Renting a Koh Lanta villa lets you enjoy your own space and have complete privacy to do as you please in luxurious surroundings that feel like a home rather than a hotel. Every villa comes with its own self-catering facilities and widescreen television and lounge area. Many villas have their own private pool, sun decks and some are located directly on some of Koh Lanta’s most spectacular beaches. Renting a Koh Lanta villa is ideal for special occasions and for a group can also work out cheaper than staying in a four or five star hotel.

Koh Lanta villas are usually available to rent on a weekly basis, and the cost varies significantly between peak season (Christmas and New Year), high season (November to April) and low season (May to October). AmazingLanta.com lets you book Koh Lanta villas easily – browse the 2 bedroom Koh Lanta Villas and 3 bedroom Koh Lanta Villas pages to see each of the villas. To make a booking, simply send an enquiry through the booking form to check availability. Once availability is confirmed, payment can be made through PayPal, the internationally recognised safe system of making payments online. Fast speedboat transfers from Krabi airport direct to the villa can also be organised, as well as daytrip excursions around Koh Lanta and scuba diving daytrips and lessons if required.

Commenting on the progress to date and the prospects of Accor’s development and growth in Indonesia Michael Issenberg – Accor Asia Pacific Chairman and Chief Operating Officer said “Indonesia with its strong economy and strengthening domestic travel volumes offers significant opportunity for development. This development is leveraged off Accor’s already strong network, diverse brand presence and significant in country infrastructure supporting organic growth of our managed hotel portfolio throughout the archipelago.”

Accor currently operates 39 hotels throughout Indonesia, which will increase to 40 hotels by years end. Thereafter, 10 new hotels will be added in 2011 and 5 more in 2012 taking the network to 55 hotels and 9,500 rooms by 2012.

Issenberg added; “We are placing an emphasis on the mid and economy sectors for our development in Indonesia, ensuring sustained network expansion in line with the growth in domestic and intra Asian travel demand. As this demand grows, so will the average rates of hotels, where the prospects for the price sensitive segments will strengthen.”

Gerard Guillouet – Vice President Accor Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore says: “Accor has been consistently present in Indonesia since 1993 where it has developed a network across 17 cities throughout the country. Presently there are seven brands in operation with the Pullman brand to debut later this year with the opening of Pullman Legian Bali. Ibis was the first brand of Accor to open in Indonesia and its relevance continues today with four of the eight hotels being added to the ibis network.”

The newly announced hotels include:

Mercure Padang, Located in the new city area development with close proximity to government offices, banks and other business activities. Mercure Padang when it opens in 2011 will offer 143 guest rooms, one restaurant and bar, 650m2 ballroom, four meeting rooms, swimming pool, spa and fitness centre.

all seasons Gajah Mada, Located in the commercial area of central Jakarta, bordering Chinatown and the city’s original commercial precinct known as Kota. all seasons Gajah Mada will provide 130 rooms, one restaurant and bar and three meeting rooms and is scheduled to open in 2012.

all seasons Bangka, with 159 guest rooms, one restaurant and bar and located in the city centre of Pangkal Pinang. The hotel will open in 2011.

ibis Surabaya Basuki Rahmat, is located in the heart of the city of Surabaya, a short walk to the largest shopping mall and the city’s exhibition centre. When open in late 2012 ibis Surabaya Basuki will feature 180 guest rooms.

ibis Manado, located facing the Manado Gulf and with close proximity to the city centre, government offices and just across from the Manado Town Square”. ibis Manado will have 120 guest rooms. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2012.

ibis Balikpapan will open in early 2011 in this sea port city on Borneo’s east coast. The hotel is located close to the existing Novotel and within the city’s centre. Ibis Balipapan will have 156 guest rooms.

On the tropical island of Bali where Accor operates six hotels today and will open the Pullman Legian Nirwana later this year, will see three of the newly announced hotels added;

all seasons Bali Denpasar located in the commercial and administrative area of the island’s capital with 160 guest rooms. All Seasons Bali Denpasar will debut in 2011 and will be the second All Seasons for the island.

ibis Bali Kuta will be located in amongst the action of Kuta, capitalising on the strength of the international and domestic economy hotel demand to this area. Once open in 2011 the hotel will feature 180 guest rooms.

“The all seasons brand was first seen in Indonesia in 2005 in Legian Bali. With four hotels committed to development in the country and numerous more development leads, Indonesia is at the forefront of the brands expansion in Asia” added Guillouet.

Accor has previously announced the following development commitments: Pullman Bali Legian Nirwana, Novotel Bangka, Novotel Tangerang, Mercure Simatupang, Mercure Bali Kuta Haverstland, Mercure Solo, Mercure Banjarmasin, all seasons Yogyakarta,

The phased schedule allows the Resort and its 10,000 employees to run in operations and deliver the expected guest experience, said Resorts World Sentosa’s chief executive Tan Hee Teck.

He said: “We thank the team of agencies and government officials who have been working tirelessly to get us where we are today. We also have a top-class team of staffers, architects, consultants and contractors who pushed relentlessly to make this Resort open not only on time, but ahead of schedule. Partners who have visited are often surprised by the effort we have put into each of our attractions, each hotel, each performance. We concluded our first public event ChildAid in December with a bang. Today, we have taken it forward: We are getting ready to welcome our first visitors, and we look forward to their feedback to help us improve.”

Resorts World Sentosa is working closely with the authorities to obtain approvals for Universal Studios Singapore, which will open next. The opening date for the casino will be announced when it gets notice of its casino license.

EVA flight BR36 will depart Taoyuan International Airport at 18:45 (6:45 pm) on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at 20:55 (8:55 pm) the same day. Return flight BR35 will leave Toronto later that night at 23:40 (11:40 pm) and land in Taoyuan at 05:45 (5:45 am) on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Asia-bound flights will make a brief fuel stop in Anchorage, AK. Approximate flight time from Taoyuan to Toronto is 14 hours and 10 minutes, Toronto to Anchorage, six hours and 30 minutes, and Anchorage to Taipei, 10 hours and 10 minutes. The airline is serving the route with one of its new, technically advanced Boeing 777-300ERs.

Canada has proven to be an inviting market for EVA. The airline launched flights to Vancouver in June 1999 and serves that route with its own flights and a code-sharing alliance with Air Canada. Addition of the Toronto gateway will give EVA passengers the convenience of six flights a week from two of Canada’s major metropolitan regions and the option of departing from one city and returning to the other. Toronto’s status as a global city and financial powerhouse make it a strong addition to EVA’s well-developed network, connecting through Taipei to leading business and leisure destinations throughout Asia and worldwide.

On EVA’s far-reaching system, passengers from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will be able to fly to Taipei and make easy, same-day onward connections to Manila, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Bangkok and 16 destinations in China. Travelers headed to North America will find Taipei to be a welcoming hub for flights to Toronto where they can continue on to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax in minimal transit time.

In addition to competitive fares and service options that appeal to a broad range of business travelers, EVA is also working with travel agents to create tour packages that complement current products offered in Canada and America. The new packages will be designed so that passengers can enjoy Ontario’s beauty and majesty as well as the global sophistication of its international cities.

Not mentioned by the airline, but possibly another factor, is an ongoing boycott by Indian travel agents furious at having had their 5% commission on ticket sales cancelled. The boycott has been going on since the end of last year, and means that anyone in India wishing to travel by SIA can now book only at the SIA offices there, or online. Lufthansa and British Airways, too, are being boycotted for the same reason.

SIA recorded an operating loss of S$271 million for the second quarter, compared with a profit of S$265 million in the the same quarter of 2008. To offset the loss, the airline has instituted a freeze on hiring, stopped paying salary for those on leave, cut wages and postponed “non-essential” projects.

It estimates that the cuts in manpower costs will result in savings of S$60 million in the current financial year.

Part of the pressure on SIA comes from budget airlines, such as AirAsia, which – in contrast – has seen passenger numbers climb 24% to 3.5 million in the past year. Profits, too, have risen, to RM657 million, an increase of 8%, despite fares being cut by 19% overall.

AirAsia has also seen a hefty rise in ancillary income, to the point where inflight sales of drinks, meals and merchandise now represent 14.5% of passengers’ spending.

Even AirAsia is not without its troubles, however – it could face sanctions for an incident on August 9, when the airline rescheduled a flight from Polonia Airport in Medan, Indonesia, from 7:10pm to 11am the next day. Furious passengers rioted, vandalising airport facilities.

It was not the first time an AirAsia flight had been postponed. Polonia Airport manager Rajali
Abubakar was quoted in the Jakarta Post as saying that the airline regularly postponed flights, leaving
passengers stranded at the airport for hours.

The EC3 assessment team noted the hotel’s positive commitment to maintain and improve performance in all indicators, particularly energy consumption, potable water consumption and waste sent to landfill.

The benchmarking exercise was conducted from May 2008-April 2009.

Only four other hotels in Singapore have received Green Globe certification – InterContinental Singapore, Holiday Inn Park View and Holiday Inn Atrium, and the Novotel Clarke Quay.

“Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has evolved very much along environmental lines. The hotel design makes the most of natural sunlight, recycled materials were used in its construction and we make every effort to reduce our impact with the use of non-hazardous cleaning materials,” said the hotel’s General Manager, Mark Winterton.

“To receive the EC3 benchmark is something of an achievement for a new hotel and provides a great incentive for us to keep on improving, reducing our impact on the environment under EC3’s highly credible benchmarking procedures,” he added.

EC3 Global is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), which is owned by 16 of Australia’s leading universities.

It was established under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme in l987 to underpin the development of a dynamic, internationally competitive, and sustainable tourism industry and draws on research from over 250 tourism and environmental sustainability leaders.

Worldwide, only 400 hotels have received the EC3 seal of approval.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has also been recognized by BCA Green Mark.

Launched in 2005, the BCA Green Mark Scheme is a strategic program aimed at raising the awareness of sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings. It evaluates buildings for their environmental impact and performance. The benefits of Green Mark buildings include cost savings from efficient use of key resources such as energy and water, leading to lower operation and maintenance costs. Other less tangible benefits include enhanced occupant productivity and health due to good indoor environmental quality.

“The company has said on previous occasions that it is targeting an early 2010 opening for its Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore. That plan remains the same, and although we do not have an exact date, we are making every effort to open the property by February 15, 2010.

The company is working closely with the Singapore government to confirm the opening date and to finalize an opening plan for each of the development’s various attractions.

While we wish construction scheduling would have allowed us to open by the end of 2009, we strongly believe that if things remain according to plan, Phase I of the property, which will include approximately 1,000 hotel rooms, the casino, the bulk of the MICE facilities, a variety of restaurants, and 50 percent of the retail space, will open some time between the last week of January and the last week of February.

Phase II which includes the remainder of the hotel rooms and retail space, and the Sands Skypark(TM), would open by the end of April 2010. Phase III, which features the remainder of the attractions, including the theatres and museum, will open throughout the rest of the year.

The Las Vegas, Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands Corp. owns and operates The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino, The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas and the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem(TM) in Eastern Pennsylvania. The company also owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel and the Sands Macao in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Special Administrative Region of Macao.

The Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow is located right in the city centre – on a bow of the Moskva River at the conjunction of Kutuzovsky Prospect and Novy Arbat, two of the city’s most prestigious commercial thoroughfares. Within close walking distance from the property there are many notable locations such as the House of Government of the Russian Federation (Russian White House) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Red Square, flanked by the walls of the Kremlin, is within comfortable reach of the Hotel, and Moscow’s international airports are easily accessible with the main railway terminal to Vnukovo Airport just a few hundred metres away.

The property forms part of the legendary “Seven Sisters” – the Soviet skyscrapers based on an idea of Stalin and built in Soviet neo-classicism architectural style between 1949 and 1957. Designed by the leading Soviet architects Arkady Mordvinov and Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky the monumental 34-storey-building is 206 meters high (including a spire which measures 73 metres) – the largest European hotel of its day. To make such an impressive accomplishment possible Soviet architects studied the engineering techniques used to erect Manhattan’s skyscrapers. All in all approximately 2,000 architects, engineers and artisans were co-opted to lay out the details of this grandiose project. Starting from the late 50’s only the most renowned citizens and guests of the Soviet Union were rewarded with stays at the hotel while visiting Moscow.

The classical and elegant interiors are now being refurbished and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies; each of the 507 rooms and suites as well as 38 furnished serviced apartments with kitchenettes designated for extended rentals, with guestrooms averaging 32 sqm and suites ranging in size from 50 up to 260 square metres will offer Radisson signature services such as free high speed internet access. A further highlight is the hotel’s art collection of about 1,000 original paintings by the most prominent artists of the socialist realism period. Complimenting the unique art collection are several monumental murals and ceiling frescoes located in the public areas of the hotel.

The Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow will offer four restaurants: a breakfast restaurant, a Russian restaurant, a fine dining restaurant with summer terrace operated by the renowned Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov presenting French haute cuisine and Asian menus, and a further specialty venue on the 30th and 31st floors comprising an Italian gourmet restaurant and sophisticated Japanese restaurant. A bar on the 31st floor with breathtaking views over Moscow is bound to become a favourite place for the city’s “in” crowd.

For meetings and events the hotel will offer a top modern conference centre for up to 1,000 guests; comprising nine meeting rooms, a ballroom of almost 450 square metres, a business centre, and a library. The Wellness Centre & SPA will feature a total surface of 4,000 square metres and include a 50 metre 6 lane swimming pool, Jacuzzis, a Turkish bath, a Finnish sauna, extensive fitness facilities, a spa, and a dedicated kid’s club. A luxury boutique gallery will host outlets for world class fashion and jewellery brands, and five high-end river cruise liners with restaurants which have been exclusively designed for the hotel will provide a unique opportunity to take a culinary boat trip in the heart of Moscow.

Mercure Samui Buri Resort marks Accor’s first mid-scale hotel on the island. The hotel is situated on the secluded northern Maenam Beach, a beach that remains a secret paradise. The waters are calm and shallow for most of the year, the sandy beach is long, and has stunning vistas of Pha Ngan Island. The location is perfect for couples on a honeymoon or those in need of a relaxing break.

The resort comprises of 56 deluxe rooms and 29 private villas. Each deluxe room has either an ocean view, swimming pool view, or an outdoor terrace with sun lounge and direct access to the pool. The villas are very private and surrounded by tropical gardens with a sundeck leading to a private pool. The design of each villa is influenced by the traditional housing styles of Thailand.

Extensive leisure facilities at the hotel include a fitness centre, a large outdoor pool with a Jacuzzi, tour desk, an Internet lounge, and the hotel provides Thai cooking classes. Business meetings and private functions are conveniently accommodated for up to of 100 people. The hotel also boasts wedding facilities in the function rooms or on the private beach.

On the East of the island is Lamai Beach, the location of Mercure Samui Fenix. Lamai beach is the second largest tourist area of the island and just 25 minutes from the Samui Airport. Whilst the area is quieter, there are many dining and shopping options in the surrounding areas. The hotel borders lush jungle and has access to isolated bays, small local villages, temples, and Hinta Hinyai (the famous rock formations). Local lifestyle can be seen through a number of traditional wooden houses, local stores, and people selling fresh produce from their own farms.

Boasting an idyllic beachfront location the Mercure Samui Fenix has 52 contemporary rooms and 8 villas. All rooms have modern styling and are equipped with large balconies with day beds. Villas are designed to allow a flood of natural light into the room.

The highlight of the hotel’s leisure facilities is the large 600 sqm swimming pool. Other leisure facilities include NEST restaurant, lobby lounge, NEST pool bar, pool deck, and a fitness centre. A small meeting room is also available.

“Samui Island is an ever emerging destination with constant development of infrastructure and facilities appealing to international and domestic tourists. These two Mercure hotels, which portray the quality guaranteed by the Mercure brand, will fulfil demand for quality, internationally managed mid-scale hotels on the Island. We have successfully operated Mercure hotels in other major tourist destinations in Thailand such as Pattaya and Phuket, and we will bring the best of these hotels to the Samui hotel operations.” commented Mr. Oswald Pichler, Accor Vice President – Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Istanbul-Toronto flight will depart at 11:30 and arrive at 15:40. Toronto-Istanbul flight will depart at 23:50 and arrive at 17:30.

With this new route Turkish Airlines will operate 117 flight points which currently stands at 151 domestic and international destinations.