A luxurious hotel opens just in time for the Beijing Olympics.

Legendale Hotel, a Platinum 5 Star Hotel, has opened its doors to accommodate 20 of the 80 top overseas government officials expected to attend the Olympics.

Legendale Hotel chief executive and chairman David Chow Kam-fai said yesterday Beijing leaders were hesitant to build a 16th- century-style hotel in the capital's center of Wangfujing. But after much perseverance, the leaders gave into Chow's requests.

Macau-based Chow purchased the land for HK$900 million after it was announced in 2001 Beijing would host the Games.

"We had to tell them China was really opening its doors to the world and that when overseas VIPs and businessmen come here, they would expect to see a China that is open to different cultures and that they don't have to fear coming here. We even have people speaking French and Portuguese to them," he said.

The exterior is classical European, and the interiors house crystal chandeliers, lush chairs and sofas, ornate bed covers, door handles, rugs and wall paintings from European designers in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese styles.

It will open to heads of state and other VIPs on August 2 until the end of the Olympics, and to the public in late September.

www.legendalehotel.com.cn

Anglophiles and tea afficionados will be particularly pleased at the metropolitan London's update to their traditional tea service. The Hyde Park corner Hotel has formulated a healthier version of their traditional afternoon tea.

The new menu is called "Afternoon De-Light" (the emphasis is on the word "light") and it includes the standard choices of teas, scones and fingerfoods, but the emphasis is in fresh ingredients and low calories. The foods are made in "lite" versions where low fat creme fraiche is used. The sandwiches don't have breads and fresh fruit puree is used instead of sugar. They also use flour substitutes and olive oil instead of butter.

They have also introduced a new drink: the Eco Tini, which is centered around the idea of organic, local consumption. The drink is made from ingredients sourced from the Greater London vicinity. It is available only during teatime and the surprise ingredient is gooseberries.

www.london-hotels.hotels-london.co.uk/ metropolitan.hotel

Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Atlantic, debuted the craft carrier that he hopes will make space travel a possibility within the next decade. The aircraft is called the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) and dubbed "Eve." WK2 will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payloads during the first phase of the space experience.

It is a crowning achievement in Branson's quest to launch the world's first private space tour. WK2 is the world's largest all carbon composite aircraft and many of its parts have been built using composite materials for the first time. The wing spar measures 140ft and is the longest single composite aviation part ever manufactured.

Richard Branson has unveiled the craft that he hopes will open bring space tourism to the masses. The WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payload on the first stage of the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space experience.

Commenting on the rollout, Burt Rutan, Founder of Scaled Composites said:

"WhiteKnightTwo represents the apogee of the application of carbon composites to aerospace and all of us at Scaled are tremendously excited at the capabilities of the Mothership for SpaceShipTwo. I believe the vehicle will be developed and sold for a variety of launch applications beyond the initial requirements of our launch customer, Virgin Galactic. We have set up a new business jointly with Virgin, The Spaceship Company (TSC), to develop these vehicles and we very much hope that its efficiency will herald a wake up call to the aerospace industry and the necessity of using new materials and technologies in the future. "

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic added:

"As usual, Burt and the Scaled team have created a beauty and this is a very proud day for us all. The rollout of WhiteKnightTwo takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this most ambitious of projects is not only for real but is making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.

Passengers will also get to experience five crucial minutes of weightlessness. Unfortunately, because of the practical issues surround zero gravity, that has effectively ruled out any chance of getting a snack on the flight.

www.virgin.com

Northwest Airlines has added some 80$ in their roundtrip (US) domestic airfares as fuel surcharge.

Northwest Airlines Corp. confirmed on Thursday that it will add fuel surcharges of up to $80 for many domestic round-trip tickets.

The surcharge will apply to travel to about 7,000 city pairs beginning Jan. 10, Northwest spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo-Shannon said. She said Northwest is matching surcharges added by competitors in those markets. Northwest already has fuel surcharges in other markets, she said.

Read it all from BusinessWeek.

If you are filthy rich that is! Space travel, if you have the money and enough adventure streak - could be the ultimate travel adventure.

A space tourism jet has already been unveiled, making the whole idea not an impossibility any longer.

British entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson on Monday took the wraps off an aircraft that, for $200,000 a seat, may someday take tourists who can afford it on the first leg of regular, albeit very brief, commercial flights into space.

The only other question that needs answering (even if you have all the money!) is the security that you can come back to earth. Unless one is crazy enough that the 'coming back home safely to earth' is out of the question?

Well, this one is definitely not for the ordinary citizen!

No one knows when Virgin Galactic will fly, but about 100 people have already paid full price for the trip, which comes to $50,000 per minute for the four minutes the travelers will spend in weightlessness. An additional 170 have put down deposits.

Wow. These people have nothing else to put their money into.

Several magazines have poured lavish praise on Dubai's billowy Burj-al-Arab, often touted as the "best hotel in the world." Iconic and designed to resemble a billowy sail, it's the world's tallest hotel.

Now, I don't know about you, but the idea of staying 321 meters above ground and paying $2,160 per night (or 2.33 ounces of gold) on a nosebleed-inducing room makes me think I'd rather climb on top of the empire state building. Better value for money, plus you get to see New York City in all its glory and much popcorn on the rooftop.

We're not sure if popcorn is even allowed into the hallowed halls of the Burj. Apparently you get a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce to take you around. That's nice (we wonder how much of our nightly $2160 rate goes to him), and there's a private reception desk on each floor.

But I can see why wealthy businessmen embrace this hotel like their first trophy wife. I really do. There's something really pampering about being marooned on an artificial island in a country that has no natural water reserves. To secure a foundation for this island, builders had to drive long concrete piles into the sand (you try doing that on a muggy, hot day and see what happens).

It's the world's only seven star property too, but many travel professionals have pooh-poohed the idea of bestowing seven stars when the standard norm is five stars. What's to prevent the U.S. from coming up with world's only nine star property where you'll have an oil bed instead of a water bed?

It does have the tallest atrium lobby in the world and gold pillars. The most expensive room here is around $28,000 per night. Who needs a mortgage when you can take a private loan and head for Chapter 11 in style? Life's too short. Go set sail at the Burj and report back.

Guest post from www.butterflydiary.com

www.burj-al-arab.com