Roam+Board :: The Viceroy Palm Springs

[trip style = sun + luxury]

{Editor’s Note: Two weeks ago I was in Palm Springs with the Bureau of Tourism and had the great pleasure of staying at The Viceroy. I will definitely be returning. It is ultra Trip Styler approved. Stay tuned for our Palm Springs Spotlight next week!}

What The sight and sound of water gently flowing over lava rock into a koi pond is the first note; the rocky mountains climbing beyond the pools and spa is the crescendo. From beginning to end, the 1930s-built former motor lodge that's welcomed the likes of Bing Crosby and Clark Gable charms and enchants all five senses. The Viceroy is fancy without being frou frou and whimsical without being overdone. Like its grand dame of design, Kelly Wearstler, it’s strikingly pulled together with a white canvas, black geometric lines and yellow splashes of colour.

A few calming steps through the secret garden entry reveal a 4.5 acre property that fans out like a gorgeous peacock tail on display. The lobby is tall, slender and cheery leading to Citron restaurant with a polished yet casual atmosphere and fresh Californian cuisine. Follow the lemon trees and topiaries to the 67 guest rooms, spa, three pools, courtyards and grassy patches seemingly made for an afternoon picnic.

Where Palm Springs, California. Ten minutes from the airport {PSP} and one block from downtown’s shopping district. Getting there from Vancouver is a cinch with direct and daily WestJet service.

When Year-round. Planning a fall, winter or spring retreat is a pretty good bet with Palm Spring’s 354 days of sun. For a spontaneous trip style = weekend getaway, check the weather and throw a few essentials in your carry-on.

Who/Why Your hotel match made in heaven marries high design with highly attentive service. Fido is welcome too for $100/stay {with a portion of pet fee donated to the local animal shelter}.

Cost Rates typically start at $150 in the off-season {late spring, summer, early fall}. A daily $28 resort fee includes morning coffee in Citron, gym, steam room, cruiser bicycle use, wifi & parking. {Trip Styler Tip :: Don’t miss the Breathe Easy Package (a steal of a deal) starting at $95 with an additional 25% off all food & bev, spa services and resort fee.}

More Roam+Board Parker - Palm Springs Sorobon Beach Resort - Bonaire Kura Hulanda - Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen - Finland The Met - Vancouver Custom Hotel - LAX Bitter End Yacht Club - BVI Sleep On The Water - London A Woodsy Hideaway - Big Sur, CA

Poolside Faux Pas

[trip style = all-inclusive + sun + beach + budget conscious + luxury]

First let me say, there are bigger problems to have in life than being annoyed by something or someone whilst lounging poolside. But since Trip Styler chats about travel lifestyle {and we're big on travel etiquette}, I digress.

Whether you've scored a deal on Travelzoo or paid full price for poolside bliss AND attendants at a Relais & Châteaux property, certain behaviours ruin the mood. And gosh darn it, you've paid to be there! If you're heading away this winter, here are some common poolside pet peeves to avoid for the greater good:

Hotel Pool Faux Pas

• Leaving your towel on your beach or pool chair when you leave!
• Saving pool loungers or palapas for 5 hours when you're not there!
• Loud speakers. Are you delivering a keynote? I didn't think so.
• Cell phone talkers. Step away, far away from the pool please.
• Smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes in densely populated areas.
• Splashers. {Submitted by @ckjnewberry} Sure, a little pool play is fine, but don't splash other guests, that's what the ocean is for.
• Loud iPod'ers.
• Not treating the hotel or resort staff {who work harder than you know, and are often mistreated by other guests} with care.

Do you have any to add that we're missing?

Related Content Plane Etiquette Hotel {guest} Etiquette Travel Tipping Etiquette

[photo by @tripstyler, taken two weeks ago at the Parker Palm Springs]

Healthy Holiday Hopping

[trip style = active & adventure + beach + sun + budget conscious + ski + spa + weekend getaway]

It's hard to stay healthy during the holidays with bonbons and baked goods assaulting us from every direction.

Everyone has different priorities and schedules during the Christmas break. For many, it's the one time of year when everyone has a few days or a week off at the same time. And when the vacation time stars align, so does the opportunity to holiday hop. So why not do the holidays a little different this year with a mind, body and/or soul detox and refresh for 2012?

Sometimes I write for other travel publications. Last month I was working on Healthy Holiday Getaway Ideas for the NY-Based foodie publication, The Daily Meal, and I just found out it published this week! Here are some of the getaway options I wrote about in the article. I hope some of the ideas inspire a one-night, weekend or week-long healthy holiday trip style for you. Bon voyage! Read the full article here!

Surf's Up - Learn to surf like pro rider Kelly Slater, kinda. Where/How - Safari Surf School, Costa Rica or Monty’s Beach Lodge, Nicaragua.

Let It Snow - Escape to a winter wonderland of activity. Where/How - Whistler, Canada and Portes du Soleil, a collection of 12 connected ski resorts in the French and Swiss Alps.

Digi-Fast - Go off the grid, where you can't be reached. Where/How - Wilson Island, Australia; Yelapa Casa, Mexico; Rolling Huts, Washington.

Voluntourism - Travel and do good. Where/How - Travelocity has a section devoted to voluntourism, otherwise, check with your preferred charity for local and international opportunities.

Spa - Ring in the New Year with bliss. Where/How - Scottsdale, Arizona at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Retreat and Spa, the Fairmont Scottsdale or the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale.

The 100-Mile Retreat - Go local and eat local within 100 miles {161km}. Where/How - Search airbnb, VRBO or HomeAway for a vacation rental with a kitchen to cook up a locally sourced feast.

[images sourced online]

The ABC Islands :: Curacao {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach + urban]

{Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of Trip Styler's ABC Islands Spotlight after a short and sweet intro a few weeks ago. First stop, Aruba, second stop, Bonaire and today, Curacao.}

Curacao would be the worst place in the world to do an Easter egg hunt. Its pastel green, blue, pink and yellow buildings would mask the colour of the eggs and the bright Caribbean hues would distract from the task at hand. The chocolate would melt too {it's the Caribbean after all}.

Curacao is the ABC's boutique island. Sure, its capital, Willemstad, welcomes cruise ship passengers and a few mega hotel mavens, but most of the resorts are small and most of the visitors are seeking an edited experience---the kind where you dine under a thatched roof for dinner, where you snorkel with turtles and where you sunbathe between a coral cliff and clear water that refracts light like a Swarovski crystal.

As a tourist you feel like you blend in---whether this is true or not. The 38-mile island has 50+ ethnicities represented and everyone seems to do every job---regardless of background. This is as refreshing as sipping a Blue Curacao cocktail {like a blue lagoon} under the shade of an umbrella with misters and fans refreshing you from the intense heat. {Trip Styler Tip :: Blue Curacao is also an apropos souvenir to bring home.}

Eat Overlooking Willemstad and the rotating bridge {which allows freighters entry into Curacao's deep-water port, its main and thriving industry}, Governeur De Rouville offers open-air dining in a restored Dutch building. Excellent service and a fusion of local and globally-inspired cuisine make it consistently busy with both tourists and Curacaoans. If you make it outside the city, there’s a local garden joint in Westpunt that can’t be missed. Jaanchies is an 85-year-old restaurant with an owner who acts as the host and talking menu.

Do Kill two birds with one stone: shop hop and cool off in Willemstad's boutiques, visit Blue Beach and dive off the far reaches of the island.

Stay Kura Hulanda Hotel and Lodge Hotel: Hang out in history in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and restored Dutch village in the heart of Willemstad. Walk along cobblestone streets, dine in the main square or massage your shoulders under the cascading waterfall in the eco-pool. Lodge: For a breezy beach experience, stay at the Lodge on the island’s west side. A tranquil cove and coral cliffs front the cool, coastal retreat with amenities from home, thousands miles away from it all. We just featured Kura Hulanda in our weekly Roam+Board feature---see more details and photos here!

Getting There Get there from the US with direct flights from NYC, Miami and Charlotte, and it just got a little easier from Canada. Starting December 24th, Air Canada is doing a weekly service from Toronto on Saturdays. This means that Air Canada Vacations will be offering flight and hotel packages to nine resorts, two of which are mentioned above!

Related ABCs {An Intro} Spotlight :: Aruba Spotlight :: Bonaire Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[photos by @tripstyler]

The ABCs :: Bonaire {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach + budget conscious + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: After a short and sweet intro a few weeks ago, this is the third installment in a four-part series about the ABC islands. Last stop Aruba, today Bonaire, and next up Curacao.}

Wading through knee-deep water the colour of a sparkling sapphire and aquamarine jewel, I decide to order a beer from the beach bar and take a seat on the ocean floor. Covered shoulder-high in seawater the temperature of a hot tub, I sip my beer and spot a pink streak in the sky. It's not a bird or a plane; it's a flock of 30 flamingos!

Seriously? The bartender then offers “yep, it happens like clockwork almost every night at 6pm.” Welcome to Bonaire, a diver’s and windsurfer’s paradise where those seeking an active & adventure and low-key trip style go for it in the day and relax at night.

Over wahoo fish with roasted vegetables and polenta, people linger at dinner recounting the day’s wind intensity, turtle sightings and beach breaks. At the end of the evening you don’t hear thumping and bumping beats like other islands---it’s not the time nor the place. It never is on Bonaire.

The island's main visitors are blond, tanned and sleek-bodied Dutch arriving in daily droves by way of a KLM wide-body jet. Yet Bonaire is a place where locals---Arubans and Curacaoans---go to get away from it all as well. My taxi driver in Aruba mentioned she'd just returned. “It’s quiet, less busy,” she recounted with a smile.

I guess the secret’s out; locals and internationals must have heard about the flocks of flamingos, jewel-toned water and schools of fish in the water below.

Eat The island's sport enthusiasts make dinner a big event in Kralendijk, the island's oceanfront capital. Order nachos at City Cafe and experience the local tradition of pouring sweet chili sauce on top of the cheese! For an all-appy menu, eat in a historic, open-air enclave at Appetite! Under the shade of a tree and a cool beach breeze, fuel up with a traditional brunch at Sorobon Beach Resort's restaurant. A bronzed gentleman sporting a terrycloth sweatband around his head serenades guests on his electronic keyboard with classical favorites.

Do Swim through schools of fish while diving just off the shore at one of 87 official dive spots. Learn to windsurf and ride like the wind at The Windsurf Place, located in Lac Bay, a 1.8-mile salt water lagoon with knee- to waist-deep warm water!

Stay Stay at Sorobon Beach Resort. Clustered around the only natural white sand beach on the island, Sorobon is a casual, tropical hideaway with 30 clay-roofed and whitewashed cottages. We just featured Sorobon in our weekly Roam+Board feature---see pictures and details here!

Getting There Insel Air and DAE fly to Bonaire daily from Curacao. If you depart from Aruba, you’ll need to transfer in Curacao.

Related Spotlight :: Aruba Spotlight :: Curacao Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} ABCs {An Intro} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[Windsurfing photo by Kontiki Beach Resort and all remaining photos by @tripstyler, taken in Bonaire two weeks ago]