Calling all lovers as Valentine's Day and Weekend approaches

   One-Tank Trip for Feb. 1/14

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Love is in the air as innkeepers and hoteliers stoke the fires for romantic escapes to a charming inn, boutique hotel or spa for a Valentine’s getaway.

   With the big day falling on a Friday, this allows for a getaway weekend for everything from saying “I do,” to rekindling the love.

   Couples can enjoy Valentine’s Day or weekend at the Shizen Spa at Skyline Hotels & Resorts.

   Calling all lovers

   Ontario’s Finest Hotels, Inns and Spas offers packages “with romantic amenities included,” said Mark Bernhardt of Siren Communications.

   These range from chocolate-dipped strawberries, fine wine and spa experiences for two along with a Bon Jovi tribute concert.

   For anyone wanting to “pop the question,” there’s the “Just Say Yes” Marriage Proposal package at the Shaw Club Hotel & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The “Just Say Yes” Marriage Proposal package includes pampering at the Shaw Club Hotel & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

   It includes two night’s accommodation with a three-course a-la-carte dinner for two at Zees; a 30-minute carriage ride; rose petals and candles; champagne; and breakfast each morning (from $531a couple).

   Kettle Creek Inn in Port Stanley is “Calling All Lovers” with a two-night package in a luxury suite.

Intimate dining at Kettle Creek Inn in Port Stanley

   Included is dinner both evenings, continental breakfast and chocolate-covered strawberries.

   Couples can “luxuriate in a two-person whirlpool and then relax by the roaring fireplace with a favourite libation ($495 a couple).”

Kettle Creek Inn in Port Stanley offers a “Calling All Lovers” package with a two-night stay.

   Rawley Resort & Marina in Port Severn offers a relaxing stay in a suite with a bottle of wine, fruit and fine cheese.

   Private sessions can be booked in the Reflections Spa and the director “will serenade guests as the culinary team entices their taste buds with a three-course gourmet Valentine's dinner.”

   Included are robes and breakfast (from $320 nightly, double occupancy).

   Falls Inn & Spa at Walter's Falls offers a “romantic getaway beside a double-plunge waterfall along the Bruce Trail” near Collingwood.

   Included is a falls-view room, five-course tasting menu with live jazz, flowers and chocolates (from $170 a person, nightly, two-night minimum).

   The Valentine's Day Tribute Show package at Elm Hurst Inn & Spa in Ingersoll, near Woodstock includes tickets to a Bon Jovi tribute concert with dinner.

   There’s overnight accommodation in a deluxe room, chocolate truffles and buffet breakfast ($295, double occupancy). http://ontariosfinestinns.com; 1-800-340-INNS (4667)

    Embrace winter

   Lovers can take in Winterlude on Valentine’s weekend in the National Capital Region.

   “The Sheraton Ottawa is extending a preferred room rate for Valentine’s Day, which also falls on the Friday of the Family Day holiday weekend,” said Cynthia Bond of Starwood Canada.

Skaters share a kiss on the Rideau Canal Skateway during Winterlude in Ottawa where Sheraton and Westin hotels have Valentine’s packages.

   Room rates are from $149, double occupancy, while upgraded Sheraton Club Level accommodations provide evening hors d’oeuvres and continental breakfast, for an additional $30.

   “The hotel also is celebrating with gourmet dining options in the hotel’s Carleton Grill,” she added. sheratonottawa.com (Offers)

   The Westin Ottawa invites couples to “refresh their senses” with the Romance package, designed for total relaxation and renewal.

   There is sparkling wine and strawberries on arrival, breakfast and 4 p.m. check out (from $289 a night). www.westin.com/ottawa; 1-866-716-8101

   The Sheraton Centre and Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto offer big-city getaways for the special weekend.

   Rates at the Sheraton downtown are from $159 a night while the lakeside Harbour Castle rooms are from $229. www.sheratontoronto.com; www.westintoronto.com

   Do not disturb

   “Everyone needs to give themselves a little TLC (tender, loving care) and Valentine’s Day is no exception,” said Katie Thomas of Skyline Hotels & Resorts.

   At the Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, the Shizen Spa has the “perfect package for the ultimate relaxation experience,” she added.

   The Romance package includes a Shizen Signature couple’s massage, paraffin pedicures and lunch with mimosas (starting at $399).

Couples can enjoy a day at the Shizen Spa.

   The Body Bliss package features a chocolate mocha whole-body scrub, relaxation massage and a vanilla body-butter shimmer ($95).

   Single ladies can celebrate relationships with their girlfriends at Toronto’s Pantages Hotel, Thomas said.

   Ladies’ night includes a $100 Shizen Spa credit, bottle of wine and breakfast (from $289).

Ladies enjoying time at the Shizen Spa

   Bring on romance at the Cosmopolitan Hotel’s penthouse, “the ideal spot to propose in style.”

   The 27th floor penthouse has floor-to-ceiling windows for great views of Toronto and lovers can have their romantic dinner catered or cook it themselves in the full-sized kitchen.

   Curl up by the fire in the lakeside winter wonderland of Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka with the Valentine’s Day Romance package.

   The stay starts off with a glass of wine at the lobby bar followed by a three-course meal in the elegant Waterhouse Ballroom and tickets to the Decades live show (from $266 a couple). skylinehotelsandresorts.com; 1-888- 496-3986

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Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com

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