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Indagare member R. L. just got back from a whirlwind round-the-world trip with stops in Austria, Germany and China. She writes:

We had a great trip and really enjoyed all our stops. In Salzburg we stayed at the exceptional Hotel Sacher (Schwarzstraße 5-7; 43 0662 889770) where the food was surprisingly good. The major highlight was the innovative art exhibition Hangar 7 (Wilhelm-Spazier-Straße 7a; 43 0662 21970) and its restaurant, Ikarus (Wilhelm-Spazier-Straße 7; 43 0662 219777). Not to be missed. I highly recommend the excellent guide referred by Indagare.

Our next stop was Berlin where we stayed at the Regent. We loved the service, location and general feel. The restaurant Fishers Fritz in the hotel was great and I found Alpenstueck to be exactly as described in the Indagare review. Loved exploring Hackesche Höfe (a courtyard market) but the best day was private art tour of Museum Island with a great guide. Another day of historical and city sights tours, also with a guide, was also really good.

We were thrilled to be upgraded to an apartment with a kitchen in Hamburg’s Park Hyatt (Bugenhagenstrasse 8; 49 40 33321234) but also enjoyed their modern, central and excellent breakfast. We also stopped by the old-world Fairmont (Neuer Jungfernstieg 9-14; 49 40 34940) for tea one day and determined that both hotels are good options depending on temperament. We loved dinner at a modern restaurant called Meatery (Drehbahn 49; 49 40 30999-595). The best part of the trip was walking around the city – through the lakes and parks during the day and through St. Pauli’s (Hamburg-Mitte borough) at night. All trips should be based around Sunday morning’s fish market (Große Elbstraße 137) which starts around 5 am and is like no market we’ve ever seen.

In Beijing, Park Hyatt and Aman are perfect choices. We visited a few other high-end hotels, but were really happy to be at these two (the Opposite House was cool to visit, but not as good for staying). Lan Club, Da Dong, Bei, Maison Boulud, Capital M and Aria (Chaoyang; 86 10 6505 2266 ext. 36)all served great meals. If time is short, I’d recommend Da Dong for their Peking duck and Lan Club is like no where we’ve ever dined. Food at Aman was excellent, too. I highly recommend using the Park Hyatt concierge (their guide was reasonable and very good) and their hotel car was a great way to get around.