Rooftop bars are the latest must-have

Thompson Toronto, 16 floors high, great Toronto skyline-at-night view, pool surrounded by wheatgrass-edged private lounge areas, indoor part is year-round, working fire, www.thompsonhotels.com

Thompson Beverly Hills, tenth floor Dodd Mitchell design, with Swan Hill Fruitless olive trees, look out over Beverly Hills, www.thompsonhotels.com

Hotel Gansevoort, New York 13th floor, heated pool with underwater music, sunset views across the Hudson to New Jersey www.hotelgansevoort.com

60 Thompson, New York 13th floor, for hotel guests and a private members’ list that includes many of Mansour Travel’s Hollywood clients, plus John Galliano in his former life, www.thompsonhotels.com

W Washington DC 11th floor POV bar, red and white awning with fans, red velvet banquettes, www.whotels.com

Viceroy Miami 50th floor Club 50 is, sadly, invitation only – so stay over, to get entrée. Pool, views along Brickell, www.viceroymiami.com

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore the cantilevered connection atop its three, 55-floor towers holds three 50-metre swimming pools and a Ku De Ta bar-lounge, www.marinabaysands.com

Swatch Art Peace Hotel the 1906 on-The-Bund building, now artists’ and hotel residences, is topped by Swoosh! restaurant with a big terrace, and covered cigar lounge (great views across to Pudong) www.ytlhotels.com

Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong 58th floor Flair, inside, a 4-metre wide working fire and recycled wood beams, outdoors, sit on terraces looking far down to the Huangpu River and across to The Bund, www.ritzcarlton.com

Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong Ozone, on 118th floor, is undoubtedly the world’s tallest outdoor bar, looking far down to ‘tiny’ Hong Kong below (though you can only look up, to the sky – the tall sides are glass) www.ritzcarlton.com

Any more suggestions? Let me know

Miami Beach, Florida USA, The Setai

Some of the most memorable dining in the entire Miami area is at The Setai, on Collins, one block in from Ocean Drive. You can dine, with up to 13 friends, in a granite-lined wine room surrounded by magnificent bottles (all red), or outside in semi-sunken eating areas set into a double-tennis-court-sized ornamental pool. Alternatively, choose one of The Restaurant’s fascinating inside areas, say sitting at a table that branches out, at right angles, from the kitchen so that you can almost reach over and help with the preparation. There are lots of clever things about The Setai, which is another 1930s-vintage building brought magnificently up to date. As well as the seven-floor original, there is an adjacent, 40-floor glass block of residential suites, some of which go into the hotel letting pool. The main block’s 77 rooms are typical of designers Jean-Michel Gathy and Jaya Ibrahim. The typical 600 sq ft area is greys and browns, with teak floors; the bathroom with a black bathtub is open to the main room, and you have Khmer statues and best-ever Dux beds, from Sweden. The spa is sensational, and, unusually, there are three, parallel, 90-ft outdoor pools one 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24C), and two others, the more-popular 85 and 95 degree pools. If you can pull yourself away from this cutting-edge environment, borrow one of the hotel’s cream retro bikes, complete with big wicker basket, to explore Collins and its retail. Hotel GM is Hansjoerg Meier, www.setai.com

introduction

Welcome to girlahead, looking at travel, and life, from the female angle. It is for women, but it is also for women who make the decisions on travel for their men, their families, their bosses. It is insider, it is real, it is GLOBAL. It is ageless.. contributors will be young-young through to highly experienced, and my chosen friends, who will share thoughts, will come from all over.

If you want to know where to find me, Mary Gostelow, look out for me at major airports of the world. I live in England but travel everywhere. Last week was Shanghai, this week is Dublin. I am, by the way, editor-at-large of kiwicollection.com, and I own and write Gostelow Report for the luxury hotel operators worldwide. This blog, however, is for everyone.