Romantic escapes, near and far

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Valentine’s Day is coming right up, so why not score points with your sweetie by sweeping her (or him) off to the four corners of the globe — or to a spot right here in the Midwest?

Splurge on a romantic getaway to these lodgings made for lovers:

Canoe Bay, Chetek, Wis.

This adults-only retreat in the Northwoods is all about cocooning. So off the beaten path that most cell phones don’t work and your car’s GPS is useless, you’ll be able to focus on each other without distractions. Get cozy in front of a stone fireplace, relax in a whirlpool bath big enough for two, sleep late. Breakfast comes in a wooden box discreetly placed outside your door each morning.

In a region of small towns where fish frys and bars with neon signs and arcade video games are the norm, Canoe Bay stands apart as the only lodging in the Midwest affiliated with the prestigious Relais & Chateaux group of small hotels known for luxury and high culinary standards. Its six rooms and 17 cottages surround a serene lake. The largest cottages — as big as some city condos — have spacious living areas and spa bathrooms with roomy steam showers.

Winter activities include hiking or snowshoeing, working out in the fitness center, curling up with a book in the library and unwinding with an in-room massage or movie. At dinner, the chef prepares a three-course meal for a fixed price of $75 a person.

Rates from $350 to $1,800 a night; (800) 568-1995, canoebay.com.

Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller spent their honeymoon here, and Winston Churchill and his wife booked the White Suite where the prime minister painted watercolors on the terrace.

All of the inn’s suites overlook the beach or the Caribbean. Many of the private cottages, set away from the main property, are perched on bluffs with huge verandas above the surf and luxurious bathrooms with indoor and outdoor showers. Some have their own infinity-edge swimming pools. There’s no TV to disturb you, but if you must touch base with the real world, wireless Internet access is provided.

Nightly rates range from $310 to $1,935; (800) 837-4608, jamaicainn.com.

Lynfred Winery Bed and Breakfast, Roselle, Ill.

Who would think that a winery on a busy street in suburban Chicago could offer a setting for romance? Well, surprise — four suites tucked above this working winery provide a hideaway so plush you won’t want to leave your room. Most guests who book one of these secluded spots for the night don’t venture out, opting instead to order appetizer plates and get cozy in front of the fireplace.

The suites — decorated for the wine-growing regions of Italy, France, Germany and the United States — have whirlpool tubs and rain showers, as well as a TV, wet bar, fluffy robes and slippers. Opt for a complimentary tour of the winery and a wine tasting, or have two bottles sent to your suite to enjoy with the cheese and fruit plate waiting for you in the fridge. The resident chef will whip up a made-to-order breakfast. A goody bag of wine and food items comes with a voucher for a loaf of bread, fresh from the oven, to take home.

Rates start at $350 a night; (630) 529-9463, lynfredwinery.com.

Abbaye de la Bussiere, La Bussiere-sur-Ouche, France

Cistercian monks once slept on straw mats in this abbey built in 1131, but you’ll find comfy beds piled with pillows. Rooms and suites with antiques and contemporary soft furnishings overlook a 15-acre park with a lake, topiary garden and lawn where Shetland ponies graze.

Eight of the abbey’s buildings remain, including the church, a consecrated crypt and 14th century wine press. The best guest room, the Hermitage Suite, sits apart from the main building in what was once the abbey’s infirmary. Located 30 minutes from Dijon or Beaune, you can easily organize a wine tour with tastings in Burgundy’s famous Cote d’Or vineyards.

Nightly rates range from $260 to $665; 33 (0)3 80 49 02 29, abbayedelabussiere.fr.

American Club, Kohler, Wis.

Reserve the Two-gether Room in the Kohler Waters Spa and let a couples’ massage put you in the mood for a relaxing getaway at this historic resort an hour’s drive north of Milwaukee.

The American Club dates to 1918, when it was built to house immigrant workers for the Kohler factory across the street. The plumbing supply company transformed the handsome brick Tudor structure from a boarding house to an AAA five-diamond resort on the National Register of Historic Places. Guest rooms are decked out in top-of-the line Kohler fixtures: soaking tubs and rain showers with mood lighting.

The main hotel has 185 rooms, but for a cozier experience, book yourself into the 55-room Carriage House annex, where you’ll have direct access to the spa on the ground floor. Between treatments, you’re free to pad around in your robe and slippers in the lounge where the staff sets out continental breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails.

Do get dressed, however, for dinner in The Immigrant, the resort’s showcase restaurant. In the eatery’s Normandy Room, your table for two is surrounded by wine racks holding some of the resort’s nearly 400 vintages.

Nightly rates range from $281 to $1,317 in the American Club, $345 to $1,035 in the Carriage House; (800) 344-2838, americanclub.com.

Caneel Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

When Laurance Rockefeller founded this resort in the 1950s, he envisioned it as a retreat into nature, and so it remains. Though you’ll have wireless Internet access in your room, you won’t find a TV or telephone. Need a wake-up call? You’ll get a polite knock on your door. Guests are shuttled by golf cart to 166 rooms scattered across a 170-acre peninsula fringed by seven secluded beaches.

Rockefeller bought the property on the site of an old sugar plantation and continued to acquire land around it that became Virgin Islands National Park. This remote and relatively unspoiled tropical preserve covers three-fifths of the island, which is accessible only by boat.

The park is known for snorkeling and scuba diving — activities offered through the resort along with sailing, wind surfing, tennis and kayaking. Get in touch with your inner selves at the Self Centre, an unusual mind/body/therapy facility that offers sessions in yoga, meditation and guided imagery.

Dine in one of the resort’s restaurants, or arrange a private dinner in the ruins of an 18th century sugar mill.

Rates range from $395 for a courtside room off season to $1,750 in peak season for Cottage 7, which was Rockefeller’s private estate house; (888) 767-3966, caneelbay.com.

Intercontinental Tahiti Resort, Papeete, Tahiti

Breakfast arrives in an outrigger canoe if you book an overwater bungalow. You’ll have a private sundeck and platform for diving into the natural aquarium below or gazing at the volcanic peaks of nearby Moorea. Come ashore to swim with manta rays in the Lagoonarium, loll on the private beach or swim up to the bar in one of the finest infinity-edge pools in French Polynesia.

Choose a standard guest room and you’ll have a view of the ocean or tropical gardens. If you snag a reservation at Lotus Restaurant, which sits over the water, you can start your evening with champagne before digging into inspired dishes from the tasting menus.

Nightly rates from $200 to $800; (800) 496-7621, intercontinental.com.

Selous Impala Camp, Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

Cuddle up and listen to the night sounds of the African bush. An elephant might snap branches while walking outside your tent and a lion might roar in the distance. Not to worry, a spear-carrying Maasai will escort you to breakfast in the morning and bring you back safely following dinner in the camp’s thatched building with its bar, open-air dining area and fire pit, where you can toast your adventure with a sundowner cocktail.

The camp has eight luxury tents with verandas on high wooden decking that are scattered around the grounds for privacy. Each contains a bathroom with shower and flush toilet — and electric lighting.

Game drives and boat safaris on the Rufiji River are organized daily if you want the chance to spot hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants and more than 400 species of birds. Walking safaris are offered between July and October.

Nightly rates include all meals, transfers from the park airstrip and game viewing excursions and range from $395 to $500 a person, park entry fees not included (closed April 1 through May 31); (255-22) 245 2005, adventurecamps.co.tz.

Katherine Rodeghier is a locally based free-lance writer.