By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
June 9, 2009
Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen has a lot on her plate these days. Besides co-starring in Sandra Bullock’s romantic comedy “The Proposal,” which opens in theaters on June 19 — she’s the co-owner of the California home design store Rooms & Gardens (www.roomsandgardens.com) and the candle company Nell’s Compass (http://nellscompass.com/), which she owns with her daughter Lilly McDowell.
She’s also married to Ted Danson. The 56-year-old Arkansas native phoned from her hotel room in Santa Fe, N.M., where she was shooting “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” co-starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
My husband and I love to go to Paris and just walk and roam around, go to little cafes and check out the museums and things like that. Maui is one of my favorite places. And, actually, a place that most people would be surprised about is Little Rock, Ark. I love what’s happened to it in the last few years. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library adds a kind of wonderful, sophisticated feel to it. We have trolley cars with teak interior and the city has just gotten more charming and green.
Q. What are your favorite hotels?
The Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa (www.hotelhanamaui.com) in Hawaii is a favorite. I love the Covent Garden Hotel in London (http://www.firmdale.com/), which is a wonderful hotel. The staff is nurturing and lovely. I also really like the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco (www.huntingtonhotel.com). It’s one of the most wonderful hotels. It’s an old hotel that they’ve kept beautiful and historical and yet very up to date at the same time. The views are amazing. The La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa (http://laposada.rockresorts.com/) in New Mexico has beautiful grounds. Right now, I’m staying in a little adobe bungalow with a log ceiling. When you travel a lot like I do, one of the things that distinguish hotels is not just how pretty it is, but if they have staff that understands its clients’ schedules.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
I’m kind of a gypsy who stays in hotels a lot for work, so I like to bring things that are hard to find. I bring my tea with me, ‘cause a lot of places don’t have what I like. I always have my dark chocolate, which I’m addicted to. My oldest stepdaughter gave me a little medicine pouch, and I travel with that for good luck. And I bring my cowboy boots everywhere, even to Paris! I get more comments in Paris about my cowboy boots than anything else.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
Whenever I go to Paris, I check out this wonderful Website called www.chezvous.com. It’s a fantastic company that has amazing apartments and, in some cases, even historic homes that they rent out. I’ve stayed in quite a few different apartments and each one was impeccable. Hotels are great, but it’s incredible to stay somewhere where you can do your own laundry and make your own breakfast or snack. You have the sense of living in Paris, as opposed to being a tourist.
Q. What is your best and worst vacation memory?
My best and worst is kind of the same. Ted and I went on one of our first vacations together to the Hotel Hana-Maui. I’ve been to Hawaii tons of times when there was gorgeous weather, but we happened to go there at the end of a hurricane. The entire time we were there it rained. I have to say, though, that it was one of our best vacations. The staff understood we had spent a lot of money to come there so they went out of their way to make sure all the guests had a wonderful time, by putting little treats in our room, providing books and movies. There was actually something so beautiful about being rained in. As opposed to thinking, “I need to go horseback riding or hiking,” we just had fun with each other and relaxed. I think we each read about five books each. In spite of the rain, we had a wonderful time. It helps if you’re with someone you like a lot.
(Jae-Ha Kim is a New York Times bestselling author and travel writer.)
© 2009 JAE-HA KIM
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