hotels articles

If you are interested in finding a hotel that offers all of the comforts of home in Amsterdam but is not in the heart of the busy city, there are a number of choices for you. In fact, just a short distance from the center of the city you will find a wide range of hotels offering all types of accommodations to suit your specific needs. The good news is that there are plenty of choices with all of the amenities that you are interested in. Those that are looking for a bit more of an affordable price but still wants to be close to the city can consider these hotels for just that need.

Some of the hotels that you will find just on the outskirts of Amsterdam offer all of the necessary features including internet access, television, in room dining and even exercise facilities. Some offer a variety of rooms perfect for the executives out there as well as the common traveler. In addition, some offer the best of amenities from tennis courts to bowling alleys and even the restaurant or pub. In addition, you will find that many of them offer banquet and meeting facilities perfect for a business meeting or a large group of guests. Some offer wedding and catering facilities for larger events as well.

The hotels that are just outside or on the edge of Amsterdam often provide you with the necessary transportation to and from all of the major attractions and points within the city. You can often find affordable yet quainter shopping, gardens and even those hotels that feature the deluxe feel and luxury is at the top of the list. When visiting Amsterdam, consider staying just outside of the center of the city and you are likely to find a wonderful hotel with all of the luxuries that you love as well as a more affordable choice.

Getting married is a joyous occasion that should be celebrated with some of the world’s more beautiful cities. Why not consider Amsterdam? Those that are traveling to this city will be able to take full advantage of this cultural experience. The hotel choices are excellent when it comes to a bridal suite as well as the standard romantic getaway. If you plan to celebrate your love in this city, do so by taking some extra time to book a romantic and celebrated hotel suite.

There are some hotels within the city that offer a good range of room choices. If you are celebrating a special function such as a romantic night away, make sure that the hotel that you stay at is one that features a bridal suite. If you are not sure if this is offered by the hotel, call up and ask before assuming that it is. The suite can offer a variety of different things from romantic hot tubs and luxurious bedrooms to cozy fireplaces and balconies overlooking all the beauty that the city has to offer.

If you do plan to book the bridal suite in a hotel in Amsterdam, it does make sense to plan ahead. You will want to insure that you give yourself enough time to get your reservations in before they are booked up. As one of the most beautiful cities in the world, these suites can be booked up quickly. Take some time to determine which the most ideal choice is. You can often find all of the necessary information about the bridal suite that is offered by the hotel right on the web. You may want to learn what is included in that offer before booking, though. Nevertheless, Amsterdam has quite a bit to offer to you in the way of romance.

If you are visiting Amsterdam, you will not be able to miss the canals. As part of the day to day function of those that live here, the canals are a much needed and enjoyable way to get around. And, some of the best hotels within the city of Amsterdam are situated right on these canals. Some of the very best, even five star hotels are those that allow you to gaze out over the canal in a breathtaking view of the water and the life that is Amsterdam. If you want to stay within the inner city, these are the hotels to take into consideration.

Some of them feature all of the latest needs such as work out rooms, conference facilities and internet access. Yet, they somehow still off that majestic feel and amazing view. Some are old world like in style while others are much more stylish and modern. You can determine which is more appropriate for your specific stay. One thing to take note of is that many of the hotels within this area do not feel so much like hotels but rather of a residential area. You will feel as if you are at home, rather than away on a business trip or in a boring hotel.

Some of these hotels are also located ideally in the middle of all that Amsterdam has to offer. You are sure to find them located within walking distance of major attractions and motorways. You should find them located easily from your favorite parks and even the Amsterdam airport a well.

Amsterdam has many hotels that offer a wide range of choice located right in the heart of the city. With a flare of old world stay or of the most modern amenities, Amsterdam hotels are ideal for just about every type of trip business or pleasure.

Visiting Amsterdam is more than just another trip. It can be a true experience. The city is well known for its beauty and for its world famous museums. If you travel here, you will be able to experience what life in this part of the world is like today and well as get a peak into its history. Yet, to do this, there are many things that you will want to take advantage of. One of them is finding the right type of hotel for your Amsterdam trip.

The good news is that there are many choices. You will find a wide range of styles and functionalities to select from. First off, select the type of hotel you are interested in based on its amenities. You may want more choices than others do. You may need handicapped assistance or a specific feature such as internet access. But, then, there are many possibilities from there.

For example, you are going to find castle hotels that make for a true one of a kind experience. There are bed and breakfast hotels that are more for those looking for that at home feel. Youth hostels, bungalow parks, camping sites, and apartments are additional choices. These choices allow you to customize your experience while in Amsterdam to the type of day to day living that you are already used to.

Amsterdam offers a wide range of hotel choices, to fit just about everyone’s needs. They range in their costs as well as their location. In addition, you will find most of the common and even some unique choices for your stay in amenities. From the rich and famous to the every day traveler, there is something waiting to enchant you here. The good news is that the hotel that you stay at can provide that feeling as well.

Asia-Pacific’s luxury hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, opened its first hotel in India, the Traders Hotel, Chennai, in association with J-Hotels on April 22. DMK president M Karunanidhi declared it open.

DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan, Jagatrakshagan of J-Hotels, and a number of political personalities were present.

The hotel is located on G N Chetty Road in T Nagar, Chennai.

The Shangri-La group is developing more properties in India, including Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi, which will open mid-2005, and three new properties in Bangalore which will open between August 2007 to December 2008. In all, 8-10 hotels would be up by the group in India in the next four to five years.

“The opening of Traders Hotel, Chennai, is a significant milestone marking the first entry into India for the Shangri-La group and particularly the Traders brand,” said Giovanni Angelini, chief executive officer and managing director of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. “We are excited to be represented in Chennai with its key position in India and strong links to South-East Asia. This is an important progression of our expansion plan for the region.”

Chennai is well known as “the jewellery and silk capital of south India”, said Symon Bridle, vice-president, Shangri-La.

Chennai is a major destination in the world now due to the IT boom, he added.

The Traders Hotel, Chennai, is conveniently situated in the heart of the city, close to the shopping hub of T Nagar. All 162 guestrooms, with a minimum size of 30 square metres, have data ports and broadband Internet connectivity. Amenities and services include 24-hour room service, same day laundry and valet, and satellite TV. Located on the 10th to 12th floor of the hotel, the Traders Club offers exclusive privileges and services such as express check-in and check-out, free use of meeting room, and a club lounge for daily breakfast and evening cocktails, said Andrea Mastellone, general manager, Chennai.

Dining and entertainment facilities include Seasons Cafe, Indiana, a contemporary Indian restaurant; Zodiac, the hotel bar; and a roof-top restaurant which will open in a second phase. Meeting and banquet facilities feature a 516-square-metre grand ballroom which can be divided into two rooms, as well as other banquet halls with a total space of 450 square metres. Facilities such as business centre, health club, massage rooms and swimming pool are also available.

“We are very excited to see the opening of Traders Hotel, Chennai. We are certain the hotel will become an attractive choice for business and leisure travellers to this region,” commented Dr J Sri Nisha, co-owner of J-Hotels Ltd, the developer and owner of Traders Hotel, Chennai.

“We selected Shangri-La to manage the hotel due to the strength of this award-winning brand and its long-standing reputation for delivering service excellence,” said J Sandeep Annand, director of the J-Hotels Ltd.

“These excellent new additions of Shangri-La will reinforce our presence in India and will complement the Traders Hotel, Chennai, and the Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi, which will open in the second and third quarter of 2005 respectively,” said Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La’s chief executive officer and managing director.

Chennai will play host to the 41st national convention of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) in October 2005. The convention, titled The Road Ahead, will focus on infrastructure development for tourism growth. The 3-day convention will be held between October 15-17 at the Chennai Convention Centre, Nandambakkam.ÂÂ

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will inaugurate the convention where over 2,000 delegates are expected to participate, said M P Purushothaman, president of FHRAI & SIHRA. “The theme of the convention has been carefully chosen keeping in mind the rapid developments taking place in the country. The IT and ITES sector has propelled India to the top of the world stage wherein many MNCs have set up shop or are opening new facilities all over India. This involves many foreigners coming into India for business development. Together with this segment and the tourist arrivals, the demand for quality hotel rooms is only bound to go up. The government needs to be more practical in its viewing of the hotel industry and extend all support to this important industry, which is the second largest foreign exchange earner for India,” he pointed out.

Purushothaman further said, “There will be a demand of over 90,000 guest rooms in all categories in the next five years. It is envisaged that an amount in excess of Rs. 11,000 crore will be required for infrastructure development for promoting tourism and creating these new capacities and upgrading the older ones. The government should, therefore, be more pragmatic and provide a level playing field for the hotel industry on a par with other industries, so that the momentum gained on the tourism/hotel front is not lost because of poor infrastructure and lack of foresight on behalf of the planners and decision makers.”

Elaborating on the various issues which were hurting the hotel industry and impinging on its growth, Purushothaman said, “They should be given the same benefits available to the IT and ITES sectors like in electricity tariffs, sales-tax rationalisation, reduction in taxes and duties on liquor and special concession on stamp duty.”

He felt that luxury tax applied in India should be done away with to give value to the consumers. Further, since land is scarce and demand outstrips supply, the government should relax the FSI rules after analysing the situation correctly depending on the city and the hotel/s concerned. The government should also make available to hoteliers, the government land available in the central business district (CBD) in cities across India to promote quality hotels, he added.

“Today, while the government is also interested in promoting tourism and offering various incentives to different sectors, the hotel industry alone has not been given the real impetus for growth. For example, in air-conditioning, which is an absolute necessity for a hot country like India, the government should extend the benefit of lower electricity tariff, which they extend to other industries like manufacturing,” he added.ÂÂ

Shankar Menon, vice president and chairman, Convention Organising Committee, said, “Tourism and business travel are completely dependent on hotels and the enormous revenue that can be generated via tourism and travel can only be realised if
hotel resources are adequate and meet international standards.”

Menon added, “We believe that accelerated growth in the hotel industry has become a necessity in the current economic scenario, with more and more hotel rooms needed in the business and budget hotel segments. This cannot be achieved without a proactive, fully informed and enlightened policy towards the hotel industry followed at both the Central and state levels.”

The 3-day convention will discuss and highlight the progress and problems faced by the industry and what needs to be done to sustain the growth in future and take advantage of India becoming the IT capital of the world and also among the top 20 tourism destinations in the world, said T Natarajan (CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts) and R Rangachari, secretary-general, South Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA).

Empee Hotels Ltd, part of the Empee Group, has signed an agreement with hospitality major Hilton International to manage and operate their luxury hotel development, in Chennai. The property, promoted by Empee Hotels with an investment of Rs 184 crore, will come up at Ekkattuthangal, near Guindy, in December 2007, its chairman M P Purushothaman said in Chennai on October 5, shortly after signing the MoU.

The 253-room Hilton Chennai will boast of several fine dining restaurants, a destination bar, a swimming pool, a health club and a spa. Located 15 minutes from the Chennai airport, Hilton Chennai would also include four conference rooms, a ballroom and a business centre.

Wimberley Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), one of the leading global design teams behind some of the world’s most iconic hotels, has designed this landmark property. The hotel design will be a blend of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture with new generation state-of-the-art facilities, said Purushothaman.

He said, “Hilton is a fresh face in India, but in the last 18 months its presence nationally and regionally has grown quickly making it a priority partner for our group.”

Nisha Purushothaman, managing director, Empee Hotels Ltd, said, “With this tie-up we will take our hotel business to the next level and work with a global hotel chain that has a modern array of upscale properties. With the development of the new property, the Hilton brand will have a strong presence in Chennai and will be a preferred choice for judicious travelers to this region.”ÂÂ

The president for Hilton International Middle East and Asia Pacific, Koos Klein, said, “Chennai’s hotel industry is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic in India, with occupancy levels at the top end of the market posting very strong gains.”

The equity for this hotel will come from the Empee Group while Hilton will take care of the management.

The Hilton Group is looking at five hotels in India as it considers the country to be a major market along with China in the years to come. India, in fact, has a brighter future than China, Koos felt. “As the powerhouse behind India’s automotive industry and with its growing IT sector, the outlook for this market is very positive. We are delighted to partner the Empee Group, a company that has a comprehensive knowledge of the hotel industry gained through first-hand experience in operating hotels and with M P Purushothaman’s active role with the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India.”ÂÂ

“This is a strong addition to our eight properties already established in India and the three other properties now under development,” he added.

Chennai accounts for 40 per cent of India’s automotive industry with companies such as Hyundai, Ford, Mitsubishi, Ashok Leyland and Royal Enfield having manufacturing facilities within the region. In August, BMW announced its intention to open a manufacturing plant in the city in late 2006. Most recently, the city has transformed into a commercial centre hosting a large number of IT companies and outsourcing businesses seeking alternative hubs to Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The conference, conventions and events market would rise. The city is well positioned to capitalise on an influx of business tourism, with the international airport serving more than 15 international carriers, said Purushothaman.

The Empee Group is a well-diversified business conglomerate with interests in business related to hotels, liquor, sugar, power, packaging, transport, construction and exports. The group came into existence 40 years ago and is today one of the leading business houses in south India.

Empee Hotels, part of the Empee Group, would promote its first five star hotel in Chennai. The group owns two other hotels at prime locations in Chennai. Purushothaman, currently the president of Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), is a pioneer in the hospitality industry and has been elected twice as the president of FHRAI.

In April 2004, Hilton International signed a strategic alliance with EIH Ltd, giving the company instant presence in eight locations across India; seven under the Trident Hilton name and one under the Hilton Towers, Mumbai banner. EIH Ltd manages all hotels while Hilton is responsible for international marketing, promotion and reservations through the Hilton global network. The hotels include Trident-Hiltons Gurgaon, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Cochin and Hilton Towers in Mumbai. Trident Hilton Mumbai, a 500-room new property in north Mumbai is scheduled to be built in 2007.

In addition, to date Hilton has signed management contracts for three new properties - a 300-room new generation Hilton hotel and a 250-room Hilton residences in Bangalore, also a l00-villa holistic lifestyle retreat in Shillim, located in the Western Ghats.

Famed for its tranquil beaches and lush backwaters, its languid classical dances and spicy; healthful cuisine, Kerala has also blossomed as a hip destination for the spa set. The appeal-apart from its serene surroundings - is Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old “science of life” that Keralans like to call their own. A holistic healing tradition drawn from India’s ancient Vedic culture, Ayurveda is less about curing a specific ailment than restoring body and mind to their natural state of equilibirium. It’s because fashionable not only because of its exotic array of treatments, but because, barring the more extreme therapies, it feels good. And this state on the southwestern tip of the Indian subcontinent is home to some of the best Ayurvedic resorts around. Read on to discover four:

KAYALORAM LAKE RESORT
Kayaloram Lake Resort is set on the serene banks of Vemband Lake, 2-minute speedboat ride from the backwater town of Alleppey (a.k.a. Alappuzha). Blissfully private, this former holiday home comprises four wooden cottages with just a dozen spacious, uncluttered rooms between them, all featuring high-beamed ceilings, terracotta-tiled floors, coir rugs, and bathrooms that are open to the sky. The cottages are authentic tharavad houses, rescued and relocated from villages where they were earmarked for demolition. They are vernacular architecture at its most stylish, built of dark Keralan teak with weeping roofs, wraparound verandas, and undersized doors - a design flourish that obliges guests to bow their heads respectfully when entering. The best rooms look out on the lake, which at night shimmers with the lights of hundreds of fishermen’s skiffs.

The Ayurvedic doctor who runs the resort’s newly expanded spa center is supported by four therapists, all old hands. They consult on diet (the food here is traditional Keralan, spiece-laden and largely vegetarian) and administer a variety of age-old treatments. These include five package therapies that run from seven days to three weeks in duration, and range from rejuvenating programs of herbal baths and synchronized massages, to a more daunting regime called panchakarma, which favors purgation and enemas. But one need not to go to extremes to enjoy the benefits of Kayaloram’s most essential contribution to well being: it’s languorously peaceful environment.

Kayaloram Lake Resort, Punnamada, Alleppey, Kerala, India, 91-477/231-573; Fax: 231-571; e-mail: kayaloram@satyam.net.in;www.kayaloram.com.Double from US$60.; individual treatments US$4-$27. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,275 for two people sharing, including full board, daily message and sirodhara (a warm-oil therapy), and, if you mention this article, a sunset lake cruise.

THE MALABAR HOUSE
Cochin, or Kochi as it is now officially known, is the busiest port on Kerala’s 600-kilometer coastline, and its most historic city. It was here, in the old quarters of Fort Cochin, that Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonizers staked their successive claims to the keralan spice trade, leaving an indelible tapestry of cultural architechtural influences. This is also home to one of India’s loveliest addresses, the 250-year-old Malabar House, which sits across from India’s oldest European church.

The Malabar’s German owner, Joerg Drechsel, has converted this colonial estate into a bijou luxury hotel. Its 12 rooms, painted in startling canary yellows, brick reds,and powder blues, come with four-poster beds and a liberal does of antique furnishings. Almost as stunning is the courtyard plunge pool, surrounded by a sunken garden where on balmy nights kathakali dramas are staged for guests. Spa-going gourmands will also appreciate the restaurant, which serves Italian dishes as well as local specialities like seared fish with fragrant mango-and-coconut gravy.

Marina and Sunita, the hotel’s energetic Ayurvedic therapists, specialize in kalari, a medicated-oil treatment with roots in the ancient and indigenous martial art of Kalarippayat. The hour-long synchronized message promises rejuvenation, improved flexibility and blood circulation, and relief from rheumatism, arthritis, back pain, headaches, and stress-related conditions. It’s like being worked over by the multi-handed Hindu god Shiva himself, and almost as spiritual.

The Malabar House, 1/268 Parade Road, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India; 91-484/216-666; fax: 217-777; e-mail: info@malabarhouse.com; www.m alabarhouse.com. Doubles from US$175, individual treatments US$15-$25. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,050 for two, including accommodation, Ayurvedic meals, a medical consultation and treatments, and airport transfer.

SURYA SAMUDRA BEACH GARDEN
Sitting on a windswept promontory overlooking two sandy coves and the vastness of the Indian Ocean, this 10-acre property is an spacious as it is secluded. A 40-minute drive from the airport at Trivandrum, Surya Samudra features 25 guestrooms set in rustic tharavad houses, an infinity pool carved out of granite bedrock, and a restaurant serving seafood garnished with fruits and vegetables from its own garden. The Octagon Room is its premier suite, offering cobbled stone floor, high ceilings, and large wooden doors that open to dramatic sea views.

Treatments at Surya Samudra’s less inspiring Ayurvedic center include kizhi, for which herbal powders are applied to the body in boluses, together with hot medicated oils; karmapooram, where medicated fumes are applied to your ears for upto 10 minutes; and tharpanam, an eye-cleansing therapy. Oh, and there’s the ferociously named “bone-shaking massage” - not to be missed if you want a serious rubdown.

Surya Samudra Beach Garden, Pulinkudi, Trivandrum, Kerala, India; 91-471/267-333; Fax: 267-124; e-mail: info@suryasamudra.com; www.suryasamudra.com. Doubles from US$80 individual treatments US$15-$55. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages at US$300 per person, treatments only.

SOMATHEERAM AYURVEDIC BEACH RESORT
Somatheeram was the first property in Keralato combine Ayurvedic treatment with resort-style living, and has won the state’s Best Ayurvedic Centre Award for the past four years. Eleven years old, it is made up of over 60 cottages, built on 18 acres of beautifully landscaped hillside over looking the sea just south of Kovalam. The traditionally styled bungalows come in a variety of sizes, the most luxurious being the Sidhartha, a large stone house with a pentagon-shaped living room and private courtyard.

Out of all the resorts reviewed, this one takes its Ayurveda the most seriously. It currently boasts 24 treatment rooms, six doctors, and over 40 therapists who exercise a wonderful combination of skill, strength, and congenial table-side manner.

As at many of Kerala’s resort spas, visitors here choose between two options before checking in: signing on for a full-scale treatment, which requires a consultation with one of the doctors, followed by up to 21 days of herbal therapies and a specially prescribed diet; or staying for only a few days, eating freely from the sumptuous menus and experimenting with only the most relaxing and rejuvenating treatments, such as a cooling papaya face pack.

But if you are in need of a little more physical exertion, there is also Mr. Miranda, the 72-year-old yogi who has been practicing and teaching yoga for half a century. He leads two classes every day, on a grassy verge above the sea.

Somatheeram Ayurvedic Beach Resort, Chowara, south of Kovalam, Kerala, India; 91-471/268-1001; Fax: 267-600; e-mail: somatheeram@vsnl.com; www.somatherram.com. Doubles from US$70. individual treatments US$5-$45. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,352, including accommodation, therapies, and Ayurvedil meals.

WHEN American Indians put their hand to a Western resort, this is the result: the grand entrance faces east, as the ancient sun worshipers prescribed; flute music quavers through an atrium piled with giant boulders and crowned with wraparound murals of Indian life; and wild mustangs with bloodlines back to the days of the conquistadors raise dust clouds against the purple mountains.That, at least, is the version at the $175 million Pima and Maricopa community’s Sheraton Wild Horse Pass outside Phoenix. As the land’s historic hosts - unwilling hosts in most cases, for sure - American Indians have been slow to stake out a share of the modern hospitality industry. But now, after centuries of victimization at the hands of gate-crashers, and flush with fortunes from casino gambling tables, some tribes are assuming new roles as luxury hoteliers and partnering with hotel chains to offer guests bridges to Indian culture.

“I call it guerrilla anthropology,” said Lance Polingyouma, a Hopi cultural interpreter on the staff of the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, not an Indian enterprise but one that has expanded the usual resort offerings to incorporate a Hopi Learning and Environmental Center with a native seed garden. “It’s education by any means necessary.”

Few tribes have put as much store in tourism and development as the Pimas and Maricopas, who share the 600-square-mile reservation of the Gila River Indian Community in the Phoenix region and used earnings from their casino to build their 500-room resort and twin golf courses on 2,400 acres at Wild Horse Pass 11 miles south of the Phoenix airport in 2002. And an entire Wild West town is coming - the tribes recently bought the Rawhide theme park in Scottsdale and plan to transport it to the property by fall.

That may be as it should be, for the tribes welcomed white settlers and gold-rushers who streamed into their territory in the 1800’s. The Pimas and Maricopas (the former are basket-weavers, the other potters) even joined with the cavalry in fending off the hostile Apaches and Comanches. Yet settlers repeatedly undermined government efforts to reward their faithful Indian allies, and in 1887 dammed the Gila River, throwing the tribes into a century-long spiral of destitution, malnutrition, obesity and diabetes.

In a long-delayed thank you and redress of historical wrongs, Congress last November passed a landmark water-settlement bill that secures the region’s water supply by allocating a part of the Colorado River flow through a newly built 336-mile canal into the Gila River Indian Community for lease to Phoenix and other fast-growing municipalities.

“Some people say the casinos gave us a voice,” said Ginger Sunbird Martin, a Pima cultural concierge at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass. “No. We always had a voice. Now they’re choosing to listen to us.”

And more voices are joining the chorus. On March 15, the Mescalero Apaches are to open their $200 million Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, N.M., the prototype Indian resort that was torn down after 30 years for this remake. Along with rubbing shoulders with descendants of Geronimo and Cochise, guests can ski and hunt big game. Bagging a bull elk for your trophy wall will set you back $13,500, however, with six nights’ lodging thrown in; the resort will dress and ship your kill, but taxidermy is extra.

At the four-year-old tribal-owned Tamaya, in a remote and peaceful setting on the Santa Ana Pueblo between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, guests can mix adobe and throw pots with community members, bake Indian bread in traditional haruna ovens, star-gaze with Indian storytellers or play golf or soar aloft in hot-air balloons.

Indian lakes Resort, the largest golf and conference resort in the Chicago area, has completed a $20-million renovation. Architect Don Erickson, a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the uniquely shaped resort over an eight-year period during the 1970s, and the renovation has enhanced Wright’s influence. Erickson created all the resort’s buildings using hexagonal shapes with large natural spaces, zigzagging hallways, waterfalls reaching three stories, and winding paths around rocks, plants, and trees.

All 310 hexagonal guest rooms have 10-foot vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. Using classic Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style decor, each room has been rebuilt with new carpeting, wall coverings, and furnishings. Upgraded room amenities include Web TV, Sony PlayStation, mini-bar, and bath products by Marilyn Miglin.

The indoor and outdoor pools have been modernized, and a world-class day spa has been added. The resort’s two restaurants and three lounges, plus the 36-hole golf course, have undergone major renovations.