9/09
The Splurge: Waiting To Exhale
Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what your heart tells you to do, and not your brain…or wallet.
And that means splurging. After all, you can only deprive yourself for so long before the tics start to surface.
We all have travel quests, budget be damned. Mine is to stay in every hotel and inn on the planet that has “Biltmore” in its name.
Dine by the fountain in the courtyard at the Biltmore Hotel's Fontana Ristorante
And so last week, I checked the first one off my list: The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida.
I’m partial to historic grand hotels, cutting my teeth on The Balsams and the Mount Washington in New Hampshire, so as soon as I walked into the lobby, with ceilings that soared and resplendent with polished dark wood, I knew I was in my element.
Whenever a hotel has a toiletry line I’ve never heard of, it gets my vote. The Biltmore carries the Damana line. Shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and body wash come in impossibly skinny bottles with citrus and lavender aromas.
My favorite place in the hotel was the pool, situated in a courtyard where guests lunch at poolside tables amid scattered Greek busts. One had a big lipstick smooch on its butt that was gone an hour later when I passed by, showing the hotel’s attention to unobtrusive service. The pool is the largest hotel pool in the continental United States, holding 700,000 gallons of water. I estimated that one lap in the place where Busby Berkeley showgirls are rumored to have performed elaborate synchronized swimming routines not long after the hotel first opened in 1928 equals about three laps in an Olympic-sized pool.
I was scheduled to take a lasagna class at the Culinary Academy, but alas, not many shared my enthusiasm so it was cancelled. Chef Roly Cruz took pity on me and created a tasting sampler of three different styles of lasagna, including one made with bits of salmon tucked in between small circles of polenta finished with a white wine butter sauce.
After one bite, I took a deep breath and relaxed. This is why we splurge.
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