Embrace Your Wild Side at the Ritz

The Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua, Maui is proud to bring you a brand new program that gets you out there and in the wilderness. The Jean-Michel Coustea’s Ambassadors of the Environment programs allow you to hike through the Hawaiian rainforest, snorkel among Maui’s most beautiful coral reefs, and participate in underwater photography sessions. The program features new environmental and cultural education center with excursions led by experts! It is designed for you to learn about Hawaii’s unique ecosystems while you demonstrate your connection to the larger global scale.

All of the adventurous programs include an educational orientation, transportation, and a gourmet picnic lunch in the field!

Some sample packages include:

Whale Wonders—Join expert naturalists on board the Trilogy’s comfortable catamaran as you unite with Maui’s Humpback Whale. These gentile giants make mammoth journeys each year between the feeding and breeding sites. You will explore an underwater world beyond your imaginations filled with discovery and mystery!

Cities Under the Sea, Underwater Photography—Explore life beneath the waves as experts guide you on an interpretive snorkel over one of Maui’s most pristine coral reefs. You will examine the living communities of fish, coral, and algae, and witness the interdependencies of one species to the next. You will be able to share your experience with all your loved ones with the underwater digital cameras.

Maunalei Magic—Venture into the Maunalei Arboretum for a first-hand wonder at Maui’s forested uplands above Kapalua Resort. Trained hike leaders share their knowledge of Hawaii’s natural and cultural history while they interpret the geological formation and biological speciation along the way! You will also learn about old Hawaii and how the native people learned to thrive in harmony with nature.

If these packages sound exciting and tempting, you must try at least one! There is something for everyone and enough beautiful Hawaiian scenery to enjoy it more than once!

Check out our Ritz-Carlton Kapalua page or home page for more great honeymoon ideas!

Romantic Escapes with a Beautiful Touch of Green

This month we decided to GO GREEN! We know you are constantly checking your wallet to see how much green is left, but we want you to think about sustainability this issue. The environment and keeping it healthy and beautiful are hot topics of the past few years. So for all you ecological couples out there, we have great hotels and resorts at which you can enjoy some fun in the sun!

A few issues ago we told you about the wonderful Mfuwe Lodge in Zambawi. Mfuwe was located in South Luangwa Notional Park, and in late November, elephants could be spotted walking by the front desk! For the first hotel I’d like to take you back to Aftirca, but this time South Africa.

Addo Elephant National Park is another great retreat to take if you’re looking for a personal African adventure. As you visit the sight you get the feeling that you’re in for an exotic honeymoon… “Deep within the shadows of the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River region of the Eastern Cape lies the Addo Elephant National Park. Here, the evenings are punctuated by the strident howl of the black-backed jackal, and the francolin's call heralds each new dawn” All the lodges are ecofriendly and submerge you in an atmosphere you can’t get in Cancun, Itatly, or on a Cruise ship. This is truly a honeymoon for you nature lovers. The mission statement of the national park shows the dedication to natural preservation and commitment to sustainability: “…seeks to be fully integrated into the regional landscape, conserves and enhances the characteristic terrestrial and marine biodiversity, ecological processes and cultural, historical and scenic resources representative of the Eastern Cape region for the appreciation, and benefit of present and future generations.” You may choose lodging in the middle of the park, by the dam, or in more secluded areas of the park where you can be tucked away in your romance.

If you like birds, are a bird watcher, or like to be high in the sky, eye-level with birds, we have just what you are looking for. Why play Barry Manilow on your honeymoon when you have live music from the birds? “Yes, parrots are in great number here, along with hundreds of other types of birds, making this an ideal location for bird watching.” Parrot Nest Lodge is exactly the unique tropical experience you’ve been searching for. You will enjoy things you never thought possible, like sleeping the night away under a 100’ guanacaste tree in a thatched tree house. You will have the Mopan River on three sides of the grounds, which means you can take a refreshing swim in clear, natural waters. This unique 5-Acre tropical experience can be found just outside of San Ignacio in Belize.

If you are really into sustainability and cold weather, and I mean really, you have to visit Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge in Alaska at least once in your life! You will being staying somewhere unique, elegant, and comfortable, but also with something no where else has to offer: stunning views of Sadie Cove and far off Mt. Augustine. This self-sustaining lodge is almost completely off the "grid". You will be staying in one of 5 handcrafted private cabins. We wouldn’t have you roughing it too much though—all have running water, toilets, 110 volt electricity, automatic heat, fresh air-dried high thread count linens and blankets, bathrobes, and gracious housekeeping services. You must request one of the two cabins that have wood fires to add a little extra romantic for you and your partner! Delicious meals served in the dining room or outer deck are cooked by Randi, a former executive chef. A cozy, spacious lounge is available to guests for reading, gaming, visiting, or just relaxing and enjoying the sunset. This is perfect to snuggle up and enjoy each other’s company as you escape, doing good for your newly started marriage and for your planet!

Please check out more hotels, resorts, and honeymoon options at our site!

Still Going Strong, Still Going Green

Like I mentioned on the previous blog, I found some great online material on sustainability and traveling. After the Article on the Mayakoba and Hacienda, the next article I found was on The Mexico Premiere's site.

This article is especially poignant in that it addresses the issues while encouraging everyone to do there part. It gives a brief history of the recognition of the sustainability of our planet. I was getting excited as I read on!

The way I look at it, when you go on vacation, you want to go to the most beautiful places on Earth, right? Well what makes that stop beautiful? If you really think about what you want in your vacation, you will surely feel the serenity of that exact spot! Try it now! Sit back and hear the waves, trees blowing in wind, or birds calling…

Mexico is a gorgeous place to visit! It’s nice to know that your resort isn’t destroying the natural environment, but helping keep it alive and beautiful. This article highlights the beauty of Mexico and the efforts that are being taken to keep it magnificent for you and your loved ones. I also suggest you send a link to this Mexican Tourism Board article to a friend and family member with whom you plan on traveling!

Check out all of our Mexican Locations at our AskAboutHoneymoons page!

Go Green This and Every Vacation

Hi Everyone!

I was just reading a couple of articles online about traveling with our environment in mind. Some of the articles that really caught my eye were online at Travel Weekly by Jeri Clausing and Mexico Premiere by the Mexican Tourism Board. Both are such a great articles and fit in perfectly with our "Go Green" theme this month I couldn't help but share them with you! Please read Clausing's entire Travel Weekly article and The Mexican Tourism Board's article online, but I will summarize some of the great points I found! I decided to separate the posts for easier reading. If you would like to know more about the Mexican Tourism Board’s article see the post “Still Going Strong, Still Going Green.”

Travel Weekly--My favorite part was that it highlights two of my favorite resorts! The Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Hacienda Tres Rios. Like you will find the article mentions, I didn't even realize all the actions are being taken to "Go Green" at these locations!

These hotels are romantically earthy. You are in the heart of nature, feeling intimacy like never before. Most people hate traveling, or going to Islands because they think of the commercialization. Even Florida has sky scrapers and buildings all over the coast line! However, you have the opposite feel at these resorts. The corporate VP of the Americas for Banyan Tree, John Searby states it perfectly, "This is the antithesis of Cancun." Myakoba goes above and beyond the typical resort considerations of sustainability.

Clausing highlights the resort’s efforts of maintaining and improving the surrounding water resources and conservation. Now you can tell your friends you’re doing a lot more than just turning the water off when you brush your teeth—you’re conserving on your vacation. Environmentalists need to vacation in style too after all!

Some of the major issues Clausing highlights are some of the things that you, like I, may not even realize a hotel is doing to stay Green. However, we want you to know the facts; we want you to appreciate all the efforts these resorts are doing to preserve the wilderness.


“

To minimize the resort’s carbon footprint, local materials were used wherever
possible for construction and furnishings. Everything from its cooling plants to
construction techniques were designed to take the environment into account. Although there is plenty of water in Mexico, the resort pumps all of its water from the ocean, then purifies it in a desalination plant rather than drawing water from underground aquifers. The hotel also uses cold water from deep wells to pre-cool its air-conditioning system. The same system then captures the heat from the air-conditioning system to warm water to within 10 degrees of the temperature needed for hot showers.
Parts of the buildings were prefabricated, which helped reduce the amount of equipment on site.
"Normally during construction, animals move away," said Gabriel Santoyo, Tres Rios’ environmental officer. "We had a higher count because we created a new aquatic ecosystem, so now, many migrating birds stop here."
Mazarambroz said Mayakoba had seen a similar increase in birds and wildlife. Santoyo knows there are new birds because part of his job is to constantly monitor the flow of the rivers and lakes as well as the plant and wildlife on the resort grounds and adjoining park.
During construction, the resort rescued 4,000 plants representing 11 endangered or protected species and now maintains a nursery to nurture many of them. It also recycled all construction-related materials, right down to the bottles containing the water consumed by workers.
The resort was developed by Orlando Arroyo Marroquin, whose Sunset Group also owns the Sunset Lagoon Resort & Yacht Club in Cancun, the Sunset Fishermen Spa & Resort in Playa del Carmen and 20 other tourism-related service companies.
Many green features in the guest rooms are not apparent. For instance, there is no slot that requires a key card for the electricity to work. With such systems, Santoyo said, a guest need only leave a business card in the slot to keep the air conditioning and lights running.
Instead, each room has motion detectors that shut things down if there is no
movement within a certain period of time. Likewise, there is no card instructing guests on options for changing towels. The maids in my room left me piles of clean towels, but used towels that were left hanging were not removed.
There are no recycle bins, but resort officials said all trash was sorted before
being taken out.”

Sustainability isn’t just a trend, it is here to stay. Companies globally are recognizing the responsibilities to the environment and wild life. These hotels are two of the first in their industry to take the bull by the horns. They are serious about being green, and are constantly finding new ways to improve the existing policies and practices.

The article starts off:

"RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico-- One of the first hings I noticed when we pulled off the
highway between Cancuna nd Playa del Carmen onto the new Hacienda Tres Rios
resort was the driveway.
Instead of being paved with asphalt or concrete, it was made of crushed limestone, like the paths and roads that serve nearby ancient Mayan ruins. The drive winds through an eco-park of flora, wildlife and rivers, then pulls up to what looks like a typical modern, all-inclusive Riviera Maya resort.
But Tres Rios, like the nearby Mayakoba resort, is anything but typical. Both are examples of a new breed of environmentally conscious resorts being developed around the world. They combine all the creature comforts of traditional four- and five-star hotels with nature and behind-the-scenes technologies that go far beyond the towel-and-sheet reuse programs that until recently defined most hotels’ environmental efforts.
Tres Rios and Mayakoba are hybrids in the world of environmentally friendly
hospitality. They are not eco-resorts in the strict sense of the word, the kind
found in places such as Costa Rica, which tend to supplement electricity needs
with solar power and serve only locally grown foods. But they have incorporated
the latest in green construction, technologies and practices.
By employing water desalination plants, special cooling machines that reduce air-conditioning costs and ultramodern construction techniques such as pilings that enable large hotels to be built over underground rivers without disturbing their flow, these two resorts are transforming development along the Yucatan Peninsula.”
“Javier Aranda Pedrero, director of the Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office, said that after observing the development of Mayakoba, and then Tres Rios, local, state and federal officials are in the process of writing new development rules for the area.
"Mayakoba is the model," he said, "and the people from Hacienda Tres Rios have worked very, very well with sustainable development of hotels and protecting all the area that they have for mangroves."
While hotel development here, like in much of the world, is in a lull because of the economy, Aranda said he expects it to pick up again in 2010. By then, he said, the government should have new development guidelines based on lessons learned at the two resorts.”

This is an extremely interesting and exciting article. I suggest you read it and send a link to a friend. Visit the AskAboutHoneymoons home page or the Mayakoba or Tres Rios pages to learn more about the hotels and packages we’re offering.

Its the Energy Stupid!

I ran across this criticism of Architects and the green movement the other day.  http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-007-prioritizing-green2014it-s-the-energy-stupid/?full_view=1

It was written by Joseph Lstiburek; a renowned building science expert and royal smart ass.  Many Architects and Engineers do not like Mr. Lstiburek because of his criticisms.  I think mostly because he is all too often right; and he always has facts to back his claims up.

Lstiburek's basic criticism is this.  Architects and Engineers are creating "Green Monuments".  Buildings that are hailed Green and win awards; and yet they statistically are not saving any energy over their non-green counterparts.

I tend to agree with many of his criticisms.  I have felt for some time that we get caught up in all the new exciting technology - so much so that we forget the basic principles of good environmental design that the Ancients knew, and that Edward Mazria re-taught us over 30 years ago.  This is why I try to focus on the basics - see http://simplyeleganthomedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/01/top-10-green-things-to-do-when-building.html

I think our industry should be open to criticisms like his.  If we really want to do good, then we should verify that we really are doing good; and just not convincing ourselves of it.

Star Clippers Offers Half Fares for Honeymooning Brides

Star Clippers announced a new offer on seven-day Tahiti sailings in 2009! Under the program, brides receive a 50 percent discount off of the cruise fare when the groom pays the brochure rate on an outside cabin in categories C1 to C3. (Visit the site or call an agent today for more details!) Guests who book their air with Star Clippers also receive a free night post-cruise at the Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti in Papeete.

**Honeymooners must have been married within three months of the sailing departure and book at least four months in advance. **

Newlyweds are greeted with a bottle of champagne and fruit basket in their stateroom, as well as other surprises. (Oh La La!) Star Flyer sails a seven-night round-trip from Papeete that calls at Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, and Cook Bay and Opunohu Bay, Moorea, with an overnight in Papeete before disembarkation. Cruise fares per honeymooning couple begin at $3,743 ($2,495 for the groom and $1,248 for the bride).

For more information, call 800-442-0551 or visit http://www.starclippers.com/.

Our agents would love to answer any of your questions and take care of all your booking needs.
Phone AskAboutHoneymoons at 800-571-4510

Green Links

I just wanted to pass on an FYI that I have now posted links for various green resources along the sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs Blog.  Over the next weeks I will be refining the listings.  Since there are so many green resources available to us I want to try to edit the list down to provide useful "common sense green" information, and to eliminate as much redundancy as possible.  I will also be adding a links page to my Simply Elegant Home Designs website.

Again, you can see the links along the right sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs blog.  And by the way, I welcome your suggestions.

Architect vs. Builder

Architects and Home Builders seem to have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship.  Looking through my lens as an Architect it seems that many builders look at us as a necessary evil; and something to be avoided.  Most builders today still utilize their own in house staff or an outside house plan drafting service in lieu or working with an Architect.  The result is a lack of creativity and variety.  The evidence?  Take a drive through the suburbs and you will see thousands of homes that look remarkably similar, yet constructed by many different builders.  This cannot possibly be a good situation for the builders, because it forces them to compete mostly by price alone.  Not a good way to make a profit.

It seems clear that if the builders want to stand out and get more demand for their products; then one great way to do that is to offer great creative, unique and functional designs that stand out from the competition.  In other words they should create a design niche.  And the best way to do this might be to work with a competent Residential Architect / Designer.

 

So why does the builder avoid the Architect?  Well at Larson Brenner Architects I have bumped into many builders over the years and I can pretty much tell you why.

• Time – Builders don’t make money until they start construction of the home.  Sometimes they don’t make money until construction is completed.  It drives them crazy having to wait for the design process to be completed.
• Money – Going through the traditional architectural design process costs money.  Builders are constantly trying to manage escalating construction costs – and Architects represent another cost control issue.
• Attitude – Many Architects look down on the builder; and it shows.  Our field likes to put down the housing industry, yet offers little in the way of assistance.  So why would a builder want to work with us if he thinks we don’t respect him?

There is clearly a huge market share that Architects are not currently tapping into because of the above.  I believe we can gain market share by doing the following:

1. Try to gain a better understanding the builders’ point of view.  We also need to give them a better idea of who we are and the value that we bring to projects.  We need to get out and start talking with them and learning from each other.  With understanding comes mutual respect.
2. Modify our process and deliverables for builders to save time and money.  I am not arguing that we should give our services away.  Our services are extremely valuable.  I am only suggesting a modification of our services and deliverables to bring more value to the builder.

At Larson Brenner Architects we a bit of experience with item 2.  I’ll try to expand a bit on that in a future posting.

Simple,Unique, Creative and Green House Plans

View your home in Google Earth

Simply Elegant Home Designs is offering a new service to help potential plan purchasers visualize their house plan within the context of their own site.  For a nominal fee they can provide images of the desired house plan at their site address.  The images below provide an example of how this can work.  They depict various google earth views which increasingly zoom in on a specific site address in which a 3d house plan model has been inserted.

This service can be particularly helpful for a potential plan purchaser because it allows them to get an idea of how the house plan might fit into their own unique site location prior to purchasing the full plan set.  Also, because google earth provides 3d terrain, it can also help to understand grading issues or identify special foundation conditions that might be required.  

Simply Elegant Home Designs offers pre-designed home plans that are creative, simple, elegant, unique and green to individuals, builders and developers.  Their goal is to provide the most discriminating home designs available and to be the most service oriented organization in the pre-designed house plans business.  They can be reached at www.simplyeleganthomedesigns.com or 612-669-6411.