Vibe: At Inn by Mallard Cottage, two separate guest houses contain a total of just seven rooms, each so quaint you may never want to leave. Vacationing couples, business creatives, retirees—a mixed bag of relatively well-heeled guests comes here to relax for a few days and read a book. People celebrating a special occasion will book a big dinner at the renowned Mallard Cottage restaurant across the street, and then spend the night.

Rooms: Find high ceilings and king beds in 435 square feet of space with white painted wood walls and floors. Punches of colour come from the traditional wooden furniture and handmade quilts on the beds. There are no TVs, but a Tivoli radio with Bluetooth capability sets you up for sound. Big bathrooms have walk-in showers. Rooms are also equipped with a free bottle of wine and beers in the fridge (also free).

F&B: Once the private residence of the Mallard family, 18^th-century Mallard Cottage is a National Historic Site of Canada, refurbished as a restaurant in 2013. It focuses on seafood, wild game and local produce whipped into jazzed-up Newfoundland culinary staples. The menu is posted on Instagram every day and can include dishes like corn-fried cod cheeks, salt cod tartare, pickled mussels and hedgehog mushrooms—everything in season. Reservations are required. A daily hot breakfast is served there in high season, but the special treat is the little breakfast tray that arrives at your door in the morning, with coffee and baked treats.

ROAD TRIP: GO FORAGING

Extras: Hardy Boys books! The friendliness of this neck of the woods is unbeatable, like you’ve being invited into someone’s home. As such, the Inn’s multiuse common room has a big table, around which you can chat with whomever is handy, power up a laptop or pour yourself a drink from the common bar (also free).

Off-Site: Close to hiking and biking trails, fishing excursions and berry picking, this fishing community was first settled in the 16^th century. Quidi Vidi Village is a 10-minute drive from downtown, and you feel like you’re out of the city even though you’re not. It is also home to a visitors’ centre and art studios, as well as Newfoundland’s largest micro-brewery, Quidi Vidi Brewery. The airport is 20 minutes away.

Rate: $$

Book Now

The post St. John’s: Inn by Mallard Cottage appeared first on TravelRight.Today.

Vibe: At The Crane, you will meet well-heeled American, Canadian, British and European couples, groups of friends, retirees and families who have been coming back year after year for years, including the timeshare guests who make you feel at home by being at home themselves.

THINGS TO DO: IN BARBADOS

Rooms: Mahogany absolutely everywhere. Even the one-bedroom suite feels like a small condo, your two kids bunking down in the large living room. A dining room and full kitchen (fridge with ice dispenser, dishwasher, washer-dryer) is perfect for families who want to have at least a few meals in. Bedrooms have a four-poster king-size bed and a writing desk, leading into a big bathroom with two wardrobes, whirlpool bath, separate toilet, separate shower and double vanity.

F&B: The Zagat-rated Zen restaurant is the island’s go-to for Japanese and Thai food, its private booths elegant and inviting. D’Onofrio’s Trattoria bills itself as casual family dining, but I must have dined when the children had all gone to bed. It serves the best Italian food I have ever had in the Caribbean, full stop. Sun-worshipers flip-flop into the palm grove behind the beach for hearty lunch plates at The Grove Bar & Grill.

TASTE TO TRY: TRADITIONAL COU-COU

Extras: Swimming pools for days! Even the swimming pools have swimming pools. Many ground-floor suites have private pools up to 28 feet long. Corner rooms have plunge pools in the turrets on every floor and penthouse suites have 12-foot pools with rooftop garden decks. The Crane is also equipped with a full-service Serenity Spa, a fitness centre and a kids club. (Yes, there’s a swimming pool for adults only, too.)

Off-Site: The serene beaches of the east coast are a 30-minute drive north. The south coast beaches are a 20-minute drive and you can reach the beaches and nightlife of the west coast in 40 minutes. The airport is just 15 minutes away.

Rate: $$$
Book Now

The post Barbados: The Crane Resort appeared first on TravelRight.Today.

Vibe: You know that bubbling-under house music soundtrack that sounds like nothing and never ends? That. The CHIC Punta Cana is rather a scene, but you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. A big casino with Blackjack, Roulette and slot machines is open from noon until 3 a.m. This is balanced out with a Detox Oxygen Bar that serves recreational oxygen shots and healthy drinks.

Rooms: The 320 rooms at the CHIC Punta Cana are super modern, mostly all white with black trim and purple light. That sounds like the ’90s, but it’s actually fun; you feel like you’re starring in a Disaronno TV commercial.

F&B: The à la carte restaurants are an interesting mix: Italian, Japanese, Middle Eastern and steak house, all lavishly decorated and trying really hard. There’s a giant round bar between the lobby and the casino and a sports bar cum nightclub combo that also has billiards. This is good if you want to escape the heat for a couple of hours and watch the game, whatever your game is.

Extras: The Diamond Club upgrade is worth the splurge, as they lay it on thick: butler service, better room-service menus, private check-in lounge, exclusive pool and beach areas, and a Club Lounge that you should not pooh-pooh, because this is where all the nicer booze is. But the Diamond Club kicker is access to the glass-walled, mosaic-tiled Mermaid Pool.

Off-Site: Try to make it over to the coast of Bavaro to soak up the surf vibe and hop on a catamaran for a few hours. You can snorkel in the Cortesito Reef and relax in the natural pools. These are party boats, so bring a fit liver.

Rate: $$$

Book Now

The post Dominican Republic: CHIC Punta Cana appeared first on TravelRight.Today.

Vibe: Designed by French firm AW2 with the international jet-set circuit in mind, the minimalist 43-suite, nine-villa Silversands is a sea of tranquility, its blond wood, neutral tones and pale marble buoyed by exquisite furniture from Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola.

Rooms: The Silversands rooms are done in neutral-toned glam—oatmeal is the new oatmeal—and lots of vertical wooden slats shooting up walls and camouflaging the cupboards and closets. The seating areas are so inviting you may actually spend time sitting in them. I fell asleep on a giant chaise longue on the balcony (with earplugs to mute all the birds), which is something I never do.

THINGS TO DO: IN GRENADA
TASTE TO TRY: GRENADA GASTRONOMY

F&B: There’s a wine cellar with 1,000 bottles in it. Is this big? I don’t know, but it sounds like I want to drink all of it. Breakfast at Asiatique is stellar—do not skip this. In the evening, it pumps out Modern Thai underneath huge, curlicued wooden ceiling installations. At the beachside Grenadian Grill, we sipped rosé and lunched on salmon tartare and French fries—it was two hours of heaven. Having rum nightcaps under the canopies of the beachfront lounge, we miraculously blended in with the jet-set crowd grooving to the DJ, but really, anyone can fit in here and have a good time and not feel intimidated by the rather posh peeps.

Extras: The Silversands Spa offers locally inspired treatments, sauna, hammam and private pool, plus a tricked-out fitness centre. With a rum and cigar lounge (which seems kinda ’90s to me), the resort is destined for the society pages.

Off-Site: With few high rises and less development, Grenada still manages to possess the kind of charm that appears slightly manufactured elsewhere. Do the hikes up rainforest mountains and find time to book an afternoon on a wooden boat sailing. Make sure you eat the chocolate; it will be the freshest you will ever taste. Prime scuba diving at the Underwater Sculpture Park is well worth it, even if you’re snorkelling.

Word Googled While Writing This: Curlicue

Rate: $$$$

Book Now

The post Grenada: Silversands appeared first on TravelRight.Today.

The post HotelTonight appeared first on TravelRight.Today.

It’s also the name of an online boutique hotel finder that we turn to to unearth off-the-beaten-path places to lay our heads via SmithHotels.com.

Co-founders James and Tamara Lohan have been helping people find the perfect hotel for more than a decade, well-known for “dirty weekends in the best possible taste,” says James. “We’re marketing small, independent, unique hotels that have quirks. We act as matchmaker between the customer and the hotels.”

Now operating in Canada with smithhotels.com, the Lohans know what you should be looking for in a boutique hotel room. “Size will determine the kind of experience you’re going to have,” says James. “Sometimes you want a buzzy atmosphere and sometimes you want something intimate. From the size, you can work out what kind of experience the hotel is going to deliver.”

Food is probably the next most important thing to consider. “Try to find out about the chef; have they won any awards? Is it formal or casual? We also look for spas—this is an indulgent weekend away, after all.” The site also lists the top places to eat, drink and be merry in the vicinity of each hotel that gets their stamp of approval.

SMITHHOTELS.COM

The post Boutique Hotel Hunting appeared first on TravelRight.Today.