When it comes to sharing Valentine’s Day with your one true love, don’t think diamonds and hearts and fancy gourmet restaurants. Instead, think getaways. Instead of a dozen roses, here are a dozen romantic escapes to treat your sweetie.
1. Kenya’s Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki: Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club was born of a love affair with Africa. When actor William Holden traveled to Kenya on safari, he became entranced with the colonial architecture of a 1930s home high on the slopes of Mount Kenya. He and his partners opened the home as a private club in the late 1950s. Today it is a fairy tale hotel with 100 rooms, suites and cottages languishing amid acres and acres of hills, forests, ponds and gardens that combine for a peaceful stay. Play golf or ride horses on the Equator, visit an animal orphanage, have breakfast on the slopes or dine in the bush. Visit www.fairmont.com.
2. Greenwich Hotel in New York City: With just 88 rooms and suites — no two are the same — the trendy Tribeca haven also offers marble bathrooms, some with soaking tubs and rain showers, and plush Savoir beds handcrafted in the U.K. and outfitted with Swedish Duxiana mattresses. The warm, cozy hotel, brimming with natural light, is filled with charm and character and at the same time hushed and private. Visit www.thegreenwichhotel.com.
3. Italy’s Bulgari Hotel in Milan: The Bulgari Hotel Milano, hidden away in the heart of Milan in the Brera district, is awash in intimacy, swank and style. The boutique hotel, once an 18th-century convent and then palazzo, is ensconced in a 43,000-square-foot terraced garden next to the Botanical Garden of Brera. Portions of the décor of the hotel, including the lobby fireplace, are crafted of Zimbabwean marble. The 61 rooms and suites practically sparkle with light, glass and mirrors. Visit www.bulgarihotels.com.