Posts tagged ‘Cameron Diaz’

Jennifer Lopez finds solace at Cabo’s ultra-posh Las Ventanas al Paraiso

Between caring for twins, whittling down American Idol contestants and getting unhitched from a seven-year marriage, Jennifer Lopez hasn’t had much time lately to enjoy her favorite indulgence—the spa at Las Ventanas al Paraiso.


Located at the very tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsua, this block where Jenny’s from (at least in her down time) has also been known to host such A-listers as Jessica Alba and Cameron Diaz. With just 71 suites (and every room is a suite with handmade Mexican tiles, fireplaces and lanais) and private pools in every size and shape, camera-shy celebs feel like they have the Sea of Cortez to themselves. Even the zip-lipped staff of butlers, maids and gardeners only appear when guests need something. The rest of the time, they navigate the property in specially-built underground tunnels.

At the spa that J-LO told Harper’s Bazaar was “her favorite,” she enjoys private treatments in one of three spa suites. The spa also has a walk-in rainforest shower and a fancy-schmancy holistic twilight ceremony that uses candles, sage, an eagle feather and an acting shaman to purify and balance energy. It should go without saying that each spa guest gets his or her own dedicated butler to cater to every whim.

Of course, the whim-catering is not just at the spa. Owned by Ty Warner, the mastermind behind beanie babies, Las Ventanas al Paraiso (translated, it means “Windows to Paradise”) is where many now-standard hotel perks were first innovated: poolside Evian mist spray, loaner I-pods (Kindles before that) and Sony location-free TV, to name just a few.

Every suite has a telescope (the display of stars in the sky is even more notable than the display in the spa suites), locally hand-crafted wicker dolls with inspiring messages are left on pillows at night and not only do guests choose their pillow preference, again standard at many luxury resorts, but they get a menu of linens. This hotel even has an official Department of Romance that has been known, among other things, to secretly create personalized “Will you marry me?” videos or, better yet, proposals delivered by a mermaid or in a message “found” in a bottle.

And while the Department of Romance concocts some pretty amazing “dreams come true,” it didn’t do a lot for Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson who rendezvoused at the stellar property in early March of this year. Some relationships, I guess, even a Department of Romance can’t cure.

Bahama’s Eleuthera: Where celebs chill (and throw surprise bachelorette parties)

Normal people throw secret bachelorette parties in their downstairs den or the local Holiday Inn. But when Cameron Diaz threw a bachelorette party for her BFF Gucci Westman, she rented a whole resort in Eleuthera, a 110-mile strip of beautiful in the Bahamas.

Thanks to a little “white lie” from Westman’s agent, Diaz even managed to keep the whole thing top secret until the very moment Westman’s blindfold came off.

Why did Diaz pick Eleuthera? It’s surely not the same reason most people go to the Bahamas—namely casinos and ritzy boutiques. She picked it because of what it isn’t. Eluethera isn’t commercial or crowded or jammed with tourists. This laidback island where Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey both have homes has one 100-mile pot-holed road, dozens of deserted beaches, quaint clapboard homes and laidback friendly people.

First discovered in 1648 by English pilgrims, Eleuthera (it means freedom in Greek) was known mainly for its pineapple plantations and Henry Sands’ homemade bread (Prince Charles and Princess Diana served it at their royal wedding). For a while in the 60’s Juan Trippe, founder of Pan Am Airlines, used it as a remote playground for his wealthy friends. That is until Hurricane Andrew wreaked havoc.

Although Travel+Leisure recently picked Eleuthera as “most likely to succeed” and developers have been coming up with resort blueprints, it and its spectacular cliffs and pink sand beaches (50 beaches in all) are, for now, still undeveloped and a perfect place to just “chill.”

Which is what Diaz and Westman did at the surprise bachelorette party before Westman’s 2006 wedding to Rag & Bone Designer David Neville. Diaz, who served as maid of honor, met Westman in 1999 when the now-celebrated makeup designer turned the blond beauty into an unrecognizable hausfrau in “Becoming John Malkovich.”