Archive for December, 2009
Visiting the vibrant and captivating destination of Manhattan? Many people stay near the concert and sports venue, Madison Square Garden. Besides being an amazing location for various sports and entertainment events, the region allows convenient access to the other areas of New York.
Madison Square Garden is also known as The Garden and MSG. The Garden often refered to as “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” The original Madison Square Garden was built in 1879 and was named after Madison Square. The current stadium opened February 14, 1968. The Garden is located on top of Penn Station, making it conveniently accessible to New York and New Jersey. Places to visit close to The Garden include, the Garment District, the Empire State Building, Madame Tussaud’s, Herald Square, Bryant Park, and Times Square. Tenants include New York Rangers (NHL), New York Knicks (NBA), and New York Liberty (WNBA). Concerts hosted at The Garden in 2009 include: Van Morrison, Keith Urban, KISS, P!nk, blink-182, Bruce Springsteen, and Metallica. Other events held at Madison Square Garden include several National Conventions of the Republican and Democratic Parties.
In this article we will discuss some of the best quality accommodation near this famous New York attraction.
4-star hotels: Crowne Plaza Manhattan New York, New York City
Offering a friendly atmosphere, this property with cosy accommodation is a perfect place for a pleasant and memorable stay in New York City.
Conveniently located in the heart of New York’s world-famous Times Square, the Crowne Plaza is near the historic tourist attractions such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Centre and Madison Square Garden. The hotel is also at a walkable distance from Lehman Brothers, NBC, General Electric, IBM, McGraw Hill, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley and Viacom.
Designed to offer guests the comfort of home, the accommodation units are spacious, warm, inviting and equipped with all the modern comforts that a discerning traveller would expect.
You can dine at the onsite restaurant that serves a variety of delectable and homely food, in a relaxed setting. Offering tempting appetisers and a wide selection of cocktails or wines, the bar is an ideal place for spending a pleasant evening in the company of friends or colleagues.
The hotel also provides conference facilities for those guests travelling on business issues. During leisure, you can workout at the gymnasium, take a bracing dip in the swimming pool or enjoy a relaxing treatment at the sauna.
1-star Hotel Information: Latham Hotel New York
A very basic hostel with no amenities, but a great price and a great midtown location makes Latham an ideal place for budget minded travellers and for short stay guests.
Latham Hotel is centrally located and only 5 blocks from the Empire State Building. An excellent place for sightseeing, this property is a short walk to Madison Square Garden, Macy’s Herald Square and all midtown shopping.
Rooms are extremely plain and basic with carpet, furniture and colour television, yet functional but not flashy. Bathrooms are basic and very small.
Several restaurants, serving a varied cuisine, are within a few blocks walk.
Round the clock reception service is available for your convenience. The Latham Hotel is more of a hostel style property and 50% of the hotel is occupied by permanent residents in addition to short stay guests.
Staying in Midtown / Times Square, New York City at The Quality Hotel Times Square
Nestled in the heart of the Broadway Theatre District, the Quality Hotel Times Square is the premier destination for visitors who want to enjoy the lights on Fifth Avenue shopping and the famed 42nd Street. This European-style boutique hotel is at a walking distance to Times Square, Rockefeller Centre, Macy’s and Central Park.
The hotel’s truly attractive bedrooms feature modern amenities including modem access and en suite bathroom.
Guests can enjoy local and gourmet cuisine by dining at the on-site restaurant and cocktail lounge, La Prima Donna, or a multitude of restaurants along Restaurant Row.
The all-purpose Penthouse conference room offers high-tech audio-visual equipment and elegant space for entertaining.
There are only 3 main flights from Miami to Cape Town South Africa. These are The South African Airways, Delta Airlines and British Airways. There is no direct flight and all of the flights make 2 stops before getting to their destination.
The routes of some of these flights includes via Washington, New York,Baltimore and Johannesburg. With each stop you have to switch flights but this is normal for long flights.
South African Airways
Destined for South Africa it leaves Miami at 13.25hrs and makes its first stop in Washington Dulles arriving at around 16.05hrs. After about 90 minutes it takes off this time heading for Johannesburg where it arrives at 15:50 the following day.
It then lives Johannesburg at 17:40 and flies to its final destination, Cape Town. It gets there at 19:50. The air flight to South Africa from Miami is about 20 hours long.
Delta Airlines
Delta Airlines lives Miami at 06:00 and flies to Baltimore. Having arrived at 10.34hrs it will leave at 11.00hrs going New York. It gets there at about 12:10 and takes off at 16:00 heading straight for Cape Town South Africa.
Compared to the South African Airways flight this one is longer being 23hrs in total.
British Airways
British Airways will leave Miami heading for London at 20.50hrs and will arrive the next day at 10.05hrs. There is quite a long stretch of waiting here as the new flight that you are switched to only takes off at 17:50 and flies to Johannesburg
It gets there at 06:35 on the second day. The connecting flight to Cape town will leave at 09.00hrs and arrive at 11.10hrs. The total time for this journey is 2hrs better than the Delta Airlines time, it is 21 hrs.
If you are going to be comparing prices then South African Airways comes out as the cheapest.You will be able to access current airfares and ways you can book your travel tickets from one of the these:
You are unlikely to find a more charming and more laid back ski resort anywhere in Europe than the Austrian town of Seefeld. This town in the Austrian Tirol region is not the place to go if you are looking for high-rises and parties. This, instead, is quintessential Austria – lots of peaked roofs, wooden balconies and flower boxes.
When you want a holiday to rejuvenate your body and soul, Seefeld is the place to go. The town was designed more than 50 years ago to be a haven of tranquility and up to this day it lives up to that expectation. You will most likely only fully understand what I mean when you are sitting in the town center sipping a hot gluhwein while watching skiers from all across Europe strolling around as if today will last forever.
Should you be traveling with a baby, keep in mind that public breast feeding is nowadays socially unacceptable in Europe. Your best option is the buy an avent breast pump. This way you can store the milk in a container and use it later. Your baby will always have mother’s milk available, while you don’t have to be frowned upon for anti-social behavior.
As I mentioned earlier: Seefeld is not the place to head to for all-night parties. Having said that, there is certainly an abundance of good restaurants, many with live music in season. We once enjoyed dinner at a lovely traditional restaurant where the musician played folk music on his ibanez acoustic guitar with so much feeling and energy that it brought tears to our eyes.
The gentle ski slopes of Seefeld are not intended for wild skiing adventures either. There are certainly a large number of lifts and gondolas that can take you to a height of as much as 2100m, but Seefeld is more widely known as a cross-country ski venue. In fact, during the winter Olympics of 1964 and 1976 all cross-country skiing events took place in this town.
If you arrive in Seefeld without ski equipment, there are a few shops where you can buy good quality Alpine skiing equipment at a reasonable price. You can also rent equipment. Whether you buy or rent obviously depends on how often you plan to ski. For a beginner who hasn’t yet made up his mind whether he likes skiing or not, renting is the better option.
Seefeld is only 21km away from the Austrian city of Innsbruck. To the other side, about 40km away, lies the German town and ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Both make for splendid day trips. Both boast exquisite traditional architecture and both are surrounded by mountains of such magnificence that it takes your breath away.
You worked really hard and you need a vacation. If you have children you must find a destination where they will have fun too. Kids don’t like to spend their time shopping or in restaurants. They need to play and explore new things. One of the best ideas is to find a camping place or a hotel in the mountains.
When you have a big family you must organize everything for the trip in time. This will ensure that you will not forget something like your skin care treatment or the favorite toy for your kid. You can’t plan a trip with a few days before like you used to do when you were not married.
Pack some extra warm sweaters and some sport shoes. You have to be as comfortable as possible. Remember to take the alpine skiing equipment. You will all have a lot of fun skiing. If you don’t have equipment it would be a good idea to buy one. Now you can make some great family photos.
At night you can make a fire camp and sing together, although not with an Ibanez electric guitar you need electricity to play it. Learn some songs and surprise them with your talent. You don’t need to be a professional in order to play some songs. The important thing is to have fun.
Buy the tickets for the vacation in time. This way you can take your time to find the best price. You can get a luxurious vacation for a very small price if you find some great offers. The easiest way to search and compare prices is by using the Internet. You will be overwhelmed with the number of advertisements.
When you’re planning a family vacation you need to take in consideration the fact that you will need some extra money. You may want to buy some presents for your friends. If you have kids they will want to buy themselves something nice. You made economy all year long for this vacation and now you have the right to spoil yourself.
Do your best to plan a family vacation at least twice a year. You need to rebound with your family and to relax. Forget about all the problems from your work. Take a few days to have fun and enjoy your kids. When you will get back home you will have a lot of energy for your job.
The vibrant, thriving New York City is among the global centres of economics, governments, communications, and tradition. New York is divided into five districts, with Manhattan and Brooklyn housing numerous New York luxury hotels, plenty of sights, attractions and landmarks, and much entertainment. Brooklyn is the most highly populated borough in New York, famous for its artists, music, beaches and Coney Island.
Brooklyn has quite a few posh resorts, several of which are situated near the Brooklyn Bridge, like the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. There are quite a few attractions here, such as the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Coney Island, and various more. There are places for great high-end shopping, like Downtown Brooklyn and Fifth Avenue. Near Brooklyn is Manhattan – a spectacular spot for an expensive, sophisticated city vacation, with scores of high-class districts and shopping destinations, as well as top-quality restaurants and grand resorts.
There are many high-end accommodations all over Manhattan, like the world-renowned The St. Regis New York on Fifth Avenue (different from Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue), The Loews Regency Hotel on Park Avenue, and different others. There are plenty of things to see and do around Manhattan. Lower Manhattan is the departure point for ferries to the iconic Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and other islands. There is also the popular Central Park, another icon of New York. On the eastside of Central Park lies the Metropolitan Museum of Art – famously known as the Met. Other famous sights and areas include the Empire State Building, Times Square and Rockefeller Centre, these being only a few amongst many other museums, sights, buildings and centres.
Amongst the many activities you can do in Manhattan is shopping. With numerous trendy, high-end areas, upscale shopping here is certainly a fulfilling one. Fifth Avenue is one of the most important shopping avenues in the world, overflowing with luxury stores of all variety. Other areas great for high-end shopping is Madison Avenue, which is well-known for its fashion designers, jewellers and salons; 57th Street; SoHo, with its very fashionable neighbourhood; and others.
Manhattan is also a great place for a luxurious holiday or business stay with its many upscale restaurants, serving top-quality cuisine and first-class services. Another wonderful thing about staying around Manhattan is its public transport. It is rather hassle-free for visitors to use the subway system in New York, with quite a number of the stops covering several of the prominent tourist sights and attractions.
There are generally two departure points in Bangkok i.e. you can choose the Bangkok – Don Muang (DMK) to Cape Town route or the Bangkok (BKK) to Cape Town route. However there aren’t usually any flights from DMK so we will only focus on BKK.
(BKK) Bangkok to Cape Town
You can choose from any of the following airays that are offering flights to to Cape Town i.e. Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Emirates, Cathay Pacific Airways, Malaysia Airways Singapore Airlines or the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The cheapest flight amongst these is Kenya Airways and Ethiopian, which costs about half of what other flights are charging for the same trip.
Ethopian Airways will leave Bangkok for Addis Ababa at 01.40hrs. It gets there at 06:35 in the morning and leaves for Johannesburg at 08:50 and gets there at 13:15. From here it will head to Cape Town at 15.00 hrs and arrive 17.10hrs the following day.
The total time for this rather cheap flight is 22 hrs and 20 minutes of which 16 hrs and 40 minutes is spent in the air.
Emirates is also the second cheapest flight from Bangkok to Cape Town. It departs from Bangkok at 20.30 hrs headed for dubai . You might need a place to sleep in Dubai because it gets there at 23:35 and leaves for Johannesburg at 04:40 the following day.
The flight gets to Johannesburg at 10:50 and leaves for Cape Town at 13:00. After flying for two hours from Johannesburg you should arrive in Cape Town at 15.10 hrs.
Other possible flights that you might use are Cathay Pacific, Malaysia and Singapore Airlines. The one with the highest charges and longest journey is KLM.
Up to date airfares and ways on how to make your travel arrangements can be found from any one of the following:
