Recently in Properties Category

Francis Ford Coppola is best known as the director of the Godfather trilogy but he is also an acclaimed winemaker. Coppola's Rubicon Estate is located in California's Napa Valley—a quick drive away from the Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael. The Rubicon Estate has been in business since 1879 when it was founded by legendary Finnish-American vinter Gustave Niebaum. Coppola purchased the property in 1975 and it is now one of the biggest wineries in Napa County. Tours are offered daily (all of which, of course, include tastings) and the grounds are also home to a historic chateau, a wine-and-Coppola museum and a restaurant/wine bar. For the vicarious traveler, the well-regarded vineyard also offers an online store.

The popular ski resort of Whistler, British Columbia just got some love from the New York Times. Chosen as the site for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler is about two hours outside of Vancouver and home to the Westin Resort & Spa, Whistler. What is there to do in Whistler? Apart from the obvious (the Times helpfully provides a printable trail map), there are galleries like Black Tusk, Adele Campbell and Path Gallery, the massive bars Garibaldi Lift Company and Garfinkel's and fine dining at the Elements Urban Tapas Parlour. The Westin Resort & Spa is located directly on Whistler/Blackcomb Mountain and is also home to the Avello Spa & Health Club.

In Copenhagen, home of Le Meridien's Palace Hotel, the New York Times wants you to know that the city is hopping in the winter. True, they use a clunky metaphor or two along the way (including a strange Lego malapropism), but the message does get through. The Times' recommendations for Copenhagen include historical boat rides from DFDS Canal Tours, drinking beers at the outdoor cafes around Nyhavn, the Michelin-starred Noma restaurant which uses local ingredients like musk ox, Greenland shrimp and Icelandic seaweed to surprising effect, the bars and electronica-spinning nightclubs of Nansensgade and of course, Tivoli Gardens. Most interesting Copenhagen landmark we did not know of: The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek antiquities museum, created by the heirs of the Carlsberg brewing dynasty.

Atlanta's Westin Peachtree Plaza is a 73-story tower that is topped by the revolving Sun Dial Restaurant. But, you see, to get to the the Sun Dial one must ride up on a glass elevator whose window faces onto the skyline of Atlanta. In the YouTube clip above, two Westin guests show what it's like to be 73 stories above Atlanta as their elevator descends to the lobby. Truth be told, it is a great view.

A post on Jaunted pointed us over to the world of Egyptian golf courses. A firm called FlyGolf has started marketing golf vacations in Egypt to Western travelers. It turns out that golf courses are a relatively commonplace site in the posh Cairo suburbs and in the resort area along the Red Sea. One of these golf courses is the 18-hole course at the Sheraton Miramar Resort El Gouna, built on its own private island.