First Class in The Delta

Relax in Southern sophistication at The Alluvian hotel.

What global jet-setter would believe that a hotel in Greenwood, Mississippi, beats out the Four Seasons in Egypt? Yet it's true. The Alluvian has generated a sandstorm of interest in travel to the Mississippi Delta after winning the luxury hotel design award from Lodging Hospitality magazine. Here guests discover a brand-new fixture in a town where king cotton once flourished.

The property is the colossal achievement of Viking Range Corporation, a company that manufactures first-rate stove ranges and cooking equipment. The hotel upholds Viking's sleek heritage with contemporary furnishings in bright green, lavender, and cranberry tones. Rooms are divine with chenille throws, plush bedding, and stainless steel fireplaces. A baby grand piano accents the lounge whose glamour glistens like new marble.

Besides the forty-five rooms and five suites, The Alluvian boasts a fitness room complete with flat screen TVs, an interior courtyard, and a breathtaking fourth-floor terrace that features a Southern-style breakfast. But its cosmopolitan profile doesn't erase the venue's downhome beginnings. Nuances of The Delta's culture infiltrate the premises in the form of paintings done by local artists.

The same flair for dramatic design infuses the hotel's restaurant, Giardina's, where private booths sequester guests in romantic bliss. The restaurant prepares a host of both surf and turf delicacies such as fried soft-shell crab ($17.95) and porterhouse steak ($29.95). Guests may choose to top their entrée with either crabmeat, shrimp, or crawfish tails ($4.50) for extra flavor. It's a delicious medley that blends harmoniously with The Alluvian's knack for refinement.

The Alluvian: 318 Howard Street, Greenwood, MS 38930; toll-free 1866-600-5201 or www.thealluvian. com. Standard rates: $175.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jun 2005
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