A tall, smartly dressed man captains the seven-minute ferry between his home island of Antigua and Jumby Bay, the 40-room private-isle retreat located just offshore. The 300-acre Rosewood Hotels & Resorts property, which closed to guests in 2008, reopened in December following a million overhaul. During the renovation, the resort …

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain had already hosted a PGA Tour event by the time the resort opened in December. The 253-room property, which is set on 850 secluded acres outside Tucson, Ariz., features 27 Jack Nicklaus–designed holes that debuted in early 2009, in time for that year’s Accenture Match Play …

In February, James Manley, owner of the Ranch at Rock Creek in Montana, spent a relaxing vacation at the 40-suite Amanyara beach resort in Turks and Caicos. The 56-year-old Connecticut businessman enjoyed his stay, but it was not an experience he cared to replicate back on the ranch. “No one …

Guests arriving at the St. Regis Deer Crest Resort in Deer Valley make their way to a welcome center just inside Park City, Utah. While valets and bellhops lighten worldly burdens by taking charge of vehicles and luggage, the fortunate pilgrims enter a leather-upholstered, climate-controlled private funicular and smoothly ascend …

Northern California-based land developer Serendipity Land Holdings recently made two of its El Banco Beach Villas on Mexico’s Pacific Coast available for short-term lease. Just north of Puerto Vallarta, El Banco’s Villa Mirador and Villa Los Arcos sit on 110 acres of one of the longest white-sand beaches on the …

The site of the original Cannes Film Festival has received an extensive renovation—to the tune of million. The Palais Stephanie, located in the center of the Promenade de la Croisette just steps from the beach, features 261 rooms with views of the bay. The expansive upgrade, unveiled in time …

In Tuscany, the most ordinary landscapes are strewn with the detritus of history. Rutted roads and trails dating to the Roman Empire cut through the countryside, leading past Renaissance manors, medieval cathedrals, and centuries-old wineries. The region’s timelessness, however, has an inconvenient corollary: Things do not move very fast in …

The Orient-Express company’s Royal Scotsman has offered luxury train itineraries through the Scottish Highlands for 25 years. This year, for the first time, the train will venture outside Scotland for its Grand Tour of Great Britain (www.orient-express.com). Highlights of the seven-night, ,800-per-person trip, which departs from Edinburgh on July 9, …

Parking valets at the new Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, abscond with your ski equipment the moment you arrive at the resort. To retrieve your gear, simply stroll down from your room to the mountain-concierge desk, where the hotel’s ski valets will fetch your boots, strap your buckles, and escort you …

With its abundance of beach resorts and wellness retreats, Hawaii has become a haven for spa-goers. But unlike other popular spa destinations, such as Italy and Japan, the Hawaiian Islands have no real spa culture to speak of, and few traditional spa practices from which to draw. So when the …