IL Postcard

The Sweetest Seven

Date: 02/03/2005

Valentine's Day is around the corner…and Hideaways International is helping membersfind the world's most romantic places to celebrate. They've identified seven deliciouslyromantic getaways. For example…

Friday, February 4, 2005
Dear International Living Reader,

Each year, Hideaways names its top choices for the most romantic getaways in the world. This year's list has just been released…and if you act fast, you still may have time to book a Valentine's Day rendez-vous in one of these exotic locales with that special someone…

1. The Royal Treatment

Taj Rambagh Palace in India has been entwined with the pomp and pageantry of Indian royalty for almost a thousand years. Everywhere you turn, you and your special someone will discover vestiges of the royal Maharanis and Maharajas who once graced the chambers of the palace--ornamental gardens laden with fragrant flowers, exquisite antiques and hand-carved furniture, and sumptuous silks and brocades in the colors of a jewel box. Your room will be equally embellished with regal touches. One Royal Suite has a dramatic fountain anchoring its sitting room. The oval bathroom of the Maharani Suite is fitted with lion heads that spout water. Other luxe rooms are finished with traditional Rajasthan frescoes, ornamental glass mosaics, or dome-shaped ceilings hung with crystal chandeliers. These seductive surroundings are sure to make you both feel like royalty, too.

2. One Word: Pampering

At The Beach House, a hedonist's escape tucked away on largely undeveloped Barbuda, a personal ambassador is waiting to greet the two of you. The generous attention you'll enjoy begins as soon as you arrive, with a cocktail and a refreshing cool towel to wipe away travel fatigue. From that moment forward, simply use the mobile phone and prepaid calling card in your room to contact your ambassador, who is on call to attend to your every need, from unpacking your clothes to arranging a romantic dinner on the beach. And what a beach! As this hideaway's name implies, everything is centered on the sea. The Beach House's elegant and airy public spaces embrace the ocean and each room is a graceful water-view suite. Here, you won't have a television, but you'll never miss it with so many other options: diving the shipwrecks offshore, horseback riding along a pristine beach, drinking in the spectacular views and a hand-delivered drink on the deck, or retiring to your room to "nap."

3. The Best of the Past and the Present

In Puerto Rico's Horned Dorset Primavera Hotel, the two of you will almost believe you're living in a centuries-old hacienda. Details like canopied four-poster beds and the utter lack of intrusions like TVs or phones in the guest rooms heighten the sense of opening the door to yesteryear. But in fact, the Horned Dorset Primavera is of far more recent vintage--so, in addition to antique furniture and an ambience evoking Spain's glory days of empire, you'll enjoy such modern comforts as ceiling fans, air conditioning, and endless hot water to fill the claw-foot bathtubs. There are various diversions nearby which the staff is happy to arrange--fishing, snorkeling, sightseeing, golf--but this is the kind of place where you simply settle in and revel in the serenity. Ask for a room with your own plunge pool and enjoy the marvelous views as the two of you work on your total tan.

4. Making Your Escape

Mexico's Hotel Villa Del Sol is defined by the sheer beauty of its surroundings. The sybaritic escape is romantically tucked away on the edge of a quintessential castaway beach--Playa La Ropa--that offers a perfect arc of powder-soft sand and calm blue water, backed by a luxuriant fringe of palm trees and jungle forest. Here, the two of you will be pampered beyond belief as you enjoy a lushly appointed room nestled among stream-fed pools, sparkling lagoons, and gardens blooming with colorful bougainvillea. Your seductive room is cool and inviting with a balcony offering a shaded hammock and your own infinity mini-pool--perfect for skinny-dipping. If you can manage to leave your room, the private, 600-foot beach is the perfect place to relax, beach comb, snorkel, or windsurf--and enjoy one of Orlando the bartender's famous margaritas.

5. Just Heavenly

Hotel Villa Caletas is a tropical Victorian mansion perched high on an emerald-green cliff 1,150 feet above the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica. With stop-dead-in-your-tracks gorgeous views in every direction, it's a true mountaintop hideaway. It's touted as being "Close to Heaven," and not just for the views. Villa Caletas is also a romantic and cozy base from which to explore Costa Rica's ample natural wonders. The mansion is a romantic, French-colonial fantasy and its guest rooms and superb restaurant are positioned to let you soak in the visual feast…its private beach below, the mountainous cloud forest behind, and the ocean breakers and gulf islands beyond. The two of you will enjoy retiring to your room with its huge windows that take in the stunning views and French doors that open onto lush gardens and cooling sea breezes. Surreal sunsets are a specialty of the house; for a true thrill, have an evening massage and watch the sky come alive.

6. "Southern Comfort"

When the two of you pass through the antique, wrought-iron gates of Litchfield Plantation, a former rice plantation (circa 1750), you'll enter another time, another place…one of gracious and genteel Southern living. As you continue along the quarter-mile Avenue of Live Oaks--a stately procession of ancient, moss-draped trees--you'll catch your first glimpse of the colonial-style manor house with its historically furnished suites; additional rooms and suites with more modern touches are found in both the Guest House and the country inn-style Retreat Cottages scattered over the plantation's rolling 600 acres. Everything you could want is right within reach: epicurean delights at The Carriage House Club, in-room spa treatments, tennis, swimming, championship golf, horse-drawn carriage rides, and a private beach clubhouse. Relax, stroll the grounds, soak in the history of this lovely estate, and enjoy some quality alone time.

7. A Home-Away-From-Home in Europe

A Tuscan retreat overlooking a sprawling vineyard…a cozy cottage tucked into the Provençal countryside…a sumptuous villa overlooking the Mediterranean. The choices are tempting. And endless. Discover the pleasures of a European villa to call your own--a base for touring and a place to truly relax. You'll enjoy all the domestic comforts and experience life like a native. Shop the town markets with the freshest produce. Meet the neighbors. Sample the regional wine. Dine at area restaurants. And return each evening to your own home-away-from-home.

To find out more about these and other intensely romantic Hideaways International destinations, and to learn how you can take advantage of the discounts and perks that members of this elite traveler's club enjoy, visit their website here.

Regards,

Kathleen Peddicord,
Publisher, International Living