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Are you a photographer, professional or amateur, who loves to take pictures of nature, beaches, and the sunset? If not, WHY NOT? That’s besides the point.

On the west coast of the Florida peninsula runs a long strip of photogenic beaches on the Gulf of Mexico perfect for sunset photography. Sugary-white sand beach with the calm, sea-blue water offers the best backdrops for an level photographer.

The following is a list of hotels directly on the beach with optimum camera positioning.

The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Florida

Ritz Carlton, Sarasota, Florida

As the photo shows, the Ritz-Carlton is conveniently located directly on the beach. My bets are, with the impeccable service the Ritz provides, you’ll have no problems setting up a private location from which to capture the perfect shot.

Holiday Inn St. Petersburg Marina Cove, Florida

Holiday Inn, St. Petersburg, Florida

Imagine the foreground of your sunset shots with the palm frond-covered huts shown above. Near perfection, if you want my opinion. Stay at the Holiday Inn St. Petersburg Marina Cove for an affordable rate with the same sugar-white sand and the more expensive hotels.

Marriott Key Largo Bay Beach Resort, Florida

Marriott Key Largo, Florida

Arguably, one of the world’s most perfect tropical locations, the Florida Keys are home to some of the best photography-taking opportunities in all of Florida. Palm trees on the beach are in abundance as you capture your photograph of the sunset with the perfect silhouette of a sailboat heading out for a night-time cruise.

Edgewater Beach Hotel, Naples, Florida

Edgewater Hotel, Naples, Florida

Tropical elegance is the selling point of the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples. It’s hard to get closer to the beach than the few steps it takes to make it to the water’s edge. As one of the Waldorf=Astoria’s Collection hotels, top-notch service is worth the visit.

Harbour Master Hotel, Cedar Key, Florida

Harbour Master Hotel, Cedar Key, Florida

Rustic, classic Florida beach hotel is the best way to describe the stay at the Harbour Master Hotel in Cedar Key, Florida. Located on Cedar Key at the boat harbor, you can capture the best of the small-town, Florida flavor with the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico as your backdrop.

Photos Courtesy: Ritz-Carlton, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Edgewater Naples, Harbour Master Hotel

Someone break your heart and stomp on the pieces? The Tropicana Hotel & casino resort in Atlantic City is offering to help pick up the pieces, with a ‘Bad Breakup Recovery’ package.

Planet Rose at Tropicana AC

Tropicana boss-man Mark Giannantonio explains - “It’s easy to be a bit cynical about love, with all the high profile breakups and scorned lovers in the news this year. We thought that Tropicana is the perfect place to put aside your cares, mend a broken heart and roll the dice on another chance at love.”

 To launch the package, booted Bachelorettes Gia Allemand, Ella Nolan, and Alexa McAllister from The Bachelor will be on hand at the Tropicana on March 27, 2010, offering breakup recovery tips in person at the Rumba Lounge, and in a Q&A session on radio Trop Live.

Available March 27 through June 26, 2010, the Bad Breakup Recovery package includes one night accommodation in a standard guestroom and admission to Planet Rose to sing ‘love stinks’ songs with choice of one cocktail.

Also a box of Godiva chocolates, decadent ice cream at Create A Cone, choice of in-room movie, $100 makeup credit to bluemercury apothecary and complimentary IN Card which gives access to nightclubs, food and beverage, parking discounts and more.

The Tropicana has more than 2,100 rooms and suites and also has The Quarter  - a 200,000 sq ft entertainment complex. Not to mention over 20 restaurants, 12 bars and lounges, 2 pools, an IMAX Theatre and a spa. Not a bad place to recover from a broken heart.

More info: www.tropicana.net/

Related posts:-
Summer Vacation at the Jersey Shore
Romantic Hotels In New Jersey

The International House is just a short walk from New Orleans’ French Quarter. The hotel is set in an old Beaux Arts bank building in the city’s Central Business District (CBD) and its grand lobby has beautiful chandeliers and classic columns—but throughout the property, the hotel’s décor is more contemporary luxury than Old New Orleans.

There are 117 deluxe rooms, 15 superior rooms and two suites. Guestrooms feature books about the city and black-and-white photos of local musicians. Free Wi-Fi, IHome stereo, cable TV and waffle-cloth robes are also included in each guestroom. Spa-style bathrooms have large tubs and glassed-in showers. Deluxe rooms start at $99 per night.

You don’t have to just hang in your room at the International house. Swing by the Loa Bar (named after Voodoo’s divine spirits) for a beverage or nosh at La Rambla, with its French and Spanish menu. Need to work off the luscious foods and beverages of the Crescent City? Just pay a visit to the hotel’s fitness center, with Cybex bikes and Precor elliptical trainers. But don’t work too hard. New Orleans residents love people who jump right into the daily celebration.

International House, (504) 553-9550
221 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Photo courtesy of International House

More New Orleans-related information:
Soniat House: New Orleans Romantic Retreat
Royal Street Inn & R Bar: The Way to Experience New Orleans

The Columns Hotel

With its daily celebration, luscious cuisine and hot music clubs, New Orleans knows how to let the good times roll. If you want to take advantage of all that and more on your vacation, but want to retreat to a quiet spot away from the nightlife when you’re done, leave downtown New Orleans behind and check into The Columns Hotel.

This elegant hotel, set among the Italianate, Greek Revival and Queen Anne Victorian mansions of the Upper Garden District along the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, was designed and built by Thomas Sully, one of New Orleans’ celebrated architects. Its grand front porch among the tall, white columns is the favorite spot of many visitors to the Crescent City.

The 19 rooms on two floors range from cozy to spacious, with Victorian furnishings. Some rooms feature St. Charles Avenue views and private balconies. Room rates are from $120 to $230 per night. Complimentary full Southern breakfast and daily newspaper are included.

Enjoy a cocktail in the Victorian Lounge, or walk outside to the grand front gallery and watch the world go by. Even if you don’t stay here on your New Orleans vacation, stop by for the hotel’s popular Sunday Jazz Brunch (reservations recommended) in Albertine’s Tea Room.

The Columns Hotel, 800-445-9308
3811 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115

Photo courtesy of The Columns Hotel

More New Orleans-related information:
Garden District Getaway at Chimes Bed and Breakfast
Avenue Inn: New Orleans Bed and Breakfast

Monterey California's Lone Cyprus

My husband and I got married back in June of 2002. For our honeymoon, we decided to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. We flew from Arizona to Los Angeles, rented a Lincoln Town Car (oh, what a comfy road trip vehicle!), and drove the 101 from LA to San Francisco. We took a leisurely week to do it – staying a couple of nights near Six Flags Magic Mountain, a couple of nights in Monterey, and then the last couple of nights in San Francisco.

Today, on this rainy, chilly winter morning (yes, it does occasionally get cold in Arizona!), I’m remembering Monterey quite fondly. Upon our drive in, we passed by the famous Pebble Beach and noted that, while we’re not avid golfers, we certainly wouldn’t mind attending one of the frequent car shows that the club hosts.

Jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

We stayed at the Hotel Pacific, which was just… beautiful. Lovely rooms with fireplaces, the most fantastically comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in EVER, and just a quick walk to the Old Fisherman’s Wharf, or a quick drive to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We happened to be in Monterey over the 4th of July, so after shopping for a bit along the Wharf, we decided to treat ourselves by hopping one of the charter boats out into the middle of the bay to watch the fireworks. What a stunning way to celebrate Independence Day, with the boats all silent and floating as the fireworks reflected off of the water. The next day we had lunch along Cannery Row and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I could have sat the entire time watching the jellyfish and would not have felt that I was missing out on anything at all.

Our stay in Monterey was entirely too short, and will definitely be going back as soon as we can. Maybe for our ten year anniversary!

Photo credits (in order of appearance):
- “Monterey’s Lone Cyprus” by Amerune on Flickr Creative Commons.
- “Sea Nettle (“Chrysaora Fuscescens”), Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California, USA” by Jimg944 on Flickr Creative Commons.

Mykonos, Greece

I started looking for hotels in Mykonos, Greece after finding out that Mykonos has some of the world’s best party beaches.  Ironically, what I found was a hotel specifically designed to help two people in love get away from it all.

The Mykonos Hotel Aspenti is a couples only boutique hotel located on on the west side of Greece’s Mykonos island.  The 20 rooms and 3 suites bear names like “Apsenti Sweet Hug” and “Apsenti Lovenest” and are a short walk away from the quiet Agios Ioannis beaches.

Aspenti continues to set the romantic mood with private hammocks, softly playing jazz music, and hundreds of white candles and night lanterns scattered about the property. The rooms offer private terraces with “relaxation sofas”, outdoor (but “well hidden”) jacuzzis, and a decor designed to be cozy and charming.

I feel soothed just from spending time on their web site! Check out this video tour of their various rooms:

In addition to encouraging in-room relaxation, the Aspenti offers an affordable Oriental Spa, which specializes in romantic couple treatments, and nightly candelight dinners for two.

Romantic dinners are served on your private balconies from 8:00pm to midnight. Dinner is a 5 course meal including a fresh local salad, fruits, desert, coffee and a bottle of French wine. The average price for these dinners is about 120euro for fresh fish and about 150 euro for lobster & oysters.

Do you hear that?  That’s the sound of the Aspenti calling my name….

Photo by uggBoy on flickr.

Cupid's Ball at Spin Nightclub

Skip the predictable romantic dinner and flowers for your Valentine’s Day celebration.  Step outside the box and plan a Chicago weekend of Valentine’s parties and events. Whether your taste runs to the raucous or the humorous, there’s a Valentine’s Day adventure for you.  If you like improv, check out  A Valentine’s Show at The Annoyance Theatre.  Local actors collect audience suggestions and create a wacky and dramatic love story.  For wine connoisseurs and storytelling fans, try 2nd Story at Webster’s Wine Bar.  Couples and storytelling slam champs team up to perform original tales about their relationship turning points.  Order a wine flight and sit back and enjoy an evening of  relationship tales.

For a wild night of fun, attend the Cupid’s Ball at Spin Nightclub. This legendary boys town club presents the Goddess of Love Drag Revue as well as a dance performance by the Go Go Gods.  For more laid back couples, join the Cupid Crawl, a line-up of Clark Street bars kicking off at Rockwood’s Place.  For more formal lovers, there’s the Heart breakers Ball at Luxbar.  This benefit bash features red velvet cupcakes, St. Germaine martinis, a raffle and an auction. End your Valentine’s Weekend with a stay at Amalfi Hotel and grab the romance package, which includes a half dozen chocolate-covered strawberries, a bottle of champagne and a rose petal bed turn down.

Photo courtesy of Spin Nightclub