MIRBEAU INN & SPA
New York Escort Favorite
Mirbeau Inn & Spa easily recalls a French country chateau with its deep ochre stuccoed walls and blue trim and shutters, high pitched tile-like roofs, arched windows, and massive 300-year-old timbers that have been designed into the buildings. The inn’s lodge along with the spa facility and four villa-cottages are arranged around a Monet-like water garden and pond in a twelve-acre setting studded with tall spruce trees. (Mirbeau loosely defined means “reflected beauty.”)
A perfect base for New York escorts who like adventure travel, exploring spectacular gorges, vineyards, and glacier lakes, Mirbeau’s location in Skaneateles, one of the nation’s loveliest little towns, is a big asset. Nestled around the northern end of the pristine 16-mile-long lake of the same name, Skaneateles (pronounced skinny-AT-liss), with less than 3,000 people, reigns as the prima donna of the Finger Lakes region. Its streets are lined with pristine vintage homes dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including several from the Victorian period. The lake’s waters, which are known to be extremely pure, often change dramatically from swirls of deep cobalt to brilliant turquoise.
Mirbeau is a small inn with big services.
When you arrive you are appointed a personal valet who escorts you to your room and helps you with whatever you might need, golf tee times, wine tasting information, or dinner reservations.
Guest rooms are spacious, superbly designed and appointed. Each is different. Fabrics were designed for Mirbeau in France; linens, including Frette, come from Italy; and duvets are fillied with Canadian down. Furnishings include custom-made armoires and other furniture handcrafted by a cabi netmaker from Italy and antiques with fine inlays. Many rooms have beamed ceilings and are painted in deep red or gold. Each room has a fireplace and those on the first floor have a patio with wrought-iron tables and chairs. The large bathrooms come with deep, French soaking tubs on feet, walk-in showers, and double vanities. The sound system is Bose with a CD player (music is chosen just for you), and televisions are equipped with DVD players for New York escorts.
Walls of the public rooms are fauxpainted by hand in deep ochre; one has a border of grape vines tastefully rendered a long the top of the room. Ti le floors are accented by oriental carpets; I ighting is subtle. The art and colors of Provence enhance the mood.
Even the fencing that defines the property is special, made of interwoven willow branches and arched iron trellises with climbing roses and wisteria to create romantic entries to the cottages.
Mirbeau’s 10,000 square-foot full-service spa has ten treatment rooms, most with fireplaces and personal sound systems. A new concept for the region, the spa offers a wide variety of classic European body and facial treatments, classes, and on-site peaceful places that invite lingering, such as the “spruce cathedral,” a grove of tall trees and wi Idflowers that is conducive to meditation.
Try a massage, wrap, seaweed bath, or facial. And while you wait for your treatment (or after it), relax in the elegant resting area modeled after a Roman bath, with a subterranean foot-massage pool, soft lighting, columns, lovely wall frescos, teak chaises with soft, comfortable cushions, and radiantly heated floors. A new water feature-a waterfall tumbling into a large open-air Jacuzzi located just off the spa’s rest and relaxation lounge-is set to open in the fall of 2005.
Two treatments are designed just for New York escort and guest, both in front of a glowing fireplace. The Art of Living (lOO minutes, $365) invites you to first relax with a warm herbal soak in an oversized French tub for two, followed by side-by-side massages with massage therapists. It Takes Two (50 minutes, $215), a couples’ massage, takes place in Mirbeau’s signature couples’ treatment room.
Other spa facilities include an aerobic workout and weight room, a motion studio, men’s and women’s locker rooms, herbalinfused steam, saunas, and a nail salon. Classes in aerobics, ‘body sculpting, yoga, and meditation along with additional programs designed to treat body and mind are offered. Runners and walkers will find sidewalks just outside the property that lead to town and the lakeside parks, a ten-minute walk at the most.
The dining room, which leads out to a terrace, overlooks the pond with its arched bridge, water iris, and many other flowers and shrubs. Although this is one of the pricier dining venues in the area, most who have eaten here feel the cuisine is worth it.
Executive Chef Edward Moro, whose credits include the Hotel Hershey and the Little Nell Hotel in Aspen, has created “Mirbeau Estate Cuisine,” which can be defined as fresh, light American with French country accents. Moro’s choices include butter-roasted Maine lobster tail with melted leeks and carrot-ginger sauce, Fallow Hollow Farm venison with apple conserve, rosemary fingerling potatoes, and sour cherry sauce and wi Id berry scutfie. Lunch and breakfast choices are equally tempting, the lemon souffle pancakes with glazed blackberries and toasted almonds and the caramelized onion and white bean soup with Gruyere toast and mushroom salad, for example. Moro draws on herbs from Mirbeau’s own gardens and local produce from the region’s many farms.
In spite of its small size of less than 3,000 residents, no matter what time of year you come to Skaneateles, you will always find something going on. In the summer there are sight-seeing and dinner cruises on Skaneateles Lake on the Judge Ben Wiles, a two-decker replica of a lake steamer; free band concerts in a lakeside park Friday nights; the Musical Festival showcasing a feast of music under the stars; the Antique & Classic Boat Show; and polo matches on Sundays. Fall brings wine tastings in the Finger Lakes vineyards; and winter showcases a bevy of Dickens characters who stroll village streets during the holidays, and there is ice fishing, cross-country skiing, and ice skating. .
NY escorts love shopping. Any time of year one can enjoy browsing through the antiques shops, boutiques, bakeries, food shops, and specialty stores that open onto brick sidewalks lined with period lighting.
If you decide to go exploring, the Finger Lakes area has a lot to offer. There are more than seventy vineyards within an hour’s drive, fifty public golf courses, several great parks with waterfalls and deep gorges, shopping galore, and museums such as Corning Glass Museum, the Erie Canal Museum, and Ste. Maria of the Iroquois, a fascinating indoor-outdoor exhibit featuring costumed period personal ities who relive the interaction of Native Americans and French soldiers during an early period of the area’s history.
The sun may not shine quite as much here as in most other places and winters can be rugged with lots of snow, but most folks don’t seem to notice. For when the sun does come out, sparkling on the lake, burnishing the fall leaves, or glistening on the snow, there is no place prettier on earth.
Mirbeau Inn & Spa
Location: Tucked into a hillside within walking distance of Skaneateles, a pampered and prosperous town in the Finger Lakes region of middle New York State; vineyards and spectacular gorges of the Finger Lakes within easy driving distance
Romantic Highlights: Roman bath-style spa; flower-rimmed water garden; dinner on the terrace alongside the pond; side-by-side massages by the fireplace.
THE WAWBEEK ON UPPER SARANAC LAKE
New York Escort Travel Adventure
Imagine loons gliding on the water, log cabins with private decks, pines so tall they hide in the early morning mist, miles of trails, and balsam-scented fresh air, and you get the picture. God’s country. Who wouldn’t find romance at the Wawbeek, a turn-of-the-century Adirondack Great Camp. Sprawled on more than forty wooded acres on Upper Saranac Lake, this is the great outdoors at its best-but with such comforts as heated cabins, warm blankets, and a superb restaurant.
The Wawbeek ( Wawbeek is the Native American word for “big rock”) is just one of a handful of Great Camps located in Adirondack State Park, the nation’s largest state park. Constructed in the style we now call “Adirondack,” these camps were built with dark wood exteriors, often logs, porches with railings made of thick branches, and large central great rooms with stone fireplaces.
The Wawbeek, New York Escorts choice for a place that combines a rustic ambience with private cabins and candlelight dining, is managed by eo-owners Nancy and Norman Howard, refugees from the corporate world in Connecticut, who preside over this special resort set on the shores of Upper Saranac Lake, whose calm, sparkling waters are dotted with small islands.
The Wawbeek has its own fleet of canoes, paddleboats, and Sunfish, promising days of water-oriented fun. Land-based amusements include two tennis courts, croquet, and a game house where you can challenge your mate to Ping-Pong, pool, darts, or a board game. Some evenings there may even be a campfire with a storyteller or gu itar player.
Of the Wawbeek’s twenty-nine rooms, six are located in Mountain House, a twostory building and one of the original houses bu i It on the property. Some rooms open onto porches where you can look out to the shimmering lake and islands. There are eight rooms and suites with decks and fi relaces in Lake House Lodge, wh ich has a lofty two-story great room with a massive stone fireplace. Hannah’s Lounge on the second floor is exclusively for Lake House Lodge guests.
Five rustic, traditional, log-cabin-style cottages come with sitting rooms, efficiency kitchens, pull-out sofas (for emergency snoring relief), and a spacious deck with glimpses of the water. Each cabin comes with a small kitchen; some have sitting rooms, fireplaces, screened porches or decks, and eating areas. Some are tucked into the hillside and are very private. Most have queen- or king-size comfortable beds with good quality linens, blankets, and quilts. All have updated fresh decor in pine green, tan, and brown and are squeaky clean. Books and knitted afghans lend a homey touch.
Other rooms are in the Carriage House, including a spacious corner suite with a private entrance, king-size bed, and deck.
Bathrooms are modern, with a tub and shower combo, and the new Lake House rooms have waterjet tu bs. Wawbeek’s rooms do not have telephones, TVs, or airconditioning; however, if this creates any sense of pan ic, these contrivances can be arranged.
Nature trails fan out from the main reception area, leading to the lakefront and dock, to the restaurant, and to a secluded spot at water’s edge where you can settle back in one of the Adirondack chairs, read, or simply savor the moment. The Adirondack Park’s many hiking trails are right at your doorstep. You might follow the Bloomingdale Bog Trail, only 1.8 miles, or bike along the 7-mile Deer Pond Loop across the way or the 18-mile Paul Smith Loop up the road. Then cool off with a swim. The lake is clean and refreshing.
Nearby there are plenty of places to explore. The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake is crammed with a day’s worth or more of things to see, such as antique boats, trains, historical exhibits, survival tools, art exhibits, and more. There are miles of canoe routes and mountains to climb.
Spring, fall, and winter are lovely here, too. In the fall brilliant red, orange, and yellow leaves drift down, carpeting the trails, and the air is brisk-perfect for long hikes. In the winter pristine snow blankets the ground in great drifts, catching the sunlight and making it sparkle. There are 100 miles of snowmobiling trails, endless cross-country ski trails, and snowshoeing and Alpine skiing down Big Tupper and Whiteface Mountains. There is ice skating on the lake and dinner and cocktails in the Wawbeek restaurant in front of a blazing fire. Early in February everyone in town turns out for Saranac Lake’s Winter Carnival, renowned for its ice castle, and later for the annual Woodchuck Shuffle snowshoe event.
And Spring. Budding flowers poke up through the melting snow; energy levels turn up a notch or two. Things are waking up. It’s a great time for brisk hikes, golf, and other outdoor pursuits-perhaps the Ice Breaker 5-mile canoe race on Saranac River.
All year long in the town of nearby Saranac Lake, there are stores to poke through, concerts, performances at the Pendragon Theatre, and sports events galore from canoe races to ski-jumping contests.
Once back at the yvawbeek, you can look forward to a really fine meal. The Wawbeek restaurant, which sits high on a rocky promontory overlooking the lake, delivers both romantic ambience and exceptional cuisine. Executive Chef Eric Rottner spins his magic, creating dishes such as Maple Chicken Dijon, Veal Wawbeek sauteed and topped with raisin chutney, and Duck Island Saute (medallions of venison with forest mushrooms, roasted garlic, and fresh tarragon in a bourbon demi-gtecei. For dessert try Fried Ice Cream or Diane’s Apple Torte. Chef Rottner prides himself on using as many fresh ingredients as he can find, including herbs and berries from the grounds, locally grown vegetables, fresh trout, and regional meats.
It is very quiet here at the Wawbeekindeed so quiet that the scampering of a squirrel or two across your roof or the hoot of an owl in the night can put you into a momentary state of panic. “Just who is that?” No one. Go back to sleep. Listen to the rustle of the pines. You’re in a good place where even the thought of locki ng your door may seem a bit silly. And when you must finally leave, listen carefully for the sounds of a pileated woodpecker tapping out “good-bye.”
The Wawbeek on Upper Saranac Lake Location: Adirondack Great Camp on 1,400 feet of shoreline on Upper Saranac Lake in Tupper Lake, NY
Romantic Highlights: Canoeing on a pinefringed glassy lake; hikes in the forest; dining on the porches overlooking the water; your own private cabin with your NYC escort.
