Jetsettersblog

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Nurol Insaat ve Ticaret A.S. announced the official opening of the Sheraton Batumi Hotel, Georgia. The 203-room Sheraton Hotel is the first internationally branded hotel in the emerging Black Sea destination of Batumi and is part of the brand’s strategic expansion that will add approximately 50 new hotels and over 20,000 rooms to the Sheraton portfolio over the next three years.

The Sheraton Batumi was designed to appeal to both business and leisure travelers and features 43 suites including one penthouse with views of the Black Sea.

The property is the second Sheraton hotel in the Republic of Georgia, joining its sister property the Sheraton Metechi Palace in Tblisi. Located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, minutes from the center of Batumi and within easy reach of the international airport, the white lighthouse tower of the Sheraton Batumi Hotel was designed in the style of the Batumi lighthouse of Alexandria built by Alexander the Great in 290 B.C.

The property offers one all-day dining restaurant “Sunflower” on the ground floor and a lounge restaurant and bar “Veronica” with stunning vistas of the Batumi skyline.

The hotel’s ballroom is the largest in Batumi at over 10,000 square feet and is ideal for weddings or corporate events. For smaller meetings and conferences the hotel has six other meeting rooms and a fully equipped business center.

Leisure amenities include an 8,000-square-foot Shine Spa for Sheraton as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools and the brand’s signature fitness offering — Sheraton Fitness by Core Performance. Created in partnership with Core Performance, a training and lifestyle brand built by the experts who train professional athletes in every major sport, the program helps travelers train and eat healthy while on the road and features a gym experience and healthy dining options.

European Waterways plans to introduce a new 20-passenger luxury hotel barge, the La Bella Vita, which will operate its first cruise Sept. 5 out of its homeport of Venice, Italy.

La Bella Vita will operate cruises that span the Venetian Lagoon and the River Po Valley to the Renaissance city of Mantua.

Bookings are now being accepted for the inaugural cruise. All of European Waterways’ luxury cruise vacations offer a minimum of 10 percent commission to travel agents.

La Bella Vita, which is Italian for “the beautiful life,” features air-conditioned accommodations, a dining room and bar area, side decks for viewing, and a sun deck. Among the cruise highlights is a guided tour of Venice and a tour of Chioggia, where guests can accompany their vessel’s master chef to the fish market to select the catch of the day for the evening meal.

Other tour highlights feature private wine tastings and a cruise along the Bianca Canal, which follows the Po River to Adria, to visit its museums and cathedrals.

The tour culminates at Mantua, which is surrounded by lakes on three sides.

The cultural and musical center of Northern Italy, Mantua was once home to one of the greatest Renaissance courts in Europe.

In 2008, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its medieval and Renaissance planning and architecture. A brochure on La Bella Vita is available online at http://bitURL.net/La_Bella_Vita

For more information, call 800-394-8630 or visit www.gobarging.com

TRAVELLERS will learn culinary secrets from a Michelin-starred chef, cruise beautiful Lake Maggiore and enjoy a guided wine-cellar tour on this authentic taste of Italy from Tempo Holidays.

The three day adventure offers the ideal introduction to Italian cuisine, based at Verbania on the shores of internationally renowned Lake Maggiore, easily accessible from Milan.

Highlights include a morning cooking class with one of Italy’s finest chefs and a lunch based on your own creations plus a private boat excursion on Lake Maggiore visiting the Borromee Islands and Islola Pescatori with sumptuous dinner on Pescatori Island.

Priced from $906* per person twin share, the package includes two nights accommodation in a four-star Lake Maggiore hotel, two breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner, cooking class with a Michelin-starred chef, private boat excursion with dinner and guided wine-cellar visit.

The tour is valid for sale and travel to October 9, 2010

For bookings, contact your local travel agent or Tempo Holidays – Australian Travel Agent, www.tempoholidays.com, 1300 558 987 or info@tempoholidays.com. For more information, check out Tempo Holidays’ latest specials and promotions.

*Terms & conditions apply, subject to change and availability

Salzburg’s Hohe Tauern National Park boasts many special spots, but the Rauris Valley, is a secret golden jewel. Shaped by a rich history, it offers today’s visitor a holiday that is relaxing and exhilarating.

At 1,800 km², the Rauris Valley is the largest national park in the Alps, and boasts a rich variety of unique and natural treasures.

The Rauris Valley is also home to tales of time gone by, of gold mining and mule packing. Its natural history attractions include the “Tauern Window“ and the Valley of Vultures – a fantastic wildlife viewing habitat.

And so to habitats: make your way up from the far end of the Rauris Valley to the glacial regions and you’ll stroll through every climate zone and habitat you would encounter if you were travelling from Central Europe to the Arctic.

Whether walking across these high-alpine pastures or following the footsteps of the mule packers, watching the bearded vultures, exploring one of the many self-guided trails, such as those in the Rauris Virgin Forest or at the foot of the Sonnblick Glacier, you’re sure to experience fascinating encounters leaving lasting memories.

In 1986, the Rauris Valley was selected as the primary site in the Alps for the reintroduction of bearded vultures (this year will see the final release of bearded vultures into the wild).
Since then, it has been possible to observe these impressive animals and their cousins, the griffon and golden eagle, in the wild, along with marmots and chamois.

The Rauris Valley is not only one of the most beautiful but also the largest natural hiking playground in the Hohe Tauern National Park.

From tranquil trekking through glorious countryside to mountain tours leading up to glaciers.

In just a few minutes, the Rauris Hochalm Lifts whisk nature lovers to the heart of the Hochalm hiking area. With over 295 km of superbly marked hiking paths and alpine trails, the Rauris Valley is one of the most adventure-filled hiking areas in Europe.

During the summer months, around forty farms and mountain huts are staffed and fling open their doors to visitors.

“Gold fever” breaks out in Rauris every summer, as treasure hunters chance their luck as they pan the river for fine platelets of pure metallic gold.

Though commercial gold-mining ceased in the last century, to this day there are still three beautiful gold-panning sites for locals and visitors to enjoy.

Under the watchful eye of a local expert, become a real treasure hunter and, with a little bit of luck, find your very own “pot of gold”.

Traditions and folk culture is alive and kicking in the Rauris Valley, still practised in their original, authentic form. As the saying goes, “we don’t just give guests a place to stay, but let them share in our traditional lifestyle”.

For more information: Tourismusverband Rauris, Tel.: +43 6544 20022, Mail: marina.breycha@raurisertal.at, www.raurisertal.at

Kulm Hotel St Moritz and Grand Hotel Kronenhof, Pontresina, two of the most elegant properties located in Switzerland’s Engadine valley.

The Kulm Hotel St Moritz, the resort’s first hotel, opened its doors in 1856 and immediately became popular for summer spa and painting holidays, particularly among the British who comprised around 75% of the hotel guests.

The owner of the Kulm Hotel, Johannes Badrutt, initiated winter holidays to St Moritz from 1864, when he laid a bet with his last departing summer guests that the local weather was so good they could sun themselves on the hotel’s terrace even in deep December; if not, he would cover the cost of their vacation himself.

He won the bet and within two years, the hotel was fully booked with guests staying for the entire winter season. The Kulm Hotel St Moritz can, therefore, take credit for starting the trend for winter sports holidays.

Since the 19th century, the Kulm Hotel has changed considerably through expansion and renovation, but the fabulous location at the heart of St Moritz with views over the Lake remains the same.

A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, the Kulm Hotel has 173 rooms, five restaurants (formal dining, French fine dining awarded 15 points by Gault Millau, Italian, local Engadine specialities and Japanese), the extensive Panorama Spa & Health Club (with 20m indoor pool, various saunas and steam room, a Jacuzzi, a fully-equipped gym and treatment rooms, all with stunning views over Lake St Moritz) and six conference rooms, with capacities ranging from 50 to 500 people.

Entertainment and sports facilities include the 9-hole Kulm Golf Course St Moritz, three tennis courts, a natural ice rink, a curling field and the “Marmotta Club” for children.

The Kulm Hotel is inextricably linked to the Cresta Run through the Sunny Bar, where tobogganing pilots have congregated for decades; the walls are lined with trophies and images of famous people who have hurled themselves down the infamous ice track and bob run, which starts at the bob restaurant (operated by the Kulm Hotel) and leads through the Kulm Park to the nearby village of Celerina.

Two Winter Olympic Games have been held in the Kulm Park, in 1928 and 1948, and the Olympic Stadium is still in situ (now converted to a home), overlooking the Kulm Golf course.

Summer rates start from CHF 520/approx £315 for a double room, including buffet breakfast, dinner in a choice of restaurants, railway transfers from/to St. Moritz railway station and free use of the hotel’s Panorama Spa & Health Club.

Sister hotel Grand Hotel Kronenhof is located in Pontresina, six miles from St Moritz, offering the both of best worlds: the chance to enjoy the glitz of St Moritz, while staying in a peaceful mountain village.

Grand Hotel Kronenhof, like the Kulm Hotel, has a rich and interesting history, having first opened its doors in the first half of the 19th century as a guesthouse.

However, the main part of the current building, which is a registered historical landmark, was built at the very end of the 19th century in neo-Baroque style.

The latest addition, completed in November 2007 and costing CHF 50 million (approximately £30 million), consists of 28 new guest rooms and a stunning spa complex covering more than 2000 square metres.

Awarded the title of Gault Millau Hotel of the Year in 2009, Grand Hotel Kronenhof has 112 guest rooms, four restaurants (formal dining, local Engadine specialities,

Swiss raclette in the traditional bowling lanes and an informal pavilion for light lunches), what has been described as “the best Alpine spa”*, and extensive children’s activities and facilities (a kids’ playroom and Rondelle, a restaurant just for younger members of the family).

Summer rates start from CHF 480/approx £290 for a double room, including buffet breakfast, dinner in a choice of restaurants, railway transfers from/to Pontresina station and free use of the hotel spa.