kitchen countertopsIn Kiawah Island, SC

When it comes to hotels, one person's must-stay can easily be another's must-avoid. After all, hotels and resorts are highly subjective by their nature, and even ideas around what constitutes luxury hospitality is a moving target these days.

That doesn't prevent plenty of publications from releasing annual lists of top-rated properties. Among the latest of these rosters is a list from U.S. News & World Report, which, though better known for its high-profile list of college rankings, has been publishing a lineup of best hotels since 2011.

Released in early February, U.S. News' best hotels of 2023 ranks luxury properties across numerous countries, regions and destinations, including the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.

But for travel advisors, the usefulness of such lists can be questionable.

"I look at all these lists and rankings, but I do take it with a grain of salt," said Cindy Salik, a luxury travel advisor with New York-based Embark Collective.

I asked Salik what she thought of the U.S. News list. Did a good portion of the lineup overlap with her own top picks? Were there any choices that she found puzzling? Any glaring omissions?

When it came to the No. 1 U.S. hotel, Salik agreed that the top-ranked Acqualina Resort & Residences in Miami's Sunny Isles Beach was a solid pick. Likewise, in the Caribbean, two of Salik's favorites -- Anguilla's Cap Juluca, a Belmond Hotel and Jumby Bay Island on Antigua, which is part of the Oetker Collection -- also topped the category for U.S. News.

Salik said that U.S. News' frontrunners for best all-inclusive resorts in Mexico -- the Grand Velas Los Cabos and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit -- were in line with Grand Velas' status as her clients' preferred brand within the luxury all-inclusive space.

But Salik did take issue with a few of the list's selections, with properties like Hawaii's Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection, Jade Mountain Resort on St. Lucia and the Tortuga Bay Puntacana Resort & Club in the Dominican Republic placing far higher on the U.S. News roster than they would on her own personal list.

That the British Virgin Islands' Rosewood Little Dix Bay didn't crack the top 50 among the best Caribbean hotels was also a miss, according to Salik.

In places, Salik largely agreed with a hotel's ranking but felt there was an important caveat that should be disclosed to clients prior to booking. In the case of the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, which ranked as the fourth-best hotel in the U.S., Salik said she thought it important to mention that some could consider the resort's accommodations overdue for a refresh.

"But every other aspect of the hotel is outstanding," Salik said. "The beach is beautiful. The pool is beautiful. The golf courses are amazing. And the service is really good. But I would want to be forthcoming [that the] hotel needs some renovation."

Another element that potentially undermines the list's utility is that U.S. News says as part of its methodology it considers "overall customer satisfaction expressed in online guest reviews of luxury hotels and resorts provided by Tripadvisor."

"Tripadvisor is a mass-market [platform], so it's probably the wrong place to be pulling luxury hotel customer satisfaction from," said Salik. "These lists might be helpful to younger people just starting to travel or to those who want to do it themselves, but for the luxury travel advisor, I don't feel these lists are too valuable to me. I like to do my own research, visit the properties myself and really do my own due diligence in ranking hotels for my clients."

Players on the LIV Golf tour scored another major victory on Wednesday.

One day after the R&A announced that it wouldn’t ban players from the controversial Saudi-backed circuit from competing in this year’s British Open, the PGA of America followed suit when announcing its criteria for this year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club outside Rochester.

The decision comes as something of an about face after PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said during last May’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills that players banned or suspended by the PGA Tour likely would lose their PGA of America privileges, which would prevent them from playing in the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. While Waugh on Wednesday acknowledged the ongoing civil war between the Tour and LIV, he said the goal is for a competitive PGA Championship with the best field possible.

“Our decisions are always based on what’s in the best interest of the PGA of America and conducting the best Championship possible,” Waugh said. “Sadly, the current division in the professional game is not good for the sport or the future of the game. We hope there might be some resolution soon. In the meantime, as always, our focus will be on our mission to grow the game and improve the lives of our members, who work so hard to impact millions of lives every day.”

The R&A made a similar announcement on Tuesday, declaring that players from LIV who are eligible will be allowed to tee it up at Royal Liverpool this July.

The PGA’s decision means that past winners of the PGA Championship who have bolted for LIV will be allowed to compete in this year’s tournament May 20-23. Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Martin Kaymer all have won the PGA previously and all currently play on LIV.

Winners of the other three majors in the last five years and winners of the Players Championship in the last three years will also get an invite.

Brendan Steele and Mito Periera, both of whom also ditched the PGA Tour for LIV, are also eligible for the PGA Championship after finishing in the top 15 at last year’s championship at Southern Hills.

Mickelson, who became golf’s oldest major champion at age 50 when he won the 2021 PGA at Kiawah Island, skipped last year’s tournament following the fallout from his controversial remarks about Saudi Arabia before he later left for LIV.

The news also means that players from LIV who are eligible will be able to tee it up in all four of golf’s majors, with Augusta National and the USGA previously stating they would not ban LIV players from this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, respectively.

If you’re seeking a relaxing getaway, two spots in South Carolina may have you covered.

That’s because the high-end resort destinations now rank among the nation’s best hotels.

U.S. News & World Report said the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort near Charleston joins The Inn & Club at Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island on a list of top 10 places for vacationers to stay.

The website created the list after it studied accommodations across the country. It considered three categories for each property: past recognition, data from the travel review website Tripadvisor and “hotel class,” also known as star ratings.

“The highest-ranking hotels are typically those that both experts and users recognize for their exceptional quality,” according to the report published Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Of the two South Carolina hotels that landed near the top of the list, Kiawah Island Golf Resort ranked the highest at No. 4. The property — roughly 25 miles southeast of the tourist hot spot of Charleston — said its Sanctuary hotel boasts a spa and an oceanfront setting.

On Tripadvisor, some visitors said they were fans of the resort’s manicured lawns and nearby opportunities to spot sea creatures. The hotel building has been around for almost two decades but was built to look as if it had deeper roots.

“A casual but elegant building, reminiscent of a grand seaside mansion, the four-story hotel was designed to feel like it has been on Kiawah Island for centuries, evolving and expanding from one imaginary homeowner to the next,” the resort wrote on its website.

About 100 miles to the south, the The Inn & Club at Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island earned the No. 5 spot in the national rankings. The hotel — located at the Sea Pines Resort — said it has top-notch hospitality and decor that gives a nod to its Lowcountry setting.

On its website, the hotel said guests can stay in spaces “decorated with an inviting coastal palette that perfectly complements the island’s charm.” Several visitors took to Tripadvisor to rave about their rooms, including those with golf course views.

Overall, the nation’s top-ranking hotel was Acqualina Resort & Residences near Miami. Rounding out the top five:

In addition to being named among the nation’s best hotels, the two South Carolina properties also earned top spots on U.S. News & World Report’s resort-specific rankings.

This story was originally published February 7, 2023, 6:00 AM.

KIAWAH ISLAND — A biologist on this barrier island is leg-banding as many birds as humanly feasible to study how the changing environment impacts their migration.

Last fall, wildlife biologist Aaron Given and a handful of assistants and volunteers banded their 80,000th bird on the island. The work has been ongoing since 2009.

“That is a lot of birds in 14 years,” Given said on the morning of Jan. 18 after banding dozens of yellow-rumped warblers in a forested area of Kiawah.

The team achieved another milestone this past fall, too. They banded a record number of birds at the west end of Kiawah Island: 5,709 new birds of 86 different species.

Gray catbirds were the most commonly caught. More than 1,100 were caught — a 6.9 percent increase from 2021 and 24.8 percent increase over the 10-year average.

Collectively, 8,664 birds were tagged across two sites on the island and released back into the wild.

The small metal bands that are attached to the legs of each captured bird contains a unique number that allows biologists to monitor their movements locally around the island during their stopovers.

“We’re seeing what birds are using this habitat, how long they’re staying and when they’re here, are they putting on fat or not,” said Given, who is a paid town staff employee. “If they are, that’s a good indication that the habitat has a lot of food and things like that.”

Biologists here can learn more about the long-distance travels of the species if they are captured somewhere other than on Kiawah Island.

The process to do this work is not a simple one, though.

How it works

Kiawah’s biologists have nets on about 8 to 10 acres of private property near the beach. They are spread across areas where birds are likely to move through, such as the edge of a type of habitat.

The 8-foot-tall nets are always left up but are closed and tied when not in use so birds cannot get caught in them, Given said. On banding days, the team meets before sunrise to get them open and ready for use.

“We open the nets in the dark before it gets light because bird activity is high around dawn when birds wake up and begin to forage for food,” Given said.

More birds are normally caught in the early part of the morning. The captures tend to dwindle as the day goes on.

Birds are caught in 30 nets spread across the west end of the island. And once they are all open, volunteers continuously trek across the island, stopping at each one several times in one morning.

The birds often don’t see the opened nets until they’re right in front of them. And by that time, it is hard for them to alter their movements to avoid falling into the trap.

If a feathered creature is lying in the net on any given round, a team member will place it in a bag, attach it to their belt, and head on to the next stop.

Everyone reconvenes at a makeshift work station in the wooded area once each round is completed. While there, the team weighs each bird, checks for fattiness and records any other important identifying characteristics, like the sex and age of the species.

A small metal band with a number etched into it is placed on each animal’s leg before it is set free again.

Then the process of check nets resumes.

The number of animals caught and tagged in a single morning can vary. On their most successful day, Given said he and the team captured 460 birds in only a few hours. They average about 50 to 55 catches per day during the fall.

“It all depends on the weather in the fall,” Given said. “When the cold fronts move through, the birds move with them.”

There are stretches when they have several busy days, and then it may slow down.

Most of Given’s volunteers are lifelong bird watchers, like retired Charleston resident Bill Kee.

“When I retired, I wanted to do something interesting but also something that contributed to bird science and helping with understanding birds...so that then legislation could be passed to protect the birds,” Kee said.

It’s tougher to pass such legislation without data to back up the need.

Kee works with Given and others on banding days to collect trapped birds from nets and document important information about each one.

He was part of a team that captured more than 120 yellow-rumped warblers on the morning of Jan. 18. In the wintertime, Given said that is one of the most common songbird species in the Lowcountry.

“One of the reasons they like this area is because they’re one of the few warbler species that have the ability to digest the waxy coating on wax myrtle berries,” Given said.

Wax myrtles are a popular shrub on the island.

Work to study bird species on Kiawah Island is ongoing. As with any banding project, Given said this one is long- term because of so much variation in data.

This is the town’s 13th winter collecting data. Leaders there want to determine the quality of the habitat for species, learn how they are using it and whether enough food is available for them.

“The overall goal is basically to maintain the habitat that we have on Kiawah and make sure that it’s good for the birds and other wildlife that’s using it,” Given said.

Southwest Airlines® is celebrating Valentine's Day all month long. As the LUV airline, with a Heart as its logo, the carrier is giving its Employees and Customers ample opportunities to celebrate.

Quote from Whitney:

"We are the airline with Heart, and we love to celebrate the moments and people that matter in our Employees' and Customers' lives," said Whitney Eichinger, Senior Vice President Culture & Communications for Southwest Airlines. "Whether that be giving the gift of travel, helping Customers earn Rapid Rewards points with flowers and wine, or even bringing that extra added touch at the airports and inflight, we're here to celebrate this holiday all month long."

Earn Points While Shopping for that Special Someone

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and Southwest® is giving its Rapid Rewards® Members a little something extra while shopping for that special someone. Visit Southwest.com to view full offers and terms & conditions.

Southwest super-fans can purchase their Valentine's Day merchandise at Southwest the Store.

Love is in the fare—Plan a Romantic Getaway

Customers can take advantage of Southwest's sale by booking now through Feb. 23, 2023, for travel from March 7 through March 17.

Whether planning a staycation or vacation, Rapid Rewards Members can earn additional points on hotels, rental cars, and more! Visit Southwest.com to view full offers and terms & conditions.

Exclusive Getaway Events for Southwest Rapid Rewards™ Credit Cardmembers

While earning points is fun, so is spending them! Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers can redeem their Rapid Rewards points for exclusive Rapid Rewards Access Events, giving them access to intimate concerts and packages such as wine tasting, destination getaways, and more! Visit Southwest.com/RRAE to learn more.

Free Drink on Valentine's Day and Romance Movies Onboard

LUV is in the air, literally! Celebrate Valentine's Day all month with romcom favorites picked by Southwest's Flight Attendants on the Inflight Entertainment Portal. On Valentine's Day, Customers 21 years of age and older can also enjoy one free premium drink, including the new ready-to-drink coffee beverage, onboard their flight (limit one per Customer while supplies last).

"Romance our Flight Attendants Love" movie collection on the Inflight Entertainment Portal:

Celebrate with Southwest Employees

Southwest celebrates the love-holiday with its Employees and Customers. Employees are encouraged to plan local celebrations and provided a number of resources available through its internal Celebrate with Heart program. Resources include station decorations, photo frames, props, and much more as a way to engage Employees across the Company.

Valentine's Day is a signature holiday at Southwest Airlines and another opportunity to elevate how we share our Heart and Hospitality with Customers and Cohearts. From Feb. 1 through Feb. 14, uniformed Employees are encouraged to wear Valentine's-themed accessories with their full regulation uniform to help create a lighthearted and welcoming environment. To help set the mood on the aircraft and make a memorable travel experience for our Customers, Flight Attendants don festive holiday accessories like ties, aprons, nail art/color, scarves, socks, jewelry, headbands, barrettes, and clips.

The celebration continues with its annual Heroes of the Heart recognition announcement. Colleen Barrett, Southwest's President Emeritus, started Heroes of the Heart in 1993 as a way to honor an outstanding behind-the-scenes workgroup. The recipients of this annual accolade are revealed each February, and this year the tradition continues! Congrats to the People Department, Southwest's 2023 Heroes of the Heart recipients! The People Department will have their name emblazoned on an aircraft for the year and enjoy a recognition event in March.

# # #