The Suite Life

When you take every effort to travel in luxurious comfort, from Bose headphones to Kiehl’s travel toiletries, restrictions from security and the dismal food courts often leave little for luxury travelers in terms of food. Rather than run into the safety of the airline’s private lounge or subjecting your stomach to fast “food”, airports are now offering a third option, luxury eateries.

Travel+Leisure reported on the new luxury rest stops that are landing in an airport near you, here’s an excerpt:

JFK Airport in New York – Vino Volo wine bar in American Airline’s Terminal 8 creates an intimate atmosphere filled with carefully chosen bottles from both popular and remote wineries around the world.

Logan International Airport in Boston – Todd English opened the third installment of his Bonfire restaurant serving up South American fair to those who rather have their meat with avocado crema than pickles and ketchup.

LAX in Los Angeles – Oneworld is luxury southern-Californian style as an eco-lounge made with natural materials and complete with shower suites for First- and Business-class travelers, so you can reach your zen before reaching highest altitude.

Heathrow Airport in London – Plane Restaurant brings luxury comfort food to travelers. The new Gordon Ramsay terminal 5 spot offers both breakfast and special picnic baskets, helping jet-setters start their day off right.

And those are just the food options. There’s also spas, shops and museums opening at airports around the globe, so check them out, it might even be worth getting to the airport by the suggested 2 hours prior to flight-time…

Find luxury hotels around the world at Perfect Escapes.

By Sarah Ziering for Perfect Escapes

As the new Sex and the City movie prepares to make its debut, New York City gets ready for its close up as well. The show’s ever-present fifth character will be featured in its full glamor in the upcoming film, and hotels around the city are featuring special Sex and the City packages so that everyone can feel fabulous in the Big Apple.

USA Today found a sampling of the deluxe packages at hip hotels such as The Muse Hotel, and classics such as the Mandarin Oriental New York and The Westin New York at Times Square .

The packages include everything from luxury accommodations, hip clothing goodies, special tours and other signature SATC items (sorry, no Jimmy Choo shoes or Birkin Bag included).

If you rather star in your own fabulous New York City experience, take a look at these New York City luxury hotel offers from Perfect Escapes.

Gramercy Park Hotel – Weekend in the Park Package

Hotel Roger Williams – Just Us Girls Package

The Peninsula New York – Summer Splendour Package

The New York Palace – New York Holiday Package

Hotel Mela – Manhattan Luxe Package

By Sarah Ziering for Perfect Escapes

Europe is taking steps to win back some of its previously dedicated tourists, Americans. The recent downturn of the American economy has affected not just those here, but tourism across Western Europe as well.

While Americans still find an economic advantage in Eastern Europe (and thus the region has seen an increase in tourism), Western Europe has become an even pricier endeavor, and has lost a significant amount of tourism dollars as a result. Official tourism boards in multiple countries have launched discount coupons, heavy advertising, and special offers to woo their Western patrons back across the ocean.

For Harry’s Bar in Venice, famous for being Hemingway’s hang-out, the way to win back the Americans was with a special 20% discount on drinks for “American Victims” of subprime loans and bad economy. It seems the bar may be actually laughing at and not with Americans’ plight with this special offer, but it might just work. As Hemingway once said, “Don’t you drink?…I have drunk since I was fifteen and few things have given me more pleasure.”

Find luxury hotels around the world at Perfect Escapes.

London

Paris

Italy

You may imagine the hotel of the future with robotic on-demand housekeeping, voice-activated room entry, and all kinds of other gadgets, which may not be far off, but InterContinental Hotels is looking beyond technology to the future of the environment.

Their new Innovation Hotel is a specially dedicated section of the IHG website that will showcase the hotel empire’s green efforts both now and for properties of the future. InterContinental isn’t looking at the future in terms of another century or even decade either, many of the green practices including low-emissions paint, solar roof panels, and recycled furnishings, could be in place within the next few years.

Let’s just hope other luxury hotels take the green out of their envy and put it towards their futures as well.

Find luxury hotels around the world at Perfect Escapes.

Conde Nast Traveler has just released its Hot Hotel list for 2008. The list includes hotels in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Middle East, Australia and the Pacific, and of course, North America.

Here’s a sneak peak at the list’s North American Hot Hotels which included many Perfect Escapes accepted properties such as:

Aqua Cancun, Cancun
Rosewood Mayakoba, Mayakoba
Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen
La Purificadora, Puebla
Grand Del Mar, San Diego
Ivy Hotel, San Diego
Angler’s Boutique Resort, Miami Beach
Tides South Beach, Miami Beach
Hotel Sax, Chicago
Palazzo Las Vegas
Ritz Carlton Dallas

And many more…

Some of these properties have such exciting design and anticipation that they are already achieving big industry buzz before they even open. So make sure to book early as the hotter a hotel gets the harder it is to get into, and it’s going to be one steamy summer.

Find luxury hotels around the world at Perfect Escapes.

See the entire Conde Nast Traveler Hot Hotel List for 2008.