Finding the rooms, suites and cottages with fantastic soaking options is, as I was saying, hard work. Often as not, I just stumble on places while looking for plain vanilla lodging. Other times, I sit down for some dedicated Google spadework, relying on tubby search terms like "tub for two," "redwood soaking tub," "oversized bath tub" and a few others. I have, over the years, amassed a wish list of lodgings to give a whirl--or swirl, I suppose. Stayed in any of these?
If I can get my lovely bride on a plane with me--we can't orphan our children, she says, by risking a flight together--I'd love to visit Montreal and stay at Le Petit Prince B&B. www.montrealbandb.com Each room "has a private bathroom with double whirlpool bath with rainfall showers." Rainfall showers!
Hope you have your sound turned on when you visit the website for Manka's Inverness Lodge, which is out in the woods of Inverness, California, near San Francisco. www.mankas.com Here's their philosphy: "Lodging follows a simple formula. Great beds. A blazing fire whenever possible. Deep reading chairs, indulgent baths, quiet nights." I'm a sucker for luxury-rustic, and those tubs look mighty deep.
California too woodsy, Montreal too Frenchy? Perhaps the austerity of the desert Southwest will float your rubber ducky. The Puerta Roja room at the Adobe & Pines Inn, in Taos, New Mexico, has a great looking tub. www.adobepines.com Will someone check it out for me, please?
So many more, including ones closer to home here in the Mid-Atlantic. They'll have to wait for a later post.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Join the Tub Hunt
So, the quest continues. The path isn't easy--just try searching for oversized bathtubs at Travelocity or Expedia. As much as I love Google, it, too, offers only unpredictable sightings. What we're hoping is that you, our skin-puckered fellow tubbers, will share your bathing secrets. No, not those bathing secrets, we're talking about the hotels, inns and bed-n-breakfasts with the greatest soaks the country has to offer.
In posts to follow, we'll reveal some of our other favorites. We'll also share some promising contenders that are on our wish list for future visits.
Oh, and while I noticed that the High Meadows website is, as of today, under (re)construction, I ought to tell you that the Cabernet-n-Cream suite is no more. The little cottage has been abandoned by the Inn. They did, though, take over another little house across the street, and while it's oversized Jacuzzi, tucked predictably if expansively in the bathroom, lacks the quaint charm of that old soaking tub, the jets really, really take the knots out. Sweet.
In posts to follow, we'll reveal some of our other favorites. We'll also share some promising contenders that are on our wish list for future visits.
Oh, and while I noticed that the High Meadows website is, as of today, under (re)construction, I ought to tell you that the Cabernet-n-Cream suite is no more. The little cottage has been abandoned by the Inn. They did, though, take over another little house across the street, and while it's oversized Jacuzzi, tucked predictably if expansively in the bathroom, lacks the quaint charm of that old soaking tub, the jets really, really take the knots out. Sweet.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Birth of the Tubbies
Severals years ago, my wife and I planned an anniversary getaway to The Highmeadows Vineyard Inn (www.highmeadows.com) in Scottsville, Virginia, not from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The inn consists of a quirky main house, a Federalist portion built in 1832 and a Victorian portion added in 1882, plus a number of outbuildings with additional rooms. I liked the sound of the Cabernet 'n Cream suite in a Craftsman-style cottage just a short walk through some woods from the main house, and I made our reservation.
After checking in at the main house, we drove around to park at the trim, white woodframe cottage. Our suite was lovely, a main room with a high canopy bed and fireplace, a sunny reading room and modern bathroom. Oh, and a very, very large "English soaking tub" plonked right in the middle of the main room. "That's odd," we thought. "No, that's awesome," we agreed on second thought.
Did we sleep in that big canopy bed? I suppose we must have, but except for several excellent meals in the main house [Gourmet Magazine's Restaurant Hall of Fame] we only remember spending hours bobbing in that big old tub. Read a little, talk a little, add more hot water, soak some more. Repeat.
Since then, we've been tub-hunters, vigilantly stalking what turns out to be a somewhat elusive beast: the oversized tub-for-two. Our prey does not have to inhabit the bedroom--although that is really quite nice. Nor must it conform to any particular shape. We like the clawfoot, the whirlpool, the straightsided teak from the East. If it's watery and spacious, we're in.
After checking in at the main house, we drove around to park at the trim, white woodframe cottage. Our suite was lovely, a main room with a high canopy bed and fireplace, a sunny reading room and modern bathroom. Oh, and a very, very large "English soaking tub" plonked right in the middle of the main room. "That's odd," we thought. "No, that's awesome," we agreed on second thought.
Did we sleep in that big canopy bed? I suppose we must have, but except for several excellent meals in the main house [Gourmet Magazine's Restaurant Hall of Fame] we only remember spending hours bobbing in that big old tub. Read a little, talk a little, add more hot water, soak some more. Repeat.
Since then, we've been tub-hunters, vigilantly stalking what turns out to be a somewhat elusive beast: the oversized tub-for-two. Our prey does not have to inhabit the bedroom--although that is really quite nice. Nor must it conform to any particular shape. We like the clawfoot, the whirlpool, the straightsided teak from the East. If it's watery and spacious, we're in.
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