ShopEatSleep

Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Arizona. From Shell Vacations Hospitality.

Fewer things make me happier than a long weekend. The time off is reward in itself, but going on a trip is even nicer. For those of you who have the time (and money), here are a few travel deals to keep you sane…at least until Tuesday rolls around.

Terranea: Looking for a staycation in the L.A. area? Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes is offering its Sunset Package, which includes the daily resort fee (I *hate* these things!) and a $75 dining credit, for $375 per night. Use your dining credit toward one of their special meals this weekend, which include a barbecue and a luau.

Las Vegas: Willing to drive a bit farther? Head on over to Las Vegas, where you can find some great deals. Expedia has the Sahara going for as low as $74 per night, which could be great if you don’t plan on spending a lot of time in your room.

Arizona: Want to go even farther? Shell Vacations Hospitality‘s Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix has rooms starting at $59 per night, with one-bedroom suites at $79 per night and two-bedrooms suites at $129 per night. Each suite has a full kitchen or kitchenette, living area, and either a balcony or patio overlooking the courtyards and golf course. And there are no resort fees!

I don’t know what your idea of resort food is, but mine is that it’s mediocre at best. But Sirocco and CAVA at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells turned that idea on its head, as I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and service at both eateries. (Read Part 1 on the resort property here.)

When we arrived at the hotel, it was just in time for the United States vs. United Kingdom World Cup match, so we hunkered down in our room and ordered room service for lunch. I got a tuna salad sandwich, which came on rye bread and potato chips and a salad on the side, and a creamy mushroom soup that was to die for. The menu wasn’t kidding when it said “A House Favorite.” Rory got a standard club sandwich, which he enjoyed. Our Arnold Palmer drinks were nicely mixed, too. The meal was rounded out with extra glasses of water and oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert, which I actually didn’t eat because I don’t like raisins.

Tuna sandwich (that's a side of avocado way in the back)

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Going to the desert usually isn’t my idea of a good time. I don’t like long drives, and heat doesn’t sit well with me. So I hesitated at first when the opportunity to spend a weekend in Indian Wells, Calif., presented itself because that’s, like, past Palm Springs.

You see, I was invited by the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa, a Marriott property, to stay a night and experience its restaurants, Sirocco and CAVA. I wasn’t sure about the desert location as I knew very little about Indian Wells other than a big tennis tournament happens there every year, but then I saw this on the hotel’s website

and immediately changed my mind. Indian Wells, here I come!

In this post I’ll discuss the hotel property, and in a subsequent post I’ll feature the resort’s food, so stay tuned.

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The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, Ireland

Ovation Global DMC (that’s “Destination Management Company”), an Ireland-based travel company, has introduced a new customized travel series called Designer Destinations, which focuses on hip locations and activities, making some of the oldest cities in Europe feel new again. You can choose the length of your tour, which cool hotel you’d like to stay at, and which stops you’d like to make — and everything (meals, transportation between sites, admission fees, etc.) is included in your price, except for airfare.

For example, the Designer Dublin tour can include three days filled with educational, fun and trendy stops. Ovation will arrange to have you picked up from the airport and taken to your hotel of choice, which could be either The Morgan, The Morrison or The Clarence, owned by U2′s Bono and The Edge. You’ll tour some of the most famous sites of Ireland’s literary and musical icons, including the birthplace of James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, the Dirty Old Town area and the U2 Wall. There’s also a sample day that could possibly be my perfect ShopEatSleep day: A morning visit to the Powerscourt Design Centre to meet up-and-coming Irish fashion designers, followed by a manicure and a master styling class OR trips to the Jameson whiskey distillery and the Guinness Storehouse, to compete in a pull-your-own-pint competition. Lastly, get a cooking lesson from The Morrison’s head chef Richie Wilson. I may have to go back to Dublin just for this day!

These Designer trips are actually created for large groups (Ovation specializes in corporate team- and morale-building trips, which it calls “incentive” trips), but if you wanted to do something like this with just a few friends, Ovation would be willing to work with you, but the price per person most likely would be higher. For reference, a three-day Designer Dublin trip costs about €850 ($1,079) per person based on a group of 40 sharing hotel rooms.

If Ireland isn’t your thing, there are also Designer Brussels and Designer Hong Kong trips available.

Full disclosure: Ovation Managing Director Patrick Delaney is my future uncle-in-law.

This runs through the center of the hotel and down into the lobby of the Georgian Terrace Hotel

First thing’s first: Congratulations to my fiance and sometime ShopEatSleep contributor Rory for a successful world premiere of “Toxic Soup” at the Atlanta Film Festival! I spent barely two days in Atlanta’s Midtown area experiencing my first film festival, Rory’s screening, and my first time to the city of Atlanta. And thanks to some great recommendations from an Atlanta resident, I had some good eats, too (more on that later — stay tuned for Part 2).

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Oliverio at Avalon Hotel. From Curbed LA.

Oliverio, the restaurant that took over the old Blue on Blue space at the Avalon Hotel last fall, now has a twice-weekly happy hour. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Oliverio’s bar and cocktail menus are half-off, which means all cocktails are $7 instead of the regularly priced $14. The Lombardia made with bourbon, apple, cinnamon and orange sounds good to me (I love bourbon!). Food includes a goat cheese and black summer truffle pizza for $11 (normally $22) or truffle and parmesan fries for $4 (normally $8).

Note: I haven’t been to the Avalon’s restaurant since it was Blue on Blue under Chef Scott Garrett. Now that the space is Oliverio under Chef Mirko Paderno, I’ll have to go back and check it out.

Clothing and accessories inspired by a Disney movie? I was skeptical, even though I loved “Alice in Wonderland” as a child and love that Tim Burton made an updated movie version, because you never know what rabbit hole designers will fall in to when creating pieces based on a film. But after seeing some of the Alice in Wonderland Disney Couture items at the W Hollywood hotel’s party last week, I was pleasantly surprised — impressed, even.

When I saw this statement necklace by Tom Binns, I wanted to rip it off the mannequin and wear it right then and there. Who could resist these red candy-like hearts, safety pins and crystal chains? It’s cute and edgy at the same time. I want, want, want! Too bad it costs more than $1,000…

Tom Binns All Heart necklace

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Mondrian. From LA Snark.

Mondrian: The hotel’s special romance package, which starts at $295 per night, includes a bottle of champagne, $50 in hotel credit per stay, and service with our Romance Concierge, which includes a Kiki de Montparnasse service of your choice. Valid from Feb. 7 through Feb. 28.

Terranea: This resort’s V-Day special includes a shopping credit at Morgan’s Jewelers when booking two consecutive nights of the Fire and Ice package. The package includes an ocean view, breakfast for two, and sparkling wine and chocolate truffles on arrival. Guests who book two nights will receive a $250 store credit at Morgan’s Jewelers with rates starting at $450 per night. The nicer the room, the more store credit you get, up to $1,000. Available throughout the month of February.

La Costa and Rancho Las Palmas: Sister properties La Costa in Carlsbad and Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage are offering prizes over Valentine’s Day weekend through their “Couples in Sync” Sliders Cup, a race series that has guests competing down its waterslides. Winning couples get a bottle of champagne and appetizers at La Costa’s Legends Bistro or Rancho Las Palmas’ bluEmber restaurant.

La Costa is offering special Valentine’s weekend rates with 20 percent off a two-night stay or 30 percent off a three-night stay, plus a $50 resort credit per stay good toward golf, spa, tennis or dining. Rates start at $210 per night.

Rancho Las Palmas is offering 30 percent off over the weekend. Rates start at $240 per night.

JetBlue sales: JetBlue has a few sales going on right now, including an airfare sale with one-way tickets starting at $29. For the L.A. area, the cheapest fares start at $39 for flights between Long Beach and Las Vegas, Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland. There are also vacation packages on sale, including two nights in Las Vegas and a flight from Long Beach for $175 per person. And if you’re into cruises (I’m not, personally), then there’s a sale on those, too.

CheapOair sales: Wanna do snow on the cheap? CheapOair has hotels and flights to Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Aspen, Vail and Whistler starting at $99 and $176, respectively.

Hilton weekend stays sale: Book by Jan. 31 and get up to 50 percent off weekend stays at participating Hilton hotels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific, as well as up to 33 percent off weekend stays at participating hotels in North America, South America, Central America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Most discounted stays are for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but some hotels are offering Thursdays, too.

A Flud Tableturn watch. Not necessarily the one Urban Outfitters is giving away.

Free! It’s all free…if you win, that is. But the good thing is, you don’t have to pay or do (too) much of anything to enter these contests, which if you win, could mean the perfect holiday gift for that special someone (you!).

Urban Outfitters: This isn’t a month-long giveaway extravaganza, but for the rest of this week, you can enter to win one grand prize a day. Today’s prize is a Flud Tableturn watch. There will also be 10 first prize winners who will get $50 Urban Outfitters gift cards, which I think is the better prize anyway. All you have to do is fill out some information, which will probably be used for spam and junk mail, so use you crappy email address. This contest ends Friday, Dec. 11, so hurry!

ShopBop: The online shopping Web site is giving away a handbag a day for the entire month of December, and they’re not just clutches. Today’s prize is an Antik Batik shoulder bag. All you have to do is give your email address.

Discover Los Angeles: L.A. Inc., the city of Los Angeles’ tourism arm, is giving away free stays at L.A.-area hotels throughout December. Today’s hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hotel LAX (admitedly not that glamorous, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I say). To enter, you’ll have to answer a question with information that can be easily found on the hotel’s Web site, which is conveniently linked from Discover L.A.’s site.

Los Angeles magazine: The magazine is giving away items from artisans featured in its December issue, “Hand Made in L.A.,” but only one per week this month. This week’s prize is a Graf & Lantz (love!) wine carrier. All you have to do is answer a simple question, i.e., “Tell us your favorite BYOB spot in L.A.” to enter.