Travel News You Can Use
By Judy Newell

Mexico Travel News Swim-up sushi bar at Hilton Los Cabos

At the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort, a stunning Infinity Pool with a swim-up sushi bar is the only one of its kind in Los Cabos. Two of its specialties are the Marlin Monroe Roll, made with avocado, sweet pepper, crabmeat and smoked marlin—a fish found in abundance along the coast of Baja California Sur—and the Banana Roll, a hot roll made with crab, smoked salmon, cucumber and avocado, wrapped with plantain and eel sauce, accompanied by a special Baileys sauce. Swimming, sushi and tequila—sounds like paradise!
Ecology concerns in Huatulco 

Mexico’s Environmental Protection Agency has ordered work to be suspended at tourism-related construction projects in Huatulco. One of five master planned resort areas programmed for development, Huatulco is a series of bays along the Pacific coast some 200 miles east (because of geography) of Acapulco.

Progress there has languished, although authorities announced last year that Huatulco would be “re-launched.” Developers along both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts have been complaining that environmental regulations are stalling fresh investments.

New boutique hotel in Tulum

Beachgoers, searching for intimate hotel experiences along Mexico’s stunning Mayan Riviera in the bohemian town of Tulum, now have a new little hotel to dive into.

The owners of hip Tulum hot spots, Mezzanine and La Zebra, have opened a splashy new six-room oceanfront boutique hotel called Pez Ocean Palace. Located in a secluded rocky cove overlooking a private lagoon, Punta Piedra, it’s a short walk from the Tulum beach village. The hotel’s private inlet is protected by amazing rock formations and draws testament to the ancient Mayans, who also held the place as sacred.

Full of style and whimsy, all of Pez’s rooms have ocean views and carry names that reflect beloved sea creatures—including Dolphin, Parrotfish and Mermaid. Rooms feature modern amenities and comforts, and a swimming pool sits amid landscaped gardens overlooking the azure Caribbean Sea. During the summer months from July to September, giant sea turtles can often be seen at night digging their nests in front of the hotel and laying hundreds of eggs, which hatch in November.

Pez’s restaurant theme of Oriental-Mexican fusion is set to be yet another winner. Room rates start at US$260 per night. 



International News

Berlin’s Neues Museum re-opening 

The restored Neues Museum was unveiled March 5, after six years of painstaking work to repair World War II bomb damage that ruined much of the renowned building.

British architect David Chipperfield handed over the empty building’s key to city museum officials. The museum is one of five that make up the neoclassical Museum Island, the German capital’s best-known cultural complex.

The museum will open in October—housing, as it did before the war, Berlin’s Egyptian collection—complete with a famous 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti. That will mark the first time since 1939 that all the island’s five museums have been open to the public.

The US$250 million restoration incorporates the original material that survived wartime bombing and decades of exposure to the weather—including fluted stone columns and faux-Egyptian painted ceilings. Entire wings had been destroyed, including the central staircase. Chipperfield sought to restore their dimensions rather than imitating every detail, using plain concrete and brick in some of the rebuilt parts.

Work on the Neues Museum, designed by Friedrich August Stueler, began in 1841. It opened to the public in 1855. In 1924, the bust of Nefertiti, discovered a decade earlier by German archeologists, went on public view at the museum. The Neues Museum was closed at the beginning of the war in 1939, and its contents were put into storage.

East German authorities patched up the complex’s other museums after the war, but the cash-strapped communist country never managed a full restoration of the Neues Museum. As well as the Egyptian collection, the restored building will house Berlin’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History.

The restoration is part of a wider government-funded $1.51 billion overhaul of the once-decrepit Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, some of whose facades still bear the marks of wartime bullets. Two other museums already have been fully restored; work on the next-door Pergamon Museum, one of Berlin’s best-known tourist attractions, is expected to last until the mid-2020s.


Obama-themed Kenya tour

In what promises to be the first of many new Kenya itineraries, adventure-travel specialist Intrepid Travel is offering an eight-day tour of Kenya that features a visit to the town of Kogela, the birthplace of President Obama’s father. It is guided by one of Barack Obama’s many cousins, who will take the tour members to Senator Obama High School and the home of Mama Sarah, Obama’s step-grandmother.

The balance of the tour will comprise visits to the popular game parks of Lake Nakuru in the heart of the Rift Valley and Masai Mara National Reserve, so the group can experience some of Africa’s most spectacular nature and wildlife. “Roots of Obama” includes transportation by safari minibus, guide, some meals and accommodations in hotels, lodges and tents. Departures are Fridays—June 20 and 27, July 18 and 25, and August 15 and 22 this year.

Chicago’s Millennium Park to display Chinese sculptures

The City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs announces the exhibition of four large-scale sculptures by Chinese sculptors and installation artists in Millennium Park this spring. The presentation features works by Sui Jianguo, Zhan Wang, Shen Shaomin, and Chen Wenling, from April 2009 through October 2010. The exhibition is free of charge.

The sculptural works will be on view in Millennium Park’s outdoor Boeing Galleries in downtown Chicago. The Boeing Galleries are located along Millennium Park’s midlevel terraces, just east of Michigan Avenue. Millennium Park is open every day, 6am–11pm.



Hotel News

World’s largest Holiday Inn

InterContinental will welcome the world’s largest Holiday Inn location in 2014, when a 1,000-room property debuts near Moscow as part of the Crocus City retail and leisure development. The new hotel will offer three restaurants, a health club, and other amenities.

Hilton unveils new luxury brand called Denizen

Hilton has debuted a new luxury hotel brand called Denizen Hotels. The new properties will each offer a spa, a lounge, and individual internet workstations in the lobby in an effort to attract “globally conscious modern travelers,” Hilton’s release says. The company is negotiating now with developers in 17 cities around the world to build Denizen properties.


Europe lodging bargains 

Although most of the trans-Atlantic airlines have eliminated their fuel surcharges, and the dollar has recovered a bit against the euro and more against the British pound, a European vacation remains a pricey thing. In response to that concern, many travelers will opt for unusual low-cost accommodations when they visit the Old World this coming year.

Hostels: People traveling alone will increasingly be looking into the use of European hostels, whose numbers have exploded in recent years. Throughout the continent, entrepreneurs by the scores have taken over failing hotels and converted double rooms into mini-dorms, supplying overnight lodgings that are rented to people of all ages for as little as US$20 a night. Industrial buildings have also been converted into lodgings.

A host of new websites list and describe hundreds of these structures all over Europe. Hostels appeal to people who are no longer considered ‘youths.’ Retirement investments have lost a bundle. But plans for European trips continue, as travelers have frequent-flyer miles that they want to cash in and can stay in hostels and other low-cost accommodations.

Home exchanges: Families are turning in growing numbers to the home exchange as a method of enjoying free accommodations and overcoming one of the chief expenses of travel. They join home exchange clubs which enable them to propose a “swap” of their home or apartment with that of a European family during the time of each other’s respective vacations.

One home exchange club was lucky enough to be portrayed in a recent Hollywood film, The Holiday, about an exchange between characters played by actresses Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. This exposure, plus growing positive word-of-mouth, has caused home exchanges to go through the roof. One 18-year-old club alone will handle some 50,000 exchanges this year.

By offering your own home or apartment for an exchange and incurring a US$80 to $100 yearly fee for joining an exchange service, you eliminate the cost of housing and can prepare some of your meals from great local products, exactly as you would at home.

Apartments in place of hotels: Finally, people of all ages and conditions are reducing their European costs by scheduling stays of at least a week in each of the cities they visit and then renting an apartment in place of a hotel. Because an apartment rental does not incur the heavy labor costs and other expenses of a hotel, they are almost always cheaper than equivalent hotel accommodations—in addition to providing far more space and comfort, including kitchen facilities.

A large industry has emerged of companies that make short-term apartments available to tourists in every major city. All seem to be thriving, as cost-conscious travelers turn decisively to alternative accommodations for their holidays abroad.



Cruise News

Want a cheap vacation? Try a short cruise

Though vacations are disposable when money gets tight, the cruise industry has kept ships full with deep discounts and some itinerary changes to shorter, cheaper voyages. Norwegian Cruise Line is sailing three- and four-day swings for the first time since 2004. Carnival Corp. is offering free stateroom upgrades and more Caribbean choices in 2009 to accommodate demand.

Consumers are seeking more value for their vacation dollar, and shorter, less expensive Caribbean cruise products are performing much better than premium and luxury, longer cruise products. There’s a consumer trade-down to value.

The good news is that consumers are still taking their vacations, but the vacation decision is for next month, rather than next year. The major cruise lines are seeing vacationers wait longer to commit. Before the downturn, bookings averaged about six months in advance, maybe eight months for luxury trips. But now people are deferring their purchases to the last minute.

Long considered a good vacation value, the cruise industry is holding up better than some competitors in this climate. For consumers, the cruise lines’ push to fill big ships can mean big savings.

Carnival is offering three- and four- day trips to Mexico and the Bahamas, starting at US$209 for the lowest-level rooms at the last minute—a nearly 50-percent discount in some cases. Norwegian’s short Bahamas cruises were starting at $229 through mid-April.

Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have suspended stock dividends, a sign of some distress, and last month Carnival lowered its revenue predictions for 2009. It also rolled out a new pricing scheme to entice further advance commitments. The “Early Saver” program offers 25-percent discounts for certain trips booked up to three months before departure, plus a guarantee those passengers will get the same savings if rates drop.


Sources: Media Kitty, Mexican Tourism News, The Associated Press, Travel Pulse, OSSN, Arthur Frommer 

Judy Newell heads the travel company Perfect Journeys that specializes in discounted rates for airfare, hotels, tours and cruises worldwide, as well as luxury and adventure travel. Contact her with comments or suggestions at JudyNewell_03@msn.com  or go to her website www.PerfectJourneys.net.