Archive for Noteworthy

Say Happy Mother’s Day With One-of-a-Kind Getaways!

Share:

Ah, Mother’s Day. The time of year when we try just a little bit harder  to show how grateful we are for all the times she held our hand when we were sick, protected us from the monsters under our bed, turned simple pancakes into an iconic mouse, or magically made everything better with a kiss. Cards are wonderful (who doesn’t love letters?) and flowers are lovely, but is there really any better way to say thank you than with a memorable getaway you both will cherish for years to come. We think not.

With this in mind, we give you four escapes tailored to different styles that are sure to show your favorite lady just how much you care.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Spa Escape: Treat you mom to a relaxing and rejuvenating getaway—you know she deserves one. The Body Holiday LeSPORT in St. Lucia offers a tropical, all-inclusive stay that even comes with a 50-minute body treatment.

Wine & Dine: Toast to motherhood with a wine getaway. The Riverbend Inn and Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, boasts a cozy escape in the heart of wine country. The inn also produces and serves its own varietals, so you don’t even have to leave the property to sample the local wines.

Adventure: Take mom for the adventure of a lifetime. The Parador Resort & Spa in Costa Rica sits on a 12-acre rainforest near the Manuel Antonio National Park and white-sand beaches like Playa Biesanz, making it a luxurious home base for exploring the countryside.

Cultural Getaway: Talk history, art and politics with your mom during a trip to the nation’s capital. The George, a Kimpton Hotel, provides an eclectic and artistic escape, with a prime Capitol Hill location ideal for seeing city sights.

Cork Crafts for Wine-Lovers!

Share:

If you’re anything like us, the word “cork” evokes images of champagne fizzing, glasses clinking and Jay Gatsby overseeing a fabulous garden party (OK, OK, we’re just a little excited to see our favorite Long Islanders in theaters this weekend). But while writing about Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s Cork Factory Hotel (housed in a former cork factory, of course!), we were inspired to dig a little deeper into the world of our favorite bouncy bark. Turns out corks can be reimagined as all sorts of fun décor! Here are 3 D.I.Y. cork projects that are simple and sweet (and totally warrant drinking a bit more wine than usual…).

Photos courtesy of Two Twenty One, Martha Stewart and Addicted 2 Decorating

{From left}

Wine Cork Candle Holder: This one couldn’t be easier: Just place a small glass candle holder inside a larger glass candle holder and fill the space between the holders with corks. A lit candle placed in the smaller holder makes for a casual-yet-classy display.

Read full instructions here.

Wine Cork Stamp: Simply draw your desired shape on the top of the cork, cut straight down around the shape’s edges and then carefully cut pieces off the sides until your shape is well-defined. Then just dip in paint and stamp away!

Read full instructions here.

Wine Cork Letter: All you need to make this monogrammed masterpiece are corks, a glue gun, an X-Acto knife and a large wooden letter (found at most craft stores). Just glue the corks to the letter, use cut cork as filler for any gaps and voilà!

Read full instructions here.

It’s Festival Season

Share:

This week, we wrote about Lake La Quinta Inn in California’s expansive Coachella Valley. Naturally, we found ourselves a little disappointed, as we were too late to attend the area’s renowned outdoor music festival (aptly named the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival).

Good thing it’s still April, because that means we have a whole summer’s worth of festivals to take advantage of, the world over. So, on that note, here are a few events we think are worth checking out.

Music Festivals

Photos courtesy of Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, NXNE and Life Is Good

Newport Jazz and Newport Folk Festivals: Technically these are two festivals, but for two glorious weekends every summer The Fort Adams State Park in beautiful coastal Rhode Island turns into an internationally renowned celebration of some of this country’s oldest genres. This year’s folk fest features giants like Feist, The Avett Brothers and the Lumineers, while the Jazz lineup later in the summer presents Grammy winners Chick Corea and Esperanza Spaulding.

Lollapalooza: As one of the United States’ biggest and most anticipated festivals each year, the Chicago-based Lollapalooza is a welcome destination for those trying to avoid the standard campout festivals. So head to Chicago this year, check out an eclectic lineup (spanning from Mumford & Sons to The Cure to Queens of the Stone Age) and grab yourself a hotel room to spend a little non-festival time exploring the rest of the Windy City.

Glastonbury: Boasting about 150,000 attendees per day (that’s right, per day), this epic England fixture turns plenty of heads each year. This time around, headliners include Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones, Public Enemy and Phoenix (among many, many others). Talk about an excuse for a trip to Europe.

NXNE: The Canadian counterpart to Austin’s SXSW music and film fest, this northern display of entertainment requires very little explanation to attract droves of international film, music and art lovers alike. Sure, there are your standard music headliners (this year: Social Distortion, Big Boi, and the National) but the city-wide event also debuts indie films and modern art exhibitions.

Life is Good Festival: While it may not garner the armies of attendees like some of the others, this festival proves its worth in a much different way. Organized by the lifestyle brand of the same name, this festival puts all of its proceeds (yes, 100% of its profit) toward the Life is Good Playmakers charity to help kids in need. While they haven’t announced the lineup this year, with past acts including Dave Matthews Band, Sara Bareilles and Ben Harper & Relentless 7, this is definitely a can’t-miss opportunity to give a little back to the community.

Affordable Art for All!

Share:

As much as we love art, we admit that the often-high price points can deter us from actually buying it. Art should be fun and accessible, we say! And the Lancaster Arts Hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, seems to agree. The former tobacco warehouse displays more than 250 pieces of fine art, along with rotating art exhibits, for all its guests to enjoy. Taking inspiration from this historical hotel, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite affordable-artwork sites that can turn any art lover into a buyer:

Lancaster Arts Hotel

Photos courtesy of 20×200, Tiny Showcase, The Working Proof and Etsy

{Clockwise from left}

20×200: Founded on the equation “(limited editions x low prices) + the Internet = art for everyone,” this user-friendly site offers small-batch, original prints starting at just $20.

Tiny Showcase: Each week, Tiny Showcase chooses a piece of artwork from an up-and-coming talent to turn into a limited-run archival print. The best part? A portion of the profits from each sale are donated to a charity of the artist’s choice.

“Museum: Third Gallery” by Rui Tenreiro (print: $20, framed print: $125)

The Working Proof: Similar to Tiny Showcase, The Working Proof promotes art and social responsibility by donating proceeds from sales to artist-selected charities. Plus, the prints are unique and affordable, so you really can’t go wrong.

“Bleuités” by Irwin Barbé (photograph: $30)

Etsy: The ultimate one-stop-shop for everything handmade, Etsy is a great source for affordable (and original!) paintings and more.

“Abstract Landscape” oil painting by wendydoakart ($40)

Where Eco-Friendly Meets Travel-Friendly

Share:

Eco-friendly Hotels

Photos courtesy of Green Natura, Crowne Plaza Towers Copenhagen and Laguna Azul Ecolodge

With hot button debates like fossil fuel emissions and the infamous global warming on everyone’s minds, it’s tough to get away from those “go green” reminders. But when on vacation, the only thing we really want to think about is kicking back and, well, not thinking. Luckily, there are plenty of hotels who have done the legwork for us and already have eco-friendly products and practices in place.

So in honor of eco-friendly month on SniqueAway, we took a look around and found some of our favorite hotel amenities and services around the world that help preserve the environment. A relaxing stay and the opportunity to keep things green—it’s a win-win.

Kimpton Hearts Hybrids: Kimpton is no stranger to the eco game. Perhaps one of the best incentives for purchasing a car with the environment in mind is this hotel brand’s Hybrid Parking Discount. Rather than paying the full valet rate at Kimpton hotels, drivers of hybrid vehicles get a substantial discount (often 50%). How’s that for “green?”

Biodegradable Water Bottles: Okay, we swear that isn’t an oxymoron. At Jicaro Island Ecolodge (a hotel made almost entirely from local trees already downed from a hurricane), guests are given oxo-biodegradeable water bottles to use for their stay. After a few years, the bottle can be thrown out as they start to breakdown to water and compostable mass.

Biking for the Environment: Plenty of hotels around the world offer on-site rental car services. But, if you want to get around and keep your exhaust emissions down, seek out a hotel that offers on-site bike rentals. Most Fairmont resorts around the world even offer upscale options like BMW Cruiser Bikes. Style, exercise and a clean conscience—nothing to lose!

Eco-friendly Soap: While it may not seem like a big deal, wasted bath amenities at hotels can add up to a serious environmental footprint. Sure, some make it into our drawers at home. But Yellowstone National Park Lodges have a different strategy. These eco-friendly accommodations offer Green Natura soap with a section removed from the middle of the bar. When have you ever used an entire bar of hotel soap, anyway?

Alternate Energy Sources: With often hundreds of guest rooms, hotels tend to use a lot of energy. So, when a hotel offers the largest integrated solar panel and an ultra-efficient groundwater-based cooling/heating system, it catches our eye. The Crowne Plaza Towers in Copenhagen offers just that. They claim that the new energy methods have cut back 80% on normal consumption. That’s enough to make anyone seek out lodging with clean energy methods.

Environmental Pastimes: It’s nice when a hotel offers earth-friendly services, but it’s a whole other level when your stay actually embraces the environment with resort activities. Take the Laguna Azul Ecolodge for example. This green resort makes its home on a private island in Panama, and its activities include an ECO “pool” (which is basically just a natural lagoon for snorkeling and swimming) and nearby hiking in the tropics. There’s no better way to pay homage to Mother Nature than some untouched tropical surroundings.