Jetsettersblog

MGM Mirage’s Bellagio and Skylofts at MGM Grand properties, as well as its Picasso, Le Cirque and Joël Robuchon restaurants, have received the AAA Five Diamond award.

The award is the ninth consecutive Five Diamond rating for Bellagio and Julian Serrano’s Picasso, located at the hotel.

Additionally, Le Cirque received the distinction for the seventh consecutive year, making Bellagio once again the only hotel in the United States to be home to two AAA Five Diamond restaurants.

For the fourth consecutive year, AAA has honored Skylofts and Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand with five diamonds.

Both opened in 2005.

For more information on Bellagio, call 888-987-6667 or visit www.bellagio.com

For more information on Skylofts, call 877-646-5638 or visit www.skyloftsmgmgrand.com

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc and Interlink Group announced that the new Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino will open its doors on Nov. 16, 2009.

Located adjacent to the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan’s newest commercial and residential district, the new 503-room property will accommodate both business and leisure travelers, offering exceptional meeting facilities, a full-service casino and resort-like amenities, including a sundeck/pool, spa and retail space.

Sheraton Puerto Rico will be the first new full-service hotel and casino built in San Juan in more than 10 years and is part of a $6 billion worldwide effort to revitalize Starwood’s most global, iconic brand. This effort includes an investment of over $2 billion in new hotels internationally and, in North America, an investment of $2.3 billion in new hotels, $1.5 billion in renovations and $400 million in signature brand initiatives.

Sheraton Puerto Rico’s superior meeting facilities include 35,000 square feet of meeting space, access to more than 580,000 square feet of additional space at the adjacent Convention Center and the largest hotel ballroom in the San Juan metropolitan area.

Guests attending meetings will enjoy several open-air balcony verandas and dedicated outdoor event space on a 57,000-square-foot pool deck with stunning views.

The hotel is also the first and only property in the Caribbean pursuing LEED Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. At 20,000 square feet, the hotel’s casino, which is operated by CCHRP Hospitality, will be the largest in Puerto Rico and will offer a circular casino bar and entertainment space — the first in Puerto Rico.

The smoke-free 24-hour casino will feature 448 slot machines, 16 table games, a full player’s reward program, state-of-the-art specialty video, sound and light features and the island’s first multi-denominational slot machines.

The hotel’s 57,000-square-foot sun and pool deck includes sweeping panoramic views of San Juan Bay, multiple pools — for both adults and kids — poolside cabanas and poolside dining. A 7,000-square-foot spa will offer a comprehensive array of treatments for women and men.

The hotel will also feature a revolutionary new health and fitness program, “Sheraton Fitness, Programmed by Core Performance,” a holistic program designed exclusively for Sheraton guests through its partner, Core Performance.

The program offers a 24-hour fitness center with state-of-the-art Life Fitness equipment. Guests can also shop in more than 70,000 square feet of retail space. Sheraton Puerto Rico will feature one of the signature offerings of Sheraton’s brand revitalization effort:

Sheraton’s Link@Sheraton experienced with Microsoft. Additional amenities of Sheraton Puerto Rico include 22 suites, including a presidential suite overlooking San Juan Bay; Sheraton Club level guest rooms and suites on the penthouse level with access to a 3,200-square-foot lounge, featuring an al fresco terrace, the area’s only club level with this amenity; Sweet Sleeper all-white, 300 thread-count bedding in all guest rooms; and all-day dining restaurant, 24-hour in-room dining and three fine dining restaurants.

Bretton Woods, part of the Omni Mount Washington Resort, opened for the skiing and snowboarding season at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, offering the first skiing in the state of New Hampshire for the 2009-10 season.

For those ready to get their legs warmed up, the mountain will offer skiing and riding on one trail off the Learning Center Quad, with freshly groomed man-made packed powder. Some terrain park elements will be set up as well for early-season jibbing. Snowmaking will continue and more trails and lifts are planned to open as conditions allow.

Ticket prices will be adjusted accordingly.

Also open are the food court, rental shop, Red Carpet Ski School for private lessons, based on availability and current conditions, and TreeTop Sports with clothing and accessories. Season Passes also remain on sale at a reduced rate and available for pick up seven days a week, if purchased before Nov. 30.

For adventure above the slopes and in the trees, the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour is open year-round and offers an exhilarating three-hour tour with zip lines, sky bridges and rappels. As space is limited, guests should call 603-278-4ZIP prior to their visit for information and reservations.

The “Williwaw” dual racing zip is also open.

Special ski and stay packages are now available, including the Stay Here, Ski Free package starting at $99 per person per night, based on double occupancy, which includes lodging at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel or Bretton Arms Inn with lift tickets for skiing and riding at Bretton Woods.

Upcoming events include the Fall Food & Wine Festival, Nov. 13 to 15; the Thanksgiving Holiday Celebration, including family traditions and a visit from old Saint Nick; and Bretton Woods’ “Homecoming,” featuring Warren Miller’s latest film “Dynasty” at the Base Lodge on Nov. 27.

For more information, visit www.omnimountwashingtonresort.com

Marriott International announced the signing of five hotels for its newly established Middle East & Africa Region, including its first properties in Algeria, Ghana and Morocco.

The hotels are scheduled to open under long-term management contracts over the next 36 months and represent the company’s Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Marriott Executive Apartments brands.

The properties announced add 1,126 rooms to Marriott’s Middle East & Africa development pipeline, which now totals 44 hotels and 10,800 rooms under construction or in advanced planning.

Opening between now and year-end 2015, these new properties will boost Marriott’s Middle East & Africa regional presence to more than 70 hotels across six lodging brands, totaling nearly 20,000 rooms in 12 countries.

The portfolio includes JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton hotels in the luxury tier; Marriott and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts in the upscale segment; Courtyard by Marriott in the moderately-priced tier; and deluxe Marriott Executive Apartments for extended stay travelers. Hotels announced include, to open in 2012, the 227-room Algiers Marriott and the 180-unit Algiers Marriott Executive Apartments properties; the 294-room Sahl Hasheesh Marriott Beach Resort, scheduled to be rebranded in 2011; the 209-room Accra Marriott in Ghana, which is scheduled to open in late 2010; and the 216-room Marrakech Marriott Palm Golf Hotel which is expected to open in 2012.

A 3,000-square-meter, state-of-the-art health spa has been inaugurated at the five-star Corinthia Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.
Corinthia Chairman Alfred Pisani officially inaugurated the newly built and fitted spa at a ceremony attended by the mayor of the Junta de Freguesia de Campolide and other dignitaries.

The 4 million euro ($6 million) spa is the largest in any five-star hotel in Lisbon, and offers the widest array of facilities and technologies for relaxation, treatments, well-being, aesthetics and fitness.

It will be operated by the internationally renowned Malo Clinic Health & Wellness, led by its president, Paulo Malo, who also attended the inauguration.

The Malo Spa at the Corinthia Hotel Lisbon is a stand-alone facility, newly built in the hotel.

Treatment areas consist of 13 fully equipped rooms including a number of Spa Suites, where guests enjoy rituals of massage, pampered by the latest health and beauty technologies.

These include non-invasive fat reduction treatments, non-invasive mesotherapy, facial treatments, individual cocoons for weight/volume loss and anti-ageing treatments.

The wet area, known as Acqua in Portugal, is the largest of its kind in Lisbon and offers an interactive pool, hydro massage, Vichy showers, a walking circuit, a Roman spa, aqua beds, Jacuzzis, saunas and a hammam.

A heated pool is available all year round, as well as a natural solarium, a gymnasium, a spinning room and a hairdressing and beauty lab.

The Malo Spa also has a clinical section, combining traditional spa rituals with integrated health care and cosmetic care services that include nutrition programs, plastic surgery and physiotherapy consultation.

The 518-room Corinthia Hotel Lisbon, is minutes away from Lisbon’s most important attractions, shopping and nightlife, and offers extensive conference and banqueting facilities and a magnificent Executive Club Sky Lounge for its Executive Club guests, located on the top floor of the hotel, with the city of Lisbon, its 18th century aqueduct and the Monsanto Natural Park as a backdrop.

For more information, visit www.corinthiahotels.com

Swiss hotel group Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of its newest property in Saudi Arabia — Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah.

A part of the prestigious Abraj Al Bait complex, the Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Hajar Tower Makkah is superbly located directly on the Haram Court facing the King Abdul Aziz Gate.

Set on 41 floors, the hotel’s 1,204 spacious rooms and apartments are a showcase of quality accommodation.

The Italian-style interior design combined with the integration of modern technology together with a state-of-the-art business center will appeal to pilgrims and business travelers.

The Al Naseem is the hotel’s main dining restaurant offering a wide selection of international and local dining options while the spacious Al Firdaous restaurant seating 500 guests is ideal for large groups at any time of the day.

Operating during the high season, Hajar Restaurant is also an all-day dining option serving up Arabic and international favorites such as grills, salads and seafood. Strategically located in the lobby of the hotel, the Al Diwan Tea Lounge is the best spot to enjoy a selection of teas and freshly brewed coffee as well as light snacks.

Subtly placed seating for 200 guests and easy access make this the place to relax and watch the world go by.

The Al Naim Lounge is the hotel’s second lounge and offers all-day snacks and Mövenpick ice cream.

The tower’s first six floors comprise a commercial complex hosting 600 boutique stores offering the most renowned international and local designer brands.

Rockwell Group Europe has teamed up with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to design the W Paris-Opéra, W Hotels’ debut in France. Diego Gronda, managing and creative director of RGe, the Madrid satellite office of New York’s Rockwell Group founded by David Rockwell, is leading the design team on this project scheduled to open in 2011.

Owned by Barcelona-based Meridia Capital, the hotel occupies an elegant 1870s Haussman-era building located across the street from the Opéra Garnier and near Galeries Lafayette and Place Vendome in the 9th Arrondissement.

Taking the inspiration from combining New York’s energy, where the W brand began in 1998, and Paris, the “City of Light,” Rockwell Group is flooding the new W Hotel with illumination and color. The 19th century building with original neo-classical interior will infuse light and mutating color.

The ground level and mezzanine floors have views of the Opéra and provide a signature W Living Room. Along with a new modern concept restaurant, W Paris-Opéra will feature a destination bar, fitness facility and 90 guest rooms.

An oversized undulating wall of light is the central design feature that defines the building from the inside and from the street as it weaves through the public spaces, secret corners of DJ booths and martini bars, through the corridors and finally into each guest room.

This programmable wall of light can transform based on season, event or time of day to create a festive and celebratory atmosphere, bringing the historic building to life with sophistication and a glowing vibrancy.

This central feature initiates a dynamic dialogue with the street, introducing people to the magic of the W Hotel before they enter and are dazzled by the dramatic vaulted ceiling supported by ornate Corinthian columns.

To invite guests and locals to the W brand’s world of Wow, Rockwell Group will add life to this historic space with an innovative installation of projected images from nature upon arrival that will change throughout the day.

Guest rooms and suites, including W Hotels’ Wow suites and Extreme Wow suites (W Hotels’ take on the traditional Presidential Suite), feature three-meter ceiling height and breathtaking views of the Opéra.

All W suites will boast an existing fireplace, white marble bathrooms and oversized dressing rooms, the perfect place for guests to prepare for a night out in Europe’s fashion capital.

The hotel company Sol Meliá officially presented the new Meliá Valencia, the new flagship hotel for the Spanish hotel chain in the city of Valencia and an example of the new breed of Meliá Hotels, full of luxury, avant-garde design and modernity.

Meliá Hotels has renovated the brand’s hotels in major cities and popular resorts, and is showing its new face in Valencia with a hotel along the new Valencian “golden mile,” next to the City of the Arts & Sciences.

The 262-room hotel is fully equipped with five event rooms with capacity for up to 250 guests, a full Yhi Spa, and the Menorca XXIII restaurant.

The Rezidor Hotel Group, the Brussels-based hotel management company, announced the Radisson Blu Resort & Thalasso, Monastir in Tunisia.

The second Radisson Blu resort in Tunisia, the newly re-branded 280-key hotel is set on a five-hectare beachfront site facing the Gulf of Hammamet in the Mediterranean Sea. Resort accommodations include 264 guestrooms, 14 junior suites and two senior suites.

All rooms are equipped with complimentary high-speed Internet access and a private balcony or terrace overlooking the pool area and Mediterranean Sea.

The resort’s 150,000-square-foot Royal Elyssa Spa Cinq Mondes & Thalasso will feature a 48,000-square-foot Thal’ion Thalasso center, specializing in restorative treatments using seawater, and a 43,000-square-foot Cinq Mondes Spa.

The facilities will open early 2010, and will also provide a I’Usine fitness club and an Eric Zemmour hairdressing salon.

The Spa & Thalasso will offer guests saunas, hammams, treatment rooms and food and beverage outlets.

The top floor of the spa will feature 20 unique spa suites, ranging from 750 to 2,700 square feet, many with private Jacuzzis and beauty treatment rooms.

Resort amenities at the Radisson Blu Resort & Thalasso Monastir include three restaurants, six bars and lounges, several indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and athletic facilities such as tennis, beach volleyball, water polo, aerobics, jet skiing, water skiing and canoeing.

The fitness center features a wide variety of the latest equipment and children are welcome at the dedicated Mini Club.

The resort also offers three meeting rooms and a 4,300-square-foot ballroom.

A range of tented enclosures can be erected on the grounds for outdoor events, and a garden area can accommodate 600 to 800 guests.

The fully equipped business center provides complimentary high-speed wireless Internet for all resort guests.

Cape Town’s Cape Grace hotel is putting a fresh spin on menus at the hotel’s year-old restaurant, Signal. Chef Malika van Reenen is enhancing its signature Cape Malay-spiced cuisine and is breathing new life into both the a la carte and special chef’s tasting menus at Signal. On the new dinner menu, starters range from smoked crocodile niçoise with quail’s egg, marinated fine beans, potato wafers and olive tapenade to pate of smoked snoek, melba toast and apricot chutney. Main courses similarly combine local ingredients and culinary traditions with an international fine-dining flair, resulting in offerings such as lentil and butternut bobotie with cinnamon roasted sweet potato, cucumber, chili and pinenut salad with minted yogurt and Malay-spiced ostrich with saffron cream potato, braised red cabbage and roasted coriander jus. Signal has also introduced a brand-new “Simply Fresh From the Sea” menu with diners creating their own fresh seafood platters from a choice of giant tiger prawns, langoustines, whole crayfish, fresh local fish, squid and steamed mussels — all grilled, basted with fresh herbs and lemon, and paired with a selection of sauces that includes lime hollandaise, smoked tomato and sweet chili.

And in the Cape Grace library, where guests relax with a good book and a complimentary glass of port, Van Reenen has also launched two new buffet menus.

Each day from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., guests can sample the Cape Grace soup buffet which might include roasted turnip and spicy apple soup or pea, mint and ham soup, along with fresh-baked breads.

And from 3 to 6 p.m. each afternoon, Van Reenen’s sugar buffet of housemade confectionary treats includes meringues, pink and white marshmallow squares, toffee apples and pistachio-laden chocolate fudge washed down, perhaps, with a glass of Graham Beck rose and augmented by hot Malay-spiced savory snacks.

For more information, visit www.capegrace.com