Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more

A new concept in luxury hotels is opening in Sweden on Saturday.

The Swedes have elevated the simple tree-house into world-class hotel rooms for design-conscious travellers.

Treehotel, located in Harads about 37 miles south of the Arctic Circle, will consist of four rooms when it opens, each with its own distinctive character. They’re called the Cabin, the Blue Cone, the Nest and the Mirror Cube. Two additional structures are scheduled to open in October – the UFO and A Room With a View.

The Mirror Cube is currently attracting the most fascination. Thirteen feet square, with walls of mirrored glass, it’s attached to a single tree. Kent Lindvall, Treehotel’s owner, said: “Everything will reflect in this – the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be nearly invisible in the forest.” However, a special film will be applied to the glass, which will be visible to birds.

The motto of Treehotel is ‘Feel Free In A Tree’, but the lofty experience comes at a cost: in the region of 290 euros (£242/$366) a night for a single occupant to 420 euros (£351/$531) for two guests in the Mirror Cube.

by Andy Moreton

If you prefer to keep your feet firmly on the ground, Luxique offers a selection of more traditional luxury hotels in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

There are luxury hotels and budget hotels and then there are hotels that are just, well, trash.

A temporary hotel built in Rome was just that – constructed out of debris from the world’s beaches. Its five rooms and reception were lined with 12 tonnes of rubbish including toys, cans and car exhaust pipes.

Save The Beach Hotel, which was open for guests for only four days, was designed to raise awareness of European beach pollution. Last Saturday was World Environment Day.

The Danish supermodel (and environmental campaigner) Helena Christensen, who stayed at the hotel, said it was a striking work of art. She told the BBC: “When you’re inside, there are walls as there would be in a normal house, but they’re all made of inorganic waste. And then the outside is completely covered in everything that we throw on beaches.”

The hotel, which stood beside the 2nd Century Castel Sant’Angelo on the banks of the Tiber, was created by German artist Ha Schult. “We are in the trash time,” he said. “We produce trash and we will be trash. So this hotel is the mirror of the situation. We have to change the world, before the world changes us.”

by Andy Moreton

There’s no rubbish among Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Rome – we have only the very best.

All that half-used soap and shampoo that’s simply left in the tub when guests check out of their hotel is being put to very good use by a charity called Clean The World.

The charity is recycling these leftovers into new soap and shampoo, and shipping it to developing countries and homeless shelters in the US.

Clean The World says its primary goal is to help developing countries combat the diarrhoeal diseases that cause nearly 1.8 million childhood deaths a year. Proper hygiene practices can help to eliminate these avoidable deaths.

At its laboratory in Florida, Clean The World cooks the soap to remove impurities and then re-shapes it into two-ounce bars. According to its website, it has put more than four million of these bars – as well as 200,000 pounds of shampoo and conditioner – back into use, simultaneously eliminating more than 380 tons of waste. About 175 hotels, both luxury and budget, are currently involved in the project.

One of the luxury hotels taking part is the New York Palace in Manhattan. Elvir Dervisevic, Director of Housekeeping, said: “Reducing environmental impact is a priority for us, and Clean The World’s ability to recycle discarded soap was a simple solution for our ‘reduce waste’ team.”

by Andy Moreton

High-flyers will love this exclusive luxury hotel accommodation. The two-bedroom suite is housed inside the fuselage of a 1965 Boeing 727, which was destined for the scrap-heap.

It’s located at the luxury Hotel Costa Verde on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park. Jutting out from the hillside, the Boeing offers views of the ocean and jungle from balconies built on each wing.

The plane was transported piece by piece on five big trucks from San Jose airport to its current resting place on a pedestal 50 feet above the beach.

There are two air-conditioned bedrooms, each with private bathroom, a kitchenette, dining foyer and flat-screen TV. The plane’s interior is Costa Rican teak panelling from the flight deck to the tail. The hand-carved, teak furniture comes from Java, Indonesia. The private entrance is up a spiral staircase hewn from rock.

And the cost of booking a luxury hotel room in this piece of cleverly recycled aluminium? Between $400 and $500 (£266-333) a day.

by Andy Moreton

There are plans to stop tourists climbing Uluru, or Ayers Rock, Australia’s famous red sandstone monolith.

Climbing the 1,135-foot high rock has long been opposed by the Nguraritja, the Aboriginal tribe who regained title to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in 1985 and consider it sacred territory. The tribe and the federal parks service jointly manage the site, which holds UNESCO World Heritage status.

Signs at Uluru already ask visitors not to climb, saying it is a spiritual place for Aborigines and warning that the steep, slippery ascent can be dangerous. More than 30 people have died while climbing the rock, which is higher than the Eiffel Tower and about six miles in circumference.

There are also environmental concerns, with paths suffering erosion and wildlife affected by waste left behind.

The park draws about 350,000 tourists a year. The parks service says the number of visitors who choose to climb Uluru has dropped to about 38 per cent from 74 per cent in 1990.

New draft plans that include a ban on climbing will be open for public comment for two months before the plan is revised and presented to parliament later this year for final approval.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a range of luxury hotels throughout Australia.

The President of the Maldives has made a bold, green statement – the islands will become carbon neutral within ten years.

Mohamed Nasheed said this would be achieved by switching completely to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

He said the Maldives understood better than most what would happen if the world failed to tackle climate change; his tiny country – made up of some 1,200 tropical coral islands - is one of the lowest-lying on earth and extremely vulnerable to rises in sea level.

He said that going green would cost a lot of money, but refusing to act now would ‘cost the earth.’

“We don’t want to sit around and blame others, but want to do whatever we can; hopefully our carbon neutral plan will serve as a blueprint for other nations to follow,” said the President.

by Andy Moreton

For those who want to taste a little bit of paradise, Luxique offers ten luxury hotels in the Maldives.

New Zealand’s green, sustainable tourism initiatives have been named the best in the world.

The country won the ‘overall winner’ and ‘best destination’ categories in the 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism awards. These recognise destinations and organisations that are making a positive contribution to local cultures, economies and the environment through tourism.

The panel of judges congratulated New Zealand for setting an example of what governments could achieve in partnership with the private sector to harness the tourism industry for the benefit of a country’s people and the environment.

“If more national governments followed their example, tourism would make a much more positive contribution around the world,” said the citation.

The Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), George Hickton, said the win recognised that the country was doing its best to look after its ‘100 per cent pure’ brand image and protect the future of its multi-billion dollar tourism industry.

TNZ’s website urges travellers to ‘explore the youngest country.’ “With vast open spaces filled with stunning rugged landscapes, gorgeous beaches, often spectacular geo-thermal and volcanic activity, a temperate climate and fascinating animal and plant life, it is no surprise that New Zealand’s pure natural environment is so attractive to visitors from other countries. ”

For all those reasons, New Zealand is becoming one of the ‘must see’ destinations in the world and Luxique offers a choice of eight luxury hotels in both the North and South Islands.

by Andy Moreton

I took a tour round the Luxury Travel Fair, held at one of the exhibition halls at London’s Olympia.

It was good to escape for an hour or so from the damp and cold of a London November and be immersed in exotic locations from Marrakech to the Maldives.

One stand I found particularly interesting was for a company called GoPhilanthropic (www.GoPhilanthropic.com), which operates under the banner ‘meaningful intelligent travel.’

It offers tailor-made luxury travel options but couples this with support for social and conservation projects worldwide. So, while on vacation you could spend an afternoon donating books or a water well, funding a school or helping an orphanage.

The company pledges to support hotels and other suppliers who are committed to sustainable tourism practices, to buy carbon credits to cover the entire trip and to donate 10 per cent of its profits to efficiently-run environmental projects.

A survey we conducted here at Luxique just over a year ago suggested that holidaymakers left their green concerns at home when they set off. But with an exciting new era about to begin in the United States and a feeling that real change is in the air, maybe the philanthropic path is one to which we should all aspire.

by Andy Moreton

Prince Charles has said the tourism industry will have to make efforts on a ‘heroic scale’ to minimise the impact of travel on the environment.

The Prince, who’s known for his forthright views on many aspects of the modern world from GM crops to architecture, sent a video message to the annual convention of the Association of British Travel Agents in Gran Canaria.

He said much was being done, but if care were not taken, the wonders of the world that inspired people to travel in the first place would be threatened.

He said he applauded the initiatives already taken by the travel and tourism industry. “There is, however, so much more that can be done and if we are to continue to enjoy the benefits of travel while at the same time safeguarding natural treasures, we must, I fear, redouble our efforts.”

Prince Charles was specifically concerned about the danger to the world’s remaining tropical rainforests, the decline of coral reefs - partly caused by pollution from hotels - and the damage to wetlands caused by the demand for water to supply tourist facilities.

“The travel sector, probably better than most industries, understands that there can be no secure long-term economic growth if the environment continues to be degraded, and that the only sustainable business strategy is to become low-carbon and resource-efficient,” said the Prince.

by Andy Moreton

I saw an article the other day about the competition between luxury hotels to provide the ultimate in unique features.
I loved the baby butler who warms the bottles and rocks the young one to sleep while mum relaxes in a hot tub, the monogrammed robes that are placed in the suite before the guests’ arrival and the idea of a poem being laid on your pillow at every turn-down.

But my favourite was the eco possibilities at the Four Seasons Resort Nevis in the West Indies.

Younger guests are encouraged in a variety of ways to help efforts to save Nevis’s endangered sea turtles in a programme designed by experts at the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Included is the chance to pay to ‘adopt’ a turtle which has been tagged with a satellite transmitter for research purposes. Adoptive guests can then monitor their turtles’ migratory patterns via an Internet-based program at home or school.

Can’t imagine many hotels will be able to match that!

by Andy Moreton