Luxury Travel
137 Pillars House – Old Building, Modern Luxury in Thailand
Northern Thailand’s historic city of Chiang Mai is home to 137 Pillars House, a unique experience combining modern luxury and elegance in a historic Thai building. This 30 room hotel sits effortlessly on a glorious piece of land along the Mae Ping River, and was formerly used by the Thai government to host visiting guests.
137 Pillars House offers four levels of accommodations, starting with their 20 Rajah Brooke Suites. These suites offer 70 square meters including a suite bathroom, walk-in closet, and tiled veranda overlooking lush tropical gardens. The hotel’s top-tier accommodations are their two Louis Leonowens Pool Suites. At 135 square meters, these one or two bedroom suites feature their own private pools and indoor/outdoor showers. All of the rooms feature four poster king or super king beds with Sealy Posturepedic mattresses and 400-ct. bed linens. Guests will also enjoy personal butlers, concierge service, high-speed Internet, a welcome basket of fruits and local delicacies, and so much more.
Armani Hotel Milano is Now Open
The Armani Group has announced the opening of its second hotel – this one in the fashion-rich city of Milan. It follows closely on the heels of the brand-new hotel chain’s first property, the Armani Hotel Dubai. While Dubai property focused on luxury in a modern, art deco world, the Milan property is a step back in a unique package which combines luxury, old world Italian elegance, and Giorgio Armani’s personal sense of sophistication. It is a hotel designed not only for international travelers on holiday, but also the world’s top business representatives coming to the city. Armani Hotels are operated in partnership with Emaar Properties PJSC
The lovely 95-room property sits atop the historic Manzoni 31 building where Armani’s signature first store is also located. The hotel features three room options including Armani Deluxe, Armani Signature, and Armani Presidential suites. The presidential suites are by far the most sought after ranging up to 2,162 square feet, spread across two floors and joined by an impressive staircase. Among the modern and sophistication design elements are a one-way glass shower enclosure, cupboards that recede and disappear into the walls, and a unique front vestibule separating the bedroom area. Guests are sure to appreciate the sophisticated neutral colors, elegant furnishings, and the abundance of Asian limestone in the bathrooms.
PUBLIC Hotels Bring Modern Classic Style to Chicago
The former Ambassador East Hotel has been a Chicago landmark since its opening in 1926. Now, thanks to iconic hotel designer and developer Ian Schrager, the legend of days gone by has been transformed to rise to new heights of sophistication and elegance for the discriminating traveller. Schrager, widely known for his revolutionary boutique hotel concept birthed in the 1980s is once again changing the luxury hotel paradigm with a new brand known simply as PUBLIC. The brand is Schrager’s attempt to redefine luxury travel without the unnecessary excess which has long made it unaffordable to the masses. His PUBLIC brand changes the way we think of luxury hotels, thus allowing access to anyone who wants it.
At the heart of PUBLIC Chicago is a design theme that harkens back to the days of the American and European coffee houses in the 1950s. The hotel’s public spaces are designed to encourage both socialization and business interaction by including relaxing sofas and chairs intermingled with workspace tables. Soft colours and sleek lines combined with refined and low-key décor, present a sophisticated space that is instantly classic without being ostentatious. When you’re in the hotel’s lobby you will know you’re somewhere special — though you might not know exactly why.
Hilton Puerto Vallarta to Open in 2012
Hilton Hotels is headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico according to a recently released statement from Hilton Worldwide. The company announced it has signed an agreement with Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe to develop and operate the popular tourist destination’s first Hilton resort. The new property is scheduled to open in mid-2012.
Not only will the new hotel be conveniently located just a few minutes from Puerto Vallarta’s airport and cruise ship terminal, but it will also offer the same luxurious hotel experience Hilton Hotels & Resorts is known for worldwide. The hotel will feature nearly 260 world-class rooms as well as honeymoon suites and executive accommodations. Rooms will feature modern décor, elegant design, plenty of amenities, and an atmosphere designed around comfort and relaxation.
Golden Eagle Luxury Tree House at Primland
In Southern Virginia’s Patrick County, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lies the sleepy bedroom community of Meadows of Dan. This quaint and unincorporated community doesn’t seem like much to travellers passing through, but that’s only because most of them don’t know what’s there. For hidden away is a unique resort that combines the ultimate in luxury with an unparalleled respect for the great outdoors: Primland.
Primland has always been a great property indeed, but now it’s being improved with the addition of the new Golden Eagle Tree House. This new creation is one of four new suites being added to the resort.
Aulani Disney Resort – The Luxury Hawaiian Getaway
Always known for its first-class accommodations and entertainment venues, Disney opened its latest resort hotel on the island of Oahu, Hawaii to much fanfare and customer anticipation. The first guests arrived the last week of August to enjoy a combination of Disney quality and the gorgeous island atmosphere of Hawaii; an atmosphere that provides an unforgettable holiday getaway for people of all ages.
The Aulani Disney Resort sits on 21 gorgeous acres of waterfront space just 30 minutes from Waikiki. Guests can spend their days soaking up the sun, relaxing in a Disney spa, touring the island with official Disney excursions, and having fun in the resort’s swimming pools. Yet the hotel’s most unique feature is its storytelling theme, which plays off the ancient Hawaiian tradition of carrying on indigenous history through storytelling. And as an added bonus, just like Disney has scattered “hidden Mickey’s” all over its resorts in Orlando, they’ve also hidden an unknown number of Menehune statues for guests to try and find.
The St. Regis Brings it’s Style of Luxury to Florence
The beautiful city of Florence recaptures a bit of former glory in the Starwood Hotels & Resorts restoration of one of its most historic and grand buildings. Starwood has just completed a 10-month renovation of the former Grand Hotel Florence, which they previously operated under their The Luxury Collection brand. With the renovation complete the new property is now known as the St. Regis Florence.
The St. Regis Florence occupies what was once the first luxury hotel in the city designed in 1432 by architect Filippo Brunelleschi. Starwood has returned the building to its former glory careful to preserve both the heritage and historical significance of the structure. The renovation is part of a $100 million effort by Starwood to renovate their most desirable properties across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The St. Regis Florence is a truly Italian hotel featuring 81 rooms, 19 suites, and a special designer suite from Bottega Veneta. All guest rooms feature luxury appointments, custom furniture, gloriously beautiful paintings, frescoes, and chandeliers, and unique names of noted Italian artists and nobility. Furthermore, each room is decorated with sophistication and elegance, in one of three color themes: Florentine, Medici, and Renaissance. As for the property’s public spaces, guests will appreciate fine antiques and handmade engravings scattered throughout the hotel.
First Virgin America Hotel Announced in Chicago
In Europe the Virgin brand name is one of the most well-known and respected among all industries. Now the company aims to strengthen its position in North America by venturing into the hotel business. To that end, Virgin Group has announced the completion of a deal that will bring the first Virgin-branded hotel to America. The site of the property is a historic office building in downtown Chicago that the Group purchased from Wabash Lake Partners LLC, Chicago.
Assisting Virgin Group in the deal was Chicago-based John Buck Company. The two will jointly work together on a redevelopment plan to transform the property into a 250-room, four-star hotel. No details have yet been released on the direction designers will be taking, or the total cost of the renovation, but Virgin’s hotel division has been allotted as much as USD $500 million to acquire and develop properties in America’s most dynamic cities. In addition to Chicago, Virgin has targeted New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington DC.
The Chicago property is a 27-story building on the city’s West side, between the shores of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. The Art Deco building is significant to Chicago’s heritage, making it a perfect venue for the Virgin brand name. Virgin has not yet scheduled a date for the property’s grand opening and is open the possibility of another US-based hotel debuting before the October 2013 Chicago deadline.
Make Traveling Hassle Free With ‘Luggage Forward’
Seasoned travelers know what a hassle it can be to make sure luggage arrives at its destination safely and on time. So much so, that many try to fit everything they need into a single carry-on bag they can keep with them. But now, thanks to a new service known as Luggage Forward, it’s easy to take the hassles out of travelling with luggage at a cost that’s extremely affordable.
Luggage Forward is an American company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company offers its service to more than 200 countries and territories around the world, making bookings available via the telephone or the Internet. The company partners with world-class shipping companies and forwarding specialists in order to ensure your luggage gets where it needs to go. Luggage Forward is the official forwarding service for well-known organizations like AAA, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Abercrombie & Kent, Holland America, and American Express.
New Bose Headphones: Perfect for Traveling
Regular users of Bose headphones know that they are an excellent choice for travel. So it should be no surprise that the company’s two newest models, the OE2 and OE2i, live up to the same Bose standards we’ve come to know and love. According to an official announcement, they are even better than their predecessors.
The OE2i feature an in-line switch that allows interaction with connected devices so that users can both listen to music and speak on the go. With your smart phone that means you’ll be able to take calls and listen to music without having to switch your earphones. You’ll be able to make use of voice applications, adjust your volume, scroll through tracks, and a whole lot more.
As for the OE2 headphones, they don’t come with the same voice features, but they reproduce music just as accurately and crisply as the OE2i. Bose accomplishes this with their proprietary TriPort® acoustic technology. This technology reproduces sound that is more natural and more balanced with rich clarity at all frequencies – lows, mids, and highs – so you get perfect sound reproduction by matter what type of music you listen to.
