With the long holiday weekend ahead, sometimes New Yorkers need a proper getaway — away from their go-to spots. During peak season, Manhattan’s beloved escapes can feel anything but relaxing. The city’s bridges and tunnels are doing the reverse commute out east, and Long Island’s quiet beach towns and local bars get more packed than a postgraduate share house. So while we won’t deny that the see-and-be-seen scene can be a ton of fun, this year, consider venturing out to somewhere more up-and-coming or off-the-grid for the holiday weekend.
Here, we’ve rounded up four luxury destinations to truly relax and unwind this Fourth of July.
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Photo Credit: @rosewoodlittledixbay
Manhattan, Long, and Staten are technically islands, but hopping around them is more of a commute than a vacation. Charter a yacht and set sail for the British Virgin Islands. Comprising of four main islands–Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Anegada, and Virgin Gorda–you can spend a day on each and experience an entirely different vacation in every sense of the word. From when the wind blows your hair to when your toes touch the white sand when you dock at the Rosewood on Little Dix Bay, you’ll instantly know you’re in paradise. Offering a personal butler for each room, the only thing you have to worry about is being happy — and what your next daiquiri flavor should be.
VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO
Photo Credit: NickSpinder / Shutterstock
If you are missing the sleepy fishing town of Montauk (R.I.P. Liar’s Saloon), then jet over to Vieques, the small Puerto Rican island known for its good vibes and better catch. Spend the day boating or kayaking on the coast’s pristine calm waters, and bask in the glow of the world’s brightest bioluminescent bay by night. More of a land shark? Take a morning vinyasa class, or a Panchakarma detox cleanse at Finca Victoria — a boutique, ayurvedic hotel where you can choose your thoughtfully unique room ranging from a treehouse to an “invisible” one, nautically inspired to mirror the views of the sea.
VALLE DE BRAVO, MEXICO CITY
Photo Credit: @lacasarodavento
While we know the Fourth of July is a celebration of an American holiday, Manhattanites have co-opted Mexico City as a secondary home since the pandemic. There’s even a village dubbed “The Hamptons” on Lake Avándaro. Valle de Bravo, the upscale weekend destination, offers high-end shopping, restaurants, and traditional summer activities, from tennis to paragliding and perhaps the most hardcore of them all — nighttime jacuzzi-ing. Check into Hotel Rodavento, the recently-opened, ultra-chic boutique hotel transformed from a 20th-century mansion with a hammam, yurts, and a water circuit. Be sure to take a walk through the Monarch Biosphere Reserve, where millions of butterflies flock down from the north, much like the city goers looking for an escape.
RIO CELESTE, COSTA RICA
Photo Credit: @riocelestehideaway
Over the past few years, Costa Rica may have become regarded as “the new Tulum” as the wellness-meets-party hotspot, but a short distance from the populous beaches, you’ll find Rio Celeste Hideaway, a sustainable luxury resort nestled into the Tenorio Volcano National Park. Live among nature for an experience that’s a harmonious balance between exhilarating adventure and deep relaxation. Wake up in a casita surrounded by lush greenery, and spend the mornings hiking among sloths, tapirs, and more indigenous wildlife to the area. Swim in the river’s healing, turquoise blue waters, then retire to the property’s spa for a treatment enhanced by the soothing sounds of tropical rainstorms each evening. Kantala, the hotel’s restaurant, practices the 0 km concept of locally-grown ingredients, a rewilding project as restorative to the area as it will be to your mind, body, and soul. This is Pura Vida.
