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This just in: you’ve been planning for this special day for a month, a three months, a year. It’s the spot you have been designing in your head – to pop the question, make the question pop, make a heart pop. But when you get there, the only thing that pops is your temper. It’s a room without a view, a hotel on a highway, a cozy cottage blocks from the beach.

Romance travel is it’s own special category and best left for travel agents who can stand, heart and soul, by what they recommend. And often what they will recommend is a one-of-a kind romance experience as can be found through the Kurtz-Ahlers collection.

Kurtz-Ahlers & Associates has put together an elite collection of destination properties around the world, each of them a signature and an imprint on the collection. Each stunning venue offers privacy, purpose and a complete package of pampering. No hotels on the highway or beach bungalows without the beach. Rather, it’s Valentine’s Day perfection for serious romantics.

Get ready fly. 

Valentine's Day Romance Packages: New Zealand

Makaturi Lodge in Queenstown

Whisk yourselves away to a land beyond time in the verdant islands of New Zealand. Romantic Hideaway packages present the Matakauri Lodge on South Island, a dazzling ode to sensuality and style hidden away in a glen beyond Queenstown and overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Or couples can choose Kauri Cliffs Lodge for sunset walks on the pink beaches of the Bay of Islands and private picnics on the cliffs overlooking the wild waves. Then times might call for nights of snuggling at Cape Kidnappers, a remote sheep farm of rolling glades along Hawkes Bay. Romantic Hideaway packages include a bottle of champagne in room, romantic turn down services with rose petals, bath oil and candle. Also count on pre-dinner drinks and canapés, gourmet dinners, full breakfasts and a complimentary mini-bar (excluding liquor and wine). Priced from $1,500 per night for two.

Italy

Valentine's Day Romance Packages: Italy

If it’s a question of proposing, call in the angels. Il Salviatino, a refurbished Renaissance-era manor within earshot of the bells and spectacle of the great duomo of Florence, presents surroundings that verge on pure religion. Each room, each suite is its own masterpiece, often with original recovered frescoes on the walls and ceilings, authentic antiques and views of the Tuscan countryside to bring on the wows … and the vows. The property’s two-night Proposal Package is good through March and includes breakfast, a couples massage in the Deverana spa, a romantic dinner in the Italian Garden (excluding beverages), a private jewelry shopping excursion on the Ponte Vecchio and Via Tornabuoni … and a back-up plan: open-bar all night if proposal is rejected. Bonus: count on a free anniversary night for every year to come if the proposal works. Price: $2,215 (Taxes, Service and VAT included). A Romance Package at Il Salviatino is available for $1,824 per night for two and includes breakfast for two, two one-hour spa treatments, a candlelight dinner, romantic turndown with chocolates, a bottle of champagne and a farewell gift.

Valentine's Day Romance Packages: ItalyFurther north, the Armani Hotel Milano just opened and if fashion can make hearts jump, this property, with its 95 rooms and suites designed by the eponymous doge of style, can win over any hesitant heart. Combine business, shopping, dining, delighting, pampering and indulging in this high style urban hideaway located in the fashion center of Europe.

 

 

Mexico

The Pacific Coast of Mexico beckons romantics with warm beaches and heart-warming suites, Valentine's Day Romance Packages: Mexico, Imantaespecially if the destination is Imanta, Punta de Mita. Find just 8 villas there, all decked out with private pools and sweeping views on 250 acres adjacent to a vast ecological reserve. The property’s signature Romantic Package is an all-inclusive, five-night perfect getaway. Rates start at $7,740 for two.

 

 

Hawaii

Catch the peak of the great whale migration from beachfront villas, clinking Champagne glasses to this choice for an excellent romantic escape. The hideaway? Wailea Beach Villas on the coast of Maui. The lovers’ lair is an amenity-packed villa with all residential conveniences, so couples need not step out during their stay … unless they want to. The resort offers two pools (including an adults only pool) and all the services and provisions one would expect to find at a top property – butler service and private chef at the ready, room service, concierge desk.

Wailea Winter Deals at Wailea Beach Villas are on sale for 30% off of any one-, two- and three-bedroom suite through the month of March. Rates start at $189 per night.

Valentine's Day Romance Packages: Maui