florida: swanky stay
This is What I Call Living: Opening its doors in March 2016, Playa Largo Resort & Spa is Key Largo’s first new hotel build in 20+ years. The resort, the newest addition to Marriott’s Autograph Collection, sits on 14 secluded beachfront acres with views of the Florida Bay. Amenities include a private marina with boat launch; a pool; and watersports facilities—this is the Florida Keys, after all. With 144 rooms and suites, guests have a treasure trove of accommodation options, but the 10 bi-level bungalows set amidst thick tropical foliage with an upstairs master bedroom and a downstairs living room, plus full kitchen are the ones calling your clients’ names. Then again, the 3-bedroom Beach House with its own pool sounds divine—it’s fully decked out with wraparound balconies, a great room, and lawn and beach areas.
Pamper Me: When it opens, the 6-treatment room Ocean Spa will be Key Largo’s only full-service resort spa, and it will offer such treatments as Mojito Scrubs, Coffee/Rum Scrubs and
Bamboo Massages.
Book It: Rates in March start at $499 per night.
Sneak Peek: playalargoresort.com; autograph-hotels.marriott.com or travelagents.marriott.com/travelagents
new york: for the high-brow set
This is What I Call Living: It’s a brand new look at Langham Place, New York on Fifth Avenue—the hotel is undergoing a major facelift that is set to be completed by the end of this year. It will transform the lobby; the corresponding bar and lobby lounge, Measure; and the guestrooms and corridors. To complement this refresh is the addition of a $2 million art collection by New York contemporary master Alex Katz, featuring 11 original works in the lobby and third floor event space, as well as 229 reprints of 15 additional original works added to the guestrooms, suites and corridors.
Pamper Me: The renovations are also spilling into the spa, with The Spa at Langham Place becoming Chuan Body & Soul, the proprietary spa concept created by Langham Hospitality Group. It’s the only spa brand in the world based on the tenets of traditional Chinese medicine, and when it debuts in New York will offer a menu of new treatments.
Book It: As an homage to the hotel’s new art collection, you can recommend the hotel’s Little Collectors package to your high-brow families. It includes deluxe accommodations in either an Executive Place, One Bedroom Suite or Two Bedroom Residence Suite—all of which sleep at least a family of four; an 8×10 David Levinthal limited edition framed print; a signed copy of David Levinthal’s book, “Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?”; Tattly watch temporary tattoos; an Empire State Building by Lego; and a private 1-hour family tour (for ages 4 and up) of the top Chelsea art galleries including Lehmann Maupin, Gagosian and Pace, led by a children’s art educational specialist (optional add on). The starting rate for the Little Collectors package, available through December, is $725.
Sneak Peek: langhamhotels.com/en/langham-place/new-york or hellolove.langhamhospitalitygroup.com
california: revamped beauty
This is What I Call Living: Nestled in Carmel Valley on the Monterey Peninsula amidst a tranquil setting, Bernardus Lodge & Spa reopened this past April after completing millions of dollars in renovations. The intimate resort has 57 newly designed guestrooms and suites that feature 2-person soaking tubs, heated marble floors, vaulted beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, fireplaces and a spacious patio or balcony that looks out over vineyards and rolling hills. Check out the 2-bedroom, 1,875-sq.-ft. Vintner’s Suite with fountain and pool views, as well as a full kitchen. The new restaurant, Lucia, offers California country cuisine with a fresh, vegetable-driven menu and house-made dishes culled from the onsite organic garden. For true epicureans, recommend the Chef’s Table, for which custom 8-course menus are created according to each party’s diet preferences. Although it’s hard to leave the resort behind, clients will want to sample wine at the 25 or so nearby tasting rooms; go horseback riding on the beach; take nature walks along mountain trails; go kayaking on the ocean on Monterey Bay; discover Old Fisherman’s Wharf in downtown Monterey; and even go whale watching.
Pamper Me: The property’s sun-drenched The Spa at Bernardus Lodge also got a redo, focusing on a garden-to-treatment philosophy and adding new destination spa experiences such as guided hikes, starlit yoga and fun runs.
Book It: The resort offers a 1-night Body & Soul package starting at $875 that includes your client’s choice of two 50-minute spa treatments and a dinner for two at Lucia. The 1-night Gourmet Getaway package starts at $575 and includes dinner for two.
Sneak Peek: bernarduslodge.com
utah: winter adventure
This is What I Call Living: Although the Waldorf Astoria Park City is not new, the brand’s new Unforgettable Experiences—being offered at all 25 Waldorf Astoria properties—are just perfect for clients looking for an upscale ski adventure. We’ll get to all the goodies included in the experience in just a bit, but for now let’s take a peek at the accommodations your clients will be calling home while they indulge in this “unforgettable experience”: it’s the 2,100-sq-ft., 2-bedroom Waldorf Astoria Suite, with hardwood floors, a fireplace, views overlooking the Wasatch Mountains and Snyderville Basin, a fully equipped kitchen, and both dining and living rooms. Wintertime brings a host of adventures, including skiing and snowboarding in the Canyon, snowmobiling tours, snowshoeing and dogsledding opportunities, zip tour activities, horse-drawn sleigh rides, heli-skiing tours, bobsled rides at the Utah Olympic Park and tubing at Gorgoza Park.
Pamper Me: After all that action, it’s only fitting guests take time to relax off the slopes. The property’s spa offers Ayurvedic and Eastern Harmony treatments, as well as such massages as the Mountain Salvation Sports Massages.
Book It: Park City’s Unforgettable Experience includes a 2-night stay in a Waldorf Astoria Suite with breakfast; Range Rover airport transfer; a meeting with a Custom Ski Stylist to prepare and gear up for a mountain adventure; a local whiskey distillery experience and dinner; private helicopter ski tour with PC Powder Cats; and a high elevation picnic.
Call for rates.
Sneak Peek: parkcitywaldorfastoria.com or waldorfastoria3.hilton.com/en/about/travel-agents
Editor’s Pick:
There are plenty of spa goodies in Las Vegas to choose from, but we’ve got our eyes on the Sahra Spa & Hammam at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, offering an assortment of services, including Seasonal Experiences, which are modified according to the season and incorporate season-inspired ingredients; Sahra Transformations, which aim to renew both body and mind; and the Sahra Hammam.
The hammam—the spa’s centerpiece—encompasses a heated motherstone slab with two whirlpools, steam rooms and stone loungers; hammam treatments combine body detoxification, steam treatments and a cooling bath. For example, the traditional Hammam Soap Ritual, inspired by the bathing rituals performed in Turkish hammams, uses a traditional Turkish Kese mitt to buff the skin so it’s ready for the hydrating suds that follow. That’s topped off by a detoxifying steam and quenching Tangerine Fig Butter moisturizer.
Spa-goers can book a Sahra Suite, which features a well-appointed living and entertaining area with private spa accommodations that include two side-by-side whirlpool tubs, a steam room, shower, changing and vanity area, or they can opt for the Spa Suites, designed for one or two persons, with its own treatment area that includes a steam room and shower, deep soaking tub, relaxation space and a personal vanity area.
For utmost pampering, recommend the hotel’s West End Penthouses—which come in “dark” or “light” decor—range in size from 2,400 to 3,700 sq. ft. and are available in two and three bedroom suites. Call for rates. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
