PRINCE PIERRE CASIRAGHI of Monaco has paid tribute. The heartthrobs Ben Harper and Stavros Niarchos have partied on its beachfront dance floor. And on many Champagne-fueled nights, leggy models straight from the pages of Sports Illustrated and the Victoria’s Secret catalog have perched on its billowing banquettes.

Never heard of Praia Café de la Musique? Don’t worry. It isn’t the latest poolside lounge in South Beach or some new members-only club in Manhattan. In fact, the club is in a resort well off the radar of TMZ and checkout-aisle glossies: Florianópolis in the southern reaches of Brazil.

“It’s a mixture of St.-Tropez and Ibiza but without the attitude and without the prices,” said Jeffrey Jah, a former model and the impresario behind the New York City party spots Lotus and Double Seven. He opened Praia Café three years ago after he fell in love with Florianópolis.

As South American jet-set spots like Punta del Este in Uruguay lose their novelty, affluent Brazilians and in-the-know internationals have taken the party to Florianópolis and the 40-odd white-sand beaches of the 33-mile-long island that makes up much of the city. Caipirinha-soaked lounges, stylish beach bars and cavernous megaclubs have sprouted all over the island. Once a favored spot of the surf-world cognoscenti, Florianópolis, some 450 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro, has emerged as Latin America’s hottest new party destination.

Each beach has its own personality and crowd. Party central is Jurerê Internacional, a chi-chi resort on the north end of the island. Rife with sports cars, Gucci handbags and the occasional private helicopter, it is home to the Praia Café (Avenida dos Merlins; 55-48-3282-1325), where the parties go until 4 a.m.

Competing for the waves of deep-pocketed socialites is Parador 12 (Servidão J. Cardoso Oliveira; 55-48-3284-8156), a Nikki Beach-like club that opened a year ago and is awash in Champagne served to bronzed bodies on white canopy beds.

Making the biggest splash is Pacha (Rodovia Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho; 55-48-3282-2054), part of a chain of megaclubs that opened a branch near Jurerê Internacional in November. According to one of the owners, Johnny Mansur, both Jack Johnson and Amy Winehouse are booked this year for Pacha’s 15,000-seat outdoor concert area. To fill the huge 3,500-person club, Pacha has assembled an impressive roster of D.J.’s, including Roger Sanchez and Dirty South.

The surfer set, meanwhile, flocks to Praia Mole, a long strip of talcum-like sand and world-class waves on the island’s east coast. Popular with wave riders, bikini girls and sculpted tanners, the beach is lined with oceanfront bars, notably the D.J.-fueled Barraco da Mole (55-48-3232-5585).

Inland, the boho-chic town of Lagoa da Conceição has become the choice for Brazil’s artists, intellectuals and media types. Niched in a colonial edifice and outfitted with vintage furniture, Confraria das Artes nightclub (Rua João Pacheco da Costa 31; 55-48-3232-2298) is the pulsating epicenter of Lagoa da Conceição’s social scene.

Florianópolis’s gay scene is thriving as well. Four years ago, the city began a gay pride parade, and in 2008 the first Brazilian-operated gay cruise, Freedom (55-11-3624-9007) moored off Praia Mole for a major part of its route. During Carnaval in late February, the Week, a gay nightclub in São Paulo, will operate an offshoot in the Praia Mole Eco Village hotel (Rodovia Jornalista Manoel de Menezes 2001; 55-48-3239-7500).

With so many after-dark options to explore, concierge-style services have popped up to guide travelers through Florianópolis’s nocturnal sprawl. Nexus Surf, for example, has expanded its surf school to include tours of the island’s night life. And with the scene in constant flux, the outfitter even has a night-life director dedicated to tracking new openings. “Florianópolis night life blows away night life in L.A. or New York or anywhere else I’ve been,” said the founder of Nexus Surf, Hans Keeling, a transplanted Californian. Formerly a corporate lawyer, he visited a few years ago and was instantly won over.

“Here you have the combination of Sunset Strip-style and Ibiza-style night life mixed in with the Brazilian proclivity for relaxing and having fun,” he said. “I looked around, and I saw better beaches, better night life, more beautiful people and cheaper prices. It was a pretty easy decision.”

The Palms Casino Resort offers its guests some of the city’s most spectacular views of the Las Vegas Strip, unique rooms, memorable nightlife venues and a bevy of dining options.

From ghostbar on the 55th floor to Rain Las Vegas just off the casino, the Palms is the hotel for the MTV generation. So much so that the 12th season of MTV’s “The Real World” was shot at the resort, and now hotel guests can stay in the 2,900-square-foot suite created for the show’s cast.

The Palms parlayed its role as the home of “The Real World” into permanent status as the Vegas playground for music celebrities and Hollywood stars. The resort is now the home of Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown,” specialty suites offer extra-large furniture for the hotels many NBA guests and the two luxury Playpen suites (complete with stripper poles) attract not only bachelor and bachelorette parties but also A-list celebrities.

The Palms has also constructed the 40-story Fantasy Tower. Besides standard guest rooms, there are a series of fantasy suites. From the mammoth and lush Celebrity Suite to the ultra-hip g Suite, the Palm’s Fantasy Suites turn a regular vacation into one fit for a Vegas highroller. Other luxury options include the hip-hop-laden Crib Suite, the bachelorette party-friendly Hot Pink Suite and the Erotic Suite.

At the top of the Fantasy Tower are the six Sky Villas, which each offer an outdoor pool overlooking The Strip; Playboy Club with its own casino; Moon nightclub, with a retractable roof; and the restaurant Nove Italiano.The new tower also houses a state-of-the-art recording studio and a floor of meeting space.

It’s no wonder the stars are attracted to the Palms. The resort offers some of the best nightlife in town, beginning with ghostbar. Its open-air deck offers amazing 180-degree views of the Vegas Strip. Fifty-five stories below, the 1,500-seat, state-of-the-art nightclub and showroom venue Rain Las Vegas has a line of fun-loving partygoers every weekend. A significant player in Las Vegas’ music world, Palms is also home to The Pearl concert venue as well as The Studio, where major artists flock to record their newest hits. The resort’s Playboy Club and Moon nightclub complete the party circuit and make the Palms the place to be seen in Las Vegas.

The resort’s dining options are equally extraordinary, from Alizé, where diners can enjoy floor-to-ceiling views as well as gourmet meals, to Little Buddha, with its crimson, gold and celadon decorations and giant Buddha statue.

If you’re looking to relax, the Palms features a 20,000-square-foot spa boasting numerous services. Outside, the pool provides a welcome reprieve from the Vegas heat with multiple pools, including two designed just for shallow lounging.

If indoor fun is more your style, check out the 14-theater Brendan Theatres complex or stop by Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company, the only tattoo parlor in a Vegas hotel.

With all these amenities and a hip atmosphere, the Palms makes every guest feel like a celebrity.

Palms Details:

• Number of rooms: 703.
• Casino: Yes, 95,000 square feet. 2,200 slot machines and video poker machines, table games, two high limit areas, classic poker room, keno lounge. The casino has a poker room.
• Race & sports book: Yes, a 187-seat race and sports book, equipped with 180 televisions and 18 big screens.
• Restaurants: The Palms has the following dining options: Alizé, Blue Agave Oyster & Chile Bar, Garduños, Little Buddha, N9NE, Nove Italiano, 24/Seven, Bistro Buffet, and a food court.
• Entertainment: Entertainment can be found at Rain Las Vegas, a three-story nightclub; The Pearl, a concert venue; 14-theater Brenden Theatres and The Lounge. Enjoy a night of music with Matt Goss in The Gossy Room. Playboy Comedy in the lounge features big name comedians and a Playboy Playmate.
• Nightlife: Rain Las Vegas nightclub, ghostbar, Moon nightclub and the Playboy Club.
• Pool: Yes, there are three pools.
• Health Club: Yes.
• Spa: Yes, the 20,000-square-foot Spa at the Palms offers multiple types of massages and services. The spa also has Amp, a full-service salon.
• Shops: Huntington Ink, Cosmic Corner, Leor jewelry store, Playboy Store and hotel gift shop.
• Wedding chapel: No, but weddings can be planned for the pool courtyard with specialty wedding cabanas and private gardens.
• Convention rooms: Yes, 31,000 square feet.
• Business center: Yes.
• In-room internet access: Yes, for a fee.
• Wheelchair accessible rooms: Yes.
• RV park: No.
• Child-care facilities: Yes, the Palms offers limited child-care facilities.
• Pets allowed: No.
• Room service: Yes.
• Parking garage: Yes, there aretwo garages.
• Shuttle service to the airport: Shuttle service to and from the airport available for a fee from an outside company.
• Shuttle service to the Strip: A shuttle departs the Palms for the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• Standard room amenities: Air conditioning, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, on-command/pay-per-view movies, Egyptian cotton duvets, remote-controlled cable TV, alarm clock/radio, desk, electronic door locks, in-room safe, on-television Internet access for a fee, minibar, telephone and voice mail.
• Hotel amenities: Concierge, beauty salon, currency exchange, laundry, luggage and maid service, safety deposit box, wake-up call.
• Check-in time: 3 p.m., 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
• Check-out time: 11 a.m.
• Minimum age to reserve a room: 21 years.
• Policies: The maximum total number of guests (adults and children) in a room is four.
• Incidental charges: The Palms charges a $1 per day phone fee. The hotel charges a fee for in-room internet. Hotel requires a credit card or a cash deposit for incidental charges. The resort fee listed above does not include tax. Some resorts also apply room tax to their resort fee.

Source: Vegas.com

The Scene:
It’s the biggest hotel opening to hit St. Tropez and the South of France in 5 years as the operators or Murano Resorts (Murano Paris, Murano Marrakech, KUBE Paris) debut their first resort property on the French beach scene. Not your quick boutique hotel remodel, KUBE St Tropez is a design achievement located on the edge of town in Gassin near haute hoteliers Villa Marie and Villa Belrose. The property takes the former-Caesar Domus and resurrects it into the best design boutique property to date in the St. Tropez area.

KUBE sprawls out along a rectangular resort pool, outdoor restaurant and fitness spa aimed to please fickle urbanites looking for a dose of cool in old money St. Tropez. By night the hotel morphs into a nightclub with two bars including a rooftop sky lounge with bay view (a rarity for St. Tropez hotels) and garden-level ‘Ice KUBE’ sponsored by Grey Goose Vodka where DJs spin hip-hop and lounge dance tracks till the wee hours of morning.

The Room:
While swish design hotels like the Benkirai and Pan dei Palais offers stylish design properties for St. Tropez travelers, their meager guest rooms can feel like a cruise cabin to nowhere. KUBE offers more variety in their guest rooms arranged in four freestanding buildings along the perimeter of the resort garden and pools. 41 rooms and suites are divided between S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXL Terrace categories with smaller spaces ranging in price from 250-390 Euro per night and largest going for 950-1200 Euro per night. While very little is walkable from the location, the laid-back setting is an ideal retreat from the hectic village during high season.

KUBE St. Tropez
13 Chemin de Rogon de la Valette
St. Tropez – Gassin 83580
France
(33) 1 42 05 20 00
Official Website

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at the Venetian and Palazzo is the largest spa in town, offering more than 80 treatment rooms and some of the most extensive and extraordinary services available.

The Venetian

The lobby of the two-story Canyon Ranch SpaClub is bright and sunny and features a full-service salon, the Canyon Ranch Café , the spa check-in desk and access to the hotel’s pool.

The entire bottom floor of the spa is covered by the 21,000-square-foot fitness center, which includes extensive cardio equipment, weights, a Pilates studio, a 40-foot rock climbing wall and several classrooms offering everything from yoga and spinning to salsa dancing and meditation. Lecture rooms offer classes on topics such as nutrition, wellness and metabolism.

Canyon Ranch also has a wellness center that offers services you wouldn’t normally find at a spa including physical therapy, acupuncture and a nutritionist.

The spa offers separate men’s and women’s areas with steam, sauna, hot tubs and relaxation areas where guests wait for their treatments.

The treatment menu at Canyon Ranch is so extensive it might be hard to decide what to indulge in. There are a variety of scrubs, wraps, massages, baths, facials and more.

One of the spa’s signature treatments is the Canyon Ranch Mango Sugar Glo, a body scrub derived from natural sugars, jojoba esters and beta carotene. The treatment includes a light exfoliation, immersion in a hydrotherapy tub and an application of moisturizer.

One of the most popular services is the Ultra Nourishing Cocoon Wrap, which uses Pure Fiji’s milk and honey products. The first part of the treatment includes a massage, a milk and honey scrub and a rain shower rinse. After therapist slathers on a milk and honey moisturizing mask, relax one of the spa’s extremely relaxing and warm soft-pack beds, which cradles you as you experience the weightless sensation of floating. Guests leave with incredibly smooth, baby-soft skin. Guests receiving Ultra Nourishing Cocoon Wrap also leave with a delicious, replenishing coconut water.

By far the most unusual treatment room at Canyon Ranch is the Middle East-inspired Rasul chamber — a beehive-shaped tiled chamber with heated seats where one or two people are coated in therapeutic muds and sent into the chamber for an extensive herbal steam treatment, under a faux starlit sky from which rains fall, signaling the end of the treatment.

If massage is more your style, go for the ashiatsu treatment — a deep compression massage in which the therapist holds on to overhead bars and uses his or her feet to massage and stimulate the body’s lymphatic system.
Canyon Ranch can be a little tricky to find, but it’s easiest to park or valet in the hotel garage. From the garage walkway, turn right into the Grand Canal Shoppes’ food court and take an immediate right past the food court. Take the elevator up to the fourth floor and enjoy!

With the extension of the spa on the Palazzo side, the Canyon Ranch SpaClub offers even more amenities, including ultra-spacious relaxation areas and plenty of wet spa facilities.

While the Palazzo and Venetian offer the same body treatments, the Palazzo features the Aquavana, an area that includes a variety of wet spa elements. The Aquavana includes an Herbal Laconium, a warm, ceramic-tiled room with individual heated seating thrones. For the ideal cool down, the Igloo offers crisp, cool air and three Arctic Mist experiences -- menthol, mint or eucalyptus. But be careful! Though refreshing, the cooling mist might be a little shocking at first.

For more exotic scents, choose from Cool Fog, Tropical Rain or Caribbean Storm within the invigorating Experimental Rain Showers. To make the experience even more fun and unique, these showers also feature color-changing lighting effects and thunder sounds. In addtion, the Aquavana offers water plunges (where you can control the temperature), heated lounge chairs, an aromatherapy steam room and a sauna.

Not sure what to do or visit first? The spa provides an Aquavana pamphlet with different combinations suitable for specific body needs.

Adorned with soft blues and greens, the women’s relaxation room provides several couches and nooks to stretch out and unwind. Grab a magazine and treat yourself to refreshing tea and fruit before your service.

For a more earthy experience, the co-ed relaxation area is also an option. Featuring high ceilings, eye-pleasing earth tones, wicker accents and sounds of trickling water, you’ll truly feel like you’re in the middle of nature.

If you’ve worked up an appetite before or after your spa service, Palazzo offers Canyon Ranch Grill.

Everything has been emptied out of the former Playboy Club in London, says Roland Fasel, general manager of the nearby Dorchester hotel. The Dorchester Collection—which comprises seven properties including the Dorchester and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles—plans to expand to 15 hotels in North America and Europe by 2015. In 2010, the group will open 50 rooms in the Playboy Club space at 45 Park Lane (the address will also be the hotel’s name), as well as Coworth Park, a country estate outside London with 70 rooms and an equestrian center.

Designer Thierry Despont, who recently led a partial renovation of the Dorchester, plans to maximize the views of Hyde Park from 45 Park Lane, which will open as a hotel in the fall. To soften the exterior view of the building—a cement structure built in the 1970s—the designer is adding clusters of thin horizontal fins that will wrap around the facade. “This changes the building, which is quite stoic, so it has more of a rounded, Art Deco feel,” says Fasel.

Opening in May, Coworth Park is located adjacent to Windsor Great Park and near Ascot Racecourse. “I see this as the perfect extension to the Dorchester,” says Fasel. Guest rooms at the 240-acre property will be divided among cottages, converted horse stables, and the 18th-century main house.

+44.20.7629.4848, www.dorchestercollection.com

Eighteen stories of floor-to-ceiling windows is a recipe for one thing: a ton of very public sex (and the occasional naked girl on trampoline). Or so say the neighbors of NYC’s Standard hotel, who’ve been treated (or sentenced, depending on your perspective) to near-constant exhibitionism from hotel guests since it opened. The New York Post reports that NY City Council Speaker Christine Quinn vows to end the adult entertainment overlooking the family-friendly High Line park; local pervs advise that Saturday night is the best time to scope out the proceedings until she succeeds.

Break out the Platinum Card: The much-trumpeted, much-anticipated Crosby Street Hotel—the first U.S. property for London’s Firmdale Hotels—opened October 1. Its introductory offer: $495 a night. In the Crosby’s favor: A good pedigree (owners Tim and Kit Kemp’s London hotels, including the Haymarket and the Knightsbridge, are some of that city’s finest); a great location (on Crosby between Prince and Spring); a tidal wave of buzz. Against it: $495 a night. What will that buy you? The usual amenities, of course—and then some.

Let’s take a look:

• Attention to detail, from the macro (40 different design schemes for 86 rooms) to the micro (the hotel logo re-created as a pattern on the staff’s ties), says The Moment.
• Cohabitation with commissioned works of art, like hand-forged, 700-pound steel gates (says Curbed); a 10-foot-tall Jaume Plensa steel sculpture of a human head made from alphabet letters, in the lobby; and The Reconstruction of My Views, a short film by Jean Roman Seyfried chronicling the changing NYC landscape (and the building of the hotel).
• A (temporary) piece of Soho Ascendant. The hotel is part of the city’s “new downtown,” says Travel + Leisure—which, admittedly, has been new since the mid-eighties. But before that, Soho was all dark alleys, à la Scorsese’s ‘85 leave-before-dark black comedy After Hours, shot in the neighborhood.
• A 99-seat screening room with Poltrona Frau chairs and wool-lined walls.
• A clean conscience. The hotel is aiming for Gold LEED certification.
• Aromatherapy. The hotel has its own scent, Le Jardin 10012 (its ZIP code), created by British perfumer Lyn Harris for its bath products and candles. This particular jardin smells of bergamot, rosemary, thyme, and cedar.

Hollywood Roosevelt
Where Old and New Hollywood Converge in Luxury
7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028
Tel. 1.800.252.0306
Europe: 00 800 1610 1690

The historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel offers elegance and privacy to discriminating travelers and Hollywood’s entertainment royalty.

This 12-story, Spanish-style hotel has catered to the Hollywood elite and discerning travelers since its premiere in 1927. After renovations by famed designer Dodd Mitchell, this perennial hot spot boasts sleek mid-century modern style and a enviable guest list that has become a favorite haunt for entertainment business moguls.

The Roosevelt’s 302 rooms and suites boast classic comfort and high-end style. Dark, chocolate-hued wood is perfectly accented by creamy white upholstery and blown glass elements. Guests can luxuriate in crisp linens by Sferra, snack on delicacies by Dean and Deluca, and wind down after a night of partying with Fresh bath products. Business guests can take advantage of hotel-wide high-speed Wifi access, state-of-the-art audio/visual equipment and spacious banquet and conference rooms for meetings and events.

Those who crave a little privacy will want to check out the newly renovated Gable & Lombard Penthouse. This three-story refuge from the everyday was named for Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who rendezvoused there during their private affair. Today, this exclusive enclave features a 1,000 square foot private rooftop deck, arched windows that stretch from floor to ceiling, chairs by Mies Van der Rohe, and three plasma televisions.

Guests who wander outside their rooms are greeted by the David Hockney pool, ringed by elegant chaise lounges, private cabanas, and the ever-glamorous Tropicana Bar. Once night falls, everyone from of-the-moment starlets to Hollywood heavyweights descend upon this hot ticket–as do, supposedly, the ghosts of some of the Roosevelt’s most famous guests: Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, and Montgomery Clift.

Foodies will want to drop by steakhouse-with-a-twist Dakota for roasted pineapple French toast or luscious cuts of prime beef. After dinner, those lucky enough to make it past the velvet ropes can enter Teddy’s, one of the hottest clubs in Hollywood.

The Roosevelt can host events for groups of 15 to 1,500. Besides the Gable & Lombard Penthouse or its fine restaurants and bars–which are available for rent–the Roosevelt houses the historic Blossom Room, which was the original location of The Oscars in 1929.

The hotel is situated just minutes from the Bob Hope and Los Angeles International airports. The Roosevelt is Hollywood’s last remaining historic hotel, and its central position on Hollywood Boulevard places it adjacent to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The La Brea-area location makes the Roosevelt a perfect jumping-off point for shopping and sightseeing. The Hollywood & Highland Center lies just a short stroll away, home to the Kodak Theatre, Lucky Strike Lanes, and dozens of shops and eateries. Trendy boutiques like Sugar on La Brea are just a short drive. Sightseers will be in close proximity to theme parks like Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farms and Universal Studios Hollywood, while shoppers can cruise retail meccas like Rodeo Drive, Melrose Avenue and the Beverly Center. Aspiring beachcombers can take a short trip to the Santa Monica Pier or make their way to the Venice Beach Boardwalk–home of Muscle Beach–or head out to Malibu.

Amenities

• 24-hour front desk
• Ballroom(s)
• Banquet facilities/Meeting rooms
• Bar/lounge
• Breakfast available (surcharge)
• Concierge desk
• Dry cleaning service
• Event catering
• Fitness equipment
• Gift shops or newsstand
• Internet access in public areas – complimentary
• Internet access – wireless
• Massage – treatment room(s)
• Parking (secure/valet/garage)
• Poolside bar
• Room service (24 hours)
• Spa services on site
• Swimming pool – outdoor
• Tour assistance