Blogs

Art Deco style in central Vietnam? In July 2005 La Residence Hotel & Spa by Accor will open a stunning 122-room boutique property in Hué, Vietnam. This luxury hotel and spa boasts an outstanding location in the former Imperial City rich in cultural history, beautiful rooms, great dining options, extensive spa and leisure facilities, as well as state-of-the-art meeting and business rooms.

TULUM, Mexico (May 16, 2005) - A collection of rustic hotels along Mexico's Mayan Riviera are taking environmental matters into their own hands with recycling, composting and educational initiatives.

EcoTulum Resorts & Spa, one of the original ecologically-minded hotels in Tulum, has started recycling plastics on its premises in cooperation with a local company in the Riviera Maya. All three properties now have strategically placed recycle bins for plastic bottles that are transferred to sacks provided and collected on a regular basis by ECOCE. EcoTulum has introduced a compost program to return organic matter to the earth and nourish the gardens once material is broken down.

A very busy summer air travel season is forecast, as rising gas prices send many families to their destinations by plane this year. Full flights are anticipated, making planning ahead essential. Packing expert Susan Foster, author of Smart Packing for Today's Traveler, offers these ten tips for smart family travel.

Have you felt like yodeling lately? Why not exercise those vocal cords in the Alps of Switzerland this summer? Choose a spot. There’s the Swiss Alps, the German Alps, The Austrian Alps and the Italian Alps. Once there, yodel all you want. If singing is not your forte, maybe engaging in adventure sports is. Your options are plenty, from canyoning to river-rafting; zorbing to house-running. If none of this sounds good, the Swiss Museum Passport might. With its purchase, you gain free entry to over 250 museums, galleries and castles in Switzerland for an entire month.

Where might the oldest city in the US be? It’s not Los Angeles, and it's not Boston. It’s St. Augustine, located in Florida known as COSA. In 1565, Don Pedro Menendes de Aviles saw the coast of Florida from his ship and landed with a Spanish flag in hand. On September 8, St. Augustine was founded.