The Hippodrome Hotel is the invention of Tom Shortt, who boasts that Hip is his favorite word. He wanted to take the vibe of the SoHo neighborhood right out of New York City and drop it into Mexico City what he got was something unique and yes, even Hip.

The Hippodrome is a hotel converted out of a 1930s apartment building that showcases Shortts dream and five years of hard work. The rooms are luxurious and to the point. They are minimalist in design but beautiful in selection. The guests can instantly feel at ease in Shortts creation as they relax with their own iPod station, wireless Internet, a 27inch flat screen LCD TV, and for the vacationers without cell phone reception, a cordless phone for convenience. If exercise is a must guests are free to venture only a couple blocks away where there is a full gym waiting for them. The gym includes spinning and Pilates classes, cardio machines, weight rooms, and a climbing wall.

The 16 rooms are equipped not only with Art Deco Flair but the option of penthouse sweets. This amenity adds its additional, unique, and unforgettable flair. In the penthouse you will find a Jacuzzi bathtub, which opens up into the terrace, a sun lounge, and a table for all dinning experiences. The trendy feel of the New York lifestyle is on full display as guests ride up in a vintage cage elevator and halls are lined with Pop art.

The nightlife is the perfect clash of Mexico City and New York. The restaurants turn into party bars and guests into the perfect party crowd. The Hip Kitchen Bistro loved by the locals and the vacationers is the place to be after dark. Live music, authentic Mexican cuisine, and a great vibe make it hard to get into and even harder to leave.

Mexico City is known as a city on the go. After walking the city streets you can find solace in the Hippodromes rock gardens filled with palm tries and quiet. Although the Hippodrome is up, running, and making a name for itself Shortt has not relaxed. He just bought a mansion next door to the property as is planning on refurbishing it into a private club. The best definition of this Hotel can be explained through Shortts favorite Frank Lloyd Wright quote, Give me the luxuries of life and I will gladly do without the necessities.

One of the ultimate paradises left untouched on this planet.
The name literally means rich coast but Costa Rica is rich for more reasons than its coasts. Costa Rica has been able to distinguish itself from the rest of Central America with its political stability, strong democratic institutions, and low violent crime rates. Costa Rica’s tourism industry has excelled due to its biodiversity, location, stability, strong environmental lobby, its higher standard of living, and the warm hearted hospitality of its people. Ecotourism means ecological tourism and Costa Rica is proof of that.

Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity offers foreigners a glimpse at mountains, volcanoes, beaches and rainforests, all located within a relatively small region. Costa Rica’s diverse flora and fauna are protected in 24 national parks. In spite of its small size harbors an amazing variety of climatic zones and natural habitats are due to the height of the mountain ranges which separate the lowlands of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. 

 One of the best of Central America’s capitals, Panama City is where you can find comfort, relaxation, luxury, and nature all in one place.  Within the city you can find such luxury, international hotels such as InterContinental Marima, Marriot, Radisson Decapolis, and boutique hotels such as Bristol, and Canal House.  The Dining is also something to experience, where many establishments feature dishes from around the globe, such as French, Spanish, Lebanese and Chinese, along with Panamanian specialties from the traditional to the un-conventional.

 Declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the colonial district of Casco Viejo, is best traveled on foot, and here your feet will take you to architectural sites, ruins, museums and forests aplenty.  Here you can find the Metropolitan Cathedral, the ruins of the Santo Domingo Church, the golden altar of the Church of San Jose and Las Bovedas promenades.  In older Panama, or Panama Viejo, you will find the remaining ruins that range from the old city hall to a slave market.  Also visit the Panama Viejo Museum and the Metropolitan Park, which is the only protected tropical forest within city limits in the Americas, which has some 200 species of birds among a large array of animals.

 The nature-rich Canal Zone offers not only the 50-mile-long waterway it’s known for, but the other fascinating areas among the area.  An hour from Panama City you will find the Sobernia National Park, a vast rainforest where you can experience an environment inhabited with howler monkeys, sloth’s, and many bird species, making bird watching ideal along the 11-mile-long Pipeline Road.  On Isla Barro Colorado, in the middle of Lake Gatun, visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.  This is the place to go to see Panama’s tapirs, coatis, peccaries, ocelots and rare red deer that inhabit the island.  And within this park, they offer two lodgings:  the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, which offers hiking and boating tours, cycling, kayaking, and spa; and the deluxe Canopy Tower Ecolodge, which is set high in the rainforest, giving you a breath-taking viewpoint of treetop wildlife.

 Costa Rica, with its natural wonders, beautiful scenery, and rich culture, has always been a popular destination for those looking for adventure, or just to relax in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  With a half-dozen active volcanoes in the country, and many species of bird and animal spread across the area, Costa Rica is the perfect destination for anyone.

 San Jose, the capital, central and interior city of Costa Rica, presents a casuality and beauty that embraces all that visit there.  This is the main spot in Costa Rica, and is home to sophisticated, yet informal restaurants, performances by its National Symphony Orchestra, and high-end hotels such as Marriott Costa Rica Hotel, the Real InterContinental, the Hilton Cariari and the Grano de Oro. 

 One main attraction of San Jose is its museums.  The National Museum features pre-Columbian artifacts in stone, ceramic and gold, along with colonial religious art.  The Jade Museum is home to the Americas’ largest collection of jade pieces.  At the Gold Museum you will find their 1,800-piece collection, located beneath the Plaza de la Cultura.  And the Costa Rican Art Museum features 19th century works.  While there, you will also want to stop at the National Theater, and Mercado Central, the lively square-block that hosts one of San Jose’s best indoor markets.

 When it comes to the natural side of San Jose, you need not look far.  From the central town you can take day trips to numerous countryside beauties.  Nearby is the town of Sarchi, where you can watch craftsmen make oxcarts and paint them.  Also, two of Costa Rica’s volcanoes are easily accessible from San Jose.  One of which, Irazu Volcano, is the country’s tallest at 11,325 ft., and has five craters.  And if you follow a paved road to the summit during the dry season, you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific.  And The Poas Volcano stands at 8,650 ft. and is one of the country’s most active.  Here you can hike trails that wind through the forest and lead you to the beautiful crater lake.  Also nearby is INBio Park, which is part museum, part education center, part nature park, or the Lankester Gardens, which home some 800 varieties of orchids that are found in Costa Rica, or the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, which include a large butterfly garden, a hummingbird garden and an orchid garden.

 Guanacaste is perfect for activities such as scuba diving, sportfighing, surfing and kayaking and is the home for upscale travel and luxury in Costa Rica.  Sol Melia started the craze with their 345-suite Paradisus Playa Conchal Resort and Golf Club.  Among the others who followed in this trend are:  Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo, a top luxury resort that also features an 18-hole Arnold Palmer course, full-service spa, and five restaurants; the Hilton Papagayo Resort, which joined the ranks as one the top resorts of Guanacaste last year; the Hyatt Regency Azulera Resort & Spa, which features a Greg Norman championship golf course, which opens next year. 

 Throughout all of Costa Rica two of the top attractions are the sea turtles that flock to the area and the canopy tours that zip you across the sky above the rainforest.  In Costa Rica you can spot six different species of sea turtle-Olive Ridley, Pacific green, Atlantic green, hawksbill, loggerhead and giant leatherback-and easily at that.  One of the main places for spotting the turtles is Santa Rosa National Park, is near Liberia, among others are:  Las Baulas National Park near Tamarindo; and The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge near Playa Nosaria, which happens to be where the massive egg-laying of the Olive Ridley take place.  At the new L’Aquavia Hotel they put you right on the scene for the Olive Ridley egg-layings.  Also on the Caribbean coast you’ll find the Tortuguero National Park, which protects the nesting ground for the endangered giant leatherback turtles.  There are at least 30 canopy tours strewn across the country that allow you to fly about the rainforest canopy to observe the local birds, butterflies, animals (especially monkeys), flowers and plant life.  You will observe, without harming, from above by the means of funiculars, aerial gondolas, platforms, bridges, walkways, skywalks and ziplines.