Her hotel will apparently be environmentally friendly, although how exactly we're not sure -- except that she was quoted as saying "It's built with no fossil fuel at all... in Abu Dhabi - where they have all that oil."
Pamela was first inspired for the project after traveling to the area this past June with the Make a Wish Foundation. No word on what her hotel will be called, or when it will open for business.
Last week L'Auberge Del Mar re-opened in Del Mar, California with a new design that's more like a high end private estate than a typical luxury resort. The renovation cost about $25 million dollars, or $200,000 per room, and the result is a combination of both upgraded appearance and upgraded services and amenities. There's too much detail to talk about it all here but some of the new features that caught my attention are the Waterfall Terrace (which includes a 14-foot illuminated waterfall) and the 4500 sq ft luxury spa. The rooms all have walk-in showers, marble-topped vanities, the best in technologically advanced amenities (i.e. 42" plasma TVs and iPod docking clock radios), and many have fireplaces. Where do I sign up?
If you can get past the cheesy promotional video and the fact that the whole thing is blatantly geared towards wealthy English-speaking tourists, The Great Brazil Express luxury train tour sounds like it might actually be a travel experience worth taking. 7 day tours are available starting next week on the 23rd and take place on board a fairly intimate (fits only 22 guests) train that travels through the gorgeous Brazilian countryside. The tour starts at Curitiba and goes as far as the famous Iguazu Falls, and the train accommodations seem nice enough (albeit small) with leather couches, decor inspired by the Brazilian landscape and wildlife, music, and food/drink. Prices start at $3500.
We've covered the LUXE City Guides before, the pocket-sized guides full of insider tips for finding the best of a city. Now they have an interesting new way to give city guides or order them for yourself for planning purposes. They offer small bespoke boxes available online which old five LUXE guides of your choice. The handmade boxes have embedded magnetic fastenings and are covered in faux albino lizard skin with an embossed gold logo. A nice gift for someone embarking on a long vacation, it sells for $50. LUXE has also recently introduced their first guides to Los Angeles and Chicago and are planning four more European guides (Florence, London, Berlin and Barcelona) this summer.
Traveling can be such a hassle when you have to scope out resorts or hotel accommodations ahead of time, and then they may or may not be what you expected once you arrive. Timeshares are a wonderful way to avoid all that messing around and make jetting off to a beautiful location on the other side of the world a fairly painless process. The Private Collection program from Banyan Tree gives you 1 week per year in a "dreamy" 2 bedroom villa in all kinds of exotic places like Thailand, China, and Italy.
Annual membership dues are $3000, which doesn't sound too bad until you hear the one time fee to join of $120,000. But once you pay that you own the timeshare forever and can even transfer it to someone else (for a fee) if you ever wanted to.
Hate being single on Valentine's Day? Some people don't care, but if you're somebody who can't help but feel bummed amidst all the lovey dovey couples why not take off on vacation? Take a luxurious trip for one to somewhere adventurous or relaxing (or both!) and leave all the sappy romantics behind. Ideas may not be what you're expecting, either, as some recommendations from Forbes include an African Safari, a 10 day biking trip through Morocco, or even a South American cruise. My personal choice would have to be the cooking classes in Tuscany -- see a beautiful country and learn a valuable skill in the process? Sign me up!
Whether you're after a breathtaking view, a secluded romantic getaway, or a once-in-a-lifetime journey, Valentine's Day is the perfect time to find it and a popular time to for many to pop the question and get engaged. Choosing the where and the when for your proposal really is a big deal, since all the rest of your days together start in that moment and in that place.
If you're looking for inspiration check out these ideas, all of which will have you making a memorable journey together to mark a memorable moment, and please add your own suggestions in the comments!
If there was ever a time of year where you could take off on an overly extravagant getaway without feeling guilty it's over Valentine's Day. Resorts and hotels know this too, with most of them putting together romantic and pampered packages in luxurious settings -- many times all-inclusive so minimal planning is required. Just decide where in the world you want to go, and if you'd prefer to stay in or go out, and finding a deal somewhere that fits the bill should be easy as pie. Here are a few we found that look particularly tempting:
Think travel agents are a thing of the past, a dinosaur of the pre-internet days? These days travel management firms do a brisk business in helping clients navigate the world. The NY Times reports on the travel services that go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their clients get where they need to go. Corniche Group handles a variety of celebrities and also works with sports teams handling tasks such as managing housing for Major League Baseball teams during the World Series. Whatever their clients want, whether it is special accommodations at a hotel or last-minute travel, Corniche handles it. For those without the bucks to hire Corniche, Anastasia Mann, the founder of Corniche, has some tips on how to make the impossible happen for yourself. She says that if you need something unusual you have to be "extraordinarily aggressive and not easily intimidated. " The advice is echoed later in the article by Paul A. Tucci, author of "Traveling Everywhere: How to Survive a Global Business Trip" who says that being polite but assertive is the way to resolve problems. You may have to challenge the first answer from customer service in order to get a satisfactory answer.
A place to sleep is just a place to sleep when it all comes down to it, and since the atmosphere can only be so nice how do luxury hotels set themselves apart from each other? With the perks and services they offer, of course -- and you better believe they go all out and get seriously creative. Here are just a few of the crazier perks you can find at some of the best hotels, courtesy of Forbes Traveler:
Helicopter transfers between the airport, hotel, and shopping (Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi)
A sleep concierge to ensure you get the best night's sleep possible (The Benjamin)
Customized aromas: after finding out what your preferences are the housekeeper stocks your room with preferred scents (Palazzo Magnani Feroni)
Pet perks like special bedding and dishes, pet sitting, walking, and massages (Nine Zero)
There have always been lots of things to consider when making traveling plans, and these days there's at least one more thing to add to the list: how "green" is the hotel you plan to stay in?
Thankfully, with more and more hotels going green in recent years it's getting easier to find somewhere to stay that's environmentally friendly. Some things, like encouraging guests to reuse towels to installing low-flow shower heads, are getting to be fairly standard efforts. But others are getting a little more creative with things like:
Putting designer recycle bins in individuals rooms
Switching to all organic menus
Offering incentives to employees who carpool to work
Routing undrinkable water to irrigate nearby golf courses
Offering parking incentives to guests who drive hybrid vehicles
Switching to non-toxic and organic cleaning supplies
Donating unused amenity bottles to local charities
Sending half-used bars of soap to companies who use them to make cleaning products
Recycling used coffee grounds as golf course tee-off mounds.
Come across something particularly creative and green in a recent hotel stay? Share with us in the comments!
Is the worst part of traveling trying to get a good night's sleep? It can be tough to sleep like you do at home in even the nicest of hotels, but The Benjamin in NYC has something most places don't: a sleep concierge.
And the sleep concierge is just the beginning. They offer a menu of 12 different pillows, choices of specialized sleep enhancing snacks, and before-bed massages. In fact, The Benjamin is so sure they can give you a good night's sleep that's as good as what you get at home they'll give you a free night's stay if they fail.
Do you think it's worth it? What would you need to make the hotel feel like home?
If having a yacht of your own doesn't work for you then chartering one is the next best thing (or maybe it's better? None of the hassles of ownership!) there are lots of choices out there. What amenities are important to you? Where do you want to go? The options are endless, and if money is no object then the luxuries can be too. Ever had the chance to experience any of these megayachts? They're some of the most expensive out there available for charter, and I think they all sound awesome:
Although 2 week vacations are awesome the trouble is that it's often so hard to get away that they rarely (if ever) happen. But why delay that trip to Paris or Buenos Aires til who-knows-when? A long weekend, which is much easier to do for most people, can be more than enough to have a fabulous time in an exotic far-off location if you do things right. Vienna, Milan, and even Sydney are realistic possibilities. Why take the chance that a trip to your dream location might never happen when you can be there later this month? 1, 2, or 3 nights is better than none at all, right? I'd say so.
Room service is getting an upgrade from the days of a steak served lukewarm with soggy fries and a flat soda. Go to the right place and you can get whatever you want, on the menu or not, whenever you want, at any hour of the day or night, and it'll be served like it would be in a fine restaurant, 7 courses and all.
Ugh, isn't Dubai full up of celebrity hotels, resorts, and developments already? Apparently not, as the latest celebrity to join the fray of "I have a hotel in Dubai" is Pamela Anderson.
