Sparkling Hill Resort Canada's best!

The impressive entrance at Sparkling Hill glitters at sunrise.

KELOWNA, B.C. - In the post below, I let you know what I dislike about this B.C. wine city that has sold out to strip malls and land developers.

Now let me tell you what I do like about Kelowna - Sparkling Hill Resort!

Canada's newest and now best resort is a property like none others. A creation of the famed Swarovski crystal family, Sparkling Hill Resort jumps to the top of my Canadian hotel and resort list with some unique features that must be seen to be believed.

Gernot Langes Swarovski, patriarch of the famed Austrian Crystal family, spent over $120 million creating a resort that literally sparkles - thanks to the 3.5 million crystals used in building this 149-room mega resort that sits between Kelowna and Vernon, B.C.

This one-of-a-kind resort has one of the biggest and best spas in North America - patterned after the great spas of Europe; unique rooms that look out on mountain and lake views that are breathless; and sits on a ridge overlooking Canada's best new golf course, Predator Ridge - the golf course does not belong to the resort but they work together to give guests the best golf experience in Canada.

The rooms at Sparkling Hill are European cozy and offer unique amenities like a "crystal" fireplace, mood crystals at the entrance, and a soaking tub that sits in front floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on the natural splendour surrounding this wonderful property.

Sparkling Hill's spa has already been recognized for its unique treatments and appearance, winning the prestigious 2011 Senses Magazine Wellness Award for Best Spa Resort.

Carved into the granite cliffs that dominate this part of B.C., wildlife abounds here and most mornings guests are greeted by the deer that dance around the property.

So, my advice to you is to fly to Kelowna - Air Canada and WestJet offer direct flights from Toronto - and turn right out of the airport - that way you'll avoid Kelowna's strip mall eye sore - and check into Sparkling Hill and never leave.

That way, you'll enjoy the best hotel in Canada and never have to see dingy downtown Kelowna.

Go to www.sparklinghill.com

B.C.'s Kelowna is disappointing



Giant homes are cropping up in the wine fields of B.C.



Few of the 100 countries I've visited in the past 20 years have ever disappointed me. That's not to say I've liked every destination. In fact, I hope one day the Tower of Pisa falls so tourists like me no longer get robbed by the greedy, annoying merchants who line the walkways leading to Italy's famous landmark. And I don't care if I ever again set eyes on Barcelona - the food almost killed me (food poisoning) and I discovered that the words "Gaudi" and "gaudy" are one in the same. But I never thought I'd be telling you that a Canadian location disappointed me. Especially one that has been described as being "one of the most beautiful places on Earth", by a Toronto Star travel writer.

But I saw very little beauty in Kelowna, the British Columbia wine-growing region that's often been called "Kelownafornia" because it's supposed to rival California's Napa Valley for beauty.

Sorry, I've been to the Napa Valley and Kelowna is no Napa Valley. In fact, Ontario's Niagara wine growing region is far more appealing than Kelowna's.

There's not much to like in a place where hundreds of Neon signs greet you as you enter from West Kelowna; strip malls dominate the main street running through town; and where vineyards are being overrun by giant homes that should be on the Bridal Path.

Wine growers in Kelowna are selling off their prized vineyards to developers, so fields that once swept down to lovely Lake Okanagan, now take a detour around giant homes and create an ugly view.

Okay, I must admit the lake and the mountains that surround it are beautiful; the golf courses, especially Predator Ridge, are spectacular; and recently-opened Sparkling Hills Resort - the best vacation property in Canada, it says here - are still pretty good reasons to take a direct flight from Toronto to Kelowna; but don't expect to see Tuscany-type views here.

Whistler recovers from Olympic blahs

Lots of skiers and snow have returned to Whistler.

WHISTLER, B.C. – This B.C. party town is finally getting over its Olympic hangover.

It’s been two years since Whistler co-hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics with Vancouver and the anticipated attention and extra business the town thought that world event would generate afterwards just never materialized.

“Last year (2011) was an absolutely dismal year for me,” a shopkeeper in Upper Whistler Village told me this week during my visit. “I almost went broke because people just stayed away. Thankfully, the drought appears to be over – we had our busiest March this year in two years.”

It’s not unusual for host cities to experience post-Olympic syndrome – it took Sydney, Australia almost four years to see tourism return to normal numbers after it hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics and Athens has yet to recover from its big Olympic show, which incidentally helped bankrupt the Greek capital. People seem to rush to Olympic cities prior to the event but are reluctant to return, mainly because hotel rates in host cities always seem to rise afterwards.

Ironically, one of the main reasons why overnight stays are still down in Whistler is because of the new Sea to Sky Highway, once one of the most dangerous roads in Canada which was made safer with a billion dollar remake just before the Games.

“The Sea to Sky once discouraged people from heading home after a day of skiing - especially I the dark. But now skiers can get back to Vancouver in about 90 minutes very safely,” an executive at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler told me.

One thing that has really helped Whistler recover is the abundance of snow it has received this winter, which should extend the season at North America’s best ski resort to well past Easter.

Golfers like me who will be denied getting on the town’s collection of world-class golf courses won’t be happy, though.

Fairmont will inject $100 million into Royal York reno to hold off challenges

The regal Fairmont Royal York to get a facelift.

The Grand Dame of Toronto hotels is about to get a face lift.

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts told a select group of travel industry insiders meeting in Whistler, B.C., this week that it will inject over $100 million into modernizing the iconic Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Fairmont’s announcement couldn’t have come at a better time. With so many new 5-Star hotels opening in Toronto this year – the recently opened Trump Tower and Ritz-Carlton Toronto will soon be joined by Four Seasons’ brand new property and the much anticipated Shangri-La Hotel on University Ave. – Fairmont had to respond to the challenge to its premier Canadian property.

However, earlier rumours that the massive Royal York – over 1,000 rooms – would see half its rooms converted into luxury condos, was denied by Fairmont officials.

Most of the $100 million reno will be used to increase conference room space on the hotel’s mezzanine level, where the hotel’s corporate offices are currently located. Those offices will be relocated in the basement of the hotel. This is the second major reno of the chateau-style hotel - between 1988 and 1993, Fairmont spent another $100 million to modernize the room at the Royal York.

 
No one does hotel renos better than Fairmont – just look what they accomplished in London with the rebirth of the legendary Savoy and in Shanghai with its complete remake of the Peace Hotel.

New Titanic hall is sure to excite

New Titanic Exhibition Hall in Belfast is a grand structure.

Nothing excites me more than events and stories surrounding the Titanic. So these days I'm very excited about the opening of a new attraction in Belfast which will bring the mighty ship back to life - in our minds, at least.

In just a few days, a new visitor's attraction called "Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland" will open in that charming city where the "unsinkable" ship was built and from where she set sail on her ill-fated maiden voyage on which she struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and dropped to the bottom of the ocean, where her skeleton remains still lie.

Our friends over at Tourism Ireland sent word yesterday that the finishing touches are being put on a new six-storey Titanic exhibition hall which officially opens March 31 and will feature lots of Titanic memorabilia. The unique structure of the Titanic hall - 3,000 shards make up the building’s impressive exterior while its plaza includes the world’s largest outdoor map of the northern hemisphere, tracing Titanic’s route across the Atlantic - and the fact the story of the Titanic still evokes interest these many years after she sunk, will make this Belfast attraction a must see this summer.


In Belfast you can visit the dockyard where Titanic was built.

 The Titanic hall features nine interpretive and interactive galleries that explore the sights, sounds, smells and stories of Titanic, as well as the city and people that made her. Visitors will learn about the construction of RMS Titanic and the wider story of Northern Ireland’s industrial and maritime heritage.

Over 50,000 advance tickets have been sold to the new hall, which just proves that lots of people like me remain fascinated about the great ship. People from as far away as Canada and New Zealand have booked passage to this new museum. While in Belfast, you can also visit the old Thompson dry dock where the Titanic was built and the city has plenty of other reminders of the great ship's brief but romantic history.

A 15-tonne ‘Titanic’ sign – the same weight as Titanic’s main anchor – dominates the building as visitors approach. Laser-cut and made from eight, 30mm-thick solid steel plates, the 4.5m-tall, 15m-long sign is the same length as the private promenades that were available on RMS Titanic’s most expensive accommodation, the First Class Parlour Suites.

In conjunction with the opening of the new Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, the Titanic Belfast Festival will take place from March 31 until May 2012 and will include plays, tours, exhibitions and talks all themed around the Titanic. Commemorations for the lives lost on the anniversary of the ship’s sinking will take place from April 14 to 15.

So make time this year to get to Belfast and see this permanent Titanic exhibition.

For more information, go to http://www.discoverireland.com/

Chinese 'wasting' new-found wealth

SHANGHAI – While travelling through China, one can be forgiven for thinking the entire country has won a lottery.

Money is being spent by everyone faster than China’s central bank can print it and luxury European goods are flying off the shelves faster than Gucci and Prada can make them.

It’s all reflective of China’s runaway economy, of course, but one wonders if the Chinese really appreciate their new-found wealth and the treasures it can buy.

Case in point: A waiter at an upscale resort in the southern town of Sanya on Hainan Island told me during my visit last week about the Chinese millionaire who ordered a bottle of $2,000 French wine, poured himself half a glass and topped it up with 7-Up.

Another time the waiter said he witnessed a wealthy Chinese businessman buy a $1,500 bottle of French red and he left after finishing just half the bottle. What a waste!

Money can buy anything in China, except sophistication.

Burma is back in tourists' sights

Burma is now the hottest travel spot on the planet.

This just in: The hottest tourist destination for 2012 is Burma.

If you don't believe me, just ask all the travel agents around the world who are being inundated with requests to go to the Asian nation formerly known as Myanmar.

Canadian travel agents I speak to say since Burma's military regime surrendered power to a new president and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent visit indicating the U.S. wants to normalize relations with the country, more and more people now want to travel to Burma, the last Asian country to come out from behind the bamboo curtain which veiled the atrocities that once went on in that beautiful land.

Of course, the main reason the tourism spotlight has been turned on Burma is because of the courageous efforts of Aung San Suu Kyi to restore dignity to her homeland which offers tourists some of Asia's most treasured historic relics. Suu Kyi, who once told tourists to stay away from Burma,  now is encouraging travellers to come help her country get back on its economic feet through tourism.

Canadian tour companies like Tour East Holidays of Toronto, the largest organizer of Asian holidays for Canadians, says interest in Burma has doubled in recent months.

The London Telegraph reports about 300,000 foreign tourists visited Burma last year while 19 million arrived in neighbouring Thailand.

However, because Burma has been out of the tourism limelight for so long, don't expect much when you arrive. Hotels and resorts have a long way to go to equal what tourists are treated to in Thailand but with this new interest in Burma, you can bet major chains will soon be building new properties there.