RAGOSTA OPENS LA PLAGE RESORT IN TAORMINA, SICILY

--Cutting edge hotel group to inaugurate first luxury boutique resort complex in Taormina, Sicily targeting younger affluent travelers --

            AMALFI, ITALY – “Define Your Lifestyle” will become the mantra among a new generation of affluent travelers if Ragosta Hotels Collection has its way when it launches the collection’s newest boutique resort, La Plage Resort.  La Plage Resort heralds the arrival of the first new luxury boutique resort complex in Taormina, Sicily.  It is expected to open for business early June 2008. 

The company recently unveiled its new Define Your Lifestyle brand that provides customized hospitality experience mirroring the daily lifestyles of the discerning traveler. Define Your Lifestyle was created to address the growing travel trend of up-market travelers seeking an extraordinary hospitality experience that incorporates elements of their own lifestyles.  This ideal forms the cornerstone of the company’s Define Your Lifestyle brand-wide concept, easily identifiable throughout Ragosta Hotels Collection by signature amenities, services, architecture and design, location and culinary offerings. 

            Situated in Taormina Isola Bella, a small island near Taormina, Sicily also known as “The Pearl of the Ionian Sea,” La Plage Resort will open as a five-star property, featuring 62 guestrooms and suites, including sea view villas, deluxe rooms and a Presidential suite.  The island is a nature reserve and protected environment for local fauna and flora. Isola Bella for many years has been a landmark of UNESCO and is considered one of the most beautiful islands in the region.

Designed by the architecture firm of Pantha, La Plage Resort was created to co-exist with the natural surroundings of Isola Bella and to operate in an environmentally responsible manner.  In addition to stylish and innovative designed accommodations, the resort offers a full-service restaurant, lounge, restaurant and a bar on the beach that features culinary options ranging from Mediterranean, Fusion and Italian.  A banquet room with spectacular ocean views will host social and corporate events.  The resort will also feature Ragosta Hotels Collection’s signature spa line, Expure Spa, which combines indigenous essences and plant extracts in its therapies and treatments, and is exclusive to the Ragosta Hotels Collection.  Fitness facilities along with water sports and family programs will be offered as well.

More importantly, the resort will be known for the various Al Fresco public areas such as fragrant gardens and solariums, gathering spaces for guests to relax and unwind.  But perhaps the most exciting facility will be the exclusive Marine and Beach Club, accessible only to guests and housing an extensive menu of water sports and activities such as boating. 

            Guests can expect a multitude of services and signature amenities at the resort including in-room customized toiletries from Expure Spa, Amaretto Lazzaroni cookies, luxurious linens, robes and towels.  In addition to enjoying the uber-luxury items in the guestrooms and villas travelers will be able to customize their hotel stay in the manner in which they are accustomed but with an element of surprise and pure decadence. 

La Plage Resort will enjoy membership in the Preferred Boutique division of Preferred Hotels & Resorts when it opens. 

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For information and reservations contact Ragosta Hotels at www.ragostahotels.com +39 089 763 4111 or Summit Hotels & Resorts at www.summithotels.com, Preferred Boutique Hotels at www.preferred-boutique.com 1-800-457-4000.

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Ragosta Hotels Collection is a member of Summit Hotels & Resorts and Preferred Boutique, divisions of Preferred Hotels Group, representing luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.  Based on the Amalfi Coast, Italy, Ragosta Hotels Collection is comprised of the luxury 77-room Hotel Raito (member of Summit Hotels & Resorts) in Vietri sul Mare (Amalfi Coast), the 23- guestrooms and suites Relais Paradiso on the Amalfi Coast and the new 62-room luxury resort, LaPlage Resort (member of Preferred Boutique) opening in Taormina-Sicily, June 2008.  A fourth hotel is planned for Rome, Italy and will open fourth quarter of 2009.  Ragosta Hotels Collection is based on the core philosophy of providing guests with an experience that mirrors their lifestyle.  The company’s Define Your Lifestyle concept extends beyond the traditional guest loyalty programs to feature in room design, culinary offerings, wellness facilities, therapies and treatments and public spaces.  Ragosta Hotels Collection represents a new generation of travel that incorporates lifestyle and uniqueness of the destination for a truly exceptional experience.

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