Eat, Pray, Love

This says it all. IF you are so inspired make sure you plan your sojourn by including luxury hotel stays along the way!

Recession is Over for the Magnificent 7"in Paris

Crisis? What crisis? Judging by the flood of super-rich foreign tourists into France this summer, the recession is over, at least for some.

The top Paris hotels have long regarded themselves as a leading indicator of the financial health of the world's estimated 10 million millionaires, and in 2008, after the start of the world banking crisis, they feared the worst as occupancy slumped, with some suites standing empty for days at a time. Even the super-wealthy contented themselves with an "ordinary" room at the Ritz or George V at about €700 (£575) a night.

Bookings recovered only partially last year. But now things appear to be changing. The seven top hotels in Paris – the "magnificent seven" – have been virtually fully booked since the beginning of July at an average room rate of more than €900 a night. Much the same story is reported from the Côte d'Azur and Biarritz.

"July was exceptional. Things could hardly be better," said Didier Le Calvez, director general of the Bristol, a few steps from the Elysées Palace and the Parisian hotel of choice for Middle Eastern princes and Hollywood film stars.

On the other side of the Champs Elysées, the Hotel George V is also chock full with wealthy Russians, Brazilians, Indians and Middle Eastern minor royalty. The hotel's director, Marc-Oliver Raffray, says that all 60 suites – at prices ranging from €13,000 to €3,000 a night – have been booked for the whole summer. The five other five-star hotels in Paris – the Ritz, Crillon, Meurice, Plaza-Athénée and Fouquet's Barrière – report more than 90 per cent occupancy from all over the world.

"Now the economy seems to be booming in Brazil and Asia," said Mr Calvez at the Bristol. "We are also getting lots of American and Australian dollars. Middle Eastern clients are back. It is a special moment when all our markets are buzzing at once."

And although Middle Eastern visitors are thinning out a little, with the beginning of this year's early Ramadan religious festival, wealthy Russians, Indians and Brazilians are taking their places. At Biarritz, at the foot of France's Atlantic coast, the Hotel du Palais, dominating the main beach, is fully booked for August at an average room rent of €500 a night. Jean-Louis Leimbacher, the director general of the hotel, said that 60 per cent of his clients were foreign, the majority of them Russian.

Vanguelis Panayotis, development director at the hotel and leisure group MKG, said that the occupancy rate at top hotels in France was back to pre-crisis levels. France was benefiting, in part, from the relative weakness of the euro against the dollar and other currencies, he said, but there also seemed to be no shortage of money among the elites of Asia (other than Japan), Russia and South America.

The lower reaches of the French tourism market are also enjoying a relative boom this year, after a poor 2009. The fall in the value of the euro has brought back visitors from Britain and the United States. The Germans, Dutch and Belgians are choosing to stay close to home rather than book expensive holidays on the other side of the world. "For them nearer to home means France," said Didier Arino, director of the study group Protourisme.

There had been an increase of up to 10 per cent in European visitors to France this summer, he said. The average price of a hotel room had increased by 10 per cent

Written by By John Lichfield in Paris for the Independent.co.uk . Links supplied by WhataHotel.com

How to Spoil Your Daughter like Eloise at The Plaza

NEW YORK (CBS) Eloise, the precocious 6-year-old who lived on the "tippy top floor" of The Plaza Hotel (one of my daughter's favs) with her Nanny, her dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee in Kay Thompson's classic book, now has a suite at the New York hotel in her honor.

Designed by Betsey Johnson (my wife's former employer), the suite on the hotel's 18th floor channels the hotel's most famous fictional resident.

"She's so pink, so fun," Johnson said in the statement of the fictional city girl that inspired the room. "...Hey, Eloise! Me and my grandkids want a sleepover with you soon!"

"Each day, our colleagues share Eloise's adventures with guests from all over the world and she is such a beloved character," The Plaza's General Manager Shane Kirge added. "Collaborating with a visionary of style and design like Betsey Johnson to bring Eloise's world to life has been so rewarding and we feel she is the ideal talent for this project."

The room, decorated in pink and black, is full of nods to the beloved book character and the girly accents that Johnson is known for on the runway.

A chandelier hangs from the ceiling, a zebra-print carpet covers the floor (to muffle the sound when Eloise "slomps her skates to 'make a really loud and terrible racket,'" according to a statement from the hotel), a king-size bed with custom-designed bedding depicting images of Eloise, a sparkly padded pink headboard and Eloise's name scrawled in neon lights affixed to the wall above.

Petticoats and tutus hang in the closet - an homage to Eloise's love of dressing up - and custom-made fabric with her well-known remarks ("Charge it, please" and "Tomorrow I think I'll pour water down the mail chute.") cover the French doors to the bathroom, according to the New York Times.

The suite also has original prints by "Eloise" illustrator Hilary Knight on the pink-striped walls, a wall-mounted flat screen TV and DVD player and Eloise books and dolls.

The Eloise Suite, which starts at $995 a night, opens Aug. 16. Guests also have the option of booking the adjoining "grown-up" Edwardian suite, which ups the total to $2,045 a night for both rooms. Whereas regular rooms & suites like the Edwardian Suite are bookable online across our site at WhataHotel!, you'll need our connections to snag the Eloise Suite. Plus, any booking with us at The Plaza at a qualifying ratecode entitles you to Exclusive Complimentary Perks that enhance the value of your reservation.

The "Eloise" books debuted in 1955, and documented the antics of the titular pint-sized heroine in her hotel home. A portrait of Eloise has hung in the Plaza lobby until it closed for renovations in 2005. It was re-hung in 2008 after spending time in storage.

CREDIT-CBS News Online for story. Additional commentary & links by Greg Guiteras/Blogger.

An Actual Study which Proves You Need Vacations

Two recent studies show there's good news and bad news about your coming vacation.

Bad news first: Your vacation will likely make you happier and probably even healthier, but those effects won't last long.

Now, the good: The benefits of your vacation kick in sooner than you'd think. In fact, if you have a trip planned, you're likely already happier than usual.

Despite vacations being a sizable contributor to the world economy—Americans alone will spend $76 billion on summer vacations this year, up $7 billion from last year, according to a survey by travel insurer Mondial Assistance USA—there's relatively little research available that measures vacation effects.

In a study published in the August issue of Work & Stress, an academic journal, authors surveyed 96 Dutch workers over a seven-week period beginning two weeks before their planned vacations. Workers were asked throughout the period about wellness factors, including their health status, mood, level of tension and energy and satisfaction. Participants reported improvements in each of these measures during their vacations, as expected. However, just one week after returning to work, their self-reported measures of wellness plummeted to pre-vacation levels.

That suggests the benefits of vacations are real but short-lived. What the study results don't show, and what the authors suggest future studies look at, is how changes in vacation time affect the duration of benefits upon return. For example, if a worker has 10 vacation days to use during summer, does he capture greater total happiness by using them all at once on an extended getaway, or by taking Fridays off all summer long?

Another study, published in the March issue of Applied Research in Quality of Life, looked at survey results from more than 1,500 Netherlanders, almost 1,000 of whom had gone on vacations. Time off refreshed workers, but the effects were far from lasting. The study also showed a marked increase in the self-reported happiness of vacationers in the weeks leading up to their trips.

The implications for workers are clear. Plan vacations well in advance. Doing so can save money, but more important, it prolongs the anticipatory phase and increases total happiness. How best to handle the dip in happiness upon returning to work? Simple: Start planning your next vacation right away.

Above article was found at WSJ.com by Conor Dougherty. Greg Guiteras of WhataHotel.com added a link to it's content.