By Dian Hasan | July 30, 2009
As the saying goes: beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It is that magical blend of qualities that delight the senses. True in describing an aesthetically-pleasing lady, as well as art, design and architecture. What is obviously clear is that the team of architects and designers who created Chandra Luxury Villas in Bali, definitely have an “eye for beauty”.
Filed under Bali, Indonesia, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 30, 2009
Your private funicular whisks you to your villa. Ubud Hanging Gardens, Bali
Riding in a personal funicular descending down verdant tropical hills to your sumptuously-appointed luxury villa in the heart of magical Bali, is – after all – not your typical hotel experience. Such is the unique travel experience that awaits you at Ubud Hanging Gardens.
Filed under Bali, Indonesia, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 30, 2009
The Balé is a rare gem in Bali. Close enough to Nusa Dua resort enclave, a mere 15 minutes from the airport, and yet in a corner of Bali offering total seclusion away from the hustle and bustle. Overlooking the sweeping ocean and within walking distance to the beach and to the adjacent Bali Golf and Country Club.
Filed under Bali, Indonesia, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 29, 2009
With a myriad of accommodation choices in Bali’s Seminyak enclave, an area renowned for luxe private villas and lifestyle restaurants and lounges, The Elysian Boutique Hotel & Spa offers a compact ambience, and its little surprise; The Elysian Spa.
Filed under Bali, Indonesia, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 29, 2009
Kayumanis Ubud Private Villas and Spa is located in Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali. Strongly rooted in traditional Hindu customs, Ubud is a perfect venue to witness traditional Balinese ceremonies passed down countless generations.
Filed under Bali, Indonesia, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 28, 2009
What does it feel to live a close-to-authentic “kampung” (village) lifestyle on the the Isle of Gods of Bali? A unique resort in Bali has the answer.
The ocean breeze that kisses our faces in the Balé (Balinese open-air pavilion) feels like the Gods have descended to watch over as a group of obedient students increase their breathing to overcome the discomfort of holding the Yoga pose for the few remaining seconds.
The large wooden platform shaded by a large roof, overlooking a sea of waving green fields, mesmerize us on this brilliant morning at Desa Seni (Art Village in Indonesian) as we move through the poses of our Kundalini yoga class.
Filed under Asia, Bali, Green Hotels & Resorts, South East Asia
By Dian Hasan | July 27, 2009
The hotelier Francis Ford Coppola is generally better known for his films, and for a thriving sideline in Northern California wines. But his foray into the hospitality sector in his beloved Belize can be counted as one of his hits. After winning praise for his rustic, elegant Blancaneaux Lodge, built in 1993, he added to the empire with Turtle Inn, a wonderfully quirky, environmentally friendly beach hotel on an unspoiled patch of rainforested Caribbean coastal paradise.
Filed under Adventure Travel, Belize, Central America, Green Hotels & Resorts
By Dian Hasan | July 27, 2009
If there’s any similarity between Hollywood movie-making and hotel creation, it’s this: they take years to plan, scout and develop, and require so many logistical challenges along the way that simply to finish one, to say nothing of a whole trilogy, is possibly enough achievement for a lifetime. The trilogy here comes from Francis Ford Coppola whose movie-making accolades now include the new roles of vintner and hotelier. And a very specific hotelier at that, creating exquisite eco resorts. Coppola is now on his third and last of trilogy of eco resorts in Central America, with La Lancha, on Lake Peten Itzá, near Tikal, in Guatemala.
Filed under Guatemala
By Dian Hasan | July 26, 2009
The stunning Sumahan on the Water is located in Çengelköy, a district of the Asian coast of Istanbul in which there is a real air of the Bosporus. The architects Nedret and Mark Butler transformed a unique family heirloom – a former complex of elegant homes in which one of the typically Ottoman spirits was distilled – into an intimate, chic and comfortable hotel facing the sea.
Perfect for those with no taste for the tropics, or anyone who appreciates an inventive and inspiring hotel, Hôtel Palafitte is a South Pacific-style overwater bungalow hotel, located not in the Maldives but on the waters of Switzerland’s Lake Neuchâtel, at the foot of the Jura mountains, with a stunning view of the Alps across the lake. Completed just in time for the Swiss Expo.02, this is an utterly futuristic execution of a timeless concept. After all, farmers lived in houses on stilts above the waters of this very lake some five thousand years ago — but never quite like this.
Filed under Europe, Switzerland
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