Hotel Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
In September 2008, Dubai became a small wonder of the world of the rich people. At that time Atlantis The Palm hotel opened its doors. The hotel is located on The Palm Jumeirah and it is completely dedicated to the lost city of Atlantis. With a large aquarium with sharks, rays, dolphins and other tropical fish and the ‘Lost Chambers’ attempt is to match the legend.
From the outside, you can see the tall towers “The Royal Towers of Atlantis” and it is fascinating sight. There are more than 1,500 rooms ranging in various classes. The most luxurious rooms are the Royal Suite, which are located between the two towers. But in the “cheaper” rooms lacking nothing, there are the slippers in the room ready. By the imposing building, all rooms overlooking the sea or on Palm Island.
The hotel has a fully equipped spa over two floors divided. In addition, no fewer than 27 treatment rooms, an aerobics room and fitnesruimte.
To find an eatery in the hotel, you do not need to look far. The hotel has more than 17 restaurants. There are of course very exclusive restaurants with famous chefs. The Dubai famous restaurant “Nobu” is also in this hotel. This restaurant is entirely dedicated to Asian specialties.
The worst hotel in the world: Hans Brinker Budget Hotel
Hans Brinker hotel prides itself that it is the worst hotel in the world. That Little Hans Brinker Hotel is the worst hotel in the world is mainly a marketing style.
Advertising companies wanted to try to lure buyers for their products. Often this is done by an article in the sky to praise. Advertisers always want the best presentation. However, there is something else in it. Their message: it gets worse, they want their business to tie. And that works.
As hard as the cushion of Brinker and as unpalatable as the breakfast. No parking, no sauna, no bell boys, no air conditioning. No minibar and no room service. Basic but clean rooms in the heart of Amsterdam. That’s a special type of marketing that Hans Brinkers budget hotel is ios using for almost 15 years. And that has made ??the hotel a place where many people must come and see for themselves. Moreover, there is now a book on all these campaigns and the history of the hotel. The book is entitled: “The worst hotel in the world” and in it Born Editions Club Booth shows how the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel all those years manage to attract his guests.
The special slogans
Over the years the hotel has a number of unique selling points already immortalized. Some examples are:
“No view, bad beds, noisy and dirty”
“It can not be worse, but we are doing our best”
“Now with even less service”
“Now with a door in every room”
“Improves the immune system” – with a picture of a flea
The reality of Hans Brinker Budget Hotel
In reality, the Hotel Hans Brinker is a low budget hotel where people can sleep from 25 euros per night. The marketing campaigns do believe this is the worst, but the sleeper gets just what he pays: low-budget, but good. The hotel offers Internet, a good breakfast, lockers, there is a restaurant with a bar and a cafe and 24 hours a day there is reception. Even people in wheelchairs can use the hotel.
Hotel Lobbies that Wow
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and the following hotels obviously take that very much to heart:
- The Joule Dallas welcomes guests with a big wow factor in the form of original artwork by Andy Warhol and a giant industrial cog wheel that looks like a piece of art in its own right.
- The Seagate Hotel and Spa, a few blocks from the sand in Delray Beach, Florida, plunges you directly into an underwater theme with Nemo and his friends (moral eels, butterfly fish and all sorts of tropical denizens) finning their ways around a 5,000-gallon saltwater aquarium.
- Flowing mesh curtains hung from several floors up and light flooding through the emerald green glass of the hotel’s facade make for a very modern entry at the high-design Opposite House hotel in Beijing, China.
- Enormous African masks and animal skin prints put you in an African game lodge frame of mind in the theme park capital of the world at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in Orlando.
Which hotel lobby around the world made the best first impression with you?
Image courtesy Terry Ward
Hotel Spas with Views
When I get some all-too-elusive spa time, I’m usually reduced to a state of eye-closed ecstasy. But here are a few hotel spas with views where you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes wide open to soak it all in:
- After your treatment at the Dolder Grand Spa in Zurich, Switzerland, breathe in the fresh air from the outdoor terrace while taking in views across Lake Zurich to the Alps.
- The Chill Spa at the Hotel Terra in Jackson Hole, Wyoming has a rooftop hot tub with motivating mountain views.
- Peep this red rock view from the Red Mountain Resort and Spa in St. George, Utah
- The Stillwater Spa at the Hyatt Regency in Newport, Rhode Island indulges guests with view of Narragansett Bay and Newport Harbor.
- The Balinese-style spa at the Manchebo Beach Resort in Aruba has ocean-views from the treatment rooms.
Go ahead–bliss out and enjoy the view, too!
Image copyright Charlyn Keating Chisholm, licensed to About.com.
Book a Beautiful View
Choosing a hotel is a personal thing–maybe you pick the best hotel for you based on location, mattress type in the guest rooms (Tempur-Pedic for me, pretty please!) or what restaurants are onsite. For some people to whom a sense of place is the all important deciding factor when it comes to where to stay, it’s all about the view. And to them, I say, here is a website made with you in mind. Launched in mid-October, The Most Perfect View lets you narrow your search and book a room based on the most beautiful views. But be warned, it’s one of those websites that uses the power of incredible photography to lure your credit card right out of your wallet–browsing the hotel views is enough to incite serious wanderlust only remedied by immediate trip planning. So far, the website’s listing includes rooms with views in 100 of the most spectacular hotels in the world. Among them:
- The Standard New York with views of the Highline Park
- The Savoy Hotel in London, overlooking the Thames River
- Fasano Rio in Rio de Janeiro with views over Ipanema Beach
- Llao Llao Hotel & Resort in Bariloche, Argentina, with glistening lake and mountaintop views.
I dare you to have a look and try to resist booking a bed with those views!
Image courtesy The Standard
Spotlight on Stockholm
His rough-around-the-edges heroine may not be for everyone, but the late novelist Stieg Larsson sure put the spotlight on Stockholm with his Millennium trilogy of books. I recently joined the movie-going crowds at The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and was just as enthralled with the roller coaster twists of the story as I was taken by the moody Swedish scenery shot on one of Sweden’s islands and in its beautiful metropolis, Stockholm. Often referred to as the Venice of the North, Sweden’s capital is full of islands, canals and coves, with nature streaming into every corner of the city. And that’s just how Terry Ward described a recent stay in Stockholm at the Skeppsholmen Hotel, where some of movie’s cast members reportedly bedded down during filming. The hotel is located on a leafy island in the middle of the city, with links by bridge and ferry boats to other Stockholm hot spots. Terry writes:
For an urban hotel in Stockholm where nature infiltrates in the best possible way, it hardly gets any better than at the Hotel Skeppsholmen…Directly in front of the hotel is a well-maintained tennis court fronting the water that’s available for guest use during the warmer months and one of the most scenic spots in the city to perfect your serve. You can even take a swim in the clean city waters from a small beach near the hotel. A stay here puts you within easy access of all of Stockholm’s city attractions, on foot or by ferry. And the beautifully forested city island of Djurgården is less than five minutes by ferry across the water… (read more)
And if you’re looking for other top Stockholm hotels, a few suggestions:
- The Hilton Stockholm Slussen is right in the trendy Södermalm neighborhood, where several of the scenes from the movie were filmed. Highlights include gorgeous city views and spacious all-marble bath rooms.
- The smack dab central Grand Hotel is the city’s grande dame, attracting all ilk of celebrities, dignitaries and international jet setters.
- And the high-design Nobis Hotel, in Stockholm’s most central square, has a few of the city’s sexiest bars and restaurants onsite.
Image courtesy Terry Ward
Ski More, Spend Less
If your new year’s resolution was to ski more and spend less, you might want to take a look at TripAdvisor’s handy TripIndex Ski chart–a cost comparison tool that breaks down the average hotel prices (as well as lift ticket, meal, ski rental and beer prices) at some of North America’s top ski destinations. Salt Lake City, Utah (with access to Snowbird, Alta and other prime ski resorts) made the top of the list for most affordable rooms, with room rates found on TripAdvisor during the height of ski season averaging around 2.30 per night (compare that to 1.81 per night in Vail, Colorado). Also near the top of the cost conscious list were destinations such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Taos, New Mexico; Stowe, Vermont; North Conway, New Hampshire; and Banff in Alberta, Canada.
Budget Travel Digs up Top Hotels Under $150 Per Night
With the holidays behind us, I could certainly use a vacation. And who wouldn’t want to welcome 2012 with a hotel bargain? For beautiful hotel escapes that don’t break the bank, check out Budget Travel’s list of “26 Gorgeous Hotels You Won’t Believe are Under 0.” From an artsy colonial-style hideaway in Mexico City to a hip New Orleans hideaway steps from Bourbon Street, these wallet-friendly hotels might offer just the inspiration you need to kick off the new year on the right side of the bed. A sampling of where to stay:
- El Patio 77 in Mexico City’s Colonia San Rafael neighborhood is thought to be the capital’s first truly green bed and breakfast. Rates from per night.
- At the Inn at Tilton Place in Jensen Beach, FL., guests tuck into three-course breakfasts in an erstwhile fisherman’s home that dates to the 1900s. Rates from 9 per night.
- Within stumbling distance of Bourbon Street, Hotel Le Marais in the French Quarter is a true New Orleans find, with a heated saltwater plunge pool and recently renovated guest rooms decorated with photos of bayou landscapes. Rates from 0 per night.
- The seven, cliff-top rooms at the Australian-owned Casa Las Olas in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua attract surfers from around the globe for great waves and chill vibes. Rates from per night (dorm rooms from ).
Cheers to kicking things off on a cheap and cheerful note in 2012!
Postcard from a French Polynesian Paradise
Few places in the world are as seductive as Tahiti and her islands. The great French painter, Gauguin, surely thought the same. And this shot from the island of Moorea is the kind of screensaver image that burns into my brain and makes me want to go impulse shopping for airline tickets on Orbitz. If I could go anywhere in 2012, French Polynesia–with its overwater bungalows, incredible snorkeling and looming volcanic landscapes–would be very high on my list. What’s your dream destination for the New Year? If it’s French Polynesia, here are a few addresses to drool over:
- Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa has overwater bungalows and grounds lush with fruit trees, palms and frangiapani.
- The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort is the ultimate honeymooner destination on Bora Bora’s legendary lagoon.
- InterContinental French Polynesia has indulgent outposts on the islands of Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora.
- White Sand Beach Resort on the island of Fakarava in the Tuamotu Atolls sits on a beautiful stretch of beach within a short boat ride of some of the world’s top diving and snorkeling sites.
- Le Maitai Rangiroa on Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Atolls has a private pier and snorkeling gear for guests.
- And the newly re-opened Hotel Kia Ora Sauvage on Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Atolls is eco-luxury at its most remote and decadent.
Can somebody say ‘bon voyage’!?
Image courtesy Terry Ward
A Big Pet-Friendly Welcome
Was there something barking or meowing under your Christmas tree this year? Finding a pet-friendly hotel might be on your agenda in the new year, in that case. And since traveling with pets is a lot like traveling with kids, I’ve compiled a pre-trip prep list of things to keep in mind before you hit the road with the furred family friend. And from pet massages to doggie concierges, you can read all about animal indulgences at luxury hotels. And here are a few more four-pawed links if you’re looking to go on vacation and leave no pet left behind:
- Pet-friendly hotels in New York City
- Pet-friendly hotels in Orlando
- And do a search by city at the handy website Bringfido.com
Can I get a “Woof”?
Image CR: Getty Images/Roger Wright
‘Tis the Season to Ski in Colorado
For all the sunny comments from Florida I make in the depths of a northeastern winter, my Colorado friends know how to pay me back with stories of powder dumps and snowy times on the ski slopes out west. And since Colorado recently got its first big dump of the season–talk about an early Christmas present–I’ve compiled a few of my favorite slope-side places to stay if you’re lucky enough to be Rockies-bound this winter:
- Lauded by Travel+Leisure, the Sonnenalp hotel, slope-side in Vail along Gore Creek, has a divine outdoor pool for post-mountain soaking.
- For a romantic getaway in Vail, I like the Arrabelle at Vail Square, a Rock Resorts property, for its contemporary decor and huge in-room fireplaces.
- The Osprey at Beaver Creek is a fine pick for families
- And check in to my favorite picks in Aspen, with such iconic hotels as Hotel Jerome and celebrity hotspot Little Nell making the list.
- And in Steamboat Springs, I’d teleport to the Steamboat Grand any day, snow or sun, if given the option.
Happy skiing!
Image courtesy Osprey at Beaver Creek
Holiday Tour of the Inns of Palm Springs
You’d think, between living in Orlando and spending the holidays in my native New Orleans, I’d get my fill of holiday decorations. But even with all the twinkling lights and inflatable Santas around me, I was more than happy to check out this virtual tour of Palm Springs, California, where Janet Malin recently popped in during this desert town’s annual Walk of the Inns. Once the stomping grounds of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the like, Palm Springs’ retro vibe really comes alive during the holiday, when the many mid-century-style boutique hotels get decked to the nines (think Christmas ornaments on cacti) to get into the spirit. Check out Janet’s slideshow and add Palm Springs to your wish list this holiday season.
