It can sometimes be a challenge to be ‘green’ and reduce our impact on the environment, but Anantara is making it easy even while on vacation! Its Bali property, Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa, just received Green Globe Certification, making it the very first hotel in Bali to be awarded with this distinction under the revised standards. Not only that, but the resort has also just won the ‘Green Globe Highest Achievement Award: Asia 2011.’ Green Globe rates hotels based on 320 separate sustainability indicators, and Anantara Seminyak proudly meets 76% of those requirements – an impressive feat! Anantara is serious about preserving the environment not only in Bali, but at all of its properties. Sister property Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa in Thailand has also recently achieved Green Globe Certification. So pack your bags and go green with Anantara!

Pristine beaches, friendly natives, delicious local cuisine, and beautiful weather make Bali and Thailand two of the happiest places on earth, according to author Paul Theroux. On his quest for happiness, Theroux picked both of these locales as the most joy-filled spots in the world. And we’d have to agree!

Bali is known for its enticing beaches, but Theroux urges travelers to find traditional crafts and ceremonies sure to pique cultural curiosity. At Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa, guests can find their own personal Nirvana by enjoying a handcrafted cocktail at the chic Sunset on Six rooftop bar and lounge while watching a burning sun set below the Indian Ocean, or by exploring the rolling hills and local jungle by elephant or Harley-Davidson. If you’re looking for a more holistic approach to finding your bliss, COMO Shambhala Estate is a sanctuary for health and wellness where guests’ individual needs are met with a custom-tailored program of nutrition, exercise, therapies, and activities.

You’ll be all smiles in “The Land of Smiles.” With nine properties in Thailand, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas ensures that wherever you are in this beautiful country, you’ll have the chance to experience Thailand’s wonders for yourself. At Anantara Golden Triangle, the on-site elephant camp offers a rare chance to get up close and personal with these gentle giants while learning from experienced mahouts (elephant trainers) how to ride them. Explore the incredible coral reefs of the Similan Islands—some of the most renowned and best preserved in the world—on a dive excursion during your stay at Anantara Phuket. Or witness the excitement of Thailand’s bustling capital where the Metropolitan Bangkok offers guests both easy access to the hubbub of the city and a chic place to retreat.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas founder and CEO Bill Heinecke knows it’s better to give than to receive.  Every year for his birthday, Anantara properties around the world give back to their local communities through a number of charitable outreach programs. This year, the annual Minor Founder’s Day celebrations during the first week in June included the release of 50 sea turtles into the wild at Anantara Seminyak in Bali, an elephant meet-and-greet and tree planting event at Anantara Golden Triangle in Thailand, and an Eye Camp for local residents at Anantara Kihavah Villas in the Maldives (including donations of glasses for those in need).

Kind of puts that pony we asked for in perspective!

The little dudes are just eggs, we leave ‘em on a beach to hatch, and then, coo-coo-cachoo, they find their way back to the big ol’ blue. – Crush the Sea Turtle, Finding Nemo

While Crush may be right, sometimes the turtles need a little bit of help. Tomorrow, the recently Green Globe Certified Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa in Bali will release one adult and 50 baby turtles into the wild as part of the resort’s ongoing wildlife conservation initiatives. While they may live for up to 80 years, these creatures are endangered and at high risk for extinction. By protecting the vulnerable eggs from predators until the baby turtles are ready to be released, Anantara is doing their part to make sure the sea turtle will still be surfing the ocean for many years to come.

Congratulations to Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa, which has become the first hotel in all of Bali to achieve Green Globe Certification. They are the second Anantara property to be awarded this distinction, after Anantara Kihavah Villas in the Maldives.

Green Globe Certification recognizes those businesses in the travel and tourism industries who comply with the highest standards of sustainability practices. Anantara Seminyak goes above and beyond in the realm of water, energy and waste management efficiency. Check it out for yourself, and take a vacation Captain Planet would be proud of!

Bali residents celebrate New Year Day, or Nyepi, in total silence as a way to start afresh, contemplate, and reassess one’s values in life. On this day, Baliense abstain from traveling, working, and all forms of entertainment.  No flights depart from or arrive at the airport, the streets are closed to pedestrians and vehicles, and even street lights are turned off for the evening.  Guests and travelers are expected to follow the same rules.

Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa is a tempting silent haven. It will be easy to win the quiet game while relaxing in your Anantara Suite’s signature deep terrazzo tub or looking out at the Indian Ocean from the deck of an Ocean Suite. Don’t miss Anantara’s Thai Culinary Journey with a cooking class guided by Wild Orchid’s experienced Thai chefs, followed by a lunch of the students’ own creations.  Spend a peaceful afternoon at the Anantara Spa with an expert therapist who will tailor a package according to guests’ needs, to be enjoyed in a single or couple’s treatment suites, each complete with private terrazzo showers or bathtubs, a personal iPod connection, and views of verdant tree tops and Mount Batukaru.  Now that’s something to shout about.

Celebrate the “Day of Silence” at Uma Ubud with the Nyepi Package. To honor the tradition, the hotel asks guests to remain on the grounds of the resort where complimentary yoga is offered, the Kemiri restaurant is serving a traditional Balinese Rijstaffel dinner, and guests can experience quiet seclusion with a one-hour COMO Shambhala treatment. The package includes two nights’ accommodation and a daily a la carte breakfast, one two-course set lunch at Kemiri restaurant (excluding beverages), one thre-course dinner at Kemiri restaurant (excluding beverages), a 60-minutes COMO Shambhala or Indonesian massage treatment per person, a three-hour guided tour of Ubud, and private return airport transfers. Rates start at $756

If the Super Bowl were Balinese instead of American, maybe we’d be watching sloths instead of puppies!

Parties for this Sunday abound, and every event planner (amateur or otherwise) knows that finding the venue is key. Forget the awesome band or to-die-for hors d’œuvres. If the location is lacking, everything else won’t seem quite as special. Don’t let that scare you, though! Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa now has the best of venues for your Bali bash!

The one-of-a-kind rooftop Penthouse suite promises distinct glamour and cool with an open pool and contemporary indoor-outdoor spaces. Attendees can enjoy views of the beach, local temples and mountains while sipping signature cocktails and enjoying live music. For when the music dies down, the suite offers two bedrooms with beds suspended on marble and stuffed with down. It will be easy to sleep off the party’s effects! Catering for 30 and hosting up to 70 is available beginning at $2,000. Now that’s a touchdown.

Who wants to pay for a to-go coffee every morning on vacation? When you’re only alternative is the less-than-appealing packets of instant coffee and powder creamers, what’s a traveler to do? A recent article from USA Today observed that hotels are offering a more sophisticated approach to our society’s caffeine addiction with in-room amenities that really make the cut. Stay at an Anantara Hotels, Resorts, & Spas properties in Bali, Thailand, the Maldives, or the UAE, and get the cream of the crop; all 12 have Nespresso machines in each room. Let the buzz begin!

Ananatara resident spa guru and unofficial Ramadan expert, Liz Smailes, shared her advice with us on incorporating the relevant messages behind the holy celebration into daily life.

The focus of this month is all about detoxification of your body and habits—and through her travels around the Gulf Peninsula, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Philippines and Thailand Liz has developed wonderful detox plans and recipes.  Detox has never looked so good! First, she advises fasters to get about 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night during the program, avoid prolonged exposure in the sun, have a sensible breakfast before the fast/sunrise, and drink fresh detox juices and lots of water throughout the day. Being mindful of these tips will help jumpstart your new, healthier routine!

Once you’ve finished your cleanse, don’t just jump back into your old daily routine. Liz’s post-detox menu looks like this, and is similar to what Muslims will eat after Ramadan:

• First Day: Add a raw salad in the mid-day meal along with soups.
• Second Day: Add backed or boiled potato, rice (without any seasoning and heavy sauces) along with soups
• Third Day: Add steamed vegetables along with soups
• Thereafter: Start back with your normal diet, but maintain your favorite fresh juices as part of your daily intake.

Follow Liz’s advice and you’re guaranteed to have a much cleaner body on the inside. And with a visit to one of Anantara’s fabulous spas, it will be very easy for the new you to be reflected on the out.

 Liz also shared some of her favorite, and most effective, juice recipes that both new and seasoned fasters enjoy.

 Start with a pre-sunrise drink made from:

• 2 springs of parsley
• Small handful of wheatgrass
• 4-6 carrots
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 apple
• ½ beet

Finish the day with her sunset concoction:

• 1 Green Apple
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 Celery stalks
• ½ deseeded Indian bitter gourd

For any smokers looking to finally kick the habit, Liz also shared her detox juice to help you stop craving the nicotine:

• 1 Apple
• 300 grams Pumpkin
• 1 handful of lettuce
• Sprouts of alfalfa

At the beginning of the month, celebs took a break from their usual red carpet to attend the Elephant Parade charity auction, of which Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is a strong supporter. Stars including Elizabeth Hurley, Goldie Hawn, and Princess Beatrice of York hit the grass to show their support of the protection and conservation of endangered Asian elephants. Despite the rough terrain, fashion did not suffer. Sporting colorful dresses and forever high wedges and heels, these celebs looked almost as good as the painted model baby elephants (all of which were on sale at the event, including Anantara’s own ‘Little Bird’). The auction marked the end of the Elephant Parade in London, which earned over $1.5 million dollars for this great cause!