Puerto Rico - Bravo Beach Hotel/Normandie Hotel

$160 - Have you ever wanted to get away to an urban out-of-a-storybook boutique property, only this time you can afford it? Hidden away in a residential area of the island of Vieques, the Bravo Beach Hotel offers Frette linens and Philippe Starck designs. Wow!

Nine rooms, most facing the ocean, and a two-bedroom cottage create the complex which is outfitted in white and accented by bamboo or mahogany pieces. And you'll have all the luxuries of home here: satellite television, PlayStations, and Wi-Fi access.

But didn't you want to "get away"?

Just 30 feet away you'll be on the beach. If you can't stand it, you can check your e-mail poolside, and surf the web. And if you get an appetite in your corner of paradise, you can make your way to the popular BBH cantina where they serve Caribbean-inspired tapas. Breakfast is included at this property.

1 North Shore Rd., Vieques - 787.741.1128
www.bravobeachhotel.com






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$145 - The Normandie Hotel was built in 1939 by native engineer who was enamored by a French cancan dancer he met on an ocean cruise. This fellow set out to make the only hotel we know that is shaped like a ship. Both exterior and interior give the feel like you are cruising in the good old days.

And it just gets better. This 173-room paradise on the San Juan beachfront got a major facelift last year. And today, its retro Art Deco curves and detailing from the "Jazz Age" complement a 21st-century design. Yes, now there are blond-wood bed frames and flat panel TV's.

Check out the swank N-Lounge with its outdoor terrace looking over the city streets. And don't miss the carpaccio bar, "Cru" - the only one on the island - where your favorite Italian dishes will carry that Caribbean flavor to the heavens.

499 Avda. Munoz Rivera, San Juan - 877.987.2929 or 787.729.2929
www.normandiepr.com

Next, be pampered by the French in your own suite on an island few have come to know. >>