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Best Places You've Stayed...
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:48 pm
by Terry
Thought I'd venture out here. Tell us the absolute best places you stayed on any vacation anywhere and why. I'm hoping we'll all learn from this one.
I'll start...Mmmmm...just to start...
Albion River Inn, CA:
http://www.albionriverinn.com/
Cabin #1 is romantic and all by itself. Right next to the gourmet restaurant. Husband enjoy a flight of top scotchs before dinner. Remarkable food and views.
Blue Lantern Inn in Dana Point, CA. Great B&B with wonderful views of the Dana Point Harbor. Wonderful breakfast and appetizers and free wine served until 11:00 p.m.!
St. Regis in Aspen. Unbelievable views and great staff...they know your name when you walk in! Top notch service as one would expect from a St. Regis.
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:58 pm
by mbw1024
hmm this is intersting.
White Barn Inn - Kennebunkport, Me. Great service, great food. I stayed there years ago before it was what it is today. Have been for dinner since and it now feels a little snooty to me.
The other place that comes to mind is in Carmel but I need some time to come up with the name. I love the setting, I felt like I was in another country or something. At the time it was certainly like no other place I ever stayed.
Got it
http://www.laplayahotel.com/
Also Ventana Inn, Big Sur.
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:09 pm
by liamsaunt
Sofitel Le Faubourg Paris. We got upgraded to a suite on the top floor of the hotel. I think there were only one or two other suites up there. It was beautiful and really big. John got to the hotel the day before me and I arrived the next early morning while he was still sleeping, I remember walking through the suite thinking "He'll be in this room....nope. Maybe the next one....nope....the next one?" It was pretty huge.
Plus, the hotel itself is in a great location to walk to cool stuff. And, the staff is really great.
http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-1295-so ... ndex.shtml
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:13 pm
by sherban
I'm one of those people who likes most every place I go....that list is too long. I'm not a high roller so my travels are fairly modest...here's a few hightlights/bests:
Stavanger Norway- awesome/quaint and expensive, it was a business trip ~ 10 years ago...the hightlight was an afternoon I took off to ride the ferry through all the local fiords while reading a novel...priceless memory.
Aegina Greece- Awesome little island off the cost of Greece, where the locals vacationed (over 15 years ago now). Three of us got off the ferry with no place to stay and no reservations (~3PM) and this little friendly greek guy totally took care of us. We befriended a couple from England later (that was a blast), found this awesome restaurant where 5 of us ate like Kings and the total tab was ~ $50!! Then we stayed at this little place on a hillside and I can still remember this greek disco music drifting up the hill to our windows...priceless memories.
Cinnamon Tarn Villa in STJ (June 2008)...most awesome view I have seen for years...priceless memories.
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:17 pm
by Terry
Sherban,
Love the Greece trip. Wasn't traveling back then more friendly and layed back? No worries that we remember.
Chime in folks...it gives us all knowledge.
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:55 pm
by iowaguy
Fun topic, Terry.
We spent 4 nights at the Inn Above Tide in Sausalito and loved having wine every night on our deck suspended above the Bay looking across to San Francisco.
www.innabovetide.com/
Also really enjoyed the Inn at the Market in Seattle---about a block above the Public Market. Great views of the harbor and very cozy feel.
Terry---You mentioned the Aspen St. Regis and we have stayed there twice---- love that hotel---great lobby lounge with big fireplace and views of Aspen Mountain. The St. Regis Monarch Beach just south of Laguna Beach is also a gorgeous place, with great views of the Pacific---good place if someone else is paying
Caneel Bay would have to make the list---its where Janie and I spent our honeymoon years ago---and its on St. John---my favorite spot anywhere.
Didn't stay there, but we had a really memorable dinner at a small hotel called Buckland Manor in the Cotswolds. Very classic country house hotel and I've always wanted to go back there.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:18 am
by loria
hmmm, great topic! we aren't luxury travelers--so these are more about the places rather than the accommodations. Kolimbari peninsula, Crete
vico equense (amalfi coast) italy, woodland Lodge (koh Jum thailand) (small island off the andaman coast-- chiang dao nest (awesome food!) chiang dao thailand-(up in the hills above Chiang Mai), and for sheer beauty, a tent in the queen charlotte islands Northern BC.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
by Xislandgirl
We spent our honeymoon at Biras Creek on Virgin Gorda. I would say that it was the most wonderful vacation I have ever had. Top notch island service, quiet, and relaxing.
www.biras.com
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:30 am
by liamsaunt
I've always wanted to go to Biras Creek! It looks so relaxing.
For St. John, I would have to add that my all time favorite villa is Cinnamon Tarn, and I love Caneel Bay also.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:45 am
by Xislandgirl
liamsaunt wrote:I've always wanted to go to Biras Creek! It looks so relaxing.
For St. John, I would have to add that my all time favorite villa is Cinnamon Tarn, and I love Caneel Bay also.
Becky, you have to go. It was just the most perfect vacation.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:19 am
by Pia
Not luxury at all but one of the most romantic, natural, rustic places to stay - holds very special memories - same trip as our stay at The Inn Above Tide 
(see the San Francisco thread)
http://www.deetjens.com/
Pia
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:35 am
by Pia
I just clicked on their website as I haven't visited in a while - here are some amazing photos of the fire that destroyed 200,000 acres and came within 15 feet of Deetjens historic buildings 
http://www.deetjens.com/castro_canyon.htm
It was so interesting for me to go back and read about the Inn - it is on the National Register of Historic Places by the US Department of the Interior - and remember the food we had - don't remember exactly the meal but do remember it was very, very good even the Zagat review gave it a "very good to excellent"
I remember one of the rooms that we took a peak at after check out time - I think it is the last one on the photo page of rooms - and it was a tiny free standing cabin that when you were laying in bed had a skylight directly above the bed with a view of the towering redwood tree above - spectacular
Thank you so much for posting this topic and allowing me to relieve the early days of my romance with my now husband
Pia
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:00 pm
by chicagoans
Great topic! This got me reminiscing...
I'm usually pretty low-maintenance about where I stay, because for me it's all about the outdoor adventure. But having said that, there are a few places that really stand out:
InterContinental Paris Le Grand. Amazing. I got to go there on a President's Club trip, so everything was paid for for me and a guest for a week.
Phoenician in Scottsdale in one of the villas. The kids loved all the pools.
Boulders resort in Carefree, AZ in a casita. Very romantic.
Casa Palmero at Pebble Beach. I played lousy golf but loved the casita and the grounds!
Other places are all about the setting: YMCA in Estes Park, CO; rimside cabin at the Grand Canyon; a camp we go to every year in Saugatuck MI where the cabins are 80+ years old and spidery, but we have 130 undeveloped acres on a mile of Lake Michigan beach front. Love it there!
I also loved the place where we just stayed in Kauai: Kiahuna Plantation. The condo was nice, not luxurious, but the grounds are beautiful and right on a golden sand beach.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:36 pm
by Teddy Salad
We usually don't do luxury accomodations, but on our honeymoon in Cozumel 16 years ago we stayed at the Presidente and it was top-notch. Since we only spent $45 on our wedding, we decided to splurge on the honeymoon. Cozumel was much nicer then (fewer cruise ships, people, traffic) than now by the way.
We found a little one-bedroom house in Kauai that we stayed at twice. It is on the edge of a neighborhood, on a cliff, and faces out over a rural valley complete with cattle and cattle egrets. But it is also only about a mile from the Wailua-Kapaa town center so restaurants are close by. It was like being in the country but close to town.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:55 pm
by Chet