On a music-filled summer weekend, the Renaissance Nashville is a busy place. But the valets quickly take your car off your hands and the front desk quickly checks you in. Soon you’re zooming up one of the glass elevators to your room with views all over Nashville’s bustling city centre and beyond.
At the Renaissance you’re within walking distance of lots of music and non-music activities that make Nashville so popular for romantic weekends, for groups of friends celebrating an upcoming wedding, and for anyone interested in Nashville’s vibrant arts and food scenes.
The 659 rooms and 14 suites of the Renaissance Nashville have modern elegance with bright whites and cool greys, with pops of green apple. I loved the bathroom’s musically-inspired words to remind me exactly where I was. My room, on the exclusive 25th floor, was large and I had plenty of room to spread out and organize my Nashville souvenirs before I had to pack up and go home again. Turn down service provided delicious calming and relaxing chocolates, as well as Nashville’s famous Willa’s shortbread cookies (which you know I brought home to share!).
Rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, a king or queen bed, a desk and easy chair, mini-fridge, Keurig coffee maker, a cool in-drawer safe, and lots of tech-friendly amenities. Wifi is extra unless you’re a Marriott member (free to join). Amenities are by Aveda and the room comes automatically with two plush navy robes (so nice to not have to request the second one!). Club rooms have special amenities like access to a Club lounge with continental breakfast, weekday evening socials, and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages.
The hotel has a large indoor pool, open to an outdoor deck in good weather. But Nashville’s steamy summer heat and the hotel’s cool air conditioning mean getting a photo before your lens steams up is impossible! The fitness centre (open 24-7) overlooks the pool and has plenty of equipment. They even offer free earbuds in case you’ve forgotten yours. The tower hotel has several restaurants and lounges and a very popular Starbucks in the lobby.
From US$320
– Turn down services with chocolates and Willa’s shortbread cookies!
– Noon checkout is a great way to not rush the end of your weekend.
– Aveda bathroom amenities — good for you and good for the environment.
– Great to have a sign pointing to the bed-side plug for charging your phone, but couples might want one on both sides of the bed.
Johanna Read
Contributing Editor
When I arrived in Cayo Santa Maria, I was very ready for some beach time. Meliá Buenavista did not disappoint.
I had three beaches to choose from: a long one perfect for strolling along the soft dunes and swimming through the soft waves, a perfect white crescent protected from the open ocean, and a wilder beach ideal for nature walks with Navy, who knowledgeably identifies fish and birds, and even finds immense sand dollars.
This boutique resort has just 105 rooms, all with The Level service, so you know you will be completely taken care of, not only by all the staff but by your butler too. Rooms have a lower sitting room at the front with a balcony overlooking the pool or mangrove beaches, and a large raised bedroom, backing onto a multi-roomed bath and closet area. There’s a large bathtub as well as an outdoor shower. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to catch an episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones on my large flat-screen TV — unusual for many hotels, let alone those in Cuba.
While there’s lots of activities to choose from, most guests are content to soak up the sun and take lazy swims in the resort’s two pools or in the warm sea. Guests who skip the morning yoga session are missing out. The class takes places on a palapa-covered deck in the sea, reached by a long and picturesque boardwalk. It’s also an ideal place for a sunset dinner.
All meals are à la carte (breakfast and lunch have a few buffet selections too) in the resort’s three restaurants. Menus aren’t large, but provide choices to suit all tastes. Quality and flavour were amongst the best I’ve had in Cuba (the US embargo affects imports). Room service is available, though with a limited menu. Meliá provides shuttle service to two nearby sister resorts for other restaurant selections too.
Meliá Buenavista is the Cuban resort to choose if your ideal holiday includes genuinely friendly staff who remember your name and your preferences, pristine beaches, an out-of-the-way quiet location, and the quality that only Meliá’s The Level service can provide.
Stays usually combined with airfare; consult your travel agent or MeliaCuba.com
– Live music: evenings in the bar, cello at breakfast, and violin or saxophone at sunset on the beach
– The friendliest fishes I’ve ever met : great snorkelling
– Stunning unspoilt beaches
– Room service included in rates is great; would be even better if you could order from the restaurant menu too
Johanna Read
Contributing Editor
Located in a quiet lane, within Chiang Mai’s ancient city walls and a short stroll from one of the city’s most beautiful temples, is the quiet and delightful Rachamankha Hotel. Designed by one of Thailand’s foremost architects – who lives onsite – the hotel is styled after old Chinese courtyard dwellings, with influences from local Lanna culture.
Entry level superior rooms are simple with tiled floors, white walls and antique furnishings and art. There’s satellite TV, dvd player (you can choose from a library of titles), mini bar and tea/coffee making amenities. Deluxe rooms are similar but with the added romance of a canopy bed; spacious and stylish two bedroom suites are also available.
The true charm of Rachamkha, however, lies outside the rooms. To wander from courtyard to courtyard, discovering art along the way is simply a delight and a photographer’s dream. One of the highlights is the beautiful library which is atmospheric and stocked with hundreds of books, from novels to travel to art and culture. In addition, there is a large open air sitting area, the roof held aloft by sturdy, deep red columns, and stocked with large coffee table books, flowers and art.
Rachamankha is blessed with a 20m pool, a cozy bar and a restaurant serving Thai, Shan and Burmese cuisine. The generous a la carte breakfast is high quality and perfect before a day exploring this fascinating city.
Within walking distance there are dozens of working temples as well as the famous Sunday Walking Street Market making the hotel an ideal base for exploring Chiang Mai’s old city on foot.
From US$210 per night including breakfast
– Great location in the old city
– Overwhelming sense of calm within the courtyards
– Beautiful design with soaring temple-like roofs and colonnaded courtyards
– Not enough power points in the room
Rachamankha 
is a member of Secret Retreats, a community of like-minded owners of small independent boutique hotels, boats and restaurants peppered around Asia
Steve and Candice
Review Team
This Nashville institution is half hotel and half spectacular indoor garden. A Marriott property, this four-star business and leisure hotel is in fact the largest non-casino hotel in the world. Despite the immense space, the service is friendly and it is difficult to get lost.
There are a whopping 2882 guest rooms, including 71 suites and five themed presidential suites. 776 of the rooms are garden atrium rooms, with a balcony overlooking the waterfall-filled gardens. My room was one of these and I loved the sound of the waterfall coming through the French doors of my balcony and the view over the greenery.
Rooms are equipped with an extremely comfortable bed, desk area, easy chair, mini-fridge, coffee maker and flat screen TV. Showers have a curved curtain bar, ensuring you have lots of elbow room and no risk of a clammy curtain touching you. The rooms have two sinks, the second one in a well-lit area near the closet, so there’s no need for jostling. Turndown service includes some delicious milk chocolates.
The gardens are where the Gaylord Opryland really stands out. The garden area is nine acres and has dancing fountains, roaring waterfalls, meandering streams, koi ponds and 50,000 tropical plants. You can walk along paths at two levels, as well as dine and drink in several garden restaurants.
There’s a huge spa (the largest in Tennessee), big outdoor and indoor pools with hot tubs, a fitness centre, shopping, activities for kids, and 15 cafes, lounges and restaurants. You can even take a Delta riverboat cruise in the Delta Atrium. Should you want to explore further, the hotel has a free shuttle to the Grand Ole Opry House and its highly entertaining shows (regardless of whether you’re a big country music fan), to the Gaylord Springs Golf Links, and to the nearby shopping centre.
Christmas is a special time at the Opryland Gaylord as the hotel and gardens are lit up with 2.3 million holiday lights, 15 000 poinsettias, a 48-foot-tall Christmas tree, and even 1.5 million pounds of real snow on a specially-built tubing hill. Christmas 2016 will also feature a How The Grinch Stole Christmas musical show and will welcome 40 master artisans from Harbin, China who will carve ice sculptures with a Rudolph theme.
See www.VisitMusicCity.com for tons of info on what see and do in Nashville.
From US$250, plus daily resort fee of $18 for wifi access and more
– The calming sound of the waterfall right outside your balcony.
– Double sink – one with the toilet and shower and a separate one near closet.
– Stunning gardens and tons of activities.
– When you look outside your balcony, you can’t tell if it’s raining or not!
– The hotel sells out frequently, so book far in advance for specific dates.
Johanna Read
Contributing Editor