New York City’s Exchange Hotel Wraps Guests

In a ‘Chocolate Covered Weekend’

By Madelyn Miller

I have just returned from judging a chocolate festival. You would think that by now I would have had enough chocolate.

But too much is never enough (is that what they said about money?

My next chocolate adventure will be the Chocolate Covered Weekend at the Exchange Hotel.

Calling all Chocoholics! The newly renovated Exchange Hotel, located in lower Manhattan, serves up a delicious getaway with the Chocolate Covered Weekend.  Whether traveling for a special occasion like an anniversary or Valentine’s Day or just sweet on suites, this boutique hotel highlights Manhattan’s delicious chocolate center with a customized and affordable way to enjoy an epicurean weekend away.

CHOCOLATE CENTER

When I read about the Exchange Hotel and the delicious chocolate center, I started wondering –was it a ganache? Was it flavored with something uniquely New York. Stay tuned and I will report back.

CHOCOLATE FOR TWO

I am traveling alone, but I can eat enough chocolate for two.

This two-night package includes: two nights in a spacious suite and a private walking tour of Manhattan’s most notable chocolate hallmarks, led by Carmen Botez of Chocolate Zoom Magazine.

This three-hour tour will include stops at Christopher Norman Chocolates in the Financial District; Vosges Haut-Chocolat which is a compelling world of wonder with its carefully decorated interior and its tasteful concept; Kee’s Chocolates where guests will have the chance to see the owner of the shop making the chocolates; MarieBelle, in Soho; and Jacques Torres’ new boutique in Hudson Square where the manager will offer a private tour and explain the inner workings of chocolate, while guests can enjoy watching people making chocolate in the factory. The whole journey will conclude with a tasting of truffles and the Hot Wicked Fun in the boutique.

In addition, guests of the Chocolate Covered Weekend will enjoy two complimentary Mexican Chocolate Mojitos or non-alcoholic Aztec Iced Chocolate at the Exchange Lounge; special delivery of a chocolate pizza and wings from New York’s own Chocolate Pizza Company and a six-pack of Coke or Diet Coke, completes the package.

IN MY OPINION, CHOCOLATE IS A PRICELESS EXPERIENCE

But since you asked:

Chocolate Covered Weekend is available for $1200, double occupancy and is inclusive of tax and service charges, now until December 16, 2006, subject to availability. This rate shows a 24 percent savings off rack rates.  Winter 2007 rates are $1000 and reflect a 32 percent savings.  Advanced reservations are strongly advised.

“It is hard to believe, but even New York City is better covered in chocolate,” states Rani Carr, Exchange Hotel general manager.

The Exchange Hotel is also the Premier Hotel Partner for the upcoming 9th Annual Chocolate Show in New York City. The Chocolate Show is a three day festival devoted entirely to chocolate, taking place this year at the Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building on November 10-12, 2006. For more information, please visit www.chocolateshow.com.

About the Exchange Hotel

Relaunched in April 2006 as the Exchange Hotel, this 53-room boutique hotel is nestled moments away from Wall Street’s flurry and only a short distance from the South Street Seaport and Historic Front Street.  The property accommodates both business and leisure travelers with dynamic amenities like WiFi access, flat-screen TVs, full kitchens, and exceptional guest service. Whether taking a break from work or from touring New York City, this renovated hotel pleases all guests with its comfortable atmosphere and stylish approach to hospitality services. For more information or reservations, please call 212-742-0003 or visit the website at www.exchangehotel.com.

About The Chocolate Pizza Company

In 1919 Martha Jane bought a candy making kit and began making delicious toffees. By 1921 she had fifty employees and a very popular product. Her tradition continues as we are still making deliciously unique specialty chocolates that are sure to leave a lasting impression on your family. Signature items include the decadent Chocolate Pizza topped with walnuts, pecans and almonds and then drizzled with white chocolate and the unforgettable Peanut Butter Wings. For more information please call 800-280-9381 or visit www.chocolatepizza.com

MORE FANTASIES FOR CHOCOHOLICS

Chocolatier Magazine
Great way to get your monthly chocolate fix

FINE CHOCOLATES
GREAT EXPERIENCE
By Jean-Pierre Wybaum
Photography Tony Le Duc
www.lannoo.com

THE ESSENCE OF CHOCOLATE
Recipes for Baking and Cooking with fine Chocolate
By John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg
www.hyperionbooks.com
www.scharffenberger.com

125 BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP RECIPES
From cookies to cakes, muffins & more
By Jullie Hasson
www.juliehasson.com

125 BEST CHOCOLATE RECIPES
Recipes designed for maximum impression with minimum fuss
By Julie Hasson
www.juliehasson.com

101 PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
By Gwen Steege
Storey Books
www.storey.com

BITTERSWEET
Recipes and Tales from a life in Chocolate
By Alice Medrich
Artisan Books
www.artisanbooks.com

THE EVERYTHING CHOCOLATE BOOK
By Laura Tyler Samuels
A chocolate lover’s dream collection of cookies, cakes, brownies, candies and confections. Over 300 recipes
Adams Media Corporation
www.everything.com

BAKE AND FREEZE CHOCOLATE DESSERTS
By Elinor Klivans
120 recipes to make now and enjoy later
www.bdd.com

ALL ABOUT CHOCOCOLATE
The ultimate resource for the World’s Favorite Food
By Carole Bloom
McMillan USA
www.mgr.com

CHOCOLATE CRAZY
By Slvia Balser Hirsch
The celebrated Miss Grimble presents more inspired Desserts—all chocolate
MacMillan Publishing Company

Mr. Food Simply Chocolate
Think chocolate goodies are hard to make? Not when you make them Mr. Food’s way
William Morrow and Company, Inc.

The Chocolate Lover’s Guide
To the Pacific Northwest
By Bobbie Hasselbring
Wordsworth Publishing

CHOCOLATE from the CAKE MIX DOCTOR
By Anne Byrn
Workman PUBLISHING
WWW.workman.com

365 Great Chocolate Desserts
by Natalie Haughton
Harper Collins Publisher

THE TOTALLY CHOCOLATE COOKBOOK
By Helen Siegel and Karen Gillingham
Celestial Arts 

CHOCOLATE
THE CONSUMING PASSION
By Sandra Boynton
Workman Publishing
www.workman.com

THE LITTLE BOOK OF CHOCOLATE
By Katherine Khodorowsky and Herve Robert
Published by Flammarion
Distributed by Rizzoli through St. Martin’s Press

CINNAMON MORNINGS AND CHOCOLATE DREAMS
By Pamela Lanier
Lanier Publishing
www.travelguides.com

SOUNDS OF CHOCOLATE 

Music from the Chocolate Lands
Unforgettable songs from countries  where chocolate originates
produced by Putumayo
www.putumayo.com

GOOD DEEDS WITH CHOCOLATE

Chef Hilly Blondheim has put his culinary skills to good use and turned a simple boyhood treat into a life-saving instrument in the fight against breast cancer. Whether its sprinkled on top of fruit or ice cream, to enhance the flavor of coffee or a smoothie, blended into waffle or pancake batter, used in a chocolate martini, sampled as fondue, or simply to make the best cup of hot chocolate you have ever tasted, the possibilities for this gourmet chocolate mix are endless.
www.chefhillyskitchen.com

CHOCOLATE TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

"The Chocolate Society café and shop at 36 Elizabeth Street, SW1 London. A mecca for the chocoholic. Celebrating chocolate as a gourmet delicacy, there are handmade truffles, biscuits and all sorts of other chocolate-based goodies. The shop is open from Monday to Saturday - for more information call 020 7259 9222."

GREAT CHCOLATE MOUSSE FESTIVAL
New Brunswick, Canada

Sutton Place Hotel weekend chocolate buffet
Toronto, Canada

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Norwegian Caribbean Lines
afternoon chocolate buffet

Chocolate tea buffet
Mark Hotel, New York

Kona Chocolate Festival
Hawaii Big Island

Chocolate Festival
Poconos Manor Inn and Golf Resort
Pennsylvania

MADELYN’S FAVORITE CHOCOLATE TREATS

Doubletree Hotel chocolate chip cookies
THE VERY BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES IN THE WORLD
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/February04/WheretoGettheVeryBest.htm

Fairytale Chocolate Brownies  800-fairytale www.brownies.com

Chocolate Cowboy Crunch from Bumblee Bee’s Baja Grill. 505-820-2862, Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can buzz through and buy them for $2.50 per package. Other irresistible treats are the Cowgirl kisses made of white chocolate and Espresso Brownies.

Norman Love’s truffles www.normanloveconfections.com 239-561-7215

Dark Chocolate popcorn from Panache  Popcorn is doubly delicious and twice as healthy when covered with chocolate (isn't everything?). Enjoy it even more because now we know chocolate is good for your heart and sex life and popcorn has lots of fiber. I can't think of anything else this delicious and this healthy.

Panache Chocolatier on the web at www.chocolatekc.com or call 1-877-641-9092

MADELYN’S FAVORITE CHOCOLATE DESSERTS

Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity in New York

Lollipop Tree at DavidBurke and Donatella in New York (okay, it is not ALL chocolate but it is so wonderful I am making an exception)

Chocolate Hotel
The Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas offers a chocolate replica of  its signature location at Reunion Tower. The Landmark Tower is a decadent dessert filled with Berry-chocolate ganache and Champagne Mouse on a sea of mango sauce and berries. At $13 it is a lot better deal than downtown real estate. This stellar sweet is more than enough for two serious chocoholics and worth every penny for the WOW factor

Chocolate Sushi at Steel Restaurant in Dallas

Morton’s signature chocolate dessert

Roy’s chocolate Lava Cake…or the sometimes offered chocolate bento box

The 16 layer chocolate cake at the Colony in Hyatt Regency Waikiki in Hawaii

Chocolate Warrior Mask served in the Japanese restaurant at Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island.

TOTAL BODY CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCES

The double chocolate pedicure at Bliss Spa

The Golden Door Spa in Carefree, Arizona offers the Chocolate Champagne Body Wrap.  This Valentine's Day-inspired treatment teases the senses with tantalizing aromas while rejuvenating the skin.  The treatment begins with a double exfoliation using chocolate, Ayurvedic herbs and natural fruit acids.  An anti-oxidant mask of vitamins, green tea, chocolate and fruit of choice is then applied to the body and spritzed with champagne or healing vanilla water.  The guest is wrapped like a delectable morsel while the active elements begin to renew and restore the body.  Following a light shower, the body is caressed with an intensive hydrating cream.  This unforgettable sensory adventure concludes with the guest's choice of custom-made chocolate in the same taste as the body treatment. 

At New Orleans Belladona Day spa you can almost OD on chocolate
But then I believe you can never have too much chocolate.

be a chocoholic: the choco-palooza body deluxe
3 hours - $225.00
This was designed for those who have that never-ending fascination with anything chocolate. The Choco-palooza begins with a serenely romantic still bath, laced with chocolate and raspberry sprinkles, nourishing almond oil, exquisite salts, and healing extracts. Romantic music sets the mood. Scrumptious chocolate truffles are there for the nibbling. Following the bath, a massage therapist begins a light exfoliation using a raspberry scrub, rich in vitamin B and aloe vera.  This gentle scrub enhances the appearance of the skin and is preparation for the Chocolate Surrender Body Treatment, a chocolate body mask rich, soothingly smooth and great for any skin type, especially after a harsh winter.  While the face is cocooned in the mask, the therapist massages the face, neck and scalp. After a shower, the therapist applies "raspberry syrup" to eradicate stress. Belladonna’s special Relief Gel gets at those difficult spots in the back, and a decadent chocolate paraffin melts away the last resistance. A 50-minute massage utilizing Belladonna’s chocolate syrup massage oil completes the Choco-palooza.

mini choco-palooza
90 minutes - $125.00
For those who don’t have time for the deluxe treatment, the abbreviated Choco-palooza is an option. This mini-version of the previous service entails a scrumptious exfoliation using a raspberry scrub to enhance and prepare the skin for the Chocolate Surrender Body Treatment. This chocolate body mask is rich and lusciously hydrating to winter-ravaged skin. After a shower the next step is the Chocolate Stress Relief utilizing a chocolate whip crème, a silky moisturizer rich in willow and aloe vera followed by an application of Relief Gel and chocolate paraffin. A massage with chocolate whip crème follows.  And it’s all calorie-free.

manicure au chocolat
1 hour - $40.00
This delicious manicure completely pampers with chocolate and raspberry products designed to treat and repair the hands.  Belladonna’s chocolate nutty scrub is a luxurious way to smooth away dry flaking skin and allow the rich avocado oil, vitamins and nutritious meadow foam seed oil to do their thing. After a massage using "raspberry syrup," rich in anti-oxidizing vitamins and extracts, the hands are submerged in the utmost of decadence -- chocolate/raspberry paraffin -- known for its hydrating benefits. This manicure’s finishing touches are an application of Chocolate Whip Crème and polish. All are calorie-free except the delicious truffles on hand for nibbling.

pedicure au chocolat
1 hour - $55.00
This sweet treat for the feet utilizes the utmost in decadent chocolate products.  The feet are gently soaked in chocolate sprinkles, which will raise anyone's spirits and relax the mind.  Rough, dry skin is then exfoliated with Chocolate Blizzard, a natural sea salt scrub infused with rich oils and extracts to assist in revitalizing dull skin. A delicious cocoa aroma enhances the whole experience. Raspberry syrup caresses the feet and legs to release all remaining stress. The Chocolate Surrender Mask soothes the feet. Chocolate truffles are served and a Chocolate Whip Crème application provides the finishing touch.

CHOCOLATE DRINKS

The Chocolate Jacuzzi Martini
Balcony Club 1825 Abrams Rd @ La Vista Dr. Dallas, TX 75214-
6617  (214-826-8104)

HOW TO BE A CHOCOLATE BARTENDER

INSIDER TIP: Unlike instant hot chocolate mixes, Schokinag’s drinking chocolate is made with real, gourmet-quality chocolate that comes in the form of tiny “microchips.” The result is an easy-to-make chocolate beverage that is richer, creamier and more flavorful than its competition.

MOST EROTIC CHOCOLATE OPPORTUNITY

Todos Santos in Santa Fe, New Mexico offers a chocolate kama sutra set. Since I visited right after Valentine’s Day, they were sold out. Not surprisingly, they cost $69.  They can ship them anywhere with a weeks notice. I am sorry I could not photograph them to give my readers a titillating preview.

Another interesting offering is “after dinner saints”.  You could also use them after any sin. Saint boxes cost $28 for a box of four, $56 for a box of eight and $84 for twelve saints. I wonder what sins you commit would need a dozen saints for redemption?

Todos Santos Chocolates and Confections, 125 East Palace Avenue #31, Santa Fe, New Mexico (505) 982-3855

BEST CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS TREATS

Everything you need to know for the twelve days of Xmas. This list will make you wish the holiday lasted longer.
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/December06/3750ChristmasinChocolate.htm

Madelyn Miller loves chocolate. She goes all over the world searching for the ultimate chocolate experiences. Read her stories on www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com, www.carladynews.com and www.travellady.com

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