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Tags: Green Hotels / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Island Hotels / Island Resorts / → All Tags
100,00th Tree Planted on Seychelles Island Paradise
Sometimes, that old adage, "Can't see the forest for the trees in the way" can take on a positive connotation. We've made puns about hotels taking the LEED and recently reported on Kimpton's initiative to plant a billion trees in Brazil, and in the same spirit, Seychelles' Fregate Island Private Resort is marking a significant ecological milestone: They recently planted the 100,000th tree in their endemic hardwood program.
The program is part of Fregate's efforts to become carbon neutral, which in broad terms refers to achieving zero carbon emissions. Hoping to replenish what was destroyed when Seychelles was colonized—namely local forestation that was replaced by coconut trees—Fregate sought to bring back natural flora and fauna to the area. The 100,000th tree was a Ficus, which normally thrives in rocky underground environments like those on Seychelles. The trees are said to reach heights of 50 to 65 feet and grow remarkably quickly.
And, lest you think that the resort is one of those hypocritical businesses whose real estate is taking over the island while claiming to save it, not that their buildings only occupy five percent of the island, leaving the remaining 95 percent untouched.
Tags: Hotel Spas / Spa Packages / Island Resorts / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Qualia Does Spa Treatments for the Typical Aussie Bloke
The idyllic Hamilton Island resort off the Queensland coast Down Under, qualia, is ramping up the Aussie factor. Of course, it's been Aussie all along, but they're now cashing in on it with a bunch of Australian-themed spa packages at the Spa qualia.
Since spa treatments are really a pretty new thing to Australia, none of the offerings are truly Australian in any way, but at least some of them sound authentically Aussie. For example, there's the It's A Man's World spa menu which, they say, is "inspired by the Australian man, particularly the type who is likely to spend time sailing or playing golf" – you can get some "individual guy time" and a steam scrub treatment called the Cup Defender, or the Lifesaver facial for dry, too-long-in-the-sun skin.
It's not just for men, of course. There are a collection of Li'tya treatments which have taken their inspiration from Aboriginal dreamtime stories, along with the Heart Reef Ritual which includes body brushing and just the right colors to make you think of the Great Barrier Reef.
Prices aren't exorbitant (you're already paying enough to get to qualia and stay there) – for example, the 105 minutes that your man spends getting the "Cup Defender" treatment will cost A$200 ($160). We're not sure that making spa treatments sound more Australian is really a marketing winner, but there are plenty of other reasons to check out the qualia luxury anyhow.
Tags: Australia Hotels / Island Resorts / Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Canoodle With the Dolphins at Australia's Tangalooma Resort
Some say an ex-whaling station is a strange place to build a resort — but we have a feeling that it's a great place for the Tangalooma Island Resort off the coast near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.
Ironically, Tangalooma used to be the biggest whaling station in the southern hemisphere, but now it's all about being nice to big fish (and mammals). For example, there's a pod of dolphins who seem to call Tangalooma home now, routinely comin' around to be fed and have even brought gifts of eels to their feeders.
But if dolphins aren't your creature of choice, you can also go jet skiing to check out some turtles and dugongs, or snorkel around 15 different shipwrecks where there are plenty of colorful fish. And in the right seasons, there's even whale watching; uh, obviously the whales have erased the memory of what used to happen to them at Tangalooma.
There's a variety of accommodation styles within the resort, including hotel rooms starting at A$290 ($220) for doubles (just a short sprint to the beach), and there are also fancier beachfront apartments if you're traveling with friends; a two-bedroom place (which can actually sleep six if you include the sofa bed in the living room) starts around A$660 ($500) a night. You also have to get out there — remember it's an island — so you usually need to add a A$70 ($50) transfer fee. Unless you can arrange to hitch a ride on a dolphin.
Tags: Hotel Hype / Philippines Resorts / Island Resorts / Eco-Resorts / → All Tags
Philippines To Get New Resort That is Luxury, Eco and Nonprofit
Here are two words we don't usually read in the same sentence: "non-profit" and "luxury". It's a curious idea but that's the idea behind a new eco-resort in the Philippines. We're already quite enamored with the Palawan region of the Philippines so the planned Cacao Pearl enticed us just from the location--but we're confused about the non-profit luxury idea.
The Cacao Pearl will include 60 residences on a private island--think thick rainforest, coconut palms and white beaches--and they're promising both sustainable development and "sustainable enjoyment". Their target market is what they call the "grown-up backpacker", presumably ones who've saved a bit of cash, because you'll be able to buy one of these residences and then either rent it to other vacationers or use it yourself. It does sound pretty luxurious, with an infinity pool, spa, organic gardens and all designed by Antonio Calvo who was the art director for films like "Love, Actually" and "Pride and Prejudice".
Apparently the non-profit bit comes into play by donating any profits to supporting local social and environmental programs, so you can frolic in your infinity pool with a clear conscience. The residences are already for sale but won't be complete until 2011.
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Hamilton Island's Lower-Cased qualia Turns One
The luxury qualia resort on Australia's Hamilton Island is not afraid to bring attention to its birthdays. A while back they reported in on the success of their first six months and recently they started distributing press releases wishing themselves a happy first birthday.
But as far as new kids on the resort block go, qualia--and yes, that's qualia with a small Q, because the lowercasing shows "the relaxed, understated nature of the property"--must have reasonably proud parents. In the second half of qualia's first year of life, a few cracks have been showing on this resort that we used to think was perfect.
More recent TripAdvisor comments point to plenty of lapses in service quality, like unstocked supplies in the rooms, slow service in general, and a toddler at this supposedly over-18s escape. Quelle Horror! Apparently looking under the beds is not advised either because they're a bit on the dusty side.
Everyone still agrees the resort is beautiful and with good service would be perfect, so all is not lost at qualia. Yet before we're prepared to hand over the minimum of A$1,450 ($1,050) a night, we'll be expecting a bit more.
[Photo: samyoyoyang]
Tags: Island Resorts / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Happy Half-Birthday to Hamilton Island's Qualia
At the top of the list for our must-visits in northern Australia is the Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, off the Queensland coast. Qualia has just celebrated its six month anniversary and the resort has proudly reported back a few statistics from its first half year in business.
Even though the resort isn't entirely complete, what they have there already is running at a 60% occupancy rate, and in such a short time, they're already seeing 10% of their guests returning for a second go.
Tags: Sex and the City / RockResorts / Island Resorts / → All Tags
Party of Four: St. Lucia Girlfriend Getaway
With the "Sex and the City" movie right around the corner (it opens May 30), you might be reminiscing about all those Sunday nights in college when you and three of your girlfriends made cosmos, watched the show and the spent the remainder of the evening debating who was the real-life Carrie in your little clan. Lucky for you, you don't need to just reminisce, now that you're older and (hypothetically) can afford to live the glamorous lifestyle upheld by the show.
Gather up the BFFs for a getaway to The Landings St. Lucia, A RockResort, with the property's "Girls Rock" package. Available through December 19, it includes accommodations in a two-bedroom suite; a one-hour sailing lesson and unlimited sailboat rentals; private cooking class and wine tasting with the hotel's executive chef; a 50-minute massage treatment each day; an in-room make-your-own-drinks bar; and a CD from a local steel drum band.
The package requires a five-night minimum stay, with room rates starting at $257 per person, per night, based on quadruple occupancy. Although we're pretty sure Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha didn't share rooms that time they want to Atlantic City, but whatevs. Worth noting is that the hotel is currently in stage two of a four-stage development, which won't be complete until September 2010.
[Photo: davitydave]
Tags: Island Resorts / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Now Open for Business: Hamilton Island's Qualia
Last time we checked in at what might just be the best place to stay in Australia, the luxurious and exclusive Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, off the Queensland coast, they were due to open up any day. Now Qualia has been running a few months we thought we should check in on how the luxury's actually turned out.
And the answer is: from all accounts, very, very good. A recent write-up in The Australian from Susan Kurosawa, one of Australia's most well-known travel writers, was full of praise. And that's despite the fact that some of the resort is still under construction--she said that this has been so well-managed, you never feel like you're staying somewhere that's not finished.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Fiji Resort Reviews / Island Resorts / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': Happy Birthday Yasawa Island
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K celebrates a milestone, not hers, in Fiji. Enjoy.
I love celebrating birthdays, and I don't really care whose birthday it is. That's the reason my current pick for a dream vacation is a stay at the Yasawa Island Resort, which is celebrating its first birthday. I'm hoping they'll save a nice piece of cake for me.
Cake aside, Yasawa is described as one of the most isolated luxury resorts in Fiji, with its 18 bungalows tucked away under palm trees on a tiny island a half hour flight from Nadi. It also has the Baravi Spa with all kinds of great massage and spa therapies.
If I was in any doubt that Yasawa would be a great place for a holiday, their website got me with the slogan: "Fijians have fifteen words for heaven. The first one is Yasawa". On top of that they have a birthday special going where you can book for seven nights but only pay for five, valid until the end of March 2008. Yasawa, here I come.
[Photo: Jame]
Related Stories:
· Yasawa Island Resort: Ask An Aussie [HotelChatter]
· Hotels in Fiji [HotelChatter]
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Island Resorts / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': Rent-An-Island Off Queensland
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K takes over her own island. Enjoy.
A really special part of Australia is the islands off the Queensland coast. Some of these spots, like Hayman Island or the Whitsundays, are known at least by name to plenty of travelers, but I'm in the mood for something really special. So I was pretty excited today to discover the existence of Haggerstone Island off Cairns.
Getting to Haggerstone Island is relatively simple, but not fast. Once you've reached Cairns in northern Queensland, you have to take a two-hour flight to Hicks Island. From there, it's a twenty-minute boat transfer to Haggerstone Island.
Staying on Haggerstone Island sounds comfortable enough though, even if there's nowhere else to go while I'm there. There are three huts and a treehouse, plus the main pavilion where island guests eat meals or read in the library. The huts each sleep two adults, and up to two children. While you're on Haggerstone you can go snorkeling and swimming, fishing and birdwatching, or just walk endlessly on the beach (endlessly, but around in circles: it's not that big).
For me, the most exciting part about Haggerstone Island is that it's possible to hire the whole island. For just A$3,900 (US$3,400) a night, you and your traveling companions can be the only ones on the island, apart from the staff (numbering four). Now that doesn't sound like a lot for a whole island.
Related Stories:
· Killer View From Hayman Island [HotelChatter]
· Travel Stories in Queensland [Jaunted]
Tags: Hotel Openings / Island Resorts / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Qualia: Absolute Luxury on the Great Barrier Reef
Where: Hamilton Island, Australia
Hamilton Island, off the Queensland coast of Australia, has just got a brand new, upscale luxury resort. Qualia is the Great Barrier Reef's answer to decadence, and the resort includes 60 villas sitting on the northern tip of Hamilton. It's due to open any day now, ready to settle in a bit before for the summer season starts at the end of the year.
Qualia is pricey by Australian standards, with rooms apparently starting from A$1400 a night (about US$1200). But for that, you get a private plunge pool, access to a personal trainer, a library and an electric golf buggy to explore the rest of the island in.
There will be two restaurants exclusively for guests, one dubbed a "contemporary Australian restaurant" (whatever that means) and another more casual eatery, the kind you can crash in after coming back in from the pool. Since billionaire Bob Oatley bought the island three years ago, all kinds of developments have been going on, but it looks like Qualia should be the icing on the cake. Time will tell.
[Photo: quannum]
Related Stories:
· Island Daze for Tropical Gourmands [SMH]
· World's Most Dangerous Airports: Hamilton Island [Jaunted]
Tags: Island Resorts / Hotel Hype / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / → All Tags
New Idyllic Island Hotel Alert
Where: Turks and Caicos
Dellis Cay, the Turks & Caicos luxury hotel and residences to open on John Dellis's Caribbean island, may not be scheduled to open until 2009, but hotel hype can never start early enough.
Greek shipping god John Dellis developed a thriving sponge trading center at this particular cay towards the end of the 19th century (what is it with these Greek shipping guys?), and today the island is set to be the site of Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay, designed by Shigeru Ban, David Chipperfiled, Carl Ettensperger, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, and Piero Lissoni.
Construction will begin this spring on turning 35 island acres with a beachfront access into the Mandarin Oriental hotel and residences. There will be 25 suites in the hotel to add to the residences offered for rental (a smattering of villas and condos). The residences will feature large terraces and balconies, there will be four restaurants, infinity-edge pools, tennis courts, a beach club and shops. The spa will be built suspended over a lake, and it will have an outdoor pool for water massage treatments.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are already rumored to have snagged a pre-construction villa here.
If you are looking to buy, it will cost you $1.2 million to $6 million and if you are looking to holiday on Dellis Cay, stay tuned for room prices as they become available.
[Photo: Dbox]
Here is Dellis Cay on Google Maps.
Related Stories:
·Hotels in Turks & Caicos [HotelChatter]
·Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay [NY Times]
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