15 palace hotels that will make you feel like royalty

by Jessica Festa on

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live like a king or queen? While you may not have been born into royalty, you can still live lavishly, if only for a weekend.

While five-star hotels can offer plush bedding, spacious penthouse suites, and high-class amenities, it’s nothing compared to the luxurious living offered at these palace properties. Genuine artifacts from centuries ago adorn the halls, acres of lush gardens, furniture made of gold – no expense is spared at a palace hotel. Not only that, but you’ll be sleeping in the same space as kings, queens, and society’s most elite members once did, long ago.

Sound like fun? Before you start planning your next royal getaway, check out the gallery below.

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Nat Geo announces People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year

by Kraig Becker on

This past November, National Geographic announced their selection for the 2012 Adventurers of the Year, bestowing the honor on a group of 12 very worthy men and women from across the globe. That list included the likes of long distance hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis, who set a new speed record on the Appalachian Trail, and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, the first woman to climb the highest mountain on the planet without the use of supplemental oxygen. At the time of the announcement, National Geographic also launched a website that allowed the general public to cast their votes for their favorite adventurer. Now, more than 72,000 votes later we have a winner in the People’s Choice category.

The 2012 People’s Choice Adventurers of the Year are Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa, who gained worldwide attention last May when they climbed to the top of Mt. Everest and paraglided off of the summit. Their 42-minute flight down the Khumbu Valley was simply the beginning of their adventure, however, as they continued their expedition on sea level. The duo rode bikes to the nearest navigable river, then kayaked across the border into India where they eventually paddled onto the Ganges River, leading them all the way to the Indian Ocean.

Along the way, the two men displayed a true sense of adventure. Not only was this a grassroots expedition that didn’t have a sponsor, but also, the travelers were forced to borrow gear from friends just so they could set out on their journey. As if that wasn’t enough, Lakpa had never even set foot in a kayak before and still doesn’t know how to swim, while Babu had no experience as a climber. Not many people complete their first major ascent on the tallest mountain on the planet, yet he was still able to follow his friend to the summit.

You can read more about their amazing story as well as the other Adventurers of the Year by clicking here.

[Photo courtesy of Sano Babu Sunuwar]

Indian government relocates villagers away from tiger reserve

by Sean McLachlan on


The village of Umri in Rajasthan, India, is no more.

The entire population of 82 families, some 350 people, has been relocated because the village stands inside the Sariska tiger reserve, the BBC reports. The move aims to protect the local tiger population, which is rebounding after being wiped out by poachers several years ago. This reflects a gain in tiger population nationwide after stronger efforts against poaching and mitigation efforts with local human populations.

Tigers are feared by the villagers, who not only worry for themselves but their livestock. Often villagers will hunt or try to poison tigers that come into their neighborhood. Humans also compete with tigers for land and wildlife.

Umri is the second village to be moved and all eleven villages in the reserve will eventually be relocated. The Indian government says the villagers are being compensated with free land, livestock, up to one million rupees ($20,241), and are being relocated as close as possible to their old homes.

The case highlights the problems facing conservationists worldwide. Human needs have to be balanced with those of the endangered animals, and doing that can be a tricky business. Relocating villages is a difficult and expensive task, and what will be done with the two national highways that pass through the park remains to be seen.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Chatwal Hotels & Resorts plans for 52 new hotels in India

by McLean Robbins on
Chatwal Hotels & Resorts is planning an aggressive entrance into the India market. The brand recently launched a five year plan to launch 52 hotels (40 Night hotels and 12 Dream hotels) in India.

“For me, India has always been the ultimate hospitality destination”, said Sant Chatwal, Chairman & CEO, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, the ownership arm of Chatwal Hotels & Resorts. “The multifarious lifestyle, culinary and cultural opportunities that this great country offers to the hospitality industry are immensely untapped.”

Night will be come the brand’s ‘affordably chic’ hotel option, while the Dream brand is positioned as a full-service, lifestyle brand for gateway cities and resort destinations. The initial launch sites will be a Dream resort in Goa and India’s first location for Night in Chennai. These will be followed by New Delhi and Mumbai along with Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur and Udaipur.

Dream® and Night® hotels are currently in operation in New York, Miami, Bangkok, Thailand and Cochin, India. Plans are in the works for hotels in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Berlin, Zagreb, Sao Paulo and 10 other properties within the US including Los Angeles.


Recently, Chatwal Hotels & Resorts had announced a partnership with the Wyndham Hotel Group, giving exclusive rights to franchise its Dream® and Night® boutique hotel brands.

How to visit the Taj Mahal

by Melanie Renzulli on


“No, madam. I am sorry. Taj Mahal is closed today.”

“But,” I thought, as I skeptically squinted at the guard delivering this bad news, “this is the Taj Mahal. The TAJ MAHAL! It’s one of the most recognizable structures in the entire world. How could it be closed?”

“It’s Friday, holy day,” offered the gatekeeper. My whole body slumped with disappointment. And just like that I had my Walley World moment.

I had arrived in Agra, India, home of the world’s most famous Muslim shrine, on a Friday. No travel agent would have arranged an itinerary whereby I arrived in Agra on the one day that its main attraction was closed. But, seeing as how I was living in India at the time, I thought I could plan my own Golden Triangle adventure. I like to think that jaundice, the disease I had contracted two months before and that had left me home-bound and mustard-skinned up until a week before my travels, had contributed to my lack of planning. But my sister, who had come all the way from the U.S. for this once-in-a-lifetime trip, was none too pleased.

Nevertheless, we did what any traveler in such a situation should do. We rolled with it, retreating to a nearby cafe to work on Plan B. Turns out, arriving on a Friday was the best thing that could have happened to us. Agra was quiet, save for the Hindu wedding livening up the backstreets, and we got the opportunity to see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort, the city’s other big landmark, from several vantage points.

%Gallery-145552%My very first view of the Taj Mahal was from the roof of a small restaurant a few blocks from the Western Gate, the main entrance to the Taj. Drying laundry and the crumbling brick rooftops of Agra’s city center framed the panorama. The air was sooty and hazy, giving the marble monument an almost mirage-like quality. Was that really the Taj Mahal?

Following lunch, we set out with a tour guide to the Agra Fort, the other landmark in Agra. The Agra Fort was built in the 16th century by the grandfather of Shah Jahan, the Moghul ruler who built the Taj Mahal as a shrine to his late wife Mumtaz Mahal. These sprawling red sandstone fortifications of Agra Fort would be an attraction in their own right were it not for the Taj. In the last years of his life, Shah Jahan was placed under house arrest in the Fort, forced to gaze upon the gleaming monument in the distance without ever setting foot inside its gates. I could relate.

After an hour or so at the Agra Fort, our guide drove us to the back side of the Taj. It was February, still a few months away from monsoon season, so the Yamuna River had all but dried up. Local kids were playing cricket in the dusty riverbed. The late afternoon light was rendering the Taj’s white marble pink.

That’s the thing about the Taj Mahal. It changes with the day’s light. Sunset turns the marble dome and its corresponding minarets a rosy color while sunrise, I learned the next morning after entering the Taj gates, gives the complex a golden tint. During the afternoon, or at times of bright sun or cloud cover, the Taj can take on a rainbow of hues, subtly switching from one to the other like a mood ring. Had I not made that huge travel mistake – arriving at the Taj Mahal on a Friday – I would not have had the chance to see the monument in all its many sublime shades.