December 9, 2011
Saddle Up This Season at Orient Express' Casa de Sierra Nevada
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO - Casa de Sierra Nevada by Orient-Express is calling y'all to embrace the authentic culture of San Miguel de Allende with the brand-new "Classy Cowboy" package. While enjoying a three-night stay in luxurious accommodations as well as customized excursions, experiential travelers and adventurers alike will feel as though they have been transported to a time where man, horse and nature formed a divine trinity.
The package includes:
� Three nights in luxurious accommodations at Casa de Sierra Nevada
� Half-day of horseback riding lessons
� Visit to the 50-acre Rancho Santa Emilia, a historic ranch owned by retired Swiss perfumer Jean-Jacques Denier and his wife, featuring nine horses, bulls, stables and a riding ring
� Cooking class at Sazon Cooking School, where the resort's Executive Chef peels the secrets of traditional and modern Mexican cooking with local ingredients
� Tequila tasting
� Signature massage at Laja Spa, paying tribute to the local natural abundance, with each treatment room named after a different plant or flower found in the region
Located in the cobble-stoned street of this colonial city, the boutique hotel of Casa de Sierra Nevada is a mixture of 16th to 18th century Spanish colonial buildings. Its 37 rooms and suites are spread amongst six Colonial mansions, including: Casa del Parque, a fort in the 17th century and later a customs house catering to the silver trade; and Casa Principal, the former residence of San Miguel de Allende's Archbishop in 1580 and an official historical landmark. Each casona, or mansion, which features five to seven guest rooms or suites, is unique. Many feature outdoor courtyards with fountains, small gardens and al fresco corridors.
Guests do not have the feeling of being in a hotel at all. Rather, they are integrated into the town itself, making for a true cultural immersion. The experience is akin to living in a beautiful, historic apartment, where each building has an inner courtyard where one can sit and enjoy the evening, with candles creating a romantic ambience. All this is mixed with the fresh, new amenities provided by Casa de Sierra Nevada.
Orient-Express, (NYSE: OEH, www.orient-express.com
Today that evocative name also embraces hotels, cruises and other luxury rail adventures in 24 countries, across five continents. The Company has offered exceptional luxury travel experiences since 1976, when it first purchased Hotel Cipriani in Venice and then shortly afterwards, recreated the celebrated Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, linking London, Paris and Venice, along with other European cities.
Today, the company owns or part-owns and manages 50 businesses, 41 of which are highly acclaimed hotels, each unique in style, from the Mount Nelson in Cape Town and Rio's Copacabana Palace, to the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg and Maroma Resort & Spa on Mexico's Riviera Maya. There are six luxury tourist trains, two river cruise operations and '21', one of New York's most iconic restaurants.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
