A Luxury Travel Blog

Enjoy five nights accommodations at The Kapalua Villas with VIP passes to an exclusive sky box located on the 18th hole (15th-19th October 2008 only) You’ll also get a one hour golf clinic for two with an LPGA Tournament Professional at the Kapalua Golf Academy.  See their website for further details.

Owned by the famous McCormick Spice family, The Onion House is a unique architectural oddity that has now been made available to rent as a holiday retreat. It can be found in Kailua Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island and was built by the celebrated architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, designed to take full advantage of its natural tropical surroundings. The property has garnered a great deal of media attention since opening and HGTV chose the master bedroom of the house as one of the top ten ‘Most Romantic Bedrooms’ in the world.

Wailea Beach Villas is offering adventurous souls the chance to explore Maui by canoe, surf and snorkel!  The luxury resort offers private adventure tours by local guide Charlie Fleck. Enjoy a guided hike in a bamboo forest, an outrigger canoe trip, surf lessons and snorkeling at Turtle Town.  The Maui Adventure Guide Experience five nights accommodation in a two bedroom penthouse and one, complimentary half-day excursion with Charlie. The package rate begins at $1,225 per person based on four people in a two bedroom penthouse. This special offer is available through until 19th December 2008. Fleck also can be reserved for full and multi-day excursions that are customized to meet each guest’s needs.

Kapalua Resort is excited to add an LPGA full-field tournament to its roster of Signature Events. The Kapalua LPGA Classic is scheduled for October 13 to 19, 2008 at The Bay Course. For complete details, visit www.kapalua.com/lpga

Destination Resorts Hawaii is offering a Honua Makuahine (Mother Earth) package, valid from 1st April to 15th June 2008, to the tropical paradise of the Aloha state.  This five night package offers a $250 carbon credit which will help off-set 3.5 round trip flights from the West Coast, a complimentary Dollar rental car and free parking.  Destination Resorts Hawaii is the largest provider of luxury vacation rentals in the prestigious Wailea and Makena resorts on Maui.  For more information or to book, click here and mention GREENPKG.

• Signature at MGM Grand - Las Vegas, Nevada
• Sofitel New York - New York City, New York
• Omni San Francisco Hotel - San Francisco, California
• Affinia Dumont - New York City, New York
• The Orchard Hotel - San Francisco, California
• Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea - Wailea, Hawaii
• The Villas at Grand Cypress - Orlando, Florida
• Sofitel Chicago Water Tower - Chicago, Illinois
• Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco - San Francisco, California
• Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort - Naples, Florida

Come back tomorrow for the best in Europe!

Each year The Leading Hotels of the World select the winners of the prestigious Leaders Club Awards based on user feedback. To commemorate these special accolades, all three honourees for 2007 will be offering a bottle of Champagne any time Leaders Club members stay with them until 31st March 2008.  As for the winners, they are:

Halekulani, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

A tradition of world-renowned service and unparalleled luxury is the essence of Halekulani, where guests leave as much of an impression on the resort as the resort leaves on them. Originally a private beachfront estate, Halekulani has been accommodating discriminating visitors to Waikiki Beach since 1917. A long-standing tradition of gracious hospitality prevails today in the same idyllic setting, offering a haven of luxury, impeccable personal attention, and fine cuisine. Located on five oceanfront acres on Waikiki Beach, the Halekulani features open courtyards, lush gardens and balmy ocean breezes.

Ritz London, London, United Kingdom

Opened by renowned hotelier Cesar Ritz in 1906, The Ritz still today retains all the excitement and glamour synonymous with this legendary hotel. The 136 guestrooms combine Louis XVI-style interiors with modern-day technology, while fine dining facilities include the magnificent Ritz Restaurant, the opulent Palm Court for afternoon tea, and the stylish Rivoli Bar. William Kent House, the 18th-century mansion house recently opened at The Ritz, features a spectacular choice of banquet rooms and suites. The Ritz is the only hotel to have been awarded a Royal Warrant by HRH The Prince of Wales for Banquet and Catering services.

The Alex Hotel, New York, New York, U.S.A.

The Alex rises 33 stories above midtown Manhattan, within steps of the prime business, shopping and entertainment areas. The 203 suites and guest rooms offer a comfortable, stylish and well-designed retreat. The Alex Hotel’s impeccable services and amenities will transform an ordinary overnight stay or long-term sojourn to a luxurious experience.

Vacations are always more fun when there’s a coastline in view, or at least so say Tripadvisor.  They’ve come up with a list outlining their top 10 favourite beachside destinations:

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. Honolulu, Hawaii 
3. Cancun, Mexico
4. Surfer’s Paradise, Australia
5. Negril, Jamaica
6. Miami, Florida
7. Viti Levu, Fiji
8. Boracay, Philippines
9. Tenerife, Canary Islands
10. Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand

What places would be in your top 10 that are not in this list?

Earlier this month I was invited to the private beta of Kango.com and have only just now got around to taking a look.  I must say that, from first impressions, I’m quietly impressed.  After getting around the initial geographical restrictions (a strong bias towards North and Central America), I entered a search for hotels for a family holiday in Hawaii for the price bracket of $350+ per night.  It returned 33 options, the first of which - with a 98% relevancy - was the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa.  But, and here comes the nice bit, as well as giving the usual brief description, photograph, etc. I was immediately presented with ratings from TripAdvisor and Yahoo! Travel (other results also include similar information from Orbitz, VirtualTourist, MyTravelGuide and Expedia), and links to 427 reviews with the former, and 99 reviews with the latter.  Now, whilst I recognise that reviews have to be taken with a pinch of salt, this is a tremendous mine of information collated all under one roof, allowing the user to very quickly get a detailed insight into the individual search results that are returned.  The other thing that I like is that the reviews that are highlighted appear to be the ones that are made by families (I assume this isn’t a co-incidence) so they’re targeted specifically towards my initial search requirements.  Good stuff.

The Lusso Collection - an exclusive destination club that began in June last year and provides members unlimited access to a collection of multi-million dollar residences in the world’s most sought-after vacation destinations - has announced that it has signed more than 100 members since its official launch. Destinations covered include Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas (Mexico), Kiawah Island (South Carolina), Deer Valley (Utah), New York, Great Abaco Island (Bahamas) and La Jolla (California).

Hawaii’s third largest island, Oahu, is to get a luxury Walt Disney family resort. Having spent $144m to acquire 21 acres of oceanfront land on the southwestern corner of the island, Disney will build a luxury hotel complex, as well as timeshare units. The resort will form part of the already popular Ko Olina Resort & Marina, about 25 miles from the heart of Honolulu. Construction is expected to commence next year, with completion by 2011.

Andrew Kaplan of Oakland-based TurnHere contacted me this evening, telling me that they have just released a series of short documentary videos on Hawaii. As well as on their site, they are also on YouTube. I just took a quick look at a few and they’re quite good for giving a brief flavour of a variety of different aspects of the state…

Haleakala Sunrise:

Hawaii Regional Cuisine:

Golf in Hawaii:

Talk about expensive water! If you thought Bling H20 - at $24 for a 750ml bottle - was expensive, then think again.  Kona Nigari water from Hawaii is apparently selling at $33.50 for a mere 2 ounce bottle.  Yes, you read that right… that’s seawater at more than $2,000 per gallon.  The only saving grace is that this is a concentrate and to be mixed with normal water. The reason for the hype and sky-high prices?  The Japanese have a thirst for the stuff.  Desalinated deep-sea water is being marketed as a dietary supplement out there, and is said to aid weight loss, stress reduction, skin tone and digestion.