The fastest way to speed up spring’s arrival is to chase it down with a vacation to somewhere sunny and scenic. But how to choose a destination when you’re overloaded with options and short on time? We’ve zeroed in on five places that should appeal to a range of budgets and preferences — whether you’re in the mood to park yourself on a white-sand beach, hike through meadows or gorge on art, baguettes and socca. All the hotels listed below still have availability (at press time) for March, April and May; rates listed are for March.
Food: Nice, France
Finding a good meal in Nice was never the problem, says Philip Haslett, the Provence-based founder of the travel agency French Promise. After all, this perennially sunny city, the largest on the French Riviera, is home to sumptuous outdoor markets (open year-round), excellent seafood and countless inventive bistros (like Peixes and Olive & Artichaut). The art scene is just as prodigious. But until recently, high-end hotels were scarce. Now, two old winter palace hotels have been resurrected with splashy new occupants — the 151-room Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel, from a Thailand-based luxury brand (from about $360 a night), and, down the street, Maison Albar’s Le Victoria, with 132 rooms and a marbled spa (from about $370 a night). Another notable newcomer, Hôtel du Couvent, resides in a 17th-century convent, this one in the middle of Nice’s Old Town. Opened last summer, it’s a discreetly glamorous and surprisingly kid-friendly compound with 88 guest rooms, three restaurants, gardens, thermal baths, an herbalist, a bakery and its own monthly farmers’ market (from about $400 a night).
Beach: Turks and Caicos
When it comes to the Caribbean fantasy of powdery sand and translucent sea, few places deliver like Turks and Caicos, even if it isn’t actually in the Caribbean. The British territory, a cluster of nine inhabited islands and dozens of islets and cays, sits southeast of the Bahamas in the Atlantic, within easy reach of the U.S. mainland. That’s why the old-guard hotels that line Grace Bay, on the main island of Providenciales, tend to book up quickly in winter and spring. Jill Taylor, a travel adviser at Jetset World Travel, says the area is particularly well-suited for avid swimmers and families with young children: In spring especially, “the barrier reef keeps the water really calm.” For more modest rates, she steers families to the West Bay Club, an oceanfront condo hotel (from about $660 a night). The newer Rock House, down the beach and evocative of a Greek island retreat, is arguably a better fit for couples or broods with older kids (from about $1,040 a night). The most indulgent option on the island, Amanyara claims a prime spot on the island’s northwest coast, just outside a national marine park ( from about $3,585 a night). For even more privacy, Pine Cay is the only hotel on the island of the same name and has just 11 large rooms and two stand-alone cottages, all beachfront, with two new larger houses set to open in April (from about $2,200 a night).
