Bikini Boot Camp
Instead of trying to fit into that Dior bikini before you leave on vacation, pack it and book a fitness getaway where you lose weight while you’re away. Club Med is working with Crunch instructors to organize a week of kickboxing and cardio striptease at the Turks and Caïcos resort (from $990; 888-932-2582), and Anguilla’s CuisinArt Resort & Spa has begun offering a sweat-heavy Wellness Program (eleven days, ten nights for $4,995; 800-943-3210). The ultimate travel tune-up is Amansala’s Bikini Boot Camp on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera. Days begin with a 7:30 a.m. power beach walk, followed by yoga, swimming, massages, and hikes through Mayan ruins. Rustic cabanas are outfitted with unrustic Frette linens and L’Occitane candles. (Six-day stays, which include a two-day fruit-and-vegetable fast, $1,975; four-day mini boot camps $1,475; amansala.com.)
-- SARAH BERNARD

D.C. Fab
Classic Washington hotels always seem to favor thick tapestries, Biedermeier chairs, and smoky, mahogany-paneled bars. Now—four years after the city’s sole contemporary-design property, the George, opened near Union Station—a San Francisco–based company is single-handedly transforming the capital into a boutique-hotel heaven. Last October, the Kimpton Group unveiled the modern-Moroccan-style Topaz (pictured, below); its horoscope wakeup calls and jewel-toned bar have attracted Matthew Broderick and Johnny Cochran (doubles from $145; 202-393-3000). In January, the company launched Hotel Rouge, an Embassy Row property with leopard-print hallways, crimson walls, and a morning Bloody Mary bar (doubles from $125; 202-232-8000). And next week, Kimpton’s third offering—the luxurious, block-long Hotel Monaco—opens (doubles from $245; 202-628-7177). More are in the works: Kimpton’s Madera and Helix will both debut inside the Beltway this fall.
-- BETSY GOLDBERG

Pole Position
The Italian Riviera is always great for a summer escape, but if you’re looking for something a little bit different (and a little cooler, too), and if you’re prepared to part with some serious cash, consider the North Pole. On July 18, the Russian icebreaker Yamal (pictured) begins an eleven-day round-trip voyage between the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen and the pole, smashing through as much as fourteen feet of polar ice cap as it goes. Passengers aboard the nuclear-powered ship stay in private cabins, with access to a pool, gym, and library. (We suggest Anna Karenina in the original.) There’s a gourmet chef and a fully stocked bar, plus lectures by top scientists, helicopter sightseeing, ice-walking excursions, and plenty of walrus, puffin, polar-bear, and arctic-fox sightings. However, at $18,950 per person, you may have to forgo that Georgica pond rental in August, but you’ll be dining out on the stories all winter. (For further info, Call TCS Expeditions at 800-727-7477; book no later than June 27.)

Deal of the week
An hour north of Atlanta, Barnsley Gardens offers horseback riding, skeet-shooting, tennis, and fishing. Mention New York Magazine and they’ll knock 10 percent off your room, upgrade you if possible, and give you two free rounds of golf. (Offer valid through July 15. Call 877-773-2447; rooms from $265.)

etc.

• Off the beaten bath When the 10,000-square-foot Journeys Spa opens at St. Thomas’s Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort later this month, it will be the largest spa in the Virgin Islands, with Caribbeanized treatments like a coconut-and-pineapple bath (800-wyndham).

• Dessert islands Slimmer than their big-city cousins, Zagat’s newest restaurant guides, Hamptons and Cape Cod & the Islands, arrive just in time to navigate summer’s hottest tables ($4.95 each).

• Hotel california The Viceroy hotel, developed by the folks behind the Avalon and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, opens in Santa Monica in a few weeks, with 165 rooms and the usual amenities—two swimming pools, private cabanas, and a fitness center (800-622-8711; rooms from $189).

• Three for the road The Nantucket Film Festival, featuring 63 films, runs from June 20 to 23 (508-375-6274); the massive Andy Warhol retrospective, fresh from the Tate Modern in London, makes its only North American stop at the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A., through August 18; and the Montreal Jazz Fest (June 27 to July 7) spotlights Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis (888-515-0515 or montrealjazzfest.com).

Related:

• Archive: “Travel Column”
• Articles by Tara Mandy
• Table of Contents: June 17, 2002 issue of New York | Subscribe!