Top 20 romantic getaways (all under $250)

Hotel McCall, McCall, ID ($135)
An urban-chic hotel plunked down in the midst of mountain scenery. Make plans for the next day’s playtime as you stare from your comfy leather couch at huge, glacier-cut Payette Lake and its surrounding ponderosa pines and snowy slopes. From $135, including breakfast.

Make it new:

Drive to Ponderosa State Park and ski an easy mile to the Blue Moon Yurt, where you’ll sit down to spiced wine and a candlelit meal. Torches light your way back. $90 per person; reservations required; Blue Moon Outfitters, 208/634-3111. –Laura Stavoe

Indian Springs, Calistoga, CA ($185)
There’s no better way to warm up, literally and figuratively, for an amorous evening than with a soak in steamy water so rich with minerals it feels like silk ― especially when your private cottage is just footsteps away. From $185 (ask about winter Sun–Thu spa packages).

Make it interesting:

Try Watsu on each other in the pool. Wat-what? Enthusiasts claim that this aquatic massage technique ― which involves rocking and cradling ― promotes a blissful sense of letting go. –Amy Wolf

The Inn at Langley, Langley, WA ($195)
Find your own recipe for romance here, literally. The six-course meals served by Seattle-bred celebrity chef Matt Costello are reason enough to stay here (did someone say chocolate sponge cake with cardamom mango sauce?). Spend the day kayaking or hiking in search of birds and seals on the waters of Saratoga Passage, or simply gaze out at the water as you lie by the wood-burning fireplace. From $195, including breakfast.

Make it new:

Bring bikes (perhaps a tandem) to explore the area. The inn offers biking maps of the island. –Jess Thomson

Hacienda del Sol, Taos, NM ($135)
Hunkering down in this B&B is an experience in total immersion: in Taos’s storied history as a high-desert art outpost, and in the stunning topography that surrounds it. French doors open onto the B&B’s best features: the view of Taos Mountain looming above Taos Pueblo, and an open-air hot tub for stargazing. From $135, including breakfast.

Make it interesting:

Pay homage to D.H. Lawrence’s famously steamy writings with a pilgrimage to the ranch where he lived in 1924 (in the village of San Cristobal, 17 miles north of Taos; 575/776-2245). –Katie Arnold

Cedar House Sport Hotel, Truckee, CA ($170)
Skip Tahoe’s typically crowded après-ski scene and head back to eco-luxe Cedar House for a glass of red at the guests-only fireside bar. Enjoy an outdoor soak before an Italian supper at the boutique inn’s new restaurant, Stella ($$). From $170, including breakfast; two-night weekend minimum.

Make it interesting:

After a day on the slopes, sign up for Cedar House’s new Cooking Club (starting in March) in Stella’s open kitchen: intimate hands-on classes or dinner-theater demos by the inn’s talented chef. –Rachel Levin