The One Key Travel Card is a like a membership card to a time share but more upscale. It includes first-class homes, personalized service, and local knowledge, without a significant outlay of upfront capital or whole ownership. Members have access to a worldwide portfolio of selected homes, as well as a dedicated member services representative. Cards are available by number of nights: 15, 25 or 45, for $34,900, $49,900, or $84,900, respectively. Use the nights in any combination. Pricing includes access to One Key Homes, daily housekeeping, and member services. Inquire about membership here. Choices of home style / themes include beach, city, mountain, leisure, and "hidden gems."

Last week L'Auberge Del Mar re-opened in Del Mar, California with a new design that's more like a high end private estate than a typical luxury resort. The renovation cost about $25 million dollars, or $200,000 per room, and the result is a combination of both upgraded appearance and upgraded services and amenities. There's too much detail to talk about it all here but some of the new features that caught my attention are the Waterfall Terrace (which includes a 14-foot illuminated waterfall) and the 4500 sq ft luxury spa. The rooms all have walk-in showers, marble-topped vanities, the best in technologically advanced amenities (i.e. 42" plasma TVs and iPod docking clock radios), and many have fireplaces. Where do I sign up?

If you can get past the cheesy promotional video and the fact that the whole thing is blatantly geared towards wealthy English-speaking tourists, The Great Brazil Express luxury train tour sounds like it might actually be a travel experience worth taking. 7 day tours are available starting next week on the 23rd and take place on board a fairly intimate (fits only 22 guests) train that travels through the gorgeous Brazilian countryside. The tour starts at Curitiba and goes as far as the famous Iguazu Falls, and the train accommodations seem nice enough (albeit small) with leather couches, decor inspired by the Brazilian landscape and wildlife, music, and food/drink. Prices start at $3500.


Via Gadling

When it comes to travel the question of rare is open to interpretation and likely depends on what you dream of doing with your vacation time. For some of us, merely taking time off for real vacation is rare enough. Recent studies have shown that as a workforce we are opting to use our allotted vacation time more and more for long weekends than for the traditional one or two-week immersion escape.

Rare travel used to be easily defined by the exotic. That no longer seems to be the case. Thirty years ago, an African safari would have been considered a rare getaway. These days, people go on safaris for their honeymoon or bring the kids during winter break. Travels to remote islands such as Tahiti or the Seychelles are equally common with luxury resorts setting up shop in just about every corner of the globe. You can even tackle the whole world at once, private jet trips that take you around the world are becoming more popular and likely the recent film the Bucket List will inspire more people to see the wonders of the world. The LA Times found that doing your own Bucket List trip will cost you over $105,000.

Another category in the rare experience category is being able to experience a side of a place that few seldom experience. Often this involves a great deal of money. Concierge recently did a great piece on the world's most extravagant vacations. Many of them offer the type of experience that only money can buy. Take for example the $300,000 week in Paris offered by travel expert Andrew Harper. For your money you get a suite at the Ritz, private tours, a chauffeur, 24-hour-a-day concierge service and dinner reservations at hot spots such as Alain Ducasse and Voltaire. The trip also includes a private tour of the Louvre, a couture fitting at Chanel and a meeting a French custom perfume designer. Other trips on their list include heli-skiing and, of course, a round-the world excursion.

What is the rarest trip? There's no real consensus on this but I would say that the trek to summit Mount Everest still remains among the rarest trips in the world. But even this has become something that is accessible to more people. In two months and for around $60,000 you can join a group and make the attempt of a lifetime.

Another gorgeous resort is opening in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Casa Dorada Los Cabos, Resort & Spa is located on the Playa Médano and has a 186 deluxe ocean-view rooms and suites including thirteen penthouse suites which face Cabo's Land's End Rock. The hotel has a 7,000-square- foot Saltwater Spa that offfers treatments including a Chinese Balls Stimulating massage that uses special metal balls that release tonal vibrations for physical and emotional equilibrium, a saltwater ritual that guests receive with each service and the Couleur de Vie, combining color therapy, aromatherapy and thalassotherapy (salt water). The hotel is also home to a restaurant and a lounge that features 50 different beers, including a custom mango-flavored brew.

The guest rooms are lavish with marble bathrooms that have whirlpool tubs and separate showers. All rooms have goosedown comforters, plasma screen satellite TV, complimentary wireless Internet, ceiling fans, multiple telephones, electronic safes, and kitchens or kitchenettes. The penthouse suites have
multiple bedrooms, kitchens and furnished terraces and balconies. Special introductory rates start at $530 and the hotel opens January 21.

The island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts is often seen as a summer destination but as someone who grew up on Cape Cod I can attest to the fact that the fall can be one of the best times to visit the island. Here's a reason to visit, the White Elephant is holding their third annual Chef and Shop series beginning October 26th. The series runs four weekends and each weekend, a new premier chef from New York, Boston, or New Orleans will visit the hotel to mingle with guests and give a demonstration and tasting with paired wines on Saturday afternoon on the heated Harborview Terrace overlooking the Nantucket Harbor. The four chefs are Alexandra Guarnaschelli of Butter in New York, Dan Silverman of Lever House in New York, Geoff Gardner of Sel de la Terre in Boston, and Bob Iacovone of Curvee in New Orleans. The hotel includes a library with a fireplace, morning coffee and danish, exercise room, an afternoon Port and cheese reception and in-room spa treatments. Rates start at $175 per room, per night

Is the worst part of traveling trying to get a good night's sleep? It can be tough to sleep like you do at home in even the nicest of hotels, but The Benjamin in NYC has something most places don't: a sleep concierge.

And the sleep concierge is just the beginning. They offer a menu of 12 different pillows, choices of specialized sleep enhancing snacks, and before-bed massages. In fact, The Benjamin is so sure they can give you a good night's sleep that's as good as what you get at home they'll give you a free night's stay if they fail.

Do you think it's worth it? What would you need to make the hotel feel like home?


Via A Luxury Travel Blog

Although 2 week vacations are awesome the trouble is that it's often so hard to get away that they rarely (if ever) happen. But why delay that trip to Paris or Buenos Aires til who-knows-when? A long weekend, which is much easier to do for most people, can be more than enough to have a fabulous time in an exotic far-off location if you do things right. Vienna, Milan, and even Sydney are realistic possibilities. Why take the chance that a trip to your dream location might never happen when you can be there later this month? 1, 2, or 3 nights is better than none at all, right? I'd say so.

Why rent a luxury hotel room when you can step it up a notch and have a villa instead? Many people don't consider villas by sheer reason that the thought doesn't occur to them, or if it does it's intimidating because people aren't sure how it works. It's really not that complicated, and the benefits of having your own luxury home (as opposed to just a suite in a hotel) at your disposal for the duration of your vacation are amazing.

As far as which villas you might want to consider take a look at the 10 on this slide show, which are complete with villa renting tips like how to consider whether or not you'll need to rent a car and how to choose the best season. Apparently Croatia is becoming one of the hottest villa-vacation hot spots in Europe, and Meikloeur Castle in Scotland is one of the priciest renting for $37,200 per week (but for that you get your own 18 hole golf course).

Perhaps the poshest hotel in the city of Bucharest in Romania is the five-star Carol Parc Hotel which opened this year. The boutique hotel is home to 20 rooms and suites and the rooms boast wood-burning fireplaces, terraces, plasma televisions, and Bulgari amenities. The hotel is also home to the Poem restaurant for fine dining. It is also one of the priciest hotels in the area with rooms starting at 300 euros but first-time guests are eligible for a 50% disount on the first night's stay, and a room upgrade for the entire stay. The hotel's website has an excellent virtual tour that gives you a look at this beautiful property.

People who have money and taste are ever looking for different and more exotic ways to relax and entertain themselves, and the world of cruises is no exception. Trips to the Caribbean and the Bahamas are all but mainstream, so luxury cruises are moving towards smaller more personal ships and less common locations. And the world's most expensive luxury cruises are no exception, with popular locations ranging from the Baltic to Africa to Antarctica, and prices soaring upwards of $2,000 per person per day in some cases. Money like that will get you the best rooms, interesting adventure options (like kayaking in the Antarctic), upscale shore excursions with exclusive perks and privileges, and of course travel at the peak of the sometimes short seasons. Where do you want to go? I don't think I could decide!

It used to be that part of the fun of staying in a hotel room was extra conveniences and access to technology you may not have had at home, like pay-per-view cable. But now that Tivo and flat screens have become somewhat commonplace, going to a hotel room usually isn't so special as far as gadgets are concerned. And hotel chains haven't only lost their technological edge in terms of "special extras," but they're in real danger of actually falling behind and causing their customers to feel inconvenienced if they're unable to hook up their iPods or access wireless internet. Thankfully, many hotels are making aggressive efforts to upgrade their offerings, installing HD flat screen TVs, clocks with ports for music players, improved programming with more movie options, and other items. What are you most looking forward to?

Hotel Particulier, charming hotel in the Montmartre region of Paris recently opened. The mansion is home to just five suites with a secluded garden in the backyard. The hotel may look traditional from the outside but the interior features a lot of furniture from modern designers. Opening special rates start at €290 ($390) per night for the small suites and €390 ($525) for the larger ones. After the jump, check out the reasons why this hotel is worth checking out.

Has it really been ten years since Hong Kong was handed back to mainland China? The Langham Hotel, Hong Kong has a package available July 1 through August 31 to commemorate the event. The package includes suite accommodations for two nights, a 15-minute helicopter tour of Hong Kong, a two-hour "Symphony of Lights" harbor cruise, dinner for two at T'ang Court, daily breakfast in either the Langham Club Lounge or L'Eclipse, complimentary use of the Langham Club Lounge, featuring evening cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and more. The hotel concierge can also arrange visits to the ten major sights new to Hong Kong in the last ten years such as Avenue of the Stars in Tsimshatsui, the International Finance Centre, Golden Bauhinia Square, the Wetland Park, the Star Ferry Pier, the Tsing Ma Bridge (connecting Lantau Island with New Territories) and Ngon Ping Village and Wisdom Path. The package starts at $1,997.

Horseback riding is a more popular hobby than some may realize, with 20 million Americans considering themselves riders and 12 million taking it fairly seriously by riding at least once per week. With that many interested, equestrian-based luxury vacations are getting better and better all the time. From Micato Horseback Safaris in Africa where you can play polo and spot zebra to Cross Country International's Chateau-to-Chateau Trail in France featuring leisurely rides through the countryside with stops for wine and massages -- there's something for every taste and in every area of the world.