by Allison Weiss Entrekin

Let’s be honest. The last time the rates at a Four Seasons hotel dipped below $150, you were probably wearing a Members-Only jacket or sporting a perm. But here we are in 2008, and weekday rates at the Four Seasons Scottsdale at Troon North are starting at $149 a night. Yep, with just three $50 bills (and maybe a $5 or two for tax), you can indulge in a posh room, or casita, with a spacious floor plan and a private balcony with dramatic desert views.

When daylight comes, head to the pool, where your paltry $150 has earned you the right to relax in your own private cabana. Staff members will come by to deliver fruit kabobs and towels, and you can cool down next to the misting sprays on the landscaped deck.

If you’re in the mood to play a round of golf, take advantage of your special Four Seasons privileges at the prestigious Troon North Golf Club, which boasts two championship courses with jaw-dropping views. After a day at the links, round out your 24 hours of bliss with a treatment at the hotel’s luxurious spa.

If modern indulgences at Reagan-era prices have you moonwalking like Michael Jackson, be sure to sign up for our weekly luxury travel alert. In it, we reveal more fantastic bargains just like this one, so you’re never behind the times on the world’s best travel deals.

by Christopher Trout

Checking In: In-flight IM
Checking Out: Chatting with your seatmate

When Apple introduced the iPhone last summer, it seemed there wasn’t a place left on Earth untouched by the long arm of the Internet. The possibilities were endless. You could check your e-mail on the toilet, update your Netflix at the opera, and even browse myspace at work. The Internet was everywhere–almost. Up until a few months ago, there was still at least one net-free zone–the sky. But today, the Internet really is everywhere, even 10,000 feet above ground.

Late last year, JetBlue introduced in-flight high-speed Internet in their BetaBlue A320 Airbus, and other airlines, like American, have followed suit. Gone are the days of forced conversation with unpleasant seatmates. Now you can spend your time chatting with friends and family about the inane conversations you’re not having.

If the promise of mile-high messaging sounds familiar–it should. In 2004, Boeing introduced its own high-speed Internet connectivity service aptly titled, Connexion by Boeing, but it didn’t exactly take off. Connexion, which was picked up by multiple foreign airlines including Germany’s Lufthansa and Japan Airlines, was canceled in 2006.

So why did Connexion crash and burn? Well, there are multiple theories, but the one that holds the most weight is fairly simple–cost. At a time when people were growing used to free WiFi, users were expected to pay $30 per flight or $10 per hour to connect. JetBlue hopes to avoid the pit-falls that killed Connexion by offering their service free of charge. BetaBlue guests can connect to the outside World via Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Messenger, Blackberry e-mail and Blackberry Messenger services. Given, you won’t be able to Google yourself at 30,000 feet, but at least you won’t have to suffer an unpleasant flight alone.

According to accounts by BetaBlue passengers, there are still a few kinks to iron out–connections aren’t always consistent and not all passengers have access to power outlets–but free Internet is free Internet. With airlines piling on added fees, and skyrocketing oil prices driving ticket costs sky-high, BetaBlue is a breath of fresh air.

by Nicholas Gill

While you still might need a warm jacket in some parts of the country, Miami’s South Beach is already sizzling. Here’s a quick rundown of this season’s hotspots in this pulsating South Florida district.

If Money is No Object: The Setai
Starting Price: $615 per Night
Adrian Zecha, the Indonesian hotelier and founder of Aman resorts, transformed this 1930’s Art Deco landmark building, once the Dempsey Vanderbilt Hotel, and the adjoining 40-story glass tower on Collins Avenue into—as far as a hotel can be classified as such—a work of art. Here a variety of Asian themed suites come equipped with black granite baths, BOSE surround sound systems, LCDs, plasmas, hand carved furniture, teak walls and jade pieces hand picked from antique markets in China. A few rooms have private entertainment rooms, others their own spa. Their ten thousand square foot, 4-bedroom Penthouse Presidential suite is the most expensive hotel room in the United States—at least at the moment—at $20,000 per night. Their Atlantic Ocean front is a dreamland of Oriental gardens, sundecks, 90-foot long bars and pools tuned to temperatures of 75-95 degrees.

Smart Luxury: South Beach Group Boutique Hotels
Starting Price: $115 per Night
The party friendly attitude of the South Beach Hotel Group attracts a fashionable club-going crowd and the occasional celebrity in a contemporary package that somehow maintains some of the best value in the neighborhood. You have your pick of the Asian themed Hotel Chelsea, the trendy Catalina Hotel and Beach Club, the hipsterish Whitelaw Hotel, where the slogan is—seriously—”Clean sheets, hot water, stiff drinks” and four others scattered around South Beach, mostly on Collins Avenue. VIP nightclub passes, a nightly “hook up hour” in their hotel bars, free airport shuttles and a slew of other extras make these boutique properties hard to resist.

Smart Family: The Sagamore
Starting Price: $250 per Night
South Beach sometimes seems to cool for families. World-renowned fashion designers, pencil thin models and Mexican soap stars can all be found mingling with mojitos under umbrellas in sidewalk cafes. Something called an Art hotel that is mostly decked out in white would also be too cool for families, right? Wrong. One amenity makes the Sagamore possibly the best kid hotel ever: the Sagamore Kids VIP pass, which allows any child wearing one to receive free hot dogs, French fries and ice cream on request. For hip moms and dads, there’s an infinity pool, video bar, Social Miami, a museum quality art collection, an all white gallery dining room and a concierge that will put you on any nightclub’s guest list. The 93 one- and two-bedroom suites feature breakfast bars, whirlpool tubs and plasma TVs.

by Allison Weiss Entrekin

We drive to work while we sip our lattes, talk on our cell phones and adjust our radio dials, so it’s little wonder that when we take trips, we like to multitask. Forget using up precious vacation days recovering from a facelift on the living room couch; lounge by a pool near a sugar-white beach and call it an exercise in efficiency. These high-end vacation companies offer the très chic combo of sun, surf and surgery—and more and more multitaskers are getting a snip of the action.

Half Moon Golf, Tennis and Beach Club
Montego Bay, Jamaica
On the glittering shores of Montego Bay lies Half Moon Golf, Tennis and Beach Club, a resort whose name has been synonymous with seaside opulence since 1954. While Monaco’s Prince Rainer and Joan Crawford have each traveled here in search of rest and relaxation, Beverly Hills housewives and New York powerbrokers make the trip for reasons that don’t necessarily involve catching an oceanfront snooze. Dr. Paul Lorenc, a plastic surgeon based on New York’s Park Avenue, regularly travels to Half Moon to perform Botox treatments at the resort’s on-site medical facility. While he doesn’t reduce his fees when injecting offshore, he does reduce the need to explain to your coworkers why you suddenly look so good—after all, a well-deserved vacation does miraculous things, doesn’t it?’

Surgeon and Safari
Multiple locations, South Africa
Whether you want a little more hair or a little less belly fat, there’s a procedure for you in South Africa. And since surgeries performed in the Rainbow Nation cost roughly half what they do in the States, why not spend your excess cash (and your recovery time) on a safari through the African bush? Surgeon and Safari has been coordinating “medical tourism” to South Africa since 2000 and offers access to eight surgeons and four hospitals in the region. Spend the nip-tuck portion of your trip in the company’s luxury private residence or at the elegant Westcliff Hotel, and after a mandatory post-op recovery period, head for one of the six safaris the company offers. From your first-class flights to your post-safari massages, Surgeon and Safari will handle all your trip’s logistics, leaving you to enjoy your new beauty as you encounter wild beasts.

Las Cumbres Inn Surgical Retreat
San José, Costa Rica
It’s a badly kept secret that Costa Rica offers some of the cheapest plastic surgery on the planet. With facelifts for $4,000 (in the States, it can be upwards of $15,000) and dental implants for $750 (try $3,000 back home), trust us—your friends aren’t going to Costa Rica just for its beaches. Las Cumbres Inn Surgical Retreat has capitalized on the country’s plastic surgery popularity and offers a luxury retreat just minutes from San José’s medical hot spots. The inn boasts a gorgeous swimming pool, well-appointed rooms and panoramic views of the city, and it also offers post-surgery pampering like three home-cooked meals a day, on-site assistance from licensed nurses and transportation to and from your doctor and the airport. And lest the folks back home start asking questions, the inn will arrange sightseeing tours of nearby attractions—perfect for those obligatory vacation photos.