Hotels We’re Booking Right Now

Cliff House, Maine We currently have a group of 15 family members at the Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys and a couple who flew in from Atlanta with a negative COVID-19 test to stay at the Cliff House in Maine. We recently booked a family vacation at Wequassett Resort and a romantic retreat at Chatham Bars, both in August on Cape Cod. We also designed a 10-day itinerary for a family headed to South and North Dakota in early August and are currently working on a late September 50th birthday celebration in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains at Primland Resort, where you can stay at a luxurious treehouse. If you want to get away this summer or fall for a therapeutic escape from the pandemic and the news (like we recently did for a week on Cape Cod), please let ActiveTravels know.

Depending on where you’re located, we’ll work within the travel restrictions to not only find you a perfect getaway, but lodging that you feel comfortable in, like an isolated private house or cabin. And since we’re part of Virtuoso, we’ll get you those free amenities. At Cliff House, that translates into upgrade upon arrival, daily continental breakfast, and a Cliff House signature “Sea Bag” tote, made from recycled sails and valued at $150. Don’t forget that we design our coveted Dream Day itineraries across North America. So we’re more than happy to create a detailed tailor-made road trip that includes lodging, all activities, recommended guides, restaurants, and scenic routes. This is easily accessible on a phone app we create. As the motto on our website states, “We Help You Get There.”

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Fall Foliage Driving Trips: Highway 385, Rapid City, South Dakota

bison round-up, Custer State Park, South DakotaThis week, I’ll be discussing my favorite picks for September/October driving trips. If interested in any of these routes, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll design an itinerary that takes into account the latest travel restrictions and lodging where you feel comfortable:

The fall foliage road trip was designed with places like South Dakota in mind. Venture to Rapid City and you’ll have the chance to cruise with relatively little traffic up and down the pine forests and granite passes of the Black Hills. Highway 385 will lead you to Vanocker Canyon and Spearfish Canyon National Scenic Byway, home to waterfalls and golden aspens. Also in the Black Hills is the 68-mile Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway (a 4-hour drive) that travels through six rock tunnels, past towering pinnacles and over pine-clad peaks, only to arrive at the most famous sculpture in the country, Mount Rushmore. As if that wasn’t enough incentive, the 55th annual fall round-up of bison takes place September 25th at nearby Custer State Park. Watch the cowboys and cowgirls drive the herd of some 1,300 buffalo, some of whom will be sold at auction in November. For lodging, it’s hard to top the convenience of the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone, located next to Mount Rushmore.

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A Relaxing Stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale

We broke up our trip last week in Florida with a stop at the Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale. While I’ve stayed at the better known Ritz-Carltons in Florida at Key Biscayne and Naples, I’ve always been a bit leery of this property due to its proximity to the row of Happy Hour bars and T-shirt shops across from the beach, better suited for college students on spring break. But I was pleasantly surprised. Rooms were spacious with balconies overlooking the ocean, the fitness center on the 8th floor has up-to-the-minute equipment with views overlooking the Intracoastal, and the hotel’s new restaurant, Burlock Coast Seafare, served our favorite breakfast of the trip, including strong Panther Coffee. But let’s be real. You come here for the Florida sunshine and this Ritz offers two choices, padded chaise lounge chairs on the 7th-floor pool with glorious vistas of the Atlantic and great waiter service for drinks and lunch; or an overpass across the street to their own stretch of beach and ocean. It’s a nice combination to have on vacation. Kudos also to the concierge, Ernesto, for pointing out Casablanca Café, serving fresh seafood in one of the oldest houses in Fort Lauderdale, a mere 5-minute walk from the hotel. I’d happily recommend this Ritz-Carlton to clients and wouldn’t hesitate to return. 

(Photo by Lisa Leavitt)

 
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My 5 Favorite Tanzanian Properties: Mwiba Lodge

Fly 40 minutes from the domestic airport in Arusha over the Ngorongoro Crater and you reach Mwiba Lodge, the latest upscale property from Legendary Expeditions. All 9 rooms and main lodge are filled with modern African art to give it a contemporary flair. There’s a small infinity pool, wine cellar filled with South African selections, two dining areas, and a small library, all looking over a watering hole where I spotted more than 20 elephants strolling leisurely down to the spot. Rooms are spacious and a bath filled with warm water, bubbles and salts is waiting after your afternoon game drive. Mwiba is located in a vast game reserve, not a national park, so you have the option to take night drives and veer off-road straight to the wildlife. Ideal for honeymooners or couples celebrating an anniversary, I would probably recommend staying at Mwiba after first staying at a mobile tent in the Serengeti bush. It offers a great dose of comfort before leaving Africa.

 
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My 5 Favorite Tanzanian Properties: Alex Walker’s Serian Kusini Camp

There’s something magical about being lost in the African bush for at least 3 nights in a mobile tent. You’re surrounded by wildlife, drink sundowners at sunset around a raging campfire, view the twinkling stars of the incredible African night sky, and then sleep peacefully with a breeze. One of the best mobile tent locales in the winter months is Kusini just past Ndutu Safari Lodge (where Mary Leakey stayed, along with numerous BBC documentarians) in the southern Serengeti. Alex Walker’s Serian is a master of glamping, offering six spacious tents with bucket showers and flush toilets that move close to the Mara River in the summer months for prime wildebeest crossing viewings. Not surprisingly, these camps are often booked well in advance, with the same clientele returning year after year. So plan accordingly. 

 

Boston’s Newbury Hotel to Debut in April

The Newbury Hotel to Debut in BostonOne of the first assignments I received after moving to Boston in 1996 was to pen a story for Town & Country magazine on Boston’s grand dame of hospitality, the venerable Ritz-Carlton. Located at the end of Newbury Street, across from the Public Garden, the Ritz occupied one of the most enviable locations in the city and played host to such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, and Rin Tin Tin since its opening in 1927. When it changed ownership to the Taj Boston, I was called back to the property to write a story for Boston Globe Magazine about the new General Manager. Tragically, he had lost his entire family when Pakistani militants stormed the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, where he had worked previously. He now has a beautiful new family and resides in New York.

In other good news, the latest iteration of the Ritz, called The Newbury, will be making its debut next month. Part of the Highgate Hotel Group, which includes both James properties in Manhattan, The Newbury has aligned themselves with master chef Mario Carbone. Carbone runs the Major Food Group, the hospitality company behind such restaurants as Carbone, The Grill and Sadelle’s in New York, Hong Kong and Las Vegas. For the Newbury, he has plans for a fine dining restaurant on the roof and a bar off the lounge called The Street, that will be the perfect place to congregate after shopping Newbury Street or grabbing a Swan Boat ride across the street. With tulips in bloom, the early spring has always been one of my favorite times of year to visit the Public Garden. Now with the opening of The Newbury, I have even more incentive to head downtown.

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Top 5 Eco-Resorts in Central America, La Loma Jungle Lodge, Isla Bastimentos, Panama

Increasingly, the small eco-retreat design that made such an imprint in Costa Rica has slipped farther south into Panama. On an archipelago in the northeastern part of the country, a short boat ride from the town of Bocas del Toro, is a four-cabana lodge socked in the middle of the verdant jungle and surrounded by a working cocoa plantation. All of the cabins at La Loma Jungle Lodge were created from fallen trees and inspired by the architecture of the local Ngobe Indians. The employees are also local, including your guide through the rainforest and beach to see sloths, armadillos, small crocs called caimans, and the graceful blue morph butterfly. At dinner, lobster and conch will not be served, as the owners try to use only sustainably harvested fish like yellow jack. Rates start at $100 per person a night, including three meals, the boat ride over from Bocas town, and some of the excursions. 

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