Recommend July 2013 - (Page 59)

race like a pro such as Jasper National Park and Yoho National Park, with its spiral tunnels and natural rock bridge over the Kicking Horse River. Rates start at $6,343 pp for GoldLeaf Service, which features nine nights of accommodations in such properties as Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. workouts for both the body & mind Set in Texas Hill Country, Travaasa Austin allows its guests to choose their own adventures, depending on whether they want to work out their mind or body. The 70-room experiential resort and spa is located next to the 210-acre Balcones Canyonlands Preserve in Austin, and embraces its natural surroundings with a menu of programs designed to explore the lay of the land. With a focus on ﬁve pillars—Adventure, Culinary, Culture, Fitness and Wellness—guests create their own itinerary choosing from activities included in the resort’s rates, such as geocaching, ziplining, mechanical bull workouts and the Prickly Pear Challenge Course. On the challenge course, designed as if you were making your way through prickly pears navigating between the needles, guests use their physical strength and skill with vertical climbing elements, heading over Raider Bridge, through the Flying V and then on to Double Trouble. Guests can also test their skills learning archery, which not only teaches patience, it also shows participants the importance of mental awareness and breath. Meanwhile, geocaching unleashes one’s inner treasure hunter, using GPS-enabled devices searching for hidden objects on the property’s grounds. On the theme of exploring one’s mind, guests can also participate in vision boarding, which is all about visualization and taking ideas and turning them into reality. The resort offers two packages: The inclusive Total Travaasa package, which starts at $350 pp per night, or the a la carte Your Travaasa package, starting at $200 pp per night. The packages include accommodations with private deck or patio; unlimited access to the resort’s programs and activities; complimentary in-room bottled water and organic fair-trade coffee; a welcome snack and refreshments upon arrival; gratuities; and WiFi. The Total Travaasa package also includes daily, chef-prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner; all snacks and non-alcoholic beverages; and a $125 resort credit pp per day for spa treatments and private classes. flying over key west Key West offers water-lovers a variety of activities below the ocean with coral caves, wrecks and reefs prime for scuba divers and snorkelers. But with the Noble Adventures package at the Noble House property Ocean Key Resort & Spa, travelers explore above the surface on three days of activities. The 100-room resort is set in the heart of Key West on famed Duval Street, between Key West Harbor and Mallory Square, where the Sunset Celebration takes place each night. With this package, guests can explore the area further heading offshore on a full day of reef ﬁshing at North America’s only living coral Adrenaline junkies can get their ﬁx on the racetrack with The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa’s new packages, which have been created in partnership with the Sonoma Raceway, set in California’s Wine Country. The track, where races such as the Ferrari Challenge and the Fia World Touring Car Championship take place, offers a variety of options for guests to choose from, such as the Audi sportscar experience Street Drive Program, where drivers take an Audi R8 for a spin on the street driving through wine country or on the coast. The full-day course—$995 (shared vehicle) and $1,495 (private vehicle)—can start on the racetrack and then head to the road, stopping along the way with lunch included. Accommodations at The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn are separate from the package, with rates starting at $259 per night (fairmont.com/ sonoma or audidrivingexperience.com). reef. Guests can expect to ﬁnd jacks, cobia and mackerel on the excursion, and may even spot sharks, since the reef, which stretches 70 miles west of Key West to the Dry Tortugas, is home to thousands of species. Travelers will also experience the Dry Tortugas on a seaplane trip to the national park on the second day, where they can explore the beaches or go snorkeling at the reef. On the third day, guests will try one of the newest “watersport” activities—ﬂying above the water in a jetpack. During this experience, participants will learn to take off, ﬂy, turn, hover and land a la Jetsons’ style, all while getting a seagull’s view of the beckoning waters. If your client is looking to ﬁll their time with more water activities in Key West, the concierge at the hotel can book excursions from guided kayak eco-tours in the mangrove islands to snorkel trips. In addition to the daily activities, the package includes luxury accommodations, daily waterfront breakfast for two, and one dinner for two at Hot Tin Roof. Rates start at $1,329 per night on weekends, and $1,168 per night mid-week. The package requires a 3-night minimum stay. ● Archived related articles (available on recommend.com/magazine/issue-archive): A Ride on the Rocky Mountaineer (November 2012) contact information Austin-Lehman Adventures: (800) 575-1540; austinlehman.com Ocean Key Resort & Spa: (800) 328-9815; oceankey.com Rocky Mountaineer: (877) 460-3200; rockymountaineer.com ROW Adventures: (800) 451-6034; rowadventures.com Travaasa Austin: (877) 261-7792; travaasa.com/austin july 2013 59 57-59 NA 5Advent.indd 59 6/19/13 1:57 PM http://www.fairmont.com/ http://www.audidrivingexperience.com http://www.recommend.com/magazine/issue-archive http://www.austinlehman.com http://www.oceankey.com http://www.rockymountaineer.com http://www.rowadventures.com http://www.travaasa.com/austin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend July 2013

Editor's Notes
Hotel Desk: Eleven Experience
Tour Talk: DuVine Cycling + Adventure
Expedition Cruising: Explore the Unexplored
Eleven Experience's Chalet Pelerin
Brazil Travel Planner
Grand Solmar Land's End Resort & Spa
Guatemala Travel Planner
Latin America Specialist Courses
The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
5 Ways to Adventure in North America
Swain Tours Shines in the Land Down Under
Seeing African Wonders Through a Viewfinder
Trinidad & Tobago
Soaring to New Heights in Saint Lucia

Recommend July 2013