It's not always a romantic getaway just because you're traveling somewhere with your significant other. There is much to be said for a romantic getaway that doesn't involve meeting the family for Thanksgiving or the winter holidays, one that doesn't involve sitting around in airports while waiting for connections, taking the Peter Pan bus home, or staying in your parents' extravagant hotel rooms on a pullout sofa.
Luxurious resorts for just the two of you can be positively relationship-enhancing, whether it's a classic beach getaway or a far-off exotic hideaway. Here are some of our favorite places for lovers, from Italy to India.
Big Sur Post Ranch Inn, California
Imagine relaxing in a lavish infinity pool while you take in the grandeur of Big Sur. Or relaxing in the coziest bed after a nature hike, sipping wine in front of a crackling fire in your suite, and taking in the view of the Pacific Ocean through floor-to-ceiling windows. The Post Ranch Inn, a contemporary, modest chateau where the Californian forests meet the sea, has all of these appealing features. The inn provides a variety of wedding packages, including the option to hold your ceremony in a secluded Redwood forest, if you're thinking about being married here.
Thailand's Four Seasons Resort in Chiang Mai
At this little Thai resort surrounded by vast rice fields, visitors might expect to find splendor in the grass. One guest referred to this Four Seasons location as feeling like a "luxury hotel in the middle of the forest" because of its attentive service, massages, contemporary suites, and modern amenities. You can learn how to work the rice paddies, ride a bicycle around the estate, and interact with water buffalo here, or you can go more upscale. Whether one chooses private in-room dinners, drinks at the Ratree Bar and Lounge, or a multi-course feast at the terrace restaurant overlooking the Mae Rim Valley, dining options here are excellent. The Thai cooking lesson, which includes a visit to the neighborhood markets, is recommended for couples who enjoy cooking.
Tennessee's Blackberry Farm in Walland
The term "luxury farm" was only introduced to the American lexicon by this vast, 4,200-acre pastoral retreat snuggled close to the Great Smoky Mountains. This resort and its Farmstead Field School are for you if you and your companion enjoy discussing heirloom seeds and organic gardening. While sleeping at luxurious cottages reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, you can learn about chemical-free gardening, and seed saving, and snuggle some adorable animals. With two outstanding restaurants led by chefs Cassidee Dabney and Sarah Steffan and a wine program that won the James Beard Award for excellence, this area has some of the best food and wine in the country. The staff here is incredibly accommodating.
India's Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra
This is the place to go if your notion of romance is taking a bath in a tub filled with rose petals while gazing at the Taj Mahal. Every accommodation at the Oberoi Amarvilas offers a glimpse of the shining monument made of white marble. The gardens are quite lavish, and the kind staff will assist you in getting tickets to the Taj itself so you may avoid the line. And if you just want some quiet and to avoid meeting new people, butlers will bring your dinner right to your balcony.
Le Sirenuse in Italy's Positano.
This magnificent hotel on the Amalfi Coast, housed in an 18th-century estate, was founded in 1951 by four Italian brothers, and it's well-known for a reason. Get a hotel with a balcony facing the bay, and make time for the champagne and oyster bar. The views of the water and the residences packed along the cliffs are breathtaking, and the area itself has touched fans to the extent that novelist John Steinbeck remarked, "Positano bites deep." Waiters will offer you bubbly to drink in the pool if you request it.
French Polynesian St. Regis Bora Bora
No request is too big for one of the top resorts in the world in the South Pacific: You can have "Marry Me" scrawled in coconuts or rose petals on your private helicopter flight over a picture-perfect beach. St. Regis is virtually made for romance with its engagement coordinators, private islands and excursions, spas, customized fireworks, and exclusive pearl-diving tours. Every little thing, from the thatched-roof overwater villas to the outdoor showers, will make you fall in love with your other half all over again, which is why so many people honeymoon here, get engaged here or have weddings here.
Vermont's Twin Farms in Barnard
If your idea of romance includes rolling New England hills and a homey B&B atmosphere, head to Vermont's Twin Farms, a small lodge built in 1795. One enamored reviewer says it "feels like you are staying as the guest of an eccentric billionaire" - obviously in a nice manner. Everything from dinners to fly-fishing excursions to skiing instruction, meals, and round-trip airport transportation from Manchester, New Hampshire, and Burlington are included in the package. The phrase "hot tub" may take on new meaning in your room if there is a hot tub built into the stone wall next to the stone fireplace. The per-night rate is expensive, but extras like champagne and cheese platters delivered to your room are free. After dark, you can also enjoy s'mores by the outdoor fire pits. Children under the age of 14 are not permitted, and it is romantic and decadent.