Thursday, August 16, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com


iReport: World's coolest hotels and resorts

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 10:20 PM PDT

Two months ago, we asked you to share news of the coolest hotels and resorts where you've stayed.

Here are your top five submissions. See other iReport coolest hotel submissions here.

Sportsman's Cove Lodge: Southeast Alaska, United States

Sportsmans Cove LodgeWe're hooked.

iReporter Craig Smith has been visiting the Sportsman's Cove Lodge in the Tongass National Forest every summer for eight years. The lodge is a 20-minute float plane flight from Ketchikan, Alaska.

Writes Smith:

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What’s cuter than a giant panda? Two giant pandas

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 03:10 PM PDT

by CNNGo staff

Breaking news, giant panda fans.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) just announced it's getting two of the adorable black-and-white bears from China, an acquisition that's expected to heavily boost visitor numbers. (Fact: in the zoo game, there's no bigger cash cow than a panda.)  

Named Kai Kai (male) and Jia Jia (female), the giant pandas will arrive from China's Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base on September 6. They'll be housed at the Yangtze River zone of the upcoming River Safari, along with other endangered wildlife from China such as the giant salamander and the red panda. 

However the logistics required to safely fly a pair of pandas through the region are a bit complicated.

Even when wearing his angry face, Kai Kai is adorable. Wildlife Reserves officials said the pandas will be transported on board a Singapore Airlines Cargo Boeing 747 freighter. 

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Thredbo: Australia's most European ski resort

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 02:58 PM PDT

by Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Skiing arrived in Australia during the gold rush of the 1860s, when Norwegian miners in the Snowy Mountains fashioned skis from local trees and raced downhill. But it would take another century for the sport to go mainstream.

That only happened when the next wave of European migrants who came to "The Snowies" to work on hydroelectric power schemes established permanent ski resorts at Perisher, Selwyn and Thredbo in what is today Kosciuszko National Park.

Among them, Thredbo, 500 kilometers southwest of Sydney, stands out as the only ski resort in the state of New South Wales with lodges, restaurants, nightlife and shops -- an Alpine-style ski village that wouldn't be out of place in continental Europe.

Let it snow

Thredbo skiingJust a few of the 700,000 winter-sports fans who hit the slopes at this time each year.

Thredbo has more than 50 ski runs and the steepest overall ski terrain in Australia.

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Are hotel concierges becoming obsolete?

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:40 AM PDT

by Tracy You

Two decades ago, English-speaking concierges like Jason Zhan (詹骅) were travelers' saviors in China.

"Information about China was inaccessible at the time," says the 43-year-old Zhan from The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai. 

"There was no Internet. Travelers did not know much about the country, so they came to the concierge desk to ask all sorts of questions."

"Considering how rarely I use the concierge service, I'd rather swap it for free Wi-Fi."

-- Joanne Yao, writer and traveler from California

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