hotel review

Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Bay Offers Culturally Immersive Retreat

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

The drive to Kapalua, along Maui's Honoapi'ilani Highway, hugs the western rim of the island and provides an amuse bouche of what awaits: a nearly endless horizon of surf and sky, perfumed air and an unusually strong sense of place. That last element being especially evident at the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay. If the mention of Hawaii still produces reflexive images of tiki heads and loud shirts, the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences has made it a point to provide a more authentic, and thereby transcendent, island experience for its residents and guests.

Not to be confused with the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the Club and Residences property is part of the brand's equity-based program that allows members to either purchase a fractional residence at a specific location or sample any of the portfolio's options through a real estate trust. Either way, buying in results in a deeded interest that can be passed down to family members. But the quality sure to lure most into the former arrangement with Kapalua Bay is the lengths the Ritz-Carlton has gone to ensure that luxury and cultural accuracy aren't mutually exclusive concepts.

Tags: hawaii, hawaii travel, hotel review, kapalua, maui, ritz-carlton

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Samoset Resort: Quiet Luxury in Maine

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Samoset Resort, in Rockland, Maine, is fairly remote and offers a comfortable retreat from the frenetic pace of city life. Located a tad more than three hours from Boston, it's a great place for people looking to disappear for a few days, either to swing a golf club or simply to hide from the realities of everyday life.

To truly appreciate what this property has to offer, though, you need to walk through the main building, across the golf course and along the water a bit. Or, you can have someone give you a lift in a golf cart, which might be a bit easier.

The Flume Cottage sits apart from the rest of the resort, resulting in seclusion within seclusion. This1,500 square foot cottage, refurbished in 2010, sits right on the water, with a back deck that sports drop-dead views of the breakwater, with its lighthouse at the end. And, you can soak in the sights from the Jacuzzi that's out there. Since the only adjacent action on land is golf, you don't need to worry about the slightest noise intruding on your getaway, except, perhaps, a knock at the door when your meals arrive.

Gallery: The Flume Cottage at the Samoset Resort

Tags: golf, golf course, golfing, hotel, hotel review, hotels, Jacuzzi, maine, maine hotels, resort, resorts, rockland

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La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla: Where Old Meets New

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Not unlike the fine wine it serves, La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla Calif. is one of those things that simply improves with age. One of the hardest balances to strike in the world of luxury hotels is knowing how to retain a property's historic charm and authenticity while providing the most modern of amenities. The Mediterranean-inspired La Valencia is a textbook case of how to do it right.

The charming boutique hotel has been perched atop La Jolla Cove overlooking the Pacific since 1926. The decor, open-air courtyards with hand-painted murals and Spanish mosaic tiles, evoke an old-world luxury, while the rooms come equipped with state-of-the-art steam showers with over-sized rain shower heads, top-of-the-line electronics and free WiFi.

Gallery: La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla

Tags: california travel, hotel review, hotel reviews, la jolla, la valencia hotel

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A Stay at the Oldest Operating Hotel in the Caribbean - The Crane Hotel, Barbados

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Crane Hotel on Barbados is the oldest operating hotel in the Caribbean. That's no small achievement for an independent resort competing with the likes of five-stars like Sandy Lane, Colony Club and the Fairmont. Still, somehow this AAA four-diamond, historical property remains a favorite among those who can have whatever they want, like Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Billy Ocean.

It's safe to say that at least part of the reason the hotel is kicking along so successfully is its location on Crane Beach, a truly unforgettable sight which has been called one of the "top ten beaches of the world" by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The pristine pink sand, the turquoise waters and the big, powerful waves of Barbados' southeast coast add up to the kind of place people return to year after year, never fully able to describe it to their friends back home.

Gallery: Crane Beach and The Crane Hotel

Tags: barbados, caribbean travel, crane beach, crane hotel, hotel review, hotels, the crane hotel, travel

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Like Madonna: Get in Touch with Your Masculinity in Montreal

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

When I heard that Hotel le St.-James in Montreal was the preferred accommodation for celebrities like Madonna and Mick Jagger, I have to admit I pictured something slightly different than this gracious, historic hotel in Old Montreal. Although I knew the building dated back to 1870, and I had seen the photos of the white-gloved doormen, I think I was picturing an interior décor something along the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

Well, there's no rock n' roll memorabilia on the walls and certainly no Love Jones room service available here. This 60-room hotel started its life as a bank, and in the late 19th century, banks were basically palaces erected to the gods of commerce, with intricate wood paneling, shiny marble floors, elaborate ceilings, creamy paintings in heavy gilt frames -- all of which was impeccably preserved when the building was renovated into a hotel, and echoed in the floors that were added to the original structure.

The feel of Hotel le St.-James is sumptuous masculinity -- the palette is a subdued, tan, deep blues, browns, a faint hunting print pattern on the window treatment, even the curving posts of the four-poster beds seem to thrust towards the ceiling with great confidence. It flirts with severity, but pulls back from it by a few soft and whimsical touches: the pure white linens, the stuffed lion (which is the hotel's mascot) which sits on the mini-bar on each room.

Gallery: Hotel le St.-James Montreal

Tags: hard rock hotel, HardRockHotel, hotel review, hotel st james, HotelReview, hotels, hotels to stay in montreal, HotelStJames, HotelsToStayInMontreal, jake gyllenhaal, JakeGyllenhaal, las vegas, LasVegas, love jones, LoveJones, madonna, mick jagger, MickJagger, montreal, montreal travel, montreal travel review, MontrealTravel, MontrealTravelReview

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Luxist Gets a Lesson in Living Well at Lebua's Lake Okareka Lodge

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

When your bread and butter is acquired by trotting around the world to tell tales of man- and womankind's finest offerings, you get used to the finest. Akin to being a jeweler, when everything you touch sparkles because everything is a gem, it takes a jewel of the extraordinary variety to get your attention. After hopping on four planes to spend 24 hours in the air traveling from London to New Zealand, all to visit lebua's Lake Okareka Lodge, we expected to encounter another fine, shiny object.

What we did not expect – but what we got – was a the finest 4-day stretch of living we've had in years, and a persistent lesson in what the best living is like. We hadn't been on the property two minutes, and upon seeing the view from our suite we realized we had discovered one of the universe's finest secrets: this is where God goes on vacation.

Gallery: Lake Okareka Lodge by lebua