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If It Actually Gets Built, The Star Trek Theme Resort Will Be the Ultimate Geek Hotel

Sorry Vegas, in a few years, no one will be holding their Star Trek conventions in your town anymore. No, instead they will beam themselves to the new Star Trek Theme Resort being built in Jordan.

Hotels Mag reports that construction on the $1.5 billion theme park and resort will start early next year and when it's completed in 2014 will include four hotels. Four! Details are scant on what else the project, known as the Red Sea Astrarium, will include but there is mention of a Star Trek-themed "space-flight adventure."

Also King Abdullah II is apparently a Trekkie, having made a cameo appearance on “Star Trek: Voyager” in 1995. Ahh...so that's what it's going to take to get our idea for the Battlestar Gallatica adults-only resort off the ground.

Well, we'll still keep our fingers crossed (or open Spock-style?) that the Star Trek resort actually gets built.

Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Janna Spa Makes Bathtime Fun

Where: P.O. Box 801, Madaba, Jordan, 11117

A desert in Jordan near the Dead Sea, healing hot springs, and a New York Times good review are all a part of the Janna Resort & Spa in Madaba, Jordan.

Changed over from a standard Mercure, the hotel is now more roomy and luxurious with standard rooms even granted their own sitting room and balcony.

Pushed into the modern world, internet is in every room, yet representing its deep roots in the area, a Mosque is attached to the hotel. Don't worry however, there is still a hotel bar in this intermixing of old and new. What remains constant however, is the hot water spring bath as the main attraction. Two natural baths one of 120 degrees and another slightly cooler along with a regular pool should satisfy the neediest of water lovers. Including spa treatments with the pools is the idea here and there is a full menu of massages and the likes.

Back in the hotel room, it sounds as if the spa continues according the Times reviewer's description:

big attraction. Large, tiled in ceramic and marble, and stage-lighted by recessed pinpoint lights. Ours had a walk-in shower and a soaking tub, each big enough for two.

The location is well below sea level and a hike away from the Dead Sea, the mineral baths give it reason, and the hotel upgrade makes it worth the trip. Plus after your stay you can claim to have soaked in the same bath as King Herod the Great who is perhaps best known for--well we're not sure.

Related Stories:
· Check In Check Out [New York Times]
· Madaba reviews [TripAdvisor]

Hotel Openings / → All Tags

Hotel Opening: Kempinski's Ishtar Dead Sea

Where: Swaimeh, Dead Sea Road, 11180 Amman, Jordan

The latest Kempinski Hotel has opened on the Dead Sea.

Guests can now flock to the lowest point on the face of the earth and stay at the Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea which is:

Designed in affectionate tribute to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, [and] is a creation of local stone, tiles and glass set amidst gardens of olive trees and palms, dotted with lagoons, waterfalls and private pools.

The 114 Ishtar Villas actually opened on May 1 but 201 more rooms and suites will open early in 2007, along with an entertainment center that will have a bowling alley, movie theater, meeting and sports facilities.

The hotel's keystone is the Anantara spa which is 2-acres big--one of the world's largest with more than 20 treatment rooms, 28 spa suites, Jacuzzis, Asian therapies, steam rooms, saunas and a Hammam.

For the high rollers and royalty, the 20,000-square foot Ishtar Royal Villa is also available and has three bedrooms, a private infinity pool, a private butler and its own series of gardens and beach chalets.

But whether or not you get a standard room or the Royal Villa, every room and suite faces the Dead Sea, so no views of the parking lot or brick walls here.

Related Stories:
· Kempinski's latest jewel opens on the shores of the Dead Sea in Egypt [Travel Video TV News]

Hotel News / → All Tags

Suicide Bombers Attack Three Hotels in Amman

Where: Al-Hussein Bin Ali Street, Amman, Jordan, 11118

A wedding ended in tragedy last night at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan when a suicide bomber believed to be linked to Al Qaeda attacked, killing at least 56 people, including the fathers of both the bride and the groom and at least one American.

Two other hotels, the Grand Hyatt Amman and Days Inn Amman, also suffered attacks.  In a sick correlation, the attacks happened on November 9, a date written in the Middle East as 9/11, since the day is written before the month.

While Jordanians are stunned at the attacks by Muslims on fellow Muslims, Jordan is one of the United States' closest allies in the Middle East. According to CNN, a statement was posted on an Al Qaeda website declaring:

"After studying the targets and watching, we chose the places to carry the mission on some of the hotels, which the Jordanian dictator turned into a backyard for the enemies of faith -- the Jews and the Crusaders."

This is a sad reminder that it's still necessary to exercise caution when traveling in the Middle East, American or not.

Related Stories:
·   Terror Attacks Spark Fury in Jordan [CNN]
·   Jordanians Rally to Denounce Terrorists [AOL News]