ORLANDO, FLA. — Nicole greets me at the reception area of the fabulous Spa at Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort and tells me “you’ll be having our signature Sticks and Stones treatment.” Sounds painful, to which the athletic-looking therapist responds with laughter.

QUÉBEC CITY — Every time I push open the polished bronzed doors of one of Fairmont’s legendary heritage hotels, like this city’s fabulous Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, I’m imbued with a sense of history.

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA - Agnes Garcia takes a long sip of her vintage French wine before responding to a question so many others have asked: “Why did you open a hotel in a country and city, both of which have made great strides to clean up their notorious past, but still remain suspect with most international travellers?”

WOODVIEW, ON - Sometimes, the best vacation destinations are the ones closest to home. Take this sleepy little hamlet, located just two hours north of Toronto in Ontario’s pristine Kawartha Lakes District, for example. Besides featuring one of Canada’s loveliest landscapes — a Group of Seven-worthy backdrop thick with pine and maples that’s reflected on the shimmering glass surfaces of crystal-clear lakes — Woodview is also home to a remarkable resort that may be the best weekend escape in ...

MIAMI - It’s long after quitting time but the suits who work in the glass and steel towers gathered along Brickell Ave., appear in no rush to leave Miami’s business district. Instead, they loosen their designer ties and prop themselves up at the horseshoe-shaped bar at the “happiest” place in the city - the Four Seasons Hotel Miami.

TORONTO - There’s not an autograph seeker in sight when I reach the entrance of the chic Hazelton Hotel, where there’s usually an army of them camped out, pen at the ready, hoping to capture a celebrity signer as they leave, or enter, the posh property located in this city’s tony “urban village” called Yorkville. The Hazelton, you see, is the hotel of choice for most of the big name Hollywood stars who come to Canada’s largest city each September to see, or be seen, at the Toronto Internat...

LA JOLLA, CA - With the hang gliders silhouetted in a sky turned black and orange by the setting sun, and the last of the golfers finishing their rounds on the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course where PGA stars come to play, we begin our walk to where California drops off into the Pacific surf.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - I arrive at the entrance of the posh Charleston Grill, my taste buds salivating in anticipation of sampling the culinary treats awaiting inside the award-winning restaurant, and there to greet me like a long lost friend is Mickey Bakst, the room’s Maître d extraordinaire.

CORONADO ISLAND, CA - While driving on the Coronado Bridge, which sweeps so majestically across San Diego Bay, we get our first glimpse of this island’s most treasured landmark, the Hotel Del Coronado. The legendary holiday retreat is a breathtaking site — rising on the shores of the Pacific Ocean like a giant pink sand castle, it’s red turret roof acting as a beacon for travellers ever since it opened in 1888. Much has been written about the historic Del (that’s what staff call her), where ...

AVENTURA, FLA. - José, the man tending bar in the grand lobby of the legendary Turnberry Isle Resort, places a tiny cocktail napkin in front of me and asks what I’d like to drink. As he pours a generous glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, José shares one of the legendary resort’s well-guarded secrets.