Travel Tuesday: Gardens becoming a more important part of the hotel experience
(CBS NEWSPATH) — Gardens are becoming a more important part of the hotel experience. Not just to enjoy the greenery, but to eat fresh foods and take part in activities that give a taste of the relaxation gardening can bring.
The host of the Netflix show 'Instant Dream Home,' Nick Cutsumpas, led a gardening workshop at 1 Hotel Central Park this past fall, itself a green sanctuary in New York City.
'Especially post-pandemic when you saw so many people yearning for more greenery in their lives, I'm starting to see every hotel, no matter what their focus is, really starting to bring more green, in some kind of way, into their hotels experience,' Cutsumpas said.
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He partners with 1 Hotels nationwide for activities like pumpkin planting: Carving out the seeds and creating seasonal décor that's also therapeutic.
'For me, it's definitely my form of stress relief, and I think a lot of people see that too,' Cutsumpas said.
New Yorker Scott Kuraoka has signed up a couple times. 'It's fun to do these workshops, to be a little creative, get to do things I probably wouldn't get to do at home,' Kuraoka said.
The trend has also taken root at hotels with the space to create gardens on more land, like Kimpton Mas Olas Resort and Spa, north of Los Cabos, Mexico. Culinary director Sandro Falbo forages from his expansive gardens throughout the 25,000 square foot property where CBS News Correspondent Wendy Gillette stayed for a special rate, from vegetables to herbs and flowers.
'It's like for a kid in Toys R' Us more or less,' Falbo said. 'It's just the best.'
He calls himself the seeds keeper, choosing what's grown to create colorful dishes, like salads with more than 30 fresh ingredients.
'What I love for example is a tomato that has been just kissed by the sun and eaten by the guest,' he said.
Falbo also uses distillation to make herbal essence water, delivered to rooms every morning.
'People underestimate herbs,' he said. 'And people should put more herbs into the food because herbs are part of the medicine of plants.'
In the spa, guests can use dried flowers and herbs to create their own aromatherapy blend, another aspect of a resort where nature stars.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
3 campgrounds near L.A. where you can start the morning with a hike
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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
Is this why Americans have hit the brakes on the #vanlife dream?
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This story originally appeared on Motointegrator, was produced in collaboration with DataPulse Research, and was reviewed and distributed by Stacker. © Stacker Media, LLC.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
'I own the UK's most haunted hotel and this is why people leave in the middle of the night'
A hotel in Chester is said to be so haunted that some people cannot stay for an entire night. Ye Olde King's Head in Chester is said to be one of the UK's most haunted buildings, home to over a dozen ghosts, dating back to 1622. The ghosts are believed to be the tormented souls of civil war soldiers, Roman soldiers and young children and women who worked there when it was a brothel. After seeing an opportunity arise, Harry Achilleos bought the site back in 2013. Now, it is a "My Haunted Hotel" and has 24-hour surveillance cameras to catch any potential paranormal activity. READ MORE: Netflix series so 'powerful' fans 'ended up binge watching it in a few hours' READ MORE: Kerry Katona gives health update after emergency surgery leaves her 'in agony' But the place is said to be so haunted, guests used to leave in the middle of the night. Even some of Harry's own family refuses to visit. Speaking exclusively to Reach Plc's Screen Time team, Harry himself admitted he has faced paranormal activity in the hotel. He said: "There is a belief that when you do renovation work, the whole place becomes active. We had a refurbishment in 2014 and all of the rooms were renovated, and the place kicked off." He added: "One night there was no-one in the building and something had started. I watched the (bed) covers wrap around me tighter and tighter and I just said 'please stop' and then I saw the covers relax. "You can hear knocking on doors every night and the sound of children running down corridors. "Out of the three of us, I'm the bravest but the King's Head doesn't feel like there's anything evil there, it's really just a haunted place and so active, whereas our other sites it can feel like there's an evil presence." Harry bought the site "purely on a whim", having always been into paranormal activity and supernatural sightings, often travelling around the country. Now, he hosts My Haunted Project with Dan Callaghan and Danny Moss, with other haunted sites located in Pendle Hill and the USA. Harry added: "It nearly made me bankrupt, I had to get the pub and hotel right before I could do this and it wasn't until lockdown I decided to install the cameras." With the three locations, My Haunted Project is focused on "changing the paranormal and evolving it to a new level based on real evidence, eye witness accounts and 24/7 surveillance". Speaking about his idea for 24-hour paranormal surveillance, he said: "It solidified my idea when I had normal hotel guests, before this project, leaving in the middle of the night and leaving letters and pictures with what they saw and experienced. "You can only tell someone what you've seen so much before they think you're a liar but now we've got the footage to back it up." Capturing shadow figures, poltergeist activity and disembodied voices, the hotel is also home to some of Britain's most haunted collections. The "Grace Doll" has her own room and is in a special glass case, but is said to be the UK's most haunted artefact. Harry added: "People have to sign a disclaimer in order to go in, she's had a lot of psychological effects. The room smells different, almost pungent and we've had people faint in there." Harry, alongside Brett and Danny, have documented their findings in Prime Video's My Haunted Hotel series. Season 1 features Ye Olde King's Head. More information on the series and how to visit the site can be found online here. My Haunted Hotel is now available to stream on Prime Video now
