Hotels up the ante with luxury products and services

Starwood Hotels debuted a jewelry line to celebrate the opening of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico.

By Mark Chesnut

Whether you’re shopping for Paris hotels for that next business trip or planning a much-deserved Hawaii vacation, it’s gotten easier to do travel in style, thanks to new services and products introduced this year at several luxury hotel brands.

In June, JW Marriott launched a series of partnerships with luxury brands in nutrition, culinary, art, culture, accessories and wellness. Partners include Christie’s, the art auction and sales company, which is organizing exhibitions and art gallery recommendations for the hotel chain. Tumi, the travel accessory company, is providing travel tips in the JW Magazine, and guests also now have access to insider information from Etude Wines, including how to properly choose and taste the best wine for every occasion.

Hilton Worldwide, meanwhile, has gone the video route with “The Luxury Manifesto,” a Web-based series that features interviews and advice from luxury bloggers Paloma Contreras of LaDolceVitaBlog.com and Christine Lu of ChristineLu.com, as well as interviews with big names like designer Tommy Hilfiger, restaurateur Danny Meyer and Steve Sadove, CEO of Saks Inc. Hilton is using this new content to help define its Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brands.

Also new this year is the St. Regis Collection by Alexis Bittar, a jewelry line created to celebrate the opening of the company’s 21st hotel, the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico. The collection was inspired by the jewels worn by Caroline Astor, the mother of the St. Regis founder, John Jacob Astor IV.

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Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on business and leisure travel to Latin America.

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Luxury squared: St. Regis Hotels’ global growth

By Mark Chesnut

Drinking in the view: The bar at the new St. Regis Bangkok hotel.

Whether your travel plans take you to Florida, Africa, Asia, Europe or the Middle East, you’ll find some new hotel options on your itinerary, thanks to a growth spurt at St. Regis Hotels & Resorts that is resulting in new luxury properties in a variety of far-flung destinations.

A total of 10 new hotels and resorts are to open within the next 12 months. The first of the properties, the 227-room St. Regis Bangkok, debuted in April in a commercial corridor along Rajadamri Road. The hotel has an Elemis spa as well as eight meeting rooms and a business center that cater to travelers looking to get some work done while visiting Thailand’s capital.

Next up on the St. Regis agenda is Italy, where the 100-room St. Regis Florence is slated to open in September, following a refurbishing of the former Grand Hotel, which was designed in 1432 by Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the most renowned architects of the Italian Renaissance. The style of that era will be reflected in the hotel’s antique décor, which includes restored frescos and chandeliers in the main ballroom.

Later in the year, St. Regis will open new properties in China (Tianjin and Shenzhen) as well as the Middle East (Doha, Qatar and Saadiyat Island, Dubai). And in the first half of 2012, the company will debut in Abu Dhabi, Mauritius and Bal Harbour, Fla.

The largest of the brand’s new hotels is the 380-room St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Dubai, which is — as its name implies — set on an island, with more than 32,000 square feet of meeting and event space, as well as a spa and access to a Gary Player-designed 18-hole golf course.

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Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on business and leisure travel to Latin America.

Orbitz Blog

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Five-star fever: 3 luxury Bahamas vacation destinations

One & Only Ocean Club tempts with romantic Nassau Harbor views and luxe indoor/outdoor settings.

By Vince Font

Not all spring break vacations were created equal, and there’s plenty of evidence of that on Paradise Island. If you’re looking for a Bahamas vacation that will put to shame any previous experiences, pay a visit to one of these three prime examples of luxury.

One & Only Ocean Club
This is what you call a five-star resort with a bullet. The One & Only Ocean Club lives up to its name and leaves vacationers wishing they could add extra stars to their satisfaction rating – and for a place that offers dreamy beach vacations in the nightly range of about 0, that’s saying something. But rest assured, from the hotel’s elegant exterior to its stately rooms with marble Roman baths, you’ll know where the money went. If you’re scouring the globe for spring break destinations and plan on staying four nights or more, you can take advantage of the hotel’s “Spring Into Paradise” promotion which will get you 0 in extra amenities and round-trip airport transfers for two.

The Cove Atlantis
You can usually judge the quality of a resort on the number of restaurants it has on hand to tend to the culinary demands of its many vacationers – and with 40 restaurants and bars in the immediate area, The Cove is proof of that. And that’s not even taking into consideration the suites, which offer king-size beds, deep soaking bathtubs, marble floors and full balconies that offer the kind of ocean views you only see in movies. But be warned: Average summer vacations won’t be the same for you after this.

Riu Palace Paradise Island
Even if you’re no stranger to all-inclusive vacations, you’ll still experience a few jaw-dropping moments during your stay at the Riu when you realize that in this case, all-inclusive really does mean all-inclusive – meals, drinks, entertainment, even gratuities and tax are covered. From its 24/7 room service and buffets to its balconied suites with killer ocean views, there’s evidence at the Riu that you can still have a first class Bahamas vacation without having to mortgage your home to do so. After a few nights here, though, you might consider that a viable option.

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Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury

Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury The first in-depth portrait of one of the world’s best-known luxury brands, this elegant volume traces the remarkable history of the House of Vuitton, which has been making practical but stylish luggage, handbags, and accessories for more than 150 years. Written with full access to the company’s archives, the book itself demonstrates Louis Vuitton’s passion for fine design in a stunning array of archival art, historical images, product designs and sketches, and cutting-edge advertising.

Author Paul-Gerard Pasols, former communications director and longtime consultant to Louis Vuitton, explores the company’s tradition of quality and innovation in the context of sweeping changes in society, art, culture, fashion, and, above all, travel. Examining the life and times of the company’s first three leaders-founder Louis (who invented the modern trunk), his son Georges, and his grandson Gaston-the text focuses on the firm’s development under their guidance. It also discusses Vuitton’s explosive growth toward the end of the 20th century, including the 1987 merger with Moët-Hennessy that made it part of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, and spurred the expansion of its boutiques to more than 300 locations in 50 countries around the globe.

Price: $125.00

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