Luxury Vacations On The Opposite Side Of The Hemisphere

By Andrew Vanderman

Isn't it always a little miserable when winter sets in and you have to put on your warm woollies? You sit and dream of summer coming around again when you can throw on the bikinis, grab your surfboard and enjoy the sun, sand and surf.

Well while you do that, there are many people on the other side of the hemisphere getting all geared up to enjoy summer. Wouldn't it make sense to trade your drizzly winter for a luxury escape somewhere warmer?

Movie stars and models are known for trading in the winter blues for a luxurious pampering vacation on the opposite side of the world. They indulge in the best that life has to offer with no limits on their expenses, however a winter escape does not have to cost the earth.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere there are plenty of new destinations you could add to your list.

Australia is a beautiful welcoming country with so many exotic locations to visit. Some of the more popular luxury places for summer time fun is Bondi Beach in Sydney, Noosa Beach in Queensland and Port Douglas just north of Cairns. If you haven't had the chance to see Australia yet, then now might be a good time to consider doing so. At least put it on your must see list for one of the following winters.

New Zealand offers amazing landscapes with breathtaking views. You can travel the full length of New Zealand within two weeks, while still having time to stop and enjoy the places along the way without rushing. It will be a vacation to remember and the best part is that it costs very little to hire a van and tour around. Your life will truly be enriched after seeing this exotic location.

Cape Town in South Africa is also a very popular place to hideout from winter. Bush breakfasts and sunset cocktails just add to the whole luxurious feel of this area. Be amazed at the vast contrast of nature as you take part in guided bush tours and even finish the day with a personal treatment program in one of the many spas.

So you no longer have to tough it out for the whole of winter. Make use of your vacation time and head for the sun.

You deserve a luxury vacation so why not plan one today. A luxurious lifestyle is waiting for you. http://www.Oozingluxury.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Vanderman

Gourmet Dark Chocolate - a Luxury Treat at Its Finest

By Amanda Taylor

What is the finest type of chocolate? Gourmet dark chocolate, of course.

Dark chocolate has the richest flavor of any other chocolate products. The reason is actually quite simple. As the name implies, "dark" chocolate does have a darker look than regular chocolate. The difference in appearance is due to the higher concentration of cocoa that it contains. The extra amount of cocoa is what gives gourmet dark chocolate its extra rich taste and flavor.

Gourmet dark chocolate has a harder texture compared to regular chocolate, but it is still smooth. A characteristic that gourmet dark chocolate is known for is snapping when you break it instead of bending or crumbling, which often happens with non-gourmet chocolates.

Bars are the most popular gourmet dark chocolate items, but other products are available as well. Gourmet boxed chocolates, truffles, clusters, and hot cocoa mixes are all made in dark chocolate varieties. Many gourmet gift sets include also dark chocolate items.

Gourmet dark chocolate has recently become more popular due to the health benefits that have been found to be associated with it. Medical studies have found that small servings may have beneficial effects on blood pressure and prevention of heart disease. These same effects are not found with milk chocolate or white chocolate, only the dark variety.

So if you are looking for the finest type of chocolate around, look no further than gourmet dark chocolate. For it's rich and smooth flavor and potential health benefits, it is the finest choice in gourmet chocolates.

Learn more about gourmet dark chocolate Get information on different types of gourmet chocolate including gourmet dark chocolate, hot chocolate, and gifts by just clicking on the link at http://www.finegourmetchocolate.com

Orlando Luxury Resorts Comfort and Style At Its Best

By Benjamin Scott

The City of Orlando Florida is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
According to experts, this city attracts about 52 million tourists every year. Most of these tourists come to see the famous attractions that the city of Orlando has to offer like the beautiful white beaches with crystal clear blue waters, the Walt Disney World Resort, Sea World, the Universal Orlando resort and many others.

During peak seasons, most of the Orlando luxury resorts are fully booked for months. If you are planning to come to this city and stay in one of the beautiful Orlando luxury resorts, it would be best for you to make your reservations well ahead of time to avoid any inconveniences.

Choosing Orlando luxury resorts. There are many Orlando luxury resorts that you can choose from when visiting the city. If you are one of those people who are interested in culture and arts, the Orlando luxury resorts located around the Orlando Culture Coast may prove to be very interesting for you.

If you decide to stay in one of the Orlando luxury resorts located in this area, you will be treated to the beautiful site of the Ormond Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach.

Aside from the beautiful beaches located around this area, you will also find a lot of cultural attractions here including the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Ormond Beach Art Museum and the Southeast Museum of Photography.

Furthermore, living in Orlando luxury resorts located in the Culture Coast will allow you to visit numerous art galleries and shops located around the area. If you want to bring home some souvenirs from this lovely city in Florida, these art galleries and shops can offer you a wide array of mementos and other works of art.

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A Luxury Las Vegas Vacation at the Bellagio Hotel

By Peter Shannon

The Bellagio Hotel is home to the fabulous and famous Cirque du Soleil show “O”. And this is just the start of your Las Vegas vacation fun as the Bellagio Hotel has so much more to offer.

The style of this luxury hotel is taken from the theme of a Roman extravaganza. It sits at the edge of a 10-acre man-made lake which provides you with a host of activities. There are also some 20 restaurants and cafes on site, a 65,000 square foot spa and salon and a numerous other attractions.

Just outside the hotel is the Beautiful Bellagio Fountains. Here you can see an incredible water ballet created by a thousand choreographed sprays that burst into the air and blossom like flowers. The display is accompanied by classical music that matches the beat of the water jets.
They are so mesmerizing that it is not uncommon for Las Vegas visitors to spend an hour or more gazing at the water show, especially at night.

The Bellagio Hotel lobby alone is a show in itself. Over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, each perfectly each hand-crafted, cover the ceiling. In addition multi-colored works of art, called The Fiori di Como, add to the atmosphere

Conservatory and Botanical Gardens are also a part of this amazing city within a city. Here you will find exotic plants from all over the world. It’s a botanical display that rivals the gardens you might find in London or New York City.

At the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art there is a small but quite impressive display of dozens of works by masters such as Picasso, Monet, van Gogh and others. You tour is aided by an audio presentation. Art lovers will certainly find this to be a must visit spot on their Las Vegas vacation.

A large casino is a central part of the Bellagio Hotel site so guests must be over 18 years of age. If fact the casino is so large that you will pass through it while on your way to most of the other attractions on site. In the casino there is plenty of action ranging from $1 slots to poker tables where you can wager $5,000 per hand.

Because the Bellagio Hotel is a luxury hotel, the rates are not for the budget conscious Las Vegas visitor. But even so, discounts are often available for off-periods. Regardless, they will so to it that you get your money’s worth here. This is a place for elegance and pampering with luxurious Italian provincial-decorated rooms and a high-end spa. At the spa the general ambiance is enhance by the music and the unusual architectural features such as the walls made of water.
It’s all designed to completely melt your stress away.

There are over 3,400 rooms at the Bellagio but the staff ensures that every visitor is catered to promptly and in the style expected of a luxury Las Vegas vacation destination. Come visit the Bellagio. You will find out for yourself.

The author of this article, Peter Shannon, is the owner of the popular http://www.1001-vacation-ideas.com - Here you will find a large collection of vacation and getaway ideas for travelers searchable by theme and location.

Taking Luxury Vacations Doesn't Have To Be Expensive

By Philip McCollum

I have spent numerous hours online this year browsing through travel related sites trying to find the best way to save money on vacations. My searching brought me to a travel club membership that allows me to book space in luxury resorts condominiums for a fraction of the cost if booking through normal travel channels. The travel club membership provides access to over 5000 worldwide destinations, many of which are luxurious 4 & 5 star resorts, and pay far less than the industry rate while being able to book in advance or at the last minute, as I see fit.

Resorts often have vacancies due to the timeshare owners being unable to utilize their week or offering the week for exchange. Resorts have become more creative in selling vacant weeks. An idea that is in vogue recently is utilizing travel clubs with large buying power to pre-reserve thousands of weeks thereby guaranteeing to the resort a higher occupancy rate. This reduces their marketing expenses, and the advantages allow the resorts to offer super rates to the travel clubs. In turn, the travel club can make the weeks available to members and pass along the savings. It's a business arrangement that works well for the resorts, the travel club, and the end user.

In order to make this all work and generate the kinds of super discount savings that make members happy, the travel club has to have sufficient buying power. The club I joined has been in business for 21 years and has the leverage to get the best deals.

For the travel club, the challenge is attracting new members using cost effective advertising. They need to turn a profit, and so all advertising expense must be passed along to members.
With the growth of the internet, and the current acceptance by many that buying through the internet is normal, the advertising efficiencies of the internet can be put to work to find new travel club members at a much lower cost. This is a win-win situation since the savings are passed along to members. That makes now the the best time in history to join a travel club and take advantage. The deals are quite exceptional.

Members prices are far below retail and even better than last-minute deals. But with the membership, it is possible to make reservations in advance or make last-minute plans, so all scenarios can be satisfied. And it's not hard to find places to go. The club has so many beautiful resorts and destinations that I’ll never run out of places I want to visit.

The luxury travel club membership concept has recently been improved by offering expanded benefits at a reduced price. New benefits include expanded inventory of resorts, "hot week" prices as low as $298 for an entire week, and guest weeks that are a way of offering member discount prices to friends, family, etc.

For all the details, I suggest a visit to http://www.LuxuryTravelToday.com where you can learn about the membership, compare prices with other travel sites such as Expedia and Travelocity, and review frequently asked questions. Best wishes for many happy vacations!

Phil McCollum 562 225-5234

http://www.LuxuryTravelToday.com

Luxury Cruises - Debunking the Myths of Elite Cruises

By Liz McDougall

Recently I’ve talked with some people that think that the luxury cruise market is only for the uber-rich, or star-struck contest winners that wander around Titanic-like ships with first and third classes. They worry about dress codes, fork placement, the dreaded last-day invoice, and a whole host of possible faux-pas they could make while onboard, like stumbling into the Captain’s personal brandy stash, and being thrown overboard for “bad form”.

First, let me put your mind at ease. Luxury Cruises, while being, well, luxurious, are very approachable and very affordable. The staff onboard the ships are used to folks experiencing a higher level of service, food and ambiance for the first time, and they are very happy to help you discover all there is to offer.

Here are some suggestions:

Relax and Talk to Experts.As you prepare for your cruise, be honest with your travel planner about your concerns. The more information they know about you and what you expect, the better they can match you to the right cruise line and right ship. There are some luxury cruise lines which cater to an older crowd and so the nightlife won’t be as expansive. There are some that have added educational seminars rather than Karaoke (both are fine, by the way…) - just be sure and communicate your likes and dislikes clearly so you’re not disappointed.

Sticker Shock Averted.Your travel planner’s motto should be, “We can work with any budget, What’s yours?”. Don’t be offended by this question; they aren’t trying to wrangle more money out of you. It helps them (and you) to weed out options which clearly won’t work - but will allow them to perhaps get some extras included by way of their relationships with the cruise lines if they have a little wiggle room. Be sure you know exactly what’s included and what’s not in the cost of your cruise fare, and consider flexibility in terms of dates, departure ports and even length of your cruise. It could be the cruise of a lifetime even if it is only a four-day, rather than a sixty-eight-day sojourn.

Shopping & Gambling OnboardI have a confession to make. I love to play blackjack, and I especially love to play on cruise ships. I can imagine myself in a 40’s spy film being watched by some tall, dark, handsome man who buys me a drink… and… I digress. Reality is, its usually my dapper tuxedoed husband desperately trying to keep me from losing our next month’s mortgage on one hand. The point is: have a budget in advance and stick to it. Things can add up quickly when you’re shopping and gambling onboard.

Do your Research, but Validate Them ProfessionallyI wouldn’t make a move without a travel professional these days. I simply can’t call the Internet, although I do love to surf for ideas and research and despite the fact that I can connect with people around the globe and get first-hand information, having someone that knows me, what I like, what I dislike and can tell me without fear of offense that I would be making a terrible mistake by doing such and such. That kind of unbiased “travel therapy” is crucial today, and I appreciate it.

So, dive in. Explore the world of the uber-rich and take a luxury cruise. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but aren't you worth it?

Liz McDougall is the Senior Staff Writer and Cruise Review Expert for CruiseMatch.com which specializes in helping travelers plan and prepare for cruises of all types. As an avid traveler, she loves to see and discuss the world with other lovers of travel.