One of the most luxurious places in Toronto to buy bedding is Au Lit, which sells insanely high thread count sheets in a boutique setting, along with carefully edited vintage furniture. The linens are sourced from France, Belgium and Italy, and Au Lit has also supplied linens to five star hotels including the Pierre in New York and Inn on the Park in London. (Here’s a hint for savvy shoppers- there is also an Au Lit outlet store on Yonge Street). Now owner Joanna Goodman is set to open another lifestyle store – Liv-- later this month. Liv will sell clothing, furniture and linens sourced from around the world. The 10,000 square foot space will also sell jewellery. Liv,  418 Eglinton Ave. West, Toronto, Ontario. Phone: (416) 481 2300.

Easy French bohemian chic and the rugged sea-sprayed shores of Vancouver Island are strange bedfellows, but they get along just fine at Sooke Harbour House. Owners Frederique and Sinclair Philip may also seem like strange bedfellows, but talk to the stylish and welcoming couple for more than 15 seconds and it's clear that their views about food, life and hospitality are perfectly in synch. Over the past 28 years they've put their ideals into practice and their passionate and innovative personalities are reflected in their award-winning inn and restaurant.

Blue Ruby
This jewellery shop carries celeb favourite designers like Chan Luu (Jennifer Aniston is a fan) as well as local designers like Amanda Vogler, Andrea Waines, Tarina Tarintino and Mimi and Marge.

Looking for a way to put more “art” in the Art of Travel? Check out Vancouver's 129 room Listel Hotel which spends more on the art it displays on just one or two floors than most hotels invest for an entire property””and I'm not talking about art that makes you say (or at least think) “My three-year-old could do that.”
By partnering with Canadian art world heavy hitters, the hotel has amassed a noteworthy  collection of both modern art and traditional British Columbian art. To make the most of its collection, worth more than half a million dollars, the hotel is divided into different floor categories, each with its own artistic focus.

It seems that every week we are reading about a cool new restaurant, shop or hotel that is opening in Toronto, an emerging design destination. The city's newest hotel is The Hazelton, which is already a member of Leading Hotels of the World. This limestone building was designed by the hot designers at Yabu Pushelberg, and is located in the fashionable Yorkville area. When it opens later this month, the hotel will have 77 suites with all the latest tech gadgets and modern luxuries, like flat screen TVs, I-Pod docking station, a separate rain-fall shower and Bvlgari bath amenities. There will also be a screening room- sure to be a hit during the Toronto Film Festival- and the in-house restaurant, One, is helmed by Canadian superstar chef and FoodNetwork star Mark McEwan. The Hazelton Hotel Toronto, The Hazelton Hotel Toronto,118 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto (Ontario), M5R 1C2, Canada, Phone:  (416) 963-6300.

A stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is like stepping back in time. Yes, your room or suite will have a luxurious bed and air conditioning and internet access. That's part of the reason readers of Travel & Leisure voted the hotel into the #37 spot on the magazine's list of the top 100 hotels in the US and Canada in their 10th Annual ''World's Best Hotels'' poll in 2005.

Ferran Adria of El Bulli kicked off the whole molecular cooking trend and now it seems that every third restaurant opening up these days offers foams and jellies. Toronto-based Coleborne Lane is the latest restaurant making waves for its kitchen chemistry.  Claudio Aprile, formerly of Senses, has recently opened this restaurant which serves two elaborate tasting menus. Diners can try rare tuna with crispy nori, ginger marmalade, frozen soy sauce powder and wasabi foam or lobster ceviche on a bed of sliced saffron new potatoes and herbs. Desserts include a frozen lavender and honey parfait served with olive oil cake and mulled figs. He doesn't like the term molecular gastronomy but he has collaborated with University of Guelph food scientists, so call the food what you want, but its has been receiving rave reviews. Colborne Lane, 45 Colborne St., Toronto, Phone: (416) 368-9009.

Checking in at the Hotel Godin, your eyes are immediately drawn to the dramatic wall of rainforest marble behind the reception desk. With swirling hues of warm cream penetrated by inky black, this elegant yin and yang feature of the lobby says a lot about the Montreal hotel right off the bat. Everything from the Godin's slogan””“There's the day, and then there's the night”””to its design hints at the hotel having two distinct facets. Much of that has to do with its unique location.

The irony hits me midway through my dreamy soak in a Hungarian Mineral Pool: the Fairmont Banff Springs  is located in the midst of some of the most beautiful outdoor scenery in the world,  yet the resort is doing it's level best to keep me inside. And it's working. The most irresistible tool in the hotel's arsenal is the Willow Stream Spa. After a 2.3 million dollar facelift in the Fall of 2003, the spa was named 2004 "Best Spa in Canada" by the readers of  Luxury SpaFinder Magazine. Today the 38,000 square foot, completely refurbished facility is a watery wonderland complete with that addictive Hungarian Mineral Pool, which is kept at 98.6 degrees and is full of minerals that are said to naturally rejuvenate everything from skin to joints.

“I love her as a singer, but she was so cheesy as the MC,” says the glam Amazon-woman to her friend in the elevator at Opus Hotel.  “She wasn't MC-ing!” he shrieks, hiking up his $500 jeans as the doors opened on their floor. It's the kind of conversation hip people have in a hip hotel and the 97 room Opus Hotel is the hippest roost in town. How hip, you ask. Well, Pam Anderson, who was born near Vancouver, was in the city during my stay and I expected to bump into her around every corner.