Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas arrived in San Diego this week to offer West Coast vacationers more options for a memorable Mexican Riviera cruise. She will embark on a total of 29 Mexican Riviera cruises from San Diego, ranging from 4- to 12-night itineraries. In addition, there will be a 13-night Ultimate Alaska itinerary sailing on 8th May 2010.
The arrival of the ship also marks the launch of the cruise line’s military appreciation campaign. In recognition of the contributions made by members of the U.S. military and the amount of time they spend away from their families to serve their country, Royal Caribbean is making a donation of $10,000 to Wounded Warriors Families Support, an organization that provides support to the families of those who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat operations. Special cruise pricing to active and retired US and Canadian military personnel and their families to share a cruise vacation aboard Radiance of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas for sailings between 1st October 2009 and 31st March 2010 is available.
You don’t often hear the words “do it yourself” and “spa treatment” in the same sentence. And thank goodness! Wandering into a treatment room to prep the table and massage your own shoulders isn’t quite the blissful spa experience one might imagine.
But at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Aviara, just 30 minutes north of San Diego, “DIY” means you get to customise your experience — with a seasonal twist. As you arrive at The Spa’s sun-dappled atrium for your Fall Foliage Ex “Foliation” Treatment, you’ll be asked to sit down, relax and reflect on the change of season. Then, choosing from a long list of Autumn-themed ingredients like cypress, cedar wood and bergamot, you’ll create your very own essential oil to be used throughout the 50-minute treatment.
First, your back, arms and shoulders will get invigorated with a warm exfoliating scrub that boasts a hint of skin-tingling rosemary. As your circulation comes to life, a mineral-enriched mud mask is slathered across your back to remove impurities and introduce much-needed vitamins. Next, while those earthy elements penetrate your skin, you’ll be treated to a soothing massage with your very own essential oil.
To finish, you’ll be seated in the Atrium Lounge with a soul-soothing cup of hot tea. Heaven!
Le Méridien – perhaps best known as a European brand – is to open its first hotel in Central America. Le Méridien Panama is set in the heart of Panama’s cosmopolitan capital city, on the edge of the Bay of Panama, with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the Panama City skyline. Surrounded by the intimate cafes and chic galleries of Uruguay Street, the hotel is within the city’s financial district and a short distance from major tourism attractions such as the Panama Canal, considered one of the “Eight Wonders of the Modern World”.
Offering 111 guestrooms, including 29 suites, the hotel also has 4,000 square feet of function space ideal for corporate meetings and events as well as intimate social affairs.
In addition, it features a signature restaurant, Latitudes, led by Panamanian Chef Anibal Chiari, a contemporary fusion concept of international cuisine that can seat 75 guests, including a communal table and private dining room. Latitudes also offers Le Méridien signature breakfast, which includes reinvented favourites with components developed by three-star Michelin chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Coffee Culture, a global programme developed in partnership with illycaffè.
The hotel also offers spa treatments in the Sensory Spa by Clarins with six treatment rooms and a fully-equipped fitness center and outdoor pool and terrace, overlooking the Bay of Panama.
It is the 15th new Le Méridien hotel since Starwood acquired the brand back in November 2005.
Don’t you just hate it when you turn up somewhere, only to find someone else is wearing an identical garment? I wonder how Rihanna felt when she emerged from the Hotel de Rome in Berlin today and found herself being upstaged by the doorman…
As I’m sure you are aware, there are a number of flight comparison sites out there. You would think they would all essentially do the same job, but they do have notable differences. Many airline tariffs – particularly those of the budget airlines – are complicated by extra charges. This makes it very difficult for comparisons to be made, particularly since different travellers have different requirements.
The moral of the story? Try out a few comparison sites – and even visit the websites of the airlines themselves (and sign up to their newsletters). You would think it does but a flight comparison site does not, unfortunately, negate the need to shop around for the best price.
Tell us what sites you use and why. What are your tips for finding the best fares?
Here’s an interesting site I recently stumbled upon: Marine Traffic. It shows the locations of large vessels at sea around the world, on a Google Map. Different types of boat are colour coded for ease of recognition. Look out for the blue icons and you can identify moving and anchored passenger ships (ferries, cruise ships, etc.) around the globe.
Lake Okareka Lodge by lebua, in Rotorua, New Zealand, is the perfect abode of luxury, nestled in a landscape of incredible natural beauty. Far away from the prying eyes of the everyday life, there are countless hours of relaxation and adventures to be had in the most opulent of settings. Go fly-fishing for trout, try your hand at kayaking, windsurfing or mountain biking, or simply embark on a casual stroll through spectacular forests, farmlands and wetlands.
Anantara has opened its first spa in the African bush offering an authentic connection with the local culture, people and history of this exquisite land and paying homage to the days when Out of Africa author Karen Blixen came to this timeless paradise.
The Anantara Spa at Bilila Lodge Kempinski is the third in Tanzania and follows on from the successful ventures on the spice island of Zanzibar and in the bustling capital Dar Es Salaam. Located in the heart of the legendary Serengeti National Park, the latest Anantara Spa is a lyrical meditation on the strength and grace of Blixen and the stunning natural beauty of the landscape, which so captivated her after arriving as a young colonial bride in 1924.
Guests can explore a range of spa journeys and healing treatments inspired by the ruggedness of the savannah, the majesty of the mountains of this great continent, the cool flowing waters of Lake Manyara as well as the exquisite allure of the local flora and fauna.
The spa is designed in keeping with the landscape in which it is set with free use of wood, tiles and thatched elements. It has 4 double Treatment Suites, 1 double Ayurvedic Room, 1 double Thai Massage Room as well as separate male and female changing areas, a steam room, sauna and a serene relaxation lounge with reclining beds set amid gently playing water features and beautiful gardens.
I’ve resisted writing about this for some time but don’t feel I can any longer. It’s not an issue that specific to the luxury travel sector but it’s certainly one that can be important to it. I really believe it’s high time that travel review sites took their responsibilities a little more seriously. A savvy internet user will often readily identify reviews that are fake – they might be overly-positive or – if operating under a different agenda – overly negative.
But spoof reviewers are getting cleverer, writing reviews that look plausible, hiding under a thin veil that might appear to show some degree of balance. Identifying these people is a more arduous task, but there are still a variety of ways in which it can be done. Even without being privvy to such information as IP addresses, there can be some tell-tale signs. If you see a batch of reviews where all the reviewers have similar style usernames, where the style of grammar is similar, or where there is a sudden flurry of activity in a short period of time, could all be possible indicators.
I’m looking at one particular hotel on Tripadvisor at the moment – a hotel which I know quite well – and the reviews are surprisingly favourable. Management is also responding to many of the reviews saying things like “We’re glad you enjoyed your stay” so it’s evident that they’re very active on the site. ”So what?” you might ask… they’re just being diligent. Think again. I’ve noticed that virtually all the reviewers have only ever reviewed this hotel and nowhere else. If you look through some ‘real reviews’ you’ll find it’s more common for reviewers to have been to a varying number – some might have only reviewed one place, but others would have reviewed multiple places, so it’s unusual to find that ALL these reviewers are one-time reviewers. Actually, I say ‘all’ but that isn’t quite true. A couple of the reviewers had reviewed another hotel just up the road from this one… and guess what? That hotel is owned by the same people and is given similarly favourable reviews!
Identifying unscrupulous activity shouldn’t be the task of the users of the site – it should be the responsibility of the site owners and you would think that it would be something that’s put high on their agenda. Afterall, their users are – quite simply – being misled. This can be costly to those people and to the hotels that are shed in a less favourable light relative to the competition. It can also be highly lucrative for those who are successful with their deception.
So what needs to be done? Well, for starters, you’d think review sites would act more quickly when concerns are flagged; see here for example where it took Tripadvisor two weeks to acknowledge a concern about violation of their TOS and, more than a month on from then, there appears to be no further update. You’d also think they would be more adept at preventing false reviews from even being published in the first place.
I know that on some sites where reviews can be placed, you are only invited to post a review if you book through that site. This would strike me as a good first step in ensuring that you are dealing with people who have truly stayed at the hotel in question, but it does of course limit the review site in terms of the number of reviews it can collate. Unfortunately, the review sites are competing for quantity, and not just quality.
Please post a comment and tell us your thoughts on the matter. What, if anything, do you think needs to be done?
Roman Abramovich’s latest toy is the luxury yacht M/Y Eclipse. Constructed by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg, it is 170 metres long which makes it the world’s longest yacht, 11 metres longer than Sheikh Mohammed’s. She comes with two helipads, two swimming pools, 11 guest cabins, three launch boats and a mini-submarine, and requires a crew of 70 for her operation. She is also equipped with some interesting security features including an anti-paparazzi shield which will detect CCDs (as used in digital photography) and fires a bolt of light at any suspecting photographer to prevent images from being obtained.
Construction costs of the vessel are estimated at $1.2 billion, hugely in excess of the original $485 million estimate. She was launched in June 2009 (see video below) and is currently in Demark for final tests before being delivered to Abramovich some time next year.
IHG’s (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club ® Rewards has unveiled a new reward option: Flights Anywhereâ„¢. This new program lets members redeem Priority Club ® points, or combine points and cash, to book flights on more than 400 airline carriers worldwide without restrictions on availability.
It’s the first and only hotel loyalty program to offer the flexibility to redeem points and cash for flights, and there are no blackout dates or limits on available tickets whatsoever. It is available to consumers in nearly 20 countries, including the U.S., Canada and most countries in Europe.
The legendary Christina O superyacht - the epitome of the jet set of the 60s and 70s – is to launch an exclusive ‘Maria Callas Experience’ for the 2010 season. Previously owned by Aristotle Onassis the Christina O played host to some of the most iconic personalities of the twentieth century – Marilyn Monroe, Maria Callas, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, Jackie Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill and Frank Sinatra to name a few. And now you can go back to the heyday of the twentieth century by experiencing evocative renditions by Opera singer Maria Callas along with all the other luxuries that come with such a beautiful boat.
Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas and Riu Santa Fe have both emerged from the Hurricane Jimena unscathed, and are currently operating under normal conditions and continue with business as usual. The resorts did not incur any major damages and guests are reportedly back to enjoying themselves as they did before the storm.
For the first time, the international hotel chain Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is to open a Swissôtel in India. The new deluxe hotel will be in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and a city that is home to the country’s second-largest stock exchange, the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE). It will be in part of the City Centre – New Town shopping mall with shops, restaurants and a multiplex cinema, and has 147 rooms, each at least 32m ² in size. Three restaurants, including a speciality restaurant and an open-air restaurant, a lobby bar and a poolside bar will be available to guests. Facilities will also include conference rooms offering 1261m ² of space, a fitness centre and a rooftop swimming pool. The hotel is due to open in the fourth quarter of 2009.
For a taste of the exotic without leaving Europe the new Thai Spa at the chic 5 star Barceló Asia Gardens, which opened on the Costa Blanca earlier this year, a short distance from Alicante and its airport, as well as the picturesque Costa Blanca towns of Altea and Villajoysa.
The new spa brings together the traditional Thai philosophies of peace, calm and harmony to create one of the most authentic Thai spa experiences in the whole of Spain. The spa therapists who have all trained at the renowned National School of Thai Massage in the famous Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok, and have brought with them a range of traditional Thai therapies including the classic ‘Nuad Thai’ massage, the ‘Look Pra Khob’ and ‘Nuad Thai’- a massage using herbal compresses with traditional massage, and the ‘Nuad Thao’ foot massage.
The spa also offers a range of other eastern style treatments from Ayurvedic medicine, reflexology and Reiki to a Balinese Lomi Lomi treatment and Hot Stones, as well as a series of facial treatments, body peeling, hydrating treatments and bath therapies.
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Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas arrived in San Diego this week to offer West Coast vacationers more options for a memorable Mexican Riviera cruise. She will embark on a total of 29 Mexican Riviera cruises from San Diego, ranging from 4- to 12-night itineraries. In addition, there will be a 13-night Ultimate Alaska itinerary sailing on 8th May 2010.
You don’t often hear the words “do it yourself” and “spa treatment” in the same sentence. And thank goodness! Wandering into a treatment room to prep the table and massage your own shoulders isn’t quite the blissful spa experience one might imagine.
Don’t you just hate it when you turn up somewhere, only to find someone else is wearing an identical garment? I wonder how 
As I’m sure you are aware, there are a number of flight comparison sites out there. You would think they would all essentially do the same job, but they do have notable differences. Many airline tariffs – particularly those of the budget airlines – are complicated by extra charges. This makes it very difficult for comparisons to be made, particularly since different travellers have different requirements.
Here’s an interesting site I recently stumbled upon: 
I’ve resisted writing about this for some time but don’t feel I can any longer. It’s not an issue that specific to the luxury travel sector but it’s certainly one that can be important to it. I really believe it’s high time that travel review sites took their responsibilities a little more seriously. A savvy internet user will often readily identify reviews that are fake – they might be overly-positive or – if operating under a different agenda – overly negative.
IHG’s (
The legendary 
For a taste of the exotic without leaving Europe the new Thai Spa at the chic 5 star