winners-editors-choice

Miraval Wins Luxists' Editors' Choice Award for Best Spa

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

Miraval, the one-of-a-kind Tucson, Arizona resort and spa, is the ultimate destination to indulge and rejeuvenate. Likewise, it is the Luxist Editors' Choice Winner for Best Spa.

Offering beautiful grounds, spectacular amenities and delicious cuisine, Miraval is an award-winning "destination retreat" that is like no other. Guests unwind and relax at Miraval. The resort has a no tipping policy and thus there is no need to carry a credit card or cash. The resort offers all-inclusive stays which includes everything from airport transportation (to and from the Tuscon airport), welcome gifts, and accommodations to meals, snacks, non-alcoholic beverages and "growth activities". A daily $130 resort credit is extended to each guest to be used toward spa services, private consultations, dinner with the chef, or even a round of golf.

The 14 year old resort is situated at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains in the High Sonoran Desert. Its focus is healthy and sustainable living and it offers everything from spa and beauty experiences to nutritional counseling and horseback riding. It is famous for the personalized attention it extends to guests, as well as its luxurious accomodations. Guests are housed in 177 casually elegant casita-style accommodations and suites grouped in six separate villages.

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Chanel Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Beauty

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

Chanel wins Luxist's Editors Choice Award for Best in Beauty

For a beauty and fashion conglomerate whose founder distained fragrances, Chanel has had quite a run. "Women perfume themselves only to hide bad smells," said Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, shortly after founding her eponymous company.

That was 1909. A century later the iconic Chanel No. 5 is not only Chanel's flagship fragrance, but one of the most recognizable products in the world. Today, the Chanel empire (LINK: www.chanel.com ) spans cosmetics, haute couture, jewelry and swimwear. The company boasts more than 160 boutiques and seven ateliers (through subsidiary Paraffection) across the globe, from Paris and New York to Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Though Coco herself has long since passed on, the company's creative vision comes from head designer and creative director Karl Lagerfeld. Billionaires Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, grandsons of Coco's original business partner Pierre Wertheimer, continue to control the corporate side of Chanel, which takes in an estimated $3 billion or so in annual revenue.

Gallery: Chanel

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The Plaza Hotel's Oak Bar Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award (with Video)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

The Plaza Hotel's Oak Bar wins the Luxist Awards Editor's choice award for best bar.

One evening at the Oak Bar in New York's Plaza Hotel, a patron noticed a diamond ring on the floor and alerted the manager. Remembering that a customer seated in the area had just departed, the manager called the room number on the bill. Within minutes the guest was downstairs to collect her ring-and promptly ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon for the manager as a token of thanks. "You don't understand," she said. "That ring is worth over $1 million."

Such is the aura of the Oak Bar, Luxist's Editors' Choice award winner for best in entertainment. Nestled in the northwest corner of the Plaza Hotel, the bar has been serving well-heeled guests-with a few extended breaks for prohibition and various renovations-for over a century.

Walk into the ancient room today and you'll find rich wood paneling surrounding sumptuous banquettes, vast murals of Central Park mirroring the actual park that sits on the other side of enormous picture windows, and on any given night a clientele whose collective wealth is likely enough to buy a medium-sized country.

Gallery: The Oak Room At The Plaza Hotel, New York

The Oak Bar in the Oak Room at The Plaza Hotel, New York

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Sprinkles Cupcakes Wins Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Sweets

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Sprinkles Cupcakes wins the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best Sweets.

Los Angeles, Ca.-based Sprinkles Cupcakes is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Sweets.

"The cupcakes are so delicious, they met in your mouth," gushes one fan.
"The best, most delicious cupcakes in America!", says another Sprinkles enthusiast.

Sprinkles cupcakes are handcrafted from the finest ingredients, including sweet cream butter, bittersweet Belgian chocolate, pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, fresh bananas and carrots, real strawberries and natural citrus zests. Topped with Sprinkles trademark modern dots, rich chocolate sprinkes from France or seasonal sugar decorations, Sprinkles cupcakes are a sophisticated update on an American classic.

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Hermes Wins the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Accessories

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Hermes wins the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Accessories.

Hermès, the Paris-based fashion house known for its designs that evoke refined elegance, is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Accessories.

What is better in life than receiving a gift presented in Hermès' iconic orange box with that lovely brown ribbon wrapped tightly around it? The only thing that is better than its signature packaging is the gorgeous Hermès handbag, wallet, watch, belt, scarf or tie that might happen to be hidden inside.

Hermès is the epitome of true luxury. Each and every one of its products are made extraordinarily well, with the best of design and highest of craftsmanship. The company, which has roots as a maker of equestrian equipment, carefully guards its brand. Hermès never discounts the prices of the merchandise offered at its boutiques and maintains strict control over its brand and image.

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Dean & DeLuca Wins Luxists' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Food

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Luxury Shopping

Dean & Deluca is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Food.

It's Sunday afternoon on New York's affluent Upper East Side, and one look at the crowd milling around the Dean & DeLuca store at Madison and 85th Street gives even the most casual observer a good idea of just how incredibly successful the high-end grocer has become. It should not come as a great surprise, then, that Dean & DeLuca is the recipient of the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Food.

Women decked in pearls and Metropolitan Museum of Art pins stroll past color-coordinated fruit displays while men in tweed jackets pause at the seafood counter to choose from King Salmon, Chilean Sea Bass and Black Cod, each at least $20 per pound. An elderly woman from Paris admires a stack of ten squares of chocolate, tied together and wrapped in pastel paper.

"The last time I came in, the first thing I saw were these," she says, pointing to the $62 bundle of chocolates. "They're so pretty that I never even opened them."

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Aurelio Lech Wins Editors' Choice Award for Best in Winter Travel (with video)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Hotel Aurelio Lech wins the Editors' Choice Award for Best in Winter Travel from Luxist.

Aurelio Lech, the quaint boutique hotel nestled in the exclusive resort of Lech am Arlberg, is the winner of Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Winter Travel.

The hotel is located in Lech am Arlberg, in the Lech and Zürs area. One of Europe's finest skiing destinations, the area offers the glamour and glitz of Milan or Paris in the setting of a quaint mountain town. Packed with top-notch restaurants, stellar scenery and copious entertainment opportunities, the area dates back to the fourteenth century. Like many ski resorts in Austria – as opposed to ones in France and Switzerland – Lech and Zürs offers a slightly younger, more laid-back atmosphere.

Though the Aurelio Lech is located in an longtime ski village, it is new, only opening in December 2008. The hotel is well-equipped and provides all the sophistication and comforts of a world-class hotel, from its gorgeous spa to the lovely indoor swimming pool where guests can relax after a hard day on the slopes.

Gallery: More from Hotel Aurelio

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Baccarat Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Decor

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Baccarat, the French tableware, crystal and lighting company extraordinaire, is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Decor.

Though it is nearly two and a half centuries old, its pieces are considered to be cutting edge. From its delicately gilded champagne buckets and champagne flutes in the emblematic Baccarat colors to its vases, knife holders and decorative objects---not to mention the exquisite crystal chandelier hanging above, Baccarat is an everlasting fantasy. A Baccarat piece is much more than just a valuable object---it epitomizes a certain concept of fulfillment and perfection.

A table laid with Baccarat is nothing short of a theater of the senses. As one Baccarat lover puts it: "eyes gleam with the sparkle of a thousand reflections". Whether it is wine, champagne or even water, when it is enjoyed from an exquisitely cut Baccarat crystal glass, it is an magical experience that involves all of the senses: taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell.

Gallery: Baccarat Crystal