Bed and Breakfast Guide for Food Lovers

Pamela Lanier runs one of the best websites to find a wonderful Bed & Breakfast for your romantic weekend getaway. I love a great B&B, but I don't generally book them myself for clients. Pamela is doing a great service both to B&B's and B&B lovers by maintaining her website.

Bed and Breakfast Guide for Food Lovers was assembled by Pamela Lanier. It features 133 recipes from the kitchens of Inns and B&B's in all fifty states (including 50 breakfast and brunch recipes, 23 appetizers, 23 entrées, and 37 desserts). In exploring my review copy, I found that the book is really a collection of many creative variations on a few familiar themes. For example, there are five egg recipes, seven varieties of French toast, nine kinds of pancakes, even four ways of making oatmeal.

The book would be a helpful resource for someone trying to add variety to one's daily family meals - as well as someone looking for a great place to enjoy a romantic getaway and some good home cooking. Each original recipe was provided by one of the B&Bs and inns on Lanier's website.

The book can be ordered from Pamela Lanier's online bookstore.


copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

Miraval | it's not just a spa

Miraval is not just a spa... it is an entire lifestyle experience nestled in the high desert outside Tucson, Arizona.

All-inclusive adult resort, virtually everything is included at Miraval — luxurious accommodations, transfers from the Tucson airport, all meals and snacks, programs and activities — with $130 per person per day thrown in that you can apply to extras such as spa treatments, private consultations, alcoholic beverages, dinner with the Chef, and golf.

Gourmet food and creative activities make for fulfilling days. Miraval is not about boring spa food. Emphasizing locally-sourced, organic ingredients, you can order everything from Vegan delicacies to Kobe beef, and wine and cocktails are served at Miraval. Guests can experience an amazing array of self-discovery and growth activities from the Desert Sky Zipline to the Equine Experience, all included in the rate. See Miraval as featured on Oprah!

Some special deals await you at Miraval. For a limited time, you can get your 5th Night Free. In April, my clients will receive a complimentary Flourish Organic Body Scrub spa service. And by booking through a Virtuoso travel consultant, you will also receive a room upgrade (if available at check-in) and the gift of a beautiful leather journal with a very nice pen to create a permanent memory of your time at Miraval.


Miraval (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

Meadowood Napa Valley | visit in the winter

While winter rages across most of the country, Northern California has gotten beautiful for the moment. I'm just back from walking my dog in the park this morning, and the weather was gorgeous. I started with just a light fleece jacket and ended up the walk in just shirtsleeves. Of course, the weather in Northern California is very changeable with beautiful, sunny days followed by a period of rain.

Meadowood Napa Valley has taken this into account with the Meadowood Rain Check. Rain or shine, Meadowood Napa Valley is a beautiful and luxurious resort located in the heart of the beautiful Wine Country. It is just outside the picturesque town of St. Helena with its wine shops and restaurants.

While we believe Meadowood is lovely on a rainy day, we understand that showers sometimes interrupt carefully laid plans. So, if it rains during your stay on the estate during the months of January through April 14, 2011, we'll treat you to a sunny day by issuing you a Meadowood Rain Check for a complimentary night's lodging when you stay again before July 31, 2011.

Even if it does rain, you can still snuggle up in front of the fire in a Treeline Room with fireplace. Meadowood is a member of Virtuoso and offers the following amenities on paid evenings when booked through a Virtuoso luxury travel consultant.

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• $50 daily credit towards breakfast in The Grill or via room service
• a bottle of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon
• $100 spa credit, once per stay

Meadowood Napa Valley (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

what's better than Four Seasons City Breaks?

City Breaks is a winter promotion offered by Four Seasons through the end of February. It offers you a complimentary daily breakfast for two and either a $100 or 100€ Hotel Spending Credit.

Could anything be a better value than Four Seasons City Breaks? Yes. Just reserve your room through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner, and you will receive the following additional amenities:

• Enjoy your full American Breakfast either in the restaurant or via room service.
• An upgrade to the next room category upon check-in, if available.
• $85 lunch credit or $100 spa credit (depending on which property you visit)

These Four Seasons hotels and resorts are participating in this promotion:

Europe: Budapest, Florence, Hampshire, Istanbul (both hotels), Lisbon, Prague, Provence

The Americas: Atlanta, Austin, Buenos Aires, Chicago (both hotels), Denver, Houston, Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles at Westlake Village, New York, Silicon Valley, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington DC, Mexico City, Miami

Four Seasons is always a compelling luxury value, especially with an additional 100€ or $100 hotel credit. Contact your Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel consultant for complete information.


Four Seasons Preferred Partner (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

why luxury cruises are the best value

Nobody likes watching their wallet, but that's exactly what happens with a typical cruise. The ads headline a super-low fare, but by the time you inspect your bill at the end of the cruise, you've paid as much or more for "incidentals" as you did for the cruise itself. You've shelled out significant amounts of money for cocktails, wine at meals, soft drinks, bottled water, gratuities, etc.

That's why luxury cruises are the best value. Virtually everything is included in the price of the cruise, with some cruise lines even offering complimentary shore excursions. For instance, I just received an email blast from Seabourn advertising "unlimited luxuries for one simple fare."

• intimate ships with just 104 or 225 suites
• all-suite accommodations with ocean views
• fine wines poured at lunch and dinner
• open bars throughout the ship
• all dining venues are complimentary

Seabourn is advertising savings up to 65%*. Here are three great itineraries:

• Caribbean Hideways from $2,199 (7 days)
Visit St. Thomas, St. Martin, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, St. Barths, St. Kitts, Prickly Pear Island


• Lisbon, Portugal to Istanbul, Turkey from $2,999 (12 days)
Explore Malaga and Alicante, Spain; Corsica; Rome; Malta; and Ephesus, Turkey.


• Thailand and Vietnam from $3,199 (12 days)
Visit Bangkok and Ko Kood (beach resort), Saigon, Danang, Hanoi, and Hong Kong.

Get to Europe in Super First Class. You get more than a sleeper seat. You get your own suite, a regular bed, and gourmet meals along the way, and you arrive with no jet lag!

• Fort Lauderdale to Lisbon, Portugal on March 18 from $2,149 (12 days)
• Fort Lauderdale to Malaga, Spain on March 21, from $2,249 (13 days)

For information on these sailings, or any luxury cruise, send us an email ... and ask about an additional $100 shipboard credit.


luxury cruises (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.


*Fares are in U.S. dollars, for new bookings only, per guest, double occupancy and subject to availability. Some suite categories may not be available. Fares are not combinable with any other offer, may vary by sailing date, are capacity controlled, subject to change without notice, and are only available to residents of the Americas. Government fees of $32.58 to $498.66 per person are additional. Seabourn reserves the right to charge a fuel supplement for all guests, without prior notice, if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $70.00USD per barrel, and may collect such a supplement even if the cruise fare has been paid in full.