The Grotta Palazzese, Polignano a Mare BA, Italy

The Grotta Palazzese is a magical and enchanted place, a restaurant with a terrace created inside a natural cave. The Grotta Palazzese restaurant takes its name from the homonymous cave and from the place that was once also called "Grotta di Palazzo". It is an exclusive and atmospheric place, used for parties and banquets since 1700, as evidenced by a watercolor of 1783 by Jean Louis Desprez. The blue of the sea and the sky contrasts with the mysterious atmospheres of the natural cavities. The colors of the day make the beauty of the coastal landscape shine, while those of the evening, at sunset, create unforgettable nuances, in the charm and elegance of the restaurant lights.

Grotta Palazzese has always been an unmissable destination for those who love discovering enchanting places and looking for refined cuisine. Since 1700, travelers coming from Europe to Southern Italy stopped at this fascinating place whose beauty was reported in their chronicles. Since then, the charm has remained the same, with a touch of modernity that has made the Grotta Palazzese restaurant even more welcoming and exclusive. The Grotta Palazzese Restaurant is not only known for the beauty and the uniqueness of the rock in which it is set. In fact, the kitchen is perfect for all those who are looking for exclusivity and refinement. The dishes are always taken care of in every aspect, with the maximum attention to the quality of the ingredients and the harmony of the 'Visual Food'. They are based largely on foods belonging to the Apulian culinary tradition, with addition of aromas, spices and fragrances for a greater refinement of the dishes.

official website  - Grotta Palazzese

Marina Bay Sands (Largest Atrium Casino & Resort), Singapore

Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. At its opening in 2010, it was billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion, including the land cost. The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre (1,300,000 sq ft) convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000 m2 (800,000 sq ft) The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, "celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, a skating rink, and the world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines.

The complex is topped by a 340-metre-long (1,120 ft) SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150 m (490 ft) infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67 m (220 ft). The 20-hectare resort was designed by Moshe Safdie architects. The architect was Aedas,and they were responsible for employing all consultants and for developing, coordinating and implementing the design. Engineering was provided by Arup and Parsons Brinkerhoff (MEP). The main contractor was Ssangyong Engineering and Construction.

Originally set to open in 2009, Las Vegas Sands faced delays caused by escalating costs of material and labor shortages from the outset. The global financial crisis also pressured the company to delay its projects elsewhere to complete the integrated resort. Although Marina Bay Sands has been compared in scale and development costs to MGM's CityCenter, the latter is a mixed-use development, with condominium properties (comprising three of the seven main structures) being sold off.

The resort and SkyPark were officially opened on 23 and 24 June 2010 as part of a two-day celebration, following the casino's opening on 27 April that year. The Sky Park opened the following day. The theaters were completed in time for the first performance of Riverdance on 30 November. The indoor skating rink, which uses artificial ice, opened to a performance by Michelle Kwan on 18 December. The Art Science Museum opened to the public and the debut of a 13-minute light, laser and water show called Wonder Full on 19 February 2011 marked the full completion of the integrated resort.

The grand opening of Marina Bay Sands was held on 17 February 2011. It also marked the opening of the seven celebrity chef restaurants. The musical The Lion King debuted on 3 March 2011. The last portion of the Marina Bay Sands, the floating pavilions, were finally opened to the public when the two tenants, Louis Vuitton and Pangaea Club, opened on 18 and 22 September 2011 respectively.

 

 

 

  

 

 

The resort is designed by Moshe Safdie, who says it was initially inspired by card decks. In addition to the casino, other key components of the plan are three hotel towers with 2,500 rooms and suites, a 19,000 m2 (200,000 sq ft) ArtScience Museum and a convention centre with 110,000 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft) of space, capable of accommodating up to 45,000 people. A continuous lobby at the base linked the three towers. The resort's architecture and major design changes along the way were also approved by its feng shui consultants, the late Chong Swan Lek and Louisa Ong-Lee.

A distinctive feature of the hotel is the Sky Park, a three-acre park on top of the building with swimming pools, gardens, and jogging paths. The structure bridges all three towers with a segment cantilevered off the north tower. The hull of the Sky Park was per-fabricated off-site in 14 separate steel sections and then assembled on top of the towers. There are four movement joints beneath the main pools, designed to help them withstand the natural motion of the towers, and each joint has a unique range of motion. The total range of motion is 500 millimeters (19.68 inches). In addition to wind, the hotel towers are also subject to settlement in the earth over time, so engineers built and installed custom jack legs to allow for future adjustment at more than 500 points beneath the pool system. This jacking system is important primarily to ensure the infinity edge of the pool continues to function properly.

The three towers are broader at the base and narrow as they rise. Each tower has two asymmetric legs, with a curved eastern leg leaning against the other, creating a significant technical challenge in its construction. Substantial temporary structures were necessary to support the legs of the tower while they were under construction, and required real-time monitoring for continual assessment and analyses in the course of their erection. The structural engineering for the project was handled by Arup, with Parsons Brinckerhoff as the MEP engineers.

Marina Bay Sands was originally planned to be completed in a single phase in 2009,  but rising construction costs and the financial crisis forced the company to open it in phases. The first phase's preview opening was further delayed until 27 April 2010, and the official opening was pushed back to 23 June 2010. The rest of the complex remained under construction and was opened after a grand opening on 17 February 2011.

 

 

 

Major Attractions of marina Bay Sands:

• Marina Bay Sands has three 55-story hotel towers which were topped out in July 2009. The three towers are connected by a 1 hectare roof terrace, Sands SkyPark. The observation deck provides panoramic views across the bay.

•  In front of the three towers include a Theatre Block, a Convention and Exhibition Facilities Block, as well as the Casino Block, which have up to 1,000 gaming tables and 1,400 slot machines. The ArtScience Museum is constructed next to the three blocks and has the shape of a lotus. Its roof is retractable, providing a waterfall through the roof of collected rainwater when closed in the day and laser shows when opened at night. In front of the Event Plaza is Wonder Full, a light and water show that is the largest in Southeast Asia and was produced by Laservision. The ArtScience Museum and Wonder Full show opened on 17 February 2011.

• The SkyPark has the world's longest elevated swimming pool, with a 146-metre (478 ft) vanishing edge, 191 metres above ground. The pools are made up of 422,000 pounds of stainless steel and can hold 376,500 gallons (1424 cubic metres) of water. The SkyPark also has rooftop celebrity chef restaurants such as Sky on 57 (by Justin Quek), Spago (by Wolfgang Puck), nightclubs such as Ce La Vie, gardens, hundreds of trees and plants, and a public observatory deck on the cantilever with 360-degree views of the Singapore skyline. 

• The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands have close to 93,000 m2 (1,000,000 sq ft) of retail space with over 300 stores and F&B outlets, featuring boutiques such as Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Cartier, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Emporio Armani, Chopard, REDValentino, Dior, Dunhill, Vertu, Miu Miu, Saint Laurent Paris, Salvatore Ferragamo, Montblanc, Blancpain, Vera Wang Bride, a Hermès watch boutique, and Herve Leger.

• A canal runs through the length of the Shoppes, in the same style as the Venetian in Las Vegas. Sampan rides on the canal are available for guests and shoppers at the shopping mall, similar to the gondola rides available in the Venetian. Also housed within the Shoppes are six of the ten Celebrity Chef restaurants – Bread Street Kitchen (by Gordon Ramsay), Cut (by Wolfgang Puck), Waku Ghin (by Tetsuya Wakuda), Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza (by Mario Batali), Long Chim (by David Thompson), DB Bistro & Oyster Bar (by Daniel Boulud).

• There are two Crystal Pavilions. Despite a brief legal dispute in June 2011, it was decided that one of the Pavilions will house two nightclubs – Avalon and Pangaea. In addition, the second Pavilion houses the world's largest Louis Vuitton boutique, in addition to being on a floating island, at 1,900 m2 (20,000 sq ft), which is connected to the portion of the boutique in the Shoppes via an underwater tunnel. Both Pavilions opened in 2011 just before the 2011 Formula One season came to the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

• The Sands Theatre and Grand Theatre seat 1,680 people and 2,155 people respectively, with The Lion King showing, and international acts, such as Cirque Éloize and A. R. Rahman's Jai Ho, located in the latter during their world tours. The musical, Wicked, is set to run for a limited season which started 7 December 2011. Next to the theatres is a skating rink (synthetic ice) measuring 600 m2 (6,500 sq ft).

• Dragonfire boxing is another regular event, which started on 5 May 2012 with the boxers Chris John with Daud Yordan Moshe Safdie designed an Art Path within the resort, incorporating installations by five artists including Zheng Chongbin, Antony Gormley, and Sol LeWitt. The pieces are meant to play on environmental influences including light, water and wind, integrating art with architecture.

 For More Details = Marina Bay Sands

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India

Umaid Bhawan Palace, located at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India, is one of the world's largest private residences. A part of the palace is managed by Taj Hotels. Named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the present owner Gaj Singh of the palace, this edifice has 347 rooms and serves as the principal residence of the erstwhile Jodhpur royal family. A part of the palace also houses a museum.

Umaid Bhawan Palace was called Chittar Palace during its construction due to use of stones drawn from the Chittar hill where it is located. Ground for the foundations of the building was broken on 18 November 1929 by Maharaja Umaid Singh and the construction work was completed in 1943. The Palace was built to provide employment to thousands of people during the time of famine.

Recently, Umaid Bhawan Palace was awarded as the World's best hotel at the Traveller's Choice Award, which was organised by TripAdvisor

he palace was built at a slow pace as its initial objective was to provide employment to the famine-stricken farmers of the locale. The foundation stone was laid in 1929. About 2,000 to 3,000 people were employed to build it. However, the actual occupation of the palace by the Maharaja came only after its completion in 1943, very close to the period of Indian Independence. There was criticism in some quarters for embarking on an expensive project but it had served the main purpose of helping the citizens of Jodhpur to face the famine situation. The estimated cost of building the palace was Rs 11 million. When it opened its gilded doors in 1943 it was considered as one of the largest royal residences in the world

The Palace is divided into three functional parts – the residence of the royal family, a luxury Taj Palace Hotel, and a Museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family.

for more details = Umaid Bhawan Palace Official Website

Lake Palace, Udaipur, India

Lake Palace (formerly known as Jag Niwas) is a luxury hotel, which has 83 rooms and suites featuring white marble walls. The Lake Palace is located on the island of Jag Niwas in Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India, and its natural foundation spans 4 acres (16,000 m2). The hotel operates a speed boat which transports guests to the hotel from a jetty at the City Palace. It has been voted as the most romantic hotel in India and in the world.

The Lake Palace was built between 1743 and 1746  under the direction of the Maharana Jagat Singh II (62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar) of Udaipur, Rajasthan as a winter palace. It was initially called Jagniwas or Jan Niwas after its founder.

The palace was constructed facing east, allowing its inhabitants to pray to Surya, the Hindu sun god, at the crack of dawn. The successive rulers used this palace as their summer resort, holding their regal durbars in its courtyards lined with columns, pillared terraces, fountains and gardens.

The walls made of black and white marbles are adorned by semi-precious stones and ornamented niches. Gardens, fountains, pillared terraces and columns line its courtyards.Relation of the palace to the city of Udaipur Panorama from Jag Mandir Island.

The upper room is a perfect circle and is about 21 feet (6.4 m) in diameter. Its floor is inlaid with black and white marble, the walls are ornamented with niches and decorated with arabesques of colored stones, the dome is exquisitely beautiful in form. During the famous Indian Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 several European families fled from Nimach and used the island as an asylum, offered to them by Maharana Swaroop Singh. To protect his guests, the Rana destroyed all the town’s boats so that the rebels could not reach the island.

By the later half of the 19th century, time and weather took their toll on the extraordinary water palaces of Udaipur. Pierre Loti, a French writer, described Jag Niwas as "slowly moldering in the damp emanations of the lake." About the same time bicyclists Fanny Bullock Workman and her husband William Hunter Workman were distressed by the ‘cheap and tasteless style’ of the interiors of the water palaces with "an assortment of infirm European furniture, wooden clocks, colored glass ornaments, and children’s toys, all of which seems to the visitor quite out of place, where he would naturally expect a dignified display of Eastern splendor.

"The reign of Maharana Sir Bhopal Singh (1930–55) saw the addition of another pavilion, Chandra Prakash, but otherwise the Jag Niwas remained unaltered and decaying. Geoffrey Kendal, the theater personality, described the palace during his visit in the 1950s as "totally deserted, the stillness broken only by the humming of clouds of mosquitoes."

Bhagwat Singh decided to convert the Jag Niwas Palace into Udaipur's first luxury hotel and In 1971, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces took over management of the hotel and added another 75 rooms. Jamshyd D. F. Lam of the Taj Group was one of the key people involved in the restoration, bringing it to such high standards with his work and experience. He was the first general manager there and the youngest at that time in India.

for more details = Lake Palace Official website

The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India

The Oberoi Udaivilas is unique amongst luxury hotels in Udaipur. It stands on the 200 year old hunting grounds of the Maharana of Mewar and is spread over fifty acres, which includes a twenty-acre wildlife sanctuary with deer and wild boar. The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur also affords spectacular views across the hotel's verdant gardens and sparkling Lake Pichola.

luxury hotel in Udaipur has an intricate layout of interconnecting domes and corridors that reflects the layout of Udaipur itself; whose seven lakes are linked by canals. These domes and walkways are flooded with sunlight, caressed by balmy breezes and offer magnificent views of the lake and gardens.

Located on the bank of Lake Pichola, The Oberoi Udaivilas is unique amongst luxury hotels in Udaipur. It stands on the 200 year old hunting grounds of the Maharana of Mewar and is spread over fifty acres, which includes a twenty-acre wildlife sanctuary with deer and wild boar. The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur also affords spectacular views across the hotel's verdant gardens and sparkling Lake Pichola.

Our luxury hotel in Udaipur has an intricate layout of interconnecting domes and corridors that reflects the layout of Udaipur itself; whose seven lakes are linked by canals. These domes and walkways are flooded with sunlight, caressed by balmy breezes and offer magnificent views of the lake and gardens.

Guests looking for a luxury dining restaurant in Udaipur will find their appetites more than satisfied by the range of fine international and Indian cuisines served at our indoor and al fresco restaurants. The Bar is a wonderful setting to relax with an aperitif and enjoy lake and garden views. We also have a number of bespoke private dining venues that can host between two and seventy guests, for a romantic dinner or a lavish celebration.

The Oberoi Spa in Udaipur offers Ayurveda inspired, Eastern, Western and signature Oberoi treatments, designed to help our guests relax, refresh and rejuvenate during their time with us. Our guests can also enjoy morning yoga sessions and swimming in our temperature controlled, outdoor pools.

We also offer a range of specially curated Oberoi Experiences, which are unmatched by other luxury resorts in Udaipur.

Guests can book in advance and directly with us to enjoy special rates, exclusive privileges and hotel offers. Guests can also enjoy access to high speed internet for up to 4 devices with our compliments. Relax with a loved one on a specially curated holiday or honeymoon. Stay with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts in Udaipur for an unforgettable experience.

for more details = Udaivilas Resort Official website