Put this hotel down as a must visit location. Villa d’Este on Lake Como in Italy. Why you might ask? Well according to the readers of Forbes Traveler this hotel is the finest in the world.

It has everything,” says one Forbes Traveler 400 board member of Villa d’Este, the World’s Best Hotel. “Location, views, architecture, beauty, service, decor, history, easy accessibility, a spa, sightseeing and weather.”

Villa d’Este is a former princely residence dating back to the 16th century. It is surrounded by a 25 acre park. When staying at the villa you get to enjoy the magnificence of a bygone era. The luxury and elegance has been transported into the modern era and gives you everything you would expect in a luxury hotel.

On their website it says “Upon emerging from the revolving doors you feel the cares of the modern world slip away and the warm greetings of the staff make you feel at home.”

In the past the villa was owned by a ballerina and a Napoleonic General, a Queen without a crown, a Russian Empress and minor aristocracy. It was transformed into a hotel in 1873.

If you enjoy art then you will delighted with what you see within the Villa d’Este. The hotel is decorated with fine arts to give it a palatial atmosphere. Some art works to look out for include the Adam and Eve Carrara marble statues by Marco Antonio Prestinari in the Canova Bar.

You will feel like royalty strolling through the magnificent gardens of Villa d’Este. You will enjoy the blend of two styles, the Italian and the Picturesque. The garden alone attracts many visitors to this region.

Villa d’Este has won so many awards the list is too long to include here. Just to name a few it won the Conde Nast Traveller Best Resort in Europe award in 2004 and the No. 1 spa hotel in Europe from Travel and Leisure magazine in 2006.

Villa d’Este totals 152 rooms and feature period furniture and oil paintings.

Rooms at the Villa d’Este are not cheap but you are experiencing the heights of luxury. To give you some idea of the cost some rooms available in September 2009 are the Double Superior from 690 Euros, Double Executive for 790 Euros, Corner Room 980 Euros or a Junior Suite for 1160 Euros.

So to experience true luxury this is the place. If it is out of the question but you would still like to visit the beautiful Lake Como in Italy you can book here. Book hotel in Como Italy

What is your favorite hotel in the world?

Using the HotelsCombined website can be a great way to save time and money when you are booking a hotel. The great thing about that site is that it has a database that includes offers from over 30 different hotel booking sites.

When you enter the city or country you are booking a hotel for the HotelsCombined site will search all of the different hotel booking sites at once to quickly find the best deal for you.

Once you do a search or browse you can read reviews from real guests, check out millions of photos or see maps showing hotel locations. Overall you can’t lose with this great service.

You can access the hotels from the hotels section on the Cheapflightscruises.com main website.

What are you waiting for? Start making plans for your next vacation now!

The Beijing Olympics are now 457 days away. You may think that is a long time away and you would not need to start making travel plans just yet.

You may think differently when I tell you that the tickets are now available for registration. From now until early July you can register your ticket requests at the CoSport website. CoSport are the official ticketing agent for people from the US, Australia, Canada and a few other countries. You can look through the schedule and select up to 48 event tickets per order.

Once you are ready to make you selection you fill in the order form and submit your order. At this stage you are charged $1 to verify your credit card. I selected some opening ceremony tickets which at the lower end cost USD256. For the A tickets they will set you back USD773.

Some other examples include Athletics from USD9 if you want to attend a morning session sitting in the C class seats. If you prefer to be a bit closer to the action it is USD137 for an A class ticket during a night session. For swimming the price range is USD17 to 107.

If you need a hotel in Beijing you can select accommodation packages from the CoSport website. They have a choice of four Beijing hotels that are all four star. You can choose accommodation only or select an option that includes tickets. Prices range from USD2085 all the way up to USD 9581 for a five night package that includes tickets to Gymnastics – Rhythmic, Beach Volleyball (M Finals), Table Tennis (W Finals), Diving(M Semis), Athletics M&W Finals), Basketball (M Finals) and the Closing Ceremony.

The Beijing Hotels that CoSport have selected are Minzu Hotel, Jianguo Hotel, Novotel Peace Hotel Beijing and Landmark Hotel Beijing. I have personally stayed in the the Landmark Hotel and can recommend it. If you prefer to go it alone with accommodation you could start searching the Hotels Combined website around August this year.

The one thing that remains is to find a flight to Beijing. This is also something you would probably need to wait until around August before you start your search to make flight reservations to Beijing. The main thing at this stage is to secure some tickets to your favourite sporting events.

If you live in Australia or will be visiting in the near future lastminute.com.au have a great hotel deal for you. As was featured on the Getaway show this website is offering up to 75% off 4 and 5 star hotels.

The catch is that you don’t know exactly what hotel you are going to be staying at until you have made your booking. That is the concept behind the Secret Hotel deals.

For exactly how it works visit this page at lastminute.com.au

I have been over to the website and checked out some of the hotel deals on offer. It seems that the Gold Coast is very popular. The secret 5 star deluxe hotel is booked out until Thursday 26 April at a cost of $365. If you are happy with a 4.5 star 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of Surfers Paradise you can grab one for $170.

In Sydney you can get yourself a 5 star deluxe hotel with a view of Sydney Harbour for $270 or you may want a 5 star Meriton apartment from $99. That sounds like a bargain to me.

Lastminute.com.au are advertising a secret 5 star deal in Melbourne from $130. If you have romance and seduction on your mind you may be interested in a special offer that caters for you starting at $370.

If you like something different you should try the secret hotels offer.

If this is not your cup of tea and you are looking for good hotel deals I suggest you checkout the hotels combined website. This site provides a great free tool that allows you to search through multiple hotel booking systems with just one search. This is a great time saver as you do not have to jump from website to website looking for the lowest hotel price.

If anyone does try the secret hotel deal I would love to hear from you.