Lodging

If you’re like me, the idea of enjoying the Christmas holidays while someone else does all the work, sounds pretty good about now. Walks in the snow, bedtime stories by the fireplace of a beautiful lodge and the smell of cookies baking in the kitchen are the scenes from my ideal Christmas dream.

The dream comes true at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge where the staff has done all the work for me. They call it a Festival of Christmas. From Dec. 23 – 26, 2009, the $399 per night (3-night minimum) package includes:

·         In-room Christmas tree and complete kit of decorations
·         Manager’s Christmas Eve Reception with a visit from Santa
·         Mixology class
·         Maligne Canyon Ice Walk
·         Maligne Valley tour
·         Recreational rentals (cross-country skis, skates, tobaggans)
·         Lighting of the Great Tree
·         Stocking decorating
·         History Tours
·         Skating with elves on Lake Mildred
·         Caroling in the Great Hall
·         Chocolate tasting
·         Santa’s Workshop craft class
·         Christmas Cookie Bake
·         Horse-drawn wagon rides
·         Holiday movies
·         Holiday bonfire with s’mores
·         Holiday Bingo
·         Santa’s Village Holiday Hangout and recreational programs… and more!

My visits to Jasper Park Lodge have always been in the summer with accommodations in one of the log cabin junior suites that combine luxury with a rustic setting. Although I enjoyed walking the trail around Lac Beauvert, experiencing the snowy view of ice skaters on the lake sounds like a dream come true to me.

If you go:
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge
Old Lodge Road
Jasper, Alberta, Canada
1(866) 540-4454

Review by Donna L. Hull, My Itchy Travel Feet
Photos courtesy of Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

Christmas at Echo Valley Ranch

Being a Northern California girl, it’s not often that I have the opportunity for a white Christmas. Sure, my family and I can fight the maddening crowds at Lake Tahoe. In fact, we are considering a nine hour drive to Sunriver Resort in Bend, Oregon in hopes of snow. However, if someone were to ask me where I’d like to go, I think Christmas at Echo Valley Ranch and Spa sounds quite fabulous. I would happily trade snowboarding for a spa treatment at this luxury lodging property.

I’ve recently launched Writing Horseback, a new blog reviewing dude ranches and places to take a horseback riding vacation. In my quest to find properties to review, I stumbled across Echo Valley Ranch, located in Canada’s British Columbia. when I was searching horse ranches on Twitter.  While I have yet to go horseback riding at Echo Valley Ranch, the promise of serenity, pampering and good food is enough to make this cowgirl pack my saddle bags and giddy up to Canada.

The Christmas package includes:

• 

  Cows in the Meadow at Echo Valley Ranch and Spa

   $1320 per couple

• $756 per person single occupancy
• All prices are in Canadian funds
• 5% GST will be applied to the price. Service charge has been left to your discretion, as a guide, between 10 and 15% is normally paid when our guest have considered the service to be outstanding.
• Add $50 per night to package price for use of the Cabins and $75 for Ranch House. Add $260 per night to package price for the use of the Baan Thai Suite. (This additional charge is not per person)
• Reservations personnel can provide connections options from scheduled Air Canada and Alaska Connector flights to Kamloops with transfers from Kamloops to the ranch; chauffeur driven limousine from Vancouver; and self drive.
• Arrival times at the ranch: 2:30 pm. Check out time 11:00 am.
• To guarantee your spa treatment, it is recommended that you book in advance of your arrival at the ranch. You may pre-schedule your spa treatments with our reservations personnel or email us at info@evranch.com
• Some outdoor activities during the winter months are subject to weather

Photos courtesy of Echo Valley Ranch and Spa

Echo Valley Ranch and Spa (250) 459-2386 or 1 (800) 253-831

PO Box 916, Clinton, Jesmond, British Columbia V0K 1K0 Canada

Lake Tahoe in winter.

The plan was to spend Christmas in Tahoe. But the 115 mph winds and 100 percent precipitation that dumped some two feet of powder on Christmas day put a stop to that.

Instead, we waited out the storm and packed up the kids, their new toys and a cooler full of juice boxes and sippy cups, and headed to South Lake Tahoe on Friday, under clear blue skies and sunshine that glittered off a blanket of pristine powder.

The roads were still iffy — the median along Emerald Bay Boulevard (89) was an impenetrable snowbank, but descending the grade into this wonderland felt like being sprinkled on top of a sugar-frosted confection, the sparkling blue lake surrounded by a generous layer of white icing.

We arrived at our rental in early afternoon, a cozy A-frame cabin a few blocks from the Tahoe Keys. Crystalline icicles clung heavily along the high-pitched roofline. I broke one off and handed it to my daughter Parker, who had never seen one. Delighted she chomped on it like a popsicle.

Our South Lake Tahoe cabin dripping with ice.

Cabin rentals are a popular, convenient and affordable way for families and groups to visit Lake Tahoe. Ours, a three-bedroom, two-bath, betrayed it’s ’70s vintage with wood paneling, an avocado-colored kitchen sink and glossy, framed posters of the lake. The spoon collection was a homey touch of Tahoe kitsch.

The large brick hearth dominated the living area and was instantly and often put to use. An upstairs closet was stocked with baby gear including a pack ‘n play, toys and a booster seat.

Our cabin was deceptively roomy and we shared it easily with husband’s parents without ever feeling like we were on top of one another.

The cost was a reasonable $150 per night.

Not exactly the White Christmas we’d imagined, but I’ll take the day after — drinking coffee in pjs in front of a crackling fire, kids romping in the snow outside.

Some cabin rental companies include Tahoe Cabin Rentals, Vacation Rentals by Owner, and First Accommodations.

Photos by Lisa Dion

Key West home adorned in lights

Enjoy holiday lights over the harbor of Key West, Florida, starting Thursday, November 27, and continuing through the holiday season. The Harbor Walk of Lights stretches from Greene Street to Grinnell Street. Restaurants, watering holes and shops along the waterfront will participate in the festivities. Many home owners also go all out with lights and decorations. Contact the Official Tourism Council for the Florida Keys for more information.

Islamorda Tree Lights

Islamorada will host a tree-lighting ceremony at Founders Park near mile marker 87 on U.S. Highway 1. Continue celebrating as the holiday parade streams past. Arriving via fire truck, Santa will make an appearance before the gift bazaar. This event takes place over two weekends: December 5 and 6 from 5 to 8 p.m., and again on December 12 and 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. Call (305) 664-4503 for more details.