We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
By crazy coincidence we just picked out this week's killer view of the Four Seasons Costa Rica and only then realised that this beautiful picture's from the same HotelChatter tipster who supplied last week's great New Zealand killer view. And we're jealous.
This view from a room we really, really want to stay in starts with the suite's own infinity plunge pool then extends out across the sea, and it's all just perfect. If you book this view between now and December you can grab their Stay Longer package--every fifth night free--something we're pretty keen on.
Except that the plunge pool suites start from $1,625 per night, which is still a lotta dollars even when you get five for four.
The first of a string of international hotels to open on Tahiti, and still one of the most popular even after it got taken over by Intercontinental, some people still talk of the Tahiti Intercontinental Resort as the Beachcomber. And Beachcomber is definitely a more attractive name when we want to think about tropical island vacations.
But whatever you call it, it's probably pretty clear that the Tahiti Intercontinental is a place we wouldn't mind staying at. Above all, it's got a really fantastic pool, and although the restaurant food is a little pricey, most guests rave about it. It's not just the food that's a little expensive though as the cheapest room rates usually start at $300 a night, too.
If you spend too long checking out their website, you're likely to land on French pages that don't seem to have a translation, which can be a bit annoying. However, we do like that they've got a webcam up on their site (and webcam is obviously the same word in French!), because we reckon we don't see enough of them these days--unfortunately it was night time in Tahiti when we looked, so we plan to take another look a bit later on. We're not voyeuristic at all.
Over at Jaunted they've been name-dropping Oman as the next big tourist destination, and now that we've found the Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay there's nothing stopping us hopping on an Oman-bound plane.
Zighy Bay doesn't official open until April, but the UK Times has had a look, and every TripAdvisor review so far has given it five stars. Apart from being a pretty unique resort in an exotic place, and brand new to boot, it also loves infinity pools with a large one and smaller villa infinity plunge pools. The large infinity pool is fed by a waterfall and overlooks the beach, too.
Zighy Bay is in a soft-opening phase already but will be fully completed in the next couple of months. If the infinity pools don't tempt you, perhaps the choice of arrival method will: you can come in by bus (boring), take a scenic 15-minute motorboat ride, or most exciting, paraglide into the resort in tandem with an expert paraglider. We figure they bring your luggage separately.
However, if you want to go we suggest going ASAP. The hotel is still offering promotional rates in April but they aren't cheap at $870 a night for pool villa. Although you do get that killer infinity pool as an amenity.
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 JennM escapes the cold of NYC. Enjoy.
It's freezing in New York this week and there's nothing I can't stand more than having to brave the cold only to arrive at a cubicle. Plus, all this recession talk has me stressed out. I'm not sure why, because I don't work for or follow the stock market, but I know this can't be a good.
Which is why I'm wishing I had a few nights at Uma Ubud in Bali, part of Como Hotels and Resorts. From the hotel:
"Expect not to be disturbed by the sound of traffic, but the laughter of villagers...Light floods the open ground, picking out an orchid among the velvet grasses. At night, dew begins to settle, lifting softly with the wisps of morning cloud."
Sigh. Bali's 85-degree temperature is taunting me, as is the hotel's large Shambhala Suite that features its own infinity pool and private treatment area, the perfect place for the massage my tense body and dry, scaly skin so desperately need.
Plus, if I were to spend at least three nights in the Shambhala Suite, I'd be entitled to daily breakfast and two complimentary hour-long massages, all for the bargain rate of $410 per night. The hotel also offers guided walks through the surrounding rice paddy fields and free daily yoga classes.
That's frugal enough to justify such extravagance during a pending recession, don't you think?
For a warm weather escape with a Dutch flavor, then vacationing on the island of St Maarten is something we'd recommend (and if you want to show off to your friends, you might explain to them that at the end of 2008, St Maarten will become an independent state of the Netherlands rather than a part of the Netherlands Antilles). A resort that's improved over the years is the Westin St Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa, which has pushed its way up to #14 out of 81 on the TripAdvisor rankings after becoming part of the Starwood chain.
With 308 rooms plus six luxury suites (all with the famous Heavenly Bed), it's no boutique resort but that means it has plenty of facilities, including two restaurants on the ocean front, as well as a cafe near the pool and a swim-up bar. There's even a casino on site that they proudly proclaim is Vegas-style, whatever that actually means--we think a casino's just a casino.
We're particularly taken by the pool, which Westin brags is the largest infinity pool on the island. It looks gorgeous, although we're not sure if it fits our definition of infinity. What we find most amusing is their policy on "saving" seats, according to one guest's experience:
The resort has a sign saying if you abandon your chairs for longer than 2 hours, your possessions will be confiscated (I commend the hotel for that!). One afternoon, 2 couples were seeking chairs and we saw a pool attendant direct the couples to 4 chairs that had been unoccupied all morning but had been "saved" by someone by leaving hotel beach towels on them. When I saw the pool attendant do this, I hoped he'd work his way up to General Mgr.of the hotel since the hotel needs this type of initiative.
Abide by the pool rules and you'll enjoy your stay. They have some special deals for winter getaways where you can get a credit to spend in the spa or in the restaurants, starting at $150 if you stay for three nights.
These were taken from a One-Bedroom Oceanview Luxury Suite which has a private infinity pool and jacuzzi on the terrace. The suite overall totals 1,600 sq. ft. with a king bed, adobe fireplace and your own telescope for star-gazing. Oh yeah, and a steep price tag of around $2,950.
MORE snapshots of the killer suite and view after the jump. Warning: Extreme jealousy will occur.
Yesterday's British Telegraph newspaper gave us some very handy tips on the best places to stay in Sri Lanka, but the most interesting one was a very positive write-up of the Amanwella resort near Tangalle on the south coast. Amanwella consists of thirty suites each with their own plunge pool, several different locations to eat, sea views galore, and best of all, a magnificent infinity pool.
Yes, maybe in ten or twenty years we'll look back sentimentally on the days when the infinity pool was all the rage, but right now this pool just helps us think Amanwella is a spectacular place. As the reviewer said:
I also liked the infinity pool overlooking the sea - the setting couldn't be more idyllic - and the tranquility it evoked. A couple of days here will relax the most stressed-out of visitors.
A picturesque row of palm trees actually line the space between the pool and the sea, so the image of the swimming pool flowing directly into the sea is somewhat disturbed, although in our imagination we simply have the palms growing in the water.
Just watch the full suite prices when you book into the Amanwella--off-peak rates are $325 per night for a pool-view suite, and $400 per night for an ocean-view suite, but the fine print warns of a 17.65% "statutory levy" plus another 10% service charge, so what you see is not quite what you get. Rates over the Christmas holiday season, until January 20, are exactly double.
This is a shot of the Presidential suite at The Tides Zihuatanejo which has a 435-sq.ft. terrace with its own private infinity pool that overlooks the ocean thus offering up 180-degree views of Zihuatanejo Bay. Overall the suite encompasses 1,465-sq.ft. and has two bedrooms and two baths. More on the suite from the Tides website:
An expansive open-air living area is intricately tiled with marble and inset with natural pebbles and features an over-sized wicker daybed, two comfortable seating areas, a complete wet-bar and a gorgeous private infinity pool with panoramic views of the bay.
Of course, a private infinity pool comes at Forbes 500 prices. The Presidential suite costs $1,150 in the low season to around $1,700 in the high season.
But don't give up hope yet. All suites at the Tides come with their own private infinity pools. The lagoon suite is the smallest of the bunch ranging from 700 to 800-sq.ft. High season prices start at $875 a night and include a private terrace with outdoor infinity pool (a teeny one), a separate sitting area and lagoon views. When we hit it big, we're coming here...in the low season of course.
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by amandak
