Escape the Holidays
There's never a better time to flee the country than over the holidays. Unfortunately, with many hotels booked six months in advance, finding a great luxury vacation this month (at a decent price) is about as easy as finding a partridge in a pear tree.
We've scoured the globe for ten of the best deals that are still in existence. Whether you like your holidays on the beach, surrounded by twinkling city lights or in front of a roaring fire with snow falling outside, you'll find something here that suits your taste.
All of these packages offer reduced daily rates, and are rife with personal holiday touches: traditional meals, sleigh rides, cooking classes, midnight masses, and even reindeer. Enjoy a traditional Spanish Christmas in Majorca, celebrate amidst the snow-capped peaks of Whistler, ring in the new year in Bali, or venture to Santa's home turf in Norway.
And best of all, all ten of these escapes guarantee a completely hassle-free holiday experience. Now that's worth toasting.
See our slideshow of last minute luxury deals.
Islands
• Bali is simply glorious, and it doesn't get any more scenic than at the Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay. Christmastime rates are from $585 per night for villa accommodations, or book a spa package from $615 that includes a floral bath, daily breakfast for two in your room, and a 60-minute massage. Outside your villa you'll find your private plunge pool and open-air shower. Heavenly.
• On the Spanish island of Mallorca, say "Feliz Navidad" at La Residencia, the perfect hideaway where the five-night Christmas Break (arrival Dec. 22 or 23) includes caviar and flowers as a welcome gift, accommodations with full breakfast and a 3-course dinner at the property's acclaimed El Olivio restaurant. Holiday activities include hot chocolate and ensaimada (warm cakes) after midnight mass. The package is priced from $2,131 per person.
• In the Caribbean, the cream-colored beaches of the Turks & Caicos seem to us a perfect spot to get away from the maddening holiday crowds. And you can hang your Christmas stockings on a palm tree at one of the Ocean Club Resorts, two high-end beachfront properties a mile apart that share a glorious stretch of Grace Bay Beach. The Heavenly Holidays package is a seven-night deal available Dec. 22 through Jan. 3. Several meals are included and you also can choose between a two-day car rental or a snorkeling excursion. Price: $3,367 for two. Since the T&C is one of the top dive destinations in the world, we suggest divers add a dive package ($495 each).
Mountains
• Canada's Whistler is a bona fide winter wonderland, not to mention top-class ski destination that will serve as host to the Winter Olympics in 2010. At The Fairmont Chateau Whistler from Dec. 20-Jan. 2, they are pulling out all the stops to offer a traditional family Christmas: tree decorating, gingerbread house building and sleigh rides with Santa. Book a five-night (minimum) package (from $519 per night) and you'll receive a $100 food and beverage credit per day and a one-day Family Fun pass to the Tube Park.
• For a truly fairy-tale Christmas experience, book into the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is a five-star fairy tale. The hotel chef will be busy baking cookies and making traditional Swiss candy, and the kids are invited to help. A holiday package offered Dec. 18 through Jan. 17 features a special room rate of $326 per night, including breakfast, and you can add a separate room for the kids at a 50% savings.
Cities
• We love Paris in the Spring, but we also love Paris in winter, when the city is ablaze with color. Lights drape the Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower twinkles with 20,000 bulbs. Our favorite high-end place to stay is Hotel de Crillon, the grand hotel at Place de la Concorde (especially since its recent renovation). And dinner in the two-star Michelin Les Ambassadeurs is something you just have to experience (the Christmas menu is $545 per person for four courses). Holiday room rates are from $658 per night.
• You won't say bah humbug at the Dukes Hotel, although being in London at Christmastime you may just have Dickens on the brain. The Christmas Break package at this small, classic hotel puts you just steps away from St. James Piccadilly. The holiday package, Dec. 24 through Dec. 27, is priced from $634 per room, per night, for two, including full breakfast. A four-course Christmas lunch will be served in the hotel's dining room for $185 per person: "God Bless Us, Everyone."
• If you prefer the flash of slot machines to Christmas lights, book into the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. The property is on a manmade lake, about 17 miles from the Strip, so you can do the traditional thing (albeit with the desert as a backdrop), and the What Happens in Vegas thing as well. The property's Lakeside Holiday Package is priced from $479 per night and includes lake-view accommodations in Moroccan-themed guestrooms, two 50-minute spa treatments, use of a poolside cabana, breakfast for two and cordials and cookies at turndown (save the cookies for Santa).
Cruises
• Head south, way down south, with SeaDream Yacht Club for a Christmas cruise on the 110-passenger luxury ship SeaDream I, roundtrip from Buenos Aires, visiting ports in Uruguay including Montevideo, Uruguay's vibrant capital city, and Punta del Este, the "St. Tropez of South America." Check out the sandy beaches, do some golfing and sample the local wines. The sailing is Dec. 20-29, and priced from $5,399 per person (regularly priced from $6,900).
• Or head north, way north, up above the Artic Circle with Norwegian Coastal Voyage. These cruises serve the dual purposes of taking travelers to some of the most majestic landscapes and scenic fjords in the world, and delivering cargo to 34 ports on Norway's western coast. You can eat lutefisk (a boiled fish dish) washed down with Christmas beer on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day guests will enjoy a lavish Scandinavian smorgasbord and Boxing Day will feature a dance. An eight-day package leaving the U.S. on Dec. 21 is priced from $2,445 per person including air from New York. On all the winter sailings you stand the chance of seeing the Northern Lights flash across the sky.