One of the Historic Buildings

Christmas Day I was in need of a fireplace, a snack and a hot drink, none of which could be found in my little apartment. We drove over to Cavallo Point Lodge, a hotel recently named one of the top ten new American landmarks by Travel + Leisure, where we found all that and more.

Porch at Cavallo Point

Set inside Fort Baker National Park, Cavallo Point mimics the officer’s quarters of its cousin across the bay, San Francisco’s better-known Presidio: clean white buildings with crisp red roofs parked within view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Accomodations include two choices of room styles, historic or contemporary.

A Room at Cavallo Point

The specials page reveals the usual facials with your girlfriends and champagne with your husband packages as well as one intriguing contender: the “Ultimate House Party” package, which includes rental of one of the 6 to 12 bedroom houses for a party with the huge benefit of having someone else clean up the mess.

And yes, there’s the lovely Farley Bar, with two fireplaces and a nice selection of liquors, located in the same building as the Murray Circle restaurant, which seemed packed on Christmas day.

Lovely photos from naan through Flickr Creative Commons

Crunch time: New Year’s Eve is just days away, and you don’t want to ring in 2009 laying on the couch eating Cheezits with your dog.

Stratosphere Hotel

Heading to Sin City? Search vegas.com for a quick look at hotel rates in Las Vegas. The Stratosphere shows a Tower Deluxe room for $275 on 12/31 (compared to $114 on Tuesday evening). Make sure to reserve a little bit of your budget for festivities–no one should be stuck with Cold Duck to ring in the new year. 

W Hotel Signage

In San Francisco, the W Hotel offers an “Escape to Remember” package starting at $269 that includes a bottle of sparkling wine, a camera to capture all those moments you might otherwise (want to) forget, and 2 p.m. late checkout that may be more a necessity than a perk after celebrating at the hotel’s blow-out party on four dance floors.

Hyatt Regency Lobby

 Chicago’s Hyatt Regency is co-hosting a party with a local radio station and offering discounted rates to guests. Book online to get a room for only $199 on New Year’s Eve and take advantage of 3 p.m. late check-out the next day. You’ll need it!

Hyatt Regency image from mbaylor

W signage picture from tanakawho

Trapp Lodge, Stowe, Vermont

The hills of Vermont are more alive with the Sound of Music than they have been in decades. Sam von Trapp, the third generation of von Trapps, is embracing the movie version of his heritage for the benefit of the family hotel and their guests.

Among other things, Sam von Trapp is bringing back the beloved Sing-a-longs, and on Sunday, during the ABC network airing of The Sound of Music, he is running this commercial for the hotel in Stowe, Vermont. It’s the first time they’ve ever done a TV commercial.

Maria and Captain von Trapp

The family was immortalized by Julie Andrews and the very dashing Christopher Plummer (who by the way was also in wonderful in Somewhere in Time filmed at Mackinau Hotel! He’s a hotel-lover’s actor) — in the film, which took more than a few liberties with the family’s story.

However, they really did escape from Germany, they really were folk singers, and they really do have a beautiful hotel in the mountains of Vermont. Johannes von Trapp, Sam’s father, has traditionally distanced the lodge from the film, but it remains a big reason for guests to visit the lodge.

The Nordic Center

For cross country skiers it’s an especially magical place, with a world renowned Nordic Ski Center, featuring 45 kilometers of groomed trails and 100 kilometers of back country skiing and hiking trails.

Guest rooms

Set on 2,400 acres above the village of Stowe, Vermont, the resort features several types of accommodations including a 96 room lodge, 100 two-bedroom chalets which are like ski condos, and several luxury villas.

Dining room

In addition to outdoor activities, the lodge also offers a fitness center, three pools and two dining rooms that combine the family’s Austrian tradition with the Vermont location. There is also a rock climbing wall, and on site massages for the perfect luxury treatment at the end of long day of alpine play.

The Trapp Lodge offers several specials, including a special 20% discount for Audi owners and packages for skiing, snowshowing and the more relaxing wine and dine vacations.

Hyatt Regency Dallas

Together with the Hyatt Regency Dallas, for the fourth year in a row SoupMobile Inc., a non-profit in Dallas, Texas, that provides meals to homeless people, made Christmas Eve a little warmer and brighter.

Hyatt Regency Dallas room

Each year, as part of the annual Christmas Angel Project, SoupMobile holds a banquet for participants, who also receive clothing. Following the banquet, which was sponsored by Pizza Hut and Chick-Fil-A, the participants got to spend the night at the luxury Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel!

Hyatt Regency Dallas pool

The Hyatt Regency Dallas is a beautiful hotel, with several suites, a rooftop pool, deluxe fitness center and a range of dining options. Located in downtown Dallas, it is easily accessible from both DFW and Love Field airports. The four star property consistently gets excellent reviews from guests.

I suspect the participants of the Christmas Angel Project will be echoing those good reviews, too!