If you’re casting about for someplace close...

If you’re casting about for someplace close to home for the holidays, the Wainwright Inn in Big Bear has big plans for Thanksgiving/Christmas. A three-day Thanksgiving package ($330/$510) includes a room for two, daily breakfast, afternoon wine/hors d’oeuvres, a hayride and Thanksgiving dinner. The four-night Christmas package ($550/$790) features a horse-drawn sleigh ride, Christmas caroling, gourmet breakfasts daily, a Christmas Eve buffet (honey ham with assorted mustards, fondue, rice pilaf, artichokes, chocolate cappuccino cake), a Christmas morning brunch in the lounge (gifts for each guest) and a traditional English dinner (roast prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, a tossed green salad with apples, oranges, walnuts, plus English trifle for dessert). The only thing innkeepers Sharon Berton and Jack Cueller aren’t promising is snow--but they have their fingers crossed.

The Wainwright Inn is fashioned after an English country manor. Victorian furnishings, down pillows, lace curtains, antiques, leaded windows, a honeymoon suite with a sleigh bed, whirlpool tub, a sitting area, fireplace, wet bar, private entrance.

The breakfast menu changes day to day: French toast, baked eggs with herbs/Cheddar cheese, basil cheese strata with sausage, pecan waffles with berries. Your cardiologist will probably howl, but what the heck--walk it off. Or else go skiing. The Wainwright is near Bear Mountain ski resort and Snow Summit.

Regular rates: $75/$105 per couple (bed, breakfast, complimentary hors d’oeuvres/wine, a wet bar stocked with complimentary soft drinks, snacks). Wainwright Inn, 43113 Moonridge Road, Box M4-6, Big Bear Lake 92315, (714) 585-6914.

Holiday in Italy: Denise Rivera of Rolling Hills is looking for a “romantic retreat” in Italy for a skiing holiday. My vote goes to Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy’s Dolomites. Startling peaks, a storybook village. My favorite address is Hotel de la Poste. Recently refurbished (dates from 1802). This is where the apres -ski crowd gathers each afternoon for drinks/hot chocolate. A grandfather clock ticks away the hours in one corner of a cheery lounge that once served as Cortina’s post office. The hotel is dead-center of the village, only a short walk from the ski lifts. Rates from about $80/$200. Hotel de la Poste, Piazza Roma No. 14, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

I also enjoy a little inn named Las Capannina. Venetian mirrors, loads of antiques, a restaurant with a tiny bar, romantic melodies. Las Capannina, Via Dello Stadio No. 11, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Rates: approximately $60/$150.

Cortina d’Ampezzo is popular with skiers throughout Europe. The Winter Olympics were held there in 1956. A choice spot in summertime as well when meadows are carpeted with wildflowers, waterfalls spill from granite peaks to rivers and lakes, and lifts carry visitors to Alpine restaurants.

For a listing of other hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo and information on other ski resorts, contact the Italian Government Travel Office, 360 Post St., Suite 801, San Francisco 94108, (415) 392-6206.

Student Trips: Student trips are being booked by Europe-U.S.A. for the Christmas holidays in France and also for the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Dates: Dec. 17-31/Feb. 8-23. The price ($1,580) includes the round-trip flight from Los Angeles, meals/lodging with a French family. Another program is planned during the Olympic period in Spain next summer, when students will be hosted by Spanish families (July 2-30). The $1,680 price includes the flight, accommodations/meals. This is an exchange program in which U.S. students will be expected to host French/Spanish students for a similar period in ’92. Other trips involving the same exchange plan are being booked for as little as $980. Students, ages 13-25, will be hosted by families in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, as well as France and Spain.

Details from Penelope Walsh, Europe-U.S.A. Cultural Programs, 122 El Camino Real, Suite 118, San Clemente 92672, (714) 366-1266.

Houseboats: With the summer ended, houseboat rentals on the California Delta have dropped considerably. This is an uncomplicated lifestyle. Sail up-river/drift down-river. Or just anchor in a cove and toss out a fishing line. Vacationers can cook aboard or dock at a variety of waterfront restaurants along the Delta. Boats accommodate from two to a dozen vacationers. Rates from about $100/$200 per week (summertime) depending on the number of guests. Figure on about a $30 discount for the winter off-season. It’s an interesting vacation twist. Slip out of bed, break out the bacon and eggs. No waiters, no fuss. Toss a fishing line into the river or cruise off to a new spot on the Delta.

Call the Delta Rental Houseboat hot line at (209) 477-1840, or write to Houseboats, 6333 Pacific Ave., Suite 152, Stockton, Calif. 95207, for a free packet of brochures/price lists.

Destination Bahamas: I have a special winter hideaway in the Bahamas called the Valentine’s Yacht Club & Inn. It’s on Harbour Island. One of those places where you half expect to run into a character from a Graham Greene novel. Not elegant, but loads of atmosphere. Valentine’s faces the water at the far end of a dock. Rooms are not fancy, yet Valentine’s possesses a warmth that draws guests back year after year. The last time I dropped by, there was a bird cage filled with hibiscus and guests were relaxing on sofas in the lounge while others played chess in a room lit by hurricane lamps. Valentine’s serves the best conch fritters in the Bahamas. If you arrive early enough during the cocktail hour, you could pass on dinner and fill up with fritters. The beach is just beyond the door, and there’s a beat-up old taxi you can hire to go sightseeing. But it’s far more pleasant sunbathing/fishing, waiting for the sunset and another round of fritters.

Valentine’s Yacht Club & Inn, P.O. Box 1, Harbour Island, Eleuthera, The Bahamas. Rates: $85/$110.

Another place I have a fondness for in the Bahamas is Nettie Symonette’s Casaurinas, a smallish inn on Cable Beach in Nassau. It’s out of town, beyond the crowds and the big hotels with their casinos. This is a family-operated inn with comfortable rooms, a couple of restaurants. Only a stroll to the famed Cable Beach. Told newlyweds about it recently and they spent their honeymoon there. They say they’re going back.

Casaurinas of Cable Beach, P.O. Box N, 4016 Nassau, The Bahamas. Rates: $65/$85.

Potpourri: AlaskaPass Inc. is offering a special fall/winter/spring pass that’s good on ferries, railroads, buses, airlines in Alaska/Canada ($449 for 8 days/$529 for 15 days, with discounts for seniors) by calling (800) 248-7598 . . . The Russian Travel Bureau, (800) 847-1800, has a new 10-day tour that takes in Moscow, Leningrad, Suzdal, Helsinki (hotels, breakfast/dinner daily, sightseeing, a couple of theater performances, guides) . . . For information on a personalized day-by-day itinerary in Britain (hotels/pubs/inns, restaurants, sightseeing), contact Best Inn Britain, 3907 45th St., Sunnyside, N.Y. 11104, (718) 937-2562 . . . Copies of “Scenic Walking” (a newsletter for walking buffs flying off to Britain/Ireland) are free from British Coastal Trails, 150 Carob Way, Coronado, Calif. 92118, (800) 473-1210.

Reader Recommendations

California--Charles and Patricia Bell, Seal Beach: “Enjoyed the Inn at Depot Hill, 250 Monterey Ave., Capitola-by-the-Sea 95010. Rates: $145/$225, including breakfast, afternoon tea, wine, evening cookies, port.”

Colorado--Linda Eastwood, Placentia: “A little slice of heaven at Vallecito Lake, D’Mara Resort, 1213 County Road 500, Bayfield 81122. Rates: $65/$100 double.”

New Zealand--Bill and Pegg Mandley, Gardena: “Pine Haven Travel Hotel, 259 Marine Parade, Napier, New Zealand. Ocean-front. Rates (double): $30 U.S. low season, $36 high season.”

England--Charles Hayward, Boulder City, Nev.: Brookland’s B&B;, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cambria. Absolutely delightful hosts. Rates for two: approximately $57.”

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