When it comes to stylish travel to location shootings or even a short vacation after a shoot, everything is in private demand at the moment. Many are still not entirely satisfied with sharing the room with their fellow travelers, who may or may not be vaccinated.
Remote alfresco dining, upscale private hotel gyms, and secluded hotel stays are just a few of the ways hospitality businesses are adapting to the ongoing challenges and guest preferences of the pandemic. Restaurants, hotels, wineries, and other venues have revamped their boundaries over the past year to keep guests separate, happy, and ultimately healthy. Those in production bubbles have additional ones
Incentive for monastic conviviality.
Diversity allows opportunities to stay apart and to keep apart.
In-room restaurant-style dining
Malibu Beach Inn, Malibu
There is no question that guests at the Malibu Beach Inn have the best view and table for dinner on their own oceanfront terrace. The 47-room hotel in Carbon Beach offers a highly personalized, private dining experience, starting with cocktails from mixologists and a four-course tasting menu that is tailored to guests’ preferences and carefully paired with selected wines. The food is served restaurant style with a private bathroom with no other guests nearby or in sight. Reservation requested 72 hours in advance.
malibubeachinn.com
Workout en-suite
Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
The Private Fitness Suite at the Four Season Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills offers health-conscious extras – a special air filter system, a shower head with water purifier and hyperallergenic wooden floors – which attract hotel guests who appreciate the opportunity to exercise behind closed doors. One to three people in the same group can use the disinfected equipment in the fitness area as well as the state-of-the-art Peloton bike and the stylish Hydrow rowing machine. The room is only available to hotel guests every two hours. The fitness area complements the wellness rooms and suites opened in June on the fourth floor of the hotel.
fourseasons.com/losangeles
Refuge in the city
Palihouse Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
The soothing vibe of downtown Santa Barbara is exemplified in this recently opened 24-room boutique hotel that blends seamlessly with the coastal city’s flat Spanish Revival architecture. Book the large El Apartmento for all the amenities of an elegant retreat the size of an apartment (terrace, sunken bathtub and fireplace included as well as a well-stocked bar). You don’t have to go, although the hotel’s Linus bikes are ready. Tucked away in a leafy corner of the property, the secluded Club Room opens up to the outdoors and ideal Santa Barbara weather. Its hidden location allows separate socializing and meetings.
palisociety.com
Escape to an offshore wine tasting
Folded Hills, Gaviota
Folded Hills Winery Ranch Farmstead is known to most for its oak-strewn, open-air wine tasting deck overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley. But for those who want to go further afield, the winery offers a private tasting on board a 50-foot Catalina sailboat. A group of four can set sail with a wine steward from Santa Barbara Harbor for a tasting of the offshore reserve and a relaxing trip along the coast. Folded Hills Winery’s organic vineyards occupy 15 acres of the 600-acre estate; Visitors can book a tour of the hinterland where they can meet exotic animals such as the zebra zazu, a spirited camel, and regal Clydesdales. The estate’s estate in a historic barn sells organic vegetables and local products.
gefaltethills.com
Boutique hotel for groups only
The Marley, Palm Springs
The Marley (pictured above) in the Warm Sands neighborhood of Palm Springs is a privatized, gated, and colorful alternative for groups of 10 to 22 people. Owners Jessica and Tim Spry have completely transformed the former roadside motel into a fashionable stay with playful furnishings, a large pool and catering kitchen. The Marley is only available to one group at a time: guests can expand their visit with a range of additional services from cabana attendants to bartenders or private chefs. “Nobody can see you or get in,” says Jessica Spry. The nearby sister hotel El Cid is also only geared towards groups.
marleypalmsprings.com
Gourmet packed lunches
The Pontchartrain Hotel, New Orleans
Chef Brian Landry of the Pontchartrain Hotel, built in 1927, says, “You have to take advantage of the opportunities available.” To accommodate requests for sequestered experiences, Landry cooked off-site and ran a full-scale restaurant experience in private homes. The production teams praise his bespoke NOLA-themed packed lunches, which are delivered in sets: individually prepared, each box contains NOLA brands such as Zapps potato chips, Barq’s classic root beer, beignets and Po’boys, Louisiana’s signature French bread sandwiches. Crews and talent are known for relaxing on the hotel’s Hot Tin Rooftop
Bar named as a tribute to the playwright Tennessee Williams, who was once a frequent guest.
thepontchartrainhotel.com
Bubble experiences
Kimpton Angler’s Hotel, Miami Beach, Fl.
Do you need a poolside meeting room suitable for socially distant and hybrid events? The Kimpton Angler’s Hotel in South Beach has private entrances for its poolside bungalows and villas and plenty of space for private bubble indoor / outdoor events next to the hotel’s mermaid pool, where the Miami Swim Week events take place in July. The property is just blocks from the beach and away from the wild partying. Fresh Florida seafood is the specialty at the hotel’s Art Deco Seawell Fish N ‘Oyster.
anglershotelmiami.com
R&R in luxury by the lake
The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, Greensboro, Ga.
At the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, up to eight guests can check-in in the recently renovated four-bedroom lakefront Lake House, complete with a kitchenette, wrap-around deck, and private pool. There are five golf courses with 99 holes for physically distant play on the property. The Ritz’s Lake House and nearby private cottages have a dedicated cottage concierge who can arrange on-site activities from movie nights (on a 72-inch flat-screen TV) to a chef-prepared southern-style breakfast or a select bourbon tasting . It’s a 90-minute drive from Atlanta to the sporty and upscale resort on the lake, located approximately 90 miles east of southwest Atlanta (home of Tyler Perry Studios).
ritzcarlton.com
Private wine tastings in the designer tent
Macari Vineyards, Mattituck, NY
The intrepid winemakers at Macari Vineyards on Long Island’s North Fork added a unique tasting room last fall. Groups of up to six people can book one of the recently installed Bergen Road Bungalows at the cool Klima winery for a private lunch and wine tasting. The comfortably furnished and fully heated platform tents are equipped with vintage and contemporary furniture, as well as accessories (all for sale) such as records and board games. A selection of Macaris wines (such as the Chardonnay from their own cultivation and the popular Dos Aguas Red) are combined with artistic cheese and sausage boards. Tastings are by appointment only.
macariwines.com
Royal style retreat
The Milestone Hotel & Residences, London
Stay at the Milestone Hotel & Residences in central London, right across from Kensington Palace, the official residence of William and Kate. The hotel’s six independent residences with two and three bedrooms are correspondingly sophisticated and decorated in muted tones and elegant surfaces. There are views of the historic palace and grounds. Each residence has a 24-hour butler service and its own entrance, so you never mingle with other hotel guests while enjoying room service and the many amenities the hotel offers. A residence’s fully equipped kitchen can be stocked upon request prior to arrival.
meilensteinhotel.com
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