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The city of Venice – currently being showcased in the Depp and Jolie movie, The Tourist – awoke to warning sirens last week as tides in the famous lagoon reached their highest level this year after a period of heavy rain.

More than fifty per cent of the city was said to be under water. Temporary footbridges in St. Mark’s Square, typically put down for pedestrians when the area floods, were removed by local authorities as the risk rose that they would be swept away by the fast rising waters.

Experts call it acqua alta – which means high water. They think it’s caused by an unusually high tide happening at the same time as heavy rainfall.

by Andy Moreton

It remains one of the most remarkable cities in the world and Luxique has a varied selection of the finest luxury hotels in Venice.

The recently released movie Eat Pray Love (One Woman’s Search For Everything) has had what might be termed ‘mixed’ reactions, at least here in the UK. One review (admittedly written by a man) was headlined ‘Yawn fidget stretch’.

Julia Roberts plays American journalist Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote a best-selling book about a year she spent travelling in Italy, India and Indonesia trying to get over a divorce, a rebound romance and the feeling that her life in New York was devoid of meaning.

Some of the harshest criticism of the film has come from the Italian media, who’ve gone to town over what they see as a comically clichéd portrayal of Rome.

“It rains spaghetti, the Italians are always gesticulating and following foreign girls shouting vulgarities, but then getting engaged to a nice housewife to please their domineering mothers. And there’s lots of pizza,” wrote a reviewer in La Repubblica.

The movie, which co-stars Spanish actor Javier Bardem, was also damned by La Stampa, which said its portrayal of Italy was deeply kitsch. “The apartment in the old part of town without any hot water but with a nosy parker landlady … a group of boys who in Piazza di Spagna follow a tourist and touch her up … the couple who indulge in heavy petting in plain view of everyone … and then the pantomime conversations, the noisy racket. The Italian part of the journey is packed with stereotypes.”

The Washington Post reviewer conceded that the depiction was more cartoon postcard than living metropolis: “The city featured in Eat Pray Love is the Rome of every American’s fondest holiday memories.”

by Andy Moreton

Seek out the real Italian capital and let Luxique guide you to the best luxury hotels in Rome.

The power of movies to boost tourism has been demonstrated in a survey carried out on behalf of the UK Film Council.

The study suggests that ten per cent of foreign tourists come to the UK because they’ve fallen in love with a location they’ve seen on the big screen. This ‘film-induced tourism’ contributed £1.9 billion ($2.7 billion) to the UK economy last year.

The most popular locations include Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, which doubles for Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter films, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, the setting for the Keira Knightley film The Duchess, and Basildon Park in Berkshire, where parts of the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice were filmed.

One movie, Miss Potter, in which Renee Zellweger played the writer Beatrix Potter, caused such a rise in visitors from Japan that one company in the Lake District now employs a full time Japanese tour guide.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re coming to the UK this year, Luxique can guide you to the perfect accommodation, with a wide selection of luxury hotels in London. We can also help you book luxury hotels in many other parts of the UK.

One of the top tourist locations in the Italian city of Verona – the house and balcony of Shakespeare’s Juliet – is about to become a whole lot more popular.

A new film, Letters To Juliet, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Seyfried, uncovers the work of a small army of secretaries who answer letters sent to the house from lovers, star-crossed or otherwise.

The volunteers work out of an upstairs office overlooking the balcony on which Juliet was supposedly wooed by her Romeo. The letters arrive by the sack load, seeking advice on relationships and imploring Juliet to cast lucky spells on their love lives.

Some are written on paper meant to look like medieval parchment, while others are accompanied by photographs and drawings. Many are addressed simply to: ‘Juliet, Verona, Italy.’

“When the film comes out: help!” said Giovanna Tamassia, who has spent the past 16 years writing replies. “Almost all of the letters contain the phrase, ‘Juliet, I can only tell you. Only you can help me,’” said Mrs Tamassia. “Even if she is a literary figure, she has become real.”

Verona earns a small fortune from its association with the legend of Romeo and Juliet, despite the fact that there is little evidence that the couple ever existed. The 14th century palace known as Juliet’s House was once the home of the Cappello family – who may or may not have been the model for the Capulets of Shakespeare’s play.

by Andy Moreton

See the film, then visit the city! Luxique can help you arrange accommodation at two luxury hotels in Verona – the impressive Due Torri Baglioni, which is close to the Juliet Balcony, and the elegant Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista.

The tourist authority VisitBritain didn’t waste any time when it found out that Guy Ritchie was to direct a new version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law.

It got on the phone to Warner Brothers, and the result is a partnership between them to promote the film, its locations and the UK in general. The campaign invites tourists to discover Holmes’s Britain, past and present.

Conan Doyle’s story is fictional, of course, but the locations are real, including 221B Baker Street in London, where Holmes and his sidekick Dr Watson were said to have lived. It’s now home to the Sherlock Holmes museum – just look for the Victorian-era policeman on guard outside.

Other London landmarks in the film include St Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. One of the locations outside the capital is the historic Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham in Kent.

VisitBritain’s Marketing Director, Laurence Bresh, said: “Sherlock Holmes is known around the world as one of Britain’s most iconic characters. Our partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures is a great way of helping people discover the secrets of our destinations and entice them into having a fantastic adventure here.”

Sherlock Holmes is now on general release.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re planning a visit, finding a luxury hotel in London (and many other parts of the UK) is elementary: just browse Luxique’s superb selection.

The latest character created by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is about to hit the big screen … and Austrians are bracing themselves.

After Ali G and Borat comes Bruno, an outrageously camp fashion reporter who wants to be the ‘most famous Austrian since Hitler’. The movie is, according to one reviewer in the UK ‘deeply offensive and very funny’.

Austria, however, might not see the joke. There are fears that the country could have a similar experience to Kazakhstan, which is still recovering from the cruel satire directed at the nation by Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2005).

“Kazakhstan is still suffering enormous loss of identity… Austria could soon be going the same way,” says the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). Other commentators there have labelled the film ‘dull’, ‘insulting’ and ‘a threat to the country’s world image and economy’.

by Andy Moreton

If you want to see the real Austria, check out Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Vienna, boutique hotels in Salzburg and great hotels in other Austrian cities.

I wrote recently about how movie backdrops can do wonders for tourism – think The Third Man (Vienna), Don’t Look Now (Venice) and any number of Woody Allen films (New York).

Now, Washington DC is looking for a boost in visitor numbers with the release of the Night At The Museum sequel. This one has the subtitle Battle of The Smithsonian and it’s set in that prestigious museum and research centre, based primarily in DC.

Like its predecessor from three years ago – that one was set in New York’s Museum of Natural History - the action of the film follows night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) whose job is hampered by the exhibits coming to life after dark.

And there are many exhibits to keep an eye on at the Smithsonian, with more than 136 million items in its collections. These include the Lockheed Vega plane belonging to aviator Amelia Earhart (played in the film by Amy Adams). You might also catch Teddy Roosevelt, Al Capone, Custer, Ivan The Terrible and Attila The Hun.

There’s general agreement in Washington that the release of the movie is good news for the city. “Often times we hear that parents have a civic duty to bring their families to D.C. for a vacation,” said Victoria Isley of the tourism bureau Destination DC. “But we believe Night at the Museum 2 will really help kids inspire visits themselves.”

by Andy Moreton

If you’re keen to visit the Smithsonian and everything else DC has to offer, take a look at the Luxique selection of luxury hotels in Washington DC, including the Four Seasons in Georgetown.

It would be fair to say that Dan Brown is not the Vatican’s favourite author. It’s described his books, particularly The Da Vinci Code, as blasphemous, saying they turn the Gospels upside down.

So it came as no surprise when the Vatican authorities refused to allow the makers of the latest Brown film, Angels and Demons, to film in St Peter’s Square. Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said at the time: “Normally we read the script, but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough.”

That left the film company with a problem, which it solved by having a team of people posing as tourists and taking thousands of photos and hours of video footage. These were then used to help digital effects experts recreate many of the famous papal buildings, Tuscan colonnades, fountains and monuments within St Peter’s Square.

The new film again stars Tom Hanks as symbologist Robert Langdon. It’s set for release around the middle of this month.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re planning on visiting the Eternal City and the Vatican, take a look at Luxique’s wide selection of luxury Rome hotels.