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From Wyoming to the Maldive Islands, these eight vacation spots share a main strategic goal: relaxation.
When it's time to escape, some weary executives want massages; others crave trout fishing and golf. All, it seems, want to get off the beaten track. Institutional Investor asked some well-traveled executives to identify their favorite vacation retreats. Their report:
Amangani. Aman means peaceful in Sanskrit; gani means home in Shoshone. Amangani at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, lives up to its name, according to Frank Newman. The former Bankers Trust Corp. CEO and deputy Treasury secretary who now heads Frank Newman Investments in New York had previously stayed at Asia-based Amanresorts' Bali hotels and likes how the chains "physical designs and [management style] blend in with the local atmosphere." The rustic, stone Amangani, which opened in 1998, clings to the edge of a high bluff in a preserve where moose, deer and elk roam; the western atmosphere is friendly relaxed and quiet. "There were no big parties at Amangani," Newman says. Although Jackson Hole is renowned for its tough skiing, Newman and his wife, Lizabeth, found some terrific intermediate slopes at Amangani, which also offers dogsledding, cross-country skiing, a gym, a spa and a 115-foot heated outdoor pool.
Amangani has 40 suites and handles meetings of up to 25 people. Ski season rates, beginning December 1, start at $625 per night for a single or double room. Phone: (307) 734-7333; Web site: www.amanresorts.com/gani_m.html
Chiva-Som International Health Resort. Robert Hirst, Banque AIG's representative in Japan, says he felt spiritually and physically revitalized after just three days at the six-year-old Chiva-Som International Health Resort. Set in Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand, three hours from Bangkok, the Chiva-Som which means "haven of life" - offers superb service, nutritious and creative meals, a high-tech spa and gym and a choice of pools for aqua aerobics, pebble foot massages or swimming beside the sea. Check-in begins with a medical evaluation; there's a vast menu of massages, hydrotherapies and consultations that range from the esoteric (Chinese internal-- organ massage) to the avant-garde (iridology) to the occult (aura readings). Hirst notes that the Chiva-Som is a "high-class hotel" but not for those who want a sports-oriented resort. The hotel's garden pavilions conjure up a...