La Réserve Genève Hotel & Spa, Geneva, Switzerland

Nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva, La Réserve Genève Hotel & Spa is offering guests the perfect holiday getaway. Complete with a private ice-rink and traditional Christmas Market-style winter chalets, La Réserve Genève will be transformed into a true Winter Wonderland starting December 13.

Set within La Réserve Genève’s large onsite gardens, the Winter Wonderland will offer spectacular views of Lake Geneva. La Réserve guests can book a private skating lesson or glide solo across the ice before enjoying the festive winter chalets. Despite the chill in the air, a chic waitstaff will be serving festive treats such as crêpes, waffles, oysters, mulled wine, Sancerre, Champagne, and caviar.

A two-night weekend stay at La Réserve Genève starts from $1,076 (based on two sharing a double room) and includes full use of all hotel facilities including the spa, fitness center, swimming pool, indoor tennis courts, and the Winter Wonderland.  To book:  www.lareserve.ch / +41 22 959 59 59.

La Réserve’s Winter Wonderland is open to hotel guests only from December 13, 2011, to February 26, 2012.

Eden au Lac, Zurich, Switzerland

While the singing Christmas tree at Werdemühleplatz and the hot spiced wine at Europe’s biggest indoor Christmas market may keep Zurich merrymakers grounded, the most festive spot in town is perched high above the city streets! Eden au Lac’s Top of Eden terrace is celebrating the holidays in high style with private fondue tastings and a rooftop Christmas market.

Nothing beats fondue – except for fondue with a view! Choose from truffle or classic flavored fondue paired with mulled wine while enjoying amazing views of Lake Zurich.  Stay warm with gingerbread, hot chestnuts, and cozy blankets. The festively decorated terrace can now be exclusively reserved for a private fondue tasting for two for just 310 CHF (approximately $337).

Skip the crowded stores and take shopping to the next level at Zurich’s smallest Christmas market located on Top of Eden! From November 27-December 23, guests can shop the city’s best kept secret while snacking on Wienerli sausages, roast chestnuts, and Christmas biscuits for 49 CHF (approximately $53).

Pavillon de la Reine and Le Pavillon des Lettres, Paris, France

Paris at Christmas time is magical, with vin chaud and gingerbread sold in the Tuileries, twinkling lights adorning the Champs-Elysées, and charming holiday markets such as the historic Marché de Noël. The impossibly chic Pavillon de la Reine and new literary-themed sister hotel Le Pavillon des Lettres are the ideal places to ring in the Yuletide with luxurious accommodations and special seasonal treats.

Guests of both hotels who book the “Parisian Christmas” package for the festive season will have the option to explore Paris’ grand boulevards by night on an enchanting chauffeur-driven journey past department stores awash with lights and elaborate window decorations, by the lavishly decorated tree on Notre Dame Cathedral’s main plaza, and down the majestic Champs-Elysées lined with light-drenched trees stretching all the way from Place de l’Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde.

For many Parisian Christmas guests, the holiday season would be incomplete without a generous helping of delightful bites, who may opt to visit one of the most beautiful chocolateries in Paris instead, where they will learn about the fascinating history of chocolate-making and sample their decadent creations.

The “Parisian Christmas” package includes accommodations for two in a Deluxe Room at Pavillon de la Reine or Le Pavillon des Lettres and either a chauffeured evening tour through Paris or a visit to local chocolatier.

Package rates at Pavillon de la Reine and Le Pavillon des Lettres start at €450 and €350, per night respectively. Two night minimum stay is required. Package is valid for travel December 11 through December 27. To book: www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com Tel : 33 (0) 1 40 29 19 19 or www.pavillondeslettres.com or Tel : 33 (0) 1 40 24 26 26

Got a passion for Picasso? Not everyone has $106.5 million burning a hole in his pocket – which is the going price for a Picasso these days. Quell your art envy with help from The Victoria-Jungfrau Collection. Switzerland is hosting two upcoming exhibitions devoted to Pablo, brimming with priceless oeuvres. With the Art & Culture package at the Bellevue Palace in Berne, art lovers get a bubbling flute of champagne upon arrival, a sumptuous breakfast buffet in the morning, a four-course dinner at La Terrasse, and admission to the Paul Klee Zentrum to see the Klee Meets Picasso in Berne exhibition. (The exhibition runs from June 6-September 26.) Starting October 15, a Pablo Picasso Retrospective will grace the city of Zurich. With the City Break package at Eden au Lac, guests get two nights in a deluxe double room overlooking Lake Zurich, complimentary breakfast, a four-course dinner at Restaurant Eden, and plenty of time to peruse those Picassos.

Walking the Walk

At Anantara Golden Triangle in Thailand, guests can see direct results of the resort’s conservation practices as the hotel actively recycles all organic waste material to use as soil for its lush gardens. Located on 160 acres of natural habitat in the Golden Triangle region, the resort also focuses on local inhabitants of a different breed. Onsite is a camp that provides sanctuary for rescued elephants: the bamboo forest, nature trails, and river banks provide an ideal habitat for 15 rescued pachyderms, and the elephant fodder is even sourced from local farmers and suppliers. Guests are also offered the rare opportunity to learn to ‘drive,’ bathe, and care for elephants in a unique three-day mahout training course. Meanwhile at Uma Ubud in Bali, similar environmental efforts are in place. Not only does the hotel recycle water to hydrate its leafy surroundings, but it looks beyond its perimeter into the local community. The hotel is committed to giving back to the area and its inhabitants: over 25% of the staff comes from local villages. Switzerland could be considered the grandfather of the green movement, with its fresh Alpine setting and lake water clean enough to drink. Park Hyatt Zurich has its own energy conservation committee, which has instituted special sun blinds to cool the building, gas-fired boilers to reduce CO₂ emissions, biodegradable cleaning products, and an air-cooling system that pumps cold, fresh lake water. The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in Colorado recycles water used in the swimming pool and Jacuzzi; re-used leftover furniture from its recent renovation was donated to the Vail Valley Foundation.

How Green Does Your Garden Grow?

What could be more environmentally conscious than turning to the local terroir as a source of food? Chefs are proving one can eat off the land for delectable dishes instead of flying in foodstuffs from distant locales. In Bhutan, the cooking crew at Uma Paro works with indigenous farmers to find the best ingredients year-round to ensure that the food is as fresh, organic, and varied as possible. The hotel’s outreach goes even further – they provide the farmers with seeds to grow the food and then purchase this produce. In Bali, the COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri similarly employs community members to procure fresh ingredients, working with a local organization that hires women from the surrounding area and offers flexible hours and steady income. The food at these hotels comes from the local environment in every sense of the word.

‘Product’ively Green

Hotels are taking eco-philosophy indoors, applying it to their products and materials. On Nantucket, guests of the White Elephant find the green theme between the sheets. The hotel has commissioned Gayle Warwick Fine Linen to outfit all 53 of its rooms with her hand-embroidered, organic bed linens. The sheets are made from 100% organic cotton percale, eliminating all the pesticides traditionally used in cotton growing that wreak havoc on farmers and on our environment. With a crisp finish and heirloom quality, these linens prove it really is chic to be green. Luxury spa brand ESPA has a line of 70 naturally effective products that contain only the highest quality of natural and organic ingredients. ESPA is found in more than 100 spas in 24 countries, including The Spa at Gleneagles by ESPA in Scotland and the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, Switzerland. ESPA espouses that using too many synthetic products only creates more problems for our skin, and that plant and marine extracts and essential oils can heal and strengthen at a cellular level.

Casting a Light Footprint

Live the green life in Switzerland by taking full advantage of the legendary train system. The Swiss Rail System is the densest in the world and makes traveling lightly a breeze. Hop from the Eden au Lac in Zurich to the Palace Luzern to the Bellevue Palace in Bern and get an eyeful of the spectacular Alpine scenery on the way. Another alternative to exploring the countryside by car is by bicycle. The Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa has stocked up on Scott mountain bicycles, so guests can journey deep into the Alpine hills or take a leisurely ride around the two beautiful lakes after which Interlaken was named. Guests of the The Wauwinet on Nantucket can do as the locals do and cycle around the island. The hotel’s bikes are lean and “green” and the perfect way to tool around town – a stylish yet practical option for the savvy traveler! Park Hyatt Toronto respects its eco-minded guests as well: the hotel will valet park any hybrid car for free. And speaking of hybrids, any guest driving one to Santa Fe’s Inn on the Alameda will receive some “green for green.” The “Wholly Hybrid” package at The Inn offers guests a crisp new $50 bill upon check-in for filling the gas tank, and another $20 to use at the nearby water-saving carwash, a way of saying thank you from Mother Earth.

Legacy of Conservation

A pilgrimage to a leafy corner of Vermont can teach travelers about one of the first conservation efforts in the United States. Thanks to an influx of settlers in the area, by the mid-19^th century the state had been stripped of its natural resources. Luckily, a legacy of stewardship was instated by three separate families, including the Rockefellers, who donated the land that would become Vermont’s only national park. The Woodstock Inn & Resort still remains a part of the Rockefeller Foundation and provides a perfect home base for exploring all the natural wonders in the area that have been so carefully preserved.

Hipsters and art world aficionados are flocking to this new capital of European cool.  By day, gallery hop in Switzerland’s art capital, or go straight to the Kunsthaus where you’ll have a roomful of Monet’s waterlilies almost to yourself.  There, feast your eyes on one of the largest collections of Giacometti and Munch around.  And don’t pass by the city’s architectural treasures without a glance, or ten.  Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish starchitect who now resides in Zurich, designed the city’s stunning Stadelhofen railway station and floating Bibliothek at the Zurich University of Law.