10 New Luxury Travel Trends

What's In: Guests Going Green
What's Out: Hotels Going Green

Encouraging guests to go-green, hotels and resorts are incorporating interactive eco-friendly activities that allow guests to have fun while supporting the hotel's sustainability efforts. Located in one of the most bike-friendly cities in the U.S., Hotel Vermont in Burlington, VT invites guests to have an eco-friendly night out with the hotel's monthly Bike-In Movie Nights which include a biker-themed movie, bike valet, popcorn, and an outdoor bar. Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Caneel Bay in St. John, invites guests to show off their green-thumb with the resort's 60 trees for 60 years initiative where guests will help the resort plant 60 trees for its anniversary. Be rewarded for your eco-friendly knowledge at Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort in Lake Placid, NY with the resort's interactive green scavenger hunt where participants run around the resort learning green facts and tips about the resort's award-winning green practices and successes.

What's Out: Old-Fashions
What's In: Old-fashioned Styled Drinks

Take a sip back in time with new old-fashioned styled drinking experiences. Following a 20-month, $180 million dollar renovation, the InterContinental New York Barclay has unveiled a new vintage drinking venue, The Gin Parlour. Inspired by Dutch and English gin bars of the 1920s, guests are invited to learn about the timelessness of the classic spirit as they enjoy the bar's impressive collection of 88 premium gins and signature cocktails. Serving as a speakeasy for New England's finest during the days of prohibition, The Cave at Omni Mount Washington in New Hampshire is celebrating the bar's origins with the new Prohibition "Tea" Party series which invites guests to drink cocktails out of tea cups as they did during the Prohibition-era, while hearing stories and tales from the bar's iconic past. Saluting the Golden Age of cocktails, Loews Hotels has launched The Traveller Bar - a pop-up bar constructed from an old elevator car that will visit each of Loews Hotels' 24 properties, hitting 19 cities in 13 states. Equipped with an impressive library of nearly 50 vintage cocktail books, including the first- edition of the oldest cocktail recipe book ever written, the Bar-Tender's Guide, the bar's menu features a selection of vintage cocktails inspired by recipes that date all the way back to 1862.

What's Out: History Tours
What's In: Historical Spa Treatments

For a throwback spa experience, spas are offering treatments and services inspired by the history and cherished traditions from the destination's past. The Spa at The Omni Homestead Resort, which is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year,invites guests to take part in the tradition of "taking the waters" with the 1766 Mineral Bath Treatment where guests will soak in an overflowing bath of mineral water to soothe sore muscles and prepare the body for total relaxation. On Maui, Spa Montage Kapalua Bay worked with local Hawaiian healer Darrell Lapu Lapu to create the Awa & Cacao Hawaiian Cocoon which tells the story of Kapalua Bay's ancestors through a symbolic full-body treatment. In Mongolia at Nomadic Expeditions' Three Camel Lodge, guests can unwind in the heart of the Gobi Desert with a traditional indigenous Mongolian-inspired massage which utilizes local herbs and incense harvested from the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan Mountains. In Santa Fe, Sunrise Springs Resort: A Wellness Oasis offers a selection of transformative massages that incorporate the ancient spirit of the destination including the Native American Medicine Massage which is led by a Native American Medicine Healer and incorporates cultural chanting, prayer and massage.

What's Out: Babymoons
What's In: Baby-cations

After the babymoon comes the baby and after the baby comes the babycation. Celebrating baby jetsetters, hotels and resorts are now incorporating new packages, amenities and services to provide first-time parents with the ultimate first family vacation. On Maui, Montage Kapalua Bay unveiled the My First Montage Memory package to offer families the ultimate Hawaiian babycation with activities including BYOB(Bring Your Own Baby) Fitness Class, a private My First Family Photo Shoot, My First Baby Nutrition Class, First-time Parents Spa Experience, Private dinner at the Cliff House and accommodations in the Montage Baby Suite. Babies get the royal treatment at Switzerland's Gstaad Palace, which just introduced new one-bedroom suites designed with families in mind. Not only will hotel staff baby proof the room before arrival, but they provide everything that a modern parent could need, from bottle warmers, high chairs and changing tables to hiking carriers so that baby doesn't miss out on a day in the Alps. In Italy, Lungarno Collection's Portrait Firenze invites the little ones to indulge in one of Italy's finest cultural delicacies with Caffè dell'Oro's new Baby Menu which features a selection of dishes including rice balls and mini gelatos - perfect for little ones teething.

What's Out: Going to the Zoo
What's In: Immersive Animal Experiences at Hotels

Animals and pets can teach people new skills, a sense of responsibility, and provide people with an enriched outlook on the world. Inviting guests to embrace the animals around them, hotels and resorts have introduced animal-friendly programs that allows guests to learn from the herd. In New Mexico, Sunrise Springs Resort: A Wellness Oasis invites guests to interact with the retreat's fluffy Silkie Chickens to gain insight into their own and others' behaviors, roles and communication styles as they care for the chickens. Situated in the heart of the Okavango Delta, Wilderness Collection's Abu Camp immerses guests in the majestic world of the African elephant and allows travelers to feel as if they are part of the herd by participating in interactive walks alongside Abu's resident elephants, observing their daily life and discussing conservation with local researchers. Guests of Burlington's Hotel Vermont can head out into the fields with the Meet the Cows Tour package. Led by Bonafide Tours, guests will explore a grass fed organic dairy farm where they will observe the farm's Guernsey cow where they will walk among the cows during milking, bottle feeding and have the option to interact and pet the baby calves when available.



What's Out: In-room Amenities
What's In: Secret Hotel Amenities

Everyone loves a good secret and hotels and resorts are incorporating secret amenities and perks only available to guests upon request. In Manhattan, guests at Dream Midtown can check-out the hotel's secret Black Book - an insider guide to NYC which goes beyond typical tourist recommendations with tips ranging from the best secret clubs to where to get late-night tattoos. In London, tea-enthusiasts at the The Dorchester can ask to take part in a tour of the hotel's rooftop Secret Tea Garden, which boasts tea trees from the Scottish Dalreoch Tea Plantation and where Dalreoch's Master Tea Grower, Thomas O'Braan, works alongside the hotel's designer florist, Philip Hammond, to cultivate the garden and pick fresh tea leaves to create specialized tea for guests. After naming New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer Montage Hotels & Resorts' Literary Ambassador, Montage has launched an exclusive Bedside Reading program which allows guests to request one of Meltzer's literary works including, The House of Secrets.

What's Out: Late Nights Out
What's In: Early Bird Outings

Wake up and start your day on the right foot with early morning excursions. Catch the desert sunrise with the Bump & Grind Excursion at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Palm Springs,which takes guests on a gradual 1,000-foot ascent to a wide-open clearing with spectacular views of the Coachella Valley and San Jacinto Mountains. In New York City, wake up and feel the zen with Dream Downtown's Poolside Yoga at Dream Beach series where every Monday at 7:30 a.m. guests and locals can enjoy complimentary yoga classes to kick-start their week. Early birds at The Tryall Club in Jamaica can start their day with Dawn Bird Walks where guests can spot up to 60 different species of endemic Jamaican and Caribbean birds, including the rare Vervain Hummingbird, which is the second smallest bird in the world.

What's Out: Sweating in the Sauna
What's In: Chilling Out at the Spa

Spas around the world are inviting guests to skip the sauna and "chill out" with immersive cold experiences. In North Beach, Carillon Miami Beach invites guests to step into Miami's only Igloo where they can cool the mind and body with a selection of three-arctic mists - menthol, mint and eucalyptus. In Zurich, the Dolder Grand's magnificent Snow Paradise Room allows guests to completely remove themselves from summer's heat, entering a room that is quite literally filled with snow to rub the icy mixture on skin to improve blood circulation. The Spa at The Omni Homestead in Virginia offers The Chill experience where guests will deeply inhale crisp vapor that fills the air while they apply flaked ice directly to the skin.

What's Out: Sad Spa Salads
What's In: Wellness-Driven Menus with Zest

Travelers no longer need to fear a boring spa dining menu. For healthy eating with some edge, hotels and resorts are rolling out new menus that make dining healthy fun and easy. In Miami, Carillon Miami Beach has partnered with award-winning mixologist group, AlambiQ to launch a new menu of signature wellness-focused cocktails. Utilizing nutritional research and natural benefits of herbs, flowers, and other sustainable ingredients, these new cocktails will give a buzz that you won't regret. The Dorchester's culinary team has debuted new, nutrition-dense Bento Boxes that are served in The Spatisserie and on the hotel's in-room dining menu. With specific health goals in mind, the four options serve a mixture of lean proteins, fresh vegetables and superfoods, and are categorized into High Protein Bento, Balanced Bento, Bento Light and Vitality Bento.

What's Out: Standalone Selfies
What's In: Selfies on the go

Take your selfie on the go with new selfie-infused adventures and amenities at hotels and resorts around the world. In Florence, the Lungarno Collection invites guests to take their selfie to new heights with elevator selfie stations at the collection's Continentale hotel on the way up to the hotel's rooftop bar,La Terrazza and at the collection's Portrait Firenze hotel. For a selfie challenge, guests at Omni Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire can compete in a Selfie Scavenger Hunt where groups will run around the resort with the goal of taking the ultimate Selfie.