The complex, conflicted, and sometimes downright crazy characters of Showtime’s original TV shows may not exactly inspire emulation (you probably don’t want the life of Homeland protagonist Carrie Mathison, for example), but the shows’ settings in some of the most exciting and beautiful cities in the country may well entice you to pay those spots a visit. Now, thanks to a new collaboration between the network and the Sheraton hotel brand—which offers the network at 185 North American properties—you can make your way through these destinations just as the characters on your favorite series might. The hotel chain's just-launched city guides to Brooklyn and Washington, D.C. take their inspiration from The Affair and Homeland, respectively, bringing guests to in-the-know local haunts in each. Over the next few months, as more series make their seasonal debuts, Sheraton will roll out similar guides for New York City (House of Lies), Chicago (Shameless), L.A. (Episodes), New Orleans (Penny Dreadful), and Boston (Ray Donovan). Here’s a look at the first two to debut.
Inspiration in Brooklyn
The guide to NYC’s hippest borough explores its neighborhoods just as The Affair’s artistically minded characters do, on a quest for creative inspiration—and maybe also a break from the monotony of their married lives. It’s vaguely organized around the idea of a 48-hour respite that the folks on the show could probably use themselves. Nature plays a big role in this tour, with stops around the woodlands and meadows, lakes and ponds, running trails and ice-skating rink of Prospect Park; amid the greenhouses and flowerbeds of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and at the riverside carousel in Brooklyn Bridge. There’s an artistic element, too, with dinner at Williamsburg’s St. Mazie, where a jazz band performs nightly, and browsing at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop, in DUMBO, the city’s only bookstore dedicated to poems. Wine of course, also gets a spotlight, at Park Slope’s Brookvin. The suggested way to get between ‘hoods is by that most Brooklyn of transportation modes: bicycle, with a $10 day pass from Citi Bike. Surprisingly, there’s no mention of yoga here. Maybe all those Lululemon-wearing yogis would be too much temptation?
D.C. Undercover
A “secret mission” theme lends the Washington guide an air of mystery. This vanilla version of C.I.A.-level intrigue brings you to Capitol Hill’s Toki Underground, a ramen joint where the suggestively subterranean name lends some espionage-ready street cred. Even more on-point is the pub Mr. Smith’s, in Georgetown, not just because of the reference to the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie spy flick but also because it’s on the former home of Chadwick’s, known for its KGB-CIA shenanigans in the 1980s. Perhaps too on the nose is a visit to the Penn Quarter’s International Spy Museum, where you’re unlikely to find much in the way of real special ops. Most unusual, though, is the stop at The House of the Temple, a grandly columned century-old Masonic temple that, surprisingly, is open for public tours (though not to its most inner of inner sanctums). Finish the trip off with a drink at Harold Black, an unmarked speakeasy in Eastern Market, where a series of hallways and hidden doors lead to a tiny bar serving hand-crafted cocktails. (Reservations very strongly suggested; no code name required.)
