Palaces for Paris

Four of The Luxury Travel Bible's favourite Parisian hotels - Hotel Le Bristol, Le Meurice, the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome and the Plaza Athenee have been named in a select list of just eight official palace hotels in France by the French Government.The moniker of 'palace hotel' is one that many Paris hotels adopted over the years as a self-appointed and unofficial title but last year the government of France decided to make it an official category and laid out specific criteria for five-star properties who wanted the title of 'palace', and called it the "tourism version of the Pulitzer Prize' ". Outside of paris the distinction was also given to the Palais in Biarritz, the Airelles and Cheval Blanc in Courchevel and the Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat. General Manager of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome Michel Jauslin said ."We are delighted that Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome.. has been honored as a founding recipient of France's official Distinction Palace rating" .Hotels were judged by a 10-strong panel of personalities from hospitality, architecture and design, literature, film and television, science and business.
 The Luxury Travel Bible is always fond of a palace so we look forward to checking into every one of them. www.hyatt.com

 

Palaces for Paris

Four of The Luxury Travel Bible's favourite Parisian hotels - Hotel Le Bristol, Le Meurice, the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome and the Plaza Athenee have been named in a select list of just eight official palace hotels in France by the French Government.The moniker of 'palace hotel' is one that many Paris hotels adopted over the years as a self-appointed and unofficial title but last year the government of France decided to make it an official category and laid out specific criteria for five-star properties who wanted the title of 'palace', and called it the "tourism version of the Pulitzer Prize' ". Outside of paris the distinction was also given to the Palais in Biarritz, the Airelles and Cheval Blanc in Courchevel and the Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat. General Manager of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome Michel Jauslin said ."We are delighted that Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome.. has been honored as a founding recipient of France's official Distinction Palace rating" .Hotels were judged by a 10-strong panel of personalities from hospitality, architecture and design, literature, film and television, science and business.
 The Luxury Travel Bible is always fond of a palace so we look forward to checking into every one of them. www.hyatt.com

 

Virgin happy about not being blue

As anticipated the Virgin Blue group in Australia has officially announced that Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue and V-Australia will be rolled into one Virgin Australia brand. Expect one new super-virgin look rolled out soon, a revamp of airport lounges starting in Melbourne and Brisbane and a hard-hitting attitude to competition and standards in business class out of Oz. Go Virgin we say, always good to have competition at the pointy end.

What a delicious Welcome!

Early morning flight to Sicily tomorrow morning. Just checked into Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow ... such a lovely welcome!

A Jumbo undertaking

A bizarre piece of news but one guaranteed to make you a whole lot more comfortable on an elephant (You don't think it matters, have you ridden one?) Camp Jabulani in South Africa has created tailor made elephant saddles to take their luxury elephant back safaris to a whole new level. These über-comfortable saddles take two weeks to create and each one is carefully moulded to fit the shape and form of each and every elephant. Adine Roode of Jubulani explains: "We take the exact measurements of each elephant and adjust the saddles accordingly to their growth. The saddles are like carefully created Savile Row tailored suits." Apparently the design of the saddles has taken years to perfect, finding the right type of foam, the correct stitching, fabric that is both durable yet comfortable on the skin to the actual cut and shape. As the elephants grow, new saddles have to be made so the workshop is constantly in production at Camp Jabulani.

www.campjabulani.com/

Mandarin and Albert join forces

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has become the 'preferred hotel partner' to the Royal Albert Hall. The luxury hotel is in the perfect spot with great views over the Royal Park and a stiletto stagger from the classy shops of Knightsbridge. More to the point it is only a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall, so it is the perfect place to check-in for those wanting to visit the venue. The Royal Albert Hall celebrated a record breaking year in 2010 with 381 events being held in the main auditorium and 150 outside, so there is plenty of reasons to visit. The hotel's Bar Boulud, has also created a special menu for Royal Albert Hall guests. Last night of The Proms anyone? All together now: "Land of Hope and Glory...." www.mandarinoriental.com www.royalalberthall.com

A Private Pool in the Sky

When the high-rise Banyan Tree Macau opens on May 15 in the impressive Galaxy complex, Cotai City it will be the first 'urban resort' in Macau to have private indoor relaxation pools in all of its 227 suites. It also adjoins the world's largest 'sky wave' pool (eat your heart out Marina Bay Sands )- complete with a 150-metre white sand beach- in the largest resort development in Macau. The jewel in this sky-scraping crown will be the 3,400 square metre Banyan Tree Spa with 21 treatment rooms, designed with a contemporary Asian theme (note the bamboo-motif reception and a bamboo courtyard with glass skylight) and the usual sublime Banyan spa treatments. Since Banyan Tree academy opened at Banyan's Phuket resort in 2001 their spas have been a bench mark and The Luxury Travel Bible will sumit to one of their massage tables anytime. We suggest the signature Royal Banyan treatment or the Banyan Gui Shi for those looking for true indulgence in Macau.

Luxury Link: www.banyantree.com