Travellers' checks

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Published: 12:00am, 3 Oct 2010

House on the beach

The Legian resort on Bali's Seminyak has converted its beach house into an exclusive three-bedroom holiday villa, featuring a private 16-metre infinity pool, an outdoor bale pavilion and walled tropical garden. Styled by Indonesian interior designer Jaya Ibrahim, The Beach House sits on its own stretch of sand and faces west to catch the picture-perfect Balinese sunsets. Guests also receive the attention of a 24-hour butler and chauffeur with the option of a personal chef. Prices until December 22 start from US$2,700 a night. For details and reservations, visit www.ghmhotels.com.

Magical experience

Magic lantern shows, both public and private, were a favourite 19th-century window to the world for many Hong Kong residents, providing the earliest form of popular travelogue. Hand-coloured glass slides projected onto whitewashed drawing-room walls and screens at venues such as the Theatre Royal in City Hall showed audiences views of the world and its exotic peoples for several decades. Published this month, Memories of a Lost World: Travels Through the Magic Lantern, by Charlotte Fiell, contains a collection of more than 800 such images from 'the bustling streets of Victorian London and the ruins of ancient Egypt to the temples of Japan and the tribesmen of New Guinea'. The hardcover, 704-page first edition is available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk for GBP24.95 (HK$306).

The great revival

One of Europe's most anticipated hotel openings scheduled for next year is that of the St Pancras Renaissance London. Originally due to open in 2009, the hotel will occupy part of what was once the Midland Grand in the magnificent St Pancras Chambers building (right). The official launch date has been fixed for May 5, the 138th anniversary of the 1873 opening of the Midland Grand, which closed in 1934.