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  • Westin brand launches in Sacramento

    Accelerating portfolio growth in dynamic markets around the globe, Starwood Hotels has introduced its Westin brand to Sacramento, California.

    The Westin Sacramento opened today at 4350 Riverside Boulevard in a spectacular, waterfront location. Owned by Urban Commons/Brighton Management, the 100-room property formerly called Le Rivage Hotel completed a $3.2 million renovation earlier than re-opening under the Westin flag.

    “We are thrilled to debut the Westin brand inside the scenic city of Sacramento, where we provide travelers a restful retreat within close proximity of the city’s leading attractions,” said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader for Westin Hotels & Resorts. “At The Westin Sacramento, travelers can recharge with assistance from the entire brand’s signature services and amenities, designed to send guests home feeling better than once they arrived.”

    Located alongside the Sacramento River, The Westin Sacramento features 100 guestrooms and suites, many with balconies where guests can enjoy stunning water views. The hotel also offers 7,000 square feet of meeting and serve as space, an entire-service restaurant, outdoor pool, spa, and completely renovated WestinWORKOUT® fitness studio, where guests have loads of choices for cardio, strength and stretching.

    The sensory-rich environment at Westin offers a respite from the trials of travel and sets a welcoming tone. The Westin brand’s innovative programs and instinctive service transform every aspect of a guest’s stay right into a revitalizing experience. All guestrooms and suites on the Westin Sacramento offer the realm-renowned Westin Heavenly® Bed – an oasis of lush sheets, down and a patented pillow-top mattress, which cradles and features to the body for truly restorative sleep. Guests will revive within the Heavenly® Bath enhanced with the brand’s Heavenly® Shower, Heavenly® Robe and White Tea Aloe bath amenities, and in-room high-speed Internet access. The hotel also features the Westin brand’s signature SuperFoodsRX® menu, along with nutrient-rich and delicious options to tempt every palate.

    “We are delighted to introduce the arena-renowned Westin brand to Sacramento and expect to draw both business and leisure travelers by providing a sensory-rich experience in a picturesque, waterfront setting,” said Taylor Woods, Principal, Urban Commons/Brighton Management. “

    The Westin Sacramento is convenient to varied shops, restaurants, art galleries and museums, the Sacramento Convention Center Complex and the campus of California State University. Guests can delve into Sacramento’s Gold Rush days in nearby Old Sacramento, visit the Sacramento Zoo or catch a show at among the nearby theaters. Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is simply 20 minutes from the hotel.

  • News: At the Beach signs first GDS address Travelport

    Travelport has announced a brand new agreement with At the Beach, one of many UK’s leading online travel agencies.

    The agreement is the 1st time At the Beach has signed a partnership with a GDS.

    Carrying greater than 900,000 passengers each year, At the Beach creates tailored holiday itineraries to popular beach destinations all over the world.

    The partnership with Travelport allows the web agent to interrupt into new hotel and flight options outside their current destination profile.

    “Travelport’s uAPI technology allows us to tap-in to new flight and hotel content to construct on our traditional beach travel product, and significantly grow our scheduled air offerings”, Andy Tilby-Baxter, head of supply, At the Beach, explained. 

    “It opens up an entire new area for us to grow, and gives our customers with much more options to create exciting travel experiences.”

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  • News: Norwegian Cruise complete sea trials before launch

    Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that the line’s newest and most innovative ship to this point, Norwegian Breakaway, successfully completed her technical and nautical sea trials which came about off the coast of Norway and Denmark.

    Over the process several days beginning on March 25th, Norwegian Breakaway underwent a sequence of stringent tests to evaluate various nautical and technical elements, including the ship’s speed, manoeuvrability, and more.

    In order to evaluate the ship’s speed, the Captain, navigational officers and representatives from MEYER WERFT tested all the various power outputs for the propellers.

    The speed was then adjusted to numerous levels at each power output level.

    Every speed test that Norwegian Breakaway underwent was successful and exceeded the necessary technical specifications.

    To demonstrate the agility of the ship, Norwegian Breakaway performed a “Williamson’s Turn,” to figure out how well the ship will be ready to turn around within the event of an on board emergency.

    The “Zig Zag” test was also conducted to illustrate the ship’s ability to rapidly manoeuvre faraway from danger ahead, while still maintaining its forward course.

    Norwegian Breakaway passed either one of these important tests successfully.

    Norwegian Breakaway also executed a successful “Turning Circle” test it’s conducted by powering the ship at full speed ahead after which quickly turning at the azipods, the ship’s propulsion units, to observe the behaviour of the vessel.

    When conducting the Turning Circle test, a undeniable minimum diameter is needed so that they can prove the ship’s seaworthiness and Norwegian Breakaway successfully executed all tests.

    A “Crash Test” was also performed.

    This test is conducted by running the ship full steam ahead after which quickly reversing the azipods for you to assess the ship’s stoppage capabilities.

    The stoppage is monitored with regards to time and distance and Norwegian Breakaway exceeded each of the standards set.

    Finally, noise and vibration tests were performed to make sure that there’s proper insulation between all staterooms, corridors and public areas.

    Wind levels on Norwegian Breakaway’s pool deck and The Waterfront, the ship’s outdoor dining and recreational area, were also assessed.

    Norwegian’s nautical team reported that the conditions for Norwegian Breakaway’s sea trials were extraordinary, and that the ship successfully completed all the important tests and trials that were conducted.

    With the ocean trials now complete, the on board operations team will continue the ship’s hooked up, getting Norwegian’s newest ship able to receive guests for a sequence of inaugural events and transatlantic voyage.

    Following those events, the most important cruise ship to ever be constructed in Germany will sail seven-night cruises (nine-night fly-cruises) from Ny city to Bermuda through to October 2013.

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  • New tour options reveal New Zealand treasures

    Tourism operators within the southern wilderness region of Fiordland have introduced new tours, cruises and travel options as they work around a scheduled maintenance closure to the line accessing Milford Sound – one among New Zealand’s most advantageous tourist destinations.

    Covering five per cent of recent Zealand’s total land mass, Fiordland World Heritage National Park is a global tourism icon – a treasured place recognised for significant natural features and exceptional beauty that tells a unprecedented evolutionary story – and a must-see at the travel bucket list of many down-under visitors.

    Geographical marvels include Milford Sound, Mitre Peak and Doubtful Sound – and epic Middle-earth landscapes featured within the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. The region is famed for multi-day walks, wilderness cruises, rare and unique land and marine wildlife.

    Walking – for people with time and talent – is a well-liked technique to experience the remote, sparsely populated region on one among three multi-day walks including the famed Milford Track. Air or water travel is a better and faster option for travellers with less time.

    Fly-cruise-fly Milford
    Milford Sound cruise companies are working with local operators to develop extra Milford air packages while the Milford road is closed for roughly two weeks to finish safety improvements.

    The new packages will deliver visitors to Milford Sound in order that scheduled cruises and adventure activities can continue operating.
    Real Journeys, which operates boats in both Milford and Doubtful Sounds, is significantly up-scaling Doubtful Sound operations to cater for more visitors and could continue to function a fly-cruise-fly Milford option.

    The company has relocated one boat – the Milford Mariner – from Milford to Doubtful Sound, increasing on-board capacity to 400 visitors per day to assist cater for “a decent proportion of the full daily expected visitors to Milford” for this time of the year, Real Journeys chief executive Richard Lauder says.
    “Doubtful Sound is an infinite and remote fiord that lots of our visitors rate as highly as Milford. The trip is greater than a ship cruise, it’s an experience – and it is a great chance for Doubtful Sound to polish because it should within the global tourism market,” Lauder said.
    Cruise options include day trips and multi-day luxury and guided nature discovery voyages.

    World-class Fiordland experiences
    Fiordland National Park- an unlimited untouched expanse of glacier-created fiords, virgin forests, craggy mountains, deep valleys and alpine lakes – stretches inland from the Tasman Sea on New Zealand’s south western seabord.

    Milford Sound is the one fiord with road access. The Milford road is a tourism experience in itself because it climbs from inland Te Anau via an awe-inspiring series of forested valleys and lakes into the mountains, ending with a dramatic descent into Milford.

    Visitors can still take the line to its highest point on the Homer Tunnel where the street works begin. En route there are numerous highlights including the picturesque Mirror Lakes, the start of the Routeburn Track, Hollyford Valley nature walks and roadside encounters with New Zealand’s cheeky kea – a mountain parrot with a mischievous nature.

    Destination Fiordland tourism marketing manager Kate Hebblethwaite says the line works won’t affect “a multitude of worldwide-class experiences” available inside the region.

    Te Anau township
    Te Anau – the little town at the eastern fringe of Fiordland – is the major gateway and headquarters for Fiordland National Park.
    The township caters for all levels of the tourist market with luxury to backpacker accommodation and dining options, and the Fiordland Cinema has regular screenings of Ata Whenua Shadowland – a brief film that transports viewers on a cinematic adventure within the skies above the national park.
    The Te Anau Wildlife Centre offers an insight into the lives of a few of the region’s more curious characters including the kea and the quirky blue takahe – a unprecedented flightless bird that was believed to be extinct until 60 years ago when it was rediscovered in a remote alpine valley inside the national park. Since then conservation efforts have seen the known population rise from only a handful to around 200 birds.

    From town, visitors can prompt on a cruise across Lake Te Anau to view the breath-taking underground glow worm grottos or continue to the opposite side and directly to Lake Manapouri – a deep alpine lake with 33 small islands, bordered by sandy coves and local bush that sits below the majestic Cathedral Mountain range.

    Beyond Lake Manapouri, Doubtful Sound is a grand wilderness destination – New Zealand’s second biggest fiord and a haven for rare birds and marine life akin to New Zealand fur seals and comical Fiordland crested penguins.

    Fiordland has one of the crucial finest walking tracks on earth, from half-day strolls to multi-day treks, in addition to quite a lot of shorter or full-day adventures including jet boat trips, horse treks, quad bikes, farm tours, fishing and hunting expeditions.

    Visitors may soar over mountain tops and experience a bird’s eye view of the Fiordland World Heritage National Park with a scenic flight by helicopter, fixed wing or float plane.

  • News: W New Orleans – French quarter sold for $25.5 million

    Chesapeake Lodging Trust announced today that it has purchased the W New Orleans – French Quarter from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc for $25.5 million. The Trust has entered right into a long-term management contract with Starwood to continue to function the Hotel.

    “We are very excited to expand our Starwood relationship with our third W hotel and fourth Starwood-branded hotel, including the Le Meridien San Francisco,” stated James L. Francis, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Trust. “This Hotel is in a superior location and is in exceptional condition following Starwood’s recently completed comprehensive renovation program. With the Hotel’s first four diamond rating in its history, we believe that is the best asset for Chesapeake to go into the rebounding New Orleans marketplace.”

    The W New Orleans – French Quarter is found on Chartres Street, just steps from Jackson Square and the numerous retail and jazz clubs of the French Quarter. The valuables features 97 well-appointed guestrooms, including four carriage house studio suites. The renovation program led to the addition of a brand new SWEAT state-of-the-art gym, and SoBou, a modern Creole cuisine restaurant that was named one of several top 10 new restaurants by Esquire Magazine.

    The renovation program was influenced by the wealthy history and culture of latest Orleans. There are two distinct guestroom themes; Jazz, with vibrant golden yellow walls and a floor-to-ceiling brass image modeled after a horn and Tarot, which was inspired by the recent Orleans’ voodoo queen, Marie Laveau. Rooms feature a 40” LCD flat screen, signature W brand bedding, iPod docking station and Bliss bath amenities.

    “From the recent Front room lobby to the gigantic outdoor, tree-lined courtyard with its heated pool, the W New Orleans – French Quarter is the ideal place to enjoy all that New Orleans has to provide,” continued Mr. Francis. “This is another outstanding addition to our growing portfolio of high-quality lodging assets.”

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