Jetsettersblog

Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course, which has played host to the PGA Tour Children’s Miracle Network Classic for 40 years, is this week’s featured golf course at www.OrlandoGolf.com  the leading site for anyone planning to play golf in Orlando.

The Magnolia is the longest of all the Walt Disney World Resort golf courses.

Lower-handicap golfers commonly favor it over the three other 18-hole courses at Disney for its championship pedigree. It’s been a mainstay on the PGA Tour since it opened.

Joe Lee’s design is classic, with very wide fairways, but 11 of the 18 holes have water, and there are 97 bunkers scattered around the scenic landscape and greens.

The golf course gets its name from the more than 1,500 fragrant Magnolias. Elevated tees, spacious greens and tranquil water hazards make it a natural setting.

In a recent review of Disney’s Magnolia Course, Erik Peterson wrote:

At more than 7,500 yards from the professional tees, Magnolia easily measures as the longest of the four Disney golf courses, though it plays much shorter for resort guests.

It was lengthened through the years to keep up with long-hitting pros, but the Joe Lee design has retained most of its original characteristics.

www.OrlandoGolf.com, part of GolfChannel’s TravelGolf network of sites, offers golfers a complete online guide to the best in Orlando golf.

Wide fairways give long hitters an advantage, but 97 bunkers and water on 11 holes present plenty of bite.

In 2008, bunkers were deepened to make them more penal. Trees are also a factor as the golf course is named after 1,500 magnolias sprinkled across the landscape.

About OrlandoGolf.com

Golfers can book Orlando tee times, plan an Orlando golf vacation, book a room in central Florida’s top resorts, learn about the best golf courses in the area, plan a corporate golf outing, and more.

About Golf Channel

Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla.

The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer and a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies.

Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.

With the recent addition of a new, boutique hotel that houses over 100 guestrooms and suites, the Valley View Casino in San Diego’s East County recently changed its name to Valley View Casino & Hotel .

The hotel will officially open in November 2010 and provide 96 deluxe rooms and 12 luxury suites with views of the surrounding Palomar Mountains.

The rooms will feature comfortable platform beds with 300 thread count sheets and plush bedding, spacious sitting areas, in-room amenities, HD TVs, marble and granite floors and countertops, floor-to-ceiling windows and much more. Guests will also receive a complimentary, daily poolside breakfast and free parking.

For more information, visit www.valleyviewcasino.com

Old Town San Diego’s historic Victorian village, The Inns at Heritage Park , formerly known as Heritage Park, is currently undergoing a $4 million restoration to its 7.8-acre park and historic buildings.

Slated for completion in early 2011, the project will include full restoration of six of the park’s Victorian homes along with adding 29 guestrooms in four of those buildings, which will serve as inns and B&Bs.

Each guestroom will feature Victorian-inspired furniture and décor like claw-foot bathtubs, hardwood floors and period moldings, as well as modern amenities like electric fireplaces, hidden flat screen TVs and WiFi access.

There will also be an event space for small weddings and special events in the historic Temple Beth Israel, circa 1889, along with ample parking.

For more information, visit http://heritageparksd.com

HOTEL RENOVATIONS

The San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, located next to the San Diego Convention Center in downtown San Diego, is currently undergoing an extensive $195 million, hotel-wide renovation that will be completed in stages over the next three years.

The hotel just completed $1.4 million in upgrades to its fitness center and a multimillion dollar renovation its South Tower guestrooms, which included new bathrooms with walk-in showers, new furniture, carpet, bedding, flat screen TVs and wireless technology. In April 2011, the same guestroom upgrades will be completed in the hotel’s North Tower; the cost for both phases of guestroom renovations will total $41 million.

In November 2010, the hotel began a $4.2 million makeover of the lobby and front entrance, and a $7.7 million upgrade to the pool area, which will include two new waterfalls, Jacuzzi, pool bar, restaurant, new lighting and sound systems; both projects are slated for completion in early 2011.

Additional renovations will include $5.5 million of elevator modinerzation to be completed in September 2011; $97 million of new meeting and event space to be completed in October 2012; a $3 million outdoor event terrace to be completed in October 2012; a $10.3 million transformation of the South Tower Great Room for private dining events to be completed in May 2013; and the addition of a $2.9 million spa to be completed in October 2013.

For more information, visit

www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sandt-san-diego-marriott-hotel-and-marina.

In November 2010, the La Quinta Inn Old Town/Airport in Old Town San Diego completed renovations to its lobby and breakfast area.

Upgrades include new tile; a marble computer nook with a free computer and printer; new furniture, wall color and décor, and a new front desk made from redwood and marble.

The breakfast area also received new tile and redwood and marble cabinetry to match the lobby.

For more information, visit www.laquintaoldtown.com

The Lafayette Hotel & Suites San Diego in the revitalized neighborhood of North Park is undergoing a $4 million renovation that will enable the historic property to pursue a LEED certification.

Energy- and water-efficient design elements are being installed, and solar heating and solar energy options are being explored. The renovation also provides an opportunity for the hotel to modernize its in-room technology and other amenities for hotel guests.

For more information, visit www.lafayettehotelsd.com

Google Ventures has purchased an unspecific number of shares in holiday home rentals company HomeAway Inc.

HomeAway is the parent company of HomeAway Holiday-Rentals and Owners Direct in the UK.

The company said with Google’s help it will “focus its attention on further technological development, among other things, to optimise its websites and simplify the booking process’.

“HomeAway is now at a stage where we want to concentrate our resources on optimising the usability of our websites and setting new standards in the holiday rentals industry,” said Brian Sharples, CEO and Founder of HomeAway, Inc.

“We feel very positive that the new partnership with Google will help us achieve this goal.”

HomeAway said it would also benefit from Google’s extensive experience of acquiring and integrating start-ups when expanding in to new markets such as Asia and Australia.

HomeAway currently operates sites in 11 European countries plus USA and Brazil.

In 2009, HomeAway’s turnover grew by 45% to $120 million.

Responding to strong demand for some of its more exotic itineraries,

The Yachts of Seabourn has changed some of the published itineraries of two of its yachts during the first quarter of 2012.

The 208-guest Seabourn Pride, which had been scheduled to sail 12-day cruises of Vietnam and Thailand between Hong Kong and Bangkok, will instead sail between Hong Kong and Singapore on five 14-day voyages that will each include a call at the up-and-coming beach resort community of Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

Departure dates are scheduled between Jan. 4 and March 14, 2012.

The revised schedule also includes one 14-day voyage departing Feb. 15, 2012, and sailing roundtrip from Singapore to Penang, Phuket, Langkawi, Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, the Malaysian metropolis of Kuala Lumpur and more.

The Seabourn Legend will start 2012 sailing among the islands of the Indonesian Archipelago, on 10- and 12-day itineraries between Singapore and Bali that include hard-to-reach places such as Komodo, Sumba, Flores, Gili Sudak and Kura Kura. Five departures are scheduled between Jan. 3 and Feb. 16, 2012.

Following the additional Southeast Asian voyages, each of the two Seabourn yachts will reposition to Europe on a pair of longer voyages, the “Jewels of India & Arabia” sailing from Singapore to Dubai in 18 days and then the “Wonders of Arabia & Egypt” from Dubai to Athens in another 18 days. Seabourn Value Fares offer savings up to 65 percent, with fares starting at $3,999 per person, based on double occupancy.

Trump Hotel Collection announced that Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama will debut in spring 2011, marking the collection’s first foray into Latin America.

Trump Ocean Club will be perched above Panama Bay.

The building — the vision of venerated architect Arias Serna Saravia and developer Newland International Properties Corp. — stands 70 stories tall, a tower evoking a majestic sail fully deployed in the wind.

The artistry of its design is destined to make it an architectural icon for both Panama and all of Central America.

Trump Ocean Club’s 369 hotel rooms, with floor-to-ceiling windows, include 47 suites, range from approximately 526 to 1,561 square feet.

Signature to the Trump Hotel Collection, the Trump Attaché will offer each guest around-the-clock attention at Trump Ocean Club.

More than a concierge, the Trump Attaché meticulously records guest’s preferences.

More than 10,000 square feet of spa space have been dedicated to guests’ well-being at Trump Ocean Club.

A full-service fitness center is situated to take in the ocean views. Meeting space will be comprised of over 16,000 square feet.

Dining options will range from gourmet oceanfront restaurants to a plaza with freshly prepared foods and a pool deck dining space as well as in-room dining.

The first two floors of the tower will feature boutiques and shops. Atop the 13th floor will be Trump Ocean Club’s Pool Deck. Two pools — including an infinity-edge pool — private cabanas, cozy loungers, and an open-air bistro and bar will make it the ultimate perch to view the setting sun.

For more information, visit www.trumphotelcollection.com