A Trip News

Discover how the grand old dame of Zurich has shaped up for the 21st century
There is a panoply of five-star hotels in which to stay in Zurich, a city known for its lakeside beauty and banking wealth. However, for the past four years the city’s grand dame, The Dolder Grand, has been missing from the scene, closed for conversion, restoration (ridding it of any ugly additions made since its original opening back in 1899), refurbishment and extension.
Now, the Dolder is back and she is bigger, (more…)

Esther Shaw signs up for a skiing holiday for the single – or ‘individual’ – traveller in Chamonix
"This is a ski holiday for individuals, not a ski holiday for singles," my hosts explained as they welcomed me into the Cold Fusion chalet in the French resort of Chamonix. I tried to believe it, but setting eyes on the well-stocked underground bar, the Twister board and the hot tub, I wasn’t convinced. Uncertain of what I’d let myself in for, I headed to the bar for champagne, (more…)

Check-in to the silver lady’s former lodgings: This Melbourne boutique hotel used to be a Rolls-Royce showroom, says Mark Rowe
In the 1920s, the rich people of Melbourne would swagger around the Rolls-Royce showroom on St Kilda Road, a leafy highway that drills south from the city centre. Today, the building is a recently refurbished, five-star, family-owned boutique hotel, appropriately named The Royce Hotel.
The early 20th-century, heritage-listed appearance has been retained, most spectacularly (more…)

A ‘wellness centre’ is due to open in Adelboden. It will only detract from this Swiss town’s charm, warns James Hanning
Mention popular and familiar ski resorts to most Brits, and the chances are they will think of Méribel or Chamonix. A German or a Swiss, though, is more likely to say Adelboden. And what do they know about skiing? Quite a lot actually, and – unless you are a tandoori-faced Home Counties stockbroker or an overexcited public schoolboy trying to lose your virginity – (more…)

‘My dream trip? Places where they don’t play cricket!’
First holiday memory?
A family trip to Beg-Meil in Brittany. It was in the early days of package holidays and I was very young. I remember two things in particular: being force-fed artichokes, which I found quite disgusting at the time, and haven’t eaten since then; and some old boy raking the gravel outside where we were staying every day at 6 o’clock in the morning.
Best holiday?
Last month, my wife and I went to the (more…)

The Seastar Travel Co. has inaugurated their luxury cruises from Phu Quoc Island to Cambodia’s southern resort town of Sihanoukville, VietnamNet Bridge has reported. Seastar’s five-star Jupiter Cruise ship has a capacity of 1,000 guests.
 
General Manager of Seastar, Huynh Van Son, said; “We will also invest in a high-tech sea port. This fully-equipped port promises to offer various convenient services to all cruise ships that call at Phu Quoc Island.”

(more…)

Today…
The 10th annual Christmas fair in Budapest opens: stock up on paprika, Tokaj, sweets and crafts while listening to carols. A giant advent calendar appears on 1 December (budapestinfo.hu).
This week…
A huge rugby ball promoting the 2011 Rugby World Cup host, New Zealand, will open next to Tower Bridge on Wednesday; visitors can step inside for a journey around New Zealand or take part in Maori culture workshops (newzealand.com). In Australasia itself, the Southern (more…)

Four legs good? Then gallop towards these stylish country retreats, says Sophie Lam
Hacienda de San Antonio, Mexico
The views at this vast 19th-century working ranch and coffee estate are magnificent: the gracious dusty pink residence, luxuriant gardens and perfectly conical Volcan del Fuego just beyond. Owned by the Goldsmith family, the estate got an Aman resorts makeover in 2000 but is independently run again today; there are 25 antique-stuffed suites, barrel-vaulted dining rooms (more…)

Where to go, how to save, what to avoid
Warning of the week: Shrinking transatlantic choice
This time last year, airlines were bragging about all their new routes across the Atlantic, taking advantage of the "open skies" liberalisation between Europe and the US. This winter, that trend will reverse. Air France had made the boldest move, introducing a direct flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles; it ended last month. On 8 January, Northwest Airlines will end its brief link from (more…)

What’s new in this city state that punches above its weight
Why?
Singapore has been synonymous with commerce since its days as a trading post for the British East India Company in the early 19th century. Today, business centres on Raffles Place, a soaring skyline of glass and steel clustered around the mouth of the Singapore River and named, of course, after the island’s colonist, Sir Stamford Raffles.
Below the skyscrapers stand Boat Quay’s rows of shophouses, a reminder (more…)