Travel & Entertainment


La Costa Resort and Spa

La Costa Resort Villas Spa Living

2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad, California (760) 804-7400

Imagine owning the spa lifestyle. Instead of a weekend getaway, think of what it would be like to actually live in a world-renowned spa resort. Sounds like a fantasy? No need to coax the genie. La Costa Resort Villas is now making this a reality for savvy real estate owners that can boast of the iconic Carlsbad haven as home.

Ranging from the mid $500,000s to about $1 million, the ‘resort condominiums’ offer a unique type of home ownership that combines the bucolic luxury of resort living with the benefits of ‘whole ownership’ on the campus of the famous 400-acre property. While the occupancy is limited to 120 days per year, this is not to be mistaken with an inconvenient time-share. As a ‘whole ownership’ there are no ‘high season,’ ‘off season,’ or ‘black-out’ dates and similar to traditional real estate, ownership of the villa may be sold or bequeathed to offspring or family. During the period the villa is unoccupied by the owner, it can also be rented out through an affiliate of the resort to provide for rental income for a certain fee.

The Old World Spanish-inspired two- and three-story villas range from approximately 560 to 1,250 square feet and are fully furnished with thematic décor and artwork, large patios or balconies for every room, a fireplace and flat-screen plasma TV in every bedroom, bathrooms equipped with cast-iron steeping tubs and separate showers with stone surrounds, a gourmet kitchen with appliances, cookware and dinnerware; high-speed internet connections and spa perks which can make Midas envious.

As an owner of the resort condominium, not only do you get to raise brows with your La Costa address, but also bask in the resort’s amenities. Ownership includes a ‘Villas Signature Membership’ providing use of the athletic club, 17 clay and hard tennis courts, heated swimming pools and Jacuzzi, the resort’s locker room facilities and preferred pricing on spa treatments, golf, dinning and retail purchases. After a $100 million face-lift in 2001, La Costa Resort is extracting allegiances from loyal clientele and seducing a whole new generation. Forget those hulking spa structures that city-dwellers are accustomed to. At La Costa Resort’s 26,000-square feet spa private VIP suites beckon from around a center courtyard replete with a heated pool and the ecstatic, thundering Roman waterfall. Taking the holistic approach further, residents are also going to find nirvana at The Chopra Center where health and nourishing reach out to you through meditation classes and menu items.

After golfing or pampering at the Spa, enjoy a sumptuous meal at the sophisticated BlueFire Grill where mariachis score award-winning cuisine or just keep the casual chic mood going at Legends California Bistro. Think you’re dreaming? That’s just what ‘La Costa Living’ is all about – making life simply idyllic.

Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games

The renowned author of such acclaimed novels as Red Earth and Pouring Rain and Love and Longing in Bombay returns with an astonishingly engaging tome in which good and evil, black and white become entirely subjective in the play of life. Sacred Games is based in the Mumbai underworld and reunites us with Inspector Sartaj Singh (Love and Longing in Bombay) and introduces us to the complex mafia kingpin Ganesh Gaitonde.

More than just a literary potboiler stretching over 912 pages, this is a riveting depiction of the gang-ridden climate of mid-90's Mumbai where Chandra found himself under armed guards at the home of his sister and brother-in-law (members of the Bollywood film industry) and a passionate ode to a roiling city where slums stand cheek-by-jowl with luxurious hotels and penthouses. In the tradition of 19^th Century novels, Chandra takes us on a journey with fully realized characters and visceral intensity, invoking India's colors, vernacular, heat and energy in a way that only an "insider" can.

"I started with the image of Gaitonde inside his white bunker of a house, and Sartaj outside, talking to him," says Chandra. "I suppose that image came out of the air, of the environment I was living in at the time". I personally knew people who had been threatened and shot at and wounded. I knew policemen who were dealing with all of this, and ordinary people who were just trying to live their lives while the newspapers were full of encounters and assassinations. The book became a way to investigate all of these landscapes."

Having spent seven years on what can be easily acknowledged as a literary masterpiece Chandra explains how his research involved a balanced investment with both the police and mafia and how sometimes the fabrications were as telling as the truth. "If somebody didn't want to divulge something, they just stonewalled or changed the subject, and I never pressed too hard. Mostly, you get the best information from asking a question now and then, keeping mostly quiet and listening, and letting people talk about their lives. Everyone has a story, and once they start telling it, you get some really amazing revelations."

You have our attention, Vikram.

--GD

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. HarperCollins Publishers. 912 Pages. $27.95

ARTFUL J Dan Gibbs

As an observer of life, J Dan Gibbs shows a unique ability to capture human pain as well as a hint of lustful desperation through his paintings. His works have been described as "incredibly intense and sensual" and also "aggressive, strong and great."

Having been influenced by Japanese Reiki and other Eastern schools of thought, Dan is no stranger to the concept of live energy and this is evident in all of his pieces. His first oil canvas was simply titled "Lift" and still remains very close to his heart.

This former all-star athlete is driven by his passion for vibrant color and form and the result is nothing short of haunting. When asked what his art is about, he quietly says, "It's whatever you want it to be." This way he allows us to infuse our own branch of emotions into the final products of his creative mind.

Gibbs' artwork has been shown at several venues throughout the U.S. to rave reviews and now you can have a private viewing on his website at www.jdangibbs.com --Victor Riobo

The SKYY’s the limit

Not even the rain could dampen the spirits of the jet set on a recent December evening. In this particular case, it was the SKYY Jet-Set Junket Tour that landed in Los Angeles on December 9 at Stone Rose Lounge for the Hot Hollywood Party. SKYY gave 12 people the opportunity of a lifetime to Indulge themselves in the lifestyle fit for VIP’s, while raising $75,000 to benefit amfAR in the process. Consumers bid for six seats aboard SKYY’s luxury private jet, provided by M Club by Marquis Jet for the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas, Miami, Vail and the final destination, Los Angeles.

At the Maxim, amfAR, and SKYY Vodka Hot Hollywood Party, guests enjoyed specially prepared SKYY martinis while dining on hors d’œuvre’s and mingling among celebrity guests including Michael Vartan from ‘Alias’, Mario Lopez, a recent finalist in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ as well as Guest DJ’s Danny Masterson and Macy Gray.

“We are proud to give our consumers a premium luxury experience and contribute to the continued good works of amfAR at the same time. We are thrilled at the response to the Jet-Set Tour. We’ve raised $75,000 for a great cause.” Says Paul Fuegner, Vice President of Marketing for SKYY Spirits.

Who says a little indulgence can’t also be charitable?


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