The newly opened Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort is located 140 km from downtown Hangzhou, right on the scenic shores of Qiandao Lake in a region that includes China’s largest state forest. The 250-room resort features the new Link@SheratonSM lobby lounge, which is designed as a social environment with easy access to information, technology and dining. Event space features 10 meeting rooms and accommodates up to 1,200. The largest space, Hangzhou Grand Ballroom, accommodates 600 attendees theater style. Lake Resort offers three restaurants and two lounge bars including Yue for Cantonese cuisine, Fishing for organic fish and local wild vegetables in authentic Qiandao style and Feast for international and Chinese cuisine. Sheraton Fitness, a training and lifestyle program, features a state-of-the-art gym and a Shine Spa by Sheraton will open in August.

Website www.starwood.com

Les Suites Orient, Bund Shanghai, a member of Preferred Hotels, opened this month. The 168-room property is very close to the Yu Garden and the tunnel connecting the Pudong financial district and the Shanghai World Expo. High-tech guest rooms are outfitted with modern technology including a weather display panel on the bathroom mirror. The room key card also functions as a transportation card for use on local taxis, buses and subway. Les Suites Mobile Life program provides guests with a mobile phone for local and international calls and also direct access to the hotel’s help desk. Meeting facilities include three multifunctional rooms in 82 sqm/882 sqft of space. The Lounge restaurant provides all day dining and use of PC and Mac computers. Complimentary WiFi is available throughout the hotel. The fitness center is complemented by a Zen space for yoga and meditation.

Website www.preferredhotels.com

The stunning Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai offers 952 guest rooms and suites in two towers, the River Wing and the Grand Tower. Late last year, Shangri-La fully renovated the River Wing redecorating all 573-guest rooms, adding Queen Anne chairs, Ottomans and rain showers to Horizon Club Floors, also enlarging the Horizon Club Lounge in the wing. The hotel’s meeting and event space was also expanded during the renovation and two Victorian-inspired meeting rooms, the Chairman’s and President’s Rooms with over 630 sqm/6,782 sqft of space were added, ideal for exclusive meetings and private dining. The Pudong Shangri-La has a total of 7,000 sqm/75,347 sqft of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space that includes two pillarless ballrooms that accommodate 1,500 and 1,700 each.

Website www.shangri-la.com

The Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa on Mai Khao Beach opened this month. The property which is adjacent to Sirinath Marine National Park, features 17 km of pristine beaches on the Andaman Sea. The resort’s 180 guest rooms include 150 deluxe rooms, four one-bedroom suites, 25 one-bedroom villas with private pools, and one ocean front three-bedroom villa. The Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa has six meeting rooms in 271 sqm/2,917 sqft of total meeting space. The largest room is the Renaissance Ballroom I, II, III, seating 160. Five dining venues serve Thai, fresh local seafood, deli and baked goods, barbecue and international cuisine. The hotel’s lounge offers semi private spaces for social or business meetings. The Quan Spa provides soothing bath therapies, massages and body treatments, and the fully equipped fitness offers fitness classes.

Website: www.marriott.com

Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines is adding new routes, greater frequencies and new aircraft to its Southeast Asia markets in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Flights from Hong Kong to Bali and Surabaya will be reinstated on 1st June. The Hong Kong/Surabaya route will operate thrice weekly and the Hong Kong/Bali route four times weekly. The airline has also introduced early morning flights from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, and is doubling the frequency on the Singapore/Jakarta route. Garuda Indonesia is also introducing the Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft on its new routes. The new aircraft are outfitted with Garuda Indonesia’s signature ‘Nature’s Wings’ interior and entertainment system that includes individual touch-screen LCD TVs throughout Executive and Economy Classes with Video on Demand entertainment offering 25 feature films and 25 audio tracks on its new routes.

Website www.garuda-indonesia.com

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched a new service from Singapore to Munich, Germany. The route which continues to Manchester, England, departs Singapore’s Changi Airport at 22:45hrs arriving Munich’s Franz Josef Strauß Airport at 05:35hrs, departing for Manchester at 06:35hrs. The return flight departs Manchester at 09:20hrs, arrives in Munich at 12:25hrs and departs Munich at 13:35hrs to arrive in Singapore at 07:40hrs the next day. Singapore Airlines will also inaugurate a service to Tokyo Haneda Airport on 31st October, with two daily flights from Singapore. The flights will depart Singapore Changi at 15:40hrs and 22:20hrs each day and arrive at Tokyo Haneda at 23:05 hrs and 05:45hrs respectively. Return flights will depart Haneda at 00:15hrs and 06:55hrs and arrive in Singapore at 06:40hrs and 13:20hrs respectively. Equipment to be used on this route is a Boeing-777-300ER.

Website www.singaporeair.com