Luxury Travel Advisor Editorial Director Ruthanne Terrero talks with Melanie Cole, the new VP of sales at TCS Expeditions. Click here or on the image to go to the Digital Dossier.

Aquapura Douro Valley (www.aquapurahotels.com) in Portugal has named Maurizio Romani general manager. Luxury travel advisors will know Romani from his most recent role as general manager for Hotel L’Andana in Tuscany. He’s also had senior positions at Grosvenor House in London, Hotel Danielle in Venice and Forte Village Resort in Sardinia.

Aquapura Douro Valley opened in Portugal’s World Heritage wine region in summer 2007. We’re told that the Aquapura Hotels has plans to expand with additional property openings in Bahia and Fortaleza, Brazil; Alentejo, Portugal; Prague; Italy; Macedonia and Panama.

For more on the Aquapura Douro Valley resort, visit www.luxuryta.com, past issues, December 2007.

Le Méridien says it plans to open two new properties, one in Taipei and one in Xiamen, China. Le Méridien Taipei will be the brand’s first hotel in Taiwan and will open in early 2011 in Hsinyi, Taipei’s bustling central business district. Le Méridien Xiamen, China will open in 2009 in Xianyue Hill, one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods….

Kempinski Hotels reports that it has signed a deal to manage the 100-year-old Hotel Palace in the center of Portorož. The goal is to make the property, which will retain its historic center and boast a newly built section when it reopens in early October, the leading luxury hotel in Slovenia.
Portorož has long been known as a natural spa destination and the Hotel Palace since 1910 has hosted the VIPs who have visited the resort. History has it that when it opened, the Hotel Palace was, together with Hotel Excelsior in Venice, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and biggest hotels on the Adriatic Coast. It has been declared a cultural monument, yet closed in 1990. It’s been undergoing a total refurbishment since 2003 under the care of its owner, Istrabenz Hoteli Portorož. Its historic ballroom and Presidential Suite have also been restored….

Raffles Hotels & Resorts has gotten a foothold in Moscow; it will open a 130-room hotel in the Kitay-Gorod district three minutes from Red Square in 2011. The hotel is being developed from what was the former private residence in the mid-17th century; it subsequently was extended to include shops and furnished apartments.

Not surprisingly, Raffles Moscow will be all luxury; it will include a RafflesAmrita Spa, which will be one of Moscow’s largest, as well as six restaurants and bars as well as an indoor pool.
The hotel will be part of a larger development that will include apartments, galleries and an 18th-century Russian Orthodox Church. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company opened a hotel in Moscow last year to great success, according to sources.

Raffles, meanwhile, previously announced it will open a hotel in Paris to manage Le Royal Monceau hotel, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.

We hear that bookings are now available for InterContinental Hotels’ “Born to Shop” tour throughout Asia, which is hosted annually by Suzy Gershman, author of the Frommer’s “Born to Shop” international travel guides. This year’s program visits the markets and shops of Hong Kong and Hanoi, Vietnam, with an optional add-on trip to Bangkok from November 11-18, 2008.

Hotels that are featured in the program are the InterContinental Hong Kong and the new InterContinental Hanoi Westlake (Lotus Suite shown here). The package also includes a day trip into the People’s Republic of China with a visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen (Note: U.S. citizens will need single-entry visas for both China and Vietnam).

The program includes seven nights’ accommodations in total, with access to Club InterContinental (daily breakfast buffet, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, complimentary high speed internet access and concierge services included).

Gershman will also host “Shop & Show” seminars in Hong Kong and Hanoi, featuring themed shopping discussions with examples of available merchandise, plus giveaways and maps, followed by shopping explorations with Gershman as a personal guide.

Contact Carole Klein at the InterContinental Hong Kong directly, by telephone: (852) 2313-2335, fax: (852) 2724-3284 or e-mail: carole_klein@interconti.com. Bookings must be made directly with InterContinental Hong Kong and are commissionable to travel agents.

Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa (www.anantara.com), an 83-all-pool-villa property opens this October in Thailand and we’ve got the photo to prove it. The property will be set on Mai Khao Beach, which is 15 minutes from Phuket International Airport and a short drive from the area’s busy beaches.

What’s the buzz? Each villa at the resort has its own pool and gardens with paths that lead to the Andaman Sea. Inside, Thai furniture, complemented by the region’s famous vibrant silks, fill spacious living areas. Bathrooms have outdoor “made-for-two” terrazzo tubs that meld into the private pool. That’s an Anantara signature amenity, as is the property’s spa, which will use indigenous ingredients in its treatments.

Note: the resort will have a hip pool scene as well, with over-sized daybeds, lounge music and a mixologist on hand to conjure up cocktails.

Other Anantara Resorts are located in Hua Hin (south of Bangkok); on Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand and in the Golden Triangle in the country’s north. In the Maldives, Anantara Resort Dhigu and the new Anantara Resort Veli are a 30-minute boat ride from the capital Male. Anantara Resort Seminyak, opened in March 2008 in Bali.

Air France (www.airfrance.com) reports that its passengers flying in l’Espace Première (First Class) or l’Espace Affaires (Business Class) will receive complimentary chauffeur service to and from New York-JFK, London-Heathrow or London-Gatwick, and from London-Heathrow arriving from Los Angeles-LAX. To be eligible, passengers must purchase an Air France ticket in First Class or Business Class for travel on nonstop flights between: Los Angeles-LAX to London-LHR, or New York-JFK to London-LHR, or New York-JFK to London-LGW.

L’Espace Première passengers may be driven 70 miles to and from London-LHR, and l’Espace Affaires customers may be driven 50 miles to and from London-LHR, London-LGW and New York-JFK airports.

The offer can be fulfilled by calling the Air France Chauffeur Service Desk at 1-800-268-0555. Ticketed passengers can modify or cancel their reservation by calling the Air France Chauffeur Service Desk.

Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort (www.termedisaturnia.com) in Tuscany has a “Saturnia Extravagance Package” that includes a series of spa treatments and an excursion in a two-hour hot-air balloon over the hills of the Tuscan Maremma region of Italy. Following the trip, guests will be served a true Tuscan breakfast of white wine, Tuscan ham, salami and cheeses.

All told, the program includes three nights in a Junior Suite, breakfast daily, fruit and a bottle of Morellino Doc in room upon arrival, one Hydralight Treatment, Saturnia Long Massage, Saturnia Four-Hand Massage Shower, use of the spa’s famous thermal pools and Roman Bath, tennis court, golf-driving range, guided morning hikes, bikes and gym equipment.

Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World and has been certified as a Leading Spa. The four-star hotel has 140 rooms, which includes 71 junior suites, three suites and two Grand Suites.

Did you hear that at a recent Sotheby’s New York sale, American art collectors bought up nearly 70 percent of the modern art offered and even paid record-breaking prices? It’s understandable, since there were some fabulous paintings up for grabs, such as Fernand Leger’s “Etude pour La Femme en Bleu,” which sold for $39.2 million and Eduard Munch’s “Girls on a Bridge,” went for $30.8 million. Then there was Henri Matisse’s “Le Geranium,” which sold for more than $10 million, triple what the art auction house had estimated.

The success of the sale, however, doesn’t mean that all wealthy Americans are on the same spending spree they’ve enjoyed for the past few years. In fact, according to Reuters, which reported on the sale, Sotheby’s feels that some investors may have slipped out of the market because of fluctuations in their stock portfolio, but they sense that others have jumped in because they find the art market to be an exciting investment arena.

The message for luxury travel advisors here is to keep a broad mind about who your possible clients may be. While someone who recently took a hit on Wall Street may temporarily be on the sidelines trying to catch their breath and hence, not traveling, there are other uber-wealthy folks out there who still want to spend big and live large.

Note: The Sotheby’s auction wasn’t just a blip. Just prior to that event, Christie’s saw a preponderance of Americans buying up the goods at a contemporary art event. The Lucian Freud painting, a nude called “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” went for $33.64 million.
— Ruthanne Terrero

Hugo Pizzinini, general manager of Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa (www.rosalpina.it) just visited Luxury Travel Advisor’s Manhattan offices to let us know that the Relais & Chateaux property is adding on nine new suites in time for the next ski season. The Pizzinini family-owned hotel, which is located in northern Italy in the Alta Badia region of the Dolomites, already has 50 guest accommodations, ranging from Deluxe Rooms to a series of suites with fireplaces or tiled stoves. Of the new suites, six will have fireplaces; the new Executive Suite will be a duplex and will become the resort’s top accommodation.

Pizzinini told us that the goal is to phase out the majority of the single rooms at the resort; however, he will retain some for those who want to use them for their nannies or their dog sitters, he said.
In other news, Pizzinini said that the property’s restaurant, St. Hubertus, received its second Michelin star in 2007 and “we are going for our third!” he told us.

The hotel reopens for the summer season on June 20.

Luxury Travel Advisor just met with Stan Brown, COO of RockResorts (www.rockresorts.com) and Vail Hospitality. Brown said the company will continue to grow its portfolio in resort communities and iconic destinations and that it is particularly interested in desert resort areas, Hawaii, California and Costa Rica. “We also want to be back in the Northeast,” said Brown, who has been with RockResorts for seven months, following a 27-year stint with Marriott International.

RockResorts most recently opened The Arrabelle at Vail Square and The Landings St. Lucia; those two properties will serve as a foundation for the brand going forward, said Brown. New hotels will be boutique in size and style and will not have a cookie-cutter design, he added.

Currently in the works is a renovation of The Osprey at Beaver Creek, which will have $7.3 million pumped into 41 existing rooms; it will reopen in time for the 2008-2009 ski season. One Ski Hill Place in Breckenridge, CO, which will open in the winter of 2009/2010, will be that ski resort’s first luxury hotel. Also under development are properties in warm-weather destinations, such as Rum Cay Resort Marina in The Bahamas; Third Turtle Club & Spa in Turks & Caicos. In Miami, Eleven Biscayne Hotel & Spa will open next April.

Additionally, La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa, A RockResort, is just wrapping a $6.2 million dollar renovation.