New Travel Website Provides Novel Way to Plan Vacation

By: Shannon Ralph

World Travel Holdings (WTH) recently announced the debut of a new website offering a fresh take on planning the perfect vacation. VillaRental.com provides a new and novel way for the traveler to search for and create a customized trip based on their travel style and their specific reasons for traveling.

Unlike other sites, VillaRental.com allows travelers to plan their vacation based on personal interest or “Vacation Themes” rather than solely destination. On the new site, villas are categorized by vacation types. A traveler who knows what they would like to do on vacation, but may not necessarily know where they’d like to go, can search with ease.

Among the “Themed Vacation” options on VillaRental.com are:

Spa Retreat
Eco-Friendly
LGBT
Corporate Retreat
Kid-Friendly
Wine Region
Golf or Tennis Hotspots.

“Villa vacations are rising in popularity not only because they offer affordable luxury, but also because it’s the ideal vacation for anyone seeking a truly customizable, private vacation with more amenities and space than at a hotel or resort,” said Steve Lassman, Vice President and General Manager of VillaRental.com.

For more information or to sign up for the new company’s e-newsletter—including villa rental tips, deals, news and more—visit www.VillaRental.com.

Kids Come First at Park Hyatt Aviara

By: Brandy Black

Park Hyatt Aviara, located in Carlsbad, CA just minutes from Legoland is a parents’ oasis.  Formerly a Four Seasons property, I assure you it hasn’t lost its quality of service or attention to detail.  Upon check-in a red wagon full of kiddie toys was presented to our daughter by one of the friendly front desk staff members.

Our room overlooked the Batiquitos Lagoon and offered a stunning panoramic view.  But most important to these two busy parents was the fast and furious service that never left us wanting.  In the time it took to walk from the lobby to the room the cleaning service had already made the couch into our daughter’s bed for the evening and the luggage was delivered promptly.  This allowed us to get on with our vacation without hesitation or a more likely 3-year-old meltdown.  We zipped down for a dip in the 83-degree water adorned with noodles for the kids. Our daughter was most pleased with the one-foot wading pool as it allowed her to securely attempt to swim.  For the first time ever since starting a family we were able to kick back on the lounge chairs without worry as she splashed in delight.

The property offers amenities for children that make a parent grateful that someone understands the importance of a child’s happiness on vacation.  Kid happy = parent happier.  The goodie bag of treats delivered to the room, the complimentary sorbet guava smoothies passed around poolside, crayons at dinner with coloring books, a kid-sized buffet, a playroom of games (although I must admit there were more adults playing pool, air hockey, and shuffleboard than there were kids), Camp Hyatt and playground were all key ingredients to a happy family vacation.  Beware –Camp Hyatt is only open during the day so the romantic dinner I fantasized about became a kid-friendly affair.  For this reason, we only checked out the California Bistro restaurant but the food superseded the expectations of standard hotel fare.

There are plenty of activities for the whole family, with tennis courts, Arnold Palmer Golf Course, Beach Butler to escort you with chairs and umbrellas to the sandy beach, and the spa.

Overall it was a lovely stay, a beautiful property, and it certainly left us rejuvenated.  I will note one more observation, given that this review is for a modern parent site: the resort was filled with a vast amount of diverse guests.  There were mixed race couples, gay parents, straight parents, people of all colors and quite a few couples without children.  I have stayed in other resorts in Carlsbad and San Diego and was delighted to find that this was the most diverse that I have seen yet.

Rack rate: $395 a night 

Special event at Park Hyatt Aviara coming in September: 

Saluting the ingredients, flavors, culture and talents of Southern California and its chefs, this special gastronomic Park Hyatt Masters event will feature a tour of a local Aquafarm – complete with an oyster and Sauvignon Blanc tasting and a eclade-style mussels lunch.  After an afternoon of relaxation on the grounds of the hotel, a “Cal-Ital” winemaker dinner concludes the evening at the resort’s signature Italian restaurant, Vivace.

Gay-Friendly Hotels in Nevada

By: Shannon Ralph

Nevada Tourism Commission has launched a new website catering to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender traveler. The site, gay.travelnevada.com, lists gay-friendly hotels and events of interest to the LGBT community. Several Las Vegas resorts are listed as gay friendly. Among the Las Vegas events listed on the website are Gay Nights Las Vegas Aug. 4-7, Las Vegas Pride Sept. 16-17, the EnGAYgement Wedding and Commitment Ceremony Event Oct. 9th, Coronation Weekend Dec. 1-4 and GayDayS Las Vegas Sept. 4-10, 2012.

“The Nevada Commission on Tourism recognizes the importance of this vast market to Nevada’s tourism industry,” said commission interim director Larry Friedman. “We continually expand and improve our efforts to reach potential visitors and that is why we developed this new website that offers need-to-know information for the LGBT community.”

So, who wants to go to Vegas? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

Traveling with Little People

By: Heather Somaini

 

I’m about to go on a rant.  Traveling with babies, toddlers, and kids is amazing and wonderful and super terrible all at the same time.  We’ve had some very fun trips completely ruined by flight attendants and other passengers.  Come to think of it actually – it’s always been flight attendants.  Other passengers generally try to ignore you.  Unless of course, they love kids, which is much more common than I realized.  People love babies.  They really love twin babies.  And most of the time they’re confused by our family structure so they have questions.  But generally people are pretty decent about kids.  I mean, don’t get me wrong – strangers will kill themselves to help a pregnant woman but completely ignore a mom with three kids and a stroller that won’t fold up, but in general they’re at least not too terrible.

Flight attendants, on the other hand, are at either end of the spectrum – they either love or hate you.  We’ve had flight attendants spend almost an entire flight with us wanting to hold the babies and chat endlessly.  And then we’ve had the other kind…the ones that take one look at you coming on the plane and turn into Medusa.

We took our first flight with the babies when they were about two months old on a Southwest flight to Nashville, TN.  Since Southwest doesn’t provide assigned seats, we rushed on to the plane with the babies in carriers attached to us and grabbed a window and an aisle seat with an empty one in between us.  As the plane began to fill and they told us repeatedly that it was going to be a full flight, we eyed a handsome businessman and offered him the aisle seat.  He quickly took it and Tere moved into the middle.  All was well until about an hour before the plane landed when a flight attendant demanded to know if we had been sitting in those seats the entire flight and then yelled at us that we couldn’t do that!  We sat there confused while she angrily explained that there is only one extra oxygen mask per set of seats so we couldn’t have more than one lap baby per row.  How were we supposed to know that?!?!  Somehow on our return flight, we snagged the only empty seat on the plane to be between us.  But other than those two flights, we haven’t flown together since.  Usually we sit a row in front of the other so we can pass baby necessities back and forth.

Another favorite complaint of flight attendants is portable DVD players.  The same could be said for iPads, iPods, tablets, laptops…but basically, they are a godsend.  They’re amazing and keep little kids occupied for tons of time especially when we ask them to sit still on a plane when they want to explore this new wonder.  My problem is that I didn’t want to put headphones on the babies, it just seems wrong, and we have twins so they BOTH want to watch the same thing.  I always figure that planes are loud anyway and if a fellow passenger could, in fact, actually hear something coming from our iPad that was better than a screaming child kicking at their seat.  But funny enough, flight attendants are sticklers for rules.  I’ve sat reading a magazine next to one of our playing machines that I can barely hear and they’ll still tell me to turn it down.  I’ve asked all the passengers around us if it’s ok, and the flight attendant STILL wants us to turn the sound down, turn it off altogether, or use headphones.  I once pointed out that putting headphones on a 2-year-old didn’t seem like a good idea.  I was told people do it all the time.  I’m guessing by now, you can imagine what my response was…it didn’t go over well.

Security – another pet peeve of mine.  Those TSA folks couldn’t care less that your wife is standing in her stockinged feet holding two babies on the other side of a metal detector while your bags, shoes, and stroller are piling up a the end of the conveyor belt as they hold you captive because the underwire in your bra set the metal detector off.  Nope.  You’re going to get a pat down and by the way, we have to call over to another terminal to find a female agent.  Oy!

At the end of the day, it’s just about getting from Point A to Point B and then enjoying the time you have when you get there but I have decided that bringing lots of food, toys, games, movies on your iPad, DVDs, Baby Tylenol, and a pleasant disposition is really the only way to go.

What’s your most outrageous travel story?

An American Tourist Goes to China

By: Madge

I just returned from China on a 33-person tour with a high-end company, and I have some advice for travelers looking to visit the country. First, you must decide whether you want to travel with a group (small or large), or individually (with maybe just one partner).  Secondly, you must pay close attention to the hotel star rating!! In China, one star off can mean the difference between not having a toilet in your room, no elevator in the hotel (in China, a building with nine stories or fewer doesn’t warrant an elevator), being too far off the beaten path, sleeping in filthy conditions, or having no air conditioner.

I am older and travel by myself (unless I can get a friend to join me), so I try to travel first class. I like comfort in third-world countries. I want to be on a walking street and near major subway or train lines for my days away from the tour. And since you can’t control the random people joining your tour, you can only hope someone shares your love of food or adventure so that you don’t end up being alone when the group has free time. I do well with going places by myself but I like to go to dinner with others. I like to talk about what I have seen during the day and share ideas and life stories.

Before my trips I tend to avoid researching my destination too much, as I want to learn along the way, and arrive with no preconceived notions. A high-end tour company usually provides so much information that one doesn’t need to study beforehand. It might, however, be beneficial to know some of the restaurants ahead of time, especially if you are a real foodie      –but know that the concierge at the better hotels will have lists upon lists of places to dine for all different prices and all different foods.

Once you check in to your hotel in China, discover the hotel’s amenities.  Many have free gym facilities, a sauna or spa, or even indoor pools. I found the gyms to be lovely and in top shape. As one who is spending her kids’ inheritance, I tend to leave it to the tour company to make all the arrangements. I just buy my airplane tickets through a travel agent and depend on them to get me the best deal with miles, points, upgrades, and anything else I can use to get into business class. When I was younger I traveled more standard fare, but now I want supreme services, a wonderful bed, and luxurious surroundings.

China has much to offer in the way of sights, so plan your trip to include those you want to see the most. The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Terra Cotta Warriors are the main attractions in China. Each one deserves a day –at least –for exploration. Any good tour will include these sights. Then the extras…like good shopping, if that is your thing, and of course, food. My “thing” is to mix with the locals, where they shop, where they eat, where they play (parks, etc.).  I like tours that take you to local farmers’ markets, to schools to see how the kids learn, and on walks around older sections of the city.  If you have a religious bent you might ask the tour company to get a group together to take you to the area where your religion is followed or was allowed at one time. In Shanghai a group of us went to where the Jewish refugees were allowed to live during WWII. Shanghai was the only place that allowed Jews to emigrate freely. It is always worth checking into temples and monuments that suit your interests.

Unfortunately, my trip to China was not as rewarding as were my trips to Japan, India, Eastern Europe, South America, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.  China is being so overbuilt right now.  It is like any major city, destroying its history to make way for progress and rapid growth. Even with the one child rule, the country holds 1.3 billion people. (Geographically, it is a little smaller than the US, which only has 250 million.)  Chinese farmers have had to move to the city where they have no jobs (job waiting) and where they are not used to living in high-rise buildings with more Western-style amenities. They are missing their connections to the earth and are not faring well in the city. Also, the older sections of the cities that hold the riches in their history are being destroyed.

For me, the country lacked spirit and soul and reminded me everyday that it is communist. Capitalism and graft are alive and well in China. The government owns all the land (even the Starbucks, Dairy Queen and McDonalds share 49% to 51% – Chinese Government owned). I always find that third-world countries love our fast food establishments, which I can’t understand. The people seemed to me spiritless, just going through the motions. The men appeared much more aggressive than the women (like pushing and shoving to get ahead of the women in lines). In airplanes, men and women start moving towards the front, seatbelts unbuckling, clicking everywhere –before the plane has landed. No one waits in a line in the bathroom either but rather in front of a stall. I had to physically move a woman out of my way as she tried to beat me to the squat toilet (which I must admit is not something to rush for).

Gay rights are acknowledged in that they did away, just four years ago, with the declaration that homosexuality was a medical/psychiatric issue. Since so many women hold hands in China, it’s not easy to determine who is gay. But according to our guide there is a gay section in each major city with bars and clubs, but I didn’t have time to check them out.

If I were to compare China to India, I would say that India wins, hands down, as a place to visit. It is colorful, filled with sights and sounds and joyful people. Although the poverty is more prevalent in India, the people are much more spirited. I would recommend India for first-time exposure into a third-world culture. All in all however, because China and its growth will impact our planet in so many ways, visiting it should still be on everyone’s bucket list. Articles in Time and Newsweek state that in a few decades (or in 50 to 100 years), every family will have some type of Chinese facial feature in their families as they start to travel and move around the world. Better start learning Chinese, which has 50,000 characters for words! (You can get by on 3,500 but 10,000 will make you a Chinese scholar.)  I feel that with all its rapid growth (building dams and re-routing water has allowed them to make their cities bigger and bigger), China will soon hit a recession like we are feeling. China already doesn’t produce enough food to feed its people and imports almost all of its food, which I find amazing.

China is growing by leaps and bounds and I am lucky enough to have gone, but visiting has caused me to realize even more how great the US is, with not only our many conveniences, but also our ability to prosper, dream, and achieve our goals. Such promise is offered to everyone in the US (albeit for some it is much more difficult), whereas in China only the top government officials and the real estate developers are thriving.  Opportunities in China are not endless like they are in the US.

I always love to travel, as exploration is in my soul, but I love to come home. (And I also REALLY missed social networking, which is totally banned in China!)

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Hotel Monaco Portland: Escape to Luxury

By: Trisha Barnard

 

Hotel Monaco Portland is a unique luxury hotel in downtown Portland just steps away from shopping, restaurants and the beautiful Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The famous Pioneer Square is only a couple blocks away. Hop on to MAX Light Rail and get whisked to the Washington Park Zoo or the gorgeous Japanese Rose Gardens.

Hotel Monaco is full of vibrant colors everywhere.  Renowned designer Cheryl Rowley has transformed it into a haven with deep chocolate colored furnishings that feel both luxurious and cozy.  The lobby is not just a lobby.  It is a relaxing place to read or just sit in front of the fireplace.  You will feel like royalty sitting in here.

One of the greatest qualities about Hotel Monaco Portland, is that it is Green Seal Silver Certified, which means it meets a rigorous set of environmental standards that reduce impact on the environment and human health.  Recycling, water conservation and saving energy are just a few of these examples.

Read more of Trisha’s travel review here!

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Brought to you by The Seattle Lesbian

The Matthew Shepard Foundation Gay Ski Week in Crested Butte, CO

Brought to you courtesy of The Seattle Lesbian

This spring, the Matthew Shepard Foundation Gay Ski Week will make its grand debut! With the sunshine and snow, there will be a full series of fun ski events and parties.  This will all bring attention to the foundation’s mission and expand its message of tolerance, advocacy and education.

Butte 11 will take place from March 19-26 in beautiful Crested Butte, Colorado. The Crested Butte area is a great place for celebration and recreation.  To top it off, Crested Butte Mountain Resort offers a large variety of accommodations that will meet anyone’s budget.

Read more here: The Seattle Lesbian

Hawaii Series: Visiting Oahu

This article is brought to you courtesy of The Seattle Lesbian

What to take:

The plans were complete, however the packing was not! Being a person who hates to be caught unprepared, I packed all of those just-in-case items –you know, just in case I’d need them. When it’s 36 degrees in Seattle, it’s difficult to even imagine what 80 degrees feels like, so of course my REI Wheely Beast was jam-packed with anything I might need for sun, rain, wind, heat, cold, or comfort.  I would come to regret this later, so my advice for those who have not yet made the journey: pack light, but don’t forget your sunglasses, sunscreen and chargers.  If you enjoy the water, you are likely to spend most of your time in swimwear.  Not to worry, if you forgot something you can probably find it at the ABC Store.  You can find them on nearly every block.

Flight:

Let’s talk about flights. Nobody wants to arrive in Hawaii after dark; somehow it feels like you’ve already wasted a day of your trip. Which is precisely why taking the 6am flight and arriving by noon in Honolulu makes sense. That being said, rising at 3am and hitting the road to the airport by 4am is a difficult thing, not to mention that asking for a ride to the airport really tests a relationship, so pay a driver.  I usually prefer non-stop flights, but made an agreement with myself that this would be a trip that had a low impact on my savings account.  The connection through San Francisco was tolerable, and upgrading to economy-plus seats for extra leg room from San Francisco to Honolulu made the trip much more comfortable. Using air miles and making at least one stop will help to reduce the cost of your trip if you can handle sitting the extra hour or so.  Don’t forget to bring a book/kindle/ipad/ipod on the flight to help pass the time, and earplugs if you are bothered by the sound of chatter or screaming children.

Read more of the story here: The Seattle Lesbian

A Vacation Fit For Parents

By: Susan Howard

Tucked away and surrounded by rolling hills sits La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA (near San Diego). As a private trainer, I am often concerned that my clients will lose headway when they go on vacation. High fat foods, an abundance of cocktails, and nowhere to workout except the one stationary bike left there from the 70’s in a room full of mirrors and a broken bench –not very appealing. Therefore, I am constantly on a quest to find the best vacation destinations in which to luxuriously relax and stay fit.

I undoubtedly found it in La Costa Resort and Spa. San Diego is one of the healthiest cities in the country and the vacation spots reflect that. With a stellar 8,000 square foot gym, up to the minute classes, and the Chopra Yoga center right on the premises, how could you not workout?

La Costa has 8 pools. The family pool area consists of two huge, fast watersides that will awaken the kid in any adult, a little slide for the toddlers, a big spray water station, and a beach that fades into a wading pool. Two-year-olds will have a heyday just walking from the beach to the wading pool then back out to the beach as the very kind waitress offers overtired parents delicious Bloody Mary’s.

Our room was spacious and well designed, including wooden trim and clean lines and a luxuriously large bathroom with marble floors and a spa-sized sunken tub. The bed was comfortable, pillows just right. They also have villas that you can rent if you want to go with another family or bring the in-laws –always a plus for more workout time.

At the gym I sifted through the varied class schedule and picked the trendy Kettlebell Cardio Crunch class. I got to experience some cool new moves from a veteran instructor working on the BOSU ball and balancing the bell overhead then onto the row machine for a 5-minute blast. They also offer Zumba, spinning, and pilates classes, to name a few. The gym, which overlooks a huge golf course, is equipped with tons of cardio machines, a full strength room with free weights, and cable machines.

Oh yeah, La Costa has a full PGA 18-hole golf course. Seems very impressive –not our thing, but if one of you enjoys golf this could definitely be a selling point. They have 17 tennis courts as well, 4 of them clay.

I also went to the mediation class and omm’d in a very peaceful and unifying setting with gong and all. Brandy, my wife, took a yoga class. When the bouncy San Diego blond instructor with the squeaky voice started talking Brandy thought, “oh well, can’t leave now,” then proceeded to take one of the best yoga classes she’s had in a while. There is something centering and calm at the Chopra Center, based in Deepok Chopra’s philosophy. The adjoining shop has all the books and soothing music you could ever want.

The spa has great amenities: steam, sauna, outdoor whirlpool, and a quiet area with fireplace. The pool has a waterfall that pounds down on your shoulders, giving you a massage before you even get to the treatment. When I went it was a popular weekend for the spa and most of the women wore their swimsuits, so be warned. (I am a prude from the Midwest, but even I go naked in a spa.) I got the signature Spanish Herbal Body Rub, which is 100 minutes of exfoliating massaging bliss. It starts with a salt scrub and then lavender tea leaves; I was scrubbed from head to toe. Then I rinsed off and went back to the table for a deep massage. My skin felt soft and my spirit as easy as Sunday morning.

Each meal we tried was delicious. The first night we ate out on the patio of Blue Fire Grill surrounded by fire pits and live jazz. The setting was beautiful with a family-friendly atmosphere. Brandy had a seafood trio that was amazing, fish caught locally, and I had the roast chicken with polenta and veggies, both meals were flavorful and light. Little Sophia skipped her hot dog and went straight for the ice cream with sprinkles. It is vacation, after all. The menu even delights the children with a milk flight- chocolate, strawberry and regular.

The next night we ate at Legends Bistro on the patio right beside the crackling fire. I was struck by the bountiful vegetarian selections. This menu featured some meals inspired by the Chopra Center. Lentils over basmati rice, vegetable risotto, and butternut squash ravioli were a huge welcome from the standard steamed veggie plate option. They also have a delicious buffet brunch each morning.

We took long, beautiful, late night stroller walks through the vast lush property and still didn’t see everything. The grounds are well manicured and filled with succulents and flowering plants. The staff was very friendly and accommodating.

For families, the resort offers a kid club called Kidtopia, which is a huge supervised playroom for children 6 months to 12 years old. So while you and your mate head out to workout, or drift to the spa or just chill in your room, your child will have just as much fun as you. They also take care to give kids a little goody box full of healthy treats and toys upon arrival. Our daughter hung tight to her box most of the trip, oh the little things that really do matter.

La Costa has thought of basically everything for a family to have a fun active vacation. Once you get there you likely won’t leave the grounds, as there is a ton of stuff to do. Once you do leave you will likely be back the next chance you get.

Behaving Like Grown-Ups at San Francisco’s Clift

By: Tosha Woronov

We are parents, which means our recent family getaways always seem to involve some over-blown resort with a swimming pool, water-slide, splash zone. I had grown tired of it, and missed the vacations my husband and I used to take, in those halcyon days before having our son –exploring a city through day and night, untethered by lunch restrictions or nap schedules.

I wanted to travel like grown-ups again, and for our son to be a part of that.

I simply could not don another adhesive wristband required for pool entry; I wanted to travel like grown-ups again, and for our son to be a part of that. And so we three headed to San Francisco, the city that inevitably causes me to lament the youth I never spent there. To shake things up we booked a two-night stay at the Clift in Union Square.

Once one learns that the Clift is the lovechild of designer Philippe Starck and hotel genius Ian Schrager, it’s pretty easy to conjure up advance adjectives to describe it. Trendy, funky, edgy, sleek? Yep. It’s all those things. The stone exterior is (almost) unmarked, just minimal letters whispering to you among the blaring Geary Street traffic, “Pssst. Hey – I’m the Clift. Come inside. You know you want to”. Very cool.

The valets are stylishly dressed and beyond charming (which seems fair, since parking is $50 a day). Just as one doorman-model entreated us to enter the dark and purple-hued lobby, I hesitated –suddenly wishing we’d chosen a place less…hip. Peeling a Swedish Fish off of my son’s t-shirt, I thought: We don’t belong here…must find a kid-friendly, pool-soggy hotel right NOW.

“Mom! You HAVE to come see this. It’s the biggest chair in…the…WORLD!”

But the staff was surprisingly warm and friendly. No one noticed or cared that my 5 year-old was wearing candy, nor did it seem to matter that he was announcing, in his terribly un-chic, outside voice: “MOM! You have to come see this! It’s the biggest chair in…the…WORLD!” And so it seemed. So big in fact, that he could not – but still tried – to climb atop it (much to my horror), which also seemed to be an acceptable activity as far as the lobby staff was concerned.

And so I relaxed, and had a look around. The lobby is very very dark, which makes it all the more fun to explore. It’s more of a functional art gallery, with furniture pieces by Salvador Dali and Ray and Charles Eames, a dramatic floor-to-ceiling fireplace decked out in bronze, and a sofa with steer horns. I was suddenly Alice (in Wonderland), had she the good fortune to drink from a bottle labeled “Vogue Me”.

The Living Room adjacent to the lobby is fun too, particularly the whimsical black and white photographs of plastic animals dressing its mood-lit walls. People were actually lounging in here –reading the paper, playing backgammon –although I couldn’t help feeling that they were planted; it was all too perfect.

I’m a sucker for a beautiful bar, and the Redwood Room really did me in.

Ah…and then I wandered into the Redwood Room. At night, this space becomes a standing-room only “nightclub” packed with hipsters and the beautiful set. Yikes. But I got to hang here on a late and still quiet Friday afternoon, which allowed me to drink in not only its grandeur, but also an artfully crafted $20 sidecar. I’m a sucker for a beautiful bar, and the Redwood Room really did me in. Its backdrop is a breathtaking 30-foot lightbox illuminating sparkling bottles of booze. Story has it that a single 2,000 year-old tree gave its life for the rich redwood paneling adorning the walls and hand-carved bar. The crunchiest of tree huggers would be hard-pressed to find a more noble sacrifice for the tree. Entranced by the hand-etched Venetian mirrorwork lining the bar’s surface, I understood immediately that here is where the Clift’s (near) century-old history is preserved. Even the multimedia digital art show, which does nothing for a girl like me, can’t mar its timeless elegance.

Primed as I was by all I had experienced in the lobby and its environs, I was disappointed once we got to our room. It was small –which might be expected in an old, city hotel – but shockingly so, for a deluxe room (2 tiers up from standard). And where the Starck design succeeds so beautifully downstairs, it comes off cold in the guest rooms. The lavender walls appeared almost tacky in the late afternoon light, as did the orange acrylic sidetables. Having the word “Ikea” run through my mind as I unpacked in our “luxury” hotel room was unsettling.

Our little room on the 7th floor became a welcome recharging station.

BUT…

I will say this about the room: the beds are very nice, which is a big deal to me. After a restful night spent on perfectly firm mattresses and delicious 400-thread count Italian percale bedding, we were pretty close to forgiving the room’s shortcomings. In fact, once we drew the drapes (blocking out the not so lovely view of a rooftop), lit a few lamps, and allowed the light purple walls to do their thing, the décor started to grow on me. There were no real amenities in our deluxe room to speak of, which was ok. After all, we were here to experience the city, not to lay around all day in fluffy robes, chowing on room service. (We did enjoy an early morning buffet in the hotel’s stunning Velvet Room, which included fancy schmancy pastries, delectable meats and cheeses, and photo-worthy slices of fresh fruit, $28 per person.)

In the end, over two day’s time showing San Francisco to our son (Pier 39 and the sea lions, Golden Gate Park, trolley cars, Chinatown, a ride over the bridge, Lombard Street, and several random and funky meals around town), our little room on the 7th floor became a welcome recharging station.

Clift (Stay)
Redwood Room (Drink)
Velvet Room (Dine)
495 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

CLIFT Hotel Package

-   Two-Bedroom Suite Package (sleeps 2 adults in king bed and 2 kids in double/double beds)

-   Including continental breakfast for up to 4 ppl per day

Includes a choice of 4 tickets to either the Walt Disney Museum, Exploratorium or California Academy of Sciences (4 tickets max per stay)http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/index.html; www.exploratorium.edu; or  www.calacademy.org

Rates starting at $500.00 per night ($60 extra per night per additional child or adult)

Valid until December 30, 2010, based on availability.

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