­­­Angelika Lukacsy’s toenails are painted in a new Opi color called mermaid—a free-wheeling blue that goes perfectly with the shades of turquoise and aquamarine in the shallows of the Caribbean which gently laps onto the white beach that surrounds the Utopia Dive Village which she co-owns in Utila, Honduras.

Angelika didn’t plan on coordinating her pedicure with the ocean. She also didn’t plan on opening an intimate 16 room “village” designed for SCUBA divers (and those who love them) on Utila island in Honduras.

­­Are you a design-junkie sybaritic self-caterer interested in seeing the lake that Aldous Huxley called “too much of a good thing” in his 1934 travel book Beyond the Mexique Bay? You are now.
Villas B’Alam Ya  (which means Water Jaguar in the local Mayan dialect) is a super-private collection of just four  villas crafted along a steep hillside on the shores of Lake Atitlan—the vast expanse of blue ringed by three perfectly conical volcanoes that inspired Huxley’s proclamation.

­­Forget the celebrity power behind Francis Ford Coppola’s Blancaneaux Lodge (just for a minute). The true star at this polished, remote resort is Mother Nature.
Located on 70 acres within the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve —which encompasses more than 100,000 acres and was one of the first nature preserves established in Belize--Blancaneaux is an oasis of luxury. Right on the banks of an elegant curve and dramatic tumble in Privassion Creek, the resort is surrounded by the rolling hills and pine forests that make this area so special.

­Guests at Hidden Valley Inn, which earned a Conde Nast Johansens recommendation this year, come to enjoy more than 90 miles of lovingly and meticulously maintained hiking trails which traverse the inn’s 7,200 acres of private land in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, a massive protected area in Belize.

­­You want the beauty and peace of a deserted island but the comfort of good food, good company and good accommodations? Welcome to Turneffe Flats Lodge on Turneffe Atoll off the coast of Belize. Three hundred square mile Turneffe Atoll is the largest of only four coral atolls in the entire Western Hemisphere. The second largest reef in the world passes right by it, often within a stone’s throw of the shoreline.

The isolation, lack of any large scale development and the natural attributes of the atoll make it the most biologically diverse in the Caribbean. Sixty species of birds live or migrate through here. The water teems with dolphins and sharks and crocodiles.

­­Before I stayed at my first Aman resort, I knew that the hotels had a dedicated base of ‘Aman junkies’ who were nothing short of obsessed with the brand – but I didn’t entirely understand why. After all, there are a lot of luxury boutique hotels out there specializing in minimalist, stark architecture. But after a few heavenly days spent at the Amanyara in the Turks and Caicos, I know exactly why people will travel to the ends of the earth for the Aman experience.

­Someone always has to be first and in the world of luxury nature retreats Chan Chich Lodge was way out in front. Opened in 1988, this cluster of 12 bungalows and one villa deep in an enormous swath of privately owned jungle continues to get rave reviews more than 20 years later. Chan Chich was named Andrew Harper’s Lodge of the Year in 2007 and in 2010 the lodge earned a Condé Nast Johansens Award as the Most Excellent Lodge in Mexico and Central America.

I­t’s about to get easier to book a beachfront stay at Matachica, the hippest and most polished boutique resort on Ambergris Caye in Belize. In June the much-lauded resort (most recently earning a Conde Nast Johansens award  this year) will debut eight new stand alone Deluxe Beachfront Casitas. Each will be 50-75 square feet larger than the resort’s 11 existing accommodations with bigger bathrooms, more intimate and romantic verandahs and Frette linens and robes—all just steps away from the warm, calm and impossibly clear water of the Caribbean.

­Many years ago I was lucky enough to visit the island of Vieques, off Puerto Rico. My two key memories are the stunningly eerie phosphorescent bay, and nearly vomiting on the boat ride from the mainland. Back then, there weren't any hotels of note on Vieques, so taking a day trip on a vomit comet boat was the only way to experience the island. These days, guests can choose from the sleek Hix House or the just opened W Vieques.

­One of the main problems that comes with being a New Yorker is that you expect New York levels of service – and style- everywhere you go, and this can often lead to disappointment. If you’re a New Yorker looking to escape this winter to someplace warm but also groovy, then consider the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos, a Wymara resort.