Exploding fireworks. Tolling bells. High volume music. Tooting car horns. Sound is omnipresent in Latin America; the vibrant soundtrack of every day life. But from the cozy sling of a hammock on the veranda of a private casita at Hacienda Puerta del Cielo Ecolodge & Spa, it felt as if Nicaragua had gone silent.
It was early December, mid-way through a three-month stay in the nearby Colonial city of Granada where the town had been rocking for days in boisterous preparation of the upcoming Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebration. At the Hacienda, however, perched atop a remote hillside with unimpeded views of tangled jungle, smoldering volcano and glistening lake, there wasn’t even a whiff of noise on the balmy breeze. As if to make the point, soundless butterflies the size of dessert plates fluttered about the resort gardens.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
For the life of me, I can’t figure out why it’s taken me a decade to get here. ‘Here’ being the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa, one of the nation’s best resort spas, located on secluded tribal land in the New Mexico high desert near Albuquerque, less than 200 miles from my home. It’s enchanting, culturally authentic, and a road trip away. Throw in gorgeous landscapes, Native art, indigenous spa treatments, nationally ranked golf, award-winning dining, and it’s easy to see why the resort topped our wish list when my husband, Hank, and I decided to look locally for a weekend getaway. We couldn’t have chosen better.
We moved to New Mexico from the East Coast a dozen years ago and have explored more of it than many native New Mexicans, but it still feels exotic and slightly alien, another world altogether. More than its legendary land and sky, New Mexico is an ancient, mystical place that seems to bypass my head and go straight to my heart.
Tamaya, known as “a quiet and special place,” is a small Pueblo with a rich history dating back more than 1,000 years. Today, the old Pueblo of Tamaya lies on the north bank of the Jemez River on the Santa Ana Pueblo, nine miles from the resort.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Brrrrrrr. It was beginning to look a lot like winter: chapped lips, scaly skin and glow-in-the-dark-white legs begging for sunshine. It was time to go online and find a winter rest stop.
Until recently Tucson was little more than a blip on my car’s GPS screen en route to somewhere else. But with winter barking at my New Mexican doorstep, it seemed as good a time as ever to fend off the winter ailments with a pit stop in the warm-weather mecca.
ARRIVED: parched as a winter raisin.
DEPARTED: sexy smooth and tequila tranquil.
THE CURE: two-night spa stay, JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
The resort’s Hashani Spa is designed to go more than skin deep. This is NOT the closet-convert that some resorts try to pass off as a spa. Hashani is home to 20,000 healing square-feet featuring 23 custom treatment rooms, relaxation and mediation rooms, private lap pool, steam bath, hot tub, spa bistro, and full service beauty salon.
Relaxation offerings include hot stone massage, sun-kissed aloe wrap, and a delicious Hashani Hand and Foot Ritual. Their customized desert exfoliation uses a blue corn rub and goatsmilk shea body butter that sent me home with just the warm-weather glow I came for.
Check out the complimentary Tequila Toast to the “Legend of Arriba, Abajo” every evening beginning at 5:30pm at Salud. With its breathtaking views, patio firepits, extensive menu of tequilas and creative margaritas made from freshly squeezed juices, it’s an inviting hangout for appetizers, happy hour or post dinner drinks.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
After all the stress of planning and hosting the Thanksgiving meal, you may want to treat yourself to this Spa-Tacular Holiday Package from the Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle and Vida Spa.
The spa package includes:
- overnight accommodations in a Premier King room,
- $100 gift certificate from Vida Spa,
- choice of valet parking or breakfast for two
- Winter Essential Kit (retail value of $129) conveniently packed in a Lug travel bag (as featured in O magazine) filled with $100 spa gift card as well as wonderful all-natural goodies by Niche including Whipped Body Butter, Hydrating Face Serum, Hand, Foot & Heel Crème, and Nail Fuel.
Rates start at $269*, and are valid before January 31, 2010.
For reservations and additional information, visit www.panpacific.com/seattle or call 877-324-4856.
*Rates are based on availability and may fluctuate due to seasonal demand. Rates are also subject to prevailing government taxes as well as service charges, where applicable.
Source: Seattle Travelgram (http://www.seattletravelgram.com)
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Don’t let it’s woo-woo name fool you. My quest for the perfect body treatment may have ended when the spa manager suggested this winner!
What to expect: Guided by scent, sound and attuned touch, the seven major energy centers of the body are gently brought into balance. Using custom blended oils and introducing each chakra with simple keywords and scents, the treatment is equal parts meditation and massage.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".