Look cool in the hot summer with a funky free towel at Vibe Hotels

Due to popular demand, the Vibe towel is back for summer 2012! Made from high quality fabric, the bright and sophisticated lime, purple and black pattern appeals to both guys and girls. The design of the towel encapsulates the character and mood of both Vibe Hotels and the lifestyle of the iconic Australian summer. If you fall in love with your free Vibe towel and need more, it's also available to purchase from the front desk of all Vibe Hotels across Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Darwin. RRP: $30.00.  

All you have to do this summer to score a free Vibe towel is check-in to any Vibe Hotel for two nights or more to chillout, plus Vibe are also throwing in free brekky!

The package* includes:

• Two nights accommodation in a vibe-rant guest room
• A scrumptious free full buffet breakfast for two at curve cafe + bar
• A free Vibe towel - the ultimate poolside accessory for summer 

To book the best online rates guaranteed, check out the Vibe website.

Shisha and cocktails on the beach at The Sandi Phala - Bali

This stunning boutique hotel is set within a shady tropical garden and fronted by a privat white sand beach, just 7 minutes away from the airport. 1st and 2nd story suites and pool suites offer the utmost in comfort and sophistication, while the dining is a real highlight. With sunset views that make for a daily pleasure, The Sandi Phala has taken all opportunity to make every day an unforgettable memory, with the beachfront Ma Joly restaurant that features fine-dining French cuisine, where you can wine and dine to your heart's content while enjoying the incredible sunset colours splash across the sky. Sandi Phala's complimentary Sunset Cocktail and Afternoon Tea Delight prove popular with couples for obvious reason - there's a tempting array of sweet and savoury delights, coupled with an impressive line up of cocktails and a live showcase of jazz music making for a romantic and ambient event. 

The resort's latest addition to the art of the sunset experience is the Shisha On The Beach - partake in the traditional hookah pipe with Mint Tea and optional Asian Tapas to start the evening in a unique style!

Peregrine goes gourmet in China in 2012

There's an old Chinese saying that all good foods are found in Chengdu. But Peregrine's new Gourmet China adventure sets out to prove that - while Chengdu's Sichuan spice is pretty tasty - Beijing's duck, Xian's dumpling feasts, Yangshuo's ethnic minority specialties and Hong Kong's yum cha are just as delicious.

Peregrine's new, 15-day gourmet extravaganza starts in Beijing and includes cooking classes in a variety of regional cuisines, interspersed with the most famous and inspiring sights of China: the Great Wall; the Forbidden City; the Summer Palace; Terracotta Warriors as well as visiting the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base.

The trip contrasts the tranquil, mushroom-shaped, limestone karst mountains of Yangshuo - explored by bicycle - with the frenetic, futuristic cityscape of Shanghai for more than just a 'taste' of China.

The Gourmet China adventure costs $3405 per person, twin share, including transport and accommodation, cooking classes, entry fees, some meals and local Peregrine leader. But for all new bookings made by December 9, for travel in 2012, there is a 10 per cent discount off the land portion, to $3126. There are currently eight departures from Beijing scheduled between May and September, 2012.

For further information and a copy of the new Peregrine 2012 China Central Asia & Japan brochure, contact your travel agent or Peregrine Travel Centre, call 1300 854 500 or visit their website for more details.

Street food goes gourmet at Sarong Restaurant - Bali

Another night in Bali, another amazing restaurant to try out for dinner. This time it was off to Sarong in the trendy Petitenget corner of Kerobokan, not far from Seminyak, to sample what we had heard is some of the best Pan-Asian cuisine on the island. Walking in to the dimly lit garden of the restaurant's entrance, it hits you instantly - this place is very, very stylish! Chic, ambient and refined, Sarong has contemporary cool written all over it. We grabbed a cocktail at the bar while eagerly waiting for our table - the Nano Crush went down well, with a mix of vodka, crushed lychees, lime, fresh strawberries, passion fruit, cranberry and apple juice - and when given a choice of the sumptuous, beautiful lounge/dining area inside or a cosy corner on the al fresco deck at the front of the restaurant, opted for the open air as it suited the balmy evening well. 

Delving in to the menu was a treat - unable to decide on just one dish each, we ordered a number of various cuisine style, with everything from stir fried lotus roots with black bean, sugar snaps and shitake mushrooms, to Vietnamese caramelised duck and soft shell crabs with green mango mint shallots, rushed peanuts, tamarind and chili dressing filling the table and our ravenous bellies. The biggest highlight was the Zafferrani Paneer Tikka ... absolutely SUBLIME! That's it pictured above. My mouth is still watering with hunger for it.

Suffice to say, the food at Sarong nothing short of spectacular - a thoroughly enjoyable taste sensation that made the night all the more memorable. And surprisingly well priced, considering the super stylish ambience and high calibre of cuisine and service!

Since its opening in 2008 by founding chef Will Meyrick, Sarong has become one of the most sought after reservations on the island, with people coming not only for the beautiful atmosphere but for the superb food on offer. Will developed the concept after setting up several successful restaurants across Pacific Asia, where he had gathered recipes from street-food vendors and given them a twist to deliver the very best menus to Sarong.

Naturally, Sarong books up, especially for dinner when it becomes a necessity to have an advance reservation - unless you want to try your luck for the "first come, first seated" rule for the more informal lounge area. Have your hotel or resort call on your behalf or phone the restaurant on +62 361 4737 809.

Experience the divine at Maya Ubud Resort & Spa

Still in Ubud, and off to another stunning property, Maya Ubud Resort & Spa, where you are greeted with the most incredible beauty all around. With individual Balinese style villas set in a lush landscape, this well established favourite is also home to one of the best spas to be found in all of Bali. We were told to go here by a local friend who lives in Bali - in her words it is an "incredible experience" not just for the amazing treatments on offer, but also for the sheer beauty of traveling down through the resort to the very banks of the sacred Petanu River. What a stunning setting!

Below the luxurious resort you will discover the riverside spa at Maya, and it has been designed with the utmost sensuality, relaxation and pure pampering in mind. Surrounded by nature, with the swirling waters of the river a stone's throw away, this is the very best of serene Ubud.

For couples, the spa at Maya Ubud is a heavenly indulgence, with double treatment pavilions that allow couples to be together and to share in the spa specialties - a gentle four hand massage, relaxing Balinese massage, reflexology, herbal treatments, organic body scrubs (including the traditional Lulur scrub, highly recommended!) and facials - plus a range of packages to choose from that will keep you in total bliss for hours on end. Divine!

Maya Ubud Resort & Spa has also recently opened a new fitness centre and yoga pavilion, where you can enjoy daily yoga sessions in a tranquil atmosphere, with stunning views over the resort gardens and adjacent rice terraces. There is a "Yoga for Beginners" session conducted each morning for all to join, and also private sessions available for those who really want to immerse themselves in this holistic body and mind practice while staying here in paradise.

There is also the incredible "Spiritual Journey" package available, tailor made by Maya Ubud to include an 8-day/7-night program that will enable you to experience and understand the spirituality of the Balinese. The program includes yoga and meditation each morning, exploring nearby temples and a visit to balinese healer or obtaining a priestly blessing, join in the making temple offerings, and even walk to a traditional village to be greeted by the villagers and experience how they start the day. And between the activities, spa pampering awaits you at Maya, to help you relax and rejuvenate both mind and body. Sounds truly beautiful, doesn't it? Maya Ubud Resort & Spa is just that - a place of beauty, and a unique journey in to romance and relaxation.

Images courtesy Maya Ubud Resort & Spa

Romance and relaxation Kamandalu Resort & Spa

The peace that prevails in the lush green hills of Ubud is so potent, making it an ideal destination when you really want to unwind and rejuvenate the spirit while in Bali. It's a special place, imbued with serenity and enchantingly beautiful in its scenery. 

I had the pleasure of staying at Kamandalu Resort & Spa a few years back, in a deluxe private pool villa that was dramatically perched overlooking the cascading Petanu River. Days were spent floating in the cool waters of our pool while listening to the farmers singing in the surrounding hills, accompanied by the cracking call of wild birds. Occasionally we would drag ourselves out to sample the great food at the resort's restaurant, or to have a cocktail at the swim-up pool bar in the public areas, or a romantic meal in the garden. More than one day was spent enjoying the pampering spa treatments on offer. But one of the real highlights was an evening spent in the privacy of our own villa enjoying a bbq of Indonesian delicacies created by the resort's chefs, just for us. And with that incredible view, it's a meal to remember - if you stay here, you must try it!

Totaling 56 villas in five different styles - the Ubud Chalet, Garden Villa, Pool Villa, Deluxe Pool Villa and the larger two bedroom Pool Villa which is perfect for groups - each villa features natural stone finishing and indigenous grass (alang-alang) roofings, and most have their own private bale bengong (traditional outdoor day-bed) for the perfect enjoyment of the art of doing nothing. And in such a spectacular location, surrounded by nature, lost in the pure bliss, it's the perfect way to spend time together. 

Kamandalu Resort & Spa is located just a 10 minute drive in to Ubud centre if you're keen to go shopping or head out to a restaurant or sight seeing. Though be warned, dragging yourself away from the relaxation of your daybed won't come easy here!

Images courtesy Kamandalu Resort & Spa

Chill out with a Sunday barbeque brunch at Conrad Bali

The Sunday chill out session is a well established ritual on the island of Bali. And if you're keen to try out one of the famous Sunday brunches on offer, head to Conrad Bali in Nusa Dua for their new Sunday barbeque brunch at its signature beachfront Eight Degrees South restaurant. 

Guests can indulge in some gourmet breakfast favorites including truffled hollandaise eggs benedict, seafood frittata and croissant French toast, sample their signature culinary creations such as tea-smoked duck breast with grape salad, house citrus-cured salmon and warm Wagyu salad, or feast on fresh river prawns, rock lobsters, fish brochette, squid and premium meats. And if that didn't whet your appetite enough, to complement the brunch experience, a selection of crisp salads, freshly baked pastries, an assortment of thin crust wood fire pizzas, premium roast and a dessert buffet with traditional Indonesian sweets and ice cream corner are also available. Fill up in style, and laze the rest of the afternoon away with languid swimming in the resort's pools, or extend your blissful Sunday with 15% off all treatments at the Jiwa Spa.

Priced at IDR 385,000*, the brunch also includes free flow of soft drinks, fresh juices, coffee, tea and a glass of sparkling wine or cocktail of the day upon arrival. 

Note: Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling +62 361 778 788 or emailing restaurants@ConradBali.com.

*Prices are subject to service charge and Government tax, currently 21%.

The Conrad experience is always a highly polished affair, and Conrad Bali is no exception to the rule. Located on the southern coast of Bali, this contemporary resort is nestled in 6.8 hectares of tropical gardens with 350 meters of beautiful beach to call your own personal playground. 

If you choose to stay at Conrad Bali you will be in the heart of the vibrant resort centre of Nusa Dua. Watersports are popular activities along this stretch of coast, but for those less inclined for speed and more prone to slowing down, the resort features the beautiful Jiwa Spa and wellness centre where you can even have your own private yoga or pilates class. There's also the stunning pools, with the pre-requisite daybeds lining the way to call your own private retreat. 

Conrad Bali is a very popular choice for couples seeking a destination wedding in a stunning tropical locale. Just look at that stunning architectural chapel and imagine exchanging vows, with the perfect reception venue just steps away (and an ideal honeymoon to stay on for!).

Come for the Sunday brunch, but don't be at all surprised if you don't want to leave! 

Images courtesy Conrad Bali