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Costa Rica, Ziplining Above the Rainforest Canopy Outside of Quepos

Each year around my birthday, I try to do something a little crazy. Just my way of celebrating another year of survival and reconfirming that yes, I’m very much alive. Often this adventure has something to do with confronting my fear of heights. Last year, I went rock climbing for the first time in the Canadian Rockies. This year, on my fourth trip to Costa Rica, having more than ample opportunity to zipline above the rainforest canopy, I finally agreed to go. Having the chance to cruise with my family was the extra push I needed. We drove through the palm oil plantations high up in the hills above Quepos on the central Costa Rican coast. The company we chose, MidWorld, were extremely professional, especially when attaching our harnesses and carabineers. Then we drove a little bit higher and it was time to bite the bullet. I was worried that my stomach would drop, like on a rollercoaster ride, a dreaded feeling I’d rather not have. Instead, it was just a smooth quick cruise on a cable just above the canopy of green. There were a total of ten platforms and two rappels down from the trees. Walking from one platform to the next, we spotted a toucan and a green and yellow poison dart frog. By the third or fourth zipline, I started to become so comfortable with the sport that I turned upside down. Then I tried to right myself, but my core needs a bit more Pilates before I can pull off that move. So I spent the entire zipline upside down, watching the blur of forest whiz by. I think I earned my chocolate raspberry birthday cake tonight. 

 

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Successful Hotel Design: What’s the Winning Formula?

You could toss a Faberge egg from the new Four Seasons Hotel Moscow to Red Square, that’s how close the property is to the legendary landmark. Starwood Hotels just unveiled W Verbier in Switzerland and will debut W Bogota and a new St. Regis in Kuala Lumpur in the upcoming year. The ultra-modern Hilton Santa Fe Mexico City recently opened in the financial core of the city. New Langham Place properties will dot the Chinese map, from Guangzhou to Xiamen to Haining. And the late, great actor Marlon Brando’s dream of housing a sustainable property on his private French Polynesian isle of Tetiaroa will finally come to fruition this summer. 

With hundreds of hotels making their debut in 2014, the result of new construction and rebranding, one would think that all you need to do is put your sign on the building and turn on the electricity. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. A decision to build a new property is years in the making. Hoping that the striking new property balances form and functionality, hotel design is an organic process that continually evolves, before, during, and after the ribbon cutting. 
 
To read my entire story on successful hotel design in this month’s issue of Global Traveler, click here. 
 
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Not Your Father’s Holiday Inn

I visited two Holiday Inns in the Cartagena area and was impressed with both properties. At the Holiday Inn Express Cartagena Bocagrande, I met the representative from Colombia Tourism, who noted that the country has had a remarkable surge of travelers, a 28% increase between 2016 and 2017. It’s not surprising when you consider that a room at this new hotel (not like any Holiday Inn I’ve seen in the US) is less than 100 dollars a night including a buffet breakfast, with rooftop pool, and only a 5-minute walk to the beach. Even more impressive was the Holiday Inn Cartagena Morros property just north of the airport. This is a contemporary resort on the beach with outdoor pool, large fitness center, and breakfast buffet. I just looked at the cost for tonight and it’s only $103 US. A 15-minute drive from Old Town on a wide stretch of beach, this is an affordable find. 

 
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Quebec’s Winter Carnival

Just up the road from Montreal, 30 minutes outside of Quebec City, is North America’s first ice hotel, Hotel de Glace. 32 new rooms are created each year out of 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice, along with an Absolut ice bar, Jacuzzis, and a dance club. Bring those long johns. Temperature inside is a mere 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Quebec City is also home to one of the finest winter carnivals. For 16 days, January 27-February 12, the party never stops. More than one million people descend upon the fortified city to cheer on the competition in Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City, or watch paddlers sprint across the turgid waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The French-flavored festivities continue with tours of the Ice Palace, a giant medieval castle constructed of pure crystalline water, parades, snow sculpture contests, inner tube sled rides, dancing to live music, and late night jaunts to heated tents to sample the potent drink called Caribou, made of whiskey, red wine, and maple syrup. One swig of this and you might be running naked through the snowfields.

 

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Liftopia Offers Lift Ticket Deals This Holiday Season

I know where I’ll be this Christmas Day, skiing with my family on the slopes of Loon. It’s one of my favorite days of the year to ski, because there’s far less people on the trails and no lift lines. New Year’s Day is also universally slow, especially in those early morning hours. Hard to do First Tracks when you’re staying up 2 am the night before. Liftopia is doing their part to get people on the slopes Christmas and New Year’s Day by offering up to a 72% discount off lift tickets. A lift ticket at Jay Peak is only $42, a 42% savings. Bolton Valley, just down the road from Burlington is only $20, a 59% discount. Out West, Oregon’s Mount Hood is $50, 34% off. Check it out before you hit your favorite ski area. 

 
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Top 5 Wine Regions for Bicyclists, Bordeaux, France

Other biking outfitters can try to emulate Butterfield & Robinson, but none can approach George Butterfield’s innate sense of style. Trips can cost upwards of $1,000 a day but are worth every penny when you consider some of the amenities—nights at 14th century estates, seven-course feasts at private French vineyards, a van always by your side when you tire of biking. He’ll customize any Bordeaux trip you want or simply sign up for his 6-day jaunt from Bordeaux to Dordogne that runs from mid-May through early October. You’ll bike on relatively flat terrain through these two famous wine regions, but it won’t be easy when your lunch consists of a private wine tasting at such famous vineyards as Mouton-Rothschild. At night, you’ll be staying at a former 16th century monastery, now a Relais and Chateaux property, and a 17th century chartreuse perched atop a hill surrounded by vineyards, orchards, streams, and ponds. Dinner is a gluttonous feast, accompanied by, what else, more excellent wine.  

 
I’m headed to Dallas, Maine, and New Orleans over the next two weeks. I’ll be back with stories about my travels on March 31st. In the meantime, stay active! 
 
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Musee de la Civilisation A Must-Stop in Quebec City

Quebec City’s Musee de la Civilisation might sound like some vague museum of anthropology. Venture inside and you’ll be surprised to find one of the most intriguing museums in North America. On my last trip to Quebec City, I was treated to an exhibition called Urbanopolis, an architectural study that shows how cities around the world are preparing themselves for the future through apartment design and public transportation. When I returned this weekend, I saw a fascinating show on Nigerian art from private French collections, rarely seen by the public. The 187 objects from 44 various ethnic groups in Nigeria included a series of large masks created from, among other things, the human skull, facial hair, antelope horns, and lion’s teeth. I especially enjoyed the films of anthropologist Arnold Rubin from the 1960s that showed remote Nigerian tribesmen dancing with several of the masks and costumes on display. Another worthwhile exhibition at the Museum showcased New Zealand’s Maori culture and featured large wooden carvings from ancestral meeting houses. 

 

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