Reports and advice on stays at hotels, resorts – any form of lodging
The bride and groom say their vows in front of the sea under a canopy billowing in the wind, their guests sitting in front of them on white-covered chairs. There’s no one else on the beach.
It couldn’t be more romantic or beautiful. I’m watching from my balcony of my room at the Gansevoort on Turks and Caicos, where the wedding couple and their 80 guests have been ensconced for the last few days.
We’re stretched out on the white sand beach staring at the turquoise water. We didn’t have to fight for beach chairs and though I’m told the Gansevoort Turks & Caicos (www.gansevoorttc.com) is sold out this weekend courtesy of a wedding. It is only 91 rooms. Neither the beach nor the drop-dead gorgeous pool (have you ever seen cushioned lounges that rest in a few inches of water?) are crowded.
Milo Greenspon may only be four but he drove his family’s vacation decision—straight from Chicago to Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos.
The concert goers are swaying to the music, clapping and crowding the stage so they can reach out and touch their favorite stars. Their smiling parents are right behind, video cams and digital cameras in hand. That’s because these concert goers are toddlers and preschoolers, many in diapers. Their stars are Elmo, Burt, Ernie, Cookie Monster and the latest to join the Sesame Street gang Abby Cadabby, a fairy in training. They sing and dance for the kids for an hour
We sit on the deck overlooking the ocean, palm trees and St Lucia’s most famous site–The Pitons, the two tall lava cones that differentiate this Caribbean island. We’ve stopped at Jalousie Plantation, spread over a 192 acres on what was once a working sugar plantation just outside the town of Soufriere in between Pitons. We are staring right at the mountain—right next to us!
It’s not even 10 am and already they are handing out the rum punch! We’re on a catamaran courtesy of Carnival Sailing that will take us from the north part of the island where we are staying at The Landings resort to the town of Soufriere (which translates to “sulfur in the air,” we’re told). Along the way we have spectacular views pf St Lucia’s claim to fame — Petit Piton and Gros Piton.
Tangerines, star fruit, breadfruit, wild watercress. We’re not perusing a menu in St Lucia. We’re touring a local farm owned by The Richards family for more than 40 years. Isaac Alphonse, the purchasing manager for The Landings, the 120-plus unit new resort where we are staying
There’s something to be said for direct flights to out of the way places. We are taking Jet Blue’s new nonstop service from JFK to St. Lucia, a small island near Martinique and Barbados. But instead of taking all day with connections in Miami or San Juan, we arrive in a little more than four hours. Nice!
I’m perched in a wooden treehouse lazing on a cushy double mattress atop a white sand beach along Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Overlooking the turquoise Caribbean Sea, I’m about as far away from holiday hoopla and craziness as I can get when the beach butler comes by to see if I need anything.
Check out the lights! Four million–really–blue and green and clear ones on trees and buildings. Welcome to Dollywood. Of course it is named for star Dolly Parton who grew up in a two room cabin not far from here, pigeon forge, TN—you can even see a replica of the cabin where she grew up with 11 brothers and sisters and it seems one bed.
I haven’t stopped eating—corn fritters made from corn meal milled at the historic Old Mill that is on the National Register of Historic Places–continuously operating for 170 years. I started the day at The Log Cabin with country ham and fresh biscuits.
Trivia question: What is the most visited National Park? (Hint: It isn’t Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Grand Canyon) It’s Great Smoky National Park—more than 550,000 acres that straddle Tennessee and North Carolina that attracts more than 9 MILLION visitors a year.
The Living room is beautifully decked out for the holidays with greenery, wreaths and a tree in all its glory. On the mantel in my bedroom, Santa shares space with golden elk and garland festooned with bright red holiday balls and ribbon. Even the lamp is tied with a big red and gold holiday bow and there’s a poinsettia (albeit a silk one) in the bathroom.
We learn it is the only place—and the place—for a traditional English Tea. In the 1840s, Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, wanted a snack for tea and thinly sliced bread and butter.
Not sunny, but not raining. Just 66,000 people live on this pristine island—actually a series of about 360 small coral island, which is part of the British Commonwealth. Yes, we see businessmen wearing Bermuda shorts, knee-high socks, and shirts and ties to work. Hedges are manicured and lawns mowed. Houses are painted a rainbow of colors—bright orange, green and blue, pastel pinks and yellows.
I smile remembering two other kids about the same age who were equally proud of themselves for making it to the top of Vernal Fall, also their first “big hike” in Yosemite.
Who says kids and romance don’t go together? Even in a place as famous for honeymoons as Bora Bora, families’ rule, especially as Air Tahiti Nui continues to offer kids free deals on flights. There are also great hotel deals
This is my four year-old cousin Hannah Sitzman’s first Broadway production and she loves every minute of it — from the costumes and sets to the music to the black tee shirt which spells out “Shrek” in pink sparkly letters. I especially loved the magic of the costumes.
A Denver Post reader told me she was “seething” when she read the column I wrote about Bora Bora being a good bet for families…
Whether you want adventures with your kids, want to learn about endangered sea turtles or if you simply want to hit the beach, there’s no better time to visit Mexico.
Elderhostel is known for their affordable, educational programs for seniors. But what many don’t realize is that there are 200 different grandparent-grandchild programs with almost 400 departures
DAY 2 — “The fish must hate us,” moans 13 year old Miles Singer. We are on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska with one…
DAY ONE (July 15, 2009) — Bears on the runway? “Routine,” says Gerry Winkler, the pilot of our six-passenger Cessna. Routine, that is, when you…
Ignore those office emails, forget all about the economy and for an afternoon focus instead on what’s really important, especially on vacation — making memories with the kids at a place where you made your own childhood memories
We hopped a short flight from Bora Bora to the French Polynesian island of Moorea that is spectacularly beautiful with its crystal clear lagoon and the green cliffs. This island is known less for its manicured resorts than for what there is to do here — taking a hike, passing by ancient marae (ancient temples excavated by archeologists), checking out the spinner dolphins and humpback whales, playing with the stingrays in the crystal clear water.
We’re diving in an area called Muri Muri just north of the island of Bora Bora and nearly as soon as we get under the water, our dive master Benoit Gratas introduces us to a Hawksbill Sea Turtle (like Crush, the character in “Finding Nemo”), showing us how to feed him a piece of sea sponge. He’s so big — more than two feet in diameter.
I’m sitting in an over the water bungalow, the ceiling fan whirring, with a thatched roof and expansive deck with its own swimming dock and outdoor shower? Did I mention that gigantic tub big enough for two with views of the lagoon as well?
DAY 7 — I’m face down on a massage table looking through glass at fish swimming in the lagoon as the Polynesian masseuse caresses me…
They look like they are hemming curtain rods. But actually, they are working with a kind of dried plant called Pandanus. We are again at the famous Polynesian Heiva festival that is held here in July. We first visited a Heiva on Raiatea and now on Bora Bora. Along with dancing and celebrating are competitions for dancing, canoe racing and this morning, thatch making.
The kids, three-D glasses on, are laughing at the Muppets very funny antics and all of the 3-D Special effects at the Muppet Show at Disney’s California Adventure. But these two kids aren’t four. They’re 18 — newly minted high school graduates. Yet they are having as much fun at California Adventure and later at the iconic Disneyland (which opened in 1955) as any kid.
The 22-year-old champion skateboarder and snowboarder has come down to Grand Cayman, his parents and sister in tow, to inaugurate Skate Cayman
The skate park is amazing — all kinds of dips, jumps — the boys got there around one and didn’t quit until it got dark just after 7 pm. (More about the camp tomorrow).
Yes, ski resorts in summer. They might just be the best vacation value going in this summer of great vacation values. Ski instructors around the country whisper that they came to the mountains for the snow but stayed because of the glorious mountain summers.
Another day, another castle. But no one’s complaining. Not in Prague, which many now call The Paris of the East. It’s crowded with tourists on this brilliant summer day.
Hyatt heralded the movement toward kid-friendly resorts 22 years ago when it started the Camp Hyatt program here… Today you’ll find innovative programs at resorts across the country and beyond
DAY SIX (April 4, 2009) — Lance is a Hawk, Bailey a turkey vulture and Sonora a two year-old Bald Eagle. The kids’ eyes are…
DAY FIVE (At the Hyatt Scottsdale) — The kids are hard at work — on vacation. They are crafting elaborate sand creations at the small…
Take your pick — you can ride a lift up the chairlift at any of Park City’s three resorts and go mountain biking or hiking. Deer Valley alone has a mountain bike school as well as 50 dedicated trails. There are mid-mountain hiking trails that connect the resorts and the Olympic Park — 27 miles! –where incidentally locals turn out in force on Saturday afternoons to watch Ski jumpers practice their jumps, landing in a pool at the bottom.
DAY TWO — It’s the last weekend in March and we’re knee-deep in fresh powder. Park City Mountain Resort got something like 18 fresh inches…
DAY ONE (March 27, 2009) == MMM… maybe we should skip straight to desert. There’s not one but three kinds of chocolate fondue — white…
Here there literally is a crystal wonderland — a labyrinth created by international artists that use crystal as an art form in 14 Chambers of Wonder, with paintings, sculptures and installations. We loved Jim Whiting’s Mechanical Theater with the dancing pants and the man’s torso that comes apart to reveal his insides that are all glittering crystals.
I decide I want to see what else this tiny resort village has to offer so I decide to go on a walk in the woods with engaging ski pro Alois Gstrein, who was raised here on a farm and has lived here all his life, now with his wife and new baby. His entire family – parents, two brothers, two sisters — all live here.
DAY 4 — The sky is post card blue. The Alps look like they are covered in marshmallow fluff with Oreo crumbles underneath. We’re sitting…
Did I mention our Austrian ski guide Bernhardt Kneissl who has been teaching and guiding here for 43 years — since he was 17? He doesn’t speak much English and my daughter Mel and I no German, so it makes for an interesting day.
The kids seemed to love that you swim in a lazy river from indoor pools to the outside, jump out, run outside for two seconds and then jump into one of these huge heated pools on stilts — with salt water, one with whirlpool and massage and blessedly warm. Inside kids and their parents are playing in the expansive pools under the waterfall and in the kids’ pool that is shaped like a Noah’s Ark
When my 18 year old daughter Melanie and I were touring Austria last summer, she begged me to bring her skiing this winter — her last before she leaves for college.So in the true spirit of let kids lead the way, here we are, about an hour from Innsbuck and just a couple of hours drive from Munich or Zurich.
Cheap eats and other bargains are especially appreciated in ski country this season — even here in tony Aspen and a few hours away at Vail’s Beaver Creek Resort
For a weekend retreat away from the bustling city of San Francisco, Squaw Valley was the perfect destination. The ski mountain is close enough to the city, about a three-hour drive, to wake up early and make it from the city to the mountain still in time for a full day of skiing, and some après skiing fun.
I can’t think of a better place than The Sweet Life for the bottom of a family mountain like Snowmass, by far the largest of Aspen’s four mountains and family-central with the year-old Treehouse Adventure Center that is ski school central for young kids. Jen Hayes opened her second The Sweet life (the first is in Telluride) in Snowmass’s new Base Village and it’s not only perfect for this mountain but for this economy.
We have moved over to the new base area at Snowmass, the largest of Aspen’s four mountains and the one known as the family mountain (though my 17 year-old discovered plenty of extreme terrain too). There is a vertical drop of over 4,400 feet and 3,132 acres of terrain — attracting more skiers than Aspen’s three other mountains combined.