Luxury service and dining are no longer only for the wealthy. Top-notch accommodations are now the new way to travel, as proven in the excess of refurbishment that many golf and ski resorts have recently undergone

Beaver Creek, a luxury ski resort in Colorado, has been gradually icing itself into a glamorous resort, revamping spas and offering only the finest cuisine at its restaurants, as noted in Amanda Boyd’s article, Luxury at its Finest: Ski Colorado’s Beaver Creek. The town’s Allegria Spa, located at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, “recently underwent a substantial renovation, adding 20,000 square feet in treatment rooms and additional exercise space,” making it the new ‘it’ spa in Summit County.

Golf resorts are also following in suit. Courses are now being designed as more of a work of art than just for sport. Carefully designed and constructed, golf courses now provide not only an athletic experience, but a tranquilly luxurious one as well. Clubhouses are filled with luxurious spas and five star dining accommodations, which are designed to calm any golfer after a frazzled day on the course. Confirming this statement, Jim Osborn writes in his article, Scottsdales’s Most Luxurious Golf Resorts, on how Arizona’s Orange Tree Golf Resort takes the term ‘clubhouse’ to the next level. The golf course offers “a variety of dining and entertainment choices, over 14,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, a fitness center, a crystal clear pool amidst cascading waterfalls, towering palms and flower-filled gardens.”

Vacation rentals are also following in suit, as seen on the luxury travel website, The Society, where five star ratings are becoming impressively prominent. Rentals now come in the form of mansions, lodges and chalets—just as impressive as any five-star hotel.

Traveling is beginning to look just that much sweeter.