Having a hard time scoring tickets to the hottest runway shows this season? The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, on the Upper East Side is there to help you get behind the curtain to see the designers, models, and celebrities this season. From February 15 – 18, the “Inside Haute” experience teams up with Kathleen Beckett, former fashion magazine guru who has worked at Vogue, Glamour, and Elle, to name a few, to take guests on a whirlwind tour of NYFW, dining with designers and attending much-anticipated shows.

For $6,000 per person, fashion mavens can sip on cocktails with Zac Posen at his studio, lunch with Donna Karen, take tea with Nadja Swarovski, enjoy some bubbly with Sophie Theallet at her atelier, go backstage after two top-secret shows to meet the designers, get a private look at the fashion archives at the Met (after the Alexander McQueen exhibit, we know the archives will be full of exquisite pieces), and enjoy lots of champagne, fashion, and glamour.

To book this package, contact Jamie Beck at The Carlyle Hotel, at 212-570-7127. Rooms are not included in the package; rates start at $795 per night.

Two hip hotels in Vancouver and New York City are offering guests special access to romance-dedicated staff this February. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, look to OPUS Vancouver’s Cupid Concierge, who’s tasked with bringing customized romantic experiences to guests on request – primed for those who could use a little help ramping up the romance department. Or, bunk down in NYC’s 70 park avenue, where an on-site Romance Sommelier is encouraging ladies to borrow from the British tradition of proposing to their fellas on Leap Day (February 29), with special month-long planning services available to help women pop the question in style. Read the rest of this post »

Two Ritz-Carlton properties have rolled out some sweet-sounding (and free!) amenities for travelers looking to squeeze every last drop out of their vacation experience – quite literally! Guests at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, Florida, can have their fruit juice dreams whipped up courtesy of the hotel’s newly appointed Citrus Sommelier (pictured at left), who will be serving up juices, smoothies, and fruit juice cocktails at the resort’s Sunday brunch. Or, look to the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas, in the U.S.V.I., where guests can handpick fruits on the resort’s 30 fruit-spouting acres of lush tropical goodness. The property’s Garden Concierge is on hand to crack open coconuts for guests on the spot for a refreshing drink of coconut water, or guests can opt to hand-select fruits like papayas and mangoes, which can then be prepared for lip-smacking consumption by the on-site chefs at any hotel restaurant.

The budget-minded brainchild of the sexy Starwood chain, Aloft Hotels has quickly emerged among the industry’s tech-savvy front-runners, offering guests a bevy of in-demand tech amenities (free Wi-Fi in all of its properties; popular social media campaigns; innovative in-room plug-and-play systems that connect guests’ gadgets to the hotels’ flat-screen TVs). Now, several of the brand’s sleek hotels are in the midst of piloting what’s proving to be a wildly successful “Smart Check-In” program, which allows on-the-go guests the freedom to automatically check into their hotel rooms without ever having to make a pesky check-in stop at the front desk.

The program works something like this: Powered by radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, participating guests receive a text message on their mobile devices on the day of their stay, which gives them their room number and immediate and direct access to their rooms, via a keycard (the card is sent out to Select Starwood Preferred Guest members who have enrolled in the pilot program). The SPG/Aloft-branded RFID card can also be used for on-site bar, restaurant, or retail purchases, to boot. Participating properties include Aloft Lexington (MA), Aloft Harlem, Aloft Brooklyn, Aloft Dallas, Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park, and Aloft London – check out the program’s promotional video over at YouTube for more deets.

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As more resorts and hotels up the ante in luxury travel, guests of Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere now have the option to travel like a VIP jetsetter by hopping in a chopper in Paris and landing in Deauville, a beachside town in northwest France.

Rather than renting a car, guests of the ultra-luxe hotel can escape the hustle and bustle of the city by boarding a private helicopter for the a 45-minute ride to Deauville. The town offers visitors boutique shopping, gambling at Casino Barriere, and sunny beachside strolls. After a day at the beach, jet back to Paris for a luxurious night at the five-star hotel.

The offer – valid until December 26, 2012, and priced at about $6,432 for an Executive Room – includes one night in a room or suite at Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere, transfer via car from the hotel to the Paris Heliport, round-trip helicopter transport to Deauville, and a beach picnic prepared by an award-winning chef. A VIP welcome and breakfast at the Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere is also included.

For more trip-planning information, see our France Travel Guide, then use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates on flights, hotels, cruises, and more travel deals.

Florida’s Boca Beach Club, a chichi Waldorf Astoria Resort situated on the Sunshine State’s Gold Coast, is ramping up its winning mix of sun, surf, sand, and sumptuous accommodations with a slate of innovative new guest offerings. While some of the recently debuted programs are fairly cookie-cutter (sunrise yoga, sunset kite flying, nightly stargazing), we couldn’t help but take note of eye-catching resort programs like “water walkers,” informal modeling shows, and – our personal favorite – sand sculpture instruction. Read the rest of this post »

The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas’s most buzzed about new addition since its December 2010 debut, is making headlines again with the debut of Sin City’s first-ever pop-up wedding chapel. Set on a street-level location fronting the bustling Strip (because nothing says Vegas wedding like a gaggle of curious passersby), the chapel will offer traditional wedding, commitment, and vow renewal ceremonies, but also tack on some additional offerings of the only-in-Las Vegas variety like pet weddings or faux weddings (to let you try your wedding on for size before making it legal). Read the rest of this post »

Getting married is for the birds. At least that’s the case (quite literally) at Ireland’s historic five-star Ashford Castle (one of our Top 10 Castle Hotels), thanks to their new owl-assisted Proposal Package. Engage the assistance of Dingle, Ashford’s resident owl, for your unforgettable engagement, all set on the site of a 13th-century castle surrounded by some 350 lush Emerald Isle acres, marked by a backdrop of woodlands, mountains, and a lake and river. Sign up for the Proposal Package, and Dingle will swoop in on your beloved with an engagement ring tied to a string around his neck for a proposal that will have your soon-to-be-betrothed soaring herself (or himself). Read the rest of this post »

If you can already feel the physical aches of holiday shopping, the Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad, just north of San Diego, is here to help. They’re offering a holiday shopping package that includes the luxurious accommodations of a Park Suite, round-trip private transportation to Carlsbad Premium Outlets via Mercedes Benz, a two-hour private consultation with a personal shopper at the outlets, and a 50-minute Shoppers Therapy Treatment at the spa that targets your sore feet and shoulders with massage and pressure point techniques.

Rooms at the Park Hyatt Aviara start at $650 a night, and while there is no minimum number of nights required, guests must book a week in advance and the offer expires December 30, so make sure you book soon! Also note that the spa treatment is only for one person, so your shopping buddy may be out of luck. At the Carlsbad Premium Outlets you can find everything from Barneys New York to Coach at outlet prices. (For a full list of stores, click here.) parkaviara.hyatt.com

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New Orleans’ historic Hotel Monteleone – celebrating 125 years in 2011 – saw the reopening of its famous revolving Carousel Bar on December 1, just in time for the holiday season. The 25-seat rotating novelty is the only bar of its kind in the city, with a history that dates back to 1949. It owes its revolving capabilities to a system of motor-pulled chains and rollers, with the ride only further enhanced by a couple of well-crafted cocktails.

For some merrymaking on the merry-go-round, the hotel is serving up special holiday-themed cocktails with jolly names like the Joyous Noel, a blend of Absolut Mandarin, orange juice, and Grand Marnier; or Papa’s Nightcap, a dark roast coffee spiked with Bailey’s and Frangelico. Or pop in for some of the planned festive events, like on December 17, when Monte the Lion – the hotel mascot – will be hosting a Children’s Holiday Tea (at 10am or 2pm). Read the rest of this post »