North America

The Langham Hotel Boston blends the legendary hospitality of the original Langham grand hotel with the classic architectural elegance of Boston’s former Federal Reserve Bank building. A tranquil haven of luxury in the center of Massachusetts’ economic and cultural heartland, The Langham is assuredly among Boston’s finest hotels. Explore the city’s cultural scene and indulge in Boston’s renowned seafood. The hotel is steps from Boston’s major shops, restaurants and other attractions. Close to Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the Freedom Trail, the North End, the Financial District, the New England Aquarium and the Boston Harbor waterfront.

There once was a time where skiing holidays were reserved for the very wealthy and adventurous, but as more ski resorts popped up and grew, skiing has become a far more accessible pastime, and now you can find a skiing holiday to suit any budget. But there are still some very luxurious, exclusive ways to go skiing, where you can feel pampered and special, and appreciate the finer things in life – I’ve selected two of the finest examples of luxury ski chalets, where you ski and relax in exquisite private environments.

“Chalet Infusion” – Meribel village, France

Meribel was established in 1938, and since then has grown into a bustling ski resort with a range of accommodation and activities, yet the attached Meribel Village has maintained a more traditional and peaceful area, allowing you to explore the Three Vallees from a more private and exclusive base.
The gorgeous “Chalet Infusion” enjoys a beautiful location in Meribel Village, and is a brilliant example of ski holiday luxury.

The chalet accommodates 10 people in 5 bedrooms, all of which feature en-suite bathrooms and all but one also has French doors which open out into a private balcony.

To hire out the whole chalet costs 12,000 EUR for 7 nights, a price which includes bespoke airport transfers, your Three Vallees ski passes, all drinks from the complimentary bar, breakfast and afternoon tea every day, and a four course meal including champagne and canapés for 6 of the 7 evenings.
After a long day of exploring the Three Vallees, you can ski right up to the front door, leave your skis and boots in the heated ski room, and start to make use of the luxurious facilities. Take a Jacuzzi or sauna to relax the aching muscles, then sit in front of the roaring log fire watching satellite TV on the HD screen. If you’re still feeling active there are table tennis, pool and darts and also an exterior sound system and fully stocked bar should you wish to have a bit of a party out in the snow.

Should you need to keep in touch with the hectic real world back home, there is a study room, and the chalet has unlimited WiFi access.

“Bentwood ski lodge” – Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA

Bentwood ski lodge is a stunning ski chalet in the challenging Jackson Hole ski area, in Wyoming state USA. The lodge boasts 5 gorgeous bedrooms, each of which has a working fireplace, en-suite bathroom, balcony, and all but one have Jacuzzi baths. Each room also has a unique theme, namely cowboy, cabin, bunkhouse, Indian paintbrush, and wildflower. Every room has unique features and decoration which defines the theme, for example the bunkhouse room has a ladder leading to the loft, with extra beds so a family can use the room, and also a wonderful skylight. The wildflower room features a window seat in the bay window, which provides gorgeous woodland views. Every room also features a flat-screen cable TV.

The main areas of the chalet are the dining room where you will enjoy hearty breakfasts and delicious 3 course dinners, and the great hall which has a baby grand piano, and a roaring log fire which will keep you cosy as your enjoy the stunning woodland views.

The lodge is available from $8,610 a week (based on 12 guests).

Sean Thompson is Online Marketing Manager at Pure Holiday Homes.

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Turn down the Rue St-Francois-Xavier in Old Montreal and you could be forgiven for thinking you are in the middle of Paris. The beautiful, carved stone buildings. The cobblestone streets. The view of the river wending through the city. But as you drive down this quiet lane, look carefully or you will miss one of the treasures of Old Montreal. The Auberge Bonaparte Hotel is tucked neatly away on this street and is an experience not to be missed.

This is one of those hotels you see in the classiest movies where you enter through a discreet and classy door on a hidden side street into an intimate and beautifully furnished lobby with a warm fireplace flickering quietly. After staying at the Auberge Bonaparte for several days on our recent visit to Montreal, I can truly say that it is a little jewel in the crown of Old Montreal. Conveniently located just a couple of blocks from the Notre Dame Basilica (we had a lovely view of the Basilica from our terrace) as well as many of the restaurants and shops of Old Montreal, it is also a convenient location for access to the Metro or even the ubiquitous Bixi bike stands which are throughout the city.

Upgraded to a suite when we arrived, we didn’t realize until later how truly special this was, since this small and charming boutique hotel has only one suite exactly like this one. All of the rooms are perfectly lovely, but if you can possibly arrange a stay in the same one-bedroom suite we had, I recommend it. The living room is quite large with a comfortable couch, two chairs, a TV and a nice mini-bar area which was great to stock with drinks and snacks for our stay. There is also a very nice terrace with a wrought-iron table and chairs that is very pleasant for enjoying the view and the pretty gardens.

The bedroom was also a nice size with a lovely king-sized bed, a desk and another TV. The beautiful, marble bathroom has a glass shower and a huge whirlpool tub. This would actually be a great place for a honeymoon couple! There are several other rooms that also include a whirlpool tub and some have queens and king-size beds; you can decide which will meet your needs. With beautiful hardwood floors, large French dormer windows and high ceilings featuring crown moldings, this suite was really spectacular. But for techies like us, it was also nice to have cable TV with movie channels and wifi available in the room which was extremely fast. All rooms are also non-smoking, which we consider a real plus.

A daily, full breakfast in the fabulous restaurant is included in the price of your room and includes French pancakes, French toast, omelets cooked to order and several other items. A Continental breakfast by room service is also available if you are feeling lazy. We also had dinner in the Auberge Bonaparte restaurant a couple of nights and the food was beautifully prepared and absolutely delicious. This is the perfect place to stay in Old Montreal!

Jan Ross is Editor of The Travel Authority Blog.

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The Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco has a sweet solution for the young-at-heart: adults-only hot chocolate at the posh Seasons Bar and Lounge. Made for sipping just like martinis, these “choctails” are made with the finest valhrona chocolate and spiked with your choice of raspberry, orange, vanilla or peppermint liqueur. The finishing touch? A fluffy-as-a-cloud house-made marshmallow of a similar flavour. But for diehard chocoholics, there’s only one choice: a piping hot chocolate spiked with Godiva Dark Chocolate liqueur and finished with a chocolate marshmallow.

Settle in at Seasons, order an adult hot chocolate and say cheers to your years — it’s good to be a grown-up! The mouthwatering menu is available at Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco all winter long.

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples after 25 years of impeccable service is offering some great Silver Anniversary deals for this holiday season.   Naples is proud to lay home to this Five Star, Five Diamond resort and the Ritz is giving back to its fellow Neapolitans by offering hundreds of dollars in savings off a variety of packages.

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples features fantastic views of the Gulf of Mexico as well as a plethora of other amenities including a world-class spa, high tech entertainment lounge, eight exciting restaurants, and a pool for every member of the family. You can latch down a Coastal View guest room for only $125/night during the holiday season (November 28 through December 22.) Use promo code “RCNRCNA” when booking.

In desperate need of a spa get away? They are also offering a “Silver Spa Celebration” from November 2010 through April 2011 where you can get a 50 minute Ionic Facial for only $150, or a sparkly Silver Express Mani & Pedi for only $75.  Check out the Silver Anniversary press release for more tantalizing spa specials.

The Ritz-Carlton has long been a family name that has served the likes of families to business travelers.  The world class amenities, unprecedented service, and amazing hotel locations are what make the Ritz a world-renowned phenomenon.

Nicole Henderson is a dedicated travel professional writing for the Milwaukee Examiner.

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If you’re looking for the ultimate vacation rental, look no further than these truly startling vacation homes. Taking luxury to the next level, these luxury vacation rentals each bring something new to the table that will fulfill even the most discerning tastes.

Summer dreams and water fun

Villa with Swim-Up Bar: The beachfront Villa Avalon in Turks and Caicos
is not only the ideal beach villa in the Caribbean, it’s fully outfitted for
relaxing beach living. Each of the 4 bedrooms opens out onto a private
terrace and the pool deck. You can walk out onto a Turtle Cove beach and
snorkel out into Smith’s Reef. The pool curves around the deck and has a
swim-up bar with bar stools just below the surface. Enjoy alfresco dining
and cocktail swilling under the Caribbean palapa bar.

Koh Samui Villa with Waterslide: Not content to be just a pool villa, Lulu
is has an amusement park waterslide cascading from the 3rd-floor balcony
78 meters down to the pool. The Koh Samui Villa Lulu also offers comfortable
living areas, a games room for family entertaining and a staff attending to
catering, cleaning and maintenance throughout your stay.

St. Martin Villa with 3 Pools: What’s the fun of just one pool? The luxury
Villa d’Art has outdoor terraces with three pools, one for the main villa, a
private pool for the master bedroom and a pool in the outdoor bar area.
The St. Martin Villa has a tennis court and is just minutes from the sugary
Caribbean beaches.

Beach fun for family and friends

Nantucket Villa with Private Beach: This waterfront beach villa is perfect for family vacations in Nantucket, outfitted with private access to your own beach, a tennis court, gym, pool and pool house. It’s a dream house decorated with classic New England elegance that welcomes in the whole family.

Resort in a Villa in Bahamas: Hidden away on a secluded beach in Grand Bahama, the Nandana Private Resort brings a luxury resort to your own private home. Enjoy gourmet cuisine for each meal, an on-site masseuse, 120’ infinity pool, Jacuzzi, Jet Skis, ATVs, and 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, beach volleyball course, full staff, courtesy private yacht Lioness for sport-fishing and snorkeling, a private airplane all just for you, your friends and family.

Villas that are luxe and then some

Castle with Heli Pad: The Trident Castle is one of the largest private vacation homes in Caribbean and is ideal for a destination wedding in Jamaica. The luxury castle built by Hotelier and Architect Earl Levy has a ballroom, banquet hall, two living rooms, romantic courtyard, full-time staff of eight, a pool, private chapel and personal helicopter pad.

Modern Villa with Private Chef and Wine Cellar: A fully-staffed Johannesburg villa which comes with a Cordon Bleu private chef, chauffeured Mercedes Benz Vito, maid and butler service, on-call physician and a masseuse. In addition to the five-star service, the Johannesburg villa includes a home gym with sauna, a grand home cinema, infinity pool and a deluxe wine cellar stocked with South African wines and cigar humidor with Havanas and Cohibas.

Verbier Chalet with Spa: The ski chalet Spa Blanche comes with its own private Spa for the perfect way to unwind after a long day of the Swiss ski slopes. The chalet Spa Blanche has a luxurysSpa with Jacuzzi, sauna, hammam and therapy treatment room as well as a Swimspa H2X with a therapy pool and poolside bar.

Ollivier Jacq is Founder of Paradizo.

If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.

For travellers and shoppers passing through New York City looking for fun holiday spots to have a festive lunch or a Christmas cocktail, The Wheeltapper Pub at the Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel (141 East 44th Street at Lexington Avenue) is the perfect stop. The pub, which features a huge festively decorated all-season Patio, is having a 12 Beers of Christmas celebration now through Christmas day. These seasonal specialties are $6 a bottle and offer a broad spectrum of flavors:

The Wheeltapper’s sommelier, Patrick Lutz, has also put together some fabulous food pairings from The Wheeltapper menu, including Snow Bound Winter Ale with a Turkey Club ($11), Winter Warlock Oatmeal Stout with Four Cheese Macaroni ($15), Cocoa Porter Winter Warmer with a Caramelized Apple Salad($11) or Isolation Ale with the Irish classic Fish and Chips ($19).

If you’ll be in the city for Christmas Day, The Wheeltapper and its sister restaurant The Fitz at The Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel (at 687 Lexington Avenue) will be serving very special Christmas menus featuring such traditional holiday dishes as Roast Turkey and Sugar Glazed Ham with Irish Sausage Stuffing and house-made Irish Christmas Pudding. The Fitz is offering a four-course Christmas prix-fixe feast ($79) and The Wheeltapper is offering Christmas dinner specialties both a la carte and as a prix fixe ($47).

The new Ski Resorts Visual Search tool from Bing allows users to explore and snowplough their way through 486 different ski resort locations, saving them the hassle of flicking through  countless holiday brochures when searching for last minute skiing holidays. With rich colour images of the top skiing resorts, users can helpfully filter results down by region, difficulty, number of open runs, new snow in the last seven days and more.

Also, illustrating that France’s slopes are still a jump above the rest, search stats on Bing UK find Chamonix to be the most searched for skiing destination with Morzine and Tignes following close behind. Slightly further afield, Canada’s famous Banff ski resort comes in at fourth place with France’s Meribel finding fifth place.

1. Chamonix, France
2. Morzine, France
3. Tignes, France
4. Banff, Canada
5. Meribel, France
6. Val Thorens, France
7. Aspen, United States of America
8. La Plagne, France
9. Verbier, Switzerland
10.  Courchevel, France

Those of you currently enduring sub-zero temperatures might be interested to hear that Tripadvisor has come up with a top 10 list of warm weather escapes.  Making the list are the following:

1. Cancun, Mexico
2. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
3. Playa del Carmen, Mexico
4. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
5. Miami Beach, Florida, USA
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
8. Orlando, Florida, USA
9. Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico
10. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

A $20 million boutique hotel named The Silver Palms Inn has just opened in Key West and is being marketed as an “affordable elegant” property. The hotel is just three blocks from Duval Street, so guests are within convenient walking and biking distance from Key West’s attractions such as the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, the Lighthouse Museum and Southernmost Point.

With 50 guest rooms and suites, the Silver Palms offers modern island décor, luxurious beds and linens, free Wi-Fi, a fitness room, swimming pool, parking and daily complimentary breakfast, sans resort fees.

Room rates start from $149 plus tax per night.