The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort – and its sister property, the Beach Resort – are making it easy to hide from the world for a few days this summer. And, I can tell you from experience, the twin Ritz properties are great places to hide. With the Spa Escape Package, you can be treated as you deserve (or, in my case, better), for a mere $259 a night ($299 at the Beach Resort).

The spa at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort services both Naples, FL properties. As part o this program, a stay at either hotel will get you a $200 spa credit, which includes both services and retail. You'll also pick up a $50 gift card for the properties' on-site stores.

The Ritz-Carlton Spa integrates organic and eco-friendly options to mitigate environmental impact without degrading the quality of the treatments provided. The Eco-Luxe Facial and Eco-Luxe Cocoon are conducted in the Eco-Room, which features soft materials made from organic cotton and bamboo and washed in a separate machine with fragrance-free and sulfate-free cleansers. The floor and chair are made from bamboo, and the massage table was crafted entirely from sustainable materials.

With domestic flights cheaper than ever (except when I'm flying, it seems), getting to Naples won't be painful, and JetBlue has countless flights into the area. And, the perks that come with the Spa Escape Package basically make the room free. I hit this spa last summer and might just make it an annual experience.

The Ritz-Carlton Berlin is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a special "The Wall" travel deal, good through December 29, 2009. The package includes one night in a superior room, an upscale breakfast, a ticket to the Berlin Wall Museum and a souvenir piece of the toppled wall. Other amenities are a piccolo bottle of the famous Rotkäppchen sparkling wine and a pack of Zetti sweet crunchy chocolate chips, both of which are well-known former GDR brands that went on to conquer the West , as well as a DVD of the film Good Bye Lenin!, which received nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Awards. Upon arrival, guests are greeted with a "Gorbachev Cocktail."

Guests can book special city tours separately, such as the "Trabi-Safari," in which visitors can go sightseeing in a Trabant, a car produced in what was formerly East Germany. There also is a guided tour along the traces of the former border, either on foot or by bike. The package is priced at about $335 for a single room or $385 for a double room. To make reservations, call 800-241-3333, e-mail berlin.reservation@ritzcarlton.com or visit www.ritzcarlton.com.

Several months ago Ritz-Carlton finalized a $180 million transformation at its AAA Five-Diamond Kapalua, Hawaii, hotel with the opening of the 17,500-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Spa, Kapalua. The hotel, which has 463 fully-renovated guestrooms, including 107 Residential Suites, is located on the healing waters of Waihua, which the ancient Hawaiians believed was the most pure form of water.

The spa features 15 treatment rooms, with half opening to private outdoor shower gardens, and all with iPod docking stations with pre-programmed music selections and robe warmers. The spa also features two outdoor couples' hale (cabanas), men's and women's relaxation areas with the depiction of lava stone grotto areas, steam rooms, saunas, and whirlpools, and the only coed indoor/outdoor relaxation area in Hawaii with a whirlpool.

The Waihua concept is evidenced by wood panels carved with images of taro leaves and the dry stone river bed design in the entry. The walls are curved, representing water movement, with water walls in select areas. Guests walk through groves of tall bamboo, and Hawaiian artwork is present throughout the public corridors. Basalt stone floors are found in the treatment rooms, and the lockers are made with mahogany wood. Raw natural ingredients of spa treatments, including Hawaiian sea salt, kukui nuts, awapuhi, and ginger, have been placed in alcoves.

The spa offers a range of Hawaiian-based spa treatments, including authentic Lomilomi massage and Hawaiian healing treatments based on relaxation and rejuvenation. Guests may honor Kupuna Kahiko (ancient elders) from the Honokahua burial site by presenting an offering outside their treatment room.

Many of the spa treatments incorporate natural ingredients in the spa products such as pineapple, papaya, kukui oil, coconut, pumpkin, and blueberry. The spa features a range of innovative facials using Murad products and the natural lines of Naturopathica and Eminence, along with Intraceuticals Oxygen Infusions treatments. The spa also offers pregnancy massage treatments using Mama Mio products. The salon offers a full range of hair, manicure, pedicure, and waxing services; treatments for younger guests, such as a Choco Holic Pedicure; and packages for teenagers, including the Bring a Friend Package, which includes a 50-minute Lomilomi Massage or a 50-minute Ritz-Carlton Signature Facial, side by side, followed by a Fabulous Feet Pedicure.

My sister, Gina, and I were lucky enough to receive a basket with samples of some of the wonderful products used at the spa. To read our reviews, click on the continued link. Better yet, visit the spa! Make reservations for the hotel here.

Prada Beauty and the Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation have joined together to create a relaxing beauty experience on Lake Oconee, deep in the Georgia-native loblolly pines. In addition to the usual Ritz-Carlton luxuries like feather beds, private porches, and oversized marble & granite bathtubs, the "Prada in the Pines" package will get the additional benefits of Club access, a men's or women's Prada Fragrance, a Prada Exfoliant Visage Facial, and in-room champagne and truffles.

The package starts at $1,109 per evening and is available for a limited time, this spring through fall.

Leave it to the Ritz-Carleton in Battery Park to come up with one of the world's most luxe hotel packages. The Can't Buy Me Love, But You Can Try is a one-night visit that costs you $40,000.

But don't worry, you'll get your money's worth. For the handsome fee, this package includes:

• limo service to and from the airport
• accommodations in the Presidential Suite.
• a personal fireworks show by the famous Grucci family set to the soundtrack of your choice
  
• private helicopter ride over the city
• private bath prepared by a personal butler
• Dom Perignon and strawberries
• candlelight dinner
• in-room breakfast

According to the hotel's director of guest relations, not surprisingly, only one person has taken advantage of this high-priced hotel package.

Sure, fireworks are fab as is staying at the Ritz, but if you really want to show your special someone that you are at the same pyrotechnically inspired and frugal, here's a slightly lower-budget version of the package:

• One pack of roman candles from a road side stand in South Carolina: $7.50
• One romantic Celine Dion album: $15
• One bottle of pink Andre's "champagne": $5
  
• One night at a Super 8: $65

And finally:

• Not having to fork out $40,000 to get the Ritz to do the work for you: Priceless!

Though there is still time to spare before summer, it might be difficult to get a reservation at one of the Travel Channel's picks for most expensive hotel suites. When you are spending upwards of $4,000 a night, however, the "necessity" of reservations may just turn out to be a minor inconvenience. Here is the list, with the rates listed per night:

10. Coco Chanel Suite, Hotel Ritz, Paris - $4,300 to stay in the room that Coco herself lived in for 37 years.
9. Presidential Suite, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills - $4,700 for a chef, butler, kitchen, grand piano and a chance to live like the stars
8. Peninsula Suite, The Peninsula, Hong Kong - $4,875, including butler service and a chauffeured Rolls Royce
7. Royal Suite, The Lanesborough, London - $5,837, with private security and personal butlers for the 3 bedroom suite with a floor-to-ceiling view of Hyde Park
6. Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai - $6,800 to stay in the world's tallest hotel, with a private screening room, views of the ocean and use of the hotel's helipad

The Ritz-Carlton has announced a new China hotel. It's their first resort style hotel in the region (they already have hotels in Hong Kong and Shanghai). The Ritz-Carlton, Sanya will be located along the South China Seas with views of Yalong Bay, in Hainan Province. The hotel will include 451 rooms, suites, and private villas and a 30,000-square-foot spa as well as three restaurants, a fitness center and even a wedding chapel. The ambitious project will be completed in 2008.