By Cheryl Tan & Tan Yi Hui

SHERATON GOODIES

Heading to Huizhou, China, for a holiday? You might want to consider putting up at the Sheraton.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is launching its first Link @ Sheraton for its resorts in China with the recent opening of Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort.

The Link @ Sheraton is an initiative by the group to provide interactive lounge and online services for its guests.

The experience begins as guests make their way through the hotel lobby and enter a signature-designed communal lounge area.

There, they can surf the Internet, send out e-mail and review local attractions on four HD desktop computers.

The lounge area at the heart of the Link offers reading materials such as newspapers and magazines.

Guests can also watch the latest on sports and news on a 46-inch High Definition Philips LCD television.

A range of food and beverage options is offered round the clock. Guests can indulge in gourmet sandwiches, French pastries, healthy fruit snacks as well as unwind with a beer or coffee.

Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort boasts 293 guest rooms, including 14 suites with mountain and sea views.

For more information, visit www.starwoodhotels.com

KID STARS

Families with children below 12 can sign up for Star Cruises' StarKids Club for their kids to enjoy a free cruise onboard SuperStar Virgo and SuperStar Libra.

Kid members enjoy great privileges, provided they are accompanied by two full-paying adults. These include onboard discounts for various Star Cruises merchandise, childcare centre, shore excursions and ice cream.

Members also get special treats and activities during birthdays and school holidays.

To join, SMS 'SKCST ' to 9177-9277, or log on to www.starcruises.com. To register, there is a $10 administrative fee per child.

HAVEN HEAVEN

For those in need of some serious pampering, book a room at The Conrad Bali, which boasts more than 55 newly launched palatial suites. Each room has its own personal assistant who will cater to your every whim and fancy.

Opening on Oct 1, the minimum 110 sq m suites are set in a secluded haven surrounded by tropical gardens and ponds.

The views from the resort will also put you in the mood for relaxation.

Overlooking the Indian Ocean, it also has a 350m-long beach where you can frolic or sunbathe.

Your individualised pampering starts even before you arrive.

The resort's new personalised holiday planning website allows you to pre-select your favourite music, aroma and drink to create a personal sanctuary in your suite.

Once there, you can choose to relax in a soaking tub attached with a television or lounge at the private beach club and pool exclusive to Conrad Suite guests.

There is also the award-winning Jiwa Spa that offers a wide range of massage packages to soothe tense muscles.

If staying indoors is not your cup of tea, get your personal assistant to arrange for a helicopter flight that will take you over the rice terraces of the island.

You can also hop into a land cruiser and go to a forest for a trek where you can pick a nice picnic spot and watch the sun go down.

For more information on Conrad Hotels & Resorts, visit ConradHotels.com

SINGAPORE MICHELIN GUIDE

If you thought sporty tyres, good food guides and the roly-poly Michelin Man were all that the French company has come up with, think again.

It will now lead travellers through the sights of Singapore - from the venomous Hadwick's sea snake that lives off the coast of the island to Rumah Bebe, possibly the only Peranakan beading shop around, in East Coast Road - with its Michelin Green Guide Singapore.

The travel guide, which was launched here two Fridays ago, also gives information on where to stay, what to eat and how to get around Singapore, along with detailed walking tours, maps and histories.

The attractions have also been rated using its famous star-rating system.

The information comes in digestible bite-sized nuggets that carry useful details. There is even a section that tells readers what 'Hoh seh liao lah! Damn steady wan la!' means.

The Green Guides have been available in Europe and North America, but the Singapore version is among 54 others that will be sold in Asia for the first time.

The series is sold at Harris, Borders and Kinokuniya bookstores for between $34.90 and $39.90.

tanyihui@sph.com.sg

tcheryl@sph.com.sg

Photo by Conrad Hotels & Resorts

This article was first published in The Straits Times on September 16, 2008.

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