Latest News

06 October 2009 — Regular Traveller Praises Select-a-room.com Service Standards!

"The Hotel was both clean and presentable although the breakfast should have been avoided. The facilities were excellent ant the location of the hotel was convenient to the centre of Minsk. The service was excellent once again. I will be recommending Select-a-Room.com to all those who wish to travel to Belarus and Russia. "

Editor: we publish reports - both good and bad! Contract team discussing breakfast with the hotel!

27 August 2009 — Hotels with Facilities for Disabled Visitors

Wheelchair users sometimes find it difficult to find appropriate hotels for their use - we are pleased to assist in finding the best hotel for your needs. simply contact our customer services team at: info@select-a-room.com and outline your requirements. we would be pleased to assist and offer guidance.

12 August 2009 — Exclusive Hotel Deals Worldwide from Select-a-room.com !

Our great range of hotels and strong buying power enables us to contract many hotels at recession-busting prices - including FREE NIGHT offers in many hotels, free transfers and free meals in certain hotels!

Hotels in many parts of the world control their own inventory - ensuring you have instant availability in a wide range of hotels to choose from! Great new hotel deals from Select-a-room.com ! Prices are being updated daily by thousands of hotels worldwide to give up to the minute instant availability and best available rates!

Welcome to our world of discount hotels online!

14 May 2009 — Major Price Falls for White Nights at Grand Hotel Europe - St Petersburg, Russia!

We have negotiated major discounts on our already low rates for the magnificent Grand Hotel Europe in St Petersburg - including the White nights period! This amazing deal reflects the current economic crisis - and our large volume of bookings in one of the best hotels in the world!

For a fantastic treat, enjoy the superb location, 24 hours of daylight and the magnificent city of St Petersburg - don't miss out - book now! Space is limited and bookings are coming in quickly.

 

26 February 2009 — Stop Press: Welcome to our New Travel Forums for Travel Advice Worldwide!

We are pleased to announce that we have developed our new Online Travel Forums for visitors to our discount hotel websites - the Travel Forums are is designed to allow you to ask general travel questions about our destinations, and for other members of the forum and our administrators to reply in order to enhance your planning and preparation for travel. We are pleased to receive any comments or suggestions that you may have to improve the forum and hope you find it useful. You are welcome to start new forums for different regions - or simply review questions and comments posted by others. To participate, you need to register - but to review, no registration is needed. Any questions - simply email us at info@select-a-room.com ! We hope that this will be helpful for particularly complex destinations where visas are needed or for travel to particular events where hotels are very busy.

15 December 2008 — St Petersburg: The Arts Square Winter Festival Started Sunday 14 Dec

Is St. Petersburg the place to be in winter? Internationally renowned conductor Yury Temirkanov offers a confident “yes” with his Arts Square Festival, the annual classical music event that has become St. Petersburg’s premier artistic happening during the winter months.

The festival was launched in 1999 by Yury Temirkanov, the respected artistic director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall on Ploshchad Iskusstv — or “Arts Square.”

Temirkanov’s idea was to restore the long-lost pre-Revolutionary tradition of a sparkling winter “season,” with concerts, balls, masquerades and parties sweeping the city during the New Year holiday. During its nine-year history, the festival has become an extensive annual event, and has encompassed celebrations for “Western” Christmas (Dec. 25), New Year, Orthodox Christmas (Jan. 7) and Old New Year (Jan. 14, according to the pre-Revolutionary calendar).

Arts Square, noted for its statue of Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin, is adorned with some of the city’s finest cultural assets. Three of them — the State Russian Museum, the Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall and the Mikhailovsky Theater — are at the heart of the Arts Square Festival.

Running a music festival isn’t very difficult, according to Temirkanov.

“A festival is no big deal, really,” he smiles. “In Europe, nearly every village now has its own festival.”

“What does present a challenge is building a symbolic concept of the event in such an historic location as St. Petersburg,” he added. This year’s Arts Square Festival opens on Sunday (Dec. 14), with a concert including world-renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin playing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto.

In addition to Kissin, performers set to appear include pianist Vladimir Feltzman, violinist Viktor Tretyakov, pianist Yefim Bronfman, the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Pletnyov and the Moscow Soloists Ensemble under the baton of Yury Bashmet.

On Dec. 21, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will perform Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in the Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall.

Works by Johannes Brahms are at the heart of this year’s program.

Renowned violinist Tretyakov performs a program of Brahms’s Third Symphony, Violin Concerto and Hungarian Dances on Tuesday alongside the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

 U.S. pianist Feltzman appears with the same orchestra on Dec. 19 with a program of Mozart’s Concert Rondo in D Major for Piano and Orchestra, Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Brahm’s Second Symphony. Internationally renowned pianist Bronfman joins Temirkanov and the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 24, the last event of this year’s festival. The musicians will perform Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto and Fourth Symphony.

As with previous Arts Square Festivals, Temirkanov is introducing a talented newcomer to the city’s concertgoers this year.

The name to watch is the outstanding young violinist Valery Sokolov. Born in Ukraine in 1986, the musician was the winner of the 2005 Enesco Piano Competition. In 1999, aged 13, Sokolov was awarded a scholarship, established by Russia’s Vladimir Spivakov, to study at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in the U.K. at the International Pablo Saraste festival in Spain.

The first of Temirkanov’s proteges, the Chinese pianist Lang Lang, has returned to St. Petersburg on several occasions, including as a special guest at the Arts Square Festival.

“Lang Lang has a fantastic career. He gives more than 100 performances a year around the world,” Temirkanov said. “I keep close tabs on what he is doing, but I’m happy to see that he doesn’t need my help any more.”

On the other side of Arts Square from the Shostakovich Philharmonic, the revitalized Mikhailovsky Theater contributes a dash of ballet to this year’s festival with a performance on Monday of “The Moor’s Pavane: Variations on the theme of Othello.” The ballet was choreographed by Jose Limon in 1949 to music by the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell. The ballet’s four dancers represent The Moor, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia, with Farukh Ruzimatov as The Moor.

The second half of the evening is composed of “Divertissements” that include Marius Petipa’s “Sleeping Beauty” to music by Tchaikovsky, Alexander Gorsky’s “Ocean and Pearls” to music by Cesare Pugni, “Esmeralde” (Petipa, Pugni), “Le Corsaire” (Petipa, Adam, Pugni, Delibes, Drigo, Oldenburgsky) and Maurice Bejart’s “Bhakti” to Indian classical music.

Over the years, the Arts Square Winter Festival has become popular with tourists and acts like a magnet for foreign visitors.

Book your hotels in St Petersburg - now!

15 December 2008 — Stop Press: New Hotel Listings for St Petersburg!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new hotels listings facility for hotels in St Petersburg, Russia. Great overviews of great hotels; instant availability; free nights; online visa support and greates range of hotels from any online operator! Amazing discounts; live local help from our team in st Petersburg for ballet, opera, concerts and folklore in St Petersburg - book now!

04 November 2008 — BMI Airlines Abolishes Fuel Surcharges from Heathrow!

BMI airlines has announced that it has abolished all flight surcharges for all its flights to and from London Heathrow! Great news for our travellers worldwide and good to see that the era of high oil prices has moved on and flights are more affordable for all. Thank you BMI for passing on these surcharges - time to press ALL airlines to push for lower prices.

22 July 2008 — New Bigger Discounts in Hotels in London and Throughout England!

We have now launched a dedicated programmes of thousands of hotels throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on our new-look site - massive discounts and great range of hotels with instant availability! Make the most of the great value for money if you come from the Eurozone - strling's fall of over 20% over the past year, makes England the perfect destination for cheap shopping and great sightseeing!

Welcome to Great Britain!

14 July 2008 — New Baltic States Tour for 2008 - Guaranteed Departures!

Enjoy a great new tour of the Baltic States from Vilniuls through to Riga and on to Tallinn for 2008! Departures are guaranteed and English speaking and start at €654 per persin in a twin room! Note: Flights are not included as clients join the group in Vilnius from all over the world!

17 April 2008 — Hotels in Moscow and St Petersburg Online

If you prefer to travel independently to Moscow and St PEtersburg, it is quick and eay to book hotels online at our sister site - www.selectrussia.com - you can book hotels with instant abailability, get big discounts and free nights for certain periods. You can also book transfer and trains in Russia online and request visa support letters to obtain your visas. Welcome to Russia! Over the live chjat link you can talk directly to our offices inMoscow and St Petersburg to get a real feel for any local issues you would like to discuss.

17 April 2008 — Guaranteed Tours to Russia a Big Hit!

Moscow and St Petersburg tours are expensive cities to visis - so many travellers are not booking onto our guaranteed tour departures to Moscow and St Petersburg to take a dvantage of group discounts available.

We offer 2 separate tours - one featuring Novgorod as a stop between Moscow and St Petersburg, the other a classic Moscow-St Petersburg programme using the overnight train between the cities.

12 April 2008 — Highlights of Russia Tours! Guaranteed Departures to Moscow and St Petersburg
Join like-minded, English-speaking clients on our famous Highlights of Russia tour - a 7-night tour visiting Moscow and St Petersburg. Great hotels, guided tours, overnight train and visits to the world-famous Kremlin (Moscow) and Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg). Great value, with visa support included. Visa service for UK based clients. Flights not included.
12 April 2008 — Highlights of Brazil - our Guaranteed 7-day tours of Brazil!
For those people interested in touring Brazil, take a look at the guaranteed tours we offer for our great value inclusive 7-day tour of Brazil visiting Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls, Salvador and Bahia. Land only - contact us for details on +44 1480 433783 or email us at res@select-a-tour.com.
01 April 2008 — Eased border Restrictions in Schengen Zone
The EU has abolished the last routine passport controls at borders within the 24 European states, simplifying plane travel within the Schengen zone. Plane travel within the European Union just got easier!

On flights and boat travel between 24 European states, members of Schengen-zone countries will no longer be asked to show their passports at control stops. Passport controls at airports between the 15 old Schengen-accord countries and the nine recently added Schengen countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Malta, were dropped on Sunday night, March 30.