The newest Four Seasons property has opened in Westlake Village, Calif. (near LA). The 270-room Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village has, in typical Four Seasons style, a spa with 28 treatment rooms (some with fireplaces) and a full fitness center with two pools.

The hotel is also the site of the California WellBeing Institute, a center that combines health, fitness, and medical support for guests who want to revamp their lifestyles. It’s a luxury-level experience. We’re talking gourmet healthy food, upscale fitness experiences from Pilates to personal training and - of course - the hotel’s suite of spa services.

Standard nightly rates are $285-325 (excluding holidays). From Jan. 1 to March 31, 2007, the hotel is offering a special Introductory Package that includes two nights’ accommodations and $100 credit per guest for use towards services at the California WellBeing Institute. The deal will run you $375 for a deluxe room, $450 for a premier room, $695 for an executive suite and on up to $3,500 for the Presidential Suite. Not a bad deal a’tall.

Four Seasons Press Room

Yup, weak dollar folks. For you Brits out there, seems USA shopping is a’ callin’.

‘Weak Dollar’ Tourists Snap Up Festive Bargains

Finally, Roman Baths have arrived at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The newly opened Qua Baths & Spa is a spa junkie’s dream: 51 treatment rooms (35 are for massage), a fitness center, private men’s and women’s Roman Bath areas, an Arctic Ice Room with 55-degree air and falling “snow,” a cedar wood sauna, herbal steam room and the Crystal Room, where adventurous spa-goers can accessorize with customized Swarovski crystal body art.

What, you may be wondering, distinguishes a Roman Bath from any other water-related experience? At Caesar’s, the bathing area consists of three pools of varying sizes and temperatures. Groups of friends are invited to mingle by the pools while enjoying tea selected by the in-house tea sommelier. In between soaks, guests can hop over to the super hot Laconium Room or dip into the chilly environs of the Arctic Room.

Access to the bath area is free with any spa treatment. Treatments range from couple’s massage to facials, chakra balancing to full body combination packages.

Want to send a message loud and clear to anyone who might be sleepily, accidentally, dazedly about to scoop your bag up from the airport baggage claim? Flight 001’s Disposable Luggage Tags will ward off mistaken bag-grabbers while helping you spot your stuff soon after the baggage handlers chuck it mercilessly onto the belt. And if you want a new phrase for each trip, go nuts. The set comes with 6 different tags.

Yet another airline bringing back in-flight amenities that had seemingly gone the way of the dinosaur. KLM Airlines today announced a revamped menu - including redesigned utensils and serving dishes - for all cabin classes starting Dec. 1 on intercontinental flights. The new meal service will be available on all European flights as of March 2007.

KLM to Revamp In-Flight Catering Products

The people have spoken. At least 6,800 of them have. That’s the number of respondants in J.D. Power’s 2006 Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction Study, released today. The report ranks 8 major online travel sites according to customer satisfaction in six areas: competitiveness of price, ease of booking, usefulness of information on the web site, availability of booking options/travel packages, appearance/design of web site and ease of navigation. And, the winners are (drumroll, please):

2006 Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction Study

Two questions. What’s your dream job? And why aren’t you doing it? Whatever your excuse, Vocation Vacations makes it moot. Even if you can’t suddenly throw in the office towel and become a cattle rancher for the rest of your days, you can spend your next vacation pretending (and learning). Among the many sorts of vocations you could explore on your vacation are:

Alpaca farmer

Animator

Baseball team general manager

Comedy club owner

Costume designer

Dog kennel owner

Event planner

Food critic

Handbag designer

Horse trainer

Model

Perfumer

Private investigator

Schooner captain

Spa owner

Voice-over artist

Wine maker

Yoga studio owner

While the vacations aren’t exactly cheap (most run anywhere from $699/person on up and don’t necessarily include lodging), you can choose from cities around the country. Participants end up with two or more days of one-on-one mentoring from an expert in the field.

The company also sells gift certificates.

Might be the perfect New Year’s resolution gift.

One more celeb making hotel news for raucus latenight behavior? Actually, not so much. Actor Al Pacino reportedly made the rounds at 2am at the Ritz London hotel, but instead of complaining, partying like Tony Montana in Scarface or otherwise raising hell, good ‘ole Al simply chatted with the front desk staff and doormen. Staff at the 5-star hotel said Pacino blamed his latenight excursion on a bout of insomnia.

Pacino’s Humility Charms London Hotel Staff

Taking a cue from the success of travel auction web sites like LuxuryLink, United has begun offering similar auctions to its Mileage Plus members through United Mileage Plus Auctions. But instead of forking over actual funds, winning bidders dip into their Mileage Plus accounts. There are all sorts of travel-oriented packages up for grabs. For less than 50,000 miles, you could very well snag a stock car driving lesson, a spa party for four, a bike and hot air balloon tour of Napa or a year-long family membership to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.

For folks hoarding huge numbers of miles, the prizes only get better. You could trade 115,000+ miles for a turn in the United Airlines flight simulator or drop more than 300,000 for a vacation package to London.

While the actual cost of items and activities up for auction might be less than the full price airfare you’d get by trading miles for plane tickets, this is just one more way to use your miles when flight schedules and award travel opportunities don’t mesh with your travel plans.

The Transportation Security Administration announced today that the fee for its portion of the Registered Traveler Program now in development at about five U.S. airports will be $28. The total cost will include an additional fee levied by the private companies administering the program, which will allow passengers to register in order to pass through airport security lines more quickly.

TSA Sets Fee for Registered Traveler Program