Jetsettersblog

Tel Aviv, Israel’s modern urban Mediterranean coastal town and one of Lonely Planet’s Top Ten Cities for 2011, released a selection of art, culture, music and sport festivals for travelers to the Mediterranean coastal city through 2011. The events include the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival (Feb. 15 to 18), an annual highlight in Israel which will showcase top international and Israeli jazz musicians in more than 20 performances at the Tel Aviv Cinemateque. For more information, visit www.jazzfest.co.il.

The annual TLV RUN TLV marathon (April will bring runners through the beaches, parks and hip Bauhaus neighborhoods of the White City, with a selection of 2.6-, 6.2-, 13- or 26-mile races beginning at the Charles Clore Park on the shore. For more information, visit www.tlvmarathon.co.il.

Open House Tel Aviv-Jaffa (May 20 to 21) offers travelers the opportunity to explore historically significant residences, buildings and landmarks throughout the city. For more information, visit www.batim-il.org.

The Tel Aviv Gay Pride (June 10) brings an endless weekend of parades and celebrations, during which travelers and locals alike can enjoy the city’s relaxed lifestyle, lively bars, cafes and clubs along the Mediterranean shore. For more information, visit www.gayisrael.org.il.

The annual White Night Festival (June 30) celebrates the July 2003 UNESCO designation of the White City of Tel Aviv and its exceptional collection of Bauhaus architecture. The event brings tens of thousands of residents and travelers into the city’s streets for various cultural events, concerts and street theater performances, as well as free entry to museums and art galleries and special happenings at some of the city’s top restaurants. For more information, visit www.visit-tlv.co.il.

Opera in the Park (July 14) features the Israel Opera Choir alongside international and Israeli soloists in a performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute conducted by Maestro David Stern in the heart of the city’s Hayarkon Park. For more information, visit www.israel-opera.co.il/eng.

Loving Art. Making Art. (Sept. 8 to 10) is an art-centric festival that will kick off the city’s gallery exhibition season with more than 75 museums and art galleries remaining open late, in addition to a selection of special outdoor art displays, free of charge. For more information, visit www.visit-tlv.co.il For general destination information, visit www.goisrael.com

EVA Air opened its new Diamond VIP lounge in Terminal 2 at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan on Jan. 20, 2011. The lounge is only for Evergreen Club Diamond Card members and Premium Laurel Class ticket holders. With plush leather seating, a gourmet buffet and the latest technology for busy travelers, the lounge comfortably seats 160 passengers in approximately 13,000 square feet (1,200 square meters). The lounge also provides four shower rooms, each with a temperature-controlled massage showerhead and different theme. Passengers can choose to refresh themselves in a classic, art deco, Japanese Zen or modern environment. For more information, visit www.evaair.com

Paul Gauguin Cruises will host Chef Jean-Pierre Vigato aboard the Paul Gauguin for a culinary program during the July 30 cruise. Vigato is owner and Chef Propriétaire of the two Michelin-starred Restaurant Apicius in Paris.

Available for all 2011 sailings, Vigato’s signature menu is featured in the ship’s La Veranda restaurant, and select dishes will also be featured at L’Etoile. Vigato will join the July 30 sailing as a special guest, personally preparing gourmet dishes for guests and offering cooking demonstrations. Sample menu items include fine tart of mushrooms and snails with mascarpone and white truffle oil, grilled wahoo with Thai vegetables and an herb salad, and local pineapple jelly served with rum-infused mascarpone and Tahitian vanilla ice cream.

Restaurant Apicius is located in private gardens behind the Champs-Elysées, within a 19th century mansion. Vigato opened Restaurant Apicius in 1984, earning his first Michelin star after just one year of operation and earning a second Michelin star three years later. For more information, call 800-848-6172 or visit www.pgcruises.com

Bali Holiday Sensation is a new luxury villa rentals, Bali cruises and yacht charters, adventure tours and other Balinese travel services vender. Its service extends to Lombok, Flores, Sumbawa and Jogjakarta. They represent up-market boutique hotels, private resort villas and more.

Bali Holiday Adventures is a selection of activities such as white water rafting and tours to explore the tribes and cultures of Indonesia. Bali Holiday Experience is a custom travel designer for individual travelers, honeymooners, family travelers, team building and corporate meetings. The company’s list of the top 10 Bali accommodations includes The Wangsa, luxury villa rentals in Nusa Dua; Ranadi Villas, private pool villas and spa accommodation rentals in Seminyak; Amori Villas, five private residential suites; Four@Drupadi, four themed individual villas near Seminyak; Villa Mahapala, 20 villas themed to zodiac symbols; Maya Sayang Villas at reasonable price points; The Shore, a new private villa in the fishing village of Seseh; The Shanti Residences, a collection of luxury residences; St. Regis in Nusa Dua; and Villa Batujimbar, holiday villa rentals. For more information, visit www.baliholidaysensation.com

From now until April 20, Rani Resorts is offering Hot Summer Specials at four of its Mozambique properties — Matemo Island, Medjumbe Private Island, Pemba Beach Hotel and Spa and Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa. The new specials provide guests with a 20 to 50 percent savings.

Matemo and Medjumbe are two islands located in the Quirimbas Archipelago off the northern coast of Mozambique. At Matemo Island, guests can choose between 24 beach chalets just steps away from the Indian Ocean. Medjumbe provides a more intimate setting with only 13 palm-thatched chalets. Both have plenty of things to do for the active traveler including snorkeling, fishing, and diving.

Along the northern coastline just south of Matemo Island and Medjumbe Private Island is Pemba Beach Hotel and Spa. Located in the ancient port town of Pemba, Pemba Beach Hotel and Spa pays homage to the area’s past with its sand-colored stone walls recalling a kasbah and blending the rugged beauty of Africa with Arabian influences. Its proximity to the town allows guests to visit one of Pemba’s fishing villages or a local “souk” and more.

Further south in the Bazaruto Archipelago rests the Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa. Located on Bazaruto Island off the coast of southern Mozambique, the property is set amidst white beaches, large sand dunes and freshwater lakes, all surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

As part of the summer specials, guests staying at Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa can enjoy a 20 percent savings when booking the beach chalets and a 40 percent savings when booking the Bayview Villas from now through April 20. Included in the offer is a trip to Paradise Island or dune boarding and horse riding (one per guest per stay), as well as a 15-minute mystery Spa Treatment at Indigo Bay’s Sanctuary Spa. Snorkeling trips to Neptunes Nursery are scheduled daily.

The Hot Summer Specials also include 50 percent off bookings at Pemba Beach Island Resort and Spa’s Classic Room including bed and breakfast, as well as at Pemba’s Courtyard Room. Both rates are based on double occupancy. At Matemo Island and at Medjumbe Private Island guests can enjoy fifty percent off when booking the Beach Chalet. The rate code for these offers at Matemo Island, Medjumbe Private Island and Pemba Beach Island Resort and Spa is PERI; there is no booking code necessary at Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa. For more information, email info@raniresorts.com  or visit www.raniresorts.com

Vietnam’s Nam Hai has turned a plot of once-fallow land into an herb and vegetable garden, offering organically grown produce for use in gourmet dishes and exotic drinks. “Increasingly, our guests are asking about ingredients. Casually, yes, but also at a remarkable depth of interest,” said John Blanco, general manager of The Nam Hai. “Because so many of our staff know so much about how this all works, we realized we had an opportunity to get way out in front on this issue.”

Conceived and managed by the resort’s Executive Chef Conrado Tromp, the garden occupies a full hectare of previously unaccounted for space adjacent to the hotel entrance. Where tropical weeds and wild vines once grew, edibles such as red basil, lemongrass and mustard lettuce sprout in controlled abundance from the sand-based, coastal soil. “The organic food movement has spread to all corners of the world,” said Tromp, a Dutchman whose work experience over the past decade includes stints with Four Seasons resorts in Hong Kong, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

All guests of The Nam Hai are welcome to take a walk through the seaweed-fertilized garden — “no chemicals used at all,” said Tromp — and explore its features on their own. Those who wish to learn more about the variety of crops at the culinary team’s disposal are encouraged to sign up for the resort’s cooking class, offered daily through sign-up at reception.

Situated on 35 hectares of landscaped tropical gardens 30 minutes from Danang International Airport, The Nam Hai is an exclusive, all-villa resort featuring 60 one-bedroom villas and 40 pool villas ranging from one to five bedrooms, each with its own infinity pool overlooking the East Sea as well as three beachfront swimming pools, two gourmet restaurants, and a tropical spa beside a lagoon. For more information, call 011 84 510 394 0000, email reservations@thenamhai.com  or visit www.thenamhai.com.

General Tours World Traveler introduced a new 15-day Small Group Journey from Beijing to Moscow, highlighted by a 10-night odyssey along the Trans-Siberian rail route. The trip includes a choice of hotels in Beijing, Moscow, Ulaanbaatar and Irkutsk, eight nights on the private Zarengold Train in a private compartment with panoramic windows, complete sightseeing and all meals. From now until Feb. 28, travelers save $600 per couple when they pay-in-full at time of booking. The offer can be combined with any of the company’s other discounts for combined savings up to $1,100 per couple.

Priced from $7,399 per person, From China to Russia by Private Train begins in Beijing with extensive small group sightseeing that includes the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. An overnight rail journey from Beijing brings guests to the Mongolian border where they step aboard the private Zarengold Train and settle in to their air-conditioned cabins for a trip across the Mongolian Steppes into Siberia to Lake Baikal and on through the Ural Mountains into Europe.

The journey to Russia includes eight nights on board the train interspersed with hotel stays in Ulaanbaatar and Irkutsk. Along the way, excursions with English-speaking guides reveal the cultures and traditions of Mongolia and historic towns along the Trans-Siberian route. Onboard, guests can enjoy memorable views from the privacy of their compartment or join fellow travelers in the panoramic lounge. Freshly prepared gourmet meals are served in the Zarengold Train’s restaurant wagons, beautifully designed to evoke the bygone romance and glamour of luxury rail travel. The journey ends on a high note in Moscow, where guests enjoy their choice of a deluxe or luxury city-center hotel and in-depth sightseeing with the company’s experienced resident staff.

Clients can combine the $300 discount with General Tours’ Family & Friends savings of $50 to $150 per person when three or more guests travel together. World Traveler Club members can even add their repeat guest discount for total combined savings up to $550 per person. Travel agents who are members of General Tours Rewards earn a $50 bonus per booking when their clients take advantage of the special $300 savings. There is no cap or limit to how much an agent can earn in bonuses, which are paid when clients travel. This bonus is also applicable to 2011 Group Bookings for individual clients who pay in full at time of booking by Feb. 28. Agents who are not yet Rewards members can sign up for free at www.GeneralToursRewards.com. For more information, call 800-221-2216 or visit www.GeneralTours.com.

Sanctuary Zebra Plains, Sanctuary Retreats’ new luxury walking safari camp in the South Luangwa, is opening on June 1, 2011. Guests can now enjoy an exclusive bush adventure by foot, without forsaking personalized service or comfort. Garth Hovell, widely regarded as one of Zambia’s most highly respected guides with almost 20 years of experience, leads walks twice a day. In order to fully explore the South Luangwa, guests will spend three nights at Sanctuary Zebra Plains with set departures on Monday or Thursday. New bookings made between Feb. 1 and April 30, 2011, for travel between June 1 and July 31, 2011, will receive 50 percent off the cost of a second person. For reservations, email southernafrica@sanctuaryretreats.com . For more information, visit www.sanctuaryretreats.com

W Retreat & Spa Bali is offering a package in conjunction with its March 1 opening. The Premiere to Bali opening package includes breakfast at Fire restaurant; $150 in-retreat credit (food only); free upgrade to the next retreat category (upon availability); and a surprise W gift. The Premiere to Bali package is available March 1 through June 30 and starts at $388 per night for a garden view retreat, $538 per night for an ocean facing retreat and $788 per night for a one-bedroom villa retreat. The package is subject to availability and excludes a 21 percent service charge and tax. For more information, email reservations.wbali@whotels.com  or visit www.whotels.com/baliseminyak , www.whotels.com  or www.starwoodhotels.com

From Jan. 25 through April 7, clients who book Offbeat Mara Camp get six nights for the price of four — $2,060 per adult sharing. This is one of the best times to visit Mara North because the weather is great and the area is free of crowds. Offbeat Mara, with six tents, is one of the smallest camps in the Mara. The camp is set along the Olare Orok River in the Mara North Conservancy, offering a private, traditional safari experience with close access to the famous Masai Mara National Reserve. For reservations, contact bookings@OffbeatSafaris.com. For more information, visit www.offbeatsafaris.com