Jetsettersblog

For a very different Christmas and New Year escaping to the snowcapped peaks of the Himalayas for a truly unique experience, Bhutan offers the perfect respite from today’s hectic lifestyle and a chance to explore this hidden kingdom and culture in surprisingly mild temperatures, under the guidance of Uma Paro’s specialist team.

Uma Paro has put together an exclusive seven-night programme over the festive season, which culminates in memorable events on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, inclduing a menu created by Chef Jillene Slui, an archery tournament and traditional music and dance performances – a unique memory to take home from this culturally rich adventure.

The seven-night programme (which can begin on any day between the 20th and 29th December 2008) incorporates the region’s most inspiring sights. These include visits to Paro town, the Haa Valley and the capital city, Thimphu. There are also insightful trips to local Dzongs. The highlight will be a visit to the magnificent Taktsang Goemba (the Tiger’s Nest) Monastery.

Guests will be accompanied by their personal, English-speaking guide and driver, and offered the perfect combination of action and downtime to enjoy the resort’s COMO Shambhala Retreat and a relaxing Hot Stone Bath.

The Christmas and New Year Package is available from US$3,419 per person (based on two sharing), including all taxes, government fees, full board, guiding and airport transfers.

For reservations or more information please visit

http://uma.como.bz/paro/default.asp?page=1142§ion=254

Elite Island Resorts, the Caribbean hotel group, is offering a Christmas Holiday promotion — book clients for one week and they receive three additional free nights.

The Three Holiday Bonus Nights offer is valid from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5. Plus the Kids Stay, Play & Free promotion with select room categories on Antigua is combinable with this offer. “Elite Island Resorts decided to implement ‘Three Holiday Nights Free’ program to offset rising airfares this season. We want to ensure our resorts are both affordable and accessible, and this program represents a 30 percent savings for stays during the holidays. We hope that travelers can find more affordable airfares with the extra flexibility of three additional free nights during the peak Christmas holiday week,” said Steven Heydt, president of Elite Island Resorts.

The following per person adult double occupancy rates are valid per night for the 10-night stay and reflect the three-bonus night’s savings: Antigua, All Inclusive Galley Bay Resort & Spa, starting at $347; St. James’s Club & Villas, two kids stay free featured, starting at $240; and The Verandah Resort & Spa, two kids stay free featured, starting at $222; British Virgin Islands, Tortola, MAP Plan Long Bay Beach Resort & Villas, starting at $218; The Grenadines, Palm Island, starting at $312; St. Lucia, Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, starting at $310; and the Village Inn, starting at $110.

For more information, call 800-345-0356 or visit www.eliteislandresorts.com

Virgin America and Barclaycard US, the credit card business of Barclays PLC in the U.S., have announced the launch of the new Virgin America Visa Signature Card – a co-branded credit card that offers guests premium Visa Signature services, rewards, and amenities, with no annual fee. Cardholders can start earning points on Virgin America’s first-of-its-kind no-black-out date loyalty program, Elevate, beginning Oct. 23. The Virgin America Absurdly Simple Visa Signature Card rewards cardholders with triple Elevate points on all Virgin America purchases, enabling them to quickly earn free travel on the airline that has captured a list of travel industry best-in-class awards, including most recently Best Domestic Airline in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards.

As a special bonus, customers who apply by Nov. 30, 2008, will have an opportunity to earn a free one-way ticket. Once guests are approved and use their card they can earn bonus Elevate points after their first purchase and bonus points for balance transfers. Members can use their card to earn three points for every $1 spent on Virgin America flights and on all purchases, such as films, snacks, and cocktails on the airline’s RED in-flight entertainment system. Members will also rack up points for all other purchases at the rate of one point for every dollar spent. Cardholders will receive 2,500 Elevate bonus points after the first purchase, one point per dollar spent on everyday purchases and triple points on Virgin America purchases. For more information, visit www.virginamericacreditcard.com.

New 5 star hotel for Belfast – is a real smasher!

THE fitzWILLIAM HOTEL
Located in the Heart of Belfast this Design Hotel opens March 2009. It is individual, Classic with a Twist, Authoritative and speaks of Timeless Values and Character. It enjoys an enviable location beside the Grand Opera House facing the Spires Convention Centre. As Belfast’s only Design Hotel this 130 bedroom property offers guests the promise of being put instantly at ease. With innate courtesy, effortless charm and good humour, guests are welcomed to its boldly handsome stronghold, designed in a style that’s often startling and always strikingly original. There is a clear invitation to the guest to establish a relationship that’s based on enduring values and an innate sense of good taste, meaning that the type of service offered is assured, grown-up, thoughtful and intelligent. The resulting bond means that the hotel serves as a welcome and idealised ‘home from home’, an inner sanctum where the needs and wants of the guest are anticipated and fulfilled. Website: www.fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com

Opera Ireland Winter Season :15th – 23rd November
Opera Ireland’s winter season at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, combines the great familiar classics Madama Butterfly and Don Giovanni with two Irish première productions: the less well known but equally wonderful Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten and Mazeppa by Tchaikovsky. There is something for everyone to enjoy, from the novice to the dedicated opera fan.The bicentenary of the great 19th century Irish opera composer, Michael William Balfe, is celebrated this year with an historic concert performance and world première recording of his great ‘Italian’ opera Falstaff. New Irish opera also features with a workshop performance of Fergus Johnston’s The Earl of Kildare. Another innovation this season is Opera Ireland’s presentation of The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD at cinemas in Dublin and elsewhere. Now an international phenomenon, this is the first time these spectacular high-definition live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York have been seen in Ireland and they are sure to be a great addition to operatic life there. www.operaireland.com

For the Grand Opera House in Belfast events please see: http://www.goh.co.uk/default.asp?id=39&sC=page10

The Dublin Pass Welcomes its New Participants
The Dublin Pass is delighted to welcome its new Attractions & Special Offer Participants! The new participants include Skerries Mills and The National Aquatic Centre offering free entry. Historical Walking Tours of Dublin, The Irish House Party and Railtours Ireland, Mercer hotels, Saba Restaurant and Taylors All Irish Cabaret each offering substantial discounts or added value offers to all Dublin Pass holders. The Dublin Pass includes over 27 top visitor attractions and fantastic special offers as well as the free luxury Aircoach transfer from the airport to the city. Be a VIP and skip the queues with a prepaid Dublin Pass! Check the tour banner below.

Get spooked in Derry and Dublin this Hallowe’en
Hallowe’en is celebrated throughout the Western World but its origins are Irish. Derry City hosts the biggest free street costume party which sees the city transformed into the premier destination for ghosts, ghouls, witches and warlocks from 27th – 31st Oct. www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween

Join in the spooky hallow’en fun at Hallowfest in south county Dublin (25th-26th October). There’ll be games, fun walks, spooky storytelling and a spectacular Fireworks display!! www.hallowfest.ie

And the ghostly games go on

Put yourself at unease on the world’s only Ghostbus, and introduce yourself to the dark romance of a city of gaslight ghosts and chilling legends. The Dublin Ghostbus, a unique attraction, is a mobile-theatre decorated in the gothic style and features a live storyteller who takes you on a spellbinding trip through Dublin. Once onboard, you will be spirited away to a world of felons, fiends, and phantoms who will both charm and spook you at the same time. www.dublinsightseeing.ie

Founded in 1095, St. Michan’s Church was, until 1686, the only church on the north side of Dublin city. Little remains of the original church but it was reconstructed in 1686. The peculiar dry atmospheric conditions in the vaults have resulted in the mummification of the corpses and visitors may see the result of this mummification process on their guided tour. Also on display in the vaults are the death mask of Wolfe Tone, the Irish revolutionary and the coffins of the 1798 rebels John and Henry Sheares. www.visitdublin.com

Malahide Castle is said to be haunted by a number of different ghosts. On the morning of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, 14 members of the Talbot family breakfasted together in the Great Hall. All 14 were dead by nightfall! Set on 250 acres of park land in the pretty seaside town of Malahide, this romantic and beautiful structure was both a fortress and a private home for nearly 800 years and is an interesting mix of architectural styles. The house is furnished with beautiful period furniture together with an extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly from the National Gallery. www.malahidecastle.com

Learn all about the fascinating life of Bram Stoker the Irish writer who created this legendary Un-Dead creature of the night – Count Dracula at the The Bram Stoker Dracula Experience. This haunting walk-through interactive experience takes the visitor on a heart-pounding journey through Castle Dracula. Terrifying enactments recreate the unique spine chilling story of the Count and his victims.
www.thebramstokerdraculaexperience.com

For more information about Ireland visit http://www.discoverireland.com  or for a free vacation planning kit call the NY office at 800/223-6470. Read Ireland feature stories from Jetsetters Magazine at this link:

The George, the newest member of Design Hotels, will open in November in Hamburg, Germany. Bringing a “New British Style” and attitude with a modern and light-hearted twist to English tradition and design, the 125-room hotel brings the tradition-rich social clubs of England, to Hamburg.

Among the venues are a library, a restaurant with attached English garden, a rooftop terrace, two clubrooms as well as a lounge and bar. Each is available for private hire.

Hotelier Kai Hollmann, of Hamburg’s Gastwerk Hotel and the 25hours Hotel, realized a design with exotic influences dating back to colonial times make a striking contrast to modern classics. Indian saris are colorful highlights as bedspreads, while an oriental Marrakech style reigns in the spa. In the library, modern interpretations of Chesterfield furniture, niches as well as lavish carpets give the space a clubroom feel. Located in Hamburg’s St. Georg district, the surrounding area is characterized by boutiques, restaurants and street cafes.

The 118 guestrooms, five junior suites and two suites are distributed over seven floors.

For more information, call 800-337-4685 or visit www.designhotels.com

Value World Tours is offering a 10 percent discount on all 2009 river cruises to new passengers under deposit by Feb. 1. The company’s 32-page brochure includes cruises on the Eastern Danube, the Adriatic Sea, Russia and Ukraine. The Six-Country Danube Cruise is a 13-day program between Vienna and Bucharest. Fares begin at $2,699 plus $180 port charges per person, twin. The eight-day Five-Country Adriatic Cruise follows the Dalmatian coastline roundtrip from Koper, Slovenia. Fares start at $1,299 plus $192 port charges per person twin. A pre- and post-cruise hotel night package in Vienna is available. The 12-day Russian Waterways cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg is priced from $1,999 plus $180 port taxes. In Ukraine, a 16-day itinerary between Kiev and Istanbul and a 13-day cruise between Kiev and Odessa are offered. The 13-day program begins at $1,599 plus $180 port charges.

A 16-page brochure offers 15- to 19-day China and Yangtze River programs. Land-cruise packages that include China’s major cities and balcony cabins start at $2,199 plus $80 port charges per person twin. A 15-day Mekong Delta Cruise in Vietnam and Cambodia includes Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap (gateway to the Angkor Wat temples), and a nine-night Mekong River voyage on the new 48-passenger Indochine. Land-cruise rates begin at $2,799 plus $132 port tax. A Grand Thailand Cruise includes Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and a four-day Kwai River cruise on a 20-passenger barge. The 12-day program begins at $1,899 plus $42 port taxes.

The 16-page Egypt brochure has programs ranging from 10 to 14 days. Cairo with a deluxe Nile cruise begins at $1,099 plus $60. Alexandria and Jordon extensions are available. Two new river cruise programs on India’s Brahmaputra River and Hooghly River, with Taj Mahal extensions, are also available.

 For more information, call 800-795-1633 or visit www.valuecruises.net

Behind this secret curtain, nature has flourished, resulting in a vast and pristine wilderness described by Lonely Planet as ‘one of the world’s most beautiful regions’.

Fire-spitting volcanoes cloaked in ice dominate the landscape; remote indigenous tribes live as they have done for centuries, while rivers filled with salmon attract the highest concentration of brown bears on the planet. Teeming with an astounding diversity of wildlife including whales, sea lions, otters and birds, against a backdrop of wildflower-filled meadows, verdant valleys and towering mountain ranges - the Russian Far East is an adventure lover’s dream.

Australian-owned expedition cruising company, Aurora Expeditions, invites you to uncover the majesty and mystery of this remarkable region on one of its three voyages departing in 2009.

Travelling aboard the ice-strengthened 100-passenger Marina Svetaeva, the three expeditions will explore secluded islands and sites that would be impossible by any means other than by ship.

The 14-day ‘Ring of Fire’ expedition to the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka departs on 11 July 2009 from Sakhalin Island in Russia and travels through the islands that lie like stepping-stones between Japan and Russia ending in the town of Petropavlosk.

The second 14-day ‘Bering Sea Explorer’ expedition to Kamchatka and Chukotka departs from Petropavlosk in Russia on 24 July and visits the Commander Islands, Karaginsky Island, the Chukotka Coast and Arakamchechen Archipelago, and some of the least visited wilderness areas on Earth.

The final 13-day ‘Arctic Ocean Discoverer’ voyage explores the Bering Straight and remote Wrangel Island, travelling high above the Arctic Circle where few have ventured. The voyage departs on 6 August 2009 and begins and ends in Nome, Alaska.

Prices for all three voyages start at US$5,490 per person and include accommodation and use of all public areas on board the ship, all meals, guided shore excursions, lectures with expert naturalists and historians, and all port taxes. Sea kayaking is an additional option.

For further information and bookings call 1800 637 688 or visit www.auroraexpeditions.com.au

Delta Air Lines customers flying business class between the U.S. and London’s Heathrow Airport will enjoy the comfort of a 180-degree full flat bed on every flight beginning summer 2009. Delta customers also will have the convenience of a third daily nonstop flight between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London-Heathrow, operated by joint venture partner Air France. The service will complement Delta’s two existing flights between New York and Heathrow and one flight between Atlanta and Heathrow and will give customers the scheduling flexibility of a morning, early evening or late evening departure. “The introduction of full-flat service onboard the Delta 767 fleet will enhance our position in the highly competitive U.S.-to-Heathrow market,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president-network planning and revenue management.

Effective summer 2009, Delta’s flights between the United States and Heathrow will be upgraded to feature Boeing 767-400ER aircraft with 40 new 180-degree full flat beds in the aircraft’s BusinessElite cabin. The seats, designed by Thompson Aerospace and engineered and manufactured by Contour Premium Aircraft Seating, recline to 77-inch-long beds in a one-two-one configuration giving every BusinessElite customer direct aisle access.

Delta is reconfiguring seven of its 767-400 aircraft with the full-flat beds.

In total, Delta and Air France plan to offer customers four daily nonstop flights between the United States and London-Heathrow next summer – one from Atlanta and three from New York-JFK. Delta also currently offers service between London’s Gatwick Airport and Atlanta twice daily and between London-Gatwick and Cincinnati once daily. Air France has announced that it intends to discontinue service between Los Angeles and Heathrow as it adds the new nonstop Heathrow flight from New York.

London will see several new venues that will add to its tourism experience.

When it opens Oct. 30, the Westfield London will add more than 265 luxury, high street and premium retailers, including 16 making their UK debut.

The space features a luxury boutique-style environment called The Village as well as over 50 different places to eat. Add to this a full range of services including concierge team, personal shopping and valet parking. Ganton Street, known as Carnaby’s food quarter, is now complete with the recent opening of Cha Cha Moon from Alan Yau.

The restaurant offers Chinese noodle-inspired dishes with communal tables. There are plenty of other food options in the area, including tapas at Dehesa, traditional sausage and mash at Mother Mash and American classic dishes at The Diner.

For press information, contact Sarah Mole. A new mixed-use development Kings Place opens in King’s Cross this month. The building contains public spaces as well as offices, bars and restaurants.

There will also be art facilities with free access to a number of galleries. It will also house a concert hall and host regular music events. King’s Place will mark its opening with 100 musical events in the first five days.

In the lodging sector, the Apex City of London Hotel has added 49 rooms to its four-star deluxe property as part of a £13 million refurbishment.

 
Bringing the hotel’s total bedroom stock to 179, the hotel will now offer guests a choice of 94 city, 43 superior and 38 deluxe bedrooms along with four junior suites.

 All rooms will have flat-screen TVs, DVD/CD players, free Wi-Fi, free local phone calls and use of the hotel’s fully equipped Technogym.

For more information, visit www.visitlondon.com

Golfers participating in this year’s 56th Annual Goodwill Golf Tournament in Bermuda, scheduled for Dec. 8 to 12, 2008, can enjoy special rates at the Pink Beach Club. Rates are $285 per couple, per night, for all amateur golfers participating in the event. Golf pros will receive complimentary accommodations, and if a guest is accompanying the pro, he or she will enjoy a special rate of $185 per night. A minimum number of four rooms must be booked to receive the discounted rates (applicable to both the amateur and pro rates). Rates include a daily Modified American Plan (MAP) with full English breakfast, traditional afternoon tea and five-course dinner daily.

The annual Bermuda Goodwill Golf Tournament takes place over five days, at four of Bermuda’s top golf courses — Mid Ocean Club, Tucker’s Point Club, Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club and the Belmont Hills Golf Club. It is open to both professionals and amateur golfers and teams come from elite country clubs across the globe. Practice rounds and registration are Dec. 5 to 7, 2008, with a shotgun start beginning on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008. The tournament ends on Dec. 12, 2008.

For more information or reservations, call 800-355-6161 or visit www.pinkbeach.com