Mundo Imperial, a gigantic creation that rivals a city in size and excess is being built right now with a neighboring expo center, theater, concert hall, and a mall called, La Isla. The High Tec look of the new architecture will be matched by the feng shui and technology inside of the hotels. The first hotel open in November boasting 334 guestrooms, a holistic spa featuring Chinese medicine, iPod docs and voice-over Internet phone systems. Along side these hotels will be top of the line restaurants with choices like North African-Mediterranean cuisine or a seafood stop that allows the customer to choose his or her own meal from an aquarium.

With the new hotels being built old regulars of the ocean-side city are making multimillion-dollar renovations which will also add a new flair to the now high-end feel of Acapulco. Las Brisas, Camino Real, Quinta Real, Hyatt, and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts are beginning renovations to match the new wave of competition.

It is estimated that over 3,000 new hotel rooms will be up and running within a year. This number will go on top of an already impressive 18,000 in business right now. Acapulco is sure to get back its business that was lost in the last ten years to vacation hot spots like Los Cabos, Huatulco, and Cancun. Acapulco also adds the flair of tradition. The city sprung up in the 1500s as a trading port and still holds its old town charm and mystique. The museums and old architecture are reason enough to visit. The nightlife is also beginning to flourish with 3,000 person capacity clubs that give off that ever-enchanting Vegas feel. Within this next year Acapulco will be a redefined resort.

The Hippodrome is a hotel converted out of a 1930s apartment building that showcases Shortts dream and five years of hard work. The rooms are luxurious and to the point. They are minimalist in design but beautiful in selection. The guests can instantly feel at ease in Shortts creation as they relax with their own iPod station, wireless Internet, a 27inch flat screen LCD TV, and for the vacationers without cell phone reception, a cordless phone for convenience. If exercise is a must guests are free to venture only a couple blocks away where there is a full gym waiting for them. The gym includes spinning and Pilates classes, cardio machines, weight rooms, and a climbing wall.

The 16 rooms are equipped not only with Art Deco Flair but the option of penthouse sweets. This amenity adds its additional, unique, and unforgettable flair. In the penthouse you will find a Jacuzzi bathtub, which opens up into the terrace, a sun lounge, and a table for all dinning experiences. The trendy feel of the New York lifestyle is on full display as guests ride up in a vintage cage elevator and halls are lined with Pop art.

The nightlife is the perfect clash of Mexico City and New York. The restaurants turn into party bars and guests into the perfect party crowd. The Hip Kitchen Bistro loved by the locals and the vacationers is the place to be after dark. Live music, authentic Mexican cuisine, and a great vibe make it hard to get into and even harder to leave.

Mexico City is known as a city on the go. After walking the city streets you can find solace in the Hippodromes rock gardens filled with palm tries and quiet. Although the Hippodrome is up, running, and making a name for itself Shortt has not relaxed. He just bought a mansion next door to the property as is planning on refurbishing it into a private club. The best definition of this Hotel can be explained through Shortts favorite Frank Lloyd Wright quote, Give me the luxuries of life and I will gladly do without the necessities.

A brand new spa is just nearing completion at the resort. It will include an array of treatments for the guests and a new look indoor/outdoor experience with many new water features and gardens. This resort is indeed a couples paradise. Barcelo La Jollas wedding package is hard to resist for the couples looking to say -I Do-. It is all exclusive with an ocean view, an expert wedding coordinator, a 3-hour private dinner, which includes a cake for up to 10 people and an open bar option for another 3 hours. There is a his-and-hers half-hour massage and the wedding night is spent in the presidential suite, ending beautifully with a relaxing champagne breakfast in bed. This Under the Stars option goes for only $1,400 and makes the Barcelo La Jolla one of the most romantic wedding resorts in the world.

The authentic Spanish restaurants leave nothing off limits, including the delicacy of Mexican hot chocolate in the morning next to endless buffets. For lunch you can spice it up with dishes from the Old country or Modern Italian choices. There are also excellent outdoor steakhouses and seafood grills that face the Pacific Ocean. After Dinner the night continues in the beautiful outdoor cantina where nightly entertainment will never let you down.

Outside of the resort can be just as pleasing, romantic, and comfortable as inside. The international Airport is a breeze for vacationers, as it boasts a new hassle free luggage retrieval system with a recently modernized customs area. In the city computerized interactive modules can be found on the sides of extravagant bronze sculptures creating an interesting clash of technology and tradition allowing the viewer to find out information about the city in several languages. Walking along the boardwalk you will notice the importance of art and romance to the city. Puerto Vallartas seaside has over 30 art galleries that have been around since the 1950s. Make sure to catch Art Walk a one day a week celebration of Vallarta Art when you book your romantic getaway to Barcelo La Volla de Mismaloya.

The preferred Lounge inside the resort is gone but only to make way for a new more extravagant Lounge and pool area.  In addition to various Jacuzzis and gazebos there will be wireless Internet throughout the hotel for the guests to roam unplugged at all times.  The Palm Beach Punta Cana has also revived and recharged their dinning experience.  There are now four new gourmet resaurants with a menu boasting over 30 invigorating changes.

For even more entertainment the old convention center will be turned into a Desires Nightclub and Music Lounge and Casino and a new Convention Center consisting of over 2,200 square feet will be added.

The Riu Palace Hotel has something for everyone.  Whether you enjoy kicking back and relaxing across the expansive white Mexican beach sand, entering into a fitness program, enjoying a nightly show, or dancing at a dicotheque - this luxurious hotel has it all.  While you are taking in all the views the Hotel has to offer or stopping into one of the many hotel bars the kids can roan free splashing the day away in their own separate kid’s pool.  Your relazation can be taken to a new level at the Riu Palace as you let your worries slide during a deluxe spa and steam bath.

If you want to get out for a while look no further than the 18-hole-course.  This course is one of the best in Puerto Vallarta and located less than a mile away
from the Riu Palace Hotel.  Before, after, or during all the various activities and rounds or golf and relaxation pleasing the palate at beakfast, lunch, and dinner
or many specialty resaurants to choose from.  You will not be disappointed with The Riu Palace Pacifico Hotel and the many diverse amenities it has to offer.

The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle is reached by river boat amid Thailand exotic bamboo jungles, where three countries meet. With just 15 tented accommodations unique in Four Seasons luxury, right down to the hand hammered copper bathtubs, these all-inclusive three or four night adventures cover every detail, from elephant mahout training to Golden Triangle excursions, from formal campfire dinners to riverside drinks in the stilt-top bar. Built on elevated ground,� along a hillside trail overlooking the Ruak River, Burma, the mountains of Laos or the jungle and Golden Triangle. The canvas-covered 19th century accommodations are ultra private and have generous decks, pillow top beds, outdoor rain showers, and hand hammered copper bathtubs.

At the spa at Four Seasons Tented Camp, wonder-working treatments rejuvenate your body and spirit. The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Thailand is set in an exotic bamboo jungle with one-of-a-kind accommodations.

The Chedi Chiang Mai, centrally located on the banks of the Mae Ping River in the center of Chiang Mai City, is within walking distance to the famous night markets. The hotel incorporates modern Asian design, with teak wood flooring, and warm rich colors.

With 52 deluxe rooms and 32 Chedi Club Suites, each with a garden, courtyard or river view, balcony with day bed and an in-room safe. Chedi Club accommodations include complimentary breakfast buffet, cocktails and snacks, butler service and round trip transfers in a Mercedes Limousine.

The restaurant is situated in a free standing colonial wooden building. You have your choice of Thai, Indian and International cuisine. There are two bars located within the Restaurant.

The Spa is located adjacent to the swimming pool. The Spa facilities include ten private, contemporary Asian style spa suites, complete with steam showers and terrazzo bathtubs. The deluxe double spa suites are equipped with herbal steam rooms, aromatic sauna and terrazzo bathtubs. In addition, the manicure and pedicure lounge offers a full range of beauty treatments.

Fondcome Village Resort in Chiang Mai offers the guests luxury and sheer comfort. Accommodations are truly luxurious and supreme facilities along with the pleasing ambience await you at the hotel. The room facilities at Fondcome Village Resort in Chiang Mai would make your living experience a true delight. The rooms are equipped with the best of amenities like bathrobe and slippers, cable TV, coffee or Tea making facilities, complimentary bottles of water, fruit basket, hair-dryer and telephone. Experience the magnificent surroundings at this pleasure house which offers a nice break from the grind of routine life. You can also look forward to a relaxing and comfortable stay within the confines of the exquisitely done rooms.

The Fondcome Village Resort in Chiang Mai offers good recreational facilities as well. There is a beautiful swimming pool where you can go anytime and splash into the water. Swim, float, and relax. This is the place that offers the ultimate in relaxation and comfort. If you want a body massage, you can have it here. There is also a gift and a souvenir shop inside the hotel. Come to the Fondcome Village Resort in Chiang Mai and enjoy.

Sukantara Resort lies on the sloping bank of a mountain stream in the verdant Chiangmai highland. Mountain water cascades over boulders in the stream, creating tiered waterfalls right below the Lanna-Balinese-style guest cottages, which are surrounded by a breathtaking landscape. This resort offers a close to nature living with a relaxation to be enjoyed to the fullest.

The guestrooms are designed with Balinese and Lanna style, which is created with a natural wood environment. There are six deluxe cottages and 1 suite pool villa. The private cottage veranda is surrounded by sounds of bubbling water and wild birdcalls. Every cottage structure is made of wood with Lanna style high ceilings and is surrounded by beautiful cascades and tropical scenery.

Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity offers foreigners a glimpse at mountains, volcanoes, beaches and rainforests, all located within a relatively small region. Costa Rica’s diverse flora and fauna are protected in 24 national parks. In spite of its small size harbors an amazing variety of climatic zones and natural habitats are due to the height of the mountain ranges which separate the lowlands of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. 

The Royal Cancun has an assortment of all inclusive water and land sports. Water lovers will delight in complimentary snorkeling and boogie boards, for the land lovers there is tennis, volleyball and a full service gym. Find refreshment in the Olympic-size swimming pool or laze away on the soft-sand beach. Green fees are included complimentary on the inspiring fairways of the Cancun Gold Club golf course. For the ultimate luxury head to the ever-popular SPAzul for a range of traditional and Mayan body treatments.

The Royal Cancun resort has six gourmet restaurants that paint a flavorful collage of worldly cuisines with a breathtaking atmosphere. The beachside tables and endless selection of menu items classify the Royal Cancun as one of Mexico’s finest culinary resorts.

The Signature Royal Beds and double Jacuzzis promise a deep night’s rest.  The spacious room interiors are graced with 32 inch plasma TV, marble bathroom, ocean view shower and a well stocked mini-bar. Overlooking the turquoise waters of the Mexican-Caribbean is your spacious private balcony, complete with a swaying hammock. The Royal Cancun is Cancun’s premier getaway for luxury and romance.  Exciting land and water sports, exquisite cuisine, enticing nightlife and lavish suites are matched only by the clear blue waters outside your suite.  
 

Valentin Imperial Maya is an adult only all inclusive resort with more than a half mile of white sandy beach, located in the Playa del Secreto in the Riviera Maya. This is the perfect place to let your worries go and enjoy the calm of the surrounding nature. Designed in the Mexican hacienda style with touches of rich colonial decor, the hotel is set amid tropical vegetation. The resort is 25 minutes from the International Cancun Airport, 30 minutes from Cancun and 20 minutes from Playa del Carmen.

Bask in any of the expertly outfitted guest suites, overlooking the majestic Caribbean Sea or beautiful pool and lagoon area. Get a welcome cocktail at our private check-in. Choose one of the luxurious suites located in two and three story villas (Deluxe Junior Suites, Golden Junior Suites, Golden Junior Suites Swim-up, Oceanfront Junior Suites and Diamond Suites), and enjoy an array of exclusive amenities including concierge service, 24-hour unlimited drinks and snacks, an oversized Jacuzzi, a pillow menu for a good night sleep, free high-speed Internet access and much more. Handicap-accessible rooms are available. The rooms are decorated with a Colonial touch, equipped with complete bathroom, separate shower.

Treat your palate to a culinary adventure as well. � Enjoy your culinary experiences in a modern and trendy atmosphere with dishes crafted by internationally renowned chefs. Start your day with a tasty breakfast at the Beachfront � la carte restaurant, where you can also enjoy lunch. For casual dining, the main buffet restaurant is available for breakfast and lunch. You may also select any of the seven � la carte restaurants: Italian, French, Japanese, Mexican, Steak House, Fish & Seafood and Lobster House. Reservations are not required. Dress code is required.

Spa at Valentin Imperial Maya

From the moment you enter the Spa, your every sense is delightfully indulged. Live the Spa experience to the fullest. Spa treatments create a complete balance and refresh your body, mind and spirit. Personalized treatments designed to clean, exfoliate and nourish your skin to improve the appearance, texture and overall condition of the skin involving a perfect combination of relaxation and beauty. Body treatments will help you to achieve that perfect, smooth and nourished skin you’ve always dreamed about by using natural products from Sea and Earth. They are specially combined to restore and improve the condition of your skin as well as detoxify and re-hydrate for an all-over body glow.

Our family of four stayed for 7 days at the Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya. My children are 7 and 11 years old.� It does take about 1.5 hours to get from Cancun to the resort.� Check in at 8:00pm went very nicely, there are no lines at that hour.� Front desk staff very helpful. The bell hop loaded the luggage and took us to our room promptly on a limo golf cart. The lobby is gorgeous!� The bar in the lobby is very nice; a lot of the name brand liquors are served there.

Our room was wonderful, a lot of space.� We had a chilled bottle of champagne and a fruit basket waiting for us in our room the evening of our arrival. The evening prior to departure we received a bottle of tequila and two shot� glasses. What a nice surprise.� The beds are small, and very firm.� The couch room is actually a pull out bed, just need to ask for an extra set of sheets.� � Housekeeping and maintenance were very good, they responded to requests quickly.� The rooms are air conditioned, but they remain humid. Read the instructions on the thermostat it helps if you have the right setting.� The temp only goes down to 66 degrees Fahrenheit, but it does not feel that cool.� Your papers will be moist, and damp clothes do not dry inside.� The balcony off the room had a beautiful view of the ocean and the garden below.� There is a clothesline on the balcony to dry clothes. The daily housekeeper, made animals out of the towels, and folded the children’s pajamas!� � There is a safe in the room, it worked great no problems.� � Bathroom -large separate shower, separate room for the toilet.� Jacuzzi in the room fabulous.� We stayed in the Muuyal building #18.� It was a great location, because it is close to a pool, bubble tub and quick walk to the beach and kids area.�

The buffets were very nice. There is a cook in the morning making omelets to order that are very good.� There is a wide variety of food at each meal.� The hamburgers and hot dogs have a different flavor than American ones.� There is a pasta cook at lunch and dinner at the buffet.� My children liked that very much!� The ala cart restaurants that we went to were the Cajun, (main course not very good, appetizers good), Brazilian (black bean soup, great, salad bar very good, a variety of meats sliced at the table, very good!), the temperature in the restaurant is very hot! Wear a cool outfit!� Italian restaurant, food was delicious, waiter was excellent, the white wine is very good, watch out though they continually fill it up!� Dessert was fabulous, tiramisu! The best ala cart is the Japanese! The children enjoyed the “show”. The beef was the best choice, but all choices were good, we each ordered different and shared. Portion sizes are huge, eat light during the day.� The fried ice cream was delicious! Make your reservations as soon as you get to the resort, the concierge is on the first floor of each building until 11:00pm, very helpful!� The bars are great.� Try a mojito, lemon dacari, and bloody Mary. The kids liked the health bar, they could order fruit smoothies.� The ice cream shop was very nice, lot of variety.� There was also an ice cream machine that was in one of the snack bars you could make your own cone; it was broken on some days.

Snorkeling was outstanding!� Lots to see off the beach, my son and husband even saw a nurse shark one day! The coral is beautiful; the fish are colorful and all different sizes.� Save some bread from a meal and feed it to the fish between the rocks on the beach, hundreds of fish will come!� Surf shoes a must!� There are lots of coral pieces, rocks and shells that hurt to step on. The beach is beautiful, lots of chairs with natural umbrellas with tables. Bring sunscreen 45+!� There are ruins on the property that you can climb on the rocks to see, beautiful view from this spot.� There is one catamaran, we took it out once, sailing is a bit scary with the rocks around.� There are kayaks we took out several times, very fun.� We did archery, and air rifle shooting, we enjoyed the competition.� The staff is very motivating.� The water aerobics were fun too.� We did the scuba lesson too, the staff was very encouraging.� We went to a beach party one evening, very windy that night but fun. The games at the pool are fun, trivia; my husband won a tee shirt!� The resort advertises that there are cenotes on the property that you can see, it is not a free activity, it is $65.00 per person to do this (a bit misleading).� The shows at night were very entertaining.� They did a nice job.� They have Mexican vendors set up one evening for shopping in the theater.� Hair braiding, my daughter did this,� it is $3.00 per braid with flowers and beads!� They do it very fast.� There is also pottery to paint about $10.00 per piece. The pools are very clean, plenty of chairs. Towel service great, plenty of towels.� � The lazy river very nice, bring tubes from home in the package, you will not have to wait in line.� Give the tubes away to someone else at the end of your trip, you will make someone smile!� At night go to the beach, bring a flashlight, there are hundreds of hermit crabs to see, all different sizes and shapes!! My kids loved this free activity.� There are lots of iguanas all over they are fun to watch, the kids try to catch them but they run fast.� The botanical garden on the property is pretty, there is a cool fountain made of rocks in the center, great picture place.� They have a photographer daily with an animal to take pictures with, the kids loved this!� $8.00 per picture, no negotiating. Wonderful trip! Highly recommend this resort in Riviera Maya!