Just in time for leaf peeping season a new resort has opened on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, New York. The High Peaks Resort is located on the site of the former Lake Placid Hilton and is offering couple-centered packages including "Romancing the Peaks" which features two nights accommodations; bottle of wine, fruit and chocolates upon arrival; two High Peaks bathrobes; room service or breakfast for two in the dining room each morning, and three-course dinner for two at the Reflections Restaurant. The hotel also has extensive banquet facilities which can accommodate up to 800 guests and is hoping to cash in on the area's scenic beauty as a wedding destination.

The resort includes a "floating" lobby with a two-sided stone fireplace, three indoor and outdoor pools; a fitness center with the latest equipment, and spa with array of treatments. Located at the resort directly on Main Street is the Dancing Bears restaurant with street-side seating, casual dining and great beverages. The Reflections Restaurant has an outdoor patio overlooking Mirror Lake and regional menus of fresh, healthy cuisine that utilize local produce and the finest fish and prime meats from New York and Canada.

There are 79 guestrooms with double queen beds and 54 with king beds, several with fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and direct waterfront access. All have European-styled bathrooms with natural stone tiled walk-in showers, granite vanities and Molton Brown of London amenities; work desks; flat screen televisions; wireless and wired high speed Internet access, and multi-function music systems with MP3 players and movies.

For Vogue India's latest issue, editors decided to shoot some of the country's poorest citizens modeling such luxury goods as a Hermes Birkin bag and a Burberry umbrella. An older woman -- missing her upper teeth -- held a baby wearing a Fendi bib which cost as much as she might earn over a several month period. (Remember most of India still lives on little more than a dollar a day.) The juxtaposition has a number of Vogue readers (and non-readers) astir.

In a place polarized by caste and an exceptionally apparent disparity of wealth, one would think Vogue might have been a little more discreet. Perhaps most infuriating about the photo spread is that Vogue didn't even get the names of the men, women and children posing. They are simply referred to as "lady" or "man" while the cutline goes into great detail about the various objects they model -- people as props, handbags as the main story.

The real shame? That somehow poverty never quite goes out of fashion.

Starting next month, you can hire the private train carriage built for the Prince of Wales in 1919 on an unparalleled journey through the heart of Australia. The carriage will be available on The Ghan's journey from Adelaide on the continent's southern coast to the port of Darwin at its top, one of the world's great railway excursions. The historic carriage was built for Edward, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor), for his royal visit in 1919. Accommodating up to ten guests in its ornate wood-paneled lounge and suites, the beautifully-restored carriage costs about $15,000 for a one-way, two-night trip.

[via UrbanDaddy]

The Flora Springs Winery in St. Helena, California has one of the most intriguing tasting rooms I've seen in a while. The Room was designed by Joe Miroglio of Miroglio architecture and the stucco stripes are meant to evoke the look of the caves where Flora Springs has been aging their red wines year after year for 30 years. Inside there is a 32-foot, steel and oak tasting bar. There are also private tasting rooms and upper and lower patios terraced by rippling covered roofs. There are tastings at the Popcorn Bar as well as the Temptastings in the Tasting Cave which include food pairings matched to small production wines. Tasting prices range from $15 to $50 for the single vineyard pairing.

It's not looking to be a good week for train lovers. Yesterday, I mentioned that GrandLuxe Rail Journeys was shutting down their luxury train operations. Now the AFP brings news that the planned "five-star" train from Beijing to Tibet won't be starting service in September as had been reported back in March. A reason for the delay wasn't given nor was a new date for the launch provided. Speculation is that there was a delay in the delivery of the train's carriages. But the AFP also notes that government figures show that the number of tourists visiting Tibet in the first half of 2008 fell by about 70 percent over last year after the violent riots in March. In a clampdown on the area, Beijing barred all tourists from going to Tibet until the end of April and didn't allow foreign visitors back in until the end of June.

The faltering economy has had a profound effect on air travel, now it's taking its toll on the train travel industry. GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, which we've covered before for their luxury train trips throughout the U.S. and Mexico and their partnership with Amtrak, has announced that they cannot continue to operate due to financial reasons. The Denver Post reports that the company is not sure yet if people who made deposits for trips will get their money back.

The company formerly known as American Orient Express got a new owner in 2006 and seemed to be on track for success. But train travel in the U.S. has become less and less popular and the vacation industry as a whole is suffering.

Mauritius, an island off the eastern coast of Africa amid the Indian Ocean, is a tropical getaway that probably won't attract as many disruptive tourists as the usual vacation spots like Mexico or the Bahamas. On the eastern edge of the island lies the Anahita Resort with plush accommodations, fresh cuisine, an airy spa and an Ernie Els championship golf course. The luxurious residences are complete with the expected amenities and services with the addition of a Villa Master?! Nice. The 'Master' will prepare complimentary breakfast and take care of any other in-residence dining needs. The island has recreational and relaxing opportunities alike and is sure to get you away from the stress and hectic life at home.

[via Lussorian]

When the time comes for you to move out of your home and into a facility, be it a nursing home, assisted living center, or just a retirement community, get ready to pay a huge rent check.

The estimated average annual cost of living in an assisted living facility starts above $30,000, not including the entry fee that could be over $100,000. Retirement communities that don't offer health care programs may have lower rent, but the waiting list can be long and the entry fees much steeper.

Some savvy seniors have put their savings into a much more lively retirement, like 89-year-old Beatrice Muller, who has spent the last nine years living on the luxury cruise ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. There are always physicians on the ship in case of a medical emergency, Muller gets all the food she can eat -- it's much better than nursing home cafeteria slop -- and she's seeing the world and meeting new people all the time. According to Muller, she pays about $7,000 a month, which makes this retirement cost about the same as, or even cheaper than, many high-end retirement communities.

The market is catching on, and now there are whole cruise ships dedicated to full-time residents. To purchase a condo for year-round residency on the Magellan will cost anywhere from $4 - $18 million, but fractional ownership (like time-shares) is available as well, starting under $200,000 for two-week ownership. This ship has 300 ports of call in 150 countries, and features luxury amenities like four fine dining restaurants, an observatory, tennis courts, swimming pools, and golf. Construction is due to be completed on this ship in mid-2010, but you can buy your condo now.

One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

Clutch maven Lauren Merkin has turned her talents to travel with a new line of small leather accessories that will have you eager to take a spontaneous trip. Each leather item is available in teal, eggplant, rust, camel or black, featuring playful detailing and lined in micro-fleece. Prices range from $25 for the leather luggage tag to $250 for the first laptop sleeve that you won't want to hide in the bottom of your totebag. Check out the entire line plus a few of Merkin's latest handbags in the gallery. To order, head to laurenmerkin.com.

Since it first opened in 1961, Barbados' luxurious Sandy Lane has played host to a never-ending stream of royalty, socialites and movie stars. Arguably the Caribbean's plushest resort, Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, David Niven, Jackie Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Queen Elizabeth all took sojourns there in years past, while the list of current habitués is no less impressive, including Tiger Woods who tied the knot there in 2004.

The ne plus ultra in exclusivity, luxury, privacy and white glove service is embodied by the palatial neo-Palladian-style main building of cream coral stone set in a grove of mahogany trees on a beautiful stretch of beach in the middle of Barbados' "platinum coast." A chauffered limousine (a Bentley for high-rollers) picks you up at the airport and you're greeted at the front desk with cold towels and fruit punch, a preview of coming attractions, so to speak.

Sandy Lane was rebuilt in 2001, and it's currently in the midst of a multimillion dollar makeover including upgrades to rooms, the spa, restaurants and public spaces. When it re-opens on October 3, in addition to 16,000-sq.-ft. of new marble, one of the biggest improvements will be an open plan, multi-cultural, all-day dining facility featuring a residential-style kitchen in the manner of a Caribbean Palladian conservatory, with a wine store, beach bar, sushi bar, lobster and live seafood tank, a fresh herb garden and a wood burning oven.



The resort's 112 rooms average 900 square feet and feature marble floors and bathrooms, mahogany plantation furniture, private verandahs, plasma TVs and all the bells and whistles. The property features two Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole golf courses, nine championship tennis courts, a 47,000 square foot spa, a John Frieda salon, shops galore (Joan Collins still owes money in one of them) and seven bars and restaurants to choose from. On the beach, attendants will fetch you drinks, clean your sunglasses and even spritz you with Evian water should you so desire.

In addition to the main accommodations, there's also a five bedroom villa that sleeps 14 with a private pool, butler, housekeeper, chef and 24-hr. security guard for $25,000 a night during the holiday season. But if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.

Ever since I read about it in this month's Archaeology, I've been obsessed with the Hidden Treasure of Afghanistan story. In 1988, Omara Khan Massoudi, director of Afghanistan's National Museum in Kabul and a team of museum workers hid over 20,000 precious artifacts dating from 2000 B.C. to A.D. 100 to keep them from the Taliban and others who would seek to destroy them when civil war erupted. For a long time the collection was believed destroyed or sold but in 2002, Massoudi revealed that he had hidden the items. Now 228 of the artifacts are part of an exhibit which has been exhibited throughout Europe and came to the U.S. this May. It will appear in just four cities, staying in Washington, D.C. until September 7 then San Francisco October 24–January 25, 2009, followed by Houston February 22–May 17, 2009, and finally New York June 23–September 20, 2009. The exhibit features golden bowls, bronze sculptures, ivories, glassware and more. Some pieces which had been imported from around the world and excavated from ancient storerooms discovered in the 1930s and 1940s others are gold ornaments from the "Bactrian Hoard," found in 1978 in Tillya Tepe.

It's not coming to my town so I'll have head to the nearest city near me that has it San Francisco. The Fairmont has partnered with the National Geographic Society on special packages at their hotels in Washington, San Francisco and New York in conjunction with the National Geographic exhibition, "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul."Starting October 24, 2008, when the exhibition opens at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, guests will be able to stay at The Fairmont San Francisco with the Golden Treasures of Afghanistan package. The package includes a one-night stay, two entry tickets to the museum, a traditional Afghan treat of baklava and Turkish coffee for two and a set of note cards commemorating the exhibition. Rates start from $299 USD per night, and the package is available through January 25, 2009.

The Westin is taking their Heavenly Bed blankets and pillows and White Tea scent into the airport. First and business class customers who fly United's p.s.service between New York and California can snuggle under oversized Heavenly blankets and pillows inspired by the Westin's Heavenly Bed. They will also be offered White Tea scented towelettes and mints, and Westin's stress-relieving video and music content on United's personal media players. United will serve a specialty cocktail inspired by the Westin SuperFoods program. A new cocktail will be unveiled each season and served on a brain-teaser coaster.

Westin has also created branded "Renewal Lounges" within United's Red Carpet Clubs. The San Francisco airport lounge is equipped with a blue-light ActiViva lamp, not yet available for purchase in the United States, which provides phototherapy to make people feel more energized. The lounges are outfitted with plush furniture, fabrics and a nature-inspired color palette along with a LED candle wall and artwork typical of the Westin mellow-you-out-quick style. The Westin signature White Tea scent is diffused throughout the lounges and the televisions play relaxing nature videos. Westin has also created an exclusive, a non-alcoholic SuperFoods elixir to be served in the lounges. Sounds like first class and business passengers will be very chilled out. Economy fliers will remain stressed and frustrated.

Among amenities like 24-hour multi-lingual concierge service and Selene marble baths, the Upper East Side's Lowell New York does not neglect your pampered pet when it comes to luxe service. Room service is available around the clock for pup and owner alike, and the pet menu serves up such dishes as filet mignon tartar and buffalo marrow. Custom orders can be prepared on a whim, and if it's just a snack that's in order, the hotel has gone to the trouble to import Pure Fish Skin Chews from Iceland. Bon appetit, indeed.

If you like your fractional real estate on the exotic side here's a retreat for you. You can own a share of a game and wildlife reserve in Bostwana. The Limpopo-Lipadi Game & Wilderness Reserve is a nearly 80,000 acre reserve in eastern Botswana that is home to lions, leopards, elephants, hippos and other wildlife. Each share will give the owner to reserve a stay in one of the lodges being built on the land. No hunting is allowed and game rangers will be on site to serve as guides and instructors on wildlife topics. Once owners are certified by the rangers they can take their own self-guided trips and sleep out on tree platforms for an up close and personal safari experience if they prefer. Owners will have full access to the reserve for a certain number of days and the more shares they buy the more days they can have. Six lodges and camps are planned for the reserve as well as private lodges for those who buy five or more shares. Private lodges should be completed in late 2009. Each share costs $195,000.

[via IHT: Raising the Roof]