Travel and Vacation Abodes

A Paradise Resort in the Maldives

Maldives is known for its crystal clear blue waters, whale sharks sightings and exotic sceneries that calm the senses and relaxes ones mind and body. One luxurious holiday destination in the Maldives is the Diva Maldives Resort, an island resort paradise surrounded by a crystal clear lagoon and miles and miles of ocean in shades of blue and turquoise. It offers a perfect place for swimming and snorkeling, relaxing and basking on its beautiful tropical setting, and is located near the Maldives’ best dive sites and other tourists spots. Guests are set in dhonis, a traditional Maldivian boat and in water villas and suites standing on stilts over the lagoon. All the junior suites have sea view and are located on both side of the island. Each Suite has a bedroom, en-suite bathroom, terrace and private garden area. The water villas boasts of the gentle, shallow waters of the lagoon lap just right in the steps of the Villa, as you sit reading, sunbathing or taking an outdoor shower in complete privacy, or simply gazing at the wonderful expanse of sea or the neighboring islands from your own private terrace. The Beach Villas are as attractive as the Beach Pool Villas, with larger gardens but without individual swimming pools. The west-facing Beach Pool Villas offers sensational views of the lagoon and sunsets. The rooms are all luxuriously furnished and designed with their luxurious en-suite bathrooms. The pool villas are all pure elegance and the extensive use of local wood for the floors and fittings, as well as the Pierre Frey fabrics from Paris, give added luxury and warmth. Each individual terrace is more like extended living space, with its wooden decking and a settee for reading, lounging or simply gazing at the lagoon.

Photos: Naiade, Adelto

The charming and elegant Stoke Place Hotel in Buckinghamshire

Stoke Place Hotel in Buckinghamshire, England is one place that is truly beautiful inside and out. It is a very charming place to wind up and relax, a perfect setting for a vacation to rejuvenate and at the same time indulge your senses at the beauty of a rural English Landscape outside and marvel at the warm and elegant interiors of the hotel inside. Stoke Place's grounds consist of 26 acres of garden leading down to a 6 acre ornamental lake that were designed by Capability Brown during at the height of his fame. The hotel has 29 stylishly designed rooms which can accommodate up to 58 people for aleepng and over 200 for eating and drinking.

Stoke Place Hotel is not only a place of vacation and recreation but can also be a perfect place for people who are seeking to mix pleasure with business as it boasts of its four spacious and elegant function rooms that regularly host conferences, boardroom meetings, exhibitions and other private events.

Stoke Place Hotel is only thirty minutes away from the bustle of London and yet enjoys all the benefits of a rural English landscape. The three storey 'William and Mary' style house was built as a family home in 1690 by Patrick Lamb. Later, east and west wings were added to the building creating a substantial and impressive country house and the infamous talents of Capability Brown turned the surrounding grounds into a quintessential rural idyll.

The charms of Stoke Place weren't lost on Sir George Howard, equerry to Queen Charlotte, who bought the estate in 1764. His descendents called Stoke Place home for another 200 years. Then, the tenacity of the house's next owner, Richard William Vyse, ensured that the house and its grounds, in all their perfect glory, were protected from 'marauders and vagabonds'. The large red brick wall he constructed encircling the house and grounds is now a well-loved feature of the estate. You'll find that within its parameter Stoke Place still retains all those attributes that have caused generations to fall in love with it.

Images: Stoke Place

9 Beaches in Bermuda

9 Beaches Resort in Bermuda is a wonderful place to spend your vacations and have some relaxing and tranquil days in the water and sun. 9 Beaches has crystal clear waters, exciting water sports, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, lovely cabanas, sumptuous foods, and its eco-friendly too. It is also a good place to spend your honeymoon, reunions, wedding, seminars, and other family and group activities. The fresh ocean breezes are enough to make the use of air-conditioning unnecessary although air-conditioning is also available. 9 Beaches boasts of its 84 private cabanas that sit on stilts and all have a view of the Atlantic Ocean. All cabanas have wooden deck floors and those directly over the water have plexi-glass windows in the floor allowing guests to view tropical fishes swim by.

Accomodations/Cabanas

Interiors

The Beach

Images: 9 Beaches

Reichstag Dome in Berlin

One of the most famous landmarks in Berlin, Germany is the Reichstag Dome. It is a large glass dome atop the Parliament building with a 360 degree view of the stunning Berlin cityscape. This amazing Reichstag Glass Dome was designed by Architect Norman Foster to be environment-friendly and the energy efficient features of the dome which include the use daylight to shine through its mirrored cone effectively decrease the carbon emissions of the building. This gleaming metal and glass dome also preserves remnants of the building’s history including the graffiti left by the Red Army in 1945. The somewhat futuristic design of this dome represents a united and democratic Germany. Foster was given the Pritzker Prize in 1999 for his work on Reichstag Dome.

The Reichstag Dome is open to the public and has become one of tourists’ top destinations in Berlin, Germany.

Berlin's famous Glass Dome at night.

Reichstag Dome's spiral walkways

A mirrored cone is at the center of Reichstag Dome

Inside Reichstag Dome

The amazing mirrored cone at its center

A Country Style Villa in Ibiza

San Antonio, Ibiza is a place famous for its beautiful sunsets, lively and exciting nightlife, and its beaches. Somewhere in San Antonio, Ibiza is a charming country style villa with a lovely garden park, private swimming pool, exquisite interiors, and comfortable rooms with stone/brick walls and wooden beams that will make you imbibe the relaxed country feel of the place. This villa was constructed in 1940 but was renovated in 2008. Available activities within the vicinity are horse backriding, vineyard tour, casino, fishing, night clubbing, windsurfing, sailing, jet skiing, tennis, forest trekking.

photos:HomeHolidays

Experience an Unforgettable Safari in Singita Kruger National Park

Singita which means ‘place of miracles’ is known as the world’s best when it comes to providing its guests the most excellent and unforgettable safari experience in Africa. Their qualified rangers and skillful guides will ensure your safari is both safe and exciting at the same time. You will be able to get good sightings of the wonderful wildlife and feel of the natural unspoilt territories. The Singita Kruger National Park in South Africa is situated on the Park’s eastern border with Mozambique where large prides of lion thrive. Other animals in the area are elephant, buffalo, leopard, white and black rhino, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, hippos, wildebeest, kudu, crocodile and many other mammals, reptiles, and bird species you will not find in ordinary zoos and locations. Aside from the exciting game drives and guided safari walks, guests can also enjoy some mountain biking and archery while at Singita Kruger National Park.

Singita Kruger National Park is also famous for its very lovely and tasteful lodges. Designed specifically to give comfort to guests and at the same time provide a place of nature and even wonderment. There are two (2) exquisite lodges in Singita Kruger National Park, The Lebombo Lodge and The Sweni Lodge. The Lebombo Lodge which is named after the Lebombo Euphorbia tree, it has 15 lovely suites and sweeping wooden decks that allows you to enjoy the stunning view and a wonderful lap pool where you can hang out with friends and have relaxing moments. The Sweni Lodge was influenced by the structures of dens, warrens and lairs. You will feel the natural surroundings outside even when indoors when you stay in Sweni Lodge. There are six suites in this idyllic and nature-filled Lodge.

The Lebombo Lodge

The Sweni Lodge

images: Singita

Lochbay Boathouse: An idyllic house on the Seashore

Lochbay Boathouse is an idyllic vacation abode situated on the Waternish peninsula, in the northwest of Skye in Scotland. The Skye or Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The Lochbay boathouse has a character of its own, providing privacy and quiet to its guests as it sits alone at the foot of a grassy cliff with a semicircular front lawn projecting into Loch Bay and a small harbor on its northwest side. This quaint and charming house was originally built in the early 19^th century as a boathouse with thick walls made from local stone but was converted in the early ‘70s into a house by the singer Donovan. Presently, this spacious and lovely house is equipped with modern appliances and amenities that will make the stay of guests comfortable and relaxing but is still filled with antique and traditional furniture from the early 1900s and with numerous paintings inspired by Scotland’s rugged west coast. The splendid location of the house treats its guests to very panoramic views of nature and the beauty of the place, south eastwards one can see the village of Stein, south westwards across Loch Bay, and north westwards the sea with islands of Isay and Mingay in the foreground and the distant mountains of North Uist beyond. And from the windows and garden one can see seals, otters, dolphins, herons and eagles that live nearby.