It appears a new chilling travel trend is on the loose: ice skating-- in warm climes.
The New York Times Magazine reports on ice rinks popping up peculiar places like the W Los Angeles-Westwood, where a rink resides and straddles the hotel's pool during the winter season.
Ice Skaters (Not Surfers) Dot the Hotel Del
This is what you'd expect to see...Photo: Hotel Del Coronado
San Diego's famous and historic Hotel Del Coronado, now has a 10,000-square-foot skating rink in its beach-y backyard, dotted with palm trees and aromatic with balmy Pacific Ocean air. Let's put it this way, the Hotel Del is a destination where you expect to see surfers, not ice skaters. In 2005, I visited there for this reason and this reason alone: Coronado's incredible beaches. So pardon my harshness here but skating? Seriously?
Sunny San Diego's famous, historic Hotel Del. Photo: Hotel Del Coronado
It seems the icy hot activity isn't strictly limited to SoCal however. Guests at the St. Regis Atlanta in Georgia not only can lace up their skates, but unwind afterward with hot cocoa and smores-- snagging them at the neighboring bar and carrying them to the hotels' poolside gas fire pits to, you guessed it, roast marshmallows.
Cold Ice in Hot Places: Unsustainable Ice Skating?
Don't get me wrong, this all sounds entirely fun-- even coming from this winter-worn and weary, Northeast born and raised blogger who doesn't even have much interest in skating. And I'm sure if thrown into a wacky situation involving skates and s'mores in a sunny locale, I wouldn't have a hard time making the most of it. But a large, eco- part of me has to question the excess factor of imitating cold ice in hot places-- if not in cooling costs, materials used. Sunny ice skating sort of seems like the "hot" in hot yoga. Is it really necessary?
Maybe I sound like a stick in the mud (or shall I say, ice) but I'd prefer to enjoy the hotel activities that its natural locale and weather forecast has to offer-- from SoCal's surfing, swimming and beach strolling to urban Atlanta's rumored lively local nightlife and charming streets.
That's me.
More on Ice Skating:
The Home Ice Advantage: Make An Eco-Skating Rink
Green Your Ice Skating with Iceless Rinks?
How to Care for Your Ice Skates