Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K heads to Sri Lanka...in her mind. Enjoy.
If I'm dreaming of a really great hotel destination, then the hotel itself has to be a bit special for me. Not designer-toiletries or Michelin-star-restaurant kind of special: I love a hotel that's got a bit of a story behind it. And I particularly like hotels that didn't start out life as a hotel.
Which is why The Tea Factory in Sri Lanka appeals to me. You won't be surprised to know that it was originally a tea factory, and of course it once produced particularly fine Ceylon tea. The factory was built during the 1930s (in grand colonial style) and in 1992, when its future as anything was uncertain, it was taken over by the Aitken Spence group and turned into a luxury hotel.
It is now a 57-room luxury hotel with views over the hills where tea still grows--the rooms were actually the original withering lofts where tea leaves dried before they made it into packets and onto your breakfast table. The rooms sound pretty luxurious with most mod cons (no mention of Wifi though but after all you are in the middle of the Sri Lankan hills) although they do list one worrying sounding facility: all rooms have piped music. I'm starting to picture a tea ad and that supposedly peaceful tea drinking music drifting into my room constantly, and I'm not quite sure that's what I want. But that's nothing that a good cup of tea wouldn't fix.
On top of all that, I don't even need to dream too hard about a stay at The Tea Factory--for all its luxury, the prices are downright cheap: $70 for a double room with breakfast, or $127 if you get all meals (and cups of tea) included.
If you feel you deserve to stay in a 5-star hotel but your wallet just can't agree with you, then Flight 001 has a new product which will help solve your dilemma. The 5-Star Hotel Kit is the magic bag to turn your budget hotel room into a 5-star (along with a healthy piece of imagination to improve the decor and the comfort of the bed).
The 5-Star Hotel Kit is a zip pouch containing the kinds of amenities that give your hotel stay a luxury feel, including Malin+Goetz toiletries, a pear-scented travel candle, some Dylan's Candy chocolate and even a "Do Not Disturb" door hanger. The online retail price for the kit is $38, which is usually a fair bit cheaper than upgrading your hotel. Unfortunately it doesn't contain a friendly turn-down service or free Wifi, but perhaps they're working on that.
As winter storms brew here in the Northeast, our search for the perfect overwater bungalow is intensifying. Know an overwater bungalow resort hotel we need to check out? Hit us on the tip line.
One of the struggles with overwater bungalow dream is accessibility. Most overwater bungalow resorts are in far flung locales with close to, or over, 4 digit nightly rates.
Thankfully, there is another option. 9 Beaches Resort in Bermuda isn't going to win any high luxury awards, however, there are plenty of reasons these "tents on stilts" qualify as a sought after location.
First, JetBlue offers direct, two hour flights from JFK, BOS, and IAD. If you are a True Blue member, that means you can cash in a free flight from the East Coast to Bermuda. Furthermore, a quick March 2007 price check showed plenty of availability at the resort for between $200 - $300 a night--you can't even get a room in Manhattan for that price.
Not all of the 80-some-odd cabanas are overwater (a little over a dozen are), and some huts can only claim such status during high tide, but this budget luxe resort makes up for it with complimentary cell phones, cold in-room fridges, and a West coast location that affords visitors incredible sunsets.
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by amandak
