Feb 7th, 2012 at 5:00PM:
Chatwal Hotels & Resorts is planning an aggressive entrance into the India market. The brand recently launched a five year plan to launch 52 hotels (40 Night hotels and 12 Dream hotels) in India.
"For me, India has always been the ultimate hospitality destination", said Sant Chatwal, Chairman & CEO, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, the ownership arm of Chatwal Hotels & Resorts. ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
india posts
Chatwal Hotels & Resorts plans for 52 new hotels in India
Feb 7th, 2012 at 5:00PM:
Chatwal Hotels & Resorts is planning an aggressive entrance into the India market. The brand recently launched a five year plan to launch 52 hotels (40 Night hotels and 12 Dream hotels) in India.
"For me, India has always been the ultimate hospitality destination", said Sant Chatwal, Chairman & CEO, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, the ownership arm of Chatwal Hotels & Resorts. ...How to visit the Taj Mahal
Jan 25th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
"No, madam. I am sorry. Taj Mahal is closed today."
"But," I thought, as I skeptically squinted at the guard delivering this bad news, "this is the Taj Mahal. The TAJ MAHAL! It's one of the most recognizable structures in the entire world. How could it be closed?"
"It's Friday, holy day," offered the gatekeeper. My whole body slumped with disappointment. And just like that I had my Walley ...New budget travel magazine debuts: Off Track Planet moves into print
Jan 4th, 2012 at 11:00AM: Off Track Planet, a Brooklyn-based online budget travel publication, takes its f-bomb dropping idiom into print today with the debut of an eponymous magazine.
Off Track Planet, for the uninitiated, is geared toward the 18-30 set and is particularly focused on undergraduates.
Accordingly, the publication directs its attention to several subjects of primary interest to college kids; among ...Photo of the day - Feeding the fish
Dec 29th, 2011 at 6:00PM:
Visitors to India know that cows are considered holy and not to be eaten, but in some parts of the southern state of Karnataka, you can cross fish off the menu too. The fish at the Sringeri temple on the banks of the Tunga River are also considered sacred and fishing is banned, though pilgrims and visitors can feed the fish puffed rice. As photographer and Flickr user PointingandShooting ...Megalithic site discovered in India
Dec 13th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
The term "megalithic" generally brings to mind stone circles in the British Isles such as Stonehenge and Avebury, or giant tombs such as Wayland's Smithy, yet prehistoric peoples in many parts of the world erected megalithic monuments.
India is rich in megalithic sites. In Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, are some imposing menhirs, or standing stones, shown in the Wikimedia Commons image above. ...Video of the Day - Paraglider collides with vulture
Nov 1st, 2011 at 3:30PM:
It's been a wild month for 'animals vs. adventurers' on Gadling. First, there was the antelope that tackled a cyclist harder than any NFL linebacker could, then there was the kayaker that got up close and personal with a blue whale, and finally, the South African motorcyclist that saved a calf from drowning in a canal.
Today's battle? An incredible video from Russian YouTube user ...
3 "glamping" accommodations for the luxury camper
Oct 22nd, 2011 at 1:00PM: For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "glamping" is a way for travelers to experience the outdoors, like camping, but with more luxury amenities, like electricity, running water, and sometimes even modern architecture. Check out this list of stylish canvas accommodations from around the world, perfect for those who want to get closer to nature...but not too close.
Wildman Wilderness Lodge ...Photo of the day: Marina Beach, Chennai, India
Aug 17th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
This shot of Marina Beach in Chennai in India evokes numerous desires within me--ones that can be easily reduced to a checklist:
1. Visit India.
2. Visit Marina Beach in Chennai.
3. Fly kites more often.
4. Go to beaches at night more often.
5. Take photos more often.
Funny how much want a simple photo can initiate...
Be that wanting as it may, I really love this photo. Taken by ...10 countries Americans need advance visas to visit
Aug 17th, 2011 at 12:00PM: We live in an increasingly borderless world and we have access to many countries that were closed (or non-existent) 20 years ago. As reported earlier this week, Americans are especially lucky with access to 169 countries visa free. Still, there are still many countries that Americans need advance visas to visit. Visa applications and processing services can cost several hundreds of dollars and ...Photo of the day - Traveler vs tourist
Aug 11th, 2011 at 6:00PM:
Ah, the good old tourist vs. traveler debate. Every travel blog has inevitably touched on this non-issue of which is more "authentic" or "real." Can't we all just get along? Whether you hit the road to check the big tourist attractions off your list or do as the locals do, you're traveling and you're not really local, so who cares which way is better? This photo from Mumbai by Flickr user ...New site helps you plan day trips from Mumbai
Aug 5th, 2011 at 2:00PM: As someone who lived in Mumbai for two years, I can tell you there were numerous weekends when I just wanted to get away from the blaring car horns, insane traffic, and "go go go" mentality of India's most populous city. I relied on guidebooks and word-of-mouth to find out about nearby hill stations, such as Matheran (pictured at right), and beach-side resorts that were suitable for a day trip or ...Brits behaving badly abroad
Aug 4th, 2011 at 8:30AM:
Today the Foreign Office released British Behaviour Abroad 2011, with detailed figures on British nationals in trouble overseas (read: Brits behaving badly abroad). The period surveyed: April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011.
There are lots of interesting tidbits in the survey. British nationals request consular assistance in greatest numbers in Spain and the United States, though since both ...No skeletons on the New Delhi metro, please
Jul 30th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
A friend of mine, freelance photographer Jane Shepherdson, was recently in New Delhi and rode on the city's metro (subway system). She captured this odd sign about what's prohibited for passengers to carry.
Some of it is predictable, such as explosives, guns, and radioactive materials. You also can't carry "manure of any kind" (including your own, one would suppose) or rags. That includes ...Top ten most crowded islands in the world
Jul 7th, 2011 at 12:30PM:
From an island microslum in Colombia to a haute enclave in central Paris, the ten most crowded islands in the world bear scant similarities in class or culture. In fact, every entry in the top ten comes from a different country. But being islands, each shares the common thread of scarcity - whether it be land, resources, or housing. In general, these islands are prophetical microcosms for an ...India restarts ferry to Sri Lanka after 30 years of civil war
Jun 14th, 2011 at 11:00AM: Sri Lanka is still recovering after a long and brutal civil war that started in 1983 and only ended two years ago. The fight between Tamil separatists and the government left 100,000 people dead, many of them civilians, and there were accusations of war crimes on both sides. The government won and the island nation is now beginning to rebuild.
A sign of that rebuilding is the relaunching of ...Photo of the day: firecracker in Chennai, India
Jun 1st, 2011 at 1:00PM:
A friend of mine, Vishaka, was born and raised in in Chennai, India. She has now married another friend of mine, Keith, an American, and they live full-time in Indiana. But every so often, once or twice a year it seems, they make the trip back to Chennai to spend time with family and to keep their ties to Chennai's culture tight.
This shot captures Vishaka setting off her first firecracker ...Last Kodachrome photos to be shown in Istanbul
Jun 1st, 2011 at 10:30AM: Photography lovers might want to make a trip to Istanbul this summer to be the first in the world to see the last roll of Kodachrome photos on exhibit at the Istanbul Modern museum. As we reported in December, the film was discontinued in 2009 by Kodak due to the rise of digital photography, and the very last roll of film was processed in Kansas at the end of 2010. The last 36-exposure roll was ...Photo of the day - A no-good monkey in India
Apr 28th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
Monkeys are a fact of life in India, a fact that I struggle to wrap my mind around as a primate-lover. You mean you see monkeys all the time?! And that's a bad thing?! It's all relative, though, maybe Indians find pigeons delightful. Flickr user Nico Crisafulli ran into this troublesome monkey at the Mahanavami-Dibba royal monument in India and captioned his photo "You see this monkey? This ...Travel television Q & A: Carmen Roberts
Apr 18th, 2011 at 11:30AM: Carmen Roberts is a travel reporter for BBC World's Fast Track program. Extraordinarily well traveled, Carmen recently decamped from London--home for over a decade--to Singapore, the country of her birth.
Here Carmen shares a few tips, a secret destination, and gives us the skinny on how her career developed.
Q: Carmen Roberts, how would you define your occupation?
A: Roving travel ...Mumbai golf - DIY golfing in the slums of India
Apr 14th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
ESPN produced this short documentary on golfing in Mumbai that is 1 part informative and 3 parts awesome. The story frames the dichotomous nature of Old Bombay by contrasting the two very different types of golf played in the city. One type is played at prestigious clubs for the elite like the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, and the other is played in the slums with DIY clubs and narrow ...
