Royal Mansour Marrakech 

This property might be made completely by hand, by Moroccan artisans and craftsman trained in the traditional arts of carving, silk weaving, and mosaics, but there is cutting-edge technology embedded into the nooks and crannies.  Every room in one’s private riad has a touch screen wall to control lighting and temperature levels throughout the riad.  And in case the personal butler service gets tiresome (though they come and go so quietly via a network of underground pathways), there is a ‘Do Not Disturb’ button. 

Tweetables: #Marakkech #traveltech

Crystal Cruises

A floating five-star hotel, Crystal Cruises helps guests stay as connected as they want to be.  This September, Crystal’s Computer University@Sea will feature state-of-the-art iMac workstations with 32 inch LED screens, operating on both Windows 7 and Mac OSX 10.6 platforms.  In addition to the existing Windows 7 classes, new introductory Microsoft Office and iPhoto classes for Mac will be offered.  The new systems and curriculum offer guests an ideal opportunity to work with systems that they are most familiar with while traveling, or to try something new with the helpful instruction of CU@Sea instructors. And for those flummoxed with how to upload their photos of the Arctic Sea, the tech concierge assists with all manner of hi-tech items from digital cameras to iPhone applications. 

Tweetables: @crystalcruises #Cruise #traveltech

Anantara Hotels & Resorts

Anantara Phuket Resort and spa

This spring, while New Yorkers waited in line at Apple, guests at Anantara Phuket Villas read The New York Times on the resort’s own iPads and gazed out on Thailand’s Andaman Sea.   Now, sister property Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa on Koh Samui has joined in on the fun.  Guests can check out the iPad to read the newspaper, schedule resort activities, or book treatments at the Anantara Spas. And soon all Anantara properties in Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives and the UAE will be plugged in, too. 

Tweetables: #Thailand #traveltech

Nantucket Island Resorts

The East Coast island, over thirty miles out at sea and preserved in quaint 19^thcentury style, is the spot to enjoy technology at its most fun and leisurely.  Nantucket Island Resorts offers Flip Video Camcorders for guests to use at each property.  Record the sunset over Nantucket Bay at The Wauwinet, or borrow a Flip Cam from the White Elephant and capture footage of the beautiful boats arriving in Nantucket Harbor.  Even cooler, enter a one-minute video clip in the Flip Out on Nantucket Sweepstakes for the chance to win a grand prize Nantucket vacation worth $15,000.

Tweetables: @WauwinetInn @WhiteElephantMA #Nantucket #traveltech

Pavillon des Lettres

Opening this autumn, Pavillon des Lettres, sister hotel to the beloved Pavillon de la Reine, is located in the 8^th arrondissement. The small upscale hotel has 26 rooms each devoted to a letter of the alphabet and an international writer corresponding to that letter. Think H for Hugo or B for Balzac. Text from the corresponding author’s book will be painted above the bed and a hard copy of the book can be found on the nightstand. Though themed with books and literature, this hotel is not stuck in the past – each room will come equipped with an iPad loaded with international best-sellers and all of the info one would find in the in-room compendium. Website will be launching this summer and room rates begin at €300 per night.

Tweetables: #Paris #traveltech

Andaz Wall Street and Andaz 5^th Avenue

New York City loves to be on the cutting edge and Andaz Wall Street and the newly opened Andaz 5^th Avenue are no different! Skipping the front-desk notion altogether, Andaz properties have floating ‘hosts’ who check guests in using mobile tablets. Check-in while sitting on the sofa in the Andaz Lounge, with complimentary glass of wine or, if you’re in a rush, in the elevator on their way to your room.  The tablets can swipe credit cards and also create room key cards on the spot. 

Tweetables: #NYC #traveltech

Joining its sister property Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa, Anantara Phuket Villas is now the second Virtuoso® member in the Anantara family!

Located on the remote Mai Khao Beach on Phuket’s northwest coast, Anantara Phuket Villas is one of the newest properties to open on the island, featuring 83 private pool villas arranged around a central lagoon, reminiscent of a traditional southern Thai water village.  

Only 15 minutes from Phuket International Airport, the resort is far removed from the hustle and bustle of the strip and offers total privacy as it is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Andaman Sea and the verdant forests of Sirinath National Park.  Anantara Phuket Villas is accessible to mangrove fields, jungles, and Mai Khao Beach, which is renowned for the migratory sea turtles who make their way to the area in the winter season to lay eggs.

Escape the bustling city for an evening of Thai beauty by checking out Pichet Klunchun Dance Company’s Chui Chai. The dance combines contemporary moves with Thai khon, a royal palace style.  The women, beautifully composed in ornate headpieces and shimmering gowns, flow gracefully around Pichet Klunchun, who shows off his perfectly sculpted body by only wearing jeans.

Through dance, the performers convey stories from the Ramayana, which is a religious Hindu text that explores human nature and the existence of dharma. The story follows Rama, an incarnation of the Supreme god Vishnu, who loses his wife to Ravana, the evil demon king of Lanka. Chui Chai, which The New York Times calls “gorgeous from start to finish,” truly captures the emotional journey of Rama as he tries to save his captured love.

The performance takes place July 24th & 25th during the Lincoln Center Festival at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. Find yourself wanting more after the show?  Check out some of the special promotions offered at Anantara properties throughout Thailand, or the Metropolitan Bangkok’s Bouncing Back promotion.

At the beginning of the month, celebs took a break from their usual red carpet to attend the Elephant Parade charity auction, of which Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is a strong supporter. Stars including Elizabeth Hurley, Goldie Hawn, and Princess Beatrice of York hit the grass to show their support of the protection and conservation of endangered Asian elephants. Despite the rough terrain, fashion did not suffer. Sporting colorful dresses and forever high wedges and heels, these celebs looked almost as good as the painted model baby elephants (all of which were on sale at the event, including Anantara’s own ‘Little Bird’). The auction marked the end of the Elephant Parade in London, which earned over $1.5 million dollars for this great cause!

Remember when we told you about the Elephant Parade, the installation of model baby elephants scattered around London? Run by Elephant Family, the goal of the charity is to raise awareness of the declining population of the Asian Elephant.

‘Little Bird,’ the baby elephant representing Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, is somewhere throughout London.  Now there is a little extra incentive to finding her, as the Director of Elephants at Anantara Golden Triangle, Mr. John Roberts, has announced that he would give out a free dinner to the first person to send in a photograph of themselves with ‘Little Bird’.   And that’s not all!  Elephant Family is offering the chance to win a vacation for two to none other than Thailand’s Anantara Golden Triangle where the lucky winners will train with mahouts at the resort’s famed elephant camp and learn about these gentle creatures. To enter, visit http://www.elephantfamily.org/how-can-you-help/events/competition/, fill out the petition, correctly answer the questions, and tweet a message to encourage your followers to sign the petition. The competition closes on July 9^th, so hurry before it is too late!

The elephants are on the move! As the Elephant Parade comes to a close, 62 of these life-size, model baby elephants will be migrating from their positions around the city and congregating in Leister Square. July 3rd will mark the end of the parade, when these magnificent pieces of art will be auctioned off in hopes of raising over $2 million!

The Elephant Parade officially began in London this month. How will they fit, you might ask?

Well, the Elephant Parade is actually an open air art installation of life-size, model baby elephants positioned around the city. Elephants are painted by artists and celebrities, such as Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi and Lulu Guinness to inspire awareness of the plight of the Asian Elephant. With a current population of only 1,500 in the wild in Thailand (down from 300,000 at the turn of the last century), they face a severe risk of extinction.

Run by the small charity Elephant Family, these efforts require serious support from their patrons, which include Goldie Hawn and Sarah, Duchess of York. Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is a sponsor and champion of this cause, and has a little baby of its own, known as ‘Little Bird,’ placed somewhere around Londontown. All elephants are for sale by auction and Elephant Family aims to raise over $2 million.

This is London’s biggest outdoor art event on record and runs from May to July 2010. If you are hanging out in Trafalgar Square or Green Park, these colorful creatures will be impossible to miss. So, enjoy the exhibit because it may be the only time you see an Asian elephant in London!

Paradise just got an upgrade with the addition of the revolutionary iPad at Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa along Mai Khao Beach on the north end of the island.  Guests can book a massage at the Anantara Spa, schedule a dive excursion to the Similan Islands, or simply read the latest headlines in their local paper from virtually anywhere, with just the touch of the screen.  Don’t bother packing your BlackBerry or iPhone, simply borrow an iPad directly from the resort and keep up with what’s happening around the world while chillaxing on a daybed poolside or sailing through Phang Nga bay.

Not going to Phuket?  No worries!  iPads will be introduced at all Anantara hotels and resorts worldwide within the coming months.

Looking for ideas to beat the winter blues?  How about sipping Mekhong mai thais while jiving to ambient house music, with a backdrop of a brilliant sunset over the Andaman Sea?  To celebrate the upcoming high season, Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa along Mai Khao beach is hosting a series of nightly parties held around its fiber optic infinity pool.  Appropriately dubbed Infinity Sunsets, the parties feature José Padilla of Ibiza’s Café Del Mar fame on the decks, international mixologists serving up sultry concoctions, and beachwear fashion shows provided by Jim Thompson silks.  Debuting December 3, Infinity Sunsets run nightly through April 2010. For rates and resort information, check out http://phuket.anantara.com/.

As easily as Meryl Streep and Robert Redford fell for each other in 20^th century Kenya, Thailand-based luxury resort and spa developer, Anantara, makes its historic entry into North Africa, announcing the development of two unique hotels in Morrocco.  Anantara Marrakech Resort & Spa and Anantara Mogador Resort & Spa, are both scheduled to open in 2011.

In addition to its expansion into Africa, Anantara debuts its second property in Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, this fall. With 206 rooms, suites, and villas, Qasr Al Sarab will be the company’s flagship property in the U.A.E.  In 2011, Anantara Al Madina A’Zarqa will open outside of Muscat, Oman, along the peninsula that bears its name.

Expansion seems to be the name of the game for Anantara, as in 2008, the company launched four properties in Asia and the Middle East: in April, Anantara Seminyak opened in the fashionable Island of the Gods district in Bali; in October, both Anantara Phuket on Mai Khao beach and Anantara Desert Islands on Sir Bani Yas off the coast of Abu Dhabi opened. In December, Anantara Si Kao along Changlang Beach south of Krabi opened, making it the company’s fifth resort in Thailand. In March, the company unveiled its newest addition to the family, Anantara Baan Rajprasong Serviced Suites, located in central Bangkok, making it the first of its kind for the Anantara group. For a list of all properties, please visit www.anantara.com.

Over 600 volunteers are donating their time and efforts today to spruce up beaches across Phuket as part of “Clean Phuket Day.” This day of volunteerism kicks off an island-wide initiative to preserve the beauty of Phuket in a community outreach program called Keeping Phuket Clean, just in time for the summer season!

Beaches in the mix include Mai Khao, Nai Thon, Bang Tao, Surin, Kalim, Patong, Kata, Nai Harn, Ya Nui, Rawai and Panwa. Volunteers are given a clean-up zone and time to meet, where they will be supplied with garbage bags, water, and soft drinks before the cleaning fun starts!

“Clean Phuket Day” is made possible with the support of almost every major hotel in Phuket, island businesses, the local beach communities, and the local government.  The newly opened Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa, situated along Mai Khao beach on the north end of the island, is supporting the initiative. Over 250 volunteers are expected to arrive at Mai Khao beach for cleaning, which is great news for the sea turtles, who will make their way to Mai Khao in the winter season to lay their eggs.