Head to California and Hawaii for Some of the US's Most Creative Valentine's Day Packages

CALIFORNIA

San Diego (La Jolla)

One of my favorite hotels, the iconic pink La Valencia (affectionately known as “La V”), has been recently redone top to bottom.  This year’s Valentine’s Day celebration turns the hotel a different shade of pink, actually, red, in support of the American Heart Association’s “Go Red” campaign.  The tower will be lit red all February promoting love of the heart and heart healthfulness.  Book the appropriately named “Saving My Heart for You at La V” two-night package and you’ll prove your devotion by taking care of your heart.  You get a “MY Life check assessment” from the AHA, a bottle of red wine (red wine promotes heart health), a pedometer, a book of love quotations, tickets to the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art to nurture your soul, and a kayak adventure in La Jolla’s 6000 acre nature preserve to further your cardiac exercise and your Zen with nature. Packages start at $1300 per couple. 858-454-0771, www.lavalencia.com

San Francisco

Having a picnic is always pure romance.  Unless the weather and ants conspire against you. Kimpton’s Prescott Hotel wants you to have the perfect picnic, so they will bring it to your room, complete with a picnic basket, two bottles of wine, a spread of charcuterie and cheese, and some baguettes.  You can also watch a movie “under the stars”, the lights of your room, complimentary. I love the Kimpton Hotel Group’s creativity, don’t you?  866-271-3632 www.prescotthotel.com 

Want to pretend it’s your honeymoon all over again? The InterContinental Mark Hopkins is offering the “Never-Ending Honeymoon Package,” which takes full advantage of the hotel’s dramatic Nob Hill location. At the Top of the Mark, the 19^th-floor sky lounge with some of the most gorgeous panoramas of San Francisco, you’ll enjoy a table with a view, sparkling wine, chocolate rum fondue, a framed photo of you and your sweetie, and, an announcement by the evening’s’ band welcoming you and affirming your continued devotion.  888-424-6835 www.intercontinentalmarkhopins.com

Super-exclusive and perfect for adventurous lovers, the “Extraordinary Day” package from InterContinental San Francisco starts your day in a Classic Rolls Royce to drive to the Golden Gate Bridge.  After that, you pick your fantasy:  a romantic hot air balloon ride or a daring flight in a WW2 classic double-decker airplane over Napa Valley.  You’ll also enjoy the hotel’s proximity to wine country with a winery tour and three-course wine luncheon as well as a five-course Michelin star dinner with champagne. 888-811-4273 www.intercontinentalsanfrancisco.com

Palo Alto

Maybe it’s something about working near all those computer startups or staring at your computer too long without having a human relationship (think Her, for example), but you have to love the Crowne Plaza Palo Alto’s “Anti-Valentine’s Day Party.”  Take your little ‘ole self to this February 14 gig, drown our your sorry on “Anti-Valentine’s” cocktails and “bitter” bites, and dance to classic break-up music.  I love this: play party games, too, like hit the “Conversation Heart Piñata” or “Shred Your Ex” (where you shred a photo of your ex), and enter the “Best/Worst ‘I got Dumped’” Story Contest.  877-270-1393 

HAWAII

In my mind, Hawaii is synonymous with romance (I almost eloped there). Maui‘s Kaanapali Beach is beauty and drama combined, where Black Rock meets the ocean.  The Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa has created an über-romantic getaway experience for Valentine’s Day for one special couple. “The Barefoot Bliss Romantic Dinner” puts you and your sweetie facing the gorgeous beach, with a private table in the swimming pool and a private butler.  Dessert and champagne are served in your oceanfront room with scattered rose petals scenting the room.  This exclusive event is priced at $3,000 per couple inclusive of tax and gratuity. 808-662-8059. www.sheraton-maui.com

So simple but so romantic, the special lovers’ package from The Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui promises to teach you how to “make whoopie.”  With your gift of a gourmet Whoopie pie-making kit, you and your partner will concoct a cake of your own with your choice of sinful fillings. The room and sweets package starts at $159. 808-875-4100. www.fairmont.com/kea-lani-maui

Renew your vows with a group of new friends at the Westin Maui Resorts & Spa’s Hawaiian Vow Renewal ceremony on Valentine’s Day. Take advantage of the gorgeous Ka’anapali Beach setting as your officiant decks you out with celebratory leis, a champagne toast, and a vow renewal certificate.  The price is $214 per couple. Call 808-662-2771 to book this very popular celebration. www.westinmaui.com