Travel Buzz

’Tis the Season

With so much happening in San Francisco this month you might want to enjoy the day and stay the night. We took on the tough job of checking out the latest in new digs along with updated traditional standbys. MIMI TOWLE

LOCATION, LOCATION

Celebrating its seventh hotel opening on the West Coast, Pineapple Hospitality’s The Alise San Francisco at 580 Geary Street is offering a winter holiday rate of $149. Choose from one of four room types — including corner Drama Queen suites and Celebrity Kings — at this hip new 93-room getaway located just below Union Square and only steps away from theaters and shopping. Take some time to hang out in the eclectic lobby, where you can try your hand at the bright red baby grand piano. thealise.com

URBAN OASIS

A longtime fixture on California Street, the 393-room Stanford Court Hotel, built on the site of Leland Stanford’s former home, has been a beacon of luxury for visitors from around the globe for more than a century. Along with the debut of the new “Happy Dog” program, which as the name implies encourages guests to bring their four-legged friends, the hotel is offering a “Bike the Bridge” adventure package to work off ll those holiday treats. Rates start at $239. stanfordcourt.com

HIGH LIFE

Rising above the Financial District, Loews Regency San Francisco joined the Loews chain in 2015. It is perched on the top 11 floors of 222 Sansome Street, the third-tallest building in the city. During the weekends, guests enjoy wines and nibbles with the sweeping views from the expansive Sky Deck on the 40th floor. While there, check out the “Serenity Spa Package,” which includes a trip to the on-site spa, starting at $349. loewshotels.com

For the Love of Elephants

THIS PAST SEPTEMBER, Sausalito’s Sarah Shaw, founder of Sindisa Sanctuary in Healdsburg, made the 24-hour journey from Sausalito to Nepal to visit with Asian elephants. Why? To expand her knowledge of the 6,000-pound creatures that will soon call Sonoma County home. With the land acquired and nonprofit status achieved, the goal is to raise the money and secure the necessary permits to convert the 125-acre Sindisa property to a wildlife sanctuary for retired performance elephants along with other rescue animals including alpacas, dogs and horses. During her 10-day experience of trekking through leech-infested waters in Asia, she learned something most of us will never master, the art of the elephant pedicure. “Foot infection is actually the number-one killer of elephants,” says Shaw. Treating it in captivity “is absolutely essential for their life because once the infection spreads to the bone

TRAVEL WITH PURPOSE there is no cure and it will eventually lead to their euthanasia.” Osteomyelitis, as it is called, is a relatively new disease that became prevalent with the practice of chaining captive elephants to posts so they’re forced to stand in their own feces and urine for hours at a time. During Shaw’s stay, she spent much of her time filing, trimming and checking the pachyderms’ feet for bacteria. She first became interested in elephants after reading Daphne Sheldrick’s autobiography Love, Life, and Elephants, which inspired her to travel to Africa to get involved in anti-poaching campaigns. “I wanted to make a difference but realized the best way I could do that was by helping to create local campaigns and efforts here,” Shaw says. Her sanctuary is scheduled to open in spring 2018, but if you are thinking of adding a pachyderm to your family, here are some facts you should probably know. sindisasanctuary.org LEELA LINDNER

• Elephants don’t like bees. In fact, they’re terrified of them.

• They are the only mammals that can’t jump.

• Elephants are incredibly intelligent and emotional creatures. They can cry, play and laugh.

• The largest elephant on record was an adult male African elephant. He weighed about 24,000 pounds and was 13 feet tall at the shoulder.

• Elephants can live to be over 70 years old.

• Elephants have a highly developed brain that is the largest seen in land mammals.

HIGHER LOVE

Marin-based artist Laura Kimpton is adding a little virtue to Sin City with the unveiling of her largerthan-life installation “Love” at The Venetian Las

Vegas. Part of her Monumental Word series, this 5,100-pound art piece covered in perforated birdshaped stamps spells LOVE in steel ruby-red letters that rise 12 feet tall and span 36 feet across. Kimpton is known for her mixed-media installations and sculptures that have appeared at Burning Man and the Life Is Beautiful festival in downtown Las Vegas. “Love is about being free to love who you want, the way you want,” she says. “The bird stamps in the letters represent being able to follow your dreams, which is the message that I hope will inspire people as they interact with the piece.” It remains to be seen what effects this art may have in the Marriage Capital of the World. The sculpture will remain at The Venetian until September 2017. venetian.com L.L.

All Aboard

Looking for some day-trip family fun? Hop on the Napa Valley Wine Train for a musical and interactive journey to Santa’s Workshop in Yountville. While the adults enjoy wine, little ones can sip on hot chocolate, nibble on cookies and search for stuffed bears to return to the workshop. Starting at $55. winetrain.com M.T.