Escape to beautiful Bonaire, a lesser-known island  in the heart of the Southern Caribbean (and one-third of the “ABC Islands” – Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). Stay at the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino from only $139 per night starting June 1, saving you 30 percent on the hotel’s high season rates. Enjoy the unpretentious vibe of this sleepy island, and take advantage of some of the best scuba diving in the world during your stay. The resort’s on-site PADI five-star dive operation offers custom dive boats, equipment, and an experienced dive crew, all sure to make your trip to Bonaire an unforgettable one.

For an entirely different travel experience, head to Iceland this fall and experience some of this unique northern island’s incredible sights, from the dazzling Northern Lights to the buzzing nightlife of Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon, the country’s famous geothermal spa. Round-trip flights from New York and Boston start from just $585 on Icelandair throughout October; just enter your desired dates and departure city in the booking engine to find the best rates.

Design Hotels – known for their chic décor and artistic atmospheres – are offering summer specials at dozens of their properties worldwide this summer. With their 3 for 2 promotion, you’ll get your third night free at any participating hotel, plus free daily breakfast. Travel to your pick of exotic locations with this offer like magical Sofia, beautiful Bali, unique Istanbul, or majestic Hong Kong. Travel is valid on select dates May 1 through September 17; click here to see a full list of properties.

Or, take a trip to an off beaten path European country this summer, like Russia, Sweden, Estonia, or Lithuania. Finnair is offering sales to the following Eastern and Northern European cities from JFK:

• Tallinn, Estonia: $655
• Riga, Latvia: $659
• Stockholm, Sweden: $670
• Saint Petersburg, Russia: $679
• Vilnius, Lithuania: $695
• Warsaw, Poland: $705

Many more unique European cities are also available with this offer; travel is valid on select dates October 1 – December 31.

Life is short; take your dream vacation to a one-of-a-kind destination today, and save in the process with these deals.

And yet, for some, this wasn’t enough. So in January the hotel began a $58-million campaign to modernize the rooms, essentially turning the city’s oldest hotel into its newest. After closing for seven months, the hotel reopened its 132 rooms and suites in August. Once again, it’s hard to complain.

The hotel’s decor was inspired by items of luxury: yachts, private jets, and motorcars (no doubt including those Peninsula-green Rolls-Royces). The burlwood cabinetry has a high-gloss finish – with enough sheen to require a new training system for housekeeping and maintenance because it’s so easily scratched. Items that aren’t always needed – like electrical outlets on the walnut desk or vanity mirrors – sink out of sight with a gentle push. Of course, the Cassina sofas and Poltrona Frau dining tables and chairs don’t go anywhere at all. It’s an odd choice, perhaps, to design a room around luxury vehicles, when plenty of inspiration exists in the form of elegant mansions and opulent estates. But the Peninsula’s point is you are a traveler, and streamlined grace, lavishness and novelty are what compensate for the faraway comforts of home.

Technology, however, is what makes the rooms stand out, and it’s reason to stay in the Peninsula in the first place. Each room harbors 3,000 feet of concealed fiber-optic cable to keep it running and is kept humming by a well-staffed tech department. Secured in a secret location on Hong Kong Island, the Peninsula has its own Electronic Services Department, a 27-man team of electronic, hardware, and software engineers, which designs and tests proprietary in-room tech systems. The main controls are three tablets in each room – souped-up Samsung Galaxy tablets with custom tweaks. Preset in one of five languages, not only can you control humdrum basics like the lights, curtains, and air conditioning, but you can view the hotel’s restaurant menus, see real-time airport arrivals and departures, and watch 90 TV channels (or listen to 460 radio stations) with noise-canceling headphones, just in case your partner wants quiet (or is viewing something else on the room’s 46-inch LED TV). You can also use the tablet to order 3D movies and request 3D glasses from housekeeping, if the Hong Kong views from your window suddenly seem a little flat.

Cordless phones sit alongside the tablets, which can be used to make free VOIP phone calls to anywhere in the world, and the radio and TV volume automatically lower when they’re in use. Another 10 LED panels are distributed across the walls for controlling curtains and lights. There’s even one to operate the room’s Nespresso machine, which seemed like overkill because you still have to manually insert the coffee capsules. The technology took a little getting used to on a September visit, particularly when I had to ask a housekeeper how to turn on my tablet.

With the tower rooms back open, another 168 rooms and suites in the Peninsula’s original building are now closed for renovations, so that the entire hotel will be refurbished for 85th-anniversary celebrations in late April or May. The updated technology will also show up in the Peninsula’s new Paris hotel, when it opens in November 2013 in the 16th Arrondissement, off the Champs-Élysées.

I set out from the Island Shangri-La, in the Central area of Hong Kong Island, to the ferry terminal, which is just a short walk from Hong Kong Central Station and the Central MTR subway stop.

I started my hike in the tiny fishing village of Sok Kwu Wan, which is served by a 30-minute ferry service from Pier 4 every hour or two. At 11am on a Thursday morning, we seemed to be the first people to arrive on this part of the island and the restaurants and shops along the waterfront were busy preparing for the first customers of the day. I walked through the shopping area towards a small beach and visited a local temple on the way. From the beach, a small path leads to Yung Shue Wan, the slightly bigger of the two villages on the island, which can only be reached by ferry and foot (there are no cars on the island).

The sound of crickets could be heard everywhere as I made my way past small village homes and banana plants, creating a stark contrast to the urban sights and sounds of Hong Kong Island. After around 20 minutes, I reached a lookout point with nice views of the small village below and the south side of Hong Kong Island across the bay. Another 25 minutes later, I walked down to Hung Shing Yeh Beach, the most popular shore on the island, which was almost deserted. This is a lovely spot with changing rooms, showers, and a lifeguard service from April to October, although it is slightly spoiled by the sight of a large power plant in the next bay over.

From here, it’s only a 15-minute walk to Yung Shue Wan with its many quirky shops and restaurants. The entire walk takes about an hour for fit walkers and is not too strenuous, but can be slightly taxing on a hot, humid summer day, so be sure to bring plenty of water and sunscreen. After lunch at a local seafood restaurant near the ferry terminal, I caught a fast ferry back to Hong Kong Island. Ferries operate about every 30 minutes from/to Yung Shue Wan and the round-trip costs just $5.

I’d highly recommend this trip, or an excursion to one of the other outlying islands (there are 262 in total, though many are uninhabited), as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Plus, locals will be impressed with your insider knowledge.

Check the Hong Kong Tourism Board website for more suggestions on day trips to the outlying islands. Then use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates on return flights, packages, and more travel deals.

Use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates and travel deals on hotels, flights, vacation packages, and more.

Here’s how it works: Each Thursday in July, Cathay will sell 25 tickets at the hugely discounted price. Just log on to the sale page at 3:25pm (the route’s scheduled departure time), and click “purchase” as quickly as possible.

Even if you’re not Chicago-based, this is a steal. Fares from the East Coast to Chicago this fall cost around $200 (save for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel), bringing the total round-trip cost to a measly $300. Flying from the West Coast to Chicago to Hong Kong is geographically illogical, but you’ll still save a bundle: Plan to pay around $230 to fly from LAX to ORD.

Naturally, demand for these tickets will be sky high, and nabbing the rate will take a bit of luck. We suggest bookmarking the sale page, opening the site in a few different browsers (and perhaps on your phone and iPad, too), and get ready to hit “refresh.”

Use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates on hotels, packages, and more travel deals.

The Luxury Top China tour specialist Wendy Wu Tours offers a 12-night sampler itinerary mixing well-known attractions with lesser-known charms. A China Experience for Smart Luxury Travel readers includes a mainland visit and a Hong Kong extension, with excursions led by expert local guides. Highlights include the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and cosmopolitan Shanghai.

The Value Rates start at $2,880 and include airfare from LA or New York, stays at four-star hotels, most meals, tours, entertainment, transfers, and visa fees. Readers will receive perks totaling $320, including a spa package and a guided day trip to Macau or a sunset dinner cruise in Hong Kong.

The Catch The group tours typically include 20 or fewer travelers. An upgrade to a private tour runs an extra $800 a person.

The Details 877-993-6399 (mention Smart Luxury Travel); wendywuschina.com

From the Winter 2010/2011 issue of Smart Luxury Travel magazine by ShermansTravel.com.

For general trip-planning information, see our China Travel Guide.

Use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find flight, hotel, cruise, and more travel deals.

For a quintessentially scenic lunch, ascend Victoria Peak by tram for dim sum at Tien Yi in the renovated Peak Tower shopping complex. With its lofty panoramas of Hong Kong and the surrounding islands, this restaurant is a must, especially for those accustomed to eating their barbecued pork buns and shrimp dumplings in gaudy Chinatown banquet rooms. Ask to sit next to a window overlooking Victoria Harbour, and you’ll understand why the restaurant’s name means “the pinnacle of the world.”

One of the boats you might see plying the harbor below is the exquisitely crafted traditional Chinese junk Aqualuna ($19–$28 a ride), which sails eight times a day. The 45-minute journey affords sweeping views of the city’s skyline. Cocktails and traditional snacks (such as roasted dried squid and braised peanuts in wine) are available for purchase and worth sampling. The same intoxicating views can be had at a lower cost from the iconic green Star Ferry (77 cents a ride), which has been serving commuters traveling between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula for 110 years.

When Michelin awarded Hong Kong its first stars last December, three of them went to two restaurants within the 56-story Island Shangri-La hotel. Visionary takes on traditional Cantonese dishes at the freshly renovated Summer Palace make up for its lack of a grand view. Michelin granted it two stars. The true scene-stealer is its Peking duck, whose sliced crispy skin is set in a pancake along with cucumber, spring onions, and hoisin sauce. Meanwhile, one-star Restaurant Petrus, on the top floor of the tower, ascends to gastronomic heights of a different sort: While tethered to the city with its panoramic harbor views through floor-to-ceiling windows, the restaurant seems to whisk away diners to the finest French kitchen. Dishes include goose liver confit with pumpkin butter, Brittany blue lobster with coral bouillon, and truffle-spiked Bigorre pork breast.

Or trade the gilded glass cage for the sprawling outdoor terrace on the 25th floor of the Prince Building in Central Hong Kong. There, newcomer Sevva serves distinctive cocktails (try the cabbage caipirinha) and eclectic international tapas—and stays open late. Unwind under the futuristic neon lights of two eccentric architectural standouts: HSBC’s headquarters and I. M. Pei’s Bank of China. In May, Sevva rolled out a new Saturday brunch extravaganza with Latin pop music, dancercize classes, and feng shui workshops.

Visitors to Hong Kong in the summer will encounter oppressive humidity and temperatures averaging above 90 degrees, but also hotel rates at their lowest. Autumn brings mild weather and the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, which spans two weekends from October 30 to November 8.

From the Summer 2009 issue of Sherman’s Travel magazine.

These tiny shaving kits, complete with fold-out mirror and deconstructed razor, are only HK$60 (about US$7.75) and make great souvenirs (I bought four). I also picked up a modish (and rather Mao-ish) black jacket for around US$30.

After bagging my new purchases in a Communist-red cloth bag, Nadia invited me to her Friday-only bar, Sense 99. (If you want your nightcap away from the hotel bar scene and far removed from the garish, tourist-filled Lan Kwai Fong area, head to this discreet spot that feels more like a locals-only house party than a bar.)

That night, following a few expensive-but-worth-it martinis at nearby Sevva (worth it for the incredible views of Victoria Harbour and I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower from its 25th-floor wrap-around terrace), I made my way to Sense 99, which did end up requiring a keen, if not entirely sober, “sense” to locate (don’t look for clues like loud music, street-side smokers, or any semblance of life). Once you find the address, just look for the Sense 99 buzzer on the nondescript door and ascend two flights of stairs. You’ll feel like a true Hong Konger upon entering this cozy space, where the beers are cheap, the crowd is almost 100% local, and the live alty-jazz music plays into the wee hours.

So, if you want to blend in with the HK hipsters – and stylishly stand out upon your return – just remember these two easy steps:

1. Vintage HK (G/F 54-59 Hollywood Rd.)
2. Sense 99 (2/F 99F Wellington St.)

Thanks, Nadia!

See our Hong Kong Travel Guide for more HK shopping and nightlife recommendations. Got a great tip of your own? Let us know!