The Gansevoort Hotel South, a sister to the luxury Gansevoort Hotel in New York's trendy Meatpacking District, is set to debut in March on Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. The 91-room resort will feature the gourmet Bagatelle Bistrot and Beach Club, an Exhale Spa, and a 7,000-square-foot infinity-edge pool dotted with "lounging islands" that can be used for tanning by day or private dinners at night.

Rates are slated to start at $450 per night.

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If you need to get from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Anguilla, here's some good news: the Anguilla Air Express will launch on Feb. 14 and offer twice-daily departures from each island utilizing a Beechcraft 1900D turboprop. The flight will take about 46 minutes each way.

The service is described as first-class, with reclining leather cabin chairs and personalized escorts through security and departure, but will come at a price: roundtrips will start at $399 per person. For more details, contact Rainbow International Airlines.

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With Barack Obama's inauguration just days away, many travelers and tourism officials are wondering whether the 44th President of the United States will lift the longstanding U.S. embargo on travel to Cuba.

First imposed by President John F. Kennedy, the economic embargo has closed one of the closest Caribbean neighbors to the U.S. to Americans. But as NBC News recently reported, Cuban officials are hopeful that Obama will take a fresh look at Cuban-American relations.

My opinion? It's time for a new approach to Cuba after five decades of mutual antagonism, and Obama's arrival combined with the sunset of the Castro brothers (Fidel and Raul) may finally lead to substantive change. No, I don't think tourism is the answer to all of Cuba's problems, but Cuba is a big, diverse and fascinating destination that Americans should have the right to visit, even if we disagree with Cuba's political leaders. Plus, I suspect that Cuban dictatorship would not long survive opening up to the wider world, and the U.S. in particular. Cuba Libre!

If "60% off half off is the new black," as a New Yorker pundit recently noted, then Almond Resorts is at least a deep shade of grey. Almond's properties in Barbados and St. Lucia have slashed their rates by 50% when travelers book by Feb. 9 for stays between May 1 and Dec. 20.

All-inclusive rates for a three-night stay start at $300 in St. Lucia and $460 in Barbados. Discounts are available at:

• Almond Beach Club and Spa, Vauxhall, St. James, Barbados (Book Now)
• Almond Casuarina Beach, Christ Church, Barbados (BookNow)
• Almond Beach Village, Heywoods, St. Peter, Barbados (BookNow)
• Almond Morgan Bay, Choc Bay, Gros Islet, St. Lucia (BookNow)
• Almond Smugglers Cove, Cap Estates, St. Lucia (BookNow)

For more information, see the Almond Resorts website or call 800-4ALMOND.

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