How to Judge a Hotel by Its Website

We know you've all heard the saying "don't judge a book by its cover," but that doesn't apply when it comes to hotels and their websites. The quality of a hotel website can be a very telling factor when it comes to the quality of the hotel itself. I found an interesting video on About.com on just how to judge a hotel based on its website. Check it out!

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Best of: Cabo Hotels

As Cabo San Lucas continues to grow as a luxury travel destination, the hotels and resorts are becoming increasingly fabulous. Now that travel isn't really the first thing on everyone's mind, the best Cabo hotels are offering the occasional discounted rate. Yippee!

So what do I mean by "fabulous"? Beautiful rooms, gorgeous views, impeccable service, luxury spas and more...each of these Cabo hotels wish to offer the entire luxury experience. Enjoy!

Pueblo Bonito Pacific Holistic Retreat and Spa

The ultimate luxury Cabo hotel for complete relaxation. Pueblo Bonito Pacifica is strategically located away from the hustle and bustle of the strip of Cabo hotels on Medano Beach. A private beach completes the romantic atmosphere (no kids allowed). Travel tip: Check out their beach bed packages!

The Esperanza

The Esperanza may be a small boutique resort, but it is every bit as luxurious as its rivals. Newly renovated in 2007, The Esperanza is a sophisticated, intimate hideaway. With beautiful oceanview casitas and ten luxury suites, every detail is artfully executed.

The One and Only Palmilla

A great resort for honeymooning couples and families alike, The One and Only Palmilla is, as its name implies, a remarkable place. If you long for picturesque oceanviews, this resort is it. All rooms have ocean front or beach front views and the 24-hour butler service doesn't hurt.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso

Las Ventanas is all about pampering its guests. From the cuisine to the spa to the rooms, the resort is top notch in every respect. All suites have marble showers and Conchuela limestone floors, some even with personal telescopes!

Dreams Los Cabos

Another great resort for families, and a popular destination for weddings, Dreams Los Cabos is an all-suite resort perfect for those seeking a balance between luxury and exploring all that Cabo has to offer.

While all of these Cabo hotels are definitely in the realm of FabTravel, each has its own unique luxury flair!

Be Fab, Shop By Appointment in a Limo

In Vancouver, you don't have to be a celebrity to shop in the fab lane. You probably do have to be at least a little rich, though.

As if your trip to British Columbia needed to get any better, Vancouver now offers Shopping By Appointment Tours.

So here's the breakdown: You, in a limo or town car, being taken to a bunch of high-end stores picked with your specific desires in mind, on a 3 or 4 hour shopping extravaganza, all for $500-690. Don't forget to bring extra dough for all the shopping you'll be doing.

The neighborhoods range from Granville Island to Robson Street, Chinatown to the South Granville Rise and you’ll check out everything from haute couture designs to museum quality First Nations art.

The Shopping Tours have such enticing titles as Carts and Bling Bling, Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!... Shoes? I don't need to say another word. But I will: There are 26 different tours to select from. Wahoo!

Luxury Travel = Luxury Spas

When I think of Fab Travel I think of enjoying a star-studded day at a Cabo spa. Massage, facial, body wrap, mud mask, sauna, mani, pedi, the whole she-BANG. Ahhhh, pampering.

Here are the top spas from across the globe. If you can't actually go to them, maybe you can relax by visualizing yourself there...

Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, France

This Parisian spa has all the good stuff but where it really shines is with its private treatment rooms, a private VIP room with a whirlpool, sauna, steam bath and two massage beds, and a relaxation room with three lounge chairs and private music stations. Talk about luxury!

Chiva-Som International Health Resort, Hua Hin, Thailand

Besides a beautiful tropical surroundings, this beachfront resort uses indigenous herbs, flowers, and oils in its spa treatments.

Signature Treatment: The Revitalizing Body Cocoon, which starts with an invigorating lemongrass-spice scrub, followed by an aromatherapeutic body wrap to stimulate circulation and calm the senses. (Offered as part of Chiva-Som Spa Packages, starting at $1,650 for 3 days.)

Golden Door, Escondido, California

The Golden Door spa is a favorite of Hollywood celebrities, as its location and treatments allow for a 5-star escape. The spa hosts week-long health, beauty, and relaxation programs.

Signature Treatment: The 45-minute Citrus-Sea Salt Scrub with Avocado includes a full-body exfoliation with aromatic sea salts, a warm water wash, and mosturization with a citrus-shea butter body cream (part of a seven-day program, $7,750).

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

This luxury Cabo spa is all about complete holistic relaxation and cleansing. An adults-only Cabo resort, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica takes a cue from its beautiful surroundings and treats its guests to the ultimate luxury spa treatment.

Signature Treatment: Jantsu Water Therapy. This deeply relaxing aquatic experience simulates a dolphin’s dance and is an energetic therapy that takes you underwater into a deep state of peaceful meditation. ($130.00)

Couples Negril, Jamaica

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Kailua-Kona


Signature Treatment: During the Polynesian Niu (Coconut) Scrub, a blend of organic coconut and pineapple products is used to polish and massage the whole body—which is then wrapped in a warm blanket and moisturized with soothing coconut milk (80 min, $220).

Mii Amo at Enchantment Resort, Sedona, Arizona


Signature Treatment: The Mii Amo Spirit—an hour-long treatment that combines energy balancing and massage with guided healing visualization ($140).

Equinox Resort & Spa, Manchester Village, Vermont


Signature Treatment: The Equinox Legend combines a skin analysis and facial along with a healing body wrap. Both treatments are customized with specific salts, sugars, muds, seaweeds, and fragranced oils to target particular skin types (80 min., $185).

St. Regis Resort, Aspen, Colorado


Luxury travel at it's best! Signature Treatment: The Remede Customized Massage is based on a one-on-one consultation to focus the relief (1 hour, $155).

Luxury Hotel Rooms of the Future

So we don't have flying cars, but German scientists have taken a cue from The Jetsons and are working on the luxury hotel room of the future. According to HotelChatter.com, the room is super-techy, with features like sensor-lined carpet that heats up the room when the guest arrives and a bed that "simulates a light pendulum motion" that gently rocks you to sleep. Weird. I wonder if that actually helps you sleep. I guess it has to.

The futuristic-ness doesn't stop there, though. The bathroom is equipped with infrared beams from the walls that instantly transform your ho-hum toilet-center into a sauna, complete with a whirlpool set in the floor.

Lastly - perhaps the most creepy part - at the touch of a switch, a robot delivers the drink of your choice (visions of I, Robot dancing in my head). Well, I guess the creepiest part is how WHITE and sterile-looking the room is in the picture.

That's quite a step up from the luxury Cabo hotels I've been to lately. But we are talking about the future here! I think I still prefer the ocean view hotel room...

FabTravel Made Easier – You want to vacation in a Cabo Hotel? GO FOR IT

Fabulous travel just got better - and more accessible. Popular airline Southwest is teaming up with Mexican carrier Volaris to add flights to fabulous locations like Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. By joining forces, the two airlines hope to bring lower fares and better customer service across the U.S./Mexican border. Volaris will offer flights to the U.S. starting in 2009 and in 2010 they will become Southwest Airlines’ Mexico codeshare partner.

So hopefully in a few short months we’ll be jet-setting our way to a luxury Cabo hotel, basking in the sun and forgetting our troubles. Woo!

For more information on the merge, check out Southwest’s blog: http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/viva-mexico

Cute Celebs with Cute Luggage

...in cute airports?

Not really. But the bags are awesome! Check out these fabulous celebrities with their fabulously cute luggage! Also get ideas for what's in for designer luggage this winter. If you want to travel like the celebs, you've gotta stick with the high end brands. Louis Vuitton and Prada always seem to lead the pack. Not only are the very good quality pieces, they're super classy and stylish.

Beyonce, Louis Vuitton Patchwork Bag

Victoria Beckham, Prada Napa Fringe Tote Bag in Brown


Fergie and Marc Jacobs

Cameron Diaz, Prada handbag and Louis Vuitton luggage

Jessica Simpson, Prada Napa Gauffre Frame Bag


Eva Longoria, Salvatore Ferragamo Annabella bag in a dark cherry patent

Want to see more cute luggage? Check out my previous post on Designer Luggage for Fall and Winter 2008.

Gorgeous Sunsets at Cabo Hotel, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Reviews

I stumbled across a great travel blog with some beautiful pictures of Cabo sunsets. These pictures were taken by the authors of the LA76 Strategic Design blog. The location is Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, a luxury hotel in Cabo San Lucas.






That beach bed looks like the peak of luxury travel to me! Ohhh what I wouldn't give to be at a Cabo hotel right now! For more information and to read Pueblo Bonito Pacifica reviews, visit www.mypueblobonito.com.

See the rest of the collection at LA76 Strategic Design: Sucker for Sunsets

Destination Weddings in Cabo

What better way to chase away the winter blues than to escape to a tropical paradise and get hitched!?

A particularly popular idea is destination weddings in Cabo, and with good reason. Cabo has amazing weather, beautiful beaches, gorgeous luxury resorts and, well, it's Cabo. It speaks for itself really. Anyhoo, here are some pictures I gathered from resorts and hotels for some destination wedding in Cabo inspiration.

Ceremony at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica

Fun, beachy table set. Love the colored wine glasses!
Photo: Pueblo Bonito Pacifica

Starfish, navy, beachy theme. So cute!
Photo: www.weddingchicks.com

A classy (and classic) dinner set. Can't go wrong with silver.
Photo: Pueblo Bonito Pacifica

Beach wedding in Cabo!! Gotta have that harp.
Photo: Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach

Inspiration from Christina Aguilera's bachelorette party in Cabo. Can you say beach bed?
Photo: www.weddingchicks.com.

Beach wedding again. I imagine getting married and then just running into the ocean with glee.
Photo: Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach

For more advice and tips on destination weddings in Cabo, visit the Pueblo Bonito Weddings Page