Fly fishing and warmth await attendees of WaterColor Inn & Resort's Orvis Fly Fishing School in northwest Florida. A two-day course offers instruction in everything from learning to set up fly rods to perfecting new casting techniques. The course is offered year-round on select Tuesdays/Wednesdays and Saturdays/Sundays.

The two-day course kicks off with an overview of the program and classroom presentation on lines, rods and reels. Students receive tutorials on the basic casting stroke, shooting line, false casting and roll cast and test what they have learned with some outdoor practice. Day one concludes with a knot tying seminar and discussion on fly fishing equipment and accessories.

The next morning begins with a lesson on fly selection, as well as tips on how to handle, photograph and release fish properly. Students then embark on an afternoon fishing excursion to local lakes or the Gulf (depending on the time of year and weather conditions), where they will hook fresh and saltwater fish.

The WaterColor Resort Fly Fishing School is offered year-round on select dates in 2010 for $470 per person. The price includes professional instruction, use of Orvis fly rods and reels, leaders, flies, waders, vests and fishing licenses, as well as lunch both afternoons. Lodging at the resort is additional.

Although snow and ice might not be the first things that come to mind when considering a spa vacation they're becoming more common as Nordic spas gain popularity with people looking to get their relaxation and invigoration fix during the cold winter months.

Nordic spas offer services based on the ancient European tradition of going from hot to cold (usually a hot sauna to a brisk cool dip) and back again. The therapy is said to help the body clear out toxins, boost immunity, stimulate circulation, and reduce stress. Sound interesting? Well it seems all the best Nordic spas are in Canada and here a few to get your search started.

Balnea Spa sits on 400 acres of nature preserve about an hour and a half outside of Montreal. The vibe is contemporary and a little urban, although expansive mountain views and a lakeside sauna make for plenty of opportunities to relax. You can even spend time in their winter-only igloo if you're so inclined.

The Scandinave Spa in Whistler is nestled in the northern woods and scheduled to open to the public next month (January 22, 2010). A Finnish-style sauna is supplemented with other options in individual glass and wooden buildings all connected by a series of meandering (and heated from below so you don't have to trudge through the snow) pathways. The feature list also includes open-air hot pools, complete with waterfalls.

Le Nordik is unique in that in addition to a Finnish sauna, four outdoor pools, several hot tubs, and a steam bath it offers a full pool-side restaurant that serves healthy fare like fish and veggie wraps, local artisan cheeses, and wine.

Many a gift is made that much more compelling by the addition of a bottle of wine. So when the opportunity arises to give a gift that is sprinkled with phrases like "private" and "VIP" and "Napa," and that gift comes with not one, but three, bottles of distinguished ambrosia -- well, it begins to look like a little bit of attention might be in order.

Wine.com's By Appointment Only will stuff your mailbox with a package of cabernets from Quintessa, Chateau Montelena, and Caymus. Yet those are merely to get you in the mood. The feature delight comes the next time you visit Napa: private appointments at each vineyard, during which you'll tour the facilities, sample as-yet-unbottled selections straight from the barrels -- so bring a straw -- and if Madame Nature plays fair, a tour of the vineyard

These are no rush jobs, either: each group is just four people, and each visitation lasts up to 3 hours. Which means that when you've finished your preliminary samplings and you want to know what makes Caymus so subtly capricious, Chateau Montelena so delicately moving, and Quintessa so.. just plain divine, By Appointment Only is your peek behind their veils. Oh, and priced at $500, it also has a superb finish: it's good until the summer of 2011.

When Oceana Cruises' new "Marina" ship sets sail in winter 2011 the exclusive "owners' suites" (pictured above) will be something of a homage to Ralph Lauren's enduring American style.

Last week, from the Ralph Lauren showroom in New York, the cruise line announced that the Marina's three, 2,500-square-foot luxury suites will be decorated with furniture, fabrics, lighting and bedding from the Ralph Lauren Home collection. Just shy of hiring Ralph Lauren himself, the company went so far as to hire a Tocar Interior Design, a firm started by two former Polo executives.

Marina was designed to carry 1,258 travelers and the boat's filled with high-end details not usually found on cruise ships, like a grand, Lalique-designed grand staircase, stained-wood paneling, marble and granite surfaces, wool carpets and leather armchairs. The ship has 10 dining venues, a variety of bars and lounges, a full-service Canyon Ranch SpaClub, fitness center and more. The ship is just now being built but Oceania Cruises will start taking reservations in January 2010.

The world's coolest new bar has just opened at the ultra-luxe Ayana Resort & Spa in Bali. To get to the Rock Bar, towering 46 feet above the crashing waves, you have to take a special lift that traverses the face of a dramatic craggy seaside cliff. There are uninterrupted, 360-degree views on all sides in a setting any Bond villain would love. Designed by Yasuhiro Koichi of Japan's Design Studio SPIN, it's an enviable feat of engineering, architecture and mixology. Designed to ensure maximum seclusion for every guest, the Ayana's 78 free-standing, cliff-top luxury villas are set in traditional Balinese compounds with private pools surrounded by tropical gardens.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Winter can be a great time to take a trip but traveling through the cold, ice, and snow can pose a real safety risk. Being prepared for the worst is key to preventing the worst, and that means having an emergency kit.

If you're driving the entire way just pack an emergency kit ahead of time and throw it in the trunk. If you're flying and then renting a car pack an emergency kit in something like a small gym bag and pack it into the bottom of one of your checked luggage pieces.

Winter Car Emergency Kit

• 3lb coffee can, candles, and matches (to keep warm and for melting snow for drinking water)
• Whistle and a red bandana/brightly colored garbage bag to call for help/let rescuers know where you are
• Some granola or candy bars
• A flashlight with spare batteries
• A first aid kit (including any essential medications)
• A blanket (special foil-type survival blankets fold up to a very small size)
  
• Basic tool kit
• Jumper Cables
• Ice scraper (most rental cars don't come with them)

More bad news out of Las Vegas for the tourism industry. The AP reports that the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is closing rooms in two of its towers over the winter season. Sam Nazarian's SBE Entertainment owns the property now and a publicist has said that the two towers will stay shut until business improves. The casino and the main Tangiers tower will remain open. It's not known if the hotel will lay off staff. Several other hotels recently opened on the Strip at the City Center complex so there is no shortage of places to stay in Las Vegas.

A soft opening date has been announced for the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel. The hotel, which will be London's biggest new hotel opening in more than a decade has a soft opening date of February 4 with room rates starting at £99. The hotel has 1,021 rooms including 54 suites and penthouses and will offer the second-largest ballroom space in London after the Marriott Grosvenor House, with the ability to host 1,000 people for dinner. In February the hotel will be partially open while the property completes the spa, swimming pool and gym. The hotel has six restaurants, a business lounge and 31 meeting rooms and will feature an Italian coffee bar by espressamente illy.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Flooring isn't a topic that gets a lot of attention in hotel reviews, but what you're standing on definitely contributes to the sense of luxury in the room. I've gotten to the point where I can pinpoint what the price range of an accommodation should be simply by slipping off my shoes and socks and walking across the floor. The best quality flooring is soft and caressing when it's carpet, just scratchy enough when it's sisal, pleasingly variable when its stone or wood. (And as for the rooms where I don't want to take my shoes off -- well, that's not what we discuss here on Luxist.)

There's far more to Encantado in Santa Fe than terrific flooring, like the kiva-style wood burning fireplaces in each casita, a private patio from which to admire that sky in its particular shade of blue, décor which tells you you're in New Mexico without hitting you over the head with it, a plush bed that you don't want to leave. But it was when I slid my socks off and discovered that the extra-large bathroom had radiant floor heating, I became officially delighted. Since I was, after all, in Santa Fe, I immediately assumed the yoga posture called Adho Mukha Svanasana, better known as downward facing dog. I was reluctant to break the pose, it was all I could do to not curl up on the floor for a nap. In a cold climate, it's the small, warm touches like that one can help justify a room rate that can stretch to over $1,000. See the gallery for more Encantado enchantments,

If you're among those worried about the state of the newspaper industry, here's one way to express your solidarity. Okay, so it won't do anything to save the jobs of your favorite ink-stained wretches, but the gift shop at Fairmont Copley Plaza offers very cool handbags made from recycled newspapers. They're a product of Couture Planet, a Boston-local company, and newspapers themselves come from the Fairmont's guest rooms. Choose the section that you want -- colorful choices include lifestyle,arts, food, sports and my personal favorite, travel -- and then the style, which ranges from tote to wristlet.

If you're more a fan of Boston than of newspapers, the gift shop offers other local products, including cufflinks made from T tokens, parquet from the Boston Garden, or chairs from Fenway Park.

I've been chronicling a series of massive gingerbread houses this season. At the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania a whole gingerbread village is on display. The village has more than a half-dozen gingerbread structures which are made from 100 pounds of gingerbread, 200 pounds of powdered sugar, 40 pounds of egg whites, 5,000 jelly beans and hundreds of peppermints, gum balls, candy canes, chocolates, marshmallows and pretzels. The village is on display through January 6. The hotel sells a gingerbread house kit for $65 so you can make your own.

The resort has a ski mountain with snowboarding, skiing, snow tubing and other winter sports which opens Christmas day. The resort also has spas for adults, children and even dogs. Rates start at $229 during December.

[via ABC News]

Love Bermuda? Check out this hotel deal. For 99 hours only (starting December 16, 2009) you can lock in special rates from $99 per night at The Fairmont Southampton. The hotel is primely situated atop the island's highest point, an excellent spot for enjoying Bermuda's turquoise seas, pink sand beaches and spectacular sunsets. The resort has six restaurants including the 320-year-old AAA 4-Diamond Waterlot Inn restaurant. The hotel has 593 guest rooms and suites each with a private balcony. The hotel also includes indoor and outdoor swimming pools, 11 all-weather tennis courts, an 18-hole executive par 3 golf course and a Health Club with Willow Stream spa services. The offer may be booked from December 16 through 19, 2009 and is valid for travel from January 1 through April 30, 2010.

Billionaire Chuck Feeney has spread his philanthropy around the world as far as Australia and his latest plan is to help boost Irish tourism. The Irish-American philanthropist is working on a plan to give $100 vouchers to American tourists who visit Ireland. According to the London Times, tourism minister Martin Cullen said that Feeney got in touch with him after the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh, where business people got together to discuss the economy.

Feeney made his money through duty free products and in 1982 he set up Atlantic Philanthropies, which gives money to initiatives in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as other places. Ireland's tourism industry slipped along with the rest of the world in 2009, falling by 12 percent. The vouchers which have a total value of up to $5 million, would be used for discount flights and hotel stays and could boost tourism numbers by 50,000.

If viewing elephant, lions, leopard, buffalo and rhino from the comfort of a Land Cruiser is too staid for your taste, the new mountain-bike safari option at the luxury Nkomazi Game Reserve might be more your speed.

The reserve lies along the banks of the Komati River in the northeastern Mpumalanga region of South Africa, an area referred to as "the holy grail of geology." Each morning, five guests and a guide with rifle, depart from the lodge traveling through ancient river valleys and mountains, getting up close to the ancient rock formations, rock paintings, flora and fauna of the region, plus the oldest and largest meteorite impact deposits on earth - not to mention the aforementioned "big five" game.

By riding through on a bike, guests get the thrill of being among the wild - with a distinct, two-wheel advantage.

Last week, The Strand, a boutique hotel recently opened in Manhattan's Fashion District, threw a party to celebrate the opening of it's glass-domed rooftop lounge. Friends, family and press sipped Champagne and stood with jaws dropped, staring at the incredible reach-out-and-touch-it view of the Empire State building just three blocks away.

The glass-roof is retractable (shown here open) and is one of just two in the city. The other covers Plunge, the rooftop bar at The Gansevoort Hotel further downtown in the Meatpacking District). The Strand's lounge is more intimate and filled with comfortable Asian-inspired plantings and banquets, the perfect spot to enjoy a drink at night's end. The lounge is The Strand's sexiest asset, the rooms, while fairly large by New York standards, are simply furnished.

The hotel will likely be hopping twice a year during Fashion Week. As a tip of the hat to the fashion crowd, the owners sourced vintage fashion shots from Condé Nast's archives and framed them in rooms and public spaces. So even if guest aren't a part of the fashion crowd, they can feel like they are. And a new, soon-to-be-opened ground-floor restaurant features a cozy two-sided fireplace, another great gathering spot for this mid-town hotel.