Have money, will travel

An online guide for luxury-minded tourists sets its sights on Boston

August 03, 2005|Globe Correspondent

Raquel Brule glares at her foamy latte at the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro.

''Can I have a plate?" she asks the waitress. When it promptly arrives, Brule spoons off the foam, clanking against the china loudly, a pained expression on her face. ''This is a cappuccino, not a latte," she says politely, as the waitress watches her empty the cup. ''Can I have a latte, please?"

Such theatrics punctuated Brule's sweep through Boston's finest hotels, restaurants, and shopping destinations last week with her partner, dapper Swiss socialite Eric de Lavandeyra. The couple recently founded Carnet, a luxury travel website that gives a walking tour of several cities' premier destinations with a fictional guide named Eva Hamilton-Clarke. With zero tolerance for garish brand names, subpar restaurant experiences, and anything bling, Brule and de Lavandeyra have toured Milan, Paris, Los Angeles, and New York over the past year and a half for Carnet (pronounced Car-nay), a guide targeted at women with a flair for classic luxury. Backed by private investors, Brule and de Lavandeyra say they spend as much as $5,000 a day doing ''research" for the guide. And now up on Carnet's refined radar: Boston.

The city's old-world charms have struck a chord with Brule and de Lavandeyra, who recently made the last in a series of trips here. Aside from the lackluster latte, Brule and de Lavandeyra sing the praises of the Beacon Hill Hotel, compared with the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, where they spent the previous night. Leaning forward, Brule says in a low, confiding tone, ''You know, there's this new trend, to build these fancy-looking hotels at discounted prices. They try to be Westins, but they use foam pillows!"

''But here, the room is smaller, but the linen's much better quality than the Park Plaza," de Lavandeyra chimes in, speaking enthusiastically in his French accent. ''It's classic old-fashioned America."

Leaving the Beacon Hill Hotel after tucking away the rest of their breakfast, the couple head down Charles Street, combing the area for the third time before they make Carnet Boston available online in a couple of weeks. A two-year subscription to one of Carnet's cities costs $50 and comes with access to the online walking tour (at carnettravels.com) and a Carnet passport, a little blue booklet listing the city's top attractions. More than 5,000 people have visited the site in the past two weeks, Brule says. Carnet's ''shopping cart" opened with Milan and Paris guides on July 19 and the New York guide on July 26. After the Boston guide comes out, Los Angeles and Amsterdam guides will soon follow.