How my main squeeze (now husband) and I ended up at one of the most romantic hotels I’ve ever visited, I’m not quite sure. We were itching for an international adventure. We decided Spain was calling, so we loosely planned a journey to Barcelona and, from there, the island of Majorca. We decided to stick to a budget in Barcelona, a decision that landed us in a very hot, very small (and very cheap) room without windows located about one block on the “wrong side” of Las Ramblas.

But during our visit to Majorca, we decided before the trip that it was crucial, in the vernacular of the day, to pimp it out in a phat hotel. And somehow, our pimp dreams led us to the tiny town of Arta and the Hotel Sant Salvador, a grand Spanish manse once home to a wealthy Majorcan family that now houses an eight-room, family-operated inn and Restaurante Ca’n Epifanio.

While most of the tourist attractions on the island are clustered near the famous beaches, Arta sits inland from the northeast coast. There is no water in sight, only dust from uneven roads that are more like medieval alleyways. Clotheslines are still hung between windows on the town’s main roadway. The remains of a castle tower over the hilly little enclave, where one car must often pull off the road to let another pass. Other than hike, golf (there are four courses within 15 minutes of the town) and stroll through the unpopulated streets, there is very little to do. But that is, perhaps, the most pleasing thing about visiting Arta. Its pace is otherworldly.

Each morning of our stay in the hotel’s second-floor Dos Mujeres room (pictured), a basket of fresh fruit, juices and other edibles appeared quietly outside our door. We’d rifle through it, then head out to explore the island in our blaze orange Opal, a hilariously little pod of a car. Afternoons brought happily uneventful hours spent by the Sant Salvador pool, time to admire the manicured grounds within its white walls, more time to laze about in our cavernous room, on the terrace and in the confines of the tiled bathroom’s decadent bathtub. Evenings followed with long, relaxing meals of regional cuisine at the hotel’s wonderful restaurant, a few glasses of wine in the bar, a conversation in the courtyard under the stars.

I’ve traveled many places since and stayed everywhere from bare bones tree huts to five-star hotels to a bed and breakfast with a glaring red heart-shaped Jacuzzi tub. And yet, when I stopped to recall the most romantic hotel I’ve ever visited, Sant Salvador jumped right from the annals of my travel memory to declare itself the uncontested winner.

I won’t go into the hotel’s particulars. Rates and discussion of in-room amenities would spoil my jaunt down memory lane. So in lieu of that practical information, which you can easily find on your own, I’ll end with this: here’s hoping every traveler has such a hotel in his or her future.

Thanks to Inside Edition for investigating what is, perhaps, the most burning question facing travelers today:

Was Your Hotel Room A Former Meth Lab?

Apparently, hotels are becoming a hotbed of activity for nefarious meth makers. Inside Edition went so far as to interview one person who had found traces of meth in a whopping six - yes, that’s one two three four five six only - Denver hotels. We’re glad investigative journalism is still alive. We’re also glad that Inside Edition offered up these tips for travelers:

- There are rarely signs that your hotel room might have been used as a meth lab. But experts say you should look out for unusual stains on the walls and ceiling. They may be red or purple in color.

- Also look for burn or drip marks on the walls.

- Meth cooks often disable smoke detectors, so make sure the one in your room hasn’t been deactivated or covered with duct tape.

- Rooms that have recently been used to cook meth may have an unpleasant chemical odor.

- Many local police departments list the addresses of former meth labs online.

- If you suspect your room was used to cook meth, don’t be afraid to ask to be moved to a new room.

Hmm. Unusual purple stains on the walls. And I thought that was just my last hotel’s excuse for art.

Yeah, last minute travel can be cool. But it can also leave you cash poor, especially when you’re talking high-season travel in major vacation destinations. But as with most things in life, a just little edumuhcation can go a long way. Case in point: Kayak.com’s Fare Alerts.

Create a Fare Alert (or 12) on Kayak.com or SideStep.com for the summer getaway(s) currently sequestered in your noggin by clicking on the “Get fare alerts for this trip” link on the top right-hand corner of the flight results page. You can track fares for specific dates, a flexible span of time (e.g. summer weekends or, say, the month of June) or an entire region (e.g. Europe). When your daily or weekly Fare Alert (you choose how often it arrives) touches down in your email inbox, you’ll be able to make informed travel decisions.

Depending on what you ask it to track (specific dates, flexible span of time or even top cities in a region), each Fare Alert can show you:

- How much the fare for specific dates has increased or decreased in dollars since the last alert

- The airfare history for your trip dates based on searches made by Kayakers over the past 90 days

- A snapshot of prices in Kayak.com’s matrix view, so you can quickly compare prices by carrier and number of stops

- The lowest fare available during a specific span of time (e.g. the next four weekends)

- The best fares available for popular destination cities in a region you want to visit (e.g. Africa)

Who knows, maybe you’ll still pay craptons to travel to the most expensive resort on the hottest island right in the middle of the high season. After all, it’s high season for a reason. But at least you’ll be pimping it out with full knowledge of your unbridled American excess. Just remember the wisdom of G.I. Joe.

(**Editor’s note: Yeah, Kayak.com owns us. You wanna make something of it? I’ll have you know I was surreptitiously using Fare Alerts to aid in making my personal travel plans long before Kayak.com bought our parent company SideStep.com in December. Nepotism, bias, blah, blah, blah. Fare Alerts just make good travel sense.)

Travelers to the U.S., Caribbean and Canada will soon have 300 fewer properties in which to hole up with their cancer sticks. Sheraton Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton Hotels announced this morning plans to convert all smoking rooms to non-smoking rooms, a process scheduled for completion by year’s end.

Ah, we love it when hotels go smoke free. A totally smoke-free hotel lowers the likelihood that you’ll end up in a non-smoking room that has only been designated as such for, say, the three hours between the previous guest’s departure and your arrival.

One concern: the plans only call for “deep cleaning” the rooms and air conditioning units before rechristening them smoke-free accommodations. Now, with memories of our college dorm as our witness, you can’t “deep clean” smoke out of carpet, sofas, fabric, curtains, etc., and you certainly can’t get that stank out of a freaking air conditioning unit. Replace, folks. We implore you. You know we’re right.

Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton Hotels Go Smoke-Free

This past weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Anna Nicole Smith at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Along with it came plenty of news stories reflecting on the former Guess and Playboy model’s larger-than-life persona, the lifestyle she seemed to love flaunting to the world and her accidental overdose on a lethal combination of prescription drugs. But for travel geeks, the most interesting tidbit of information surrounding Smith’s death is not so much what happened, but where - and what’s happened there since.

As we reported back in August 2007 (You Can’t Stay Where Anna Nicole Died), the room where Smith was found is no longer. After Smith was found unconscious in room 607 of the hotel and died later that day in the hospital, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel gutted and remodeled the three-room suite and even went so far as to change the all room numbers on the sixth floor. Why? To deter visitors with a taste for the macabre from visiting the hotel in hopes of sleeping in the room where Smith last laid her platinum head. (Yeah, we know. Guess you’ll have to cross one destination off your “must visit” list.)

Room 607 - at least the version that existed when Smith fatefully checked into the Hollywood, Fla. hotel last February - may no longer be part of the hotel, but some guests say that the room’s removal hasn’t stopped the blond bombshell from sticking around. According to one (cough, tall) tale, Smith was seen on New Year’s Even in the hotel lobby:

Now at least one guest that attended a party there earlier this year believes that she has spotted Anna’s spirit wandering the resort….The guest tells the weekly entertainment magazine In Touch that she believes that she saw the late star’s ghost wandering the hotel. “The ghost looked just like Anna,” Pont says.

Riiiight. All we can say is that must have been one fun party.

Anna, R.I.P.

Though some critics have blasted it as a kitschy tourist attraction with mediocre artwork, the world’s first Beatles-themed hotel opened last week in Liverpool to much attention from travelers and the travel press. The 110-room, four-star Hard Days Night Hotel features artwork and Beatles artifacts ranging from artist Shannon’s original portraits of the Fab Four to a Yellow Submarine jukebox in the lobby, as well as off-the-wall touches like the Two of Us wedding chapel and the McCartney Suite’s full suit of knight’s armor. Kitschy? Probably. But then, if you’re willing to pay upwards of $600/night to stay in a Beatles’ themed hotel, then I’m guessing you’re likely to be happy with the all Beatles all the time atmosphere. In fact, that’s exactly what you’re probably going there for in the first place. Various packages are available to celebrate the opening, but to give you an idea of the regular rates, I found availability on a Friday and Saturday night in March 2008 for 300 GBP/night, including breakfast.

In its ongoing efforts to go green, Fairmont announced this week that its properties in California and Arizona will begin offering free parking to overnight hotel guests who drive hybrid vehicles. That includes:

Fairmont San Jose

Fairmont San Francisco

Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa Resort

Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica

Fairmont Newport Beach

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

We assume this applies even if you’ve rented a hybrid during your trip (not a bad way to offset the additional cost that comes with renting a premium vehicle). For hybrid drivers, this deal can amount to quite a savings - in San Francisco, for example, downtown hotel parking rates often climb higher than $30/night.

Thank heavens I finally figured out to do with the extra $48k I keep stuffed in my freezer behind that two-year-old box of Hot Pockets that never seems to get eaten. The Ritz-Carlton Club San Francisco has come up with quite a swish “deal” for Valentine’s Day this year. For just about the same amount as the median annual household income in the United States, travelers can experience seven action-packed days in the City by the Bay. Perks include:

- Helicopter tour to Napa Valley

- Private wine tasting

- Town car transportation throughout your visit

- A personal chef to prepare dinner each evening

- Dinner for two at Gary Danko

- A $1,500 shopping spree

Travelers may purchase the package through Feb. 14 for visits before April 30, 2008. A word to the wise: if you’re planning to visit San Francisco, wait until March. The rainy season here is miserable. Miz-rah-bull, I tell you.

Shop Till You Drop With Ritz-Carlton

Yes, that’s Ali Larter, and she’s beautiful. But perhaps more beautiful is the abundance of chocolate adorning the Godiva Decadence Suite, unveiled inside the Bryant Park Hotel in Manhattan today. The hotel suite is made completely of chocolate - right down to the walls - and features opulent touches like a chocolate version of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, a chocolate and crystal chandelier and a chocolate fireplace (which, we assume, is just for decoration).

The over-the-top suite is part of the Ultimate Chocolate Fantasy contest from Godiva, which will award one lucky couple a weekend in the suite (with a non-chocolate bed, we hope) and perks like a private chocolate tasting with a Godiva chocolatier, chocolate spa treatments and a year’s supply of Godiva chocolate.

photo source

Today Mobil Travel Guide announced its 2008 Four- and Five-star ratings for U.S. hotels, restaurants and spas. Notoriously picky (they don’t just hand out five-star ratings to any old Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton), Mobil added eight new hotels to its five-star list for 2008. We’ve listed all 41 of the five-star hotel winners below. For four-star results and winners in the restaurant and spa categories, you can check out all the ratings in the Mobil Travel Guide’s 50th Annual Star Awards.

Mobil Five-Star Hotels

California - Beverly Hills

Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills

The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Peninsula Beverly Hills

California - Dana Point

St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach

California - Los Angeles

Hotel Bel-Air

California - Oakhurst

Chateau du Sureau

California - San Francisco

Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco

St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Colorado - Aspen

The Little Nell

Colorado - Colorado Springs

The Broadmoor

Connecticut - Washington

Mayflower Inn & Spa

District of Columbia - Washington

Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C.

Florida - Manalapan

The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach

Florida - Naples

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

Florida - Palm Beach

Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

Georgia - Atlanta

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

Georgia - St. Simons Island

The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club

Hawaii - Wailea

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Illinois - Chicago

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago

The Ritz-Carlton, A Four Seasons Hotel

Massachusetts - Boston

Boston Harbor Hotel

Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Massachusetts - Lenox

Blantyre

Nevada - Las Vegas

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas

New York - New York

Four Seasons Hotel New York

Mandarin Oriental, New York

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

The St. Regis

New York - Saranac Lake

The Point

North Carolina - Pittsboro

The Fearrington House Country Inn

South Carolina - Kiawah Island

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

South Carolina - Summerville

Woodlands Resort & Inn

Tennessee - Nashville

The Hermitage Hotel

Texas - Dallas

The Mansion on Turtle Creek

Utah - Park City

Stein Eriksen Lodge

Vermont - Barnard

Twin Farms

Virginia - Richmond

The Jefferson Hotel

Virginia - Washington

The Inn at Little Washington

Wyoming - Jackson

Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole