Perfect casting: While filming
The Last Samurai Tom Cruise stayed at Blanket Bay, a luxury lodge in Glenorchy, in the heart of New Zealand’s South Island. And he was so impressed with the place that he returned to enjoy a couple of hours’ fly fishing at the north end of Lake Wakatipu.
“He was terribly friendly, and signed autographs for anyone who asked,” said a guest who saw him. Cruise stayed in one of the hotel’s grand chalets, built from stone and timber from old ships, with glass walls overlooking the lake.
Bridge the World (0870 4441716, www.bridgetheworld.com) offers seven nights at Blanket Bay from £2,873pp, which includes breakfast, cocktails and dinner, return flights from Heathrow and a week’s car hire.
Oscar wild: The cast of Lost in Translation are reeling from their success at the Golden Globes, where they picked up three awards (best picture, best actor and best screenplay) and are on tenterhooks to see if the film will do as well at the Oscars on February 29. In the film Bill Murray plays a lonely actor who forms a whirlwind friendship with a woman (Scarlett Johansson) whom he meets in a bar at the Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo. The actors all stayed at the hotel for filming, much of which took place in the Diplomat Suite, and there has been a sharp increase in bookings since the film was released.
Cleveland Travel (0845 4705731, tokyo@clevelandtravel.co.uk) offers five nights in a suite at the Park Hyatt Tokyo for £2,299pp, including flights from Heathrow and a lesson in Japanese culture.
Sleeping beauty: Normandie Keith likes to take long walks in the gardens at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxfordshire. The bedroom most favoured by celebrities is the Opium Room, which has Ming dynasty carvings and ornaments made of bamboo. The room also has its own Japanese walled garden. George Michael and Geri Halliwell drop in at Le Manoir regularly for Sunday lunch, and Laura Bailey has attended the hotel’s Ecole de Cuisine, where she was taught to cook by Raymond Blanc.
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (01844 278881, www.manoir.co.uk) has a special offer for Times readers. The midweek break, available from Sunday to Thursday, costs £550 per couple and includes overnight accommodation, a seven-course dinner and French breakfast. Follow That Star readers will also receive a Molton Brown gift set.
Loads of luvvies: Guests at the Metropolitan in Bangkok could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered on to Hollywood Boulevard this week, when the entire cast of Alexander the Great checked in, along with Mariah Carey and Claudia Schiffer. Oliver Stone and Colin Farrell have been working on the film with Angelina Jolie in Udon Thani province in Thailand, where the vegetation has been sprayed to create a tropical effect. One of the extras said: “We left the hotel at 3.45am for the first day of filming, just as Colin Farrell arrived with a few buddies. One of them had a beer bottle in his hand, definitely coming in from the night before.” The filming, which features hundreds of Thai extras playing warriors on horses and elephants, is running smoothly, although the actors have complained that their thong sandals are very uncomfortable.
Design Hotels (0800 1698817, www.designhotels.com) has rooms at the Metropolitan from £166 per night, in a deluxe king. Travelbag (0870 8901456, www.travelbag.co.uk) has a flight to Bangkok for £415.
Let’s get fizzical: Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink wowed the crowds in Trafalgar Square this week dressed as gladiators to promote the new Pepsi advert, in which they star with Enrique Iglesias. Afterwards they decamped to the Dominion Theatre to see the hit musical We Will Rock You. Queen’s hit single is also the backdrop for the advert.
Superbreak (01904 644455, www.superbreak.com) is offering a Valentine’s weekend to see We Will Rock You for £190pp. This includes two nights’ B&B at the City Inn Westminster Hotel on February 13 and 14, with tickets to the show on Valentine’s night.
