Richar Branson billionaire mogul/hotelier has managed to take time away from his busy space-travel planning schedule to outline a plan for an eco-resort on Mosquito Island in the British Virgin Islands (of course.) The AP reports:
The plan calls for 20 villas and a beachfront restaurant. The resort would be powered by wind turbines and solar panels, while captured thermal flows would cool the buildings. Guests would eat food from an organic orchard, and they would have access to beach buggies that run on biofuels.
Branson's eco-friendly plans are being reviewed by the government but the word is they "seem to like" his ideas. More on the eco-resort can be found here.
Branson is in the midst of planning a bunch of "Urban" Virgin Hotels and he already has a few luxury resorts in his portfolio including Necker Island. Although the latter might not be as eco-friendly with its helicopter landing pad.
Last week, we wondered on Jaunted what Virgin Atlantic was announcing via an email to loyalty club members. We thought it might be something like in-flight massage chairs, but according to Marketing Week it's probably three new Virgin Hotels that we first heard of back in March.
Bossman Richard Branson, who already has a few luxe hotels under his belt, says the product will be sorta like Starwood's W Hotels:
Urban, townhouse-style properties, half way between a hotel and a private club.
Apparently other brands have approached his company for ideas, but Branson is ready to just start up some new hotels himself. Rumor has it that the first three properties will be in New York, London and LA.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Thanks to HotelChatter tipster srte for dropping this in our Flickr pool. It's from Richard Branson's Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco, and we're more than impressed with this magnificent view from the terrace of the hotel overlooking the pool, and a fantastic garden.
We fell in love with this hotel the first time we looked at it and views like this only make our craving to get there stronger. In a perfect world we'd be booking the Deluxe Suite (which includes a pool) but the Escape Package for that (a three night stay) costs €2,470 (US$3,800) a double, which sadly doesn't fit into our budget this month.
The cheapest option during low season is €320 (US$500) a night for the double, which is more within the realms of possibility.
If you've seen Casablanca, you've dreamt of nights spent at the kasbah, no? Rest assured there are plenty of riad and kasbah accommodations throughout Morocco; some remain empty and some like the Kasbah Tamadot have been turned into luxury retreats.
At the bidding of his mother, Sir Richard Branson bought this property as he began a round the world hot-air balloon excursion from Marrakech. He renovated the magical walled-in building and, in 2005, it became the latest addition to his Virgin Limited Edition portfolio.
Amidst the fairy-tale setting, you'll find 18 individually designed guest rooms, each one offering some sort of outside space, be it a balcony, terrace or private rooftop area, with magnificent views.
Richard Branson pokes his nose into everything and has sticky fingers in every business pie. Now we hear he's got his beady eyes on a skyscraper hotel in Manchester.
If the deal comes off, there'll be a shiny Virgin City Hotel sign on a 44-storey skyscraper on Aytoun Street, Piccadilly. The four-star hotel would only take over 23 floors of the building, and the rest would be taken up by whatever brings most profit to the Albany Crown developers - offices and shops mostly.
Virgin City Hotel is a baby brand and has not actually yet signed any deals with any hotels anywhere. But if it follows the Virgin style, we can imagine the hotel - fluffy bathrobes, hot-tubs, shiny glass-and-steel décor in the bar, dark red sofas and seats, and hopefully working Wi-Fi.
Celebs often rely on their name and reputation to get away with a third-rate film or a tuneless song.
But can they do the same with hotels?
Richard Branson's latest venture, opened in December 2007 after a $7,256,000 renovation, is the super-luxury ski chalet The Lodge in the elite resort of Verbier, Switzerland. You won't find many guests blogging their experiences, though, because with next year's prices set at anything between $83,000 and $140,000 a week for the nine-room chalet, guests aren't really in the blogging market.
So let's see what you get for your money....and see whether you think it's worth it.
It's looking more likely all the time that space tourism will be led by private industry, not slow-moving NASA. So who better to get the infrastructure going than a hotel man?
The November issue of Wired magazine has an feature story on Robert Bigelow, billionaire founder of the Budget Suites hotel chain. Turns out he is a bit of a space nut, living in Nevada and owning a chunk of land where UFOs have been sighted. He has been pouring his fortune into Bigelow Aerospace, a company that is setting up innovative space stations that inflate in orbit instead of having to launch in pieces.
You won't find the story online, unfortunately. Despite the magazine's name, most Wired stories can only be found in old fashioned print on ink. The big takeaway though is that space hotels are not first on the list in terms of projects for the stations. First of all, there's not that much money in it. Tenants looking to do science experiments and zero-gravity manufacturing are going to pony up a lot more money than zillionaires who want to brag they ordered room service while gazing down at the Earth.
Once Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos gets a space shuttle for tourists going, however, Bigelow Aerospace's modules can be configured to suit any purpose. So later we could see hotel suites--but definitely not Budget Suites.
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 Annie 007 let's us know where she would go when money ain't a thang and you got your own helicopter to travel in. Enjoy.
When it comes to flights of fancy about faraway hotels and luxury accommodations, nobody ever thinks "Five-star service on a private island owned by Richard Branson, with all the amenities money can buy."
They think, "Outdoor throne."
Crown yourself "porcelain goddess" on Necker Island, Sir Richard's exclusive resort paradise, just 15 minutes by boat from Virgin Gorda (or, if you're in a tearing hurry to relax, arrive in style by high speed boat or helicopter).
You and 26 of your bestest, closest friends can have the whole freaking place all to yourself - or you and your disgustingly lucky significant other can roam the empty hallways and take advantage of the extra closet space -- for just $19,000 a day.
For the privileged few for whom money is no object, you gotta go here. It has butler, maid, and cook service - a full staff to fulfill your every whim, whenever you're feeling whimsical. There are two pools, two Jacuzzis, and a beach pool. It has a Balinese gazebo, lit tennis court, a patio for al fresco meals overlooking a waterfall that burbles through lush gardens and spills down into one of the pools.
If you're bored, there's sailing, water skiing, wind surfing, diving, banana boat rides, an aqua trampoline, sea kayaking, a DVD and book library, board games, and snooker. You can ask for an evening bonfire on the beach, with lobster tails served on fine china. Or burgers, tater tots, and Bud. Whatever you want, they got.
More of Richard Branson's paradise after the jump.
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by juliana
