Having skied all over the world the opening of the Lodge was the realisation of a dream to create a hotel perfect for skiers. Open since last December it has already become a popular choice for the discerning skier and was voted #1 on Tripadvisor.com and a recommended pick in the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Switzerland.
With quality food, designer rooms and a long wine list...what more do you need to know?
It's only been open a few months but we've already become quite accustomed to the rooftop bar at the Sanctum Soho Hotel which divvies up some amazing cocktail delights. So we were pleased to spread the word about their new 'Rock and Pop' packages, that combine staying at the hotel with experiencing the lifestyle of some of your favourite rock and pop gods and goddesses!
So why not try out the 'Madonna' package which is described as follows, "Like a ray of light for material girls, the in-bed with Madonna package offers those searching for some blonde ambition the chance to spend the morning horse riding in a Central London park, have a personal training session followed by a healthy lunch at No.20 (at the hotel), a dance lesson in the afternnoon and entry to Embassy nightclub". Prices are just £420 per person, based on two sharing a deluxe double.
Other packages include 'The Hendrix' and 'Girls Aloud'.
For more details call ++44 (0) 20 7292 6100 or email: reservations@sanctumsoho.com
We're featuring Tate Britain's new cutting edge exhibition, Turner and the Masters in the next issue of reFRESH Magazine, but for those who like combining culture with travel check out some of the interesting ideas that Travel PR have come up with..
RUBENS (1577-1640) is noted for his exuberant Baroque style. Many of his landscapes were painted from his estate outside of Antwerp, the Château de Steen, where he spent much of his time:
PACKAGE Just as many of the vintage landscapes outside Antwerp are still as Rubens painted them, so his home town retains a venerable charm. The pretty old town boasts the beautiful Kathedraal (a gothic monument with some of Rubens’ great paintings inside), cobbled alleys, vintage diamond jewellers and Renaissance-style architecture – and the Dagbladmuseum explains how Antwerp came to produce the world’s first-ever newspaper. And painting pilgrims must visit Rubens’ house - typically baroque, it’s now a restored museum. A cultural three-night break in Antwerp with The Traveller costs from £395 pp including return train travel, three nights B&B in a three-star hotel and a city tour.
Call The Traveller on 020 7269 2770 (www.the-traveller.co.uk). Picture: The Château de Steen with Hunter (1635)
TURNER (1775 – 1851) - ‘the painter of light’ – is well remembered for his enthralling watercolour and oil works of English towns, rivers and castles, as well as his later Venetian works:
PACKAGE
Call Classic Cottages on 01326 555 555 (www.classic.co.uk). Picture: Ivy Bridge (1813)
GAY LONDON MAPS
Your essential guide to London’s Gay Villages!
GAY GUIDE TO LONDON
QX gives you the ultimate guide to going out in London - the best bars, clubs and gay events and venues.
- Clubber's Diary
This week’s hottest club and bar events in and around London!- Gay Bars In London
Your area-by-area guide to the best gay bars in LondonTHE SECRET GAY HISTORY OF LONDON
A superb five part series looking at the secret gay history of London!
As those of you who bought our recent Swiss issue will know, here at reFRESH we're big fans of Switzerland. So we were pleased to just receive a notice hot from the press from the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel about their presentation of Van Gogh's table.
In May 1890, the village of Auvers-sur-Oise had a visit from the then unknown Vincent Van Gogh who rented an attic room in the Auberge Ravoux for just 1 franc a day. He spend 70 days there during which time he painted more than 80 pictures. It wasn't until 1987 that Dominique-Charles Janssens, Chairman of the Van Gogh Institute decided to refurbish the Auberge Ravoux as a cultural attraction. It took four years of renovations to achieve this and since Van Gogh's room was re-opened in 1993 it has attracted more than 1 million visitors.
To conjunct with a major exhibition in Basel dedicated to Van Gogh, the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois has imported Van Gogh's table to their dining room and will be offering a special 'Van Gogh' inspired menu throughout the duration of the exhibition. Guests will also find that each meal is accompanied by an explanation of a myth that surrounds Van Gogh's life and work.
Van Gogh's table will be in the Brasserie of the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois until 27th September 2009. For reservations call ++41 61 260 50 02
The LGBTQ community in the region of Lake Constance (where Switzerland, Germany and Austria meet) plan to hold the world’s first cross-border Pride on 18th July 2009. It will take place between the two neighbouring towns of Kreuzlingen in Switzerland and Constance in Germany.
The plan is being supported by the authorities in both Kreuzlingen and Constance and has already won approval from both the mayors. There are many consultations to come but the organisers are upbeat about the success of the venture. They are hoping they can also persuade Lake Constance's Austrian neighbours to join in the event too and so far there have been positive vibes coming from the Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
Since the event is planned to take place after EuroPride 09 in Zurich it is hoped that the interest in this event will be good.
The event aims "to increase acceptance of sexual minorities and their civil rights and to provide a basis for a mutual understanding beyond boundaries. In every sense, this Pride is also a political statement against boundaries, bounds and barriers!"
Newly opened last year, it would not be possible to find a better or more central location in the Barrio Santa Cruz in Seville. We have been waiting for a 5-star chic design Hotel to open its doors in this wonderful city and this one has been well worth the wait!!
Unlike many hotels that seem to close their doors to the “goings on” of the outside world, the concept of this “Sevillano” owned Hotel is an interesting one. The owners are insistent on involving the local citizens, welcoming them into the public areas, restaurants, coffee shop, and cocktail lounge. To encourage this, during special events throughout the year such as Semana Santa and the fabulous Feria, exhibitions such as religious artefacts and flamenco dresses will be on display. If the crowds become too much, you can escape to the wonderful roof terrace made up of several different levels, lounging areas with sun beds, an open air pool and jacuzzi, a bar and amazing views of the landmark Cathedral and Giralda tower.
Passing through reception you enter into a typical inner courtyard with fountain and arches, where Seville orange trees complete the effect. The inner sides of the courtyard have an iron grill that lines the walls of the building – designed especially for the Hotel it encompasses the Moorish influence placed on Seville and is a “motif” that is recurrent throughout the Hotel on furniture, lighting and other “objects”. The renowned designers, Isabel López and Sandra Tarruella (they designed the emblematic Hotel Omm in Barcelona too), have had a field day with these eight neighbouring properties which architect Juan Pedro Donaire has cleverly now connected.
The 60 bedrooms are spread over several floors throughout the interlinking houses. All the rooms are different – all bespoke. Beiges, creams, dark browns and black are the main colour scheme with the occasional flurry of colour. Of course they have the five star touches – all are equipped with heating, air-con, safe, mini-bar, wi-fi, satellite television and DVD music centre. Loved the bathrooms! They are of a good size and have gleaming fixtures and fittings (the showerheads are huge!) and in true Design Hotel style, all the bathrooms are different. Toiletries and copious fluffy white towels are provided. If you want to open your wallet wide there are 6 exclusive apartments that share a private pool and terrace on the roof and have a 24 hour butler service!!
No 5-star Hotel would be complete without a Spa – and the Eme has a heated pool, sauna, steam room and treatments of all differing kinds to “pamper, placate and pummel” - all at extra cost.
In short, this is an ideal Hotel for those who want a stunning design hotel in a truly incredible location (it's just a stone’s throw from the sights of Seville). It does come at a cost, but then don´t all good things?
To make a reservation at Eme Fusion Hotel or any of the other personally inspected 150 Boutique Hotels featured on www.anamazinghotel.com please contact info@anamazinghotel.com
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The Eme Fusion Hotel was reviewed by Michael Soffe, the Director and Co-Founder of www.anamazinghotel.com - the specialist website for personally reviewed and inspected boutique hotels in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.
With 416 pages holding countless offers from discount airlines, holidays range from a trip to India to hiking in Switzerland. Including ideas to suit any style or budget, you can choose from a luxury hotel or guest house and enjoy a candle-lit dinner in an exclusive restaurant or feast in a pizzeria. For information on gay friendly venues, this guide is indispensable. It incorporates bilingual (English and German) information, colourful images and concise pictograms that are updated extensively and provided with comments from the Spartacus editorial team, offering short and factual information, such as seasons and opening hours, prices and addresses to help you select the address which best suits your needs.
Spartacus International has released the eight edition of its popular hotel and restaurant guide. The Spartacus International Hotel & Restaurant Guide 2009 is packed with all the most useful and relevant information on dining and accommodation for gay travelers.
Spartacus International Hotel & Restaurant Guide 2009 was released in the UK this month and is due for release in the US in December. RRPUS$28.99 or £12.99. For more information visit www.spartacusworld.com
Two buff young men dancing semi-naked to a Madonna track may not be most people's idea of how to launch a new company. But then you could argue that a Cambridge based travel firm, specialising in gay and same sex holidays to South Africa, is no ordinary company. Pride of South Africa is the UK's only firm to cover this growing market. The company’s flamboyant approach, seen in all its glory at Cambridge's Pink Festival last Saturday, is just the start according to its equally flamboyant founder, Gerla Pusey de Boer.
"It was a fantastic day," she said. “The sun shone and everyone had a great time. Along with my topless dancers, we had an African band and the chance to win tickets to see Madonna!” The launch continued after the dancing as the performers donned feather masks to hand out more than 2500 Pride of South Africa wrist bands and candy sticks to over 12,000 excited festival goers. The company’s official launch was just the first of many events where people can expect to see the dancers (and Gerla) strutting their stuff.
Gerla says it’s the ‘relaxed and gay-friendly’ nature of the country that attracts her market to South Africa.
“We’re going to be a colourful and gaudy new addition to the travel market both here in Cambridge and across the country,” she says, “And I can’t wait.
For more information phone 01223 370107 or visit www.prideofsouthafrica.co.uk
Toronto, growing from the shores of Lake Ontario, claims to be the gay capital of Canada, and there are plenty of reasons why: the city is exciting, vibrant, cosmopolitan and sophisticated. Toronto rivals New York City for a stunning skyline - not to mention the great nightlife, restaurants, theatre, music, shopping and accommodation. As an international centre of business, finance and arts, Canada's largest city is an urban cultural mosaic. Toronto is one of the world's cleanest, safest and most diverse cities. Friendly faces, welcoming establishments and a GLBT community of almost 350,000 has created an environment other international cities strive to achieve.
Toronto has a very good selection of high quality gay-friendly hotels, guesthouses and inns offering the gay traveller a great choice in terms of price, amenities and style. Check out Pink Choice to find out what other gay and lesbian travellers have said about places to stay.
Toronto is amongst the most multicultural cities in the world. The gay beat mixes easily with a straight vibe over on Yonge Street and the 'College West' and 'Cabbage Town' neighborhoods. Toronto's very visible, safe and famed Church Street ‘Village’ boasts dozens of bars, dance clubs and ethnic restaurants, as well as five 24-hour sauna and steam baths, several strip clubs, thematic and fetish parties and festivals, drag extravaganzas, and North America's largest and most active gay theatre.
Whether you’re visiting for a long weekend or a longer vacation, there’s plenty to see and do. The Distillery Historic District full of amazing galleries, restaurants and cafés, while the St Lawrence Market offers the most delicious pea-meal bacon sandwiches. Other activities include cruising the harbour front, or riding the ferry to the Toronto Islands for cycling and sun worship.
Special events, sports and festivals are celebrated year round. Toronto celebrates Gay Pride for a full week in late June to coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots - Pride Week alone attracts around a million attendees. A new event is the Queer West Fest that takes place in the city’s eclectic and artsy Queer West Village.
If you appreciate beauty, culture and diversity, and want a vacation that offers a mix of museums and theatres, music and art, shops and restaurants, bars and clubs - all with world-class lodging - then you’re sure to fall in love with Toronto. It only takes one visit to work out why.
With the gradual chill of autumn closing in and the last ebb of the dubious British summer fading from memory, many of us will no doubt feel starved of the sunshine... and ready for one last summer festival adventure! Sure to see you through the gloom of British winter, Awesome Events' Desert Lounge provides the perfect mix of escapism, hedonism and luxury with an exotic backdrop.
Presented by Puro Urbano and Beach, this new festival is bound to be one of the highlights of the international music calendar. A lavish event set in the stunning Moroccan surrounds of the Atlas mountains, Desert Lounge will mark the grand finale to the festival season for 2008, taking over the Marrakech super-club Pacha for a chic, bohemian weekend of luxurious partying.
An experience to share and savour with your friends, the weekend is a chance to indulge in Marrakech's picturesque scenery with the bonus of entertainment headed up by Sister Bliss (Faithless), Dimitri From Paris and the legendary Ninja Tune mixmasters Coldcut. Peppered across the weekend will be appearances from Real Ibizan legend Bruno, Dutch deck-meister DJ Scream, Madonna's remixers Chus and Caballos, Momo, DJ Costa, Ben Sowton and Niko plus an array of local talent.
Get your tickets at €60 Euros per day, or €100 for the whole weekend, from www.purodesertlounge.com
The hotel Jardins de Koutobia comes highly recommended, and you can fly to Marrakech through Fly Thomson, Atlas Blue, Easy Jet, BA or Air Maroc. Fly to
Well, I didn't know that there was an International Pole Dancing Day - or why there is an International Pole Dancing Day - but it's this October, apparently, and the good folk at travel specialists Kayak.co.uk have stuffed a bunch of tenners into their gussets while spinning upside down from lamp posts to bring you ideas for a top pole-dancing trip. They reckon pole-dancing has lost its sleazy image and transformed itself into a globally sensational form of acrobatic entertainment. I don't know anything about that. They've picked out a range of top destinations to best see these gyrations in action:
Krakow, Poland: puns aside, no-one does it better than the Poles. You'll be guaranteed a kracking time as you take on the pulsating Polish night life, with flights from London starting at £48.
Prague, Czech Republic: this city really knows how to party, and flights in the New Year from London start from £48.
Dublin, Ireland: craic, Guinness and a pole dance? Flights from London start at £28 with Aer Lingus.
Las Vegas, USA: the original sin city where the pole dancing is in a class of its own! Flights from London start at £287 with Multiple Airlines.
Thought you’d left it too late to pick up the basics of the lingo before your next trip overseas? Don’t worry: this month sees the launch of seven new languages in the Berlitz 'In 60 Minutes' range. Until someone clever invents the Babel Fish, pictured here, travellers who fail to get their act together can leave it to the very last minute – or 60 minutes - and still pick up those important foreign phrases - even while driving to the terminal or waiting in the airport lounge. Published this August at £4.99, you can choose from Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Danish and Turkish.
'In 60 Minutes' is an all-audio course, specifically designed to provide a quick and easy start to learning basic, everyday words in a foreign language. Each title covers 250 of the most commonly used words and phrases covering a range of subjects - from making friends to eating out and much more. The phrases are repeated to aid easy memorisation and encourage correct pronunciation, while an accompanying booklet lists the same material as the audio, the better to help associate the written language with the pronunciation.
Listeners will be able to kickstart their language learning and begin speaking a new language in just one hour. You shouldn’t expect to speak like a local after only the first whirl, but this is exactly the sort of headstart that will make travelling a much more fun experience.
The CD is compatible with iPod and MP3 devices, so the 'In 60 Minutes' series is perfect for those on the move. Other languages available include Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Swedish. Most are available from bookshops or online at BerlitzPublishing.com
For the first time, Lonely Planet is offering travellers the opportunity to have their holiday snaps featured on the cover of four new editions of Encounter guides. Lonely Planet has teamed up with Pikeo.com, a photo sharing site, to run a competition which gives readers the chance to submit travel photos for the latest guides to London, Paris, Barcelona and Istanbul, published next year. The competition launched this week and will run until 8th September 2008 on Lonelyplanet.pikeo.com with judging taking place from the 10th September.
The four lucky winners will be chosen by a panel of judges consisting of experts in travel photography including representatives from the Association of British Photographers and Lonely Planet Images. The search for travellers' photos will span the globe with the competition open to those in the UK, France, Spain, USA and Canada.
The winners of each cover will receive a free trip to India, Russia, Morocco or Kenya courtesy of Intrepid Travel while twelve runners-up will also receive prizes, as will a small selection of Highly Commended entries.
"Travellers have been sharing their holiday photos with us since Lonely Planet began but we've never really been able to show our appreciation until now," says Lonely Planet’s Travel Editor Tom Hall. "This is the competition of a lifetime for anyone who has dreamed of being a professional travel photographer. The campaign gives them the opportunity to team up with Lonely Planet and get them showcased on the front of our guidebooks."
The winning images, including highly commended shots will be launched and showcased at a gallery exhibition in London as the guides go on sale next year. These special edition titles will also be highlighted in book stores through a stickering campaign and various other press activities. Lonely Planet have a few tips for a winning image - it should be taken from a street perspective, using a reportage or documentary style to make the viewer feel they are actually there. It should have a central focal point with bold composition and rich colours. Find unusual ways to show iconic sights and always include people within your shots.
When gay and lesbian travellers think about an American vacation, they usually think of San Francisco, Palm Springs, Provincetown, Fort Lauderdale or Key West. But there is another GLBT resort well worth considering and it’s in the mid West.
Sitting on the banks of Lake Michigan and tucked between soaring sand dunes and the Kalamazoo River, the gay friendly artsy towns of Saugatuck and Douglas (about a mile apart) are American gems that few European gay travellers get to hear about. With beautiful beaches, elegant accommodations, funky boutiques and antique shops, eclectic restaurants, vibrant nightlife and the laid back gay friendly atmosphere, the twin towns have attracted gay and lesbian vacationers of all ages for over a century.
Saugatuck has been nick-named ‘the Provincetown of the Mid-West’ and there are several reasons why.
Like Provincetown, one reason is the quality of its beaches that hug the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The pristine beaches provide days of sun, fun, sport, and breathtaking sunsets. The most famous is Oval Beach which combines stunning sand dunes with seclusion, particularly in the back dunes area, just perfect for getting an all over tan.
Another is the variety of gay and gay-friendly accommodation available for the LGBT vacationer, most of which are located in the neighbouring town of Douglas. Choices range from hotels, inns, same-sex resorts and traditional guesthouses, each offering a uniquely individual style and service, and at prices to meet all budgets and personal tastes. Check out Pink Choice to find out what other LGBT travellers thought of the places they stayed.
Then there is the eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and clubs to enjoy. Saugatuck and Douglas are home to a great range of restaurants offering everything from fine French cuisine to British pub fare. When it comes to nightlife, the only game in town is the Douglas Dunes Resort that offers the most gay-oriented accommodation in the area, and claims to be the largest gay resort in the entire Midwest.
And let not forget the arts. Saugatuck has earned the title "the Art Centre of Michigan", and has over 25 world-class galleries, artist studios, and museums to browse. The world-renowned Ox-Bow Art School is here, as well as excellent summer stock theatre. Saugatuck also hosts an annual Waterfront Film Festival (pictured right) in June that features independent films from all over the world.
The main tourist season runs from May through September, although most businesses operate year-round. Fall is a beautiful to visit when the foliage is changing, and winter offers a quiet and romantic (if chilly) respite, so don't count out the off-season for a visit.
Getting to Saugatuck couldn’t be easier. It’s a little more than two hours from Chicago and three hours from Detroit, both international hubs. The Chicago option is worth considering if you want to combine a few days enjoying the energy and fun of the major city with the relaxed surroundings of a small, mid West, lakeside town.
So for a vacation with a difference, Saugatuck and Douglas are communities that are welcoming and where diversity is truly celebrated. It’s not a nightlife-driven singles destination like Provincetown or Palm Springs, but rather a scenic, all-American community that gives gay and lesbian visitors the opportunity to get away from it all, relax, unwind and recharge.
Take advantage of a whole host of ticket offers for theatre productions and shows available exclusively for reFRESH readers
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