A great vacation may be nearby

Luxury hotels bring new meaning to service

A resort can be the destination

Travel has changed in recent weeks. Whether you consider flying, driving hundreds of miles or stay within your neighborhood, there may be a vacation that you hadn't considered. A hotel resort or spa.

The worlds top hotels get that reputation by providing luxury and service. It may be by providing you with whatever you want or whatever you don't want. Many of them contain some of the world's best restaurants and stores. You may never even leave the property and have a wonderful, luxurious vacation. Disney's Grand Floridian Resort inside Florida's Walt Disney World for example, can pamper you with food and sophistication or you can exit the door and be inside a crowded amusement park.

Spa resorts are gaining in popularity and we are currently working on a special section just for them. So you can see where they all are, how they rate and what is available.

If are into golf or tennis, there are many top notch hotels that can put you on the green. You don't need a rental car. Just a golf cart.

Even in more fast paced cities, like Las Vegas, you can be spoiled in a variety of ways. You have a choice of at least three hotels that can rank with any in the world. The Bellagio, The Venetian and the Four Seasons will fit your needs in the city of lights.

If you're already in Florida, your near one of the best in the world. The Ritz-Carlton Naples can pamper you like no other on the Gulf Coast. If you're partial to the Atlantic ocean on the east coast, The Breakers, Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons all make Palm Beach worth a visit.

A top hotel in New York City can put you middle of Big Apple and a world of culture, but your room can be your castle in luxury. Four Seasons, The Pierre, St. Regis, The Waldof can all more than fill your needs. Whether you choose to stay inside or venture outside, you will love it either way.

So whether you choose a luxury hotel to get out or to hide away from the world, make it a great visit. They can service your needs and make it so you'll never want to leave....

Our Luxury Hotel Guide

Passion for yoga?

Take a vacation that comes back with you...and not just on a credit card bill.

Whether you've been doing yoga for years or just began recently, the time to go deeper may be here. Whether you teach others in a local class or practice alone in your own living space, you can take it higher. You can make it a vacation that you can take home with you. A yoga retreat vacation works from the inside out. And the wonderful feeling lasts longer. The return airport trek and the first visit with your boss can't take it away from you.

"Yoga retreats are awaiting you around the world," says Adam Longfellow of AllStays.com. "We have compiled a list of some highly recommended ones all over the globe. (/yoga/yoga-retreats.htm) You can stay in a variety of places in the U.S. or wander to Bali or Costa Rica or India." You may want to just stay a few days to get away and get refreshed. Or you may choose to stay a few weeks to return to your world at another level. To enjoy a full vacation, think about yoga retreats that focus on your mind and spirituality. Some give you plenty of free time and a location that bodes well for sight-seeing or doing absolutely nothing at all. The choice is yours.

If you are concerned about costs, there are yoga retreats for most budgets. You can spend fifty dollars a day and you can spend thousands. The yoga itself can be the center of your time or just a framework for a vacation. Any combination you choose, you will come back in better shape. Both mind and body.

Personal recommendations of a yoga retreat are always best, but if you can't find those in your network of friends, you can browse online and do some research. You may get a feeling from the website, the text and the photos. An unprofessional website or one that gives a negative feeling probably isn't going to represent a yoga retreat that is for you.

You also need to know what you looking to get out of it. Do you want more isolation with a reclusive and intense program? Or do you want to just have fun while learning more about yoga?

Location should factor in your choice. If you don't like the sun, a Mexican yoga retreat probably isn't for you. If humidity makes you uncomfortable, a Caribbean yoga retreat isn't for you. You may choose to go into the mountains instead. And of course, if you don't like the cold or snow, stay out of the mountains.

Whatever your choice, prepare for an intense yet playful vacation. Prepare to be relaxed and be re-energized. Prepare yourself for a yoga retreat.

AllStays.com, online since 2000 and based in Arizona (US), lists all kinds of lodging, from primitive campgrounds and RV Parks to luxury and haunted hotels and spa resorts. AllStays also links directly to official websites to make sure you have the real scoop on the latest and most accurate information.

Why are hotels still charging for wi-fi access? In this day and age of internet becoming a tv alternative, access should just be just as available as color television in your room.

Reception is poor in most hotel buildings and some even run jamming equipment on cell phones and electronic equipment. So even if you have cell data service, you may not be able to use it in your hotel room. And you won't know if it works until you've checked in.

The other gripe is that many hotels will advertise internet access but not say if it's for a fee or how much that fee may cost. You see internet access as an amenity, listed the same as pool, cofee, etc. So you book it, check in and then find a fee card in the room.

We recently had a case where a chain advertises free high-speed internet access with their brand name in magazine, tv and web ads. So we made this change on the site accordingly. Then we are contacted by an individual location saying that they charge $10 per 24 hour period. What is a customer to do when the chains can't be straight with themselves?

I would like to say that you should boycott these hotels but it is difficult if you are already there or have a meeting at that hotel. Hotels around conventions are often the worst offenders. They have business travelers where they want them and charge accordingly. What choice do you have at that point?

Complain and complain loudly. Let them know on comment cards and at the front desk that you won't be back. That no one in your business will be back. That you will mention this on the convention survey so the whole event could possibly relocate to another hotel. Hotels are lowering rates to be competitive on internet websites like ours and then charging little fees for everything else, including things that used to be free.

Another aspect is that even if you know the cost of internet access, is it working when you are there? We hear many stories of the internet network being down or being upgraded in a hotel. You are out of luck without apologies. They may not accept the complaint as if you were saying there is no electricity. It may be critical for your visit but it's not an important utility to the hotels.

What do you think?

I just made plans to travel to Seattle for a business conference and have to ask who is paying all these high hotel rates? It was hard to find a room in downtown Seattle for less than $300 a night. That seems pretty crazy in today's world of lower wages and business cut backs. I've already avoided the city several times due to this fact. I just don't like to foster this kind of trend. It is one thing to be a luxury hotel and guests go there for a certain kind of treatment or experience, but a normal downtown chain like Marriott or Hilton? Business travelers are gouged because of expense accounts. Cruise travelers are gouged because they are there and it's the season for Alaska cruises and so on.

Even paying close to $300 a night, I'll probably be back on here complaining about some kind of add-on fees to that rate. Resort fee? Parking fee?

Adam