The end of winter brings with it the re-opening of El Encanto, the fabled Santa Barbara resort in a posh residential enclave near downtown with one of the most spectacular terraces you’ll ever see. The Orient Express-owned property mixes Spanish and California ranch architecture with infinity-edge pool and gourmet eatery of locally sourced ingredients like homemade cheese from Ellie - the hotel’s cow.
90-minutes south of San Diego, the creators of Mexico’s Condesa DF preside over an almost-alien architectural landscape above the wine-growing region of Valle de Guadalupe. Endemico Hotel is a series of luxury cabins with spare aesthetic of minimalist furnishings, jutting terraces and precarious pool deck. For those that have done Tulum there’s Merida �" the Yucatan capital with its pronounced French influence that’s home to the latest Coqui Coqui Hotel. The 100-year old property is emboldened in a unique belle époque style of iron canopy beds, grand marble bathrooms and all-day Epicerie.
And while some are touting Nicaragua’s Mukol Resort or re-vamped Dorado Beach as the season’s hottest, it’s Anguilla that that we are talking about and the recent acquisition of Malliouhana Hotel & Spa overlooking Meads Bay and Turtle Bay now operated by lux-spa management company Auberge Resorts.
