JP/18/BRIEF

JP/18/BRIEF

Accor thanks
partners with cruise

DENPASAR: Accor Hotel & Resort in Bali and Lombok is showing its
gratitude to 50 partner travel agencies with an elegant cruise
extravaganza featuring dinner on Lembongan island.

Participants will depart from Benoa harbor for Lembongan
island, where they will enjoy a special cocktail dinner and a
spectacular fireworks show. A nautical theme will add sparkle to
the night, with Accor team members decked out in sailor outfits
and other seafaring accessories.

Accor regional general manager for Bali and Lombok, Michel
Vivier, said: "Key travel agent relationships have never been
more important than they are today, and Accor is committed to
thanking them for their valuable contributions to the success of
out growing hotel network in Bali and Lombok.

"In July, Accor will open the All Season Legian -- our sixth
hotel in the Bali-Lombok region -- and the continued expansion of
our hotel network in diverse brand offerings is very exciting for
us and the travel agent community.

"Bali has returned to its former popularity with strong
business growth after 12 challenging months. Accor is delighted
to take this opportunity to thank travel agents for their support
and encourage them to send more clients to our hotels."

Accor Indonesia's fast expanding network around the country is
expected to grow to 40 hotels by the end of 2005. --JP

Ubud Hanging Gardens
to open on July 1

DENPASAR: Niche hotel owner and operator Pansea Orient-Express
Hotels announced the imminent opening of its latest resort
property, the Ubud Hanging Gardens in Bali. The property will
open on July 1 this year.

Surrounded by ancient trees and gravity-defying terraced
gardens, this extraordinary haven nestles on a hillside
overlooking the Ayung River gorge, and truly deserves its unusual
name.

Perched adjacent to steep rice terraces looking out to a
temple (Pura Penataran Dalem Segara) on the opposite hill, the
breathtaking property's 38 villas are all constructed in
contemporary Balinese style with thatched alang-alang roofs.

The villas are set high on wooden pillars with king-sized
four-poster beds, indoor baths, outdoor showers and dramatic
individual plunge pools.

The garden, conceived by the landscape architect William
Warren (author of Balinese Garden, Thames & Hudson), together
with John Pettigrew (another devotee of botanical gardens who
created the garden at the Begawan Giri), is truly unique.

Nature becomes a spectacle here, with exotic trees and
essences of the tropics -- cocoa, coffee, fruit trees, durian,
rambutan, lychees, a variety of tropical bamboos, flame trees,
bird of paradise flowers and orchids.

The Anglo-French architect Gordon Shaw respected the group's
desire to protect the environment and utilized only local
materials: alang-alang as roofing, local Batu Jaember wood, Java
stone in the pools, batiks, cottons and Palimanan mural stone.
--JP