After more than a year of lockdowns, travelers are finally hitting the road. During Memorial Day weekend, TSA reported that it screened 7.1 million passengers, the highest number since before the pandemic began. And that’s just at the start of the summer.
If you are among those eager to get away, these destinations will give you even more of a reason to travel this month.
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe just opened its Lake Club for the season. Ten miles from the mid-mountain resort, the space feels less like a club than a lake house. It gives you beach access, along with an outdoor whirlpool, cozy fireplaces, showers and changing facilities, complimentary kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. Get out on the water by signing up for the weekend paddleboard yoga sessions or opt for a high-speed adventure on a MasterCraft powerboat, which departs from the club’s private pier.
Park City, Utah
The St. Regis Deer Valley will make the most of its picturesque location along the Wasatch mountains when it debuts its beer garden later this month. You’ll nosh on buffalo nachos or Maine lobster rolls and sip Cousin Jack, Tipsy Trolley or Main Street Mexican Lager (the hotel’s signature IPAs made with Salt Lake City’s SaltFire Brewing) while gazing at the surrounding peaks. In between beers, enjoy live music, or try your hand at ax throwing or cornhole.
The Little Nell Culinary Fest usually kicks off June’s Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Although this year’s classic was pushed back to September, the Five-Star hotel will still throw its summer festival. From June 17 to 20, it will bring in esteemed Relais & Châteaux chefs, including Josh Holt, Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in San Diego; Adriano Venturini, Eden Roc Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic; and Zachary Ladwig, The Inn at Dos Brisas in Washington, Texas, to work alongside The Little Nell’s own roster of top talent. The chefs will whip up everything from a decadent champagne breakfast to a fun street-food-style shellfish dinner.
Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection recently emerged from a $30 million renovation that made room for more outdoor spaces, including the new poolside restaurant Picobar and additional seating and cabanas around a striking pool. The chic hotel revamped all guest rooms, though we have our eye on getting into one of the 11 newly built one- and two-bedroom suites featuring patios with alfresco showers and soaking tubs overlooking the Palisades and Mayacamas Mountains.
Practice self-care during Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve’s Wellness Weekend from June 17 to 20. The Los Cabos hotel enlisted meditation and yoga instructor Regina Marco, reiki master Gracy Terry, and Chinese medicine and qi gong expert Fabrice Piche to lead a variety of activities. Partake in yoga, meditation, sessions in Savasana Sound Room (an aromatherapy inhalation space that provides sound therapy), tai chi and more. To top it off, you can enjoy a wide range of therapies in Zadún’s heavenly Spa Alkemia.
The Peninsula Chicago celebrates its 20th anniversary this month with a special menu of favorites from its last two decades at its Cantonese restaurant Shanghai Terrace and popular spot The Lobby. When you order classics like Sichuan prawns, gourmet chicken salad and rainbow-patterned vegetable dumplings, the hotel will donate a meal to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The Peninsula also offers an anniversary package that includes 20 percent off accommodations.
World Ocean Day falls on June 8, but Atlantis Paradise Island will honor it all month long. Fill your time with a Behind-the-Blue Tour, which shows the efforts of the resort and its nonprofit Atlantis Blue Project Foundation to save the oceans; a visit to the Great Hall of Waters Exhibit, where you can learn about Atlantis’ marine life; and ocean-themed movies in the theater. Afterward, retreat to The Cove, where every accommodation comes with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the crystal-clear water.
Just 15 minutes outside of the city, The Inn at Hastings Park provides an idyllic June escape with its Culinary Garden featuring Whispering Angel. Amid the trees, large wooden tables and seating with blush accents, strands of lights and glasses filled with rosé set the scene for lunch, dinner or brunch. Menus change depending on the harvest of locally farmed fruits and vegetables. In addition to dining, the garden hosts outdoor cooking classes.
Hampshire, England
If you can’t make it to Wimbledon at the end of this month, the next best thing may be a trip to Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire. World-class Peter Burwash International (PBI) tennis instructor Nicola Reynolds returns to the 18th-century countryside manor to help you up your game. Reynolds coached Wimbledon greats like Heather Watson (the former British No. 1). The hotel is the sole U.K. destination offering PBI training. Sign up for lessons, daily tennis clinics, a junior tennis program and tournaments.
For an exclusive shopping trip, visit the Dioriviera boutique taking over Rosewood Miramar Beach’s Cabana Pool, bocce courts and Garden Bungalow Suites. Part of Summer by Design — a collection of immersive experiences from the Rosewood brand’s properties — it’s the first of its kind in the U.S. The pop-up’s Dior stylist will meet you for a consultation while you peruse the capsule collection of toile-de-Jouy- and Dior Oblique-emblazoned ready-to-wear pieces, shoes, accessories, beach umbrellas, surfboards, hammocks and more.
Qatar may not be open to U.S. tourists yet, but vaccinated Gulf Cooperation Council residents can check into The Ritz-Carlton, Doha’s new Grand Amiri suites. The lavish accommodations honor the area’s rich heritage. The Katara Suite, for example, is named after “Catara,” the first known term for the Qatar Peninsula, and its décor recalls the sand and sea. Qatar’s pearl-diving history inspires the Ivory Suite’s creamy hues. And the Cobalt Suite is an ode to the country’s passion for cars and motorsport with leather walls and cobalt-blue touches.
