Le Francais in Wheeling and Le Perroquet in Chicago are among the 10 restaurants that have been awarded Mobil Travel Guide`s annual Five-Star Award for excellence as being the ”best in the country.” That means the establishments must be tops in service, decor, cuisine, house keeping, maintenance and amenities.
The guide also gave the award to 12 resorts, 2 motels and 7 hotels. The top award leaders were chosen from more than 21,000 establishments in 4,000 cities and towns in the U.S. and Canada.
The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix leads all award winners, having been on the list for 29 consecutive years. It is followed by the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, having been listed for 28 years. Both were granted Five-Star awards in the resorts category.
In the restaurant category, Ernie`s in San Francisco has won the award 26 consecutive years. The other top winner in the restaurant area is the Maisonette in Cincinnati with 24 consecutive wins.
It is the 10th consecutive year that Le Francais won the award and the third straight year for Le Perroquet.
The Carlyle in New York is back with its 20th win in the hotel category and the Salishan Lodge in Gleneden Beach, Ore., returns for the 21st year in the motel area.
FREIGHTER TRAVEL For those with the time, taking a freighter ship trip might be the way to sail the seven seas. Cruises range from 30 to 75 days in length, and around-the-world trips can last as long as 145 days or more.
One travel agency that specializes in freighter cruises is Freighter World Cruises. The company also publishes a bi-weekly newsletter-Freighter Space Advisory-which lists departure dates from U.S. and foreign ports to destinations around the world. Itineraries are listed as well as fares and descriptions of the ships.
Some freighters have a swimming pool and most have a lounge area with a library and a self-service bar. Guest cabins have private bathroom facilities. Fares range from $50 to $120 a day.
A one-year`s subscription to the newsletter is $27. For more information about the Freighter Space Advisory newsletter-and freighter cruises-write to Freighter World Cruises Inc., Suite 335, 180 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, Calif. 91101, or call 818-449-3106.
INSIDE THE U.S.A. A new newsletter that features upscale travel in America is now being published by the same editors who publish La Belle France, a 5-year-old monthly newsletter that concentrates on hotels and restaurants in France.
The monthly eight-page newsletter is called Inside America: The Sophisticated Guide to American Travel.
As with La Belle, Inside America will rate restaurants, using categories such as cuisine, decor, service, wine list and value.
The first issue of Inside America came out in December and contains the first of two parts on Charleston, S.C., as well as hotels and restaurants in Vail, Colo., and a review of La Cote Basque in New York. (Out of a possible 100 points, the restaurant received 81 points.) There`s also a segment on Seattle.
Editor Dan Friedman says his staff will try to cover the four geographical regions of the U.S. every month as well as feature something about New York.
Upcoming issues will feature Santa Fe and Taos, Woodstock, Vt., a dude ranch in Wyoming and two New York restaurants.
Friedman says the staff travels anonymously and pays its own expenses.
A sample copy of Inside America is available for $5. For more information, write to Travel Guide Inc., 414 E. Market St., Charlottesville, Va. 22901, or call 804-295-1200. Send $9.50 to the same address for a sample copy of La Belle France.
Annual subscription prices for both are $47.
SWITZERLAND ON SALE From now until March 24, travelers can take advantage of Swissair`s SwissSale and save on trips to four Swiss cities-Bern, Interlaken, Lucerne and Montreux-or to Vienna.
Special air and land packages are available from Chicago as well as Atlanta, Boston or New York to Geneva, Zurich or Vienna before departure to the destination of travelers` choices. Packages (based on double occupancy)
start at $762 from Chicago to Switzerland and $907 to Vienna.
Included in the rates is the round trip air fare, six-nights accommodation and a rental car (for Swiss destinations only)-or for a small supplement, a Swiss holiday rail card or an Austrian rail pass.
For more information, contact a travel agent or the Swissair tour desk, 800-221-6644.
A WINE EXPERIENCE More than 1,000 American wines from 12 states will be available to taste during the American Wine Festival March 3-6 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. Participants can taste the wines and meet the wine experts at more than 150 exhibition booths at the event.
Participants can select 6 of 12 wine seminars that will be held during the festival. Among the choices: Can You Trust Your Local Wine Writer? Second Labels: Bargains or Surplus Wine? Wine Futures: Prudent Investment or Risky Venture?
A five-course banquet (extra charge at $95 a person) will be held on Saturday to honor wine industry leaders.
An American Wine Festival package is available for $325 a person and includes tastings, six wine seminars and panel discussions on wine, light breakfasts, two lunches and a champagne brunch. Attendees are being offered an $89 a room rate for up to four people in a room.
For more information, call 800-MICKEY-1 and ask for the American Wine Festival package. The deadline for reservations is Feb. 15.
GOING TO GALENA Anyone interested in visiting Galena may want to write to the visitors`
bureau, requesting three updated brochures that tell just about everything that`s happening in the area, things such as special events, where to find antiques shops, where to eat and where to stay-including more than 30 bed and breakfast spots in and around Galena and Jo Daviess County in northwestern Illinois.
The three brochures are the Calendar of Events, which lists house tours, fairs and festivals for 1988; the Antique Shopping Guide, which lists about 60 shops; and the Lodging & Dining Directory, which describes restaurants and places to stay (including rates and seasonal packages).
The brochures are free. Write to the Galena Convention & Visitors Bureau, 101 Bouthillier St., Galena, Ill. 61036, or call 800-892-9299 (in Illinois), 800-874-9377 (from other Midwest states) or 815-777-0203.
RUSSIA`S FAR EAST Lindblad Travel, known for its adventurous cruises, has come up with another intriguing trip-a 10-day journey down the Lena River in Soviet Siberia. The company is offering two of the river trips in July, dates to be determined.
After spending several days in Moscow and Irkutsk (on Baikal, the world`s deepest lake), travelers will journey through the Yakutsk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to Yakutsk and then on to cross the Arctic Circle before traveling to Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East and finally to Tokyo, where the trip ends.
Travelers will journey on the 158-berth passenger vessel, M/S Demjan Bedniy, which also has a movie theater and sauna.
The actual tour-the cruise and land visits-lasts about 21 days. The cost is about $3,000 a person (double occupancy). Air fare within the Soviet Union is included.
For more information, contact a travel agent or Lindblad Travel, Inc. P.O. Box 912, 1 Sylvan Road North, Westport, Conn. 06881, or call
800-243-5657.
FREE FOR THE WRITING For a copy of the British Columbia Winter Special Events Guide, write to Tourism British Columbia, Suite 34, 3400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90010, or call 213-380-9171. . . . For a copy of Spring Treasure in York, Pennsylvania 1988, write to the York County Convention and Visitors Bureau, One Market Way East, P.O. Box 1229, York, Pa. 17405, or call 717-848-4000. . . . For a copy of the Washington, D.C., Calendar of Events for winter `88, write to the Washington, D.C. Convention and Visitors Association, Suite 250, 1575 Eye St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, or call 202-789-7000.
A CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE MIDWEST
ILLINOIS Winter Wilderness Weekend, Utica, Jan. 23-24. Guides hikes and cross-country ski instruction at Starved Rock State Park; 815-667-4906.
Rock Cut Winter Carnival, Rockford, Jan. 23-24. Dog sled races, ice and snow scuplting, cross-country ski clinic, sleigh rides, ice fishing, ice skating; 815-885-3311.
WISCONSIN Winter Carnival, Madison, Jan. 21-24. Snow and ice sculpting competition and other activities; 608-255-1008.
14th Annual Winter Festival, Cedarburg, Feb. 5-7. Ice carving contest, chili making contest, bed races on ice and other activities; 414-377-9620.
