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Have you ever been greeted at check-in with a glass of sparkling wine? Or stayed in a hotel where you actually wanted to be seen in the lounge? Ottawa’s ARC The.Hotel combines sleek design, great food, and attentive service to make the perfect place for a weekend get-away in the capital.

A “straight-friendly oasis of calm” is not usually how you would describe anything on West 42nd Street in New York City. From Broadway to West 7th Street, the iconic strip of the theatre district is known for its blazing LED and neon signage, sulphurous street food, billboards, and that the ever unglamourous Port Authority bus terminal. The OUT NYC, New York City’s new “urban resort” uses social space and design in clever ways for a gay reinvention of the boutique hotel.

You would be hard pressed to find any other stop on the gay party circuit that draws in more attention and accolades than that of NYC’s Black Party. With a dress code in effect (“Dress Heavy”), a plethora of “Strange Live Acts” infesting the stage, and the thickest muscle pit this side of Atlantic, the Black Party isn’t your typical night on the town, and we mean any town.

When CBC commentator and comedian Ricker Mercer visited the Mont Ste-Marie ski hill near Wakefield, Québec, it was like a best-kept secret was being unveiled. Boísin Murphy reports from the Gatineau ski hill that doesn’t cater to 450-819 teenagers!

Musician and flâneur Sami Basbous found himself in the most unlikely of US states basking in unheard-of Asheville, North Carolina. Castles, cafés, jacuzzis, and Southern charm made for a memorable gaycation we just had to share.

Europe is a little gayer than even Toronto’s gayest writers are used to.  “Several times, I gazed at jegging-clad, scarf-wrapped gents coiffed within an inch of their life only to be ignored, or worse, winked at seductively by their ladyfriends,” writes Ryan Kerr in our LGBTravel issue. If you’re planning your holidays ahead of time (as any gay traveller should), think of hitting Stockholm Pride in early August…

We reached Miami Winter Party Chairman Chad Richter to talk about the “Soul of South Beach” and one of the grande dames of the dance music circuit. See you there Feb. 29-March 5, 2012 (with rebate tickets on sale until Jan 14!)

Not to be confused with Montréal’s very own Bal en Blanc (translated “White Party” to non-Quebecers), the White Party in Miami has played host to thousands of party-goers for almost three decades. Now what sets this event apart from the others is it endurance and the fundraising initiative behind it. White Party Week happens November 23 through November 28 in Miami, Florida.

Over in America’s Pacific Northwest among lush greenery lies a town full of fashionable cyclists, throngs of hipsters, a hotbed of a music scene, vegan food carts and a queer mecca. Writer, activist, and queer traveler Lauryn Kronick writes on her party-filled visit for 2Bmag…

Writer, queer academic, and film buff Jordan Coulombe (aka Van Tassel) spent 6 months in the Distrito Federal and learned all of the best haunts in their version of a Village, La Zona Rosa. For the record, Coulombe does NOT recommend you see the film entitled *La Zona Rosa* by Hermanas Producciones (banner photo).