Gadlinks for Monday 10.19.09

by Brenda Yun on


Welcome to another week of Gadlinks! There are plenty of cool travel reads on tap today. Have a seat and enjoy!

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

First look: Tcherassi Hotel

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Tcherassi Hotel + Spa in Cartagena, Colombia is now open! The stylish property is located on the Caribbean coast and blends the property’s 250 years of history with two years of renovations and a fresh new look. Latin fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi’s touch is salient in this new resort, and Gadling is happy to bring you photos of the property that haven’t been published anywhere else.

Get ready to make a reservation – this resort definitely looks like a great place to chill for a week or two. Have a welcome cocktail and relax for a while; you’ve earned it.

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Get out and go: Events around the world (September 30-October 1)

by Brenda Yun on

Happy Hump Day, Gadling’ers! It’s time to look at the festivals and events happening around the world, and this week has a particularly international selection of happenings. If you’re close and have time, then you have no excuse to get out and go!

  • Victoria (Australia) – Spring Racing Carnival: The Spring Racing Carnival will take place today at various race courses in Victoria. The carnival is a series of racing and fashion events which will continue until November 18, so if you missed the first event, you still have 6 more weeks to take part!
  • Shanghai – Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival: One of Shanghai’s most lively festivals will begin today in Century Park, Pudong. The event will continue until November 6, so you have plenty of time to catch some music or other festivities.
  • Belgrade – Belgrade Jazz Festival: This international festival begins October 1 and lasts the whole month. A series of concerts by domestic and foreign performers is held at the Belgrade Youth Centre, the hall of the Belgrade Trade Union House, Kolarac Foundation and other venues.
  • Colombia – Hip Hop in the Park: Bogotá’s “Hip-Hop al Parque”, a festival of beats and rhymes that begins tomorrow, has taken place annually since 1968, providing two days of bass and hip-hop.
  • Paris – Spring Summer 2010 Ready to Wear show: If you’re into high fashion, head to Paris this week! Its Ready to Wear show presents the latest fashion. The show begins tomorrow and will continue until October 8.
  • Cuba – Celebration of The Cubania: The celebration of Cuban art and culture begins today in Bayamo, Cuba.

If you make it to one of these events, let us know how it was, or if you know of an even that’s coming up, please let us here at Gadling know and we’ll be sure to include it in the next “Get out and go” round-up.

‘Til next week, have a great weekend — the first of October!

First day for reservations at Colombia’s new Tcherassi Hotel!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Today is the first day the new Tcherassi Hotel + Spa in Cartagena, Colombia is taking reservations! This new property is the brainchild of Latin fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi and will be located in Cartagena de Indias, along Colombia’s Caribbean coast. When the doors open later this fall, guests will be treated to the combination of two years of renovation along with the building’s 250 year history. The colonial mansion will bear touches of Tcherassi’s design prowess, and old world charm will not come at the expense of contemporary comfort.

This home-like hotel will consist of seven oversized guestrooms and suites – all named for the fabrics used in Tcherassi’s apparel collections. High ceilings, private balconies, rich wood floors and open bathrooms are the norm in this hotel, and restored walls sparkle thanks to a hint of gold dusting.

No detail is too small for the Tcherassi Hotel + Spa. His and hers private label Tcherassi bathrobes will be available in every room, and custom-made amenities with Silvia’s fragrance will come in large containers rather than travel-sized bottles.

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Fabric, understandably, is set to play a major role in this new property. Special fabric flowers will be given to guests, and each room will have pendant lamps and “do not disturb” signs featuring unique fabrics.

VERA, the hotel’s indoor/outdoor restaurant, will seat 40 guests and serve authentic Italian cuisine. Views of the hotel’s four pools will be featured, not to mention a stunning vertical garden which will be home to more than 2,000 local plants. The on-property spa will be full-service and include a pool for water-based treatments.

Silvia says, “Fashion and hospitality are both businesses totally committed to the creation of new experiences and new sensations; trying to awaken the inner senses of each person, whether through a new style of clothes or a perfect stay in a beautiful environment. The process is almost identical. It is the search of a balance between form and function.”

Opening rates start at $275 a night … beginning now!

Drug tourism and cocaine bars

by Brenda Yun on

What fun is travel without a little excitement? Rest and relaxation is a given, but excitement? That you have to look for, and it appears excitement for many is found in drugs.

I came across an article yesterday that made me cringe. The world’s first cocaine bar, it read. And while I have to admit it picqued my interest, I must also say the thought of sitting in a bar with nearly everyone high on cocaine scares me — beyond belief. I wonder, though, whether this cocaine bar in La Paz, Bolivia is on to something. There are heaps of traveling hedonists, eager for a new high, and while I don’t find that high in drugs, I’m almost positive many travelers in Latin America — and all over the world, for that matter — do.

If you think about it, drug tourism has been around for decades. It was no secret that drugs came easy at Studio 54, and it wasn’t really a surprise to me when I heard recently of Kokie’s, a bar in Manhattan that sold cocaine on the down low. I guess the name gave Kokie’s away, because it’s now closed.

And cocaine’s not the only thing people travel for in the world. Consider all the cheap prescription drugs you can get in Tijuana. I even took advantage of that and bought a bottle of Cipro. Or what about the opium dens in Laos. There were all kinds of “special” pizzas on the menu in Vang Vieng. In a lot of ways, drugs and travel mix perfectly, and in a lot of ways, it’s not wrong to mix them unless you’re over-using and forgetting about reality — or not even bothering to understand the place you’re in.

Nevertheless, could this cocaine bar in La Paz be a sign of the times, and will drugs be the new draw for certain destinations abroad? Only time will tell…