BlogAds founder and the Netherlands Board of Tourism came up with an interesting trade out for advertising. They are providing a free junket to the bloggers in return for advertising space on their sites are getting a free trip to the Netherlands.

According to the site Bloggers in Amsterdam that Henry Copeland (whom we got to know at a conference and is a sincerely great guy) has put up of the project, the trip will include:

• The bloggers going to Amsterdam in February ‘06 get a free roundtrip flight on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

• They’ll be able to stay for five nights at either the Lloyd Hotel or the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky — both five star hotels near the center of Amsterdam.

• Last but not least, they get an I amsterdam Card, giving them free transportation around the city, gratis entrance to lots of museums and discounts at restaurants, etc.

It is interesting that this is occurring as many bloggers and media are taking offense at the offer. Beltway BlogRoll has this to say:

What’s more, transparency is not sufficient justification for media outlets — and that’s what blogs want the U.S. government to call them — to accept favors from an agency with an agenda. Bloggers rightly maligned columnists Armstrong Williams and Doug Bandow for taking money from the Bush administration and Abramoff. Now some of the them are guilty of similar arrangements with the government of Netherlands, and they deserve the same scorn.

and the News Sentinel of Knoxville shared these sentiments:

Bloggers of all stripes love to bloviate these days about public officials who accepted money or luxurious treatment from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his attempt to curry government favor for his clients. But that doesn’t mean bloggers are above accepting pampering by people with an agenda.

I am torn to a degree. It has been a long standing practice in the  news industry to trade out advertising for tickets to events. This seems like a straight trade out that if the Netherlands gets some good publicity, so much  the better. The  bloggers must remember to be as honest and objective about their experiences.

They will be treated as visiting royalty by those in the  know, and as many bloggers are not used to getting special treatment, may succumb to the efforts of the Dutch.

But those that are taking the trip will have to remember that anything they say about the Netherlands now will be suspect. They have given up some of their moral authority on the subject and the country by accepting this relationship.

Update:

Steve Rubel jumps into the conversation and declared himself a fan of blogger junkets.

A list of Atlanta most romantic places. Some great ideas for Valentines Day or a getaway from the hustle and bustle.

1. The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View
2. The Ritz Carlton, Atlanta and Buckhead
3. Apres Diem
4. Churchill Grounds
5. Atlanta Botanical Garden
6. Piedmont Park
7. Lake Lanier
8. Callaway Gardens
9. Nikolai’s Roof
10. Canoe

via About.com

One of the great names in Las Vegas Casino lore is going to be gone this year. The Stardust Hotel and Casino will be leaving to create the mega-complex  called the Echelon.

The Stardust Hotel and Casino, in business since 1958, will close later this year and be torn down in 2007 to make way for a $4 billion development to be called Echelon Place, it was announced last week. The 60-plus acre project from parent company Boyd Gaming will contain a grand total of 5,300 hotel rooms operating under four different banners.
The first, and by far the biggest, is the Boyd-owned and operated Echelon Resort, a $2.9 billion hotel and casino that will feature 3,300 rooms — 2,600 “standard” units in one tower and 700 suites in a second.
Next will be a Las Vegas version of the chic Los Angeles hotel the Mondrian that will feature 1,000 rooms and a separate check-in, pool, restaurants, bars and more.
The same group that is creating the Mondrian will also create a 600-room Delano hotel, patterned after the South Beach resort of the same name.
Finally, one of the leading hotel groups in Asia will build a 400 room Shangri-La hotel, complete with a 20,000-square-foot casino.
At the center of all of this accommodation madness is a massive casino and entertainment facility. It will feature 140,000 square feet of casino space (that’s second only to MGM Grand on the Strip), a 350,000-square-foot shopping facility (roughly the same size as Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes), a 4,000-seat theater for major productions and concerts, a 1,500-seat theater for smaller events, 1 million square feet of convention space, a giant pool and recreation area and another spa. via KTVU.com

Yotel, a new name in the hotel game, is trying to create a new niche. Yotel will be opening two budget hotels at Heathrow and Gatwick International airports outside of London. The  Yotel will feature capsule rooms for 70  US Dollars a night.

A capsule room is a small room that has a fold out couch that converts to a double bed  The room also has a pull down desk, closet space, adjustable mood lighting, a shower, wireless Internet, an iPod connection and a flat-screen TV.

If this concept is successful, you will see 15 of them around London.

When I am traveling for business, the last thing I need or want is a fancy room or an expansive suite. I am an entrepreneur, and travel expenses come directly out of my pocket. So the concept of the capsule hotel fits every need I have and saves money at the same time.

What a great concept!

via CNN and Yotel

Antigua is a tropical paradise located in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. It is one of the most important destinations in the sailing year as well as being one of the top vacation & holiday destinations in the world.  The combination of tradition, history,  and Caribbean warmth provides an island paradise for vacationers.

In 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain’s most important Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later the same unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform Antigua and Barbuda in one of the Caribbean’s premier tourist destinations. Via The official Antigua Barbuda Tourism Site

Travel and Leisure has a this review of the Coco Bay resort.

$240 You don’t have to be on your honeymoon to enjoy Cocobay Resort, which is set on a hillside facing the Caribbean Sea. The idyllic hotel is made up of 47 Creole-style cottages in soft pastel hues with exposed beams and wood-slatted blinds. Activities abound, from Sunfish sailing to frangipani-scented aromatherapy massages in a thatched pavilion to guided hikes through the nature preserve led by a medicine man. Be sure to catch the sunset from an Adirondack chair on your room’s balcony or at Sheer, the open-air restaurant atop a bluff on Ffryes Beach. Valley Church; 800/816-7587 or 268/562-2400; www.cocobayresort.com; all-inclusive.

Maps of Antigua can be found here.

A List of Hotels on Antigua.

Sailing Week is one of the big events of the year on Antigua. Official Site of the Rolex Sailing Week

And a List of Restaurants with reviews by Fodors. .

The Hard Rock Empire is spreading out, and their next stop is a luxury condo hotel being built in San Diego.

Construction is under way on Hard Rock International’s first condo hotel (www.hardrockcondos.com), in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, right. Scheduled for completion in spring 2007, the project calls for a 12-story, 315,000-square-foot hotel with 167 studio units ($400,000 and up), 253 one-bedroom suites ($1 million and up) and a spa and fitness center.

All units will be furnished and equipped with wireless Internet access, iPod connections, high-level audio and home-theater-quality video systems. Seventeen “rock star” suites of up to 1,700 square feet will feature martini bars, soaking tubs, rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia and original artwork.

The blueprints also include a Nobu sushi restaurant, a 5,000-square-foot concert hall, a fourth-floor terrace bar adjacent to an outdoor pool with cabanas, and a lobby lounge. The terrace bar and the lounge, designed and operated by the creator of After Midnight and the Whiskey Bar, Rande Gerber, will also have live music on occasion. via NY TimesThis is going to be one amazing property, and will wow the 18 to 35 set. Heck, I am 40 and it wowing me right now. And a condo hotel is a condo that rents out the rooms when the owners are not on site.

Traveling to Anguilla in the British West Indies offers a great winter getaway in the warmth of the Caribbean. This island is away from the maddening crowds, and provides a peaceful get away for couples and families.

From the Anguilla Tourism Board:

If you’re planning a simple Caribbean retreat and rejuvenation; a honeymoon, romantic get-away or destination wedding; a family fun, dive, gourmet get-away or spa and wellness adventure, Anguilla will more than satisfy your need. Create your own getaway or find the package that best suits your needs by simply ‘clicking’ through our site.

Quality is Anguilla’s hallmark, and you’ll find it in our pristine natural environment and community, and among the vast array of Anguilla’s accommodations and restaurants.

Travel and Leisure recommends these affordable hotels.

$130* What Rendezvous Bay Hotel & Villas lacks in the flash or glamour of many Anguilla resorts, it makes up for in location—its 46 rooms sit directly on 50 palm-laden acres fronting a 1½-mile-long sugary sand beach. The recently renovated resort—white tile floors, simple rattan furnishings—is divided among a dozen low-rise buildings. Garden Standards are the least expensive, but lack air-conditioning; for that, you’ll need to upgrade to a villa ($275). Guests spend their days swinging on a hammock or snorkeling. At night, they head to Cedar Grove, where grilled lobster and goat stew are prepared by Leonard “Smoke” Sharplis. Rendezvous Bay; 800/274-4893 or 264/497-6549 ; www.rendezvousbay.com

$295 From the same hotel group behind celebrity favorite Cap Juluca comes KĂș, which means “sacred place” in the Arawak Indian language (it’s located near one of the tribe’s ceremonial sites, 20 minutes from its sister property). Opened this fall, the hotel’s 27 suites overlook Shoal Bay East and are South Beach–chic, with minimalist white dĂ©cor, air-conditioning, and full kitchens. The spa and pool might be on the small side, but the beachfront French-Caribbean restaurant—run by Cap Juluca’s chef de cuisine—has the longest bar on the island. Shoal Bay East; 800/869-5827 or 264/497-2011; www.kuanguilla.com.

And to get around, the Anguilla Guide has this map online.

Another interesting and informative resource is the Anguilla Boat Tour DVD. I always like to get my arms around an island I am visiting.