GEARING UP
Hefty has smartly positioned itself with an expanded line of quart-size, slider-top, clear-plastic baggies for carrying 3-ounce containers of liquid onto airplanes. Called the OneZip Travel bag, it’s the same bag they always offered, but now it has a cute little airplane on it, and the bags come packaged in convenient, slim cardboard cartons of seven for about $1.59 (Hefty says they are “suggesting $1, but we can’t make the stores sell them for that”). Without the cute little airplane on them, they used to run about $2.99 for 20-30, depending on where you shopped. Either way, they hold seven or eight 3-ounce toiletry items, and the zip thingie is nice compared to trying to pinch other baggies closed. Hefty also is wisely stacking these new-and-improved bags next to the trial-size products at local stores. One nice bonus item: the travel pack list on the website. | about $1.59,
THE ROOM REPORT
THE BILTMORE CORAL GABLES
1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables, Fla., 800-727-1926, biltmorehotel.com.
RATES: Rooms start at $404; suites start at $674 (through March 31; rates go down after the season).
STAY HERE IF YOU’RE: Independently wealthy, a Powerball winner, on an expense account, a hopeless romantic, honeymooner, or have scrounged the Internet for a bargain rate.
IT’S CLOSE TO: The airport, the Venetian Pool and other historic architectural sites in downtown Coral Gables, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens and Miracle Mile.
THE ROOMS ARE: Elegant and Old World, roomy, wired, and many offer views of the largest hotel pool in the country, as well as the championship golf course and sunsets.
THEY PUT ALL OF THE MONEY INTO: Everything. Book a treatment at the enormous, almost brand-spanking-new spa, with its premium pampering that meets all expectations.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A swanky stay that could be improved only by proximity to the ocean.
TRAVEL BY NUMBERS | Top 10 Romantic Cottages
In the February issue of Sunset magazine, editors pick the Top 10 Romantic Cottages,” the best places to cuddle up with your sweetie from Kauai to Colorado.
1. Waimea, Hawaii: Waimea Plantation Cottages. Once at your cute little cottage that’s been rescued from a shuttered sugarcane plantation, spruced up, and set here in a grassy coconut grove, Kauai’s must-see sights don’t stand a chance. Sixty-one cottages with kitchens from $220; waimea-plantation.com or 800-992-4632.
2. San Diego: Crystal Pier Hotel. Perched on a historic pier, these clapboard cottages are as close to the Pacific as you can get without having to hoist a jib. Twenty-four cottages from $235; crystalpier.com or 800-748-5894.
3. Greer, Ariz.: Hidden Meadow Ranch.
Six miles up a forest road, the seclusion and often- snowy setting make this super-luxe guest ranch in the White Mountains the ideal winter retreat. Ten log cabins from $550, including meals, horseback riding, and other ranch activities; hiddenmeadow.com or 866-333-4080.
4. Sonoma, Calif.: Les Petites Maisons
It’s Provence-meets-California at these sunny new cottages a mile from Sonoma’s town square. Four cottages from $125, including breakfast; thegirlandthefig.com or 707-933-0340.
5. Near Silver City, N.M.: Casitas de Gila Guesthouses. A wide stream murmurs as the sun sets over the fringes of the vast Gila Wilderness. Five casitas from $145; casitasdegila.com or 877-923-4827.
6. Port Townsend, Wash.: Chevy Chase Beach Cabins. Chevy Chase has the romance formula nailed. Seven cabins from $95; chevychasebeachcabins.com or 360-385-1270.
7. Yachats, Ore.: Shamrock Lodgettes.
You’re within earshot of stormy waves at Shamrock Lodgettes. Nine cabins from $99; shamrocklodgettes.com or 800-845-5028.
8. Evergreen: Highland Haven Creekside Inn. Lovebirds flock to this elegant countrified inn west of Denver for its private, woodsy location on Bear Creek. Six cottages from $210; highlandhaven.com or 303-674-3577.
9. Lake Tahoe, Nev.: Spooner Lake Wilderness Cabins. Slap on your cross-country skis, and glide off into the silent pines to Spooner’s snug and well-equipped, if rustic, log cabins. Two cabins from $160; spoonerlake.com or 775-749-5349.
10. Elk, Calif.: Griffin House Inn. In an unspoiled tiny town on a quiet stretch of the Mendocino coast, you’ll spot Griffin House and its friendly, if somewhat worn, cottages. Seven cottages from $148; griffinhouseinn.com or 707-877-3422.
For the full story, visit sunset.com
BOOK YOUR VACATION
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much to “New York: In Store” ($19.95, Thames & Hudson). A smallish coffee table book, the thing reveals little on an initial flip-through but photographs of business cards on the left-hand pages and photographs of things such as mannequins, flowers, vacuum cleaners, running shoes – all manner of merchandise – on the right. That’s it? Well, yeah. But then you look more closely at the business cards, which are cool, and the photos of the stores, which also are cool, and start to think, “I’d like to shop there.” The business cards can sometimes be hard to read, so fortunately the last few pages of the book are legible addresses and phone numbers for the shops. This is practical art at its most enjoyable.
Hotelscombined.com
It’s like the lord of the hotel search engines, with the motto “One site to search them all” – and Hotelscombined does a remarkable job of doing just that. Type in the city and the dates, and watch as the site runs through tens of thousands of options before spitting out a roster of about a hundred, starting with the cheapest. Each listing includes the name of the hotel, a rating from 1 to 5 stars, the location around the city and the price per night (including all taxes and fees). Click on the name of the hotel and find all of the other sites the listing was pulled from, along with basic room info, hotel details and photos. The site is new, so there are no reviews yet, but you can be the first.
