the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.
Places To Stay
Historic Hotels in and Around Capri
- Details
- Parent Category: Travel Info
- Category: Places To Stay
- Published on Sunday, 20 December 2009 04:41
- Written by Laura Blum
When in South Italy’s storied Campania region, where would you rather stay:
A) a mega-chain hotel?
B) a restored monastery, palace or manor?
If you answered “A,” no need to read on. But for travelers who yearn to be lord of a castle -- even for only a night -- can discover top heritage properties in the Campania capital of Naples, in nearby Sorrento and on the island of Capri across the bay.
And what getaway to these mainland cities is complete without a boat ride to Capri? Here are several vintage offerings to bring history to your bedside after visiting the Greek temples at Paestum, the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum or the resorts Tiberius left behind on the “Blue Island” of Capri.
The Heritage Hotels of Lisbon
- Details
- Parent Category: Travel Info
- Category: Places To Stay
- Published on Sunday, 06 September 2009 20:01
- Written by Laura Blum
Cherry brandy, fado music and hand-painted tiles make for three perfectly sound reasons to visit Lisbon, Portugal, any time of the year. Two more are its international documentary showcase, Doclisboa (in October) and festival of independent world cinema called Indie Lisboa (in April).
If you're attending either, or both, of these emerging festivals, you'll want a fabulous place to repair to after hectic days of screenings, panels and parties. One solution to consider is the Heritage Hotels of Lisbon, a boutique chain of luxury boutique hotels that arguably rivals cinema in providing period stories and fantasy escape.
Doing it The Czech Way--The Cesky Krumlov Hotels
- Details
- Parent Category: Travel Info
- Category: Places To Stay
- Published on Saturday, 22 August 2009 22:02
- Written by Laura Blum
Český Krumlov, the Czech Republic's answer to Camelot, is so fairy-tale perfect you half expect mini-chiclets to rain down on its cobbled streets. Marionettes deck the panes of its gingerbread shops. Bears roam a castle moat. And the town's very name describes the bend in the Vltava River that rings this UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the 13th century.
It's no wonder Hollywood came here to shoot The Adventures of Pinocchio and opening frames of The Illusionist. All that's missing in the medieval fantasy set is a green ogre. Český Krumlov's mediating role between filmed artifice and real world makes it an ideal junction after summer's cinema rites in another corner of Bohemia, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Yet unlike the spa town of Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), this South Bohemia destination lacks thermal waters to drink in or splash about. The closest thing is the indoor pool, sauna and solarium of its five-star Hotel Růže, housed in a 16th-century Jesuit monastery and university.
