Jetsettersblog

The Rezidor Hotel Group will open the Radisson Blu Hotel, Uppsala in Sweden.

The property featuring 176 rooms is scheduled to open in 2012. “We are delighted to introduce this project in cooperation with our long-term partner Winn Hotel Group.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Uppsala will further strengthen our first class core brand Radisson Blu in our home market Sweden,” said Kurt Ritter, president and CEO of Rezidor.

“With our new Radisson Blu property, we will fill a gap in the local hotel market and contribute to Uppsala’s development as a destination for both business and leisure travelers,” said Anders Junger, president and CEO of Winn Hotel Group, owner of the property.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Uppsala will benefit from a prime location next to the city’s main train station, offering easy access to the city center, Uppsala Concert Hall and Congress Centre.

All 176 guest rooms will be equipped with services such as free high-speed Internet access.

The hotel will also offer a restaurant, a lounge, five meeting rooms and a fitness room.

Uppsala, where Winn Hotel Group already operates a Park Inn hotel, has a population of 190,000 and a strong commercial base. The city, best known for medical research and biotechnology, is also home to Scandinavia’s oldest university; the campus for 40,000 students is near the new hotel.

Rezidor’s Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts was formerly known as Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts. Following Rezidor’s IPO in November 2006, the brand has been renamed in 2009, preserving the graphic and iconic “blue box,” but adding the new name “Blu,” which reflects the contemporary style of the chain, its sense for modern architecture and design, and unique twist.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is extending its support of groups interested in charitable giving by continuing the Meetings that Matter program through 2010.

Meetings That Matter gives groups an opportunity to donate part of their room revenue to the charity of their choice. Companies taking advantage of the Meetings that Matter program have donated funds to a wide variety of causes.

The Meetings That Matter offer is available to planners booking a new meeting for 2010 that requires a minimum of 50 room nights.

Ten percent of the room revenue generated by the booking may be donated to a charitable organization.

Planners can determine the charity of choice, whether it is a cause that resonates most strongly with attendees, a local organization in need, or one of Fairmont’s corporate partners, which include the National Geographic Society and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. The Meetings That Matter offer is valid on all meetings booked and consumed in 2010.

The 10 percent credit can be used for a meeting that would take place by Dec. 31, 2010, or the charitable donation will be made to the charity of choice within 30 days of final payment of the account.

Planners must advise of the selection of charitable organization in advance, at the time the contract is signed.

The initial meeting and the second meeting to which the 10 percent would be credited must be held at the same hotel or resort.

The offer is subject to hotel availability, is applicable towards new programs only and not valid for citywide bookings. Meetings That Matter cannot be combined with other special offers.

For a comprehensive look at Fairmont’s meeting offerings, visit www.fairmontmeetings.com  or call Global Event & Meeting Solutions, a dedicated resource for meeting planners, at 866-662-6060.

For more information, visit www.fairmont.com or www.fairmont.com/meetingsthatmatter

The Spa at Cheeca, in the Florida Keys, recently reopened with a new concept focused on organic sustainable luxury and featuring a locally-inspired treatment menu.

Spearheading the new changes is Tricia Banister, new spa director, whose pedigree includes The Spa @ The Setai and The Spa at David Barton Gym at Gansevoort South in Miami Beach.

Treatments feature beauty products Voya from Ireland, the world’s first range of certified organic, hand-harvested seaweed based products;

SpaRitual, a provider of organic vegan products for body, feet, hands and nails;

Ama La, an EcoCert, holistic botanical skincare line;

and La Bella Donna, the first mineral-based, allergen-free cosmetic collection originally designed for post cosmetic surgery.

Reinterpreting the resort’s more than 60-year-old traditions, new treatments range from custom organic facials and revitalizing massage services and body treatments to in-suite spa baths and Calusa Healing among other mind, body and spirit techniques.

Some of the signature new treatments include a Lava Shell Massage ($150 for 60 minutes), which utilizes Cheeca’s signature warming oil and ionizing lava shells straight from the sea, and The Sportsman ($145 for 60 minutes), which combines neuromuscular, myofacial,

Thai and sports massage techniques.

The 5,700-square-foot oasis offers foot baths in healing copper bowls in the spa’s Ritual Room.

For more information or appointments, call 305-517-4485, email spa@cheeca.com  or visit www.cheeca.com

Americans planning to visit Australia can now pair Sydney with a relaxed and intimate stay in the breathtaking Greater Blue Mountain World Heritage Area.

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Australia’s most environmentally responsible tourist destination, is offering two exclusive packages that provide guests with an opportunity to receive unprecedented levels of luxury.

Located three hours outside Sydney, Wolgan Valley is a spa resort built around a fully restored homestead within its own private conservation and nature reserve.

Part of the Emirates Hotels & Resorts portfolio, Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa was built on the same principles of luxury and service as Emirates airline.

Guests from the U.S. can easily visit Wolgan Valley from two of the airline’s four U.S gateways in New York and Houston.

The two-night package includes daily gourmet breakfast, lunch and dinner, all non-alcoholic beverages and a selected range of regional alcoholic beverages with meals.

Guests can take a 60-minute treatment of their choice at the Timeless Spa, where staff are committed to offering the finest holistic treatments aimed at reducing stress and enhancing relaxation.

The package also lets guests explore the property’s vast outdoors with two complimentary on-site nature-based activities per day.

These activities include guided walks, safaris, horse-riding, mountain bike excursions, wildlife spotting and stargazing, history and Aboriginal interpretative tours, visits to the Wollemi Pine Grove and guided photographic excursions.

Each of these activities enable visitors to experience first hand Australia’s wildlife, habitats, ecology, and the continent’s ancient and more recent history.

A Timeless Escape package starts at $1,338.63 per person based on double occupancy and is available until April 30.

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa also offers the three-night Indulge Your Senses package, which includes all the amenities and services offered in A Timeless Escape, as well as a one-hour Signature Mountain Aroma massage (or treatment of the same value) and a degustation dinner, allowing guests to taste an array of dishes.

The nine-course meal incorporates and focuses on Australia’s finest fresh produce, all enhanced by the resort’s regional, seasonal and organic food philosophy. Executive Chef Dwane Goodman and the Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa use regional producers as well as the vintners of Australia. The Indulge Your Senses package starts at $2,109.61 per person based on double occupancy and is available until March 31.

For more information, visit www.wolganvalley.com

X2 Resorts at both Samui and Kui Buri have launched a new concept “Designer Mini Bar.” The “Designer Mini Bar” has been conceptualized following comments and feedback from guests indicating a need to provide a service that allows guests to “choose what they want in their mini bar” rather than “what the resort thinks they might need.”

On arrival at the resort all guests are offered a list of items from which they choose accordingly and have them delivered to their villas with additional items able to be ordered any time during their stay.

The “Designer Mini Bar” features a wide selection of snacks and drinks — many of them Thai specialties chosen to ensure that the local Thai economy is supported and furthermore, the philosophy of all X2 Resorts is to ensure that no price gouging takes place.

This ensures that guests receive value for money, allowing their mini bar to be stocked with items they choose at prices that are not over inflated like many other resort mini bars.

The “Designer Mini Bar” concept is a continuation of the X2 philosophy that sees changes being made in line with guests wants and needs in an ever-changing hospitality environment which requires constant adaptation and out-of-the-box remedies that enhance customer satisfaction.

X2 Resorts, managed by Astudo Hotel & Resort Group and member of “Design Hotels” and a “Selected Tablet Hotel” member, offers casually designed accommodation and state-of-the-art facilities.

X2 Resorts collection includes X2 Kui Buri (Hua Hin), X2 Samui and X2 Rayong.

Other X2 Resorts scheduled to open in mid-2010 are at Koh Kood (Kood Island), in Trat Province, and Koh Tan (Coral Island), located southwest from Samui. Astudo Hotel & Resort Group currently manages and operates X2 Resorts (www.X2resorts.com ) , Away Resorts (www.awayresorts.com ) , Le Bayburi (www.lebayburi.com ) and The Case Hotels (www.thecasehotels.com ), the new brand of urban business hotels with The Case Bangkok scheduled to open in 2010.

For more information, visit www.astudo.com or www.X2resorts.com

Scheduled to debut in July 2010, and reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour, the new Keisei Skyliner will reduce the transportation time from Nippori to Narita Airport from 51 minutes to 36 minutes.

In addition, passengers will be able to enjoy more convenient, comfortable access between Narita Airport and Greater Tokyo with expanded train services.

From March 2010 the Narita Express (N’EX) will feature increased departures from key areas such as Yokohama, Shibuya and Shinagawa.

For more information, visit www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp

Banyan Tree Club and Spa in Seoul, the group’s first Korean property, is preparing to open in late March.

Located an hour’s drive from Incheon International Airport and 10 minutes from downtown Seoul, the Banyan Tree Club and Spa combines resort hotel and private club experience, catering to club members, as well as business and leisure visitors to Seoul.

It occupies the site of the former Tower Hotel. For more information, visit www.banyantree.com

In Vietnam, two of the country’s premier, interior destinations opened their runways to flights from abroad. The airport upgrades also have next-generation terminals, correcting long-standing liabilities that hampered Vietnam’s appeal. In December, Cam Ranh Airport near Nha Trang and Lien Khuong Airport on the outskirts of the Central Highlands town of Dalat unveiled architecturally advanced terminals capable of attracting international travel.

“The opening of these new terminals is a major step in the development of Vietnam,” said Scott Hodgetts, general manager of the soon-to-open Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa. Cam Ranh Airport became the first of Vietnam’s newest terminals to welcome an international flight on Dec. 12 when SilkAir flew 118 passengers in from Singapore on an Airbus A319. Southern Airports Corporation (SAC), which inaugurated Lien Khuong Airport’s new depot on Dec. 26, hopes to see service to other Southeast Asian nations later this year.

Next on the Civil Aviation Administration’s list is Danang Airport. Despite aged facilities, it has managed to support infrequent flights from Bangkok, Singapore and Taipei in recent years.

But construction of a new, $74 million terminal is well underway.

Its super structure, engineered by U.S.-based Louis Berger Group and Dutch airport consultant NACO, is already in place and officials are predicting a December finish, says Jon Tomlinson, general director of Montgomerie Links golf club in nearby Quang Nam.

For more information, visit www.vietnamtourism.com

Fiji’s first custom-built yoga platform has just opened overlooking Savusavu Bay.

It’s the only one in Fiji and will host regular yoga courses in 2010. Yoga has until now been more commonly associated with Bali and India, but a number of individuals in Fiji are helping to establish Fiji, and particularly the northern islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni, as a new Pacific centre for this ancient discipline.

The most comprehensive program is the one at Daku, which has a total of 17 courses planned for 2010. Teachers include top Australian and international names: Byron Bay’s Flo Fenton and John Ogilvie, Melbourne’s Andrew Mournehis, Sydney’s Mark O’Brien, New Zealand’s Deidre-Lee Allen, and another visit from Mark Whitwell from the U.S. — plus a number of other teachers offering a range of different styles.

On board the Tui Tai adventure cruise in Natewa Bay, yoga is offered as part of the daily schedule.

Guests of the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort in Savusavu can follow a practice lead by the resort’s resident instructor. And over on Taveuni, Mark Whitwell has a property and plans to run a yearly retreat.

For more information, visit www.yogainfiji.com

Ripley’s opened its 31st Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Australia’s Surfers Paradise, Australia. The museum will feature genuine shrunken heads, the world’s smallest production automobile, interactive gizmos, amazing matchstick art and an eclectic selection of freak animals.

Exhibits at the Odditorium include a model of New Zealand’s Christ Church Cathedral, made from 500,000 wooden matchsticks; da Vinci’s Last Supper made out of burnt toast; an autographed fedora of Michael Jackson; locks of Abraham Lincoln’s hair; and at 407 feet long and 10,034 links, the world’s longest wooden chain. Floridian John Selvey worked on the chain for 825 consecutive days.

The collection also includes the country’s only Peel P-50, the world’s smallest production car; four genuine Jivaro Indian shrunken heads; and an exhibit of artifacts of the Russian Space Program, featuring Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s medals, diaries and patches.

A stroll through a fog-filled, laser-lit room reveals the image of an alien holding a genuine rock from Mars in its hands.

A walk through the Attic Room reveals myriad opportunities to play interactive games, touch, feel and photograph strange and unusual exhibits and climb through a tunnel full of surprises.

In all, there are nearly 600 items featured on the two floors of exhibits and activities.

The new high-tech museum replaces the original Surfers Paradise Believe It or Not!, which opened in 1988 and closed in late 2007 when the building in which it was located was torn down.

The new attraction, located on the ground floor of the new 77-story tall Soul Building, being developed by Juniper Development Group, is only 100 feet from that previous location. With the opening of the Surfers Paradise attractions, there are now 31 Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums, in 11 countries in the world.

For more information, visit www.ripleys.com