Jetsettersblog

With a soft opening on April 15,Talking Stick Resort, located on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, will make its official debut in June.

The project features 497 rooms as well as more than 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor conference space.

Resort amenities include a 13,000-square-foot full-service, open-air spa, cigar and wine bar, and eight restaurants, including Ocean Trail , which will serve traditional Creole cuisine, such as steamers, raw oysters, and spicy gumbo.

The upscale dining experience is located on the top level of this 15-story resort, complete with 360-degree views of the Valley. Also on property, enjoy live Native American performances, three bars and lounges, and Shadows , an old school music venue highlighting the classic sounds of Frank Sinatra and Big Band.

The gaming and entertainment venue is the main attraction and offers a variety of high-tech slot machines, table games and more.

Talking Stick Resort adheres to the customs of the community with displays of cultural significance featured in the design and exhibits throughout the property.

Northern Vancouver Island BC Canada via Stable Sea Kayak

Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc.
CONTACT: Terry Prichard
TEL: (208) 765-3116
E-MAIL: info@seakayakadventures.com
WEB: www.seakayakadventures.com

Why this trip: First and only orca preserve in the world; best single time and place in the world to paddle with salmon-eating orcas; sheltered waters perfect for novice paddlers; orcas guaranteed July 15-Sept 10, 2010 – if not you get a free orca watching day cruise!

TELEGRAPH COVE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA- Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc.invites outdoor-minded folks to join its five and six-day fully guided paddling trips through the wilds of British Columbia’s Johnstone Strait off northern Vancouver Island.

This narrow sheltered orca freeway is world renowned for its summer congregations of hundreds of “killer whales” following the salmon runs funneled from the sea into this specific area.

In fact, Canada is the first and only country in the world to establish and maintain an orca preserve there.

The Michael Biggs Robson Bight Orca Preserve is set aside specifically for this unique species called “northern resident orcas”.

Participants will paddle two-person sea kayaks through the glacier-carved waterways between Vancouver Island and the rugged mountains of mainland British Columbia.

Along the way, they’ll get close to wild orcas, as the strait is a traditional gathering place for these whales. Guides scan the calm waters for spouts and point out whale behavior.

Bald eagles dot the towering trees along the shore, feasting as do the orcas on the prolific salmon runs here.

There has never been a report of an orca of any kind attacking a human in the wild. Our tours focus on a unique subspecies of strictly fish-eating orca endemic to BC Canada’s northern Vancouver Island called “northern residents”.

The group will also explore the area’s rainforest on foot, visit the ancient First Nations sites, visit orca researchers and hopefully glimpse a black bear from their kayaks. Each night, they’ll camp on secluded island beaches where they can watch orcas from their tents.

Trips depart from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island BC Canada – weekly July & Aug, 2010 (5-6 days paddling; USD $1295-1395/person).

The price includes camping and kayaking equipment, meals, kayaking instruction and guide services. Youth get 10% of the above prices. 12% HST tax and airfare not included.

For further information contact Sea Kayak Adventures, tel. (800) 616-1943, or access their web site at www.seakayakadventures.com

From Laid-Back Barbecues near the Beach to Luxurious Tasting Menus at Michel Rostang, Malliouhana’s Culinary Supremacy Continues

Anguilla, BWI – Following the appointment of noted chef Frederic Cougnon in late December 2009, Malliouhana Hotel & Spa, the award-winning luxury resort on Anguilla, introduces two new guest experiences that further highlight the resort’s culinary edge: a festive Anguilla Night at Le Bistro near the beach and a special Chef’s Tasting Menu at Michel Rostang at Malliouhana, the resort’s acclaimed fine dining room. Offered weekly, the two events illustrate Cougnon’s striking culinary range, in settings both spirited and ceremonial. In addition to these evening events, Malliouhana also introduces a daily prix fixe lunch menu.

Accompanied by the live music of Dumpa and Company, the resort’s gourmet Anguilla Night on Thursdays from 7:00 – 10:00 pm at Le Bistro features a wide selection of dishes served buffet style, including salads such as Smoked Salmon and Asparagus with Lemon and Parsley Cream Cheese and fresh- off-the-grill favorites such as Crayfish with Garlic Butter, Local Spiced Mahi-Mahi and BBQ Baby Pork Spare Ribs, accompanied by plentiful desserts and side dishes.

It is priced $85 per person ($45 per child under 10 years old).

Offered on Mondays at Michel Rostang at Malliouhana, the Chef’s Tasting Menu is a five-course culinary tour de force pairing classic French-influenced cuisine with 4 superb wines from the resort’s celebrated 25,000-bottle “Le Cave” wine cellar (the largest in the Caribbean and holder of the Wine Spectator Grand Award).

The seasonal menu, featuring an assortment of locally grown and internationally sourced ingredients, is an imaginative and ever-changing blend of Caribbean, French and Mediterranean flavors.

Highlights include Roasted Veal Medallion on Crushed Sweet Potato, Grilled Portobello Mushroom with a Tarragon Reduction and Baby Leek Tartlet with Red Wine, Poached Pear and Herb Salad.

Priced $125 per person, the menu includes specially selected wines to complement each course.

In keeping with the resort’s elegantly casual style, no jackets and ties are required in the restaurant.

Perched on a bluff overlooking the ocean, the picturesque 55 room Malliouhana Hotel & Spa is owner managed by Leon and Nigel Roydon.

The Malliouhana Hotel & Spa is a member of Small Leading Hotels of the World and one of the prestigious hotels listed in the Condé Nast Traveler 2009 Gold List and the only hotel in the Caribbean to be named Best Hotel for Food in the 2010 Gold List by Conde Nast Traveller UK.

For reservations and information contact the resort at telephone +1 264 497 6111, toll free from the USA: 1-800-835-0796

Email: reservations@malliouhana.com

or visit the website at www.malliouhana.com

MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky -

When thinking of the average business meeting or retreat images of long, drawn-out speaker sessions, sparsely jotted notes and a crowd of yawning employees come to mind.

Imagine traversing the nearly uncharted territory of meetings and moving your conference to the great outdoors.

Mammoth Cave Hotel offers conference facilities that seat up to 125 people. Situated right in Mammoth Cave National Park, the hotel is only over an hour from Nashville and Louisville and under a day’s drive from other major cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Columbus.

The hotel offers probably one of the best breakout sessions you can dream of – a cave tour! In between presentations, the group can leisurely stroll over to Mammoth Cave and take one of many different styles of tours.

A private walking tour can be arranged for the whole crowd or individuals might want to go off on their own for a while and try out real spelunking on the Wild Cave Tour.

Make a weekend of it and get the whole company to spend a couple of days in one of America’s favorite past-times – the national park.

Besides a number of different cave tours, guests can hike, bike, ride horseback, canoe and kayak in the 52,000 acres of rolling hills and waterways.

www.mammothcavehotel.com

HOUGHTON, Mich- Nestled in Lake Superior’s crisp clean waters lays a natural jewel.

Early French explorers named this remote island landscape as Isle Royale.

Today this wilderness national park highlights natural features like no other place on earth. Join Rock Harbor Lodge in discovering the nature of Isle Royale on two new, guided tours this summer – a north woods memory in the making.

Professional Naturalist and frequent Isle Royale visitor Paul Regnier provides guests a premier nature experience on Isle Royale.

Tour Isle Royale to grasp an intimate understanding of north woods ecology at its best; birds and wildlife, wildflowers and orchids, geology, moose, wolves and more. Walk the trails that once graced by moccasins of Native Americans over 5,000 years ago.

Enjoy daily hikes through rich green boreal forests, upon ancient bedrock graced with colorful lichens, and delve into the mystery of northern bogs where carnivorous plants and orchids thrive.

Visit this incredibly beautiful, rugged and pristine wilderness island while enjoying the comforts and cuisine of the Rock Harbor Lodge and restaurant.

The first tour Birds, Nature and More of Isle Royale includes a strong birding component, along with a focus on flowering plants, hard rock geology, boreal forest and day hikes. The second tour Natural and Cultural History of Isle Royale includes the above and a visit to Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Edisen Fishery, and ancient Native American copper pits.

Both tours include plenty of free time to explore the national park.

Once the tours depart the mainland travelers are taken care of.

They’ll have no worry of driving, cooking or even making the bed, just relax and enjoy! Pre-tour preparation and coordination included with both tours.

www.rockharborlodge.com

Disney Cruise Line (DCL), at an event at Le Bernardin restaurant in New York on Thursday night, said it would introduce Remy, a new French-inspired restaurant, on Disney Dream, the 128,000-ton, 4,000-passenger ship set to debut in January 2011.

Remy will be DCL’s first premier dining option. The top restaurant on both Disney Magic and Disney Wonder currently is Palo, featuring northern Italian cuisine.

Disney Dream will also feature a Palo restaurant, as well as three innovative rotational dining restaurants – Animator’s Palate, Royal Palace and Enchanted Garden.

But the new Remy is clearly aimed at taking DCL’s culinary offerings to a new level. The restaurant will feature menus created by a team of two top chefs – Chef Arnaud Lallement from L’Assiette Champenoise, a Michelin two-star restaurant located just outside Reims, France, and Chef Scott Hunnel, from Victoria & Albert’s restaurant in the Grand Floridian hotel in Walt Disney World, an AAA Five-Diamond establishment.

Also contributing to the cuisine will be Master Pastry Chef Erich Herbitscheck of Victoria & Albert’s and Chef Mattieu Gerard Siegrist of L’Assiette Champenoise. French-trained Chef Patrick Albert, executive chef for Remy, will oversee the onboard culinary team of 15 chefs and sous-chefs dedicated to the restaurant.

“Remy, a first-of-its-kind onboard experience, takes Disney Cruise Line dining to new heights,” said Ozer Balli, vice president of Disney Cruise Line Hotel Operations. “The extraordinary success of Palo on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder encouraged us to create this elegant, upscale and even more intimate dining experience for the Disney Dream.

Dinner at Remy will start with a signature chilled champagne cocktail made tableside, followed by eight to nine small courses complemented by a selected wines. Lallement’s cuisine is described as modern, simple and stylish, featuring such selections as roasted lobster with cream and fresh asparagus with black truffles and vin jaune. Hunnel’s innovative dishes offer small tastes of everything from wild caviar to Kobe beef and Japanese Wagyu strip loin.

Remy is named after the animated character in the Disney film “Ratatouille.” In the animated film, Remy is a rat who lives in Paris and dreams of becoming a master chef. The restaurant Remy, which will be located on Deck 12 next to Palo, will seat 80 in a room designed Art Nouveau style with a palate of soft greens, deep reds and rich gold.

The restaurant features classic French design, including sinuous lines on chair backs, etched in glass and in wall treatments. The Remy character will be integrated into the design. Tables will be set on Frette linens with Riedel glassware, Christofle silverware and china made exclusively for Remy.

Remy also will feature a private Chef’s Table dining room seating 16, with service from the kitchen staff and a special multi-course menu.

The room has its own entrance to the kitchen to allow chefs easy access to dining guests. A glass-walled wine room with marble flooring will have seating for up to 16 guests amid more than 900 bottles of wine.

Guests of Disney Dream will be able to make advance reservations at Remy 75 days in advance. If they are members of Disney’s Castaway Club, DCL’s past cruiser group, they can make reservations from 90 to 120 days in advance, depending on their club level.

There will be a surcharge for Remy though that has not been determined yet. Surcharges for top restaurants aboard most cruise ships range from $20 to $35.

The surcharge at Palo is currently $15. There will also be a higher surcharge for dining at the Chef’s Table, though again that has not been determined.

Disney Dream will offer three- and four-night sailings from Port Canaveral to Nassau in the Bahamas, including a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. In summer, the ship will offer slight longer sailings of five and four nights.

Celebrity Cruises plans to add its recently announced Celebrity iLounge, featuring Apple products, to the Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Summit next month.

The line recently announced plans to introduce the hip new lounge on Celebrity Eclipse, which enters service later this month. The Celebrity iLounge will consist of three main areas: a series of MacBook workstations where guests can check their email, update social media or print boarding passes; a retail space offering MacBooks, iPods and accessories; and an enrichment center where certified staff will offer tips on Mac or iPod usage.

Celebrity also will offer new courses, including movie editing and web design, through programs including iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and iWeb. Celebrity’s certified staffers will have completed more than 125 hours of training in operating systems, applications and products.

Located on deck six of Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Eclipse, the Celebrity iLounge will house the 26 MacBook Pro’s, classroom, retail area, a 56-inch flat-screen TV for use during classes and an accessible workstation.

On Celebrity Summit, the Celebrity iLounge will replace the current computer classroom on deck six.

The Online@Celebrity cyber café on deck four of Celebrity Summit will be retrofitted with new MacBook workstations.

The new Celebrity iLounge will go live by May 16 on Summit, May 30 on Celebrity Solstice, and April 26 on Celebrity Eclipse, when the new ship enters service.

The Celebrity iLounge also will be presented on Celebrity Silhouette, which launches in 2011, and the fifth ship in the Solstice Class fleet, which sets sail in 2012.

For more information, call 800-437-3111 or visit www.celebritycruises.com

Gray Line of Alaska is offering four self-drive tours of Alaska, including the Homer by Car and Valdez by Car tours of Alaska introduced in 2009.

These self-drive tours join Gray Line’s popular Alaska by Car and Alaska by Car with Rail to offer travelers independent exploration with the convenience of a pre-planned itinerary.

As with all Gray Line of Alaska tours six days or longer, guests can save $250 per person when booking double occupancy. Because the self-drive tours range from seven to nine days, a couple can save $500.

All four tours include a rental car, a planned itinerary, hotel reservations and select tours en route.

These may include the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park or a scenic glacier cruise in Kenai Fjords National Park or Prince William Sound.

Most of the self-drive tours consume less than two tanks of gas, which makes them an affordable choice for independent travelers.

Homer by Car is a six-night tour roundtrip from Anchorage that explores the Kenai Peninsula.

Guests drive from Anchorage to Seward and Homer with a stop at Alyeska for panoramic views and lunch at the restaurant on top.

The tour includes a Portage Glacier cruise, Kenai Fjords cruise tour and a visit to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC), which cares for injured and orphaned animals.

Valdez by Car is an eight-night tour roundtrip from Anchorage with stops in Valdez, Glennallen, Fairbanks and Denali.

Day tours include a Columbia Glacier Cruise through Prince William Sound, Museum of the North at the University of Fairbanks and the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali.

Alaska by Car with Rail is a seven-night tour visiting Anchorage, Seward, Talkeetna, Fairbanks and Denali.

Day tours include a Portage Lake cruise, the Alaska Sea Life Center, Kenai Fjords National Park cruise, Museum of the North at the University of Fairbanks and the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali. Alaska by Car is a six-night tour roundtrip from Anchorage that highlights Denali, Talkeetna and Seward.

It includes the Tundra Wilderness Tour, Portage Lake cruise and Kenai Fjords cruise. As with all Gray Line of Alaska tours, these self-drive tour itineraries can also be customized. Gray Line of Alaska specializes in creating custom land tours in Alaska and the Yukon. A division of Holland America Line, Inc., Gray Line of Alaska has been operating tours in Alaska for more than 60 years.

For 2010, the company offers multiple-day package tours and a la carte touring options for independent travelers, as well as sightseeing tours in Fairbanks, Juneau, Skagway, Anchorage, Denali, Dawson City and Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon.

For more information, call 800-544-2206 or visit www.graylinealaska.com

Air France has opened its new Affaires (Business Class) lounge at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

The lounge has been named the “Graf Lounge” in honor of Daniel Graf, Air France’s Boston station manager, who is retiring after 45 years of dedicated service.

The lounge, Air France’s largest in the U.S., is 6,200 square feet and seats over 110 passengers.

It has a reception area, dining and bar areas.

Additional amenities include a private entry elevator and stairs; distinct work, leisure and relaxation areas; two private meeting rooms; two high-definition televisions, free Wi-Fi coverage; copier/fax equipment; windows overlooking the aircraft parking area; Air France beverages and snacks; and more.

For more information, call 800-237-2747 or visit www.airfrance.com/us

The Cheeca Club has unveiled an exclusive new rooftop lounge with expanded services for club members, offering access to a rooftop deck for sunbathing, shaded cabanas, special passed amenities, and an exquisite oceanfront function room with floor-to-ceiling windows that accommodates up to 180 people.

Located on the rooftop of the second floor, guests enjoy vistas of the Atlantic Ocean, beach and the resort’s historic 525-foot fishing pier, which is the longest in the Florida Keys.

The exclusive lounge also includes a private bar and offers club members and guests the opportunity to enjoy cuisine from both Nikai Sushi Bar and Atlantic’s Edge, where award-winning Chef Dean James Max oversees each regional dish with a Florida Keys’ twist. Guests may enjoy for a fee the entire club level for private functions.

For more information or reservations, call 800-327-2888 or visit www.cheeca.com