Sunset Traveler

The amazingly affordable digs at Hotel Modera, Portland

2009-11-06T11:19:56-08:00

by Anna Nordberg, Sunset Special Projects Editor

The revamped motel-turned-hotel is catching on now, and one of the shiniest examples is Portland's Hotel Modera, a makeover of an old Days Inn. The only inkling that this used to be a dumpy motel chain is the facade of cookie cutter window casings, but the resemblance ends there. Witty decor (including faux-fur bedspreads) and an ultra-cool courtyard with fire pits and a living wall of plants scream boutique hotel, in the best possible way.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Hotel Modera

The real mystery, though, is how the hotel seems to have upgraded everything but the rates. Rooms start at the bargain basement price of $119 (OK, for Portland, that's pretty incredible), with rates dipping below that if you're a AAA member, a government employee...the list goes on.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Hotel Modera

Book it: from $119; hotelmodera.com

More of our favorite things to do in Portland

Talk to us: What hotel bargains have you stumbled across recently? Share!

Anderson Valley’s Apple Farm makes the New York Times

2009-11-05T13:53:03-08:00

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

I was happy to see an ode to Sunset’s favorite little Apple Farm in the Times magazine last Sunday, as part of its series on Slow Food. With a scattering of cozy-quiet cabins, acres of heirloom apple orchards, hands-on cooking classes, and a roadside stand that operates on the honor system, the Apple Farm, in Northern California's Mendocino County, was the haycation before haycations were cool.

You can read about our favorite farm weekends in our November issue, now on newsstands. (Yes, our article includes the Apple Farm, too.)

Book it: Cottages are $175/night midweek; $250 on weekends, including breakfast. Cooking classes are booked for the rest of the season, but start up again in February. Call now to reserve.

Plan your trip to the Anderson Valley

Bargains, history and luxury at the Wigwam in Phoenix

2009-11-05T08:19:36-08:00

By Peter Fish, Sunset Editor-at-Large

Never underestimate the power of sunshine and palm trees. Back before Phoenix was the fifth biggest city in the nation, it was above all a tourist town, luring shivering citizens of Chicago and New York to bask in its winter warmth.

The way things worked out a lot of those shivering people ended up moving to Phoenix full-time, and what was a little town became a big city. But there are still places where you feel the romance of Phoenix’ desert oasis days.

The Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa is one of them. It’s a gorgeous hotel, with 500-acres of grounds, including a truly spectacular rose garden. It was actually built as a private retreat for executives of Goodyear Tire and Rubber. (Why were the Goodyear execs here? Because the Arizona winter warmth is good for growing cotton, which apparently is needed in making rubber.) The Wigwam opened to the general public in 1929, which means that this year it’s celebrating its 80th anniversary.

Among the anniversary specials: A Wigwam 80th Anniversary Package, from $80 per person. Not bad for a palmy bit of desert paradise.

Book it: www.wigwamresort.com; 800.327.0396

Plan your trip: Phoenix may not be a little desert town any more, but it's grown into an increasingly interesting big city. One of our favorite neighborhoods is the Willo District. It's also a great place for winter hiking.

Ski season kicks off in Salt Lake! Book a room at the Peery

2009-11-03T12:23:33-08:00

by MacKenzie Geidt, Sunset assistant travel editor

Very exciting news, people....Salt Lake's ski season kicks off THIS FRIDAY, November 6th, at Solitude Mountain Resort. Time to get your ski on! I personally don't like being marooned at a ski resort (no matter how great it is), and Salt Lake is really the perfect place to base yourself in the city, with awesome skiing a quick 30 minutes away. Downtown Salt Lake is full of corporate chain hotels, so the Peery, a 73-room historic gem dating back to 1910, is like a breath of fresh air.

Photos courtesy of the Peery Hotel

Check out the cozy lobby—I clocked some time on that couch by the fire after a day on the slopes. And did I mention the primo location? It's only 7 miles from the airport, and within walking distance of restaurants, bars, brewpubs (my favorite is Squatters, just across the street), and historic downtown hits like Temple Square. And 30 minutes from Salt Lake's 4 ski resorts! My favorite is Solitude, opening this Friday with a brand-new quad lift (the only new lift in the state this season). Check out the adorable alpine village....

Here's me at Solitude last season (a good reminder that I need to retire my desert storm ski outfit). Even a blizzard couldn't keep me off the slopes!

Book it: From $99-$129, Check the Peery website for specials (including $100 room rates for the first 100 days of 2010); or call 800/331-0073.

Buy it: consider the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass that you can use at any of Salt Lake's 4 ski resorts: Alta (opening November 20th), Brighton, Snowbird (opening November 21st), or Solitude (opening this Friday, November 6th).

Plan your trip: check out why Sunset's senior editor Rachel Levin loves Salt Lake's Alta resort. And here's some tips on two of Salt's Lake's coolest neighborhoods: 9th & 9th and Sugar House.

Costanoa: the best place on the California coast to soak in a warm fall day

2009-11-02T11:25:54-08:00

by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

I have a soft spot for Costanoa. I can’t help it. When it opened a decade ago, a cluster of stylish tent bungalows, cabins, and lodge rooms along an otherwise undeveloped stretch of coast south of Half Moon Bay, it was so completely unlike anything else in that tech-happy era.

There were no phones, no TVs. Trails led into the grassy hills and across Highway 1 to a pair of deserted beaches. Tents with robes, comforters, and pictures on the “wall” had you hoofing it across a field for middle-of-the-night bathroom runs. But when you got there, you’d find heated floors, a sauna, a crackling fireplace with a pair of adirondacks. This was glamping before the term had even been coined.

I liked the place so much I got married there nine years ago—spoke my vows on a grassy bluff where we could hear the elephant seals calling, then hiked down to Costanoa’s lodge for a barbecue and s’mores in the slanting November sun. So, when the place changed hands once, then again, I was worried.

More than I needed to be, it turns out. I stayed in a tent bungalow here with my kids this past summer, and while the place isn’t maintained to the exacting standards of its early days, it’s still a great way to spend a weekend outside in a glorious spot. We hiked to the beach, ate pancakes under the sun, and trekked to the nearby Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

The only thing I will say is that summers along that stretch can be foggy and windy, and it often was the July weekend we were there. Today, though, the forecast is 75 degrees and calm. Perfect. Plus, off-peak rates started yesterday, and tonight is a full moon. So what, you say? Costanoa celebrates full-moon nights with a 50 discount. If I had nothing pressing going on, I’d be on my way right now.

Book it: costanoa.com, 877/262-7848

Plan your trip: Get Sunset's tips on what to do in nearby Pescadero and, north of that, Half Moon Bay.

5 reasons to love the Four Seasons in Seattle (#1 affordability?!)

2009-11-01T20:20:06-08:00

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

1. The deals. Okay, we're not talking Super 8 rates. It's still the Four Seasons, after all. But $275 a night for a truly "superior" room at the Four Seasons isn't too shabby. And if you stay two nights, you get the third night free. Plus, the Seattle property turns one this week. (Happy Birthday, Hotel.) And in honor of the occasion, the (deluxe) spa is offering 50 percent off any treatment on Nov 3rd. Okay, I know, not ideal-- that's a Tuesday. But there's always lunch hour...happy hour... Or, what the hell, play hooky.

2. The smack-dab location. Nothing like being one block from the water, two from Pike Place Market, a ten minute walk to the glorious Olympic Sculpture Park, and right across the street from the (very cool) Seattle Art Museum. (Which, by the way, is even cooler for staying open till 9 p.m. every Friday and Saturday night.) Touristy location, yes. But locals live at the Four Seasons Seattle, too. And let me tell you, they look pretty happy.

3. The $12 all-you-can-eat cheese bar. You don't have to be a guest to take advantage of this new full-on feast offered nightly till 10p.m in the rather plush (and, right now, really popular) ART Lounge. I mean, how much cheese can one really eat? (You'd be surprised.) Goes nicely, too, with a glass of wine and those sweeping water views. (If you want to really do it up, top it off with a chocolate-covered fig from Fran's chocolate shop off the lobby. Yum.)

4. The doormen. Seriously some of the nicest, most thoughtful, downright delightful doormen and valet guys I've ever encountered. They were nice in a genuine way, you know. Not in that annoying, sappy-sweet, overbearing way--where you feel like you have to fake a smile on your way out.

5. The pool. Really a must-have in my mind for any top city hotel. This particular rooftop pool would be the spot to be on a sunny summer Seattle day. (But even in the late-fall drizzle, it wasn't bad. Better, even, as I had the perfectly heated water to myself.) Perched right over Elliot Bay, with views of Bainbridge Island and the ferry boats chugging peacefully back and forth. Even the in-your-face factory stacks blowing steam into the sky adds a gritty realness to this classic city scene.
(Stacks not pictured, for some reason, in this PR photo from the Four Seasons.)

Book it: A special promotion right now has rooms starting at $275. They're also offering the third night free.

Plan your trip to Seattle

Disappear for a weekend at Fite Ranch in New Mexico

2009-10-30T15:56:13-07:00

by Anna Nordberg, Sunset Special Projects Editor

While some B&B's can scare people off with their chintz and chatty hosts (not to mention breakfasts that would give anyone with a cholesterol issue pause), the charm of the proprietor hotel, when done right, is hard to beat. Take the wonderfully secluded Fite Ranch B&B, about 8 miles east of San Antonio, New Mexico.

Wish I were here now ...
PHOTO: Jen Judge for Sunset magazine

This working cattle ranch and B&B has a lovely, deep arroyo on its eastern side and great little suites in an old, low adobe bunkhouse. It's also within striking distance of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the cool, quirky towns of Socorro and San Antonio. (Spoiler alert: You can read all about this area in our Southwest edition of Sunset in December).

Your front row seat to the sweeping views of the ranch.
PHOTO: Jen Judge for Sunset magazine

Book it: From $100; two night minimum; fiteranchbedandbreakfast.com

Read about more of our fall favorites in New Mexico

Talk to us: What backcountry B&B's do you love?

Fall hotel bargain in Yosemite

2009-10-28T14:16:32-07:00

By Peter Fish, Sunset Editor-at-Large

Photograph by Kenny Karst

When it comes to Yosemite historic hotels, the Wawona tends to get overshadowed by the more famous Ahwahnee.

This is too bad. The Wawona has the virtues of simplicity. Where the Ahwahnee is champagne, the Wawona is lemonade, where the Ahwahnee is filet mignon, it’s ribs.

The hotel is, in fact, even older more historic than the Ahwahnee, opening in 1879. (The Ahwahnee is a newcomer, opening in 1927.) It has small but functional guest rooms, broad porches that are ideal for sitting and figuring out where in the park you want to go next, and a pleasantly old-fashioned dining room that features pot roast. It is not in Yosemite Valley but it is near a lot of the good stuff in the southern third of the park, notably the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. And it’s not far from Glacier Point, or, come winter, Badger Pass ski area.

And compared to the Ahwahnee it’s a bargain: right now, $140 for a room with private bath, $70 for a shared bath.

Fall is a great time to be up here: no crowds, some remnant fall color, and bracingly cold clear nights. So, if you’re in the mood for lemonade, consider the Wawona.
For more on Yosemite, visit Sunset’s online park guide.

Best digs in downtown Denver: the Oxford Hotel

2009-10-27T11:45:27-07:00

by MacKenzie Geidt, Sunset assistant travel editor

I'm part of a freakish minority: I do not—and never have—owned a car. I know, it's hard to imagine your life without one. But in San Francisco, I manage to get around just fine (don't get me wrong, Muni buses are not for the faint of heart, but we make it work...)

Since I'm used to exploring cities on foot, I love finding hotels that anchor me in great walkable neighborhoods. Which is why the Oxford Hotel in Denver's LoDo (Lower Downtown) neighborhood is such a find! Aside from cool historical bragging rights (it's the oldest hotel in the city—it opened in 1891 back in Denver's Wild West days), it's in the Mile High City's most walkable 'hood. And a crisp fall weekend is the perfect time for a cozy car-free city escape.

Photos courtesy of the Oxford Hotel

The Oxford puts you walking distance of the awesome Denver Art Museum, loads of galleries and boutiques, Union Station, the Wynkoop Brewery (I love this place and I don't even love beer), Tattered Cover Bookstore (my idea of heaven), to name a few. And walk no further than the ground floor of the hotel for my favorite cocktail spot in town: the hotel's Cruise Room Bar, modeled after an old cruise ship lounge with killer throwback cocktails.

Book it: rooms from $180, plus they've got all kinds of special offers going on, theoxfordhotel.com, or call 800/ 228-5838.

Plan your trip: click here for tips on exploring the area, and here for tips on eating out in town.

Got a favorite neighborhood hotel? Let us know!

Why the Hotel Drisco is my favorite San Francisco sleep

2009-10-26T15:47:17-07:00

by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

It's news to no one that people...just...LOVE...San Francisco. For the 17th year in a row, Conde Nast's readers have just voted it the country's best city to visit. Yet, when I see visitors clustering where so many of the city's hotels are—between Union Square and the Tenderloin—I cringe a little. Of all the city's corners, this may be the least lovely.

So, when you visit San Francisco (and by all means do), I say get away from downtown and stay out in the city's neighborhoods. That's what I do. There are lots of small inns around, but my favorite is the Hotel Drisco.

This is not only because it's perched above the bay on the tippy top of the city in an absurdly scenic, fantastically pricey neighborhood bordered by Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, and Cow Hollow. I love how from the street it nearly passes as an apartment building. There's no vast lobby to cross, no maze of hallways. It makes me feel at home. And the shops and restaurants along Fillmore and Union streets are a short (if sometimes steep) stroll away. I've spent more than one happy weekend here without once touching my car.

Plan your trip: Click here for my favorite walks, shops, and restaurants in the Hotel Drisco's neighborhood. And get many more ideas for a trip to San Francisco here.

Book it: from $169, www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/drisco. Get a third night free by booking here and typing in "joie"

What about you? Do you have a favorite city sleep? We'd love to hear what it is.