Cozy Winter Escapes
What feeds your sense of love and connection, not only during the season of Valentines, but all year long?
How you and your beloved answer will point the way to the perfect getaway. Why, for example, should the setting be all roses if you two are more easily smitten by the scent of pine? You have many, many options. Here are a few of the Midwest’s best.

By Mary Bergin

Remote Elegance
The Midwest’s only Relais and Chateaux property (a worldwide indication of high quality and distinctive character) hides within 300 secluded acres of Rusk County, Wisconsin. Couples come to Canoe Bay Resort, near Chetek, for peace, privacy and pampering. Expect sophisticated urban
amenities in woodsy confines.

Lodging choices, designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright protégé, include spa cottages with two fireplaces, an elliptical trainer, whirlpool, Finnish sauna and steam room (which doubles as the shower). Hundreds of book titles, many relatively new, fill shelves of the resort library, which also stocks dozens of must-see movie and music DVDs.

Borrow snowshoes to follow three miles of hiking trails, past meadows, through forest and toward little Lost Lake. Within view and a quick walk from lodging is 50-foot-deep Lake Wahdoon. Linger for hours over a candlelit meal in an intimate dining room where men wear suit jackets. End the day with an en suite couple’s massage. www.canoebay.com

Another nice enticement for outdoor enthusiasts is Rusk County’s 300 miles of Northwoods trails, for snowmobiling to cross- country skiing (www.ruskcountywi.com).

Industrial Intrigue
Only 57 hotels and 30 spas in the world gain five-star ratings in Forbes Travel Guide (the former Mobil Travel Guide). Most are in urban areas, many are high-end business chains — think the Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons. An exception to both categories is The American Club and its Kohler Waters Spa in Kohler, Wis.

The hotel was initially built in 1918 as modest accommodations for immigrants hired by the Kohler Co. to manufacture plumbing fixtures. Each guest room honors a famous American through biographies and displays of memorabilia.

Spa services — logically, given the hotel’s industrial history — emphasize water, and overnight accommodations include innovative bathing options. Consider staying in a Carriage House room, right above the spa area, for easy and discreet access while wearing bathrobes. At night, splurge on a meal at the Forbes four-star Immigrant Restaurant, one of 11 options for dining during a Kohler stay. (www.americanclub.com).

Unique diversions in Kohler, population 2,000, include three-hour, up-close factory tours, offered for free on weekday mornings (www.destinationkohler.com).

A Wright Choice
Passionate about architecture? Head to the Historic Park Inn, Mason City, Iowa, which reopened in 2011 after years of abandonment, then nonprofit restoration work.

The hotel was Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1909 prototype for his Tokyo Imperial Hotel. The Park Inn also is the world’s only remaining hotel for which Wright was the architect of record. Look for the sleek and simple geometric patterns that define Wright’s work in art glass windows, furnishings and structural design.

In the Historic Suite are a blend of modern amenities plus a claw-footed bathtub and brass bed. Guest rooms and a long-ago ladies’ parlor overlook Central Park downtown. www.stoneycreekinn.com.

Open for tours is Mason City’s Stockman House, also designed by Wright, and inside is an architecture interpretive center. Also in the neighborhood: privately owned Prairie-style homes designed by Wright associates (www.visitmasoncityiowa.com).

Riverside Refuge
The 2010 release of the movie “Public Enemies” generated a lot of chatter because much of it was filmed at Midwest gangster hideouts. These include the Hotel Julien in Dubuque, Iowa, which introduced a massive Al Capone luxury suite as part of its recent $36 million renovation.

Modern amenities in the suite complement faux antiques, French doors, vintage photos and “Old Hollywood” furnishings that feel plush and authentic. Discretely concealed is the real bank vault that Capone reportedly hid in whenever in need of a quick escape.

The hotel has long exuded class and intrigue in the Heartland. When the building burned in 1913, it made the front page of the New York Times. Abe Lincoln slept here. So did Mark Twain (www.hoteljuliendubuque.com).

Amble along the riverfront and you’ll find bistros, casinos, seasonal greyhound racing, pretty parks and the National Mississippi River Museum, a dynamic place to explore the river’s impact, inhabitants and inspiration for artists and writers (www.traveldubuque.com).

Spacious Solitude
Maybe, in your book, a romantic weekend can and should include travel with other friends or family. Then consider a visit to Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa, six miles from Galena, and take advantage of whatever weather brings. On the resort’s 6,800 acres are 63 holes of golf — camouflaged in winter with 45 kilometers of cross-country ski trails, plus a sledding hill — and a manmade lake, also used for ice skating.

No need to bring skis, skates or sleds; overnight guests gain free access to all. For rent are a variety of accomodations ranging from eight-bedroom houses to cozy rooms for two at the resort lodge. Fireplaces are easy to find at each extreme. At day’s end, soothe sore muscles with a candlelight couple’s massage, or lavender therapy for two.

Resort restaurants provide close-to-nature dining, with casual to gourmet menus — or rent accommodations with a kitchen, to cook what you want, exactly the way you like it (www.eagleridge.com).

To change the rhythm of this getaway, bounce from one boutique to another in
Galena (www.visitgalena.org).

Eclectic Themes
Immerse yourselves in antiquities during a stay in the Sultan Suite of Cliffbreakers
Riverside Resort, Rockford. The five-room suite is rich with rare pecan, ebony and ivory handcrafted furnishings that were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1899, and a sultan of Morocco was a former owner.

Such outlandish décor is typical at Cliffbreakers, which is almost as much of a museum as a hotel. Ask for a walking tour brochure at the registration desk; more than 300 architectural remnants make the property a one-of-a-kind destination, although most guest rooms do not have unusual decor.

In the dining room is a carved walnut ticket booth from New York City’s Grand Central Station. Then there are the glazed terra cotta lions lived at the McCormick mansion in Chicago until 1953. A carved maple mantelpiece belonged to songwriter Cole Porter. The list of extraordinary highlights goes on and on (www.cliffbreakers.com).

Want additional exposure to world studies? Visit Anderson Japanese Gardens, judged best of its kind in North America, then add sushi and seats around a teppan table at JMK Nippon (www.gorockford.com).

Gorgeously Green
Grand Rapids, Mich., works hard to be ecologically progressive and is known as the nation’s most sustainable midsize city. Each of the 28 rooms at the new, five-story CityFlats Hotel is both unique in design and true to the mission of walking lightly on the Earth.

The hotel was designed to earn gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. That translates to cork flooring, countertops of recycled glass and concrete, many large windows inviting natural light, locally made furnishings, and much more.

Despite all that serious talk, what you experience are creative, comfortable and fashionable surroundings. Imbibe Michigan wines and brews at CitySen, on the hotel’s first floor (www.cityflatshotel.com).

Eco-astute travelers also will love the certified green restaurants, museums and other attractions that are a part of Grand Rapids (www.experiencegr.com).

Pier Support
For more than a century, Big Bay Point Lighthouse in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has pointed the way for nautical wanderers on Lake Superior. The still-working lighthouse was automated in 1941, and the two-story brick building in 1981 became Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B.

For rent are six rooms, most with lake views, some with fireplaces. Climb the lighthouse for a 120-foot-high panoramic view of water and near-wilderness. Strap on snowshoes, hike or bicycle along the shoreline. A massage hut is open seasonally, mid May to mid October.

Love wildlife? Notice what makes tracks between dusk and dawn. Or maybe you’ll see the wild turkey, deer, fox and other creatures that call this piece of paradise home (www.bigbaylighthouse.com).

Big Bay’s population is a mere 320, but it includes the Thunder Bay Inn, formerly owned by Henry Ford, and nearby Lumberjack Tavern. Both were featured in the 1959 film “Anatomy of a Murder,” based on a true story of the area (www.marquettecounty.org).

Urban Isle
You wouldn’t guess that the Nicollet Island Inn, Minneapolis, was a Salvation Army men’s shelter for 60 years. Today the 24-room boutique hotel almost fills a small island on the Mississippi River and earns city awards in “most romantic” lodging, restaurant and bar categories.

Breakfast is served until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Sultry music is a specialty at Nic’s Lounge on weekends.

Order petit fours with in-room Champagne, indulge in a leisurely and five-course tasting menu or simply schedule breakfast in bed. www.nicolletislandinn.com.

Look for the inn between St. Anthony Main and the urban riverfront that is home to the Guthrie Theater and Mill City Museum, both worthy of attention (www.minneapolis.org).

Genuinely German
Proud of your German heritage? Then how could you not spend a night in the Black Forest Suite, two former maid rooms at Deutsche Strasse B&B, New Ulm, Minn. One room is a bedroom; the other holds a hot tub, fireplace and fanciful, full-wall murals of the awesome European wooded mountain range.

The suite, one of five lodging options at the inn, is in a quiet upstairs corner of what began as a home for railroad and flour mill executives. Then it morphed into home for priests and a popular space for civic groups to congregate.

Don’t be surprised if one of the three breakfast courses is warm chocolate cake with whipped cream, which makes for a heavenly start to the day (www.deutschestrasse.com).

Four blocks away is downtown New Ulm, population 13,500, and its German-themed restaurants, taverns and shops. Notice the 45-foot-tall glockenspiel that plays music three times daily. Order Schell beer, made on the outskirts of town by the nation’s second-oldest family-owned brewery (www.newulm.com).

Palatial Setting
A series of enormous limestone columns distinguish the 1907 Beiger Mansion Inn, Mishawaka, Ind., from other buildings in this small-town neighborhood. What began as a four-level home for self-made millionaires almost succumbed to the wrecking ball in the 1970s because of neglect and arson.

Much TLC has since been poured into the property and its seven sleeping quarters. Book the Master Suite, which includes a fireplace, four-poster bed and deep, antique tub big enough for two.

Breakfast might include upside-down orange French toast, made with croissants. Then head to St. Patrick’s County Park and rent an inner tube to whiz down snow-covered hills, or skate arm-in-arm at the indoor Ice Box rink (www.beigermansion.com).

The location is perfect for Notre Dame fans and people of faith — in nearby South Bend is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, one of 10 stops on the area’s “sacred spaces” tour (www.visitsouthbend.com).

Suite Secrets
Quietly thriving among the dozen-plus hotel chains in walkable downtown Indianapolis is 14 West Suites, a cross between luxury lodging and homey apartment. That means being outfitted with goose down duvets, kitchen appliances, a washer/dryer and an HD plasma TV.

Most plush is the two-bedroom Penthouse, which has its own steam room and hot tub, home theater system and 900-square-foot terrace to watch the world go by.

The business name refers to the first part of the street address, and downstairs from the little-advertised accommodations is fine dining accompanied by wines from around the world. Consider a side of lobster-brie mac and cheese, big enough to share (www.14west.net).

This home base will particularly delight sports fans because the city’s biggest basketball and football venues are a short walk away. So is the NCAA Hall of Champions. (www.visitindy.com).