Thought I would do a quick review of new about luxury travel from around the blogosphere. There are a lot more $1/day type backpacker reviews out there than the sort of place our discerning readership would stay at: but I found some nice places well worth checking out. Also in the current economic climate: some choices for affordable luxury, for those of us who can still afford to travel there are some great deals out there!

Luxury Hotels: Queenstown, New Zealand

We recently looked at Queenstown’s luxury skiing options but Queenstown, New Zealand offers more than skiing. It truly is a year around destination with spectacular scenery (Lord of the Rings really had to do very little CGI on the landscapes) and easy access to Doubtful Sound: one of the world’s most pristine and remote temperate rainforests. This lucky writer got to stay at three premier boutique lodges in Queenstown, which also rank on the world-scale: Matakauri, Blanket Bay, Eichardt’s Hotel and Millbrook Resort. Millbrook is actually at nearby Arrowtown but any of these hotels would make for a special luxury experience any time of the year. A luxury travel trip to New Zealand,

Eichardt's Hotel, Queenstown, NZ

Glamping in Asia with Remote Lands

Well I would just like to point out that you read about “glamping” - Glamorous Camping - aka luxury camping here first. Remote Lands who are the self-proclaimed “world’s leading luxury travel designer of bespoke journeys to Asia” has extended their range of glamping tours, or as they call it “bespoke camping experiences” which take the “rough” out of roughing it.

So its still a bit out-doorsey with the emphasis on walking at horse riding but at least there is a comfortable bed and gourmet meal and massage waiting for you when you return to camp. Remote lands isn’t joking about the remote bit though, their destinations include Gobi Desert, Mongolia that’s a luxury ger camp as the tents are of traditional Mongolian design. In Bhutan their luxury camping includes a private blessing from the head abbot of Punakka Dzong Monastery. The Myanmar (Burma) adventure is based in Chin State a former British colonial hill station.

Mongolian Ger, Traditional not Glamping

Photo credit: andi808

Luxury Hotels for less in North America

Top travel magazine Conde Neste is predicting some sharp hotel prices in North America The sudden sharp decline in travel combined with the boom of hotel building over the last few years adds up to great bargains right across the market. Their picks for great deals are

• destinations which have seen airlines cut their in-bound flights: Caribbean, Hawaii, Las Vegas;
• destinations that do NOT appeal to international visitors particularly Europeans and Chinese who are enjoying the lower dollar. Consider Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Fe, Savannah, Tampa, and Tucson.
• look for brand-new hotels trying to establish themselves in the market. Also look for hotels which switch from one hotel group to another and need to re-brand
• the old standby may well work too: negotiate: the view, the extras, the breakfast and the rate, the customer is once again king

Paris, Las Vegas

Epoque Hotels Offer Interesting and Discounted European Luxury Hotels

Epoque Hotels is a collection of over 300 hotels, mainly in Europe but also in North and South America and Asia. The hotels are divided between trendy chic and traditional luxury and seem to be mainly smaller 4 star properties. The pricing is sharp with clever offers such as a guaranteed US$ rate as well as the more usual bundling of breakfast and museum passes. Worth a look if you want to step up to the next level in Europe particularly.

Rubinstein Hotel, Krakow, Poland

Save Money and Support The Locals

There is a growing awareness among tourists of the environmental impact of of their travelling. But even more devastating can be the impact on local communities when the big-name 5-star resorts come to town. A luxury resort often operates in a vacuum; isolating its guests from the locals except for carefully controlled excursions. There is an excellent post over at travmonkey.com on how to move beyond the resorts: five ways to support local communities

Well hope you found something of this little round-up there are certainly some interesting times coming in the travel industry.

Consistently rated as one of the world’s best small hotels by publications such as Conde Neste, Forbes and Travel and Leisure Huka Lodge has just got even better with the opening of another self-contained exclusive cottage.

Huka Lodge has seen the likes of guests such as both British and American royalty (Queen Elizabeth and Bill Clinton) and more popular stars (Billy Connolley, Kate Winslet, Michael Palin). Despite the esteemed company guests often comment on the casual, relaxed, comfortable atmosphere which is the heart of true Kiwi hospitality.

The main lodge building has 18 rooms, but for the more exclusive party you may want to hire out either the Owner’s Cottage or the newly opened Alex Pye Cottage. They offer four and two guest suites respectively and come complete with self-catering facilities(chef supplied) and butler. The Owner’s Cottage has a cantilevered infinity pool with sublime views over the Huka River.

Huka Lodge is surrounded by magnificent natural beauty. The crystal clear waters of Lake Taupo are fed by mountain streams and are home to some of the most sought-after Rainbow trout in the world. The spectacular and mighty cascades of water forming the Huka Falls are a short walk from Huka Lodge, on the banks of the Waikato River.

Nearby there is world-famous Rotorua surely the grand-daddy of all modern spa treatments with its boiling hot pools and smelly mud. Huka Lodge has its own naturally heated pool, so pack your swim suit (togs as the locals call them), robes provided for guests.

If you intend to do any walking in this beautiful but rugged and isothermally active area bring good sturdy walking shoes too. In true New Zealand style you don’t need to bring a suit and tie or dinner dress for evenings - smart casual will be just fine. In winter you are less than an hour away from excellent skiing on Mt Ruapehu, in summer the same mountain has some wonderful energetic walking trails.

Huka Lodge has its own helicopter offers transfers from Auckland, Wellington and Rotorua. Enjoy the scenic wonders of the central North Island and be delivered to the front lawn of Huka Lodge. Auckland to Huka Lodge - 1 hr 15 min, Wellington to Huka Lodge - 1 hr 35 min, and Rotorua to Huka Lodge 25 mins. The small holiday town of Taupo is the nearest public airport to Huka Lodge, but you will get more frequent connections on larger planes via Rotorua. Driving, or being driven will take around 3-4 hours from Auckland, 4.5 hours from Wellington and 1 hour from Rotorua.

The NY Observer is reporting that Peter Jackson has possibly bought a duplex in TriBeCa. While Jackson’s name doesn’t appear on the records, several of his people do.

Records indicate an anonymous buyer paid a total of $17.35 million dollars in two separate transactions for the two penthouse units at 54 Franklin Street. And that, according to the Observer, is one of the area’s most expensive apartment deals to-date.

Jackson’s executive assistant and his New Zealand and Hollywood lawyers appear on the records, so it’s assumed that Jackson is the anonymous buyer.

The units were purchased from the developer, Chris Clark. He had only listed the first unit, but got an offer he couldn’t refuse on both. Total square footage hovers around 8,000 square feet, reportedly. Mr. Clark kindly noted the penthouse has a wraparound terrace with views of the New York skyline.

The bigger of the two units has a massive 2,300-square foot living room. Well, darlings, sounds like you could have a regular roller-rink in the living room, with a few bowling lanes thrown in just for fun. If you’re into that sort of thing.

Peter Jackson is, of course, best known for producing mega-hits such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong. He’s not without controversy, having some disagreements with New Line Cinema over filming of The Hobbit, the prequel to Lord of the Rings. It does appear that those issues have been resolved, however, because Jackson is listed as the producer for the film on IMDB.

Image: noodlepuss (cc)