Virtuoso Life - November/December 2007 - (Page 37) Tourism alone boosts New Orleans’ efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina, but the 423room W New Orleans is helping guests make a more direct contribution: A two-day stay can include a day of volunteering with the rebuilding group Hands On New Orleans and a donation of ten-percent of the room rate to the nonprofit. Doubles from $269, including breakfast daily and two box lunches for the field. VOluNTOuriNg Opened in 1956, Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort, on Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, updates to 2007 aesthetics with its just-completed $3.6million renovation, installing handcrafted furniture and sea-inspired fabrics in all 166 rooms and restoring the original mahogany interiors of founder Laurance Rockefeller’s fivebedroom cottage. To boost family bonding, 30 of its rooms are now interconnecting. Doubles from $425, including breakfast daily and a bottle of rum in room. Revival Virgin Caneel Bay charm. Kristiania Lech lodge brings alpenglow indoors. Gold Medal Gear Members of the Austrian national ski team, among others, schuss in Strolz ski boots, custom made in the Arlberg region. Now alpine aficionados can gear up in similar fashion with a pair of Strolz courtesy of the 29-room Kristiania Lech lodge. The hotel’s new eight-day package includes a visit to the Strolz shop, where guests’ feet are scanned by a computer, then modeled in wood and cork to shape the leather inner linLufthansa ing for their custom boots. Skiers return that evening to try on the boots as foam insulation is injected between the lining and the outer shell. The next morning the boots are delivered, slopes-ready. From approximate $11,095 for two, including breakfast and dinner daily, five days of lift tickets, a private ski guide for three days, and one pair of custom boots (additional pairs from $876). BY ELAINE GLUSAC NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2007 37
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