Travel/Starwood to Open Naka Island Resort in Phuket

The Naka Island, Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ newest Luxury Collection property in Asia, will open to the public on November 1st, 2011. Situated in the southernmost province just off the coast of Phuket in Thailand, The Naka Island is a private boutique resort on Naka Yai Island, comprising 67 villas fitted with tropical gardens and private plunge pools, along with a world-class spa facility.

Known as the Pearl of the Andaman, Phuket is Thailand’s largest island and one of Southeast Asia’s most highly-regarded destinations. Phuket FantaSea is just 28.0 km away from the Island and also offers exciting jungle experience. Apart from these attractions, Golfers have three wonderful courses to choose from: Laguna Phuket Golf Club, Blue Canyon Country Club, and Mission Hills Golf Course.

The island is located just 25 minutes from Phuket International Airport, including a five-minute ride by private speedboat. It is only 100 square kilometers in size – easily navigable on foot, or by bicycle, or by boat to the various beaches. Naka’s stunning natural environs are the recreational focal point of The Naka Island resort, with ample opportunities for hiking, biking, watersports, and snorkeling. Or, if relaxation is the priority, The Naka Island offers a spa and exclusive access to pristine sandy beaches.

The huge sized villas have private plunge pools, open air bathrooms, sala pavilion and large outdoor space. Each villa will also feature comprehensive library, indoor sound system and extravagant views over Phang Nga Bay and Phuket Island. The resort features different F&B outlets including Tonsai, an all-day dining restaurant in a casual seaside setting. Al fresco dining at My Grill, an open beachside grill house, which will offer seafood and steaks with a southern Thai influence. Or, guests will be able to enjoy a glass of wine from the extensive wine cellar at the Z Bar while they enjoy the colourful sunsets.

Each guest will be provided with an ‘Experienced Guide’ who will act as a concierge, guest relations officer and a personal butler who will take care of each and every need of the guests. This Experience Guide will book a dining reservation, will arrange for outing and sightseeing, will take you to the driving trips and will help you to explore the Island and other nearby places.

The Naka Island has the largest spa in the region that offers complete peace of mind, body and soul through their world class spa therapies. The Spa is bespoke for every individual guest at the Island.

 The resort opens for premier stays November 1st, so be the first to experience Naka Island in Phuket.
 [The Naka Island]

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Colorful Reed Flute Caves Photographs Of China(13 pics)

Colorful Reed Flute Caves Photographs Of China

The reed flute cave is the largest and most scenic of the karst caves in the Chinese tourist city of Guilin.  Guilin – ancient picturesque city, located in southern China. The Chinese themselves call Guilin, the most beautiful city in the Middle Kingdom. Guilin is a tourist center, thanks to the wonderful nature. On the north-west, seven miles from the center of town is Mount Guanminshan, on the southern side of which sits a rock ‘reed flute. In this rock is unique cave, Called the Cave of reed flutes.

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Travel/Bora Bora Island- Heaven on Earth(Image Gallery)

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Singita Grumeti Reserves won the INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE's World Best Hotel Awards 2011

 Singita Grumeti Reserves, Tanzania

Singita Grumeti Reserves in Tanzania has been declared as the world’s best hotel by influential magazine Travel + Leisure in its Annual World’s Best Awards 2011. Offering the greatest luxury in the thick of the wild, Singita Grumeti Reserves consists of the Sasakwa Lodge, Sabora Tented camp and the Faru Faru Lodge. It was one of six African properties to place within the world’s top ten hotels this year.

Nancy Novogrod, Travel + Leisure‘s editor, said it was a return to the top for authentic destinations. It’s clear that remote and exotic destinations—places that convey a sense of authenticity and adventure—are ruling the day once again in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards. The top ten hotels overall are African camps and lodges; resorts in India; a property in Chiang Mai; and a luxury lodge in Montana, she said.

Although Singita  is really far away, its guests are treated to five-star service and accommodations. Rooms in the tents and villas start at around $1,095 per person per night; rates include daily game drives, food, and drink. It’s not expensive, considering that it is a world’s best hotel!

Hotel Interiors of Singita Grumeti Reserves

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TRAVEL/St. Regis Lhasa – Tibet’s First Five-Star Hotel

Tibet’s first five star Hotel has opened at the roof of the world, Lhasa on Saturday, 28th May. At about 3,600 meters above sea level, the three-hectare St. Regis Lhasa is one of the highest luxury hotels in the world, with views of the Himalayas and Lhasa Valley.

The Tibetan – monastic design of St. Regis Lhasa Resort was inspired by the nearby and still-active Sera Monastery. The 150-suite hotel, which also has 12 private villas, was projected with sustainable features that include solar panels and an underground water recycling system, while locally-sourced produce is served in the resort’s three restaurants.

The guests arriving at the Lhasa airport are driven to the hotel in a Mercedes-Benz limousine to the Lhasa resort. Personal butlers escort guests to their rooms and give tips on surviving Lhasa’s 12,000ft altitude. Guests are told not to shower on their first day, since hot water is believed by the Chinese to open up blood vessels and suck oxygen away from the brain. The luxury hotel is so high in fact each room is fitted with a tank of oxygen just in case guests feel they need a few extra breaths, and all the food and daily supplies have to be flown in.

The hotel at Lhasa is owned by the same group which owns the Lanesborough in London. There is a spa, a swimming pool, a restaurant boasting Cantonese and Sichuan delicacies, including yak meat, and a wine bar with hundreds of bottles specially flown in, including Chateau Lafite-Rothschild – all situated at downstairs.

According to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau, Tibet attracted more than 5.5 million tourists in 2009 and 6.8 million in 2010. If the region’s five-year plan, which runs through 2015 being realized, there will be five, five-star hotels in the region by the end of the period, and they hope the area will attract 15 million tourists arriving per year by the same deadline.  

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Travel/See the World’s Largest Artificial Floating Island In Seoul

The world’s largest artificial Floating Island has recently been opened in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Floating island under construction on the Hangang (Han River) is first equipped with an aquatic convention center and it is made for concerts, conventions, exhibitions, water sports and restaurants.

Floating island consists of three man-made inter-connected islets. Islet 1, the biggest of the three islets, is three stories high and measures 10,845 square meters. It includes a 700-seat convention hall. Islet 2, a three-story structure measuring 5,373 square meters, puts a focus on developing facilities for cultural events. Islet 3, two stories high, takes up a 4,164 square-meter area and is devoted to various aquatic leisure sports activities like yachting. The total number of seats for exhibitions and conventions reaches 1,400 uniting all three of the islets. The islands can accommodate 6,200 people and are set to make the Han River, which 59 million people visited last year, an even more popular tourist spot.

About $80 million was invested in the sprawling 20,382 square-meter Floating Island. There are numerous projects next to and on the water, to ensure the Han remains an important focal point. The riverbanks are also being transformed into parks and public spaces. From the drawing board to the opening of the floating island, there were months of painstaking work. The central challenge was how to keep three heavy structures afloat, using only giant buoys and mooring chains. The whole thing also had to be environmentally friendly. It is scheduled for completion in September this year.

Choi Heung-Soon, with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said: The north and south sides of the river have been developed with housing, and the river was only something to look at in this area. But now, with the floating island, we can really make use of it and create a new culture.

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