Sexy "Mancations" at Lynx Lodge, Australia....Toronto's hotel boom continues

I read this morning in USA Today that "Mancations," and I'm sorry for using such a stupid word, a re all the rage in Australia. Or at least one new resort seems to be stretching the limits of hospitality.

Laura Bly's story says fishing holes and Vegas stripper bars are passe, and that Australia's male-only Lynx Lodge will open in November two hours north of Sydney, inviting guests to "bond with your mates over a range of adrenalin-fueled activities, including wakeboarding, dirt biking and beach volleyball," then "get laid back with breakfast in bed and on-the-spot massages" from "our friendly and flexible staff, who are on hand at all times."

There's talk of mud wrestling and Twister for evening entertainment.The main ad on the web site says "Lynx Lodge, Get Laid Back." It's seemingly sponsored by Lynx personal hygiene products, or connected to the company, as there's an ad for body spray and such in a clip on the website. The clip is pretty steamy, with video showing attractive, young women sitting around a bedroom, playing spin the bottle in front of a fire by themselves and standing at the edge of a lake looking out for what's missing, which would be men. One girl strips off her panties and is seen running into the water naked, then turning back around, presumably looking either for me or Orlando Bloom.

"From grabbing your wood on the golf course through to getting filthy on a dirt bike, every day at the Lynx Lodge will leave you utterly shagged,” the website states.

If you click on the diagram on the site that shows the lake, you're taken to a page with a girl in a nice bikini holding a fishing rod on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Personally, I don't recall too many women dressed like that on my fishing trips. My dad used to take me to the Truckee River in Reno all the time to fish for trout, and I would've stayed a lot longer if the folks around me had looked like that girl.

Seriously, though, it really gives me the creeps. The "meet the staff" section shows a lot of large-chested women with their shirts undone to just the right button, and all the double entendres and such are just too weird. Nothing wrong with sexy women, but you'd have to be pretty desperate to go to what basically looks like the Hooters Hilton.

"Perhaps more brothel than B & B," said Bly, putting it rather well. I guess she could've said more T & A than B & B, as well.

"The concept of the Lodge (whose rates haven't been set, which seems more than a tad suspicious) is a play on popular male fantasy, so the girls are there to hang out and ensure Lodge guests have fun," Lynx spokeswoman Laura O'Donnell told Australia's News.com.au. "But they will not be required to do anything that compromises their positions as hospitality professionals."

Oh, that's okay, then.

LE GERMAIN MAPLE LEAF SQUARE OPENING SOON

The Toronto hotel renaissance continues.

The folks at Le Germain say their new property at Maple Leaf Square will open for biz Nov. 1. It'll be 167 rooms at 75 Bremner Blvd., just west of the Air Canada Centre in a booming part of downtown Toronto.

The pictures look nice; a lighter-style of wood from their successful property on Mercer St. near Wayne Gretzky's. Le Germain on Mercer is my favourite hotel in the city by a fair bit; big enough to have the facilities and smartly designed with lots of goodies and a great lobby. Very good food at Victor, the restaurant, as well.

Maple Leaf Square guestrooms will range from 400 to 1,500 square feet, with free wi-fi (HURRAY), windows that open (DOUBLE HURRAY), rainfall showers, goose-down bedding and "luxurious Frette linens," which your design-ignorant travel editor has no clue about. I guess it's a good thing, probably with some astronomical thread count woven out of Egyptian cotton harvested at night under a full moon with the direct supervision of a linen expert flown in from Paris. Something like that. I think.

With the recent opening of the Thompson Hotel on Wellington St. at Bathurst, there's certainly no shortage of cool hotels in Toronto. More are on the way, including the Shangri La and the Ritz Carlton, both downtown. Good news for the Toronto tourism folks and good for visitors, both local and overseas.

Introductory rates start at $229 per night plus taxes and including deluxe continental breakfast based on single occupancy.

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