As delayed hotel openings go, London's InterContinental Westminster's one-year overrun is par for the course for luxury hotels, but missing out on visitors for Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee celebrations and the Olympics made it a bad year in which to fall behind. The 256-room property (right), which should open next month, is close to St James's Park Tube station and within walking dis-tance of Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, and is the first InterContinental hotel to open in the capital since the InterContinental Park Lane did so 37 years ago. The Westminster occupies Queen Anne's Chambers, a site that started out as a hospital in the 18th century, and which is bounded by Broadway, Tothill Street and Dean Farrar Street - names familiar to politicians, civil servants and bicycle messengers. In another case of bad timing for the hotel, the Westminster City Council saw fit to begin road works on all three of these thoroughfares last month, with pavement resurfacing, pedestrian-crossing installa-tion and other work scheduled to carry on until January. Assuming this is all fin-ished on time, from February onwards, the InterContinental Westminster should be a good choice for a peaceful yet central London location. Visit
www.intercontinental.com/westminster for reservations.
If you fancy a bit of resort-style R&R in Macau but would prefer not to stay overnight, Banyan Tree (left) is offering its poolside cabanas for exclusive use by non-guests from 7am to 7pm for HK$1,500 plus 10 per cent service charge. The air-conditioned cabins contain a flatscreen television, an iPad, a private shower, padded loungers, tables and a washroom. Free snacks and drinks are served every hour from 11am. On week-ends the resort lays on an evening poolside barbecue, priced at HK$488 per person (half price for children), with free-flowing soft drinks, beer and wine for an extra HK$230 per person. For more details, call 853 8883 8833, or visit
www.banyantree.com
