Month: September 2019

|In: Plaza Hotels|Last Updated:
Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel – Balinese Royal Palace Hotel Design

Although it is the largest resort in Tuban, Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel fits quite harmoniously into this quiet community and offers its guests a full measure of Tuban’s convenience when it comes to airport access, shopping and many entertainment attractions.

The hotel’s vast lobby was designed to reflect the style of Balinese Palace. A majestic central chandelier is mirrored in the polished marble flooring below it. The carefully manicured grounds and gardens spreading out around the reception area add to the impression that rajas, potentates and various other royal personages would feel very much at home here.

Where would visiting royalty choose to stay? The choice at Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel includes 304 ocean-view guest rooms, which includes two President Suites (each of the latter with its very own swimming pool). The hotel also has 82 Balinese-style bungalows. All units at Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel have en suite bathrooms, direct-dial telephone, and safe deposit box, private balconies, and free wi-fi. The hotel stretches a full 525 meters (600 yards) along the Kuta ocean front.

Among the options for wining and dinning are Rejang Restaurant (offering local and international cuisine and open around the clock); Melati (for authentic Indonesian and Asian cuisine); Bamboo Garden (with a splendid Chinese menu); Segara (Italian specialties and ice cream treats); and Kakatua ( the ideal place to enjoy just grilled satays, salads and sunset).

The Kul Kul Bar on the pool terrace provides swim-up service. The Sunset Lounge which overlooks the pool and garden surrounding it, is ideal for cheek to cheek dancing, while the Bali Tavern Pub provides its patrons with food, drink and live musical entertainment nightly. Lively special theme nights feature cultural performance of Balinese dance and music at Rejang Terrace in the evening. The restaurant offers buffets featuring rijstafel, Asian specialties, barbeques and Western cuisine.

For guests who like to do more than just splash sun at either of the hotel’s two swimming pools, there is tennis on three floodlit courts, squash on two air-conditioned courts, a mini golf course, a jogging track, a full-facility fitness center with spa, sauna and massage and a full menu of water sport activities: windsurfing, skiing, sailing, paddle boarding, snorkeling and more. For the youngsters, there are playgrounds, children swimming pools and the hotel provides an extensive activities programs.

The hotel publishes its own monthly magazines full of activities that range from Balinese cooking lessons and dance classes to guided walks and cycle tour through surrounding villages to puppet shows and gamelan performances in celebration of Hindu holidays. It is also one of the few hotels around which offer its guests regular behind-the-scene tours explaining the operations of an elaborate full-facility resort.

Within the hotel’s arcade are boutiques selling handicrafts and tropical fashions, a drug store, a bank, a beauty parlor and a travel agent, Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel also houses convention facilities for group as large as 1000 people. Complimentary shuttle buses take guest to Kuta and airport.…

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|In: Plaza Arts|Last Updated:
Visiting the Rockefeller Center in New York City

It’s pretty much impossible to miss the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Located in midtown Manhattan, the complex consists of 19 major buildings, the largest of which is the GE Building. Directly in front of this building is a large sunken outdoor plaza which doubles as an ice skating rink in winter and restaurant during the summer months.

During my spring 2008 visit to New York I often found myself in the vicinity of the Rockefeller Center and enjoyed passing the time admiring the skaters, people watching in general, and stopping for something to eat at one of the many restaurants and caf??s in the underground concourse beneath the GE building. For some reason I rarely went to the Center during my 2010 trip to New York City. Maybe it was because I had seen enough of the site previously to feel happy to overlook the area in favour of New York’s many other interesting locations.

Rockefeller Center, or Rockefeller Plaza covers an area encompassing 22 acres (89,000 m2), the borders of which are 48th and 51st streets, and Fifth Avenue to the east, and Sixth Avenue to the west. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the only son of his namesake and father, John D. Rockefeller Sr. the wealthy oil magnate. Rockefeller Jr., initially planned a syndicate to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929 and the withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Faced with the choice of abandoning the project completely or building and financing the Center himself, Rockefeller Jr., chose to build, turning the construction project into the largest private building project ever undertaken in modern history.

Of course, apart from ice skating and people watching and eating, one of the other reasons visitors flock to Rockefeller Center is to take the elevator rides to the ‘Top of The Rock’ as the visit to the observation decks is called. The views from the 70th floor are quite spectacular, as you might imagine, and you have the added advantage of getting great views (and photographs) of the Empire State Building which is near by.

Unlike most other Art Deco towers built during the 1930s, the GE Building was constructed with a flat roof. This is where the Center’s observation deck, the Top of the Rock is located.

In 2005, the Center’s owner completed a $75 million makeover of the observation area which now spans the 67th-70th floors and includes a multimedia exhibition exploring the history of the Center. On the 70th floor, there is a 20-foot (6.1 m) wide viewing area, allowing visitors an unobstructed 360-degree panoramic view of New York City.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Rockefeller Center, and can highly recommend the views from the top.…

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