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The final gala of The Leading Hotels of the World Convention was spectacular
Bernard Lambert, CEO Monte-Carlo SBM - formerly known as Société des Bains de Mer - co-hosted a brilliant final gala for The Leading Hotels of the World convention in Monte Carlo. Read more here.
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Zhang Ziyi excites a passion of adulation
The Beijing-born star of The Banquet, Jasmine Women, and Memoirs of a Geisha, is the face of Garnier and Maybelline, and Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics. Ziyi is also a spokesperson for Care for Children, a foster-home program in China, and for Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, and she helped open the company's luxury Guangzhou hotel - read more here.
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Gal Nauer Architects completes The Plaza interior
Gal Nauer (photo), who heads New York-based GNA, is lead designer for The 'new' Plaza which will reopen as soon as Miki Naftali, President/CEO of the owner Elad Holdings, GM Shane Krige - and Nauer herself - are confident perfection has been achieved, www.fairmont.com. There are now only 282 bedrooms, of which 152 are owned condo-rooms (when the owners are away, their treasures are stored by hotel butlers). Expect a Caudalie spa, a Warren-Tricomi beauty salon and, most exciting of all, the fitness and 75-foot gym will be run by Radu Teodorescu, whose followers include Cindy Crawford and Jennifer Lopez.
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Grant MacPherson joins Sandy Lane as Culinary Director
Grant MacPherson joins Sandy Lane, Barbados, as Culinary Director - this is really thrilling news as Sandy Lane just knows how to get everything right, with superlative golf and one of WOW.travel's best-ever masseurs (Prabhu, from Kerala). Now the luxury resort's CEO, Michael Powall, has enticed as top chef MacPherson, whom many will remember from Raffles Hotel Singapore, and his many years at Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas, www.sandylane.com.Sandy Lane, St. James, Barbados
See other hotels in St. James (4)
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The Spanish Riding School has a new CEO – owner of Hotel Sacher Wien
The Spanish Riding School dates back to 1572 and no first-time visit to Vienna today is complete without seeing the Lipizzaner horses and their riders going through their dances in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg. Now the school has a new CEO, Frau Elisabeth Gurtner, a passionate rider herself who is best known as owner of the Hotel Sacher Wien, in Vienna - she and her family also franchise Sacher cafés throughout Austria, and mail their sacher tortes, made to an 1832 recipe, and Sacher coffee worldwide, www.sacher.com.Hotel Sacher Wien, Vienna, Austria
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Escape to Madrid for a unique cultural experience at the Hotel Ritz
Hotel Ritz Madrid, adjacent to The Prado, is celebrating the museum's reopening with a minimum two-night offering, which includes entrance to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and the Prado - and a guide can, additionally, be arranged (shown, Goya's El Quitasol, 1777, a cartoon originally displayed in the Palace of the Pardo dining room of the future King Charles IV and Maria Luisa de Parma.) The hotel program is available through December 29th 2007, www.ritzmadrid.com.Hotel Ritz Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Mount Nelson, Cape Town is a hotel that lets kids be kids
The Mount Nelson, Cape Town, has masses of kids' activities, including cricket matches, face painting, and treasure hunts, during the long holiday season. WOW.travel likes the luxury resort's seven-bedroom Taunton House or, for a smaller party, the converted houses (650 square feet and up) in what was originally Sydenham Terrace Street - and everyone has access to seven acres of well-tended gardens.
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Sculptor Anouk Albertini is exhibiting at Hotel Bel-Ami throughout December
Feed the mind.... Nice-born sculptor Anouk Albertini is exhibiting at Hotel Bel-Ami, Paris, through December 29th, 2007. Anouk Albertini says she fell in love with sculpture by discovering works of Giacometti and Moore. She was herself subsequently taught by Maurizio Toffoletti and her work is permanently displayed in many French galleries.
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Combine the power of exclusive business connections with once-in-a-lifetime experiences
And the body... Yanik Silver's Maverick Business Adventures is for high achievers who are addicted to such adventure outings as four nights Ultimate Baja Experience, with off-road adventure driving, surfing and jetskiing. Membership details at www.maverickbusinessadventures.com.
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InterContinental Hong Kong is going ihealthy
InterContinental Hong Kong is working with the city's Adventist Hospital to offer ihealth-listed dishes on its menus - shown, the hotel's Executive Chef, Laurent Andre, with Managing Director Jean-Jacques Reibel, and a high-fiber pizza with fresh Norwegian Salmon, assorted cheese, leeks and yogurt. www.hongkong-ic.intercontinental.comInterContinental Hong Kong, Hong Kong, S.A.R., China
See other hotels in Hong Kong, S.A.R. (10)
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Immerse yourself in the history of the Arizona Biltmore
Let's look back. The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, is renowned for its 1929-vintage classic luxury. The sprawling property, a member of the Waldorf=Astoria collection, has a package that includes a historic tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright-style architecture with a professional historian as well as a visit to Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural school in adjacent Scottsdale, www.arizonabiltmore.com.
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Grenada is in-store for several mega projects
And looking ahead, I cannot wait to return to the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada, where that renowned entrepreneur Peter De Savary is doing several mega projects (shown, an artist's impression of the St George's Port Louis waterfront). Read the story, here.
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The Ritz-Carlton, opening Fall 2009, is an exciting addition to the Dove Mountain lifestyle
There is always somewhere new to add to the must-visit list. The 6,200-acre Dove Mountain development is in the Tortolita Mountains north of Tucson AZ. Judging by the drawing shown, the 250-room adobe-and-casita The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, with residences and Jack Nicklaus golf, will be a magnet for the beautiful and healthy, www.ritzcarlton.com.
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Verbier, Switzerland is not just home to great skiing but to the new Hotel Verbier Lodge
Verbier is not only about skiing (photo). On December 28th 2007, Verbier Church hosts a concert by American soprano Barbara Bonney and French harpist Xavier de Maistre, from the Vienna Philharmonic. Soon afterwards, Hotel Verbier Lodge re-opens, as a member of Sir Richard Branson's Limited Edition luxury hotels and resorts (it has nine double rooms plus a bunk room for six kids, www.thelodge.virgin.com). The next Verbier Festival is July 18 to August 3 2008, with program revealed in March, www.verbierfestival.com.
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Fashion Christmas Trees Exhibition at InterContinental Paris Le Grand
It is Christmas time yet again, and InterContinental Paris Le Grand is already displaying its Fashion Christmas Trees (shown, one of the 2007 designs, by a student from Esmod International, the world’s oldest and leading fashion school). The 40 displayed trees were chosen by Claude Montana, Paco Rabanne and other judges, and sponsors for the exhibition, which runs through to January 2nd, 2008, are British Airways and InterContinental London. paris-le-grand.intercontinental.com
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Korea shows holiday spirit by donating to Christmas causes
And finally to Korea - at Christmas. The Grand InterContinental Seoul once again has its display of poinsettias, each one sponsored for a minimum of $100. In 2006, says GM Hans Olbertz, such a display made a total of $22,000, all donated to charity. At the Millennium Hilton, a miniature train will, as always, run on a complicated circuit around the lobby's Christmas tree: carriages are marked with labels of Air France, KLM and other sponsors and last year $70,000 went to charity.
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