First DoubleTree hotel in India

first doubletree hotel in india

The DoubleTree brand made its India debut with the recent launch at Mayur Vihar, New Delhi. With a metro station less than 500m from the entrance, the new hotel is well connected with Noida as well as south Delhi, thanks to the DND Expressway. It has 196 rooms, including four suites. Each room comes with free wi-fi and iPod docking stations. F&B options, at the moment are an Americanstyle steakhouse and a 24-hour brasserie and deli. www.newdelhimayurvihar.

Carlson opens Park Plaza in Coimbatore

This new hotel by the Carlson group has 107 guest rooms with 92 standard rooms, 11 deluxe rooms and four suites. It also has a spa, a rooftop swimming pool and a fitness centre. The eating options include the Indian restaurant, The Great Kabab Factory, at the rooftop and 24x7 Bites, that is open round the clock.

Movenpick in Bangalore

The Swiss hospitality brand made its India debut with the launch of Movenpick Hotel and Spa in Bangalore. The five-star, 182-room hotel has an entire floor dedicated to banqueting facilities, as well as seven meeting rooms. F&B options include My Place, the 24-hour multi-cuisine restaurant Obsidian, the lounge bar, and Mezzaluna, the Italian restaurant. These will be joined by the Perfect Sky, a terrace restaurant, in a few months. The brand has tied up with Sohum for spa treatments.

Dehradun to get Radisson Blu in 2014

Radisson Blu is to open a 125-room hotel in the capital of Uttarakhand. The construction of the property began last month, with an opening date slated for the second quarter of 2014. The hotel will have a speciality Indian restaurant, an all-day dining, a bar, spa, health club, swimming pool as well as meeting and ballrooms. This is the city’s first international hotel.

Best Western opens its largest hotel in Moscow

Best Western’s first hotel in Russia is also its largest in the world. The 970-room Best Western Vega Hotel & Convention Centre has three restaurants, a coffee shop and a lobby bar. The hotel also has 15 meetings spaces, a business centre and a fitness centre featuring Turkish baths and Finnish sauna. The hotel is a short walk to the Partizanskaya metro station, providing easy access to the Kremlin and Moscow’s business districts.

Swissotel to expand in India

The hotel chain has signed management contracts for two hotels in India: one in Gurgaon and the second in Bangalore. Both will open in 2013. The 240-room Swissotel Gurgaon will be part of a complex consisting of offices and retail spaces on Golf Course Extension Road, which will soon get its own metro station. The 150-room Swissotel Whitefield Bangalore will also be part of a larger complex comprised of restaurants, a cinema and retail outlets.

Thekkady resort from Sterling Holidays

Sterling Holidays has added Woods n Spice in Thekkady, Kerala, to its 14 resorts across the country. The resort has 53 rooms including mudhouses, treehouses and tribal cottages, apart from standard rooms and suites. It also has a temperature-controlled swimming pool and a spa that offers ayurvedic treatments. www.sterlingholidays.in

Eurostar joins app brigade

The rail service linking the UK and mainland Europe, has launched a free mobile application allowing you to book and receive tickets on your phone. The Eurostar App, which is available for iPhone and Android devices, can be used to book journeys between the UK and Paris, Brussels and Lille. You will receive a mobile ticket with an electronic barcode, which can be scanned at check-in. Other functions of the Eurostar App include live service updates to keep you informed of disruptions and a personal profile page. Details on

Self check-in from AirAsia

You can now check in for AirAsia and AirAsia X flights either through the website or through applications for smartphones. However, as a result of this service being rolled out, counter check-ins will now be charged (US$ 3 per person). You can check in through the website from up to seven days before departure. You can choose to print the boarding pass or receive an SMS with a 2D barcode. Details on

Turkish visa on arrival for Indians

Indians with valid UK, USA or Schengen visas will be given visa on arrival at Istanbul. However, this scheme is not for valid for NRIs who have long-term or permanent residence status in any of the above countries/regions. All you need to carry with you for the visa on arrival is one passport size photo and copies of return air tickets and hotel bookings.

BA launches Facebook app

You can now post suggestions for the perfect day in cities across the world, via a new Facebook app from British Airways. The app allows you to post tips and itineraries, under themes such as shopping, dining and drinking. Cities currently featured on the app include New York, London, the Caribbean, Madrid, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Florida, Rome, Berlin, and San Francisco, with more to be added soon. Details on www.facebook. com/britishairways

Visa service at Indian post offices

The new service will soon be available in post offices in remote areas, thanks to an agreement between India Post and VFS Global. Post offices will be used for fee collection, selling application forms etc. India Post and VFS Global are also planning to cooperate in utilising courier service, Speed Post for moving passports to VFS offices and embassies, and for return delivery to applicants.

LOUIS VUITTON’S LATEST STORE IN SINGAPORE

The brand’s fifth outlet in Singapore, Island Maison, is at the waterfront of the Marina Promenade. Men’s and women’s leather goods, ready to wear shoes and accessories are at the ground floor while the mezzanine level is dedicated to travel luggage and accessories. There is also a private lounge and an outdoor loggia. A tunnel connects the store to the Marina Bay Sands mall.

Gucci launches digital mag

The Italy-based fashion house has launched a digital shopping magazine for iPhone and iPad users. Apart from product information, Gucci Style features interviews with the brand’s spokespeople and Creative Director Frida Giannini, Italy travel tips, access to the digital flagship store, and live feeds from Gucci’s Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. The magazine is available in eight languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese). It also gives you a tour of Giannini’s vinyl collection (she owns over 8,000 records), and shows how artisans create some of Gucci’s most iconic items. Gucci Style can be downloaded for free from appstore.

Shop now, collect later at Delhi Duty Free

Delhi Duty Free Services Pvt. Ltd (DDFS) has launched a Shop n Collect service. This means you can order products at the time of departure and collect later on arrival. This service comes free of charge. Details on www.delhidutyfree.co.in/shop-n-collect.aspx

SWISS is Europe’s best business-class airline

The airline has bagged this honour at this year’s World Travel Awards. The result is based on the votes of more than 183,000 experts from the travel and tourism sector all over the world. The announcement coincides with the completion of the carrier’s programme to retrofit its new business class cabin into all 15 of its Airbus A340s. The highlight of the new business class cabin is the seat, which reclines into a 2m-long lie-flat bed.

Singapore Airlines extends seat selection

The airline now offers advance selection of Economy Class seats through all booking channels, a service that was previously only available to suites, first and business class passengers or those booking flights through the website www.singaporeair. com. Now, travel agents, SIA reservations and ticketing offices as well as the website allow you to book flights and choose economy class seats.

Lufthansa to launch Munich-Mexico City service

The carrier will fly five times a week from Munich to Mexico City from March 26, with flights departing Munich on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There are currently no non-stop flights between Munich and Central America though Lufthansa has a flight to Mexico City from Frankfurt.

Olympics menu on British Airways

Michelin-star chef Simon Hulstone will work with the iconic Chef Heston Blumenthal to create Olympic Games inspired menus across BA’s long-haul cabins. Their aim is to put together a“bold British menu” to be served in the Economy and Premium Economy cabins from March, and Business and First Class from May.

Bmi to connect Amritsar with London

From October 13, British Midland International (bmi) will start thrice-a-week flights between Amritsar and London. With this, bmi becomes the only airline to offer a direct route from Amritsar to the UK. The flight will be routed via Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. Book your flight on

New kits for First and Business Class on American Airlines

New kits for premium passengers on American Airlines flights between London and the US include bed toppers, duvets, pyjamas and slippers. The kits will soon be offered on all flights to and from Europe. The kit also includes Dermalogica skin care products apart from the usual socks and brushes. Details on

Thai Airways upgrades lounge at Hong Kong airport

The Royal Orchid Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport now has Italian coffee-makers, new dessert stations and also more than 70 sofas. First Class passengers can enjoy Haagen-Dazs ice-cream while Business Class have to make do with Dreyer’s. Thai chefs are available round-the-clock at a live cooking station. Details on

UK’s Blackpool Tower reopens after restoration

The Blackpool Tower in Lancashire reopened after a 10-month revamp. An icon in the city, the dark red structure, inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, now boasts a tower-top viewpoint and a dungeon museum. The tower retains many of its original features such as the Tower Ballroom and Tower Circus. The new attraction, Tower Eye, has an entirely glass observation platform. You can also watch a film on the history of the tower, including the story of former mayor John Bickerstaffe’s decision to build the landmark.

Italian gourmet tours in Victoria, Australia

Maeve O’Meara, presenter of an Australian TV series called Italian Food Safari, is now offering a fiveday culinary tour of Victoria’s High Country. It takes you on a journey through the King, Oven and Kiewa Valleys where you’ll enjoy Italian hospitality and culinary delights from Simone’s of Bright, Pizzini Wines, Dal Zotto Wines, EV Olives, Milawa Mustards and Milawa Cheese. The safaris will be conducted from October 23 to 28 and March 25 to 30, 2012. Prices start from AU$ 2,995 per person(on twin share basis) and includes 5 nights’ stay, coach transfers and meals. More information on .au

Cambridge exhibition celebrates life of South Pole explorer

Items used by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who beat Captain Scott to the South Pole are on show in the UK for the first time, at a Cambridge museum. Amundsen led his team to the Pole in December 1911, more than a month before the British team arrived.

The explorer’s knife, snow shoes and even a biscuit brought back by the expedition are among the artefacts. The exhibition is on show at Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute Museum until November 19.

Grammy Museum’s tribute to Beatle George Harrison

Beginning October 11, the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles will display George Harrison: Living in the Material World, a retrospective of the musician’s life and career. Many of the artefacts will be flown in from Friar Park, Harrison’s home in Henleyon-Thames, England. The exhibit will feature the guitars he played on Beatles and solo recordings as well as stage costumes, handwritten lyrics to unheard songs, photographs, letters and journals. The Grammy Museum will host Living in the Material World (free with museum admission) through the Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012 after which the exhibition will travel.

Statue of Liberty to undergo renovation

The Statue of Liberty will undergo renovations beginning October 29, though Liberty Island, where the iconic statue is located, will remain open during the yearlong project. The National Park Service will keep the monument open through the October 28 celebration of the 125th anniversary of the statue’s dedication. Plans for the renovation include building of code-compliant stairways, refurbishment of mechanical, electrical and fire suppression systems, improved elevators and restrooms. Approximately 3.5 million people visit Liberty Island every year.