Jetsettersblog

Berlin’s Topography of Terror will be completed as a site of remembrance and learning, when the new documentation center opens to the public on May 7, 65 years after the end of World War II.

The exhibition and documentation center, as well as a comprehensive outdoor exhibition, will be located on the grounds along Niederkirchner Strasse, the actual location of Hitler’s SS and Gestapo headquarters.

From here, between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime orchestrated the genocide of the European Jews, and the systematic persecution of political opponents.

Architect Ursula Wilms designed the modern concrete and glass building as a transparent cube with a strong indoor-outdoor reference, putting the focus on the 11-acre historic space, rather than the architecture itself.

The building will provide four exhibition halls for temporary and permanent exhibitions, as well as a research library, and state-of-the-art event and lecture spaces.

Open since 1987, the Topography of Terror began in a temporary exhibition pavilion, and later as an outdoor exhibition in the nearby excavated walls of the notorious Gestapo “house prison” cellars.

The open-air exhibition will remain part of a historic walkway and feature 15 stations providing information about the time and the place.

The Topography of Terror Foundation encourages active confrontation with the darkest chapter in German History, and its impact since 1945.

With more than 500,000 visitors per year, the Topography of Terror is one of the most visited sites in Berlin.

For more information, visit www.topographie.de

This summer, members of The Royal Oak Foundation –

the U.S. affiliate of The National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland –

can take advantage with a stay at one of the Trust’s 360 Holiday Cottages.

For an active holiday, the 19th century Pant Rhiw cottage overlooking Hell’s Mouth Bay I popular for its location next to a famous surfing spot in Northern Wales.

The Lower Pentire Farm House features bucolic views on the edge of Loe Pool in Cornwall and within easy reach of South Cornwall’s reputed waves at Porthleven.

Carrick-a-Rede cottage in Country Antrim of Northern Ireland is only a short distance from the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and beautiful paths.

Guests who stay can explore the coastal route featuring views of Rathlin Island and the Mull of Kintyre.

Or round up a walking party and take over the High Hazels in Derbyshire for trekking across the grounds of the 16th-century Elizabethan Hardwick Hall and the nearby High Peak.

For more information, visit www.royal-oak.org

The Oregon Tourism Commission (Travel Oregon) has launched its first completely digital, interactive version of its flagship publication, Travel Oregon magazine, at www.magazine.traveloregon.com

The digital magazine tells five seasonal stories using rich media. The content — pictures, videos, interactive maps, itineraries and narratives — can be shared via social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

With the online format, readers can dive into the experiences of the writers on niche topics like outdoor adventure and culinary travel.

They can interact with authors via blog entries and comments, follow their routes, view details on destinations and attractions visited, and plan their own Oregon trips using the authors’ interactive maps and itineraries.

Readers can subscribe to Travel Oregon digital magazine and receive all future editions via email by signing up at: www.subscribe.traveloregon.com

For general destination information, call 503-378-2084 or visit www.traveloregon.com

Small Luxury Hotels of the World is offering a new collection, “Honeymoon by Small Luxury Hotels of the World,” featuring hand-picked packages and special offers.

Choices range from Mongolia to Monte Carlo, Paris to Patagonia, Tanzania to Tasmania, or the classic honeymoon trilogy of the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Independently owned, Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties each have their own character and charm, from contemporary design hotels or stately homes and castles to beach bungalows, private villas and luxury safari camps.

With over 500 hotels in 70 countries worldwide, Small Luxury Hotels of the World offers a wide variety of experiences.

The “Honeymoon by Small Luxury Hotels of the World” brochure features honeymoon experiences and suggested itineraries.

Sample products include a road trip through Italy in a convertible and stay in a rustic farmhouse at Case Del Borgo in Tuscany, Italy (www.slh.com/casedelborgo ); a jeep exploration of the villages of Hvar in Croatia from the Hvar Yacht Harbour Hotel (www.slh.com/rivahotel ); a trip to the Margaret River in Western Australia where clients can explore the wineries in a Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce from Injidup Spa Retreat (www.slh.com/injidupretreat ).

Upon request, honeymooners will be assigned a dedicated VIP Desk Manager who can help with special requests. Honeymooners may also receive a host of other treats including a complimentary upgrade, champagne and flowers. Additional packages include:

Mykonos Grand Hotel & Resort, Mykonos, Greece, www.slh.com/mykonos  – three nights based on two people sharing a sea view room from 768 euros ($1,037), including a champagne breakfast, a picnic basket filled with delightful treats to take on the beach, a map of Mykonos with secluded beaches noted, tax and service.

Jardin d’Inès, Marrakech, Morocco, www.slh.com/jardins — one night based on two people sharing a garden view room from MAD2,900 ($350), including breakfast, bottle of champagne, service and tax.

Schlosshotel Kronberg, Kronberg, Germany, www.slh.com/kronberg  – one night based on two people sharing from 369 euros ($498), including a champagne breakfast, a bouquet of roses, a three-course candlelit dinner, tax and service.

Huvafen Fushi, Maldives, www.slh.com/huvafen  – five nights based on two people sharing from $5,325, including breakfast but excluding tax and service. The rate also includes a 60-minute full-body massage per person during the stay and a three-hour underwater LIME light signature treatment per person.

Injidup Spa Retreat, Margaret River, Western Australia, www.slh.com/injidupretreat  – two nights based on two people sharing a Honeymoon Villa from AUD 2,500 ($2,299), including a breakfast hamper on arrival, two hours of spa therapies in the Couples Suite, a soak in a Jacuzzi overlooking the Indian Ocean, gifts including silk pillow slips, beeswax candles and bath oils, a gourmet hamper with chocolate-covered strawberries and sparkling Margaret River wine. It excludes breakfast, tax and service.

Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia, www.slh.com/delapaix  – three nights based on two people sharing a garden view room from $768, including a “Pamper your Partner” massage lesson and rose petal bath including a room upgrade (subject to availability), breakfast, tax and service.

The Viceroy, Bali, www.slh.com/viceroy  – three nights based on two people sharing a Terrace Villa with private pool from $1,575, including a bottle of champagne upon arrival, a two-hour romantic couples spa treatment at Lembah spa, a six-course candlelit dinner at CasCades restaurant and flower bath on the last evening. The rate includes breakfast but excludes tax and service.

CasaSur Art Hotel, Buenos Aires, Argentina, www.slh.com/casasur  – three nights based on two people sharing from $828, including a romantic dinner, return transfers, breakfast and service but excluding tax.

The Villas at Stonehaven, Trinidad, www.slh.com/stonehaven  – seven nights based on two people sharing a private villa with infinity edge pool overlooking the Caribbean Sea from $1,925, including private airport transfers. Includes breakfast cooked every day by guests’ private housekeeper on the villa’s terrace, tax and service.

Sorrel River Ranch Resort, Moab, Utah, www.slh.com/sorrelriver — two nights based on two people sharing a river view room with romantic hydrotherapy bathtub and gorgeous views of the Colorado River from $1,178, including a couple’s massage and breakfast but excludes tax and service.

The Manor on Golden Pond, Holderness, N.H., www.slh.com/goldenpond  – five nights based on two people sharing from $2,500, including dinner three nights of the stay with chef tasting option one evening, couple’s 80-minute signature massage, a dozen roses, a private excursion with a naturist and breakfast, excluding tax and service.

For wedding guests, Small Luxury Hotels of the World gift certificates are available. The bride and groom can then redeem the vouchers at any of the 500 Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties worldwide.

For more information, visit www.slh.com/giftcertificates.html

All rates quoted above are subject to availability. The rates are valid until Dec. 31 or until the end of hotel season. Travel agents need to use the GDS code LX for LuXury. For more information, call 800-525-4800 or visit www.slh.com

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok opened in Bangkok, Thailand.

The property is the first in Thailand that features unique 24-hour Personal Assistants.

The first Pan Pacific Serviced Suites to open outside of Singapore, Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok enjoys a location in the Eight Complex in Thonglor.

Surrounded by chic shopping malls, a wide selection of restaurants and trendy nightspots, it also offers easy access to the downtown business district via the Bangkok sky train system which lies a stone’s throw away.

The property features 148 fully-furnished suites comprising 36 executive suites, 67 one-bedroom suites, 42 two-bedroom suites and three three-bedroom suites, all designed specifically to ensure guests enjoy all the creature comforts of home during their overseas stays.

Upon checking in, guests can look forward to personalized welcome hampers, airport transfers, grocery shopping and delivery services, pillow and bath menus and complimentary laundry and pressing services.
In addition, Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok boasts a swimming pool on the 11th floor offers views of the city while a Pacific Lounge, a fully equipped gym, spa and sauna rooms offer facilities for entertainment and relaxation.

For more information, visit www.panpacific.com

Fairways Golf Vacations added the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities in California as a new destination for its golf vacation product line.

Surrounded by mountains and in the California desert, Palm Springs offers golf courses by some of the finest architects and designers and is considered one of the top destinations for golfers in the world. After a year of significant growth in sales and offerings in 2009,

Fairways Golf Vacations has partnered with a limited number of high quality and strategically located resorts and golf courses in the Palm Springs and surrounding cities for 2010.

The location was added partly because approximately half of its 500,000 current and past customers reside west of the Mississippi River. As a perennial favorite among golf travelers, the addition of the greater Palm Springs area will provide more “close to home” golf experiences for its customers.

New partnerships with the leading properties in the area bring 369 championship holes of golf at nine preferred locations. Fairways Golf Vacations also added six new hotels and resorts which will provide accommodations for the golfer who wants a luxury resort to just a comfortable room for the evening after playing 36 holes of golf.

Some of the golf course offerings include PGA West, Indian Wells Golf Resort, SilverRock and The Golf Club at Terra Lago. Several lodging partners were selected to accommodate luxury golf and spa vacations, as well as, moderate accommodations to provide casual comfort to the “guy group” golf getaway.

A few of the lodging partners include La Quinta Resort & Club, Hyatt Grand Champions Resort & Spa, the Embassy Suites La Quinta and the Holiday Inn Resort, Palm Springs.

Founded in 1990, Fairways Golf Vacations has grown to be one of the largest golf tour operators in the world. With headquarters operations in Birmingham, Ala., it has more than a half million current and past customers. Fairways Golf is the longest tenured wholesaler for the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, is the official golf vacation provider for the Natural State Golf Trail of Arkansas, the Audubon Golf Trail of Louisiana and Honours Golf Vacations. Creating golf vacations to 14 U.S. states and six global destinations, Fairways Golf Vacations and GolfThere.com are the industry leaders in creating custom golf vacations for golf groups of all sizes.

For information, visit www.FairwaysGolfVacations.com

A new spa and a full-service restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Mexico opened at Sunset Key Guest Cottages, A Westin Resort.

The addition of the spa and restaurant follow the resort’s recent debut of two new four-bedroom, luxury guest cottages.

Sunset Key Guest Cottages is poised on the 27-acre island of Sunset Key and is accessible only by a 10-minute resort ferry from The Westin Key West Resort & Marina, offering guests a truly secluded hideaway.

The property features 39 custom-designed two-, three- and now four-bedroom cottages.

Guests enjoy attended beach services with tiki hut cabanas; a tropical free-form, zero-degree entry pool; two tennis courts; half basketball court; foot paths that lead guests around the island; and a new spa and waterfront restaurant.

Each of the spa’s three treatment suites feature a full bathroom with pre-stocked sundries, where guests can prepare for their services and may shower and dress afterward, in complete privacy.

Individual suite patios surrounded by tropical island vegetation allow guests to relax in seclusion after their treatments, and every appointment is reserved with an additional 25 minutes dedicated to that personal relaxation time.

For more information, visit www.westinsunsetkeycottages.com

Ecoventura, a small-ship travel company specializing in the Galapagos, has created a new company, DivEncounters Inc., to handle sales and reservations for the growing dive market in the Galapagos and elsewhere.

Allison Seymour, who has extensive experience in the destination and live-aboard dive industry, has been named sales manager to oversee marketing outreach for a company-owned dedicated dive yacht, the soon-to-be-renamed and upgraded Galapagos Sky (formerly known as Sky Dancer).

Santiago Dunn, president and owner of Ecoventura and DivEncounters, said that his company for years has maintained a dive operation affiliated with Peter Hughes Diving, but that establishing DivEncounters is in line with his company’s mandate to manage as many elements as possible of a sustainable-minded vacation in the endangered Galapagos.

Effective June 13, Ecoventura will no longer be affiliated with Peter Hughes Diving, Dunn said.

The Galapagos Sky will offer seven-night dive trips year-round to the northern islands of Wolf and Darwin.

Cruise rates from $4,595 per person, double, include cabin accommodation, all meals, snacks, beverages, filled tanks, weights, weight belt, up to four dives per day on 5.5 days for a seven-night cruise, land excursions, service of naturalist guides/dive masters, airport transfers and other customary services and amenities.

Accommodations include eight private en-suite cabins with two twin or one king-size bed with window or port light, private head/shower, mirrored cabinet and wardrobe, bathrobes, hairdryer and toiletries.

“We’re looking forward to announcing a number of vessel improvements and upgrades to Galapagos Sky,” said Dunn, adding that other comparable live-aboard and destination resort dive and snorkel offerings are also being developed.

For more information, call 800-633-7972 or visit www.ecoventura.com

SunAir will offer all-new flight-seeing, skydiving and scuba tours at the Dead Sea this summer.

The company will offer several guided flight-seeing tours, including a 20-minute flight over Masada, Ein Gedi, oasis and the contours of the Dead Sea; a 50-minute flight over Mount Sodom, the crater and fields at Ne’ot HaKikar and Kikar Sodom; and a 70-minute flight around the entire Dead Sea region and Jerusalem. Also offered will be two-mile tandem skydives above the Dead Sea with views across the Judean Desert, Dead Sea, Jordan Valley and Moab Mountains.

Two-day scuba excursions will provide travelers with a rare and unique perspective of the Dead Sea and include accommodation, training, lectures, dry diving and a Dead Sea diving certificate.

The Dead Sea underwater excursions are designed for expert scuba divers.

For more information on Dead Sea Divers, visit www.deadseadivers.com

For more information on travel to Israel, visit www.goisrael.com

Globus unveiled a new program called Student Discoveries, to offer teachers and students an alternative to traditional educational travel options.

According to Scott Nisbet, president and CEO of the Globus family of brands, “With input from students and educators we have put together special Student Discoveries experiences in around the world that were designed to match class curricula in social studies, math, science and language arts using something we call Discovery Moments, offering students the opportunity to personally explore people, places, historical events and even cuisines while on their custom tour.”

With the launch, Globus is introducing nine itineraries to popular student destinations like Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and New York, and international destinations including Italy, London, Paris and Spain.

These vacations can be completely customized to fit a student group’s needs, including offering in-depth topic exploration while bringing to life educational moments in a profound way.

With 32 offices worldwide, Student Discoveries, powered by the Globus family of brands, can create custom tours to fit any group’s enrichment interests, anywhere. “Our Program Directors are multilingual and highly educated,” said Nisbet. “They’re the best in the businesses and are dedicated to delivering unforgettable travel experiences.

For more information about Student Discoveries, by the Globus family of brands, visit www.studentdiscoveries.com

Littleton, Colo.-based Group Voyagers is the privately held company that markets and sells the Globus family of brands within the United States, including Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways, offering tours, independent travel packages and river and small ship cruise options.

For more information, call 866-313-2855 or visit www.globusfamily.com