Features

by Gloria Grant, Chevy Chase, MD

As a docent at Washington, D.C.’s, Hillwood Museum, featuring fabulous Russian treasures, I have been fascinated with a trip Catherine the Great made down the Dnieper River in 1787. Accompanied by the Austrian emperor and other diplomatic guests, she led a tour of her expanding empire from Kiev to the Crimea, sailing in a fleet of 80 red-and-gold Roman-style galleys, each with its own orchestra.

So when I learned of a tour in Catherine’s wake, together with visits to the homeland of the dashing Cossacks, historic cities closed to visitors...

We wanted to know the questions you ask when deciding at which hotel to stay and even which room within a hotel. What are your minimum requirements? What’s on your “I hope they have it” list? How do you go about locating, researching and booking a hotel room? Responses from a couple of readers appear below. (You also may wish to refer to Contributing Editor Philip Wagenaar’s article, “How to Find the Right Accommodation at the Right Price” [Dec. ’00, pg. 146].)

Send in your own hotel tips. Write to Reserving a Room, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@...

by Vern Lewis, Atlanta, GA

An extended trip to Southern Africa: that’s what my sister Patt and I took in January and February ’03. The highlight would be a 16-day rail tour that departed from Johannesburg and took us to a total of six countries.

We began with a week in Cape Town. Because of the extreme distance, we chose to fly first class on South African Airways — $9,250 each, round trip from Atlanta to Cape Town.

We stayed at the Protea Hotel President (4 Alexander Rd.; phone 2721 434 8111 or visit www.protea-hotels.co.za) at Bantry Bay with a sweeping view of the...