Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Bert Sertl, Travel Editor of 'Gourmet'
Aired April 27, 2002 - 09:25 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as temperatures heat up this summer, people will be flocking to the water, whether it's a backyard pool, above ground or below ground, whatever you like, a river, an ocean, a canoe, a puddle, kiddy pool, whatever it is...
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Best spots around the globe.
O'BRIEN: ... there's something human about it.
PHILLIPS: OK?
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: The May issue of "Gourmet" magazine focuses on the magic of water, so go ahead and light some candles, relax. We're going to get ready to go back to sleep.
Bill Sertl, travel editor with "Gourmet" magazine, is going to help us chill out this morning.
O'BRIEN: Did you really tell him -- I mean, he's coming on TV, and you're going to tell people they're going to put him to sleep? That wasn't very nice.
PHILLIPS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- no, no, not Bill.
O'BRIEN: Oh, all right. Oh, I see, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: No, no. The tranquil spots we're going to talk about.
Hi, Bill.
O'BRIEN: Good to see you.
BILL SERTL, "GOURMET" MAGAZINE: Hi, Kyra, good morning.
O'BRIEN: Now, "Gourmet" magazine is about cooking, right?
SERTL: It's about cooking, but we feel that travel and food are kind of intertwined. I mean, what's the major reason people go on vacation or go anywhere? It's to eat. I think that's pretty true.
So we kept that in mind when we did our annual travel issue this May. O'BRIEN: All right. So you mention a few good things to eat along the way.
Let's talk about hotel pools, shall we?
SERTL: Well, hotel pools, they're -- we decided that we were going to do the eight sexist hotel pools in the United States. And we kicked off with a perennial, the Beverly Hills Hotel. This is the pool where starlets used to go to get discovered, and the rumor is that Raquel Welch got discovered there.
There's -- they always used to say that the starlets would have themselves paged so they'd have an excuse to walk the whole length of the pool in front of all the producers and directors. And it hasn't changed much, really.
O'BRIEN: Of course, we're showing here the Decatur, Georgia, YMCA, which probably does not qualify on this graphic (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
SERTL: That's not one of them. That's not one of our sexiest...
(CROSSTALK)
SERTL: ... pools.
O'BRIEN: ... I mean, we're showing, like, a calisthenic for seniors, and you're talking about Raquel. But nevertheless, do people actually book trips just for the pool?
SERTL: Well, I think -- I'm not so sure anybody's booking it for the pool, but I think this is something that people always find interesting. I mean, it's one of those things you can't help reading. If you see eight sexiest pools in America, don't you want to know which ones they are?
And one of the interesting ones, I think, is in New York at the Peninsula Hotel. This is not a pool that necessarily would be out of the ordinary, except when it's on the 22nd floor of a hotel overlooking Fifth Avenue, that changes the equation a little bit.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, nice little view.
PHILLIPS: Are there any special amenities that come with some of these pools? You know, just not just a pool, but, you know...
SERTL: I think...
PHILLIPS: ... a nice cabana boy, you know?
SERTL: Yes, well, you can get that, Kyra, if you want especially...
O'BRIEN: Speak for yourself.
SERTL: I think a lot of them in Florida, it's just about the whole setup, I mean, the Delano, the Raleigh, the National Hotel, they really do it up big with the cabanas, the palm trees, the old Art Deco design. It's a whole package, it's more than just the pool, it is a pretty good setup.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's continue getting all wet here. Good places to soak. My favorite place that I've been to, have you ever been to Costa Rica, the Aranal (ph) Volcano?
SERTL: I haven't, but our executive editor's been there, and he insisted that this go in the -- into the piece...
O'BRIEN: I don't see it in the list...
SERTL: ... about the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: ... but nevertheless, I would put it on the list, my own personal...
SERTL: Well, he has the hot springs in Costa Rica, I guess...
O'BRIEN: OK.
SERTL: ... the bubbling river that you can swim in.
O'BRIEN: All right. But let's talk about your list. Baden Baden...
PHILLIPS: I like the steam baths of Istanbul. That looks pretty neat.
SERTL: Right, there are the old -- they're called the Hamam (ph), the old Istanbul steam baths. And they're -- they usually have a dome in the middle. They're very mysterious. And they're great places to soak. They actually have a lot of them in Budapest too, because the Turks once, in the 15th century, ruled this area of Hungary, and they built the Turkish baths.
O'BRIEN: Of course, we're showing...
SERTL: We've also got...
O'BRIEN: ... we're showing in our graphic a honeymoon suite in the Pocanos, so we apologize, but...
SERTL: You're back at the YMCA...
O'BRIEN: Yes, I don't know, boy...
(CROSSTALK)
SERTL: ... you got to upgrade these images, I think.
O'BRIEN: ... I don't know where we got this stuff, but...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Use your imagination at home, folks.
PHILLIPS: Bill, next time we got to get video from you, OK?
O'BRIEN: Might be a good idea.
SERTL: Yes, next time, yes. Let's go to the greatest...
O'BRIEN: What -- go ahead, you got to finish, go ahead.
SERTL: I was going to say, one of the greatest new places to soak is at the Manalani (ph) Hotel in -- on the Big Island of Hawaii, where they have an outdoor lava sauna, and I -- but how could you have an outdoor sauna?
O'BRIEN: Ooh.
PHILLIPS: Oooh, wow.
SERTL: Somebody needs to tell the Finns. But it sounds really great. And then you get under a tropical shower to rinse off, but that's...
O'BRIEN: All right, just...
SERTL: ... where I'm headed next.
O'BRIEN: Just imagine it, folks, we don't have a picture, just imagine it.
All right, finally, fountains -- or no, we're doing cruises.
PHILLIPS: No, we're going to talk about the cruise.
O'BRIEN: Let's do cruises...
SERTL: Well, we...
O'BRIEN: ... obviously some water involved there.
SERTL: Yes, we thought we -- we -- the theme of this issue in May for "Gourmet" is water, the magic of water, and we thought we've got to have a cruise, we've got to have the best cruise. We found a cruise, "The Hebridean Spirit," that is just about, I think, the most luxurious cruise there is. Now, it goes -- this one goes around the coast of India, but you also take a seaplane ride over the Maldives and visit private islands. You take an old steam train across Sri Lanka.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
SERTL: And you also have to eat. It's a Scottish cruise line, so you have to be prepared for bagpipers in the tropics, and eat haggis, which the author found...
O'BRIEN: Ooh, ouch.
SERTL: ... a little difficult in 90-degree weather.
O'BRIEN: Ouch.
SERTL: That's the only drawback.
PHILLIPS: Don't forget, it's...
O'BRIEN: But I...
PHILLIPS: ... $18 grand a person, right?
SERTL: And this is only $18 grand...
O'BRIEN: So you...
SERTL: ... for the privilege...
PHILLIPS: Whooo!
SERTL: ... of eating haggis in the tropics.
O'BRIEN: You won't be seeing Clark Howard on that cruise.
PHILLIPS: Yes, really.
O'BRIEN: Bill Sertl, thank you very much. "Gourmet" magazine is the place to find out more about what we were just talking about, not just food in there.
PHILLIPS: That's right, but travel also. Will you come back...
O'BRIEN: Places to go eat.
SERTL: Right, food and travel
PHILLIPS: ... come back and talk to us more?
SERTL: Love to. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: OK, great.
O'BRIEN: All right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Bill.
SERTL: Bye-bye.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
