Thinking of the Beach

Anochece el Mojacar

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:57:30 -0400

Anochece el Mojacar

Antonio the chef: Where else would you want a chef to be? In...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 09:34:08 -0400

Antonio the chef:

Where else would you want a chef to be?
In the kitchen
Hotel Parsifal, Ravello
June 2011

THE JOY OF LIVING. LA ALEGRIA DE VIVIR:...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:33:38 -0400

THE JOY OF LIVING. LA ALEGRIA DE VIVIR:

ww.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwbBPQVOrE

Turkey - Side - Sunrise Resort - Pool palm: Another deserted...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:23:23 -0400

Turkey - Side - Sunrise Resort - Pool palm:

Another deserted shot of the Hotels pool. Of the six pools this was the one with the water slides, they closed promptly at 5pm and usually within about 15 minutes you had the pool to yourself as everyone had gone off elsewhere.

O U C H: Click F if you like this photo,...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:54:27 -0400

O U C H:

Click F if you like this photo, Thanks.

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nhow Hotel Berlin: Entrance to Fitness Area The nhow Hotel...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:36:39 -0400

nhow Hotel Berlin:

Entrance to Fitness Area

The nhow Hotel Berlin is the first music hotel and located in the creative heart of Berlin. Not far from the hotel are the Universal Studios at Osthafen as well as numerous other media companies. The o2-World Berlin is also in walking distance. At nhow Hotel Berlin everything is about music and design. It is the only hotel in Europe with 2 professional music studios. Local and international DJs perform regularly at the hotel bar. All 304 hotel rooms are spectacularly designed and feature connection cables and charging stations for PCs, Macs, iPods, etc. 60% of the rooms have a view of the river Spree. This is a young, hip and trendy hotel for media professionals or party people.

nhow Hotel Berlin is part of the NH Hotels group and has a sister design hotel in Milan. NH Hotels see the nhow brand as innovative and mirroring contemporary ways for thinking in order to become a reference point for ‘cultural, social and artistic movements in major, globalized, and constantly-changing cities’.

Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel - Miami, Florida: The Coral Gables...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:13:02 -0400

Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel - Miami, Florida:

The Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel is a luxury hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. It was designed by Schultze and Weaver and was built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick as part of the Biltmore hotel chain.
The Miami-Biltmore Hotel & Country Club was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996.[2]
It served as a hospital during World War II and as a VA Hospital and campus of the University of Miami medical school until 1968. It became a hotel again in 1987 managed by the Seaway Hotels Corporation.
There are some reports that claim this hotel to be haunted, most often by the spirit of Thomas Walsh. [3][4]
When completed, it was the tallest building in Florida, surpassing the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami. It was surpassed in 1928 by the Dade County Courthouse, also in Downtown Miami.
At one time the pool was the largest pool in the world and among the many attractions was swimming instructor (and later Tarzan actor) Johnny Weissmuller.[citation needed]
The hotel has been used as a setting for the movie Bad Boys and television programs like CSI: Miami and Miami Vice. The hotel was also a major setting for Ken Wiederhorn’s 1977 cult horror film Shock Waves, starring John Carradine and Peter Cushing. The film was shot at a time when the hotel was in a state of abandoned disrepair, and featured long camera shots and eerily shot angles.
Currently, the acclaimed GableStage Theater operates out of the Biltmore Hotel. It is owned and managed by Joseph Adler.
History
As the creator of Coral Gables, land developer George E. Merrick also founded the University of Miami, and developed the suburbs with strict building codes to ensure the beautiful surroundings. Coral Gables is a largely residential, affluent area graced with broad, planted boulevards, golf courses, and country clubs. Stately Mediterranean homes, Banyan trees, and tropical foliage line its quiet streets. The thriving business district is also home to over 150 multinational companies and multinational headquarters.
In 1925, young Merrick joined forces with Biltmore hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman at the height of the Florida land boom to build “a great hotel…which would not only serve as a hostelry to the crowds which were thronging to Coral Gables but also would serve as a center of sports and fashion.” In January 1926, ten months and $10 million dollars later, The Biltmore debuted with a magnificent inaugural that brought people down from northern cities on trains marked “Miami Biltmore Specials.” The Giralda-inspired Tower was lit for the first time and the champagne corks popped as the guests fox-trotted to the sounds of jazz, all in celebration of the birth of The Biltmore.
In its heyday, The Biltmore played host to royalty, both Europe’s and Hollywood’s. The hotel counted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Al Capone and assorted Roosevelts and Vanderbilts as frequent guests. Franklin D. Roosevelt had a temporary White House office set up at the Hotel for when he vacationed on his fishing trips from Miami. There were many gala balls, aquatic shows by the grand pool and weddings were de rigueur as were world class golf tournaments. A product of the Jazz Age, big bands entertained wealthy, well-traveled visitors to this American Riviera resort.
The Biltmore made it through the nation’s economic lulls in the late 1920s and early 1930s by hosting aquatic galas that kept the hotel in the spotlight and drew the crowds. As many as three thousand would come out on a Sunday afternoon to watch the synchronized swimmers, bathing beauties, alligator wrestling and the young Jackie Ott, the boy wonder who would dive from an eighty-five foot platform. Johnny Weissmuller, prior to his tree-swinging days in Hollywood, broke the world record at the Biltmore pool and was a swimming instructor. Families would attend the shows and many would dress up and go tea dancing afterwards on the hotel’s grand terrace to the sounds of swinging orchestras.
But with the onset of World War II, the War Department converted The Biltmore to a hospital. It served the wounded as the Army Air Forces Regional Hospital. Many of the windows were sealed with concrete, and the marble floors covered with Government Issue linoleum. Also the early site of The University of Miami’s School of Medicine, The Biltmore remained a VA hospital until 1968.
In 1973, through the Historic Monuments Act and Legacy of Parks program, the City of Coral Gables was granted ownership control of The Biltmore. Undecided as to the structure’s future, The Biltmore remained unoccupied for almost 10 years. Then in 1983, the City oversaw its full restoration to be opened as a grand hotel. Almost four years and $55 million later, The Biltmore opened on December 31, 1987 as a first class hotel and resort. Over 600 guests turned out to honor the historic Biltmore at a black tie affair.
In June 1992, a multinational consortium led by Seaway Hotels Corporation, a Florida hotel management company, officially became the new operators of the Biltmore under a long term management lease with the City of Coral Gables, and again made significant refurbishments to the property.
Seaway invested in new lighting and telephone systems, computer systems throughout, repairs to the pool, furnishings, a complete guestroom renovation program and also remodeled a space into a state-of-the-art health club and spa. At the 1926 gala opening of the Miami Biltmore Country Club, Dr. Frank Crane predicted that “many people will come and go, but this structure will remain a thing of lasting beauty.” He was right and in 1996, the hotel celebrated yet another milestone in its illustrious history—the 70th anniversary of this grand South Florida monument and an official designation by the Federal Government as a National Historic Landmark, an elite title offered to only 3% of all historic structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
In February 2009 the Biltmore opened its very own Culinary Academy. The Biltmore Culinary Academy is a recreational hands-on cooking school with classes for adults and children taught by the hotel’s chefs. The 3-hour signature hands-on class holds up to eight students and finishes with a meal made up of recipes made in class.[5]
Golf
The Biltmore is surrounded by the Biltmore Golf Course, an 18-hole, par 71, championship course designed by Donald Ross. Amenities include a full practice facility, private instruction, and pro shop.
Reopened in November, 2007 following a $5 million investment, the resort’s Donald Ross-designed course was restored and updated by noted[citation needed] architect Brian Silva. The original 1925 routing was retained, but all greens, tees and bunkers were reconstructed and grassed to contemporary standards. Course drainage was improved and a new irrigation system was installed.
Spa
The Biltmore spa is 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) full service spa which is a member of Leading Spas of the World.

Auberge

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:21:31 -0400

Auberge

Mi amor

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:39:39 -0400

Mi amor

meta cheesecake

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:57:45 -0400

meta cheesecake

The Benjamin Hotel, NYC

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:20:10 -0400

The Benjamin Hotel, NYC

ALzanDO el VUeLO…

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:57:26 -0400

ALzanDO el VUeLO…

Oui mais Non: Andrea in Flatrock Beach Byron Bay, NSW,...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:06:53 -0400

Oui mais Non:

Andrea in Flatrock Beach
Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

Offre spéciale -20% en été au Relais Saint-Honoré: Venez...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:52:51 -0400

Offre spéciale -20% en été au Relais Saint-Honoré:

Venez profiter de la capitale durant cette parenthèse estivale : vous pourrez flâner à Paris-Plage, découvrir Paris en toute tranquillité, vous cultiver grâce à la diversité des musées à proximité de l’hôtel, vous évadez…
Pour vous accompagner dans vos balades, nous vous offrirons, en plus des 20% de remise sur nos tarifs, un guide intitulé « Petits bonheurs parisiens ».
Remise exceptionnelle du 15 juillet au 31 août 2011*

* Offre valable du 15 juillet au 31 août 2011. Comprenant la remise de -20% sur l’hébergement, le petit déjeuner et le guide des « Petits bonheurs parisiens ».

VI

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:48:25 -0400

new crew

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:20:00 -0400

new crew

Place du Forum, Arles - Pinus - Hotel Restaurant: This area of...

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:35:57 -0400

Place du Forum, Arles - Pinus - Hotel Restaurant:

This area of Arles is Place du Forum.

Nothing remains today but the name of the Forum, the market which was the very heart of Roman Arles. However the place du Forum is still the hub of the town.

From DK Eyewitness Travel: Top 10 Provence & The Cote D’Azur.

When I was there, I found cafes, and tables and chairs set up in the middle of the square.

In Place du Forum is Pinus - Hotel Restaurant.

P1110724 Marriott Hotel Cromwell Rd SW7: South...

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:49:49 -0400

P1110724 Marriott Hotel Cromwell Rd SW7:

South Kensington,
London SW7

Torquay, Melbourne

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:51:01 -0400

Torquay, Melbourne

Dunk Island: View from Dunk Island onto the Australian...

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:23:47 -0400

Dunk Island:

View from Dunk Island onto the Australian mainland. Photo shot directly from the large Bar area ;-)

Dunk Island lies 4 km off the Australian east coast, opposite the town of Mission Beach. The island forms part of the Family Islands National Park and is in the larger Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Dunk Island is by far the largest island in the Family Islands National Park, all of which consist of granite rock. All of the islands were part of the mainland before the last sea level rise began 8,000 years ago. Dunk Island covers 970ha, of which 730ha is national park and the rest is freehold. Its topography varies, with sandy beaches and rocky shores, slightly undulating slopes, foothills and steeper semi-rugged terrain. Mount Kootaloo is the island’s highest point, at 271 m above sea level.

There are over 100 species of birds on Dunk Island, including rare and vulnerable seabirds. During the summer months, the island becomes a breeding site for terns and noddies. The lack of predators, along with a plentiful supply of food from the surrounding reef waters, make it an ideal nesting site. Dunk Island is also home to reptiles such as pythons, tree snakes, geckos and skinks. The island’s fringing reefs and surrounding waters are home to an array of marine life such as sea turtles, dugongs, corals, fish, shellfish and crabs. Purtaboi Island (the small island directly out from Dunk Island) is closed and inaccessible for guests from October through to April each year due to the crested terns nesting on the island. [Source: Wikipedia]

Canon EOS 350D, Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC.
Processed with Photomatix Pro (Tone Mapping) and PS CS5.