By Jane Reddy
Plush: Lyon's Carlton Hotel has film-star heritage.
Creative immersion is possible at Lyon's Carlton Hotel, reopened after a 10-month overhaul.
Within the 1894 Haussmann-style stone building, rooms are named after actors who have checked in over the years: suite 322 is the Patrick Chesnais and suite 103 was Laurent Terzieff's for a time.
Part of the Accor MGallery collection, the hotel is within a five-minute walk of the Bellecour metro stop to the opera house, St Jean Cathedral and Museum of Fine Arts. The city, two hours by high-speed train south-west of Paris, is illuminated every December during the Festival of Lights when the Lyonnaise express their gratitude to Mary, mother of Jesus, by placing candles outside windows.
Rooms cost from €160 ($200) a night.
See mgallery.com.
Tucked-away Bali luxury
This week's hotel offering from Bali is the just-opened Alana Vasanti in Petitenget.
Surrounded by rice fields and close to Seminyak, there are four presidential suites, 24 deluxe suites with separate lounge space and 93 guest rooms with private balconies.
Suite guests have access to the 24-hour club lounge with wi-fi, a-la-carte breakfast and evening cocktails.
Rooms cost from $US86 ($83) a night.
See alanahotels.com.
Nothing overlooked
Como Hotels and Resorts extends its reach in the Maldives with the opening of a second property in October.
Maalifushi by Como, an eight-hectare private island in the Thaa Atoll, will be the company's second resort in the Maldives and a sister property to Cocoa Island, further north in the South Male Atoll.
The 66-room property will include over-water accommodation, some with private pools and all with uninterrupted views on the west of the island.
Activities and excursions include dolphin cruises, fishing, snorkelling and sailing.
The resort is a 50-minute seaplane ride from the Maldives' main airport at Male.
See comohotels.com/maalifushi.
All the right connections
Free wi-fi in hotel rooms is on the top of most travellers' wish-lists, according to a survey by booking website Hotels.com, and come July, the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will come to the party.
Wi-fi will be free to guests in its Elite loyalty program worldwide and extend to all other members in 2014.
IHG, whose brands include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Intercontinental, says it's the first hotel group to offer the service for loyalty membership that's free to join. While such status is currently achieved by staying at IHG properties around the world for 15 or more nights a calendar year, from July, three stays will put guests into the Elite realm.
See ihg.com.
Queen's greatest hits
The Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations continue at Buckingham Palace in July, with the Coronation Festival marking the 60th anniversary of her reign.
Nearby at luxury digs 51 Buckingham Gate, Bistro 51 will serve a menu inspired by the coronation banquet served in 1953.
In the palace gardens the daytime Coronation Festival, hosted by the Royal Warrant Holders Association, will display crafts and designs of its members, whose wares are supplied to the royal household.
A gala evening celebrates cultural life during the Queen's reign, through music, dance and entertainment.
A two-night stay in a Kings Junior Suite at 51 Buckingham Gate costs from £375 ($600) a person and includes two tickets to both the Coronation Festival and coronation gala evening and a three-course meal at Bistro 51. The festival runs from July 11-14.
Send Room Service items to jreddy@fairfaxmedia.com.
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