Author: Shawon Hannan

Visa, a US-based credit card company, is offering exclusive its VIP Lounge for Visa Chase Card members during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The company is offering the VIP Lounge as a complimentary retreat to its card members in the centre of the London city for attending the 2012 Games, and is available from July 26, to August 12th, 2012. The venue is situated in West End, at 116 Pall Mall, close to the Piccadilly Tube Station and main hotels. The VIP Lounge also comes with a series of meet-and-greet events for Visa Chase Card members who attend the event…

Fujita Kanko Inc, a hospitality company based in Tokyo, Japan, has announced the opening of the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, due for January 1, 2013. The hotel, earlier known as Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so, will be operated as Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, by the company itself. The company was earlier operating the separate meeting and conference facilities located in the same property complex, and has added the hotel to its portfolio. Chinzanso means ‘villa on a mountain of camellias’, and is located inside a 16.3-acre Japanese botanical garden in the centre of Tokyo, within walking distance of Edogawabashi subway station,…

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), a UK government agency controlling interests of the UK overseas, has reported a 6% increase in number of British nationals stepping outside of local laws overseas, compared to last year’s figures. The FCO has reported that between April 2011 and March 2012, it has handled 6,015 arrest cases involving British nationals, compared to 5,700 cases handled in the earlier year. There has been also an increase in drug arrests by 2%, year over year, with around 816 cases being reported to FCO handling during the same period. The UK’s Minister of State for Consular…

A five day strike by air traffic controllers in Portugal has been called off today. The strike, announced earlier, was scheduled to take place from June 29 to July 3, 2012, causing a number of airlines to reschedule or cancel their flights to Portugal. TAP Airline, the national carrier of Portugal, has said in a statement, ‘The ATC strike, which was called for 29 and 30 June and 1, 2 and 3 July, and would cause major air traffic restriction in Portugal, has been called off. In order to mitigate as much as possible the effects of this strike, TAP…

The Four Points by Sheraton brand, a part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide portfolio, has opened its newest hotel in San Diego, US. The new Four Points by Sheraton San Diego Downtown has been converted from an existing hotel, under ownership of hotel operating company, Pinnacle Hotels USA. The hotel features 220 guestrooms; around 1,400 square feet of meeting facilities; a 24-hour fitness centre; an outdoor heated pool; and the First Avenue Bar & Grill dining venue. The hotel is located in downtown San Diego, close to San Diego International Airport and the San Diego Convention Center. The…

British Airways is offering a new business classes return fare to London from its US and Canadian destinations for travellers visiting London in the summer of 2012. The airline is offering a $2,012 business class roundtrip fare to London on all bookings made from certain US and Canadian gateways, by July 3, 2012, for travels to be completed between July 16 and September 2, 2012. The flights on offer are to the London Heathrow and Manchester airports, and include the airline flights, as well as code shared flights operated by American Airlines. The airline is also offering discounted fares to…

Holiday makers are paying through their nose when they use their credit cards while paying for transactions abroad, says a recent finding. A survey done by MoneySupermarket, a UK-based financial product comparison website, reported that around 54% of the population polled are unaware of immediate interest applied on a credit card used to withdraw cash from an ATM abroad; while 57% of the respondents, or around 15 million people, didn’t know about additional charges and transaction fees and interest applied on their cards on spending abroad. Around £10.2bn is spent by Brits using plastic cards abroad. 52% of the respondents…

Visitors to Dubai, UAE, this weekend can see an annual summer turtle release programme conducted by Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project. The event is being held on June 29, 2012, at Madinat Jumeirah beach in Dubai. Jumeirah, a UAE-based luxury hospitality company, is sponsoring the event, which is open to the public. The event will see around 100 Hawksbill Turtles being released back into their natural habitat by children participating in the event; these turtles were brought to Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office or to the Aquarium team at Burj Al Arab at very sick or injured states, where they have been…

So you thought that finding an accommodation in London during 2012 Olympics Games on a budget is impossible? Think about ‘House-Sitting’. Typically, a house sitter takes care of the house when the owners leave for a vacation, in exchange for staying at the property. The house sitters take care of plants, the pets, the regular chores, and they are often professionals active or retired from services, looking for a place to stay for free or even retreat to for a break. With an astounding number of British population planning a vacation around the times of 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics…

Westin Hotels & Resorts, a hotel brand from Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, is offering to open new Heavenly Spas at its properties. The company has announced its plans to globally expand its spa brand, Heavenly Spas, to 13 properties by 2014. There are currently 28 spas active at its various properties worldwide. Jeremy McCarthy, the director of global spa development and operations for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, said, ‘There is a growing demand for spa and wellness services in key global emerging markets such as Asia. Westin’s Heavenly Spa concept fulfils that demand and provides signature sensory experiences aimed…