Nov 20, 2009 by Jennifer Bernstein - comment
We scope out the wine baths, pet psychics, caviar facials, gourmet cooking classes, revolving rooms, and other extravagant extras that will push your vacation over the top.
Yes, you read it right: To commemorate Woodstock’s 40th anniversary, San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel is giving away free pot brownies to all guests checking in from August 14-16. The brownies, served à la mode, will come straight from the hotel’s cafe, Maryjane’s.
So…wait, what?
Hotel Saint Cecilia (named after the patron saint of music and poetry) is a great boutique hotel that opened last year in Austin’s South Congress District. Among its offerings are mini bars that Cecilia herself would see fit to rename with a decidedly more grandiose adjective. If Warhol, poetry, and legendary furniture design features give you a craving for elegant eats, head back to your suite, bungelow, or studio and, with mother-of-pearl or olive wood utensils in hand, dine in-room on global gourmet treats. Tucked inside the minibar are handmade chocolates, shortbread cookies, olive oil crackers, and, on the more opulent end, red lumpfish caviar, a variety of cheeses, duck rillette, salami, and bison jerky. Wash it down with a fine Pinot Grigio or Rioja, and nurse that possible hangover later with kombucha, or a Victorian lemonade.
Here’s something you don’t see everyday in the more-is-more amenity world: As part of a limited-time offer, the Rancho Bernardo Inn, an upscale golf resort in San Diego, is letting guests sacrifice amenities in exchange for a discounted room rate. Pretty novel, right? Called the Survivor package, the offer includes deluxe accommodations and breakfast for two and starts at $219. And from there? Forgo the honor bar (BYOB) and the price drops to $179. Loose the sheets (BYO…S) and it plunges to $109. Willing to brave SoCal’s summer heat sans A/C? You’re looking at $159.
Want to know the very lowest you can go? (It’s sort of shocking).
On a recent trip to Argentina, I stayed a night at the lovely Sofitel Buenos Aires. It’s on a quiet, leafy street that’s lined with galleries and antique shops. It provides all the comforts (and great food) that one expects of this luxury French brand but with a distinct sense of place (the landmarked building was the city’s first skyscraper when it was built in 1929 and the handsome rooms are trimmed in biker bar-levels of Argentine leather). The elegant cafe–Cafe Arroyo–off the lobby was modeled after Buenos Aires’ distinguished jockey clubs of the early 1900s. Here, guests can find a singular amenity.
Read the rest of this post »
The plummeting Dow. Blundered bailouts. Swine flu. Just when it seems the news can’t get any worse, it thunks us over the head with something new. It’s enough to make you want to hide in a hole somewhere…and wash your hands a lot. In this spirit, we commend the Westin New York at Times Square for their new No News is Good News offer, which illustrates how sometimes the best amenities are the ones you take away. For those who want a real break from the headlines, the hotel will unplug a guest’s television, hide the remote control, and cancel the daily doorstep newspaper delivery. And to top it off? They’ll throw in a complimentary cocktail at the hotel’s laid-back Bar 10. This may be the best news we’ve heard all day. Offer from $299/night including weekends through September 7
Rarely impressed by the airline industry’s food and beverage service, I was recently won over by South African Airways (SAA) in-flight wine selection. En route to Johannesburg I swirled a white that was just too good to be served on a plane–until I learned the history of how it got there. Each year SAA spends two-and-a-half-days hosting an event with an expert team of local and international wine connoisseurs choosing the 80 wines offered on their flights throughout the year. In 2008 alone more than 900 wines were submitted for vigorous tasting and voting. Beyond assembling the team of judges, SAA actually employs the help of independent auditors Deloitte and Touche to monitor the scoring of each top wine in its respective category (Best White, Best Red, Port, among others). The top-flight white that that I enjoyed so much was the Bellingham 2007 Maverick Chenin Blanc–which came across with a strong fruit note followed by a spicy finish. Finally, an amenity worth flying for.
It sounds almost…dangerous right? But kind of fun, too? Well it turns out that the champagne is doing the zipping, not you, so it’s quite safe after all. This new amenity recently turned up at the luxe Cap Maison on St. Lucia. Unlike most of its fellow Caribbean neighbors, the island of St. Lucia is hugged by craggy cliffs instead of wide, soft beaches. So a stay on the beautiful isle inevitably involves climbing stairs—lots of them. At Cap Maison, the restaurant, the Cliff at Cap, is perched high up on the cliffs; far below sits a wooden platform perched right on the rocks, surrounded on three sides by crashing sea. Rock Maison, as it’s called, is a prime spot for yoga classes, spa treatments and…sunset drinks. But who wants to trek up and down the cliffside in between every round? Read the rest of this post »
Swimming with horses is so 2008. And besides, who would want to when you can hang out with these guys instead? Such an opportunity is on hand at the Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa, a new hotel that borders the pristine Had Chao Mai National Park in the Sikao district (that’s right, sea cows in Si Kao!) of southern Thailand. The upscale, rural resort looks onto the turquoise Andaman, which is populated with all manner of coral, fish, and yes, the friendly, lumbering (and vegetarian) 1,200-pound endangered creatures known as sea cows, or manatees. Read the rest of this post »
Not that we needed another reason to visit Paris‘ super-swank, five-star Hotel Fouquet Barriere–but when we heard there was a complimentary gourmet chocolate making workshop–let’s just say it sweetened the deal. In celebration of Easter, on April 13th, Pastry Chef Jean-Luc Labat will share his methods of molding and decorating Easter eggs at the hotel’s restaurant, Le Diane. Labat will also demonstrate how to make a chocolate mountain, by piecing together dark, milk, and white chocolate shapes. Um, yum! Each guest that participates will receive a wooden cooking spoon, chef’s hat, and apron, not to mention a satiated appetite. Read the rest of this post »
I was lucky enough to spend a night recently at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in rural northwestern Connecticut. This Relais & Chateaux, five-star, five-diamond inn and its spa—especially its spa—have been lauded by just about every travel publication under the sun and accordingly, they charge sky-high prices. So needless to say, my expectations of the amenities were high. I noticed the first one—or the lack thereof—while we were still in the parking lot: no cell service. Read the rest of this post »
