Taveuni Palms, Fiji

Whether you are on your honeymoon, celebrating a 50th anniversary or just looking for a resort that is romantic. This is the place to travel,relax and enjoy.

The Taveuni Palms in Fiji is an intimate retreat offering two private guest houses, a secluded sandy beach, and even a freshwater swimming pool. The island has many spectacular things to offer, such as scuba diving, kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, and many other vacation activities.

The Taveuni Island has always been known for its unique and colorful sea life, tropical fish, and amazing varieties of soft and hard coral. The Rainbow Reef, Great White Wall, Purple Wall, and Zoo dive sites are all within easy reach of the Taveuni resort.

The Great White Wall reef offers a tunnel with two exits, one at 33 feet and another at 88 feet. When you swim through it, you’ll notice a white glow that is given off by the soft corals that seem to surround you.

You’ll also find two dive centers that are minutes from Taveuni Palms, which offer you dive equipment and certified diving instructors. From beginners to expert divers, you can have a lot of fun scuba diving on your beach vacation.

Rooms and suites The two seperate beachfront villas at Taveuni Palms in Fiji come with their own staff to help make your vacation a bit more relaxing. The staff will make your dreams come true, as they offer full room support.

Each seperate villa offers a pool, two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, two bathrooms, and a very unique indoor/outdoor bathroom. The outdoor deck is equipped with chairs so that you can spend time outside as well, taking in the surrounding views of the ocean. The spectacular sunsets will turn into tropical nights - with stunning starlit skies.

Your personal maid at the villa will provide you with daily cleaning service, laundry service, fresh flowers, and evening turn down. The maids here are very professional, making your stay at the Taveuni Palms in Fiji one you’ll remember for years to come.

The resort will also provide you with your own private chef, kitchen, and bar staff who will provide your daily meals, which are included in the cost of your stay. This way, you don’t have to eat out - your food will be prepared for you at the resort.

Traveling and Getting to Taveuni. To get to Taveuni Palms, fly to Nadi International airport in Fiji. From there, catch a connecting flight to Taveuni Island where the Taveuni Palms staff will meet you at the airport, five minutes from the hotel.

Of course, wherever you travel, it is highly recommended that you take out travel insurance before embarking on any vacation. Unfortunately, without insurance, you have little recourse if you have to suddenly cancel your trip due to illness or other unforeseeable circumstances. Realize that resorts like this will expect to be paid no matter what. However, with travel insurance, you can recoup some or all of your costs if travel and vacation plans change. Travel insurance is very affordably priced, so please check out your options.

About the author

Robert Barner is a writer for the past 11 years. Frustrated by the lack of vision shown by the travel and vacation industry as a whole a free newsletter was started, travelvacationandgrowrich.com. This connects thousands of travelers to high quality resorts worldwide. The newsletter shows people how to travel at travel agent pricing with the ammenities. For more info: http://www.travelvacationandgrowrich.com

Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee provides a unique slate of Christmas activities in November and December, all part of Best of Florida Christmas. Special events include ICE! Skating, and ICE!, a walk-through attraction hand-carved from nearly two million pounds of ice.

Kissimmee, Fla. (PRWEB) August 3, 2007 — The coldest spot in the United States this holiday season will likely be Central Florida, where temperatures are predicted to be 9 degrees Fahrenheit, Nov. 19 - Jan. 3.

This “cold front” of winter weather is part of a flurry of holiday fun at Gaylord Palms® Resort, located five minutes from Walt Disney World theme parks. At this landmark resort, visitors flock to a collection of “cold-weather” holiday activities, like ICE skating, and ICE!, Orlando’s coolest holiday attraction, hand-carved from nearly two million pounds of ice.

Inside, guests explore a whimsical winter wonderland of larger-than-life, three-dimensional hand-carved ice monuments and sculptures, including fantastic frozen creations, slippery ice slides and memorable holiday scenes. As for the chill, visitors are given oversized parkas to stay comfortable inside the attraction, which is kept at a blustery 9 degrees.

This year’s attraction, which reflects the theme “A Holiday Road Trip,” is presented by Coca-Cola and sponsored by Nissan and Sara Lee Food Service.

In its fifth season, ICE! will feature several new or revised scenes, including a walk-through igloo and a towering gingerbread candy house, meticulously hand-carved from enormous blocks of colored ice. A guest favorite, the ICE! castle and slides, has been re-designed to reflect a South Pole locale with a colony of penguins surrounding the longest ice slide in the attraction’s history. The new slide, measuring 5 feet taller and 15 feet longer than previous slides, will curve around the exterior of the scene to provide visitors with a more exhilarating slide experience.

The signature scene, a breathtaking life-size Nativity carved completely of crystal-clear ice, has been described as one of the most breathtaking depictions of the birth of Christ. Dramatic new lighting and a stirring narrative track will ensure guests will continue to pause and reflect on the story behind the season.

The enormous structure used to house ICE! is cooled to a chilly 9 degrees. To stay comfortable inside the attraction, visitors are loaned oversized winter coats to wear.

“Not only is the artistry amazing to enjoy, but the brisk environment inside the attraction creates a winter holiday experience like no other in the Sunshine State — rosy cheeks and all!” said Kemp Gallineau, general manager of Gaylord Palms.

The attraction is carved by a team of 40 artisans from Harbin, China. The talented artisans spend nearly an entire month in Kissimmee creating this one-of-a-kind attraction. Harbin is best known for its annual International Ice and Snow Festival. Each year more than 2,000 sculptors carve a 100-acre walk-through Ice Park from blocks of ice taken from the Songhua River.

Produced exclusively for Gaylord Hotels, the artisans’ work appeared for the first time in the United States in 2001, when a similar attraction debuted at Gaylord Opryland® Resort’s “A Country Christmas” celebration in Nashville. The project expanded in 2003 to include ICE! at Gaylord Palms, and in 2005 to include ICE! at Gaylord Texan® Resort in Grapevine, Texas, located near Dallas/Fort Worth.

In addition to ICE!, this year’s Best of Florida Christmas program will include 46 days of holiday revelry, including several new or revised activities:

• ICE! Skating: A larger outdoor skating rink offering a holiday tradition common only in northern climates. Skate rentals are included.
• “A Winter’s Night” Christmas Show: A heartwarming tale with inspired music that is as edgy as it is classic. Part rock and roll show, part holiday tale, part aerial exhibition, “A Winter’s Night” will bring a sense of joy, awe and wonderment to the holiday season.
• Hidden Holiday Gnome Hunt, featuring The Roaming Gnome: Families can hunt throughout the Gaylord Palms atriums to spot cleverly hidden gnomes (presented by Travelocity).
• Christmas in Florida: The County Wreath Collection: An exhibition of wreaths decorated to reflect Florida’s diverse destinations, from coast to coast.
• Visit Santa: Kids can take an opportunity to share their special Christmas wishes with Santa Claus … in person, or via email.
• Brunch with Mrs. Claus: Santa’s “better half” is the star of the show at Villa de Flora restaurant (weekends).
• Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice: At Canyon Ranch SpaClub, guests can rejuvenate the body and restore the mind with an aromatic pumpkin, orange & spice holiday facial, pedicure or body wrap.

While most activities are intended for both day guests and hotel guests, this year’s celebration will include special experiences created exclusively for guests who purchase the Best of Florida Christmas overnight package:

- Priority Entry to the ICE! attraction

- Multiple Visits into the ICE! attraction and ICE! Skating rink during the length of a guest’s stay.

- Family Memories Gingerbread Experience, an opportunity for package guests to create a family gingerbread house, with the help of a Gaylord pastry chef.

- Holiday bedtime stories, broadcast every night via a special in-room channel.

- Character tuck-ins, bedtime visits by one of our holiday characters (additional fee).

- Christmas Concierge, featuring recommendations and assistance in booking unique holiday experiences throughout Orlando.

Overnight Best of Florida Christmas packages start at $249 per night plus tax, based on a two-night stay. Packages include a Florida-view guest room, 2 tickets to ICE! and ICE! Skating, a souvenir photo, self parking and a host of exclusive resort guest benefits. Packages and rates are available for families of all sizes, beginning with a one-night stay.

ICE! tickets range from $9.99 - $24.99, depending on the type of ticket and day of the week. Discounts will be available for tickets purchased online in advance at www.gaylordpalms.com/ice. Tickets will go on sale in September.

For more information or reservations, call (407) 586-4-ICE. To learn more about ICE! or Best of Florida Christmas, guests can visit www.gaylordpalms.com/ice. To learn more about other holiday events in Central Florida, visit www.ChristmasInOrlando.com.

ICE! will be open daily during the holiday season and is accessible on the Exhibit Hall level at Gaylord Palms, which is located at 6000 W. Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.

About Gaylord Palms
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center has gained the attention of the meeting and convention industry by providing world-class convention and leisure-focused amenities — all in one place. The award-winning Gaylord Palms is a Gaylord Hotels-branded property owned by Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET), a leading hospitality and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.gaylordpalms.com or www.gaylordentertainment.com.

Guest Information: Gaylord Palms Resort, (407) 586-2000, www.gaylordpalms.com/ice

 by Timothy Scott

At the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, the once-sleepy towns of San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas have evolved into vacation playgrounds. This striking landscape attracts fishing enthusiasts, golfers, and anyone looking for sun and fun in an area that’s always warm.

At the luxury end of the scale, the Los Cabos region has several world-class resorts that are fixtures on annual best-of lists. Here are the five top resorts where you can’t go wrong, according to the upscale review site Luxury Latin America. http://www.luxurylatinamerica.com

One and Only Palmilla This resort sits on 250 acres of a 900-acre community, which includes private residences and a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course. Its ten categories of luxury accommodations range from large oceanfront superior rooms to 12 beachfront one-bedroom luxury suites at 1,400 square feet. The beach here is swimmable, which is not always a given on this rocky coast.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso Las Ventanas set the tone for a new standard for Los Cabos when in opened in the nineties. With international billionaires and tabloid celebrities guests among its guests, privacy and specialized service is ingrained into the culture of the staff. With a Robert Trent Jones golf course, a highly acclaimed spa, and a bevy of butlers at the ready, this resort is still hard to top.

The Hotel at Esperanza With only 50 casitas and six luxury suites, this boutique resort is laid out like a private Mexican village. Spread across 17 lushly landscaped acres, the oceanfront hotel is perched on the bluffs of Punta Ballena (Whale Point) above two secluded coves on the Sea of Cortez, creating a natural barrier exclusive to registered guests. Accommodations range from 925 to 4,700 square feet, all facing the sea.

Marquis Los Cabos With a 15,000-square-foot spa, stunning infinity pool complex, and rooms with great views, this is a great spot for taking in the dramatic scenery of Los Cabos. It is also the most Mexican-feeling resort around, with all interior design and décor items sourced locally. Public spaces are filled with an extensive art collection featuring 400 commissioned oil paintings and bronze sculptures featuring many notable Latin American artists.

Hilton Los Cabos Under the same ownership as the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, this above-average chain hotel is coming off a major renovation, to the tune of $15,000 per room. Rooms range from large to larger and are now equipped with plenty of goodies like flat-screen TVs and marble baths with separate showers and whirlpool tubs. Stunning views are a given from most areas of the hotel and the draped lounge beds and draped palapas by the pool and swimming beach add more drama.

About the author:

Timothy Scott is editor of Luxury Latin America, http://www.luxurylatinamerica.com, a guide to the best hotels and tours in Mexico, Central America, and South America. To see full reviews, go to the Mexico Luxury Hotels section. http://www.luxurylatinamerica.com/lux_mexico.html