Staying in the past
Last year, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts raised the ire of Jewish groups, most notably human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, by opening a resort on the site of Adolf Hitler's former Alpine retreat, above the German town of Berchtesgaden (above). Now, another hotel project is courting controversy in the north of the country. Prora, on the island of Ruegen, off Germany's Baltic Coast, was a workers' resort and spa built on Hitler's orders to accommodate 20,000 holidaymakers at a time. Comprising eight enormous buildings stretching 4.5km along the coast, with a sea view
from every room, its plans won the Grand Prix of Architecture at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris. But, despite the efforts of 9,000 labourers, it was never used for its intended purpose, thanks to the outbreak of the second world war, and has lain largely unused since. German estate agent Ulrich Busch plans to develop the resort, creating 450 holiday apartments in a space designed for 10,000. Government approval is pending, but Busch's family credentials should ensure no one suspects him of wanting to resurrect memories of the resort's Nazi past. His father was an anti-Nazi cabaret artist in Berlin imprisoned by the SS for two years before fleeing the country. Work on the project is expected to begin early next year.
Great escape
Upmarket Bali resort Uma Ubud is selling an Escape to Paradise package, available until December 18, which includes the following extras with two nights in a Terrace/Garden Room for US$436/US$456, double occupancy: a la carte breakfast, one three-course set lunch, a 60-minute signature Como Shambhala or Indonesian massage, round-trip transfers, daily yoga sessions, daily guided morning walks, a daily fruit basket and free in-room broadband and Wi-fi internet access. This rate is roughly the same as the normal rate for accommodation alone as advertised on the Uma Ubud website, so all the extras, except breakfast, are bonuses. For further details and reservations, visit
www.uma.como.bz.
Eco trips
'Exotic Travel and Adventure in Bangladesh' might seem like an unlikely promise, but that's what's on offer from Bangladesh Ecotours, which invites you to 'experience a Bangladesh that few people would imagine'. Offering ready-made or personalised eco-friendly tours, the company offers excursions to the Sundarbans Delta (the largest mangrove forest in the world), a hike to Keokradong, the country's highest peak, at 1,350 metres, a visit to a couple of indigenous tribes, treks through the recently opened Chittagong Hill Tracts, which border Myanmar, and more. There is an enthusiastic tone to the website (which even manages to make a tour of Dhaka sound appealing) but various testimonials back up the promises. Jim Conrad, of the long-established ecotour company EarthFoot, rates Bangladesh Ecotours as 'probably the most interesting of all our worldwide EarthFoot listings'. For more information, go to
www.bangladeshecotours.com.