The Hotel Casa de Sierra Nevada, a boutique Orient-Express Hotel in the city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, draws on its natural surroundings to create a distinct experience at its newly unveiled Laja Spa. Named for the river that runs through the city, the Laja Spa offers specialty treatments such as the Detox Herbal Wrap, which uses heated sheets of pure cotton infused with locally grown herbs to draw out toxins from the skin, followed by a honey and salt exfoliation. Each spa treatment utilizes herbs, oils, and natural resources from the area?even stones from the Laja River are heated and used in massages. The spa’s dining room has also fashioned a healthy menu using ingredients grown in San Miguel, so you can continue experiencing the local flavor at your dinner table. (+52.415.152.70.40, www.casadesierranevada.com)
The Four Seasons opened its newest location in a former 15th-century palazzo that once housed Florentine nobility. Located in the heart of Florence, the Four Seasons Firenze has maintained its historical heritage while at the same time providing all the modern luxuries expected at a Four Seasons hotel. The Renaissance-art filled hotel features works in bas-relief, stucco, and silk wallpaper dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries, and each room displays original frescoes. While appealing to the historian in each of us, the Four Seasons possesses luxurious facilities that include the largest private garden in Florence, a spa, outdoor pool, and fitness center. Prices range from approximately 5 to ,600. (39.055.2626.1, www.fourseasons.com/florence )
Auberge Resorts, whose properties include Auberge du Soleil in Napa and Esperanza Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, brought its signature quiet luxury to the Southwest when it opened Encantado resort outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this month. The 57-acre resort is home to 65 casitas, a full-service spa, signature restaurant, and lounge. The 1,125-square-foot one-bedroom casitas, with separate living, dining, and outdoor patio spaces, start at 5 per night. The 10,000-square-foot spa, fitness center, and yoga studio is influenced by the area’s Native American heritage. The signature treatment ?dubbed the Ojo Caliente Purification Ritual?is inspired by the mineral-rich waters from the local Ojo Caliente natural hot springs. Terra, the resort’s restaurant, features seasonal produce and herbs grown in an on-site biodynamic kitchen garden and prepared by chef Charles Dale, whose training includes an apprenticeship at New York’s Le Cirque. (www.encantadoresort.com)
Get a seat trackside at the world’s first-ever twilight Formula One Grand Prix from the rooftop viewing decks of the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Guests staying in suites will have access to the hotel’s rooftop viewing platform, which offers sweeping views of the Singapore River as well as the entire 61-lap F1 circuit. Other extras include a champagne and cocktail reception on the roof on qualifying and race days, access to the hotel’s full-service spa, limo transportation to and from the hotel to Singapore’s Changi Airport, and a daily champagne buffet breakfast at the hotel’s Town restaurant. Packages from September 25 through the 28?race days?require a minimum stay of four nights, inclusive of both dates, and start at ,500 per person, per night. (www.fullertonhotel.com)
—Alexandra Foster
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