Europe's First Rotating Hotel

There are plans to build what will be Europe's first rotating hotel in Croatia. The hotel will form the centerpiece of a new resort to be built near Split, the second-largest city in Croatia that is situated on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. It was the desire to give guests views of the Adriatic Sea from all rooms that led to the rotating design from Richard Hywel Evans of holiday resort designer specialists, RHE.

The new hotel will be built on the Šolta Island and will rotate 1.3 times a day to provide all guests with views across the bay for all guests. The three-story building measures 61m (200ft) in diameter and will sit on a continuously moving turntable that surrounds a static 22m (72ft) central hub that contains the reception area, stairs and elevators. To save guests the hassle of searching for a constantly moving door, the entrance to the hotel is located on the lower ground level, beneath the rotating building.

The hotel itself will be set in an infinity-edged swimming lake, with water spilling over to a hillside spa. So even though it might look like it is floating, unlike the floating Hotel Marmara we looked at last month, it won't be. The new resort will also comprise a 170-berth marina, performance stage, yacht club, marine village guest pavilions and villas. The project will even extend across the bay with villas built on the other side facing the marina.

Further details about the proposed Šolta Island hotel are still thin on the ground, with no details about the technology used to make the hotel turn, the costs involved, a completion date, or even when building will start, so don't start packing your bags and motion sickness tablets just yet.

The World's Highest Hotel...but Not for Long!

No hotel on Earth lets you look down from a greater height than the brand spanking new 6-star Park Hyatt Shanghai.If a gob-smacking view is your thing—and heck, it's mine—you could do worse than check in at the Park Hyatt, Shanghai, which has just taken the mantle of the world's highest hotel. See that nice pagoda-shaped building you're looking down on out the window? Yeah, that's the Jin Mao Tower, and it's about 40 meters taller than the Empire State Building in NYC. The Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies floors 79 to 93 of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest tower in China at a massive 492 meters—and it's shaped like a giant bottle opener. Rack rates start at around US$320 per night, and ramp up to nearly US$13K for the stunning Chairman Suite.
It's all well and good if you can afford to buy a place at the Burj Dubai, which at more than 800 meters tall currently obliterates all opposition as the world's tallest building. But those of us who aren't squillionaire sheikhs have to be content with renting a view for the night. And while there may be hotels with nicer views, there's no hotel on Earth that lets you look down from a greater height than the brand spanking new 6-star Park Hyatt Shanghai.

Situated on a bend in the Huangpu river, every room at the Park Hyatt makes full use of its positioning, with floor to ceiling glass windows. You can look out on the smoggy city below, the enormous Jin Mao tower across the road—which is the second tallest building in mainland China—and the Oriental Pearl TV tower.

The Park Hyatt had best make use of the "world's highest hotel" title while it can—because once the International Commerce Center is finished in Kowloon, Hong Kong, Ritz-Carlton are going to open a 300-room, 7-star hotel that will be even higher up. Potayto potarto, the view from both will be staggering.

Hostelworld.com scoop “Best Hostel Booking Engine” award

Hostelworld.com, the market leader on online reservations to the budget, independent and youth travel market for 10 years has announced it beat off competition from Hostelbookers.com and Wotif.com amongst others to pick up the award for “Best Hostel Booking Engine” at the Golden Backpack awards in Sydney, Australia for the second year in a row.

The Golden Backpack Awards are Australia and New Zealand’s only dedicated awards for the independent travel industry. The awards are voted for by independent travellers visiting both countries and are held in extremely high esteem across the backpacking and independent travel industry.