There is accommodation at several price-points in Kruger National Park. If The Ultimate Safari Package from Lagoon Beach Hotel wasn’t enough for you, here are five ways you can sleep with the elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and buffalo. Oh my.
With plenty to do, Cape Town in South Africa is a mecca of beauty, culture and excitement.
Guests are greeted at the Phulay Bay Hotel Pavilion
What could be a more perfect combination than the luxurious attention of the Ritz Carlton, combined with the remote beauty and tranquility of Southern Thailand?
For some of us, absolutely nothing, which is why we’re so excited by the news that the Phulay Bay Ritz-Carlton Reserve is opening in Krabi, Southern Thailand on December 22, 2009. Read More »
During a recent family trip to Seaside, Florida, (one of my all-time favorite places) to visit the white sandy beaches in the Panhandle, I happened by Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley. A SPECTACULAR building from the street, and apparently, even more spectacular on the inside. The Bed & Breakfast is adorned in Vera Bradley style; each room is decorated in the pattern of a different Vera Bradley signature fabric.
Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley
As it is qualified as a bed & breakfast (few and far between at the beach in north Florida), complimentary continental breakfast is available, but some reviews I found indicate, you may have a better breakfast at a nearby restaurant. (I HIGHLY suggest the Great Southern Cafe in the town square of Seaside. Order the gouda cheese grits and beignets – you will NOT be disappointed.) Staying in a bed & breakfast normally qualifies you for extra special touches, and rumor has it that they give you your own Vera Bradley bag as a welcome gift. Considering their bags are in the $50 range, that’s a pretty special take-home gift.
Some of the rooms will sleep more than two people, but having two young children myself, I would be too worried of their clumsy feet and elbows around the stylish decorations to bring them along for the visit. If you’re a romantic, or are looking for a romantic seaside getaway, the Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley, should be a contender for your stay.
Because I ‘happened’ by the Inn and had heard about it being in Seaside, I thought I’d stop in to check it out unannounced, but unfortunately, it was locked and not open to the public. Reservations can be made through Cottage Rental Agency, but in my opinion, it’s very difficult to make an online reservation or find the per-night rate. Each room is listed separately, so unless you want to check each room for each length-of-stay, I’d suggest calling them directly to make a reservation. The one reservation I found was about $240/night for a fall weekend stay, and considering the location in Seaside, that is a fairly reasonable price.
Grand Victorian entrance at Inn by the Sea
Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley, Room 7, Palm
38 Seaside Ave
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
800.277.8696
Room view photo courtesy of Cottage Rental Agency
Gorgeous stretches of white sand and turquoise water at Palm Island Resort are only accessible by boat. Palm Island is one of the Gulf Islands just offshore of Charlotte Harbor on Florida's SW coast.
Photo by Barbara Weibel of Hole in the Donut Travels
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Cheeca Lodge and Spa
Jim Carrey
CELEBS SPOTTED: President George Herbert Walker Bush, Chrissie Evert, Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Salma Hayek, Kevin Costner, Jack Nicklaus, Forest Whitaker, Jim Carrey, Brooke Burke, Denise Austin, Pink, Billy Idol, Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Campbell, Jane Seymour, Katie Couric, Jason Alexander
Called the “Queen of the Florida Keys,” the Cheeca Lodge & Spa is located in the beautiful Islamorada in the Keys, and you’re likely to spot a number of famous people while staying there. It’s kind of a hideaway for the stars. Everyone from Salma Hayek to Katie Couric to even President George H.W. Bush has stayed at the Cheeca, and with good reason. It’s on a glorious 27-acre estate, full of luxurious views. NOTE: the Cheeca is due to reopen in December, 2009.
Cheeca Lodge Dining Outdoors
With rates starting as low as $250 per night, you’ll find the classic Keys style, mixed with West Indies decor…something the Cheeca calls “barefoot elegance.” There are 212 rooms, suites, and bungalows – you won’t be disappointed.
Beautiful rooms and amazing views at the Cheeca
The new Oceanfront and Island View Suites give you over 840 square feet, gorgeous ocean views, hot tubs, rain showers for two…all very romantic. And the Spa is nothing to sneeze at, either. Lots of different packages for you to choose from.
The Spa at the Cheeca
Casual Keys meets West Indies at the Cheeca Lodge
Amenities include oceanfront pool, a wooden fishing pier, tennis courts, golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus himself, private beach, fitness center, Camp Cheeca (for the kids), biking, Starbucks and Tazo Teas in your room, wifi, and several restaurants to choose from.
Dock at Cheeca Lodge & Spa
Islamorada has amazing restaurants, and the Cheeca Lodge & Spa has some of the best. In fact, Florida Trend magazine calls the Cheeca’s eating spots one of “Florida’s 500 Best Places to Dine.” There’s Atlantic’s Edge, with delicious seafood and steaks, as well as a magnificent hot breakfast buffet. The Lobby Bar serves cocktails, and the Tiki Bar is a beachfront spot with a view of the ocean, as well as drinks and Bahama stone crab claws. Nikai is the newest restaurant, offering fresh sushi and Asian cuisine.
Hot Tub at the Cheeca
Salma Hayek
It’s no wonder the likes of Gisele Bundchen and Jennifer Lopez love the Cheeca. They get treated like the stars they are, and so can you. Think I’ll make it a point to head down to the Keys. I mean, I live in Florida…how have I never been there? Papa Hemingway awaits.
Sitting here at my computer with “The Letter Factory” blaring from the television and Cheerios crunching under my feet, my experience spending the last few days at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica feels like a dream.
A dream come true, that is.
Aerial view of the Guanahani Hotel and Spa
Gisele Bundchen
Last time we covered St. Tropez’ Byblos Hotel. And we have another French hotel and celeb hotspot for this week’s Celebrity Hotel of the Week. Smack dab in the middle of the French West Indies is the Hotel Guanahani and Spa in Saint Barthelemy. A fave amongst celebrities such as Naomi Watts, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Jon Bon Jovi, the Guanahani is the finest of luxury hotel resorts.
Located on a private 16-acre peninsula, you’ll find amazing beaches, dining, Creole-styled rooms and suites that’ll blow you away, shopping…it’s all there at the Guanahani, just waiting for your arrival. And talk about some incredible free activities and services!
The luxurious Guanahani
Included with your room stay: free Continental breakfast either in your room or at the Indigo restaurant, canoes and pedal boats, snorkeling, windsurfing, tennis courts, a fitness center, and daytime Kindergarten for children 2-6 years of age. By the way? Kids six and under stay for free. And for a little extra, there’s jet-skis, boat rentals, scuba diving, bars on the beach, and instructors for tennis and windsurfing.
Guanahani Room, Feel like a celeb!
Guanahani Room
The Guanahani has 68 rooms, all in private bungalows with private terraces. There are 34 suites (some with private pools), 24-hour room service, satellite TV with LCD flatscreens, DVD players (DVD library available at the front desk), and free Internet.
Bed with a view, Guanahani Hotel & Spa
Gastronomically speaking, there are lots of good eats around, including Indigo (a wonderful poolside restaurant on the beach) and Bartolomeo (gourmet dining and lounge bar). Scrumptious Mediterranean/Italian dishes at Bartolomeo are faves of Marisa Miller and Gisele Bundchen alike, and you can’t beat a romantic meal at night with the stars overhead.
Guanahani Restaurant
The spa at Guanahani rocks, too. Get a look at some of these views. Steam room, massages, rejuvenation packages. There’s even a salon on the premises.
Guanahani Spa
Rates. Right. Well,depending on the room and the time of year, prices start at 360 Euros (currency converter here) and work their way up from there. A Superior Gardenview Room, for example, is 360 Euros a night during the summer and 915 Euros a night during the Christmas holiday. An Ocean 1-Bedroom Poolside Suite, with private pool overlooking the sea starts at 1,095 Euros in the summer and goes up to 1,655 Euros over Christmas and New Year’s.
Guanahani Hotel, Private Suite Pool
Jon Bon Jovi
But if you’re really going for the celebrity treatment, you can get a suite with butler service! Yeah, baby! The most expensive one – La Villa – starts at 2,800 Euros a day and tops out at 5,700 Euros a day. Think I’ll stay for a month. Or maybe just for 15 minutes, because that’ll only cost me 60 Euros. How much can a butler do in 15 minutes, anyway?
Fine beaches, luxurious rooms, poolside bars, the warm sunny climate…yeah. I can’t wait to get there. Who wants to be my Sugar Mama?
CELEBS SPOTTED: Marisa Miller, Selita Ebanks, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Watts, Laetitia Casta, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Yasmeen Ghuri, Jon Bon Jovi.
And if anyone has any tips for hot celebrity hotels, feel free to let me know.
The front desk at Hotel Indigo Sarasota shows off the chain
Guest Post by Leigh Caldwell of ThemeParkMom.
Comfy, casual
Not your daddy’s biz hotel
It’s not stuffy here
So that’s my haiku tribute to the Intercontinental Hotels Group boutique hotel chain, Hotel Indigo.
On a recent stay at the Hotel Indigo Sarasota, I expected to see the color blue (indigo, actually) and the logo’s iconic seashell everywhere, but I was surprised to find a hotel filled with poetry (haiku, actually).
The three-liners are everywhere – on the brochures, in the fitness center and even on the room’s plastic laundry bag. Hotel Indigo says the haiku are designed to surprise, refresh and provide tranquility.
One of the sweetest surprises of my Hotel Indigo stay was a personalized haiku left in my room the evening of my stay, along with a bottle of water and a snack. The front desk staff told me they enjoy writing haiku for the guests, and they often try to base the personalized poems on the industry in which the traveler works.
Hotel Indigo Sarasota sits on Tamiami Trail, across the street from Sarasota
Hotel Indigo Sarasota is just a few minutes’ drive from Sarasota’s downtown and just 10 minutes south of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. It is within walking distance of many of the attractions on Sarasota’s Bayfront and would be the perfect place to stay when visiting the city to attend a performance at Sarasota’ Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The city’s Rosemary District, an area undergoing an urban renewal, is also within walking distance and features locally-owned restaurants and unusual shops for browsing.
If you plan on sticking your toes in the sand on your Sarasota trip, Lido Beach is 10 minutes away. And Dr. Beach’s second best beach in the world, Siesta Beach, is just a 15-20 minute drive.
My travel companions and I had a delightful dinner at the Broadway Bar, three blocks north of the hotel. Though not revealed in the restaurant’s name, this is a true red-sauce Italian mom-and-pop joint, complete with the red-and-white checked tablecloths.
Guest rooms have laminate wood floors and a comfy casual decor.
The guest rooms at Hotel Indigo Sarasota are not the typical cookie-cutter business hotel. They are spacious, with hardwood floors, comfy beds with a sea of white linens and bold, graphic wall murals.
I stayed in a king suite, which was a large, single room that included a sitting area in addition to the bed. The couch in the sitting area has a pull-out bed for extra guests or children.
an efficient workspace and another graphic wall mural
The workspace was furnished with a comfortable desk, lamp and desk chair with wheels. Free wireless Internet also makes it possible to work in the sitting area or on the bed.
The tranquil feeling continued in the bathroom, which had a huge, tiled walk-in shower with glass walls.
The only thing I found missing in my Hotel Indigo Sarasota room was a closet. There is a wardrobe with hanging space, but on short stays such as this one, I prefer not to unpack much of my clothing, opting to set up my suitcase on a luggage rack in the closet. There was a luggage rack in the room, where I was able to put my suitcase in an unused corner, but I generally prefer to conceal it from view.
The lobby stretches into a casual wine bar/lounge/eatery that I found refreshing after eating in many stuffy hotel dining rooms. The hotel’s kitchen serves a small menu, but it provided plenty of variety in my opinion, with a few appetizer choices, sandwiches and entree salads. There is also a counter to buy potato chips, bakery goods and other snack items to consume in the lounge, your room or the pool area. Room service is also available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
A hot tub and cold tub replace the traditional hotel pool at Hotel Indigo Sarasota.
There is not a large pool area at the Hotel Indigo Sarasota. A pleasant space outdoors offers a rectangular hot tub and a cold pool. But the pool is the same size at the hot tub and not made for swimming, only for a dip. I did spend some time in the pool area and found comfortable chairs and shaded tables, as well as a great signal for the hotel’s free wireless Internet. I do not swim frequently on my business travels, and I don’t know any other business traveler who does, but you should know this in advance if you are planning a vacation stay.
The hotel also offers a fitness center just off the pool, equipped with treadmills, ellipticals and weight-lifting equipment.
I am definitely adding Hotel Indigo to my list of preferred brands when traveling. The more casual vibe of this hotel really fits my lifestyle and personality, and I encourage weary road warriors to give it a try.
All photos by the author.
Southernmost on the Beach
So, Key West, Florida isn’t exactly known for its beaches. But, what if you could stay at a hotel that had its own private beach ? I say, who cares if sand isn’t perfect or if the water isn’t crystal clear? Key West, Florida’s Southernmost Hotel on the Beach is a relaxing, luxurious retreat that has nice sand just for its guests. It’s a really beautiful hotel, with very calming surroundings. And, you’ll be within walking distance of famous Duval Street that has many of Key West’s best restaurants, bars, cafes and boutique shops.
There are many things to like about Southernmost Hotel on the Beach. There’s free parking (really surprising to me considering this hotel is a little pricey.) You don’t actually need a car at all – you can walk to everything. Free Internet. A lovely pool. A private beach. The staff is really nice and well-trained. Free chairs to sit on the beach with. A great poolside bar.
What’s not to like? Not too much! Again, the beach is nice, but you’re not in the Bahamas. The “cheapest” rooms are not as large as so might like, but I saw absolutely not problem with them, they were beautiful.
If you’re looking for a luxurious stay in Key West, and don’t mind working out your credit card a bit, definitely check this hotel out. I think you’ll be happy as a hippo, like I was.
Photo Credit: Southernmost on the Beach website
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