Luxury Travel Magazine Announces Prestigious 2005 A-List of Travel, Naming the 150 Best New Luxury Hotels in the World
LuxuryTravelMagazine.com names the 150 most luxurious new hotels worldwide from Anguilla to Zanzibar.
(PRWEB) April 7, 2005 -- Luxury Travel Magazine today released their prestigious 2005 A-List of Travel: The World’s Best New Hotels. The list which can be found online at www.luxurytravelmagazine.com, names the 150 most luxurious new hotels worldwide from Anguilla to Zanzibar.
“In compiling our list of the best new hotels, we uncovered the newest trends
in luxury travel,” says editor Christine Gray. “The new definition of luxury has
evolved from grand five star hotels to one-of-a-kind small hotels that heighten
the five senses. Luxury travelers are seeking out hotels that provide total
sensory experiences rather than the traditional five star hotels of the past.”
These new hotels give a feeling of privacy and provide the ideal place to
balance body, mind and spirit through design, cuisine and spa experiences. This
trend holds true in vacation destinations as well as urban locations.
The
newest city hotels are providing a total escape from the world outside, such as
the Dream Hotel in New York, Life Gallery in Athens and Baglioni Hotel in
London. The Dream Hotel has a mind-enhancing lobby with a two-story fish tank
and the hotel’s spa is spiritualist Deepak Chopra's Ayurvedic healing center.
The accommodations at Life Gallery include three artist studios and the spa is
an oasis of peace. At the Baglioni, the Caroli Spa offers a range of indulgent
treatments and the guest rooms are pure dream luxury. Even the largest hotel on
the list, Wynn Las Vegas with 2,700 guest rooms, promises a 'boutique'
experience.
“In fact, 90% of the hotels on our list provide spas or spa
treatments,” says Gray. “In addition to designer names such as Bulgari and
Clarins, we found a full spectrum of treatments and philosophies including
Vinotherapie, Thalassotherapy, Aromatherapy, Hydrotherapy, Phytotherapy and even
Chocolate therapy!” The spas’ wide range of philosophies include Moroccan, Thai,
Balinese, Turkish, Indian, Zen, Mayan…truly something for anyone seeking
tranquility.
Various amenities of these new hotels that create serene
environments include tranquility pools, relaxation lounges, wellness treatments,
yoga lessons, bath menus, bath butlers and bathrooms with a view, infinity edge
pools, underwater music and even services to pamper your jet-set pet.
Another trend that emerged is the development of an unprecedented number
of luxurious new accommodations in the most far-flung corners of the world,
including Bhutan, Cambodia, Easter Island, Guatemala, Lamu Island in Kenya,
Sumba Island in Indonesia, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Panama, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia
among others. “Out of our total 150 new hotels in over 50 countries, there are
54 new luxury properties in 29 adventurous destinations,” says
Gray.
These unique accommodations promote responsible and sustainable
tourism and allow guests to commune with nature and experience exotic cultures
while enjoying the creature comforts that a boutique designer hotel would
provide. Explora adventure lodges has just introduced the first luxury
accommodation on Easter Island. Francis Ford Coppola’s La Lancha Resort in
Guatemala provides a luxury lakeside retreat from which to explore the ancient
Mayan ruins in Tikal. More ‘boutique camping’ experiences have emerged in
addition to Amanresorts extraordinary Aman-i-Khás of last year, with Three Camel
Lodge in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and Ksar Ghilene in the Sahara Desert of
Tunisia. Tunisia will also be featured in the next Brad Pitt movie,
'Babel'.
Morocco, also to be featured in the movie, has three exciting
new hotels providing three differing and distinctive experiences, including Sir
Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot in the High Atlas Mountains, The Luxury
Collection's L'Amphitrite Palace on the beach in Skhirat and Riad Farnatchi in
Marrakech. The Riad Farnatchi is a sensual oasis of calm in the heart of
Marrakech's throbbing Medina and has already attracted more than its fair share
of celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Russell Crowe and Scarlett
Johansson.
European cities definitely lead the pack for the funkiest and
most unconventional hotel design. Examples include The Soho Hotel in London,
3.14 Hotel in Cannes, Semiramis in Athens, duoMo in Rimini, Italy, es Hotel in
Rome, Una Hotel Vittoria in Florence, Hotel Cram in Barcelona, and the most
shocking of all, Hotel Straf in Milan.
New countryside hotels provide
‘haute cuisine’ and historic experiences. The best include Alain Ducasse’s
L’Andana in Tuscany; Relais Villa San Martino in Puglia, Italy; the Four Seasons
in Hampshire England; Convento Do Espinheiro in Evora, Portugal; Hotel Cortijo
Soto Real in Seville, Spain; Michel Bras in Languiole, France; and last but not
least, Marques de Riscal in Spain’s Rioja wine region by world-renowned
architect, Frank Gehry.
The best new exclusive hideaways in the U.S.
include The Resort at Paws Up in Montana, Inn at Palmetto Bluff in South
Carolina and Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley. For those inclined to travel
further, the world’s most spectacular new escapes include Peppers On The Point
Lake Rotorua in New Zealand; Blue Palace Resort & Spa on the island of Crete
in Greece; The Beach House on Barbuda; Grecotel at Cape Sounio, Greece; Four
Seasons Langkawi in Malaysia; North Island in the Seychelles; Morgan's Rock in
Nicaragua; and Dhoni Mighili in the Maldives. Dhoni Mighili also wins for most
unique –- not only do you get one of only six idyllic ‘castaway’ bungalows on a
private island, but you also get your own 65-foot 'dhoni' boat replete with a
crew, cook, suite, Phillippe Starck bathroom and Smeg Kitchen, to hop from one
uninhabited island to another.
In addition to LuxuryTravelMagazine.com’s
annual listing of The World’s Best New Hotels, the site also releases monthly
Top 10 lists such as Ultimate Hotel Bath Experiences, World’s Best Lakeside
Lodges, Best Hotels with Boats, Best Hotels with Screening Rooms, Helipads,
Cooking Classes, Afternoon Tea, Hot Springs, Best Wild West Getaways…and this
month's feature, Top 10 Great Hotels to Experience World Heritage
Sites.
LuxuryTravelMagazine.com was created by Christine Gray, former
Beverly Hills 'travel agent to the stars' and travel consultant to ‘Lifestyles
of the Rich and Famous’. Ms. Gray is also a graduate of SCI-Arc, one of the
world’s cutting edge architectural design schools. The LuxuryTravelMagazine.com
web site is the world’s only one-stop resource for discerning travelers with an
unrivalled database of over 6,000 ultimate travel experiences and innovative
search capabilities that differ from other travel web sites because it is based
on ‘The Experience’ rather than destination and price.
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Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb225749.htm