The Three Forks Ranch located on a huge 200,000 acre spread along the Colorado-Wyoming border, is a new ranch destination combining fly fishing, horseback riding, sport clay shooting and other rugged activities, along with the sumptuous experience of a luxury resort and spa. The 30,000-square-foot lodge has 15 rooms and details like giant-beamed cathedral ceilings and European hand-carved paneling. The 15 guest rooms have antique oriental rugs, silk-linen wallpaper, Bellisari Italian linens, Chadsworth & Haig robes and L'Occitane toiletries and all rooms in the lodge have views of the Little Snake River Valley.
The lodge's Oxbow dining room offers gourmet meals, afternoon teas and wine tastings. The Roaring Fork Spa has hot tubs, soaking pools, and four massage and treatment rooms, with treatments such as Little Snake River Stone Therapy, Sportsman's Relief Massage and the Catch-and-Release Body Wrap.
The owners of the Three Forks Lodge have gone to great lengths to restore the fish population. A plan led by hydrologist Dr. Dave Rosgen of Wildland Hydrology was developed to reduce erosion, plant new vegetation and develop wetlands, creating the largest privately funded river restoration in U.S. history and a pristine fly-fishing environment. The Three Forks Ranch fishing guides offer custom fishing opportunities for novices and those with more skills. Fishing for brook, cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout is all catch-and-release. The summer fly-fishing season runs through October 31, 2008 and the winter season which begins December 15, 2008 offers cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, alpine skiing excursions to nearby Steamboat Springs, sleigh rides and dogsledding. All rates include lodging, meals, guide, horseback riding, hiking, four-wheeling, and sporting clays and one massage treatment. A four-night room in a deluxe room costs $5000.
The Grand Mauritian, a Luxury Collection resort and spa from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, "invites you to experience the magic of Mauritian hospitality in a truly luxurious setting." (I accept!) Located on the northwest coast of the island of Mauritius on Turtle Bay, on the Indian Ocean, the resort is set to open on July 1 and is the the Luxury Collection's first foray into the Indian Ocean and Africa.
The resort will offer 193 guest rooms and suites, all of which offer ocean views (some have private terraces and tropical outdoor showers); a kids' club; a 1,500 sqm Mandara spa with 11 treatment rooms; and a selection of upscale restaurants and bars. Spread over 10 hectares, the resort is bordered by the reef and ocean nature park on the coast with sugar cane fields behind. You'll find water sports and diving in the two swimming pools and on the natural sandy beach.
For business travelers, the resort has plug-and-play high-speed Internet access in the guest rooms; wireless high-speed Internet access in public areas; a business center; and venues for conferences, meetings and social events.
Have you been to the Hotel Oceana in Santa Monica? This revamped gem is one of my favorite LA hotels, it's nestled among apartment buildings on Santa Monica's beachfront boulevard. The style inside is amazing, if you appreciate decorating you should check it out, I've borrowed a few great ideas from their inspiring (and huge) rooms. My favorite part and the must see feature has to be the heart shaped pool! If you haven't done so already book yourself a delux ocean view suite with a balcony (around $500) at this romantic and stylish get away next time you are in LA! Hoteloceanasantamonica.com
Spa living comes to Hollywood in the form of the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences. The newest Bliss Spa will be located at the new complex and will be a 4,800 square foot indulgence with seven treatment rooms, a retail beauty boutique, a nail lounge for manicures and pedicures and Bliss trademarks like a a signature menu of tension taming treatments, rhythm and blues tunes and legendary brownie buffet. Residents of the W Hollywood will have the benefit of in-home services and perks like priority booking.
The W Hollywood will have 300 rooms and 150 W Residences, a signature restaurant, a rooftop bar and pool, a PURE nightclub, fitness center, business center, concierge services and a real Hollywood detail, an outdoor silver screen for viewing movies. Owners will receive VIP access throughout the hotel. Prices range from $800,000-$8 million+ and opening is scheduled for October 2009. Check out Curbed LA for pictures of the construction.
Pampering for pets is not something new -- a nice bath and haircut, nails trimmed, buffed and painted, perhaps a massage -- but this is the first time I have seen a clay mask for pets. Klay-9 offers an all natural sea clay experience for your furry friend claiming you'll never go back to regular baths again after this luxurious treatment. Some additional benefits are gentle removal of dander for allergy relief, controlling odor, promoting healthy skin and coat, and naturally removing any fleas. Prices range from $44 to $195, depending on the quantity you need to suit the size of your dog. My only fear with this treatment, if used at home, is the inevitable vigorous shaking my pup is bound to do -- I guess than I would get to partake in the spa experience too!
Skiing and snowboarding is a lot of fun but it can also leave you pretty sore. At Keystone Lodge & Spa, part of the snow resort at Keystone, Colorado, guests staying three nights get a free 50-minute spa treatment of their choice at the resort's RockResorts Spa. Keystone has three mountains that offer different experiences:groomed trails for carving on Dercum Mountain, big bumps on North Peak and deep powder and gladed terrain on Keystone's Outback. Rates start at $209 per night for this deal based on double occupancy. The 10,000 square foot spa, which opened last fall, is 100 percent powered by wind and features organic products, indigenous ingredients, natural light and a number of other elements that connect the spa to its mountain surroundings.
If you are scrambling for a place to take your beloved for Valentine's Day, the Red Rock in Las Vegas might be the answer. it is far enough away from the Strip to not feel like a typical Vegas vacation but still in easy driving distance for restaurants and shows. The hotel is offering the Sweet Valentine package from February 8 through Sunday, February 17 which includes a guestroom at $199 per night, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries after check in and a $25 food and beverage credit each day of your stay to use at any one of Red Rock's 10 restaurants or for room service. Other February packages include a Chocolate Champagne Indulgence spa package that includes a facial, scrub and a glass of champagne and chocolates at the Onyx Bar or the hotel lobby lounge for $315.
The resort also has several restaurant packages for Valentine's Day available at either T-Bones, an upscale steakhouse, or Terra Rossa, a gourmet Italian restaurant. Both restaurants have a variety of Champagne packages starting at Moet &Chandon and working up to the Dom Pérignon package which includes a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Dom Pérignon Champagne served tableside, accompanied by two Tiffany & Co. crystal flutes for $450.
I've heard of signature spa experiences or hiring your own chef to cook at your vacation home but a luxury bath menu? Imagine soaking in a decadent bath at the St. Regis hotel while enjoying La Maison du Chocolate truffles, Krug Grand Cuvee champagne, perhaps some Caspian Osetra caviar and one of the most relaxing moments money can buy (for about $1,650). Choose from four signature baths while in residence at these grand hotels -- and don't worry about the hour, it is available around the clock.
The Desert Springs JW Marriott has opened a new luxurious spa facility in Palm Desert, California. The 38,000 square-foot facility includes an organic café, Turkish hammams, digitally programmable desert rain showers, saunas, whirlpools and more in a calming setting that includes limestone and Brazilian Ipe wood and a ten-foot waterfall at check-in.
The spa uses local ingredients including locally harvested citrus and dates, which are used in the Citrus Sugar Scrub and Date Scrub. The Spa's signature body therapy, the Desert Journey, is inspired by the scents of the desert in bloom. It begins with the application of a creamy emulsion made of orange, tangerine and mandarin-scented body butter combined with a light brown sugar scrub. The therapist uses Swedish and gentle rocking techniques to calm the body, then applies hot basalt stones to the chakras and meridians. During the treatment, the therapist provides a paraffin foot treatment; a scalp, neck and shoulder massage; and reflexology to the hands and feet. Other treatments include a mud ritual, wraps and a full menu of facials. The Spa also includes a heated outdoor lap pool, cardio and strength-training equipment and a yoga studio. There is also a beauty salon that offers manicures, pedicures and hair styling.
The most luxurious option at the spa is the 600 square-foot private suite, called the Spa Sanctuary which has a private entrance and is staffed by a personal butler. The Sanctuary has a two-person hydrotherapy tub in the walled-in private courtyard and another tub indoors as well as a changing room, vanity area, digitally programmable shower, living area with a fireplace and high-definition TV. A separate Revive Suite is designed for couples and includes private treatment areas and a hydrotherapy tub for two.
First it was organic food. Then, last year, we saw a flood of organic liquors and wines hit the market. Could this be the year of the organic spa? The Today Show profilesPriti the only all-organic spa in New York City, What does organic mean when it comes to spa treatments? For one thing. many of the ingredients in nail polish are fairly toxic. The polishes and polish removers at Priti are free from dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde. Their teas, creams, scrubs, essential oils and even their cleaning products are all organic. Even their website is hosted by a green web hosting company that plants a tree for every person who joins.
Priti offers a variety of services including the Priti relaxing manicure or pedicure which starts with a bath of fresh flowers and organic lavender oil followed by a scrub with lavender chamomile foot polish, a massage using a lavender chamomile organic cream and finally a polish. The manicure is $40 and the pedicure is $50. A spa day package including an hour-long massage, facial, manicure and pedicure is $300.
Imagine a steam shower that not only delivers bliss and relaxation but aromatherapy, LED lighting, music and an LCD screen for your viewing pleasure... you must be envisioning the Verona by Di Vapor. The hydromassage was enough to sell me on it immediately! For £1795 it can be yours and you can start your New Year on the right foot. Too bad it doesn't come with the vase, teak seat and great shale-colored tile... I would do a bathroom makeover in an instant!
Wow, I realize it could just be the photography but this shower looks positively dreamy. Which is quite appropriate considering it's called "Dream Light." It's a chromatherapy rain canopy from Jaclo Industries that's designed to take the standard relaxing power of a shower and turn it up a notch with the emotional and soothing power of color. It's made of a stainless steel sheet in round, rectangle, or cube shapes with programmable LED lights that illuminate the water as it falls.
Talk about a great way to relax -- just looking at this Thalassor Beleina Whirlpool Tub makes me feel a little less stressed. It must be the sweeping sculptural tub design, coupled with the raised faucet that makes the whole thing feel a little like you're sitting in a fountain. But most fountains don't have massage jets, hydrojets, and a chromotherapy system that offers 512 colors (that's ridiculous!) for an experience that is absolutely and completely tailored to exactly what you need. Can't get better than that!
If you are in need of Napa Valley getaway, the Silverado Resort has a couple of trips that combine the Napa standards of wine and spa treatments. The Napa Valley Wine Experience includes two nights in a one-bedroom fireplace suite, a wine tasting at William Hill Winery, one spa treatment per person, a picnic lunch at V. Sattui Winery, entrance to COPIA: the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts and a dinner at the Silverado's Grill. The package starts at $1,090 per couple.
They are also offering a Deluxe Spa Package which includes one night in a one-bedroom, a choice of a body scrub or body wrap, a 50-minute spa treatment of your choice, an 80-minute spa treatment of our choice and use of the Spa at Silverado's facilities such as a heated lap pool, sauna and steam room and whirlpool and exercise classes. The package costs $459 per person based on double occupancy.
Wouldn't it be great to have the option of stepping into a steam bath or a sauna whenever you felt the urge? But heading to the spa isn't always convenient, or even desirable if you're not in the mood to leave house, so all too often you're just left wishing.
Well you wouldn't be if you had this Tris Shower Cabin from Ideal Standard. It combines a shower, a sauna, and a steam bath all into one beautiful luxury unit that doesn't take up any more space than a standard bathtub. It has high tech controls blended seamlessly with a warm golden woodgrain design for a luxurious appearance as well as a luxurious experience.
