Cathay Pacific will be dropping Moscow from its route network from June 1, citing increased operating costs and a decline in passenger numbers since flights were launched in 2010. Similar reasons compelled Cathay to suspend operations to Zurich back in 2001, but the Swiss city was reintroduced online last week with a new daily service. Cathay Pacific Holidays has already launched a Zurich package, with prices starting from HK$8,350 for round-trip, economy-class flights and three nights' accommodation at the Crowne Plaza. Tax and fuel surcharges will add about another HK$800 to the package price. Go to
www.cxholidays.com for details.
A Park Hyatt has just opened on Unguja, the largest island in the Zanzibar archipelago. Located on the waterfront in Stone Town (the decaying but attractive old quarter of Zanzibar City), the 67-room hotel occupies two main buildings. One is newly built, but the other, known as Mambo Msiige, dates back to around 1850, and housed the British Consulate (above) from 1875 to 1913. It was the planned conversion of this building to a Kempinski hotel that led to reported threats of Stone Town being stripped of its Unesco World Heritage Site status in 2011. Kempinski lost its management contract the same year, but Hyatt (or the hotel's Dubai-based owners) managed to somehow overcome Unesco opposition. No exterior photographs of the hotel were available at the time of writing, with just a small selection of fairly unremarkable interior shots (below) - which probably don't do the property justice - available to the media. Access to Zanzibar will be easier for Hong Kong travellers starting from July 1, when Qatar Airways is expected to begin operating five weekly flights from Doha. These will go via Kilimanjaro on the outbound leg, while return flights will be non-stop to Doha, making it possible to visit two popular Tanzanian destinations on one trip. Qatar Airways flies daily between Hong Kong and Doha.
Although it was opened last month with a heavy French accent, and proud reference to the French crystal company's 250 years of "noble heritage", the Baccarat Hotel & Residences in New York (top) is owned by a Chinese insurance company and managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. (American hospitality giant Starwood reportedly sold the property earlier this year to Beijing-based Sunshine Insurance for US$230 million.) This is the first of several crystal-bedecked Baccarat Hotels in the pipeline, with Morocco slated for next year and Dubai and Doha pencilled in for sometime "over the course of the next few years". Such a flexible forecast is probably for the best, considering that the first Baccarat hotel was announced back in 2008. Located on West 53rd Street, opposite the Museum of Modern Art and a few blocks south of Central Park, the hotel can be viewed online at
www.baccarathotels.com.
