­One of the main problems that comes with being a New Yorker is that you expect New York levels of service – and style- everywhere you go, and this can often lead to disappointment. If you’re a New Yorker looking to escape this winter to someplace warm but also groovy, then consider the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos, a Wymara resort.

­Looking outside my window right now I’m faced with 30 mph winds blowing the first snow of winter sideways in 20 degree weather that feels like nine degrees when you factor in the wind chill. This has got me thinking (no, dreaming) about a place where that never happens. A place where the sun shines all year, the breezes are always gentle and the margaritas flow. A place called Casa de Mita.

­“Where you guys headed?” a friendly American asked, as my husband and I queued to check-in at the airport. “St. Barth,” I replied, with a gigantic smile on my face. “Ah, St. Barth,” he said, a dreamy look slowly spreading on his face. “I say that’s where God goes on vacation. The beaches, the food, the beautiful people!”

Where God goes on vacation?  To be sure, the island of St. Barthelemy, a heavenly island in the middle of the Caribbean, is replete with picture perfect beaches, refined cuisine, and of course, beautiful people. It’s also full of small surprises. To enjoy them all, The Hotel Guanahani & Spa, an award-winning hotel managed by the expert hotelier Marc Theze, is an idyllic place to stay.

You know how some occasions call for a five-course meal with caviar, truffles and champagne, and other times you just want a really good, homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner? I see base2Stay’s budget-boutique style as the comforting mac ‘n’ cheese of the hotel world – not the fanciest thing around, perhaps, but it sure does the job, maybe even better than its upscale counterpart.

It was a cold, pouring-rain November evening the night I stayed at the “aparthotel” in London, so I may have been biased, but the comfy-factor seemed high from the moment I arrived.

It may be named after a fantastic yellow flower but glorious hot pink is clearly the favorite color at Las ­Alamandas, Isabel Goldsmith-Patiño’s chic and eco (what I like to call “checo”) resort.  First - the chic. The resort, on Mexico’s dramatic and gorgeous Costalegre (two hours south of Puerto Vallarta), has its own air strip which is pretty damn chic assuming you have a plane. Whichever way you arrive, once you’re at Las Alamandas privacy is pretty much assured.

At an Aman, perfection is expected.  However, when I got the chance to spend a whirlwind 20 hours at the ­newly-opened Amangiri just two days after the much anticipated property opened its doors in Canyon Point, Utah, I found plenty of pleasing surprises as well. As expected this newest Aman, only the second one to open in the United States along with the Amangani in Jackson Hole (which I reviewed for this site in 2007), gets all of the usual suspects absolutely right: The place is so discreet that there are no signs.

­I am not a big fan of bed and breakfasts. The forced intimacy, the preponderance of armchair doilies and “adorable” toilet roll covers, the fact that the bed and the breakfast both invariably suffer…it all combines to create awkwardness and disappointment. Imagine my surprise when I walk into Villa Ganz  in Guadalajara. Yes, it felt like walking into someone’s house—but what a house!

­I’ve experienced San Francisco with just a few 48-hours-and-under visits over the past few years, and with my most recent trip, learned two things: although there’s a long wishlist of to-dos in the city by the Bay, I’m content if I’ve squeezed in a couple of key spots to visit, and that The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco helps make the most of a quick hop.

From the sandy side of Ocean Drive, it's difficult to pick out the Pelican Hotel from its neighbors—it's ­difficult, in fact, to see the hotel at all, through the swarms o­f mini-skirted, see-and-be-seen strollers and outdoor diners clogging the sidewalk day and night. It's there, though, and entirely a treat, a design hotel with that most unlikely quality: a sense of humor to match its aesthetic attractions and a perfect, ocean-side location.

The Piedmont hills in northwestern Italy are famous for their truffles and full bodied Barolo and ­Barberesco wines. The Relais San Maurizio, part of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux hotel group, gives travellers another reason to visit to this part of the country. By far the most luxurious property Piedmont has to offer, the hotel has a fairytale like setting perched on top of a hill in the charming village of San Stefano Belbo. Views of the surrounding Langhe hills and perfectly lined vineyards greet guests wherever they look. Once a 17th century Franciscan monastery, the sprawling property has 31-rooms which were once monks quarters that have been lovingly turned into upscale guest rooms, each uniquely decorated and featuring flat screen televisions, oversize baths and Etro toiletries.