Travel Insider: News, notes and Bargain/Binge picks

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Oct. 13, 2011
By LINKS Magazine staff

Each week, LINKS Magazine will provide travel news and notes. For more information from LINKS Magazine, please visit the official website.

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Keswick Hall, the Orient-Express property near Charlottesville, Va., is offering an 'Unlimited Golf Stay & Play Package' through Nov. 12 that features luxurious accommodations, unlimited golf for two with cart on the resort's Arnold Palmer-designed course (it hosted sectional qualifying for the 2011 USGA Mid-Amateur Championship in August), 9th hole window lunch for two, up to 20% off in the golf shop, access to the fitness center and spa, daily newspaper and free internet access. Rate is $375 per room, per night, two-night minimum stay.

Want to talk turkey someplace else this year? Celebrate Thanksgiving in Spain with TourCrafter's 5-night golf getaway to La Cala, a sprawling 54-hole resort on the sun-splashed Costa del Sol. Package cost of $1,179 per person, double occupancy includes airfare (Nov. 20 departure from New York), transfers, accommodations, four rounds of golf with shared cart, a 54-hole Stableford Tournament, spa treatments for non-golfing companions, buffet breakfasts, gala dinner with prize-giving ceremony, and other extras. Fuel surcharges and airport taxes not included. Add-on air fares from other U.S. cities are available. For more information, log onto http://www.tourcrafters.it/ and click Spain. A similar golf package with car rental (but without Stableford event) is available throughout the winter season.

Set in a lovely valley 90 minutes north of Los Angeles, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, surrounded by citrus groves, burly oaks and tall peaks in the Topa Topa Mountains, offers a 'Best of Ojai' package through Dec. 31. The program features deluxe accommodations, breakfast for two, and one activity per adult for each night's stay, including fishing, kayaking, spa treatments or a round of golf on the resort's restored George C. Thomas-designed course, which is short on the card but long on beauty and strategic interest. Guests can also opt for a golf lesson. Rates start at $563 per night, double occupancy.

Thailand's newest five-star luxury hotel, the St. Regis Bangkok, has joined 'Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience,' a marketing cooperative comprised of the nation's finest golf courses, hotels and resorts. The hotel, known for its exquisite appointments, butler service and full-service spa, is offering special rates for guests to play at five of Bangkok's leading courses: Thai Country Club, Alpine Golf & Sports Club, Muang Kaew, Navatanee, and Suwan. The St. Regis can arrange transport to and from each course.

The only thing better than golf in the Pocono Mountains is fall golf in the "Pokes," a 2,400-square-mile, four-county region in eastern Pennsylvania marked by lakes, woodlands and rolling mountains. Brilliant foliage and great deals make autumn the best time of year to tee it up in the Poconos. Among the top venues offering seasonal packages are Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, Woodloch Resort, and Chateau Resort & Conference Center, which features golf at several nearby courses, including Jack Frost National, Buck Hill Falls and Mount Airy GC.

Bargain and Binge

Bargain

Mystical Golf, owner and operator of the Witch, Man-O-War and Wizard golf courses in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is promoting a "Magically Affordable" 3-night, 3-round package through Oct. 31. Located 15 minutes from Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR), Mystical Golf's spacious, well-appointed condos are within easy reach of attractions, nightlife and the Grand Strand. The stay-and-play program includes one round with cart on each of Mystical Golf's three courses, accommodations in a three-bedroom golf villa (four beds), free steak dinner at Max's & Emma's (includes non-alcoholic beverages, taxes and tips), free lunch and range balls, $15 gift card towards a golf shirt, and $23 instant replay (day of play). Per person, per night price of $124 is an even better deal from Nov. 1 - 30, when the rate drops to $114.

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Binge

Hotel Fouquet's Barriere in Paris is offering guests the opportunity to learn golf from Jean-Francois Remesy, one of France's most renowned golfers, as part of the hotel's Ultimate Golf Experience package. Remesy, a two-time winner of the French Open, will train guests for two days at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, and another course of choice outside Paris. The package features two nights' accommodation in a deluxe junior suite, welcome VIP gift, golf session with Remesy including long game, short game and video analysis, breakfast daily, lunch at Le Golf National, dinner one night with Remesy at Le Fouquet's, the hotel's premier restaurant, and roundtrip transfers to and from the golf courses and airport. Priced at $5,385 per night, the two-night package is based on double occupancy and is available through Nov. 30.

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