The Savvy Traveler :: Tiffany

Tiffany's lifestyle and work are the true definition of trip style = luxury. This Southern California-raised blond-haired, brown-eyed jetsetter is on a mission to inspect and perfect stylish hotels throughout North America and the Caribbean for the international luxury hotel guide Condé Nast Johansens. Sometimes her business attire involves donning a favorite Melissa Odabash swimsuit, other times a Thakoon or Mike&Ton dress---it depends whether she's working beachside in St. Barths or around town in Boston, Miami or Vancouver.

She's also connected. Really connected; with 10,000+ Twitter followers {@LuxeTiffany}, as well as a founding member of Luxury Travel Twitter Chat {@luxchat} drawing thousands of luxury travel enthusiasts each month. For all these reasons and more, I thought Tiffany would be the perfect high-end travel ambassador for this month's The Savvy Traveler. If you don't spot her on the beach in The Turks and Caicos adorned with the season's hottest beach cover-up and 'it' nail polish color, you’ll find her in Boston where she’s involved with many animal rescue organizations and the stylish Boston social scene.

1/ What are your top 3 trip styles and why? 
[trip style = luxury + Beach + Spa] I grew up in Palos Verdes Estates, CA and was always a beach kid and a Junior Lifeguard in the summers. I have been scuba certified since 12 years old, and every summer we went diving as a family in the Cayman Islands. I love any vacation that includes relaxing on a white sand beach, snorkeling and diving, an innovative spa treatment and great local cuisine---whether it be at a beach bar or gourmet restaurant. Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos was the ultimate honeymoon.

2/ What items are always on your packing list? 

• Tumi Voyageur Quintessential Tote
• Dianora Salviati cashmere scarf {stylish and warm when on chilly planes!}
• Visine rewetting eye drops to combat airplane dry air
• Clarins sunscreen SPF 30
• Granola bars
• Extra zip lock bags
• Bug spray

PS - I’m not into fancy passport covers. The more worn looking, the better.

3/ Essential travel gadget or app? 
My Tumi Electric Adaptor that works in 150 countries. I travel with an iPhone, Blackberry, laptop and/or iPad and something always needs to be charged. I love staying connected with my Twitter travel friends while traveling abroad.

4/ Hotel or destination that's on your radar and why?
Mustique is one of the best kept secrets around and incredibly private (why it’s so popular with the Royal Family). It’s an island located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is surprisingly easy to get to with daily flights from St. Lucia and Barbados. There are some of the most breathtaking villas available to rent, each more beautiful than the next and one hotel called Cotton House. I’m going back next year for the annual Basil’s Blues Fest. I also just returned from Jade Mountain, in St. Lucia, one of the most romantic hotels in the Caribbean. Rooms are called “Sanctuaries” with private infinity pools overlooking the breathtaking Pitons. It has total “Wow Factor.”

5/ Tell us about a cool travel experience.
I was a “Potcake” courier in the Turks and Caicos. 'Potcake' is the name given to dogs in the Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos because locals fed them the caked remains at the bottom of the cooking pot. Potcake Place is a wonderful animal rescue organization that helps rescue, foster and find homes for the Islands' dogs. I couriered a puppy from Providenciales to Boston to its new owners who lived on Cape Cod. What an incredibly rewarding experience, and anyone can volunteer to do this! When I visit a Caribbean island, I always try to make a donation to the local animal rescue organization such as AARF in Anguilla. Every little bit counts.

6/ Best ways to take advantage of luxury travel without spending $1000+/night? 
Travel during the off-season. You’ll find the best rates and deals available in the Caribbean during the summer and no peak season crowds. Also, try using a luxury travel professional. They can sometimes get you perks such as resort credits and spa treatments that you wouldn’t have received if you booked directly. Happy “luxe” traveling!

{If you know anyone who should be featured in our once-monthly Savvy Traveler series, drop us a line!}

More Savvy Travelers
Lora, The BC & OR Family Travel Expert
Bryce, The Pilot

[photo via tiffany]

Rosewood Hotel Georgia

[trip style = urban + luxury]

{Editor's Note: This summer, we've been busy bees. One of the results is Trip Styler's new look, debuting today. This Friday we'll explain everything, as well as announce a few new features. Until then, this week is packed with goodies like today's classic hotel tour, Tech Tuesday, Travel Beauty with tips from a St. Tropez celeb tanner and Healthy On The Road. PS - this week we're giving away five DuWop Flight Sticks. Enter today.}

Vancouver's grand dame has been in hiding for a few years. With a highly publicized facelift, modernization and new pantsuit, she's emerged with the class of Elizabeth Taylor and playful beauty of Heidi Klum. She's as gorgeous today as she was in 1927 when the Vancouver {Evening} Sun headline proclaimed "New Building One of Finest Hotels on the Continent." A few weeks ago, Trip Styler was invited to tour Vancouver's newest hotel with some of the most glamorous bones in the city. Naturally, we donned a dashing shirt dress {a Fashion Friday :: Shoulder Season must-have} for the occasion.

History The Rosewood Hotel Georgia can't help but catch your eye. Eighty years ago it was the place to stay and play, and with its recent reopening, nothing has changed. Sure, the historic property has welcomed Hollywood's elite, but two iconic individuals made a lasting impression. Katherine Hepburn is credited with setting Vancouver's room service trend in motion when she asked management to eat in her room rather than the restaurant. And speaking of room service, Elvis requested his now famous pan-fried peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich when it wasn't on the menu. In a bow to the hotel's history, now it is.

Hub Elegantly seated in the centre of Vancouver, Miss Georgia is neighboured by the Vancouver Art Gallery, Pacific Centre Mall and stately office buildings. Not surprisingly, it has become the go-to place for dining, events, meetings and most recently, open-air lounging. Named after celebrated Vancouver chef David Hawksworth, Hawksworth Restaurant is the property's main dining room, earning accolades as the best new restaurant in Canada. If Vancouver's hottest new restaurant is bursting at the seams, check out 1927, the hotel's quintessential lobby bar. And don't be surprised if you rub shoulders with a Don Draper lookalike---it's pretty big with the apres-work suits. Four levels above, an urban oasis draws see and be seen crowds onto its concrete perch to relax on cushy seating, sip classic cocktails and stare at still and cascading water features. The giant fire bowl, seemingly begging to brown marshmallows to a light crisp, helps to keep it hot when the weather is not.

Design The mix of thoughtfully preserved old mingling with West Coast new is what strikes me at every turn. The lobby's original floors are paired with a visually playful geometric painting, the traditional neutral palette of the rooms is accented by bright blue pillows and a light-on-dark-brown herringbone print throw, and the indoor salt water pool beside the South Beach-style outdoor lounge offers a fresh take on the Glass City's design aesthetic. Anchored by features like the meticulous re-creation of the original 1927 cornicing with deco light fixtures and elevator doors, the hotel maintains a grandeur without being stuffy or unapproachable.

Art Aboriginal modern. Geometric "untitled" wax {left}. Subdued landscape {painted by Takao Tanabe, born one year before the hotel opened}. Part of one of the largest private collections of Canadian art in the country, these progressive installations are more gallery than hotel. I try to spend time in galleries in every city I visit, and the hotel's collection is worth the excursion alone. Every piece is by a Canadian artist, with the exception of the lobby's reverse-perspective, 3D acrylic on wood aptly name "Internity", painted by British-born Patrick Hughes {painting pictured top right}.

Details Trip style = luxury, rooms start at $375 a night. Note that the base standard deluxe room is not just a bed and bath. It has a sitting area and spa bathroom with two sinks, a soaker tub and separate shower.

[photos by @tripstyler aside from Hawksworth Restaurant and hotel's exterior, used with permission.]

Spotlight :: Osoyoos :: The High Life

[trip style = wine tasting + weekend getaway + sun + luxury]

{Editor’s note: This month we’re doing a four-part feature on the Pacific Northwest’s off-the-beaten-track destinations. See below for this month’s earlier selections that sit in the shadow of bigger, fancier or legacy locales. This week we're going to a summer town that works hard year-round.}

Last week I found a place that layers trip styles with the same attention to detail a winemaker uses when creating a 90-point blended white. You just don't expect to see, taste and feel such depth in a town of 5,000, but Osoyoos' roots dig deep to produce a time-tested getaway and wine region with international acclaim.

Maybe it's Osoyoos' depth that enhances its height. Ten years ago, it wasn't easy to find the high life in the Okanagan. With lakefront RV parks, motels and condos flooding the vacation market, if you wanted a luxurious summer vacation or tasting trip, you needed to fly south to California.

Then a few trailblazers, one of whom has roots that stretch back to BC's beginnings, had a vision to draw vacationers back from below the 49th with the promise of award-winning wines, sunset vistas and rolling hills painted with vines. The aboriginal-owned Nk'Mip resort area and Cellars occupies a large plot of land overlooking lake Osoyoos and the town below. This trailblazer was my home base.

The resort area's signature property, aside from the Cellars, is aptly named Spirit Ridge. True to its name, it sits higher than most properties in the area providing a retreat from the summer frenzy below. I arrive in the late afternoon and open my door to a waft of lavender-infused heat flooding my air-conditioned vehicle. This scent did not come from the spa; the purple bushes are planted throughout the resort.

After sitting in a car for four hours, I have one goal in mind: get to the pool! En route I'm distracted, again by my nose. This time, the scent is more savory---like fresh-baked, herb-dusted focaccia. Dry and pale green sage and rosemary bushes are everywhere, not just planted strategically, but scattered throughout the surrounding desert ridge. Vegas' resorts spritz signature scents into their properties, but in Osoyoos this is a naturally occurring phenomenon.

If you want to get back to civilization, walking down to Osoyoos Lake or the main road below only takes 10 minutes with your choice of route: stroll through vineyards and along an orchard-lined street or along a dry, crunchy, well-maintained desert path with signs that warm against rattlesnakes. What? Don't worry, there are few sightings and protective fences keep most of these heat-loving, tail-rattling desert dwellers out. I walked the trails multiples times without a hint of rattle.

After a morning walk and sun-therapy beside the pool, I'm ready for more of the high life sipping fine wines in an area known as "Napa of the North." But forget California, hundreds of award-winning wineries await your palate. Just don't forget the baguette and brie picnic, which is an essential in wine country fashion and function.

Must-Visit Wineries

Nk'Mip
Nk'Mip is unique. As North America's first Aboriginal owned and operated winery, it employes a winemaker from Saskatchewan who is now training two young men from the Band to take over. In addition to shadowing winemaker Randy, they've studied the craft for 11 months in New Zealand and taken night school classes to help manage the vineyard's 32,000 acres and white, red and ice wine production. Don't miss the tour, focusing on the wine and impressive collection of Native art. Plus, the restaurant has some of the best food, wine {obviously} and views in the vine-saturated region.

Road 13
Part of the Golden Mile wine route, Road 13 is on ... Road 13. I visited on a Friday, and I think it must have been good luck because three deer, some of the region's most authentic tour guides, led us up to the winery for our tasting after spotting our car from the side of the road. We were then met by two dachshunds, one of which is depicted in the winery's recognizable logo. The highly-acclaimed, complex yet medium-bodied wines seemed like a metaphor for the castle tasting room and adjacent modern facility sitting side by side at the top of the vineyard.

Le Vieux Pin
Le Vieux Pin is named after the old pine tree that sits on the French farmhouse-inspired boutique property. The owners felt the old pine was a symbol of what they wanted to achieve: stand out and stand the test of time. I think they are well on their way to meeting that goal, given their highly selective approach to harvesting grapes---they produce approximately 3,000 cases per year, but could do 16,000. Severine, the head winemaker, must be doing a great job, because during my 20-minute tasting, flocks of spandex-clad cyclists and lakeside vacationers pulled in to purchase her Pinot Noir Rosé. I had to follow suit and leave with a bottle too.

Church & State
If Church & State's boxy, concrete tasting and production hub hasn't already been featured in a design magazine, I'd be shocked. Pair this with Merlot-coloured Turkish carpets and a Springsteen music video playing on two flat-screen monitors in the background and you've got a pretty unique tasting environment. It's as if Glee's Don't Stop Believing {or Journey - whichever version you prefer} was playing in the background, because we purchased more wines at Church & State than any other winery in the area.

Hester Creek
The moment you walk into to Hester Creek's Tuscan tasting room you are fittingly greeted with a glass of wine. The day I visited, a glass of Pinot Blanc was on the welcoming committee. A trip up to Hester is worthwhile for more than just the wine; there are six guest villas and a restaurant with a vine-covered terrace. I hope you get a chance to talk to the winemaker Rob---he's as much of a science guy as he is a people person.

Silver Sage
Silver Sage has made its mark with sweet wines and The Flame, a chili-infused dessert wine. It's a tasting experience you'll remember, especially for the laughs. I'm convinced the wine host is part comedian and must moonlight in comedy clubs when not running his wine operation.

Trip Styler Tip: If you want to experience the high life for less, visit just before or just after summer in May or October for highly discounted rates and a more personalized tasting experience.

Getting There
Four hours from Vancouver, five from Seattle. Once there, there are tour and shuttle options to visit wineries if you prefer not to drive: OK Wine Shuttle & Uncorked Okanagan Wine Tours.

More Off-the-Beaten-Track Features
A Magic Carpet Ride
Lodges and Cabins
Spotlight on Bellevue, WA
OK Wine Tasting
Beat the Heat in Sonoma

[photos by @tripstyler]

Off The Beaten Track :: Lodges & Cabins

[trip style = beach + glamping + budget + luxury]

This month we're doing a four-part feature on need-to-know Pacific Northwest destinations, resorts and lodges that sit in the shadow of bigger, fancier or legacy destinations.

Last week the spotlight was on Bellevue, the oft-forgotten and woodsy suburb where Microsofters mingle and shoppers spend, as an alternative to Seattle. This week we're escaping busy streets and crowded highways in search of lodges and cabins where sipping steaming coffee in a lakeside Adirondack chair and evening fireside chats are a detox for the soul.

The Alders Running barefoot along the sun-dried grass from beach to cabin {and back again} for a grape popsicle or nacho-flavored chips was my main commute. Roasting marshmallows for a little too long---to the point of incurring a small campfire on the end of my stick---was my big night out. The daily commute and hot smoky evenings took place at the Alders, a family-friendly summer escape near Campbell River on Vancouver Island. I spent close to every summer at this collection of vintage, wood-framed, beach-side cabins growing up. I remember retro stoves, orange and green geographic print curtains and beds with a slight canoe effect. To me, it was perfect. With no TVs or phones---though these days that doesn't mean much with portable e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g---this place is all about the sandbar, campfire songs and cozy cabins. Cost: From $1,160/week in the summer. Prices drop in shoulder season.

Sakinaw Lake Lodge After a 40-minute ferry ride from Vancouver, plus a 50-minute drive through artsy beach-front towns, you've arrived at the part salt, part fresh water lake. From the outside, Sakinaw Lake Lodge resembles any other other renovated cabin on the lake, but upon closer inspection, it's more more catered to and current than most weekend summer-use cabins. After a glass of wine is handed to you at pick-up, you stay in one of two lakefront suites {or rent the whole lodge} that give secluded relaxation a new meaning. There's even a luxury canvas tent for those of you who like to glamp! Cost: From $229/night during summer.

King Pacific Lodge Anywhere that calls Princess Royal Island and The Great Bear Rainforest home must be a remote eco-feast for the eyes. When you glide into this luxury wilderness resort on British Columbia's North Coast via float plane---the only way to arrive---you realize why it's an all-inclusive fit for royalty, pairing fishing and whale watching with epicurean indulgences and fine wines. Beware, this curated, multi-award winning, once-in-a-lifetime---or yearly, depending on how you roll---experience can only be had between June and September. By now, I'm sure you can guess the price. Cost: From $4,750 per person for a 3-night stay.

Bonus Selection: Skoki Lodge Even though this week's Off the Beaten Path feature is focused on lodges and cabins around the Pacific Northwest, I'd be remiss not to mention Skoki Lodge near Lake Louise, Alberta, where Will and Kate spent a night away from the eyes of the world on their royal tour of Canada. Rather than bring their entourage to a swanky lodge, they opted for a removed and understated retreat with no electricity or running water, originally built in 1930. PS. I hear the pair asked for at least one modern world luxury: running water. {Fair enough.} Cost: Summer rates from $169 - $263 per person.

[photos by Geoff & Ana-Maria, Sakinaw Lake Lodge, King Pacific Lodge, Parks Canada]

Party Like It's Your Birthday

[trip style = budget conscious + luxury]

Make it a Practice If you're going away to celebrate a special occasion, or if that occasion falls during your getaway, remember to tell your hotel or resort. Whether you're booking a trip style = budget conscious or trip style = luxury accommodation, you should let the property know what you're celebrating. Most hotels would love to enhance your stay with simple touches, so it's worth emailing or calling them in advance with details.

Speak Up Over the past 10 years, I've learned to speak up when there's a special occasion. 90% of the time, hotels will go the extra mile, providing a little plate of cake or chocolates for a birthday, or champagne or berries for an anniversary.

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams Whether you're staying at a motel or a high-end resort, tell them about your occasion. For example, my husband and I were travelling last month around the time of his birthday. Over a two-night period, we stayed at a simple hotel and then an ultra-luxe resort in Australia's Whitsundays. His birthday fell on the check-out day from one property and the check-in day at the other, so we told each hotel. At the first hotel, my husband simply wrote in a comment field when booking "It's my birthday!" and there was a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the fridge with an accompanying birthday note. At the second resort, I emailed them in advance, and there was another bottle of champagne waiting in the room. Cheers!

They may not always rise to the occasion, but give your hotel {or restaurant} the opportunity to do something nice when you're celebrating a milestone at their property. Over the years, I've been given champagne, wine, fruit plates, signature tea, chocolate, cake, biscotti, etc... Say something---you might even get a room upgrade!

Related It's the Little Things {Special hotel treats} 5 Ways to get the Best Hotel Room It Never Hurts to Ask {Speaking up in your travels}

[photo by @tripstyler]