in the U.S. and Canada? You also ranked the best city here.

MITCHELL: This one actually I'm very proud to say, New York won for the third year in a row which we're very proud of at "Travel and Leisure."

HARRIS: All right. So what's the best thing about New York that puts it at No. 1 on this list here then?

MITCHELL: It's very hard to say, isn't it? Well, food, of course. It ranked No. 1 in food. And we figured out that if you ate out three times a day for 16 years, you still wouldn't be able to get through all of the restaurants here. And, of course, culture with Broadway and all the art galleries and everything going on here, it ranks high across the board, really.

HARRIS: All right. Well, if you're going to be eating that much, I hope you're walking from restaurant to restaurant, trying to burn off some of those calories.

All right. How about the world's best hotel overall? That's also on the list. What's the best hotel?

MITCHELL: We have the Peninsula in Bangkok, which actually is a pretty new hotel. It's right on the Chao Phraya River, and it's on the Thonburi side. It's the only one that's on the Thonburi side, the only major hotel in Bangkok which means to get to the main part of the city, you have to take a little boat crossing, which is quite lovely, actually. it only takes a couple of minutes.

And there's 300-something rooms. It's an incredibly beautifully designed hotel with a really modern look. And, of course, amazing Thai service, restaurants and a great location.

HARRIS: And you can really get a room in the world's best hotel for less than $300 a night?

MITCHELL: Not only that -- $300 a night is their rack rate, but this summer all the way through September it's $140.

HARRIS: No kidding?

MITCHELL: So really affordable.

HARRIS: That's interesting. OK. We'll go ahead and have to mark this one on the list here.

All right. How about the best hotel in the continental U.S. and Canada?

MITCHELL: We have another Peninsula hotel, the Peninsula Beverly Hills, which is sort of a classic Hollywood-Beverly Hills hotel, a lot of celebrities stay there. It only has 196 rooms and suites. There's 16 cottages that celebrities love to stay in. They're sort of tucked into these lush tropical gardens, right by all the shopping, right in the heart of the city. Rates are about $350 a night. Incredibly elegant rooms.

HARRIS: I was going to say, I know the rates there have got to be higher than the one in Bangkok.

MITCHELL: Right. A little bit higher.

HARRIS: OK. But not too bad, actually, considering.

All right, how about the best hotel in Hawaii? I'm not sure if you guys included this on your list, but we want to see about Hawaii because so many people do choose to go to Hawaii.

MITCHELL: Right. Well, we love -- our readers love the Halekulani in Hawaii, which ranks really high every year. It was recently renovated. It has a little under 500 rooms, incredibly positioned right on the beach, great pools, great restaurants. They have a brand-new spa, which is divine. And, of course, it's right in Honolulu.

HARRIS: OK. How about a price per night there? Do you know?

MITCHELL: I believe it's around $400, starting prices.

HARRIS: Wow. OK.

MITCHELL: It's pretty high.

HARRIS: That's a bit more than the Peninsula which the best one in the world. That's interesting, too.

All right. How about -- finally here, to wrap things up, those who may want to go a little bit further than Hawaii, the best island in the world, you say, is Bali? Why is that? Give us the best sales pitch you can for Bali.

MITCHELL: I actually was surprised that Bali was on the list, what with everything that's gone on in the past year or so. But Bali has just got incredible wealth of culture, gorgeous beaches, people are so incredibly friendly. And you can shop there for antique fabrics and art.

There's -- you can really participate in the culture when you go there. You can go to temple ceremonies and dances and different types of performances. The hotels range from really inexpensive, gorgeous retreats to really high-end top resorts where, you know, practically psychic service.

So there's really everything there. It is kind of far from New York or from the U.S., but it's really worth the trek.

HARRIS: Very good. All right. We sure do appreciate that, Heidi. Heidi Sherman Mitchell, thank you for bringing out the list for us and sharing with us the information. Can't believe that, world's best hotel, rooms for less than 300 bucks a night. That's news there. Thanks, Heidi. Take care.

MITCHELL: Thank you. Take care, Leon.

HARRIS: We'll see you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 21, 2003 - 11:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you're looking for an island paradise, Bali may be your best bet. It won "Travel and Leisure"'s 2003 award as the world's best island. All the magazine's top travel spots for this year are featured in the August issue. And joining us from New York to talk about the winners is "Travel and Leisure" associate editor Heidi Sherman Mitchell. Good to see you, Heidi. How are you?
HEIDI SHERMAN MITCHELL, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE" ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Good. How you doing?

HARRIS: Doing OK. I'm very curious about this list. I've just got the name here -- I've just got the titles, rather. I want to see what you came up with here. Let's get right to it. The best city in the world overall is...

MITCHELL: Sydney.

HARRIS: Sydney again.

Again, actually. It's the sixth out of the eight years that we've done this. The sixth time out of eight years that our readers have voted it the best city. And I've never been, but I can see why they vote it, just from looking at these images. There are 40 beaches there including Bondi Beach which is where all the surfers hang out.

HARRIS: Hey, I've been there.

MITCHELL: Oh, you have been there?

HARRIS: I actually have been there. And everything they say about it is true.

MITCHELL: Yes. And the shopping's incredible and the hotels are amazing and the harbor is just stunning with the opera house and the Sydney Harbour bridge, which they call the "Coat Hanger." And the people are friendly. It's sort of got everything you need in a city.

HARRIS: You know what? That's a great collection of traits, I have to say. I have been there. And you're right about that Sydney -- the whole harbor area right there is absolutely gorgeous. Hard to have a bad time in Sydney. And people are very cool down there, too.

All right, how about here in the U.S. and Canada? You also ranked the best city here.

MITCHELL: This one actually I'm very proud to say, New York won for the third year in a row which we're very proud of at "Travel and Leisure."

HARRIS: All right. So what's the best thing about New York that puts it at No. 1 on this list here then?

MITCHELL: It's very hard to say, isn't it? Well, food, of course. It ranked No. 1 in food. And we figured out that if you ate out three times a day for 16 years, you still wouldn't be able to get through all of the restaurants here. And, of course, culture with Broadway and all the art galleries and everything going on here, it ranks high across the board, really.

HARRIS: All right. Well, if you're going to be eating that much, I hope you're walking from restaurant to restaurant, trying to burn off some of those calories.

All right. How about the world's best hotel overall? That's also on the list. What's the best hotel?

MITCHELL: We have the Peninsula in Bangkok, which actually is a pretty new hotel. It's right on the Chao Phraya River, and it's on the Thonburi side. It's the only one that's on the Thonburi side, the only major hotel in Bangkok which means to get to the main part of the city, you have to take a little boat crossing, which is quite lovely, actually. it only takes a couple of minutes.

And there's 300-something rooms. It's an incredibly beautifully designed hotel with a really modern look. And, of course, amazing Thai service, restaurants and a great location.

HARRIS: And you can really get a room in the world's best hotel for less than $300 a night?

MITCHELL: Not only that -- $300 a night is their rack rate, but this summer all the way through September it's $140.

HARRIS: No kidding?

MITCHELL: So really affordable.

HARRIS: That's interesting. OK. We'll go ahead and have to mark this one on the list here.

All right. How about the best hotel in the continental U.S. and Canada?

MITCHELL: We have another Peninsula hotel, the Peninsula Beverly Hills, which is sort of a classic Hollywood-Beverly Hills hotel, a lot of celebrities stay there. It only has 196 rooms and suites. There's 16 cottages that celebrities love to stay in. They're sort of tucked into these lush tropical gardens, right by all the shopping, right in the heart of the city. Rates are about $350 a night. Incredibly elegant rooms.

HARRIS: I was going to say, I know the rates there have got to be higher than the one in Bangkok.

MITCHELL: Right. A little bit higher.

HARRIS: OK. But not too bad, actually, considering.

All right, how about the best hotel in Hawaii? I'm not sure if you guys included this on your list, but we want to see about Hawaii because so many people do choose to go to Hawaii.

MITCHELL: Right. Well, we love -- our readers love the Halekulani in Hawaii, which ranks really high every year. It was recently renovated. It has a little under 500 rooms, incredibly positioned right on the beach, great pools, great restaurants. They have a brand-new spa, which is divine. And, of course, it's right in Honolulu.

HARRIS: OK. How about a price per night there? Do you know?

MITCHELL: I believe it's around $400, starting prices.

HARRIS: Wow. OK.

MITCHELL: It's pretty high.

HARRIS: That's a bit more than the Peninsula which the best one in the world. That's interesting, too.

All right. How about -- finally here, to wrap things up, those who may want to go a little bit further than Hawaii, the best island in the world, you say, is Bali? Why is that? Give us the best sales pitch you can for Bali.

MITCHELL: I actually was surprised that Bali was on the list, what with everything that's gone on in the past year or so. But Bali has just got incredible wealth of culture, gorgeous beaches, people are so incredibly friendly. And you can shop there for antique fabrics and art.

There's -- you can really participate in the culture when you go there. You can go to temple ceremonies and dances and different types of performances. The hotels range from really inexpensive, gorgeous retreats to really high-end top resorts where, you know, practically psychic service.

So there's really everything there. It is kind of far from New York or from the U.S., but it's really worth the trek.

HARRIS: Very good. All right. We sure do appreciate that, Heidi. Heidi Sherman Mitchell, thank you for bringing out the list for us and sharing with us the information. Can't believe that, world's best hotel, rooms for less than 300 bucks a night. That's news there. Thanks, Heidi. Take care.

MITCHELL: Thank you. Take care, Leon.

HARRIS: We'll see you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com