Global Turkey
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Dreaming of fleeing the country – and the family – this Thanksgiving? As international travel spikes and fares fall, more and more couples and business travelers are heading to the Caribbean, Mexico, and even Indonesia for a twist on the traditional turkey dinner.
Thanksgiving at Bolongo Bay (7150 Estate Bolongo, St.Thomas, 800-524-4746, www.bolongobay.com), a 65-room family-run property in St. Thomas, includes a complimentary celebration dinner with West Indian flair: pumpkin soup with stewed conch, papaya-cranberry relish, and rum-and-coke glazed ham (rooms $195/night, including the Thanksgiving dinner, for a minimum of five nights, through December 22). Owner Richard Doumeng said it’s shaping up to be the highest turnout since 1994 – and it’s increasingly couples, not families, filling the resort. “You ask your mommy for forgiveness and you hop on the plane to St. Thomas,” he said.
In Cozumel, Mexico, more frequent flights and discounted packages have been good for business: Thanksgiving weekend hotel bookings are up more than 20% from last year, said Javier Aranda, manager of the Cozumel Hotel Association. The Hotel Cozumel & Resort (Costera Sur Km. 1.7, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 877-454-4355, www.hotelcozumel.com.mx) will offer guests pork loin with chili huajillo and mahi mahi on its included Thanksgiving dinner menu (rooms $65/night a person, including all meals, drinks, and activities, through November 30), and the Melia Cozumel (Carretera Costera Norte, Km. 5.8, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 800-336-3542, www.solmelia.com) will line up a Mexican buffet alongside the traditional turkey spread (rooms $232/night, including all meals, through December 15) and bring out a mariachi band for after-dinner entertainment.
On the other side of the globe, in Jakarta, the Dharmawangsa (Jalan Brawijaya Raya, No. 26, Jakarta Indonesia, 62-21-725-8181, www.rosewoodhotels.com), a Rosewood Hotel, expects more than 200 people at its second annual Indonesian-fusion Thanksgiving celebration. Business travelers, American ex-pats, and locals will feast on turkey satay with spicy chestnut sauce and turkey rendang served with Balinese banana puree (rooms $300; dinner $140). “It’s American tradition with Indonesian tastes,” said the vice president of Rosewood, Bob Boulonge.
With most of these travel deals, there’s still time to take advantage of holiday long weekend fares after the bird has been well picked over. Or there’s always next year.
