#luxury hotels

After our honeymoon, Scott and I jumped back into normal life in New York pretty quickly, replacing days on the beach with days in the office, and nights on the town with nights at home with our dog. By mid-January we were starting to get a bit of cabin fever and decided we needed a break to give our relationship that burst of excitement we’d grown so used to. We booked a weekend in one of our favorite neighborhoods in New York, SoHo, and checked into the luxury, boutique hotel, Arlo SoHo.

The first thing we were greeted by is ultra-modern lobby where we waited until our room was ready. Strangely enough, we ran into a writer friend who lives in the neighborhood. She was working on a script and remarked,“this place is my best-kept secret.” It really did seem to be one of the largest and quietest places in the neighborhood if you need to get some work done.

Our room itself, while somewhat small (all NYC hotels are, even the fancy ones), used its limited space thoughtfully, with a giant king bed tucked into a modular type wooden cave. It was incredibly cozy and provided a view of the modern buildings of downtown. Storage was built into the cabe so we didn’t have to worry about tripping over our bags while walking around. After happy hour drinks (hotel guest get complimentary wine and beer!), we spent a night eating and drinking our way through the adjacent West Village and SoHo before climbing back into our comfortable bed.

The next morning we were greeted by thunderstorms but we were lucky enough to have access to the Arlo’s outdoor “igloos.” They provided the perfect cover from the rain while keeping us entertained and still feeling like we could enjoy being outside without having to open an umbrella.

In the end, we did less exploring, and more vegging out at the hotel, something that harkened back to the relaxation we’d gotten so used to on our honeymoon. It was a welcome departure from our busy New Yorker schedules and the perfect reset to our happy newlywed lives.

Visiting Thailand for the first time, we decided to stick pretty close to the tourist guidebook, but we wanted at least a couple days off the beaten path. Searching for some more remote destinations in addition to Phuket and Bangkok, we discovered the island of Koh Yao Noi, just east of Phuket, which remains mostly untouched by tourist operations. We came across TreeHouse Villas, a luxury, eco-friendly resort built into the natural jungle of the island.

After an hour-long speedboat ride from Phuket through Phang Nga Bay, our jaws were on the floor, pulling up to an outcropping of treehouses on what seemed to be a deserted island. The resort itself is pretty incredible. As its name implies, your hotel room is in fact a private treehouse, like something out of Swiss Family Robinson. Each villa has its own private pool and balcony looking out at the stunning bay. 

Since it was our honeymoon, we were once again welcomed with complimentary champagne and a rose petal design on our bed, something that even though a tiny bit cheesy, still brought big smiles to our faces.

Although our treehouse was large enough to hang out in all day, we also availed ourselves of the larger pool, where you could order yummy snacks and fancy cocktails. Pictured below are the curiously named “pineapple negronis.” While looking quite fancy, we were perplexed, as none of the ingredients seemed to appear in a traditional negroni. Still tasty though!

One of the perks of staying on a less touristy island is that if you want to go out exploring, you feel like you’re on your own private adventure. On our second day, after enjoying a delicious breakfast, we rented a kayak and headed out on our own into Phang Nga Bay. After doing a little Googling beforehand, we found a map for a hidden lagoon on a completely uninhabited island, Kudu Yai, about thirty minutes north of Koh Yao Noi — thirty minutes by kayak, that is.

Had we not mapped it in advance, we would have blown right past, as the lagoon and beach were hidden by three large rock pillars, jutting out from the bay. As we paddled in we were surprised to find a small beach and turquoise waters at the base of a huge cliff’s edge. It was our own Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beachmoment.

We loved our stay at TreeHouse Villas, particularly the whimsy of its design. There’s no getting around the fact that a two-night stay is rather expensive, and the speedboat that you need to take there adds on what amounted to be another $70, but at the end of the day, it was well worth it. In a country that caters to hoards of tourists every year, it was nice to feel like you were somewhere, only barely discovered.