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Read Next Year's Hot Books Today at Las Ventanas in Mexico

Where: KM 19.5 Carretera Transpeninsl, CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico

We’ve been following the Hotel Bookshelves craze for awhile now, and for good reason. We’re fans of anything that lightens our carry-on load, so books in our room or lobby are welcome. We like to leaf through those big, sexy art books that hotels like the Cooper Square and the Greenwich Hotel in New York stock bedside, and occasionally we might reacquaint ourselves with a classic while we wait for room service.

But the best thing about the books available for guests at Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico is the fact that you can read them before anyone back home. As we mentioned when the resort first introduced its Hot Type Menu, an arrangement with top publishing houses means that the Las Ventanas library features books six weeks to six months before their official publication date.

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Netscape Founder Weds Supermodel at Rosewood Little Dix Bay

Where: Vrgin Gorda, Virgin Islands, British, 1150

Where do you go when you're 65, have founded a (we assume) very profitable internet company and want to wed your twentysomething supermodel bride with no press or stalkerazzi?

You go to paradise, where nobody knows your name; more specifically, Rosewood Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda, near Isle de Richard Branson (Necker Island). Oh, and you invite Jimmy Buffett to come along, too.

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Tags: Hotel Spas / New York Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / → All Tags

"Cocoon" in Luxury's Lap at the Carlyle's Sense Spa

Where: 35 E. 76th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10021

Cached in The Carlyle hotel on the Upper East Side, the Sense spa is making headlines for its unabashedly luxurious bent. Both Vanity Fair and the New York Times’ T Magazine recently reviewed the place, and the consensus was clear: This is the place to evoke Great Depression-era excess in the name of the new Depression.

Designed by interior designer Mark Zeff, Sense is about as exclusive as spas go in New York, with just five intimate, super-private treatment rooms, a relaxation room, duet suite, and steam rooms. To get to them, you walk through a barrel-vaulted staircase blanketed with ultra-spendy mosaic platinum squares. VF says it’s like being “cocooned in luxury.”

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Las Ventanas Now Offering "Energy Ices"

Where: KM 19.5 Carreterra Transpeninsula, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

One of our favorite Mexican resorts, Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Cabo, keeps coming out with the quirky-but-cool ideas and we keep lovin' em.

Flavor of this month at Las Ventanas is their new Energy Ice drinks. We already liked their top chef, Fabrice Guisset, for coming up with the Japanese-Mexican fusion menu, and he's now branched out into drinks using both energy drinks we all know along with some of his own special ingredients.

That means you can now order Red Bull Energy Ice and Gatorade Energy Ice drinks at Las Ventanas, made pretty much how you'd expect, or you can be daring and try the Hoja Santa & Lime Energy Ice or the Cola Energy Ice, which uses natural cola nut powder to give you an energy boost.

The only thing that worries us about Las Ventanas wanting to give us "a real pick-me-up"--their exact words--is that we're expecting to be so relaxed on a vacation there that we don't need an energy drink. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt and presume we should indulge in their Energy Ices on arrival so we can get over our travel weariness.

Tags: Hotel Amenities / Rosewood Hotels / Mexico Hotels / Hotel Bookshelves / → All Tags

Las Ventanas Introduces "Hot Type" Book Menu

Where: KM 19.5 Carreterra Transpeninsula, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

It’s official: The age of the hotel bookworm has dawned. First, we noted the bookshelf craze; then we told you about the Algonquin’s new Kindles. Today, we bring you more exciting news for the bookish types in our midst: Advanced copies of new novels are now available for guests to read at Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Through an exclusive arrangement between Rosewood Hotels (Las Ventanas’ parent company) and a few of the U.S.’s top publishing houses, the luxury resort’s new Hot Type Menu includes novels that range from six weeks to six months from being released for sale to the general public. Right now, the following nine novels are on-site:

· Angels of Destruction, by Keith Donohue
· Honeymoon in Tehran, by Azadeh Moaveni
· Joker One, by Donovan Campbell
· The King’s Grace, by Anne Easter Smith
· The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer
· The Book of the Unknown, by Jonathon Keats
· A Matter of Justice, by Charles Todd
· Bloodprint, by Kitty Sewell
· The Book of Love, by Kathleen McGowan

Obviously, guests can read to their heart’s content while staying at the resort but are asked not to snatch any hot-off-the-press copies as souvenirs. Las Ventanas has always oozed with exclusivity anyways, so we think this is the perfect twist on the book trend.

[Photo: Las Ventanas]

Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Rosewood Hotels / Playa Del Carmen Hotels / Mexican Riviera Resorts / Beachfront Resorts / → All Tags

Inside The Rosewood Mayakoba

Where: Ctra. Federal Cancún-Playa del Carmen Km. 298, Salidaridad, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We love checking out up and coming hot hotel areas, and Mayakoba, on the Mexican Riviera Maya is one such area. Last week we got a first hand look at a couple newly opened resorts (Rosewood and Mandarin Oriental), a soon to open resort (Banyan Tree), and a resort that looks like it might have some struggles making it to the finish line (Viceroy Mayakoba).

We hunkered down in #505 at the all suite Rosewood Mayakoba and had a good look around the area. Stay tuned this week as we will take you inside the goings on at Mayakoba, but for now, feast your eyes on the above video tour of 505.

Be sure to check out our growing hotel video tours channel and all our hotel video reviews.

Tags: Guess the Hotel / Hotel Video Tours / Luxury Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / → All Tags

Guess The Hotel Revealed :: Inside the Carlyle Hotel

Where: 35 E. 76th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10021

Wow. Yesterday's Guess the Hotel game was super easy for you as everyone guessed correctly--it was The Carlyle Hotel on E. 75th Street and Madison Avenue.

We spent a very short time in the hotel as we got in late at night and had to be out the door by 10am for a meeting. However, this was plenty of time for us to realize why the hotel is one of Manhattan's best luxury hotels. That is, unless you overstep your check-out time.

Keep reading for the full review.

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Tags: Hotel Hype / Hotel Openings / Luxury Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / → All Tags

Atlanta's Luxury Hotel Boom

Where: 3376 Peachtree Rd. [map], Atlanta, GA, United States, 30326

The Atlanta luxury hotel market is booming, with 10 new properties underway. While most of these are still a few years away, early 2008 is the date for The Mansion on Peachtree (above), the St. Regis, Buckhead and two W Hotels.

Besides the Starwood properties, Hilton and the Mandarin Oriental will open their upscale hotels in the future, adding, in all, 1,600 new luxury rooms to the city. One wonky market analyst doesn't think that's a problem:

I don't think that it shows the consumer has been underserved as much as that the amount of demand for high-end products has continued to grow.

The Mansion is perhaps the most interesting property, since Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has only 15 properties world-wide. (Their flagship is The Carlyle in New York.) Seven more are set to open in the next three years in places as varied as Telluride, Costa Rica and Dubai.

Related Stories:
· New Luxury Hotels Incread ATL's Glitz Factor [Atlanta Business Chronicle]
· Luxury Hotels coverage [HotelChatter]
· Atlanta Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: marklarson]

Tags: Rosewood Hotels / Dubai Hotels / → All Tags

Rosewood Hotels Wants In On Dubai Action

Rosewood Hotels is expanding its empire to Dubai. Or Dubai is expanding its empire to Rosewood Hotels. We're not quite sure which commercial giant is exploiting which. Either way, a group of investors announced in a press conference yesterday plans to build the Rosewood Dubai International Financial Centre.

The hotel will have 157 deluxe rooms, 36 suites and a Royal Suite. It will also offer fine dining in two outlets, a gala ballroom, a business center, and the Rosewood Spa with rooftop pool and fitness center.

The Rosewood franchise already owns The Carlyle in NYC, a few other five-star joints in Texas and California, and several others in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

Doors will open in late 2009. Until then, we're fairly certain most traveling businessman already know Dubai restaurants don't serve alcohol, but most Dubai hotels do. Don't say we never did anything for you.

Related Stories:
· Dubai Hotels [HotelChatter]