Travel Secrets September - October 2015 | Page 91

black black book book West Shore Café & Inn, Homewood, CA, USA This intimate six-room inn is a woodsyelegant waterfront home with flickering gas fireplaces, and slate-stone bathrooms. The floor-to-ceiling windows reveal every glorious ripple of Lake Tahoe and the peaks beyond. Local activities include reduced-rate skiing and snowboarding at Homewood, as well as cross-country skiing and ice-skating nearby. www. westshorecafe.com. Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, UK Whiteface Lodge, New York, USA Off a winding road in the woodlands of Lake Placid, Whiteface Lodge offers a luxurious Adirondack base (cast-iron fireplaces, localtimber panelling, and Tiffanystyle lamps) for skiing or snowshoeing. The mist rising off the resort’s heated outdoor pools creates a particularly magical effect. www. thewhitefacelodge.com. Experience staying in a bunkhouse reclaimed from a once-derelict farm building. Spend your winters singing, eating and walking in the unadulterated cold-weather bliss of the Northumberland coast and soak in every ounce of beauty of the surrounding Farne Islands and Cheviot Hills. You can choose to stay on site, or in modern wigwams at nearby Springhill Farm. www.the-unthanks.com Jukkasjärvi, Sweden If you are looking for a once-ina-lifetime luxury experience, then Jukkasjärvi’s unique Ice-Art suite is perfect for you. The suites are hand-carved by a variety of artists from around the world. You can also book the Ice Church at the Icehotel which opens up from December to April for wedding ceremonies. www.icehotel.com September-October 2015 Travel Secrets  91