• CRYSTAL SPRINGS RESORT, Vernon, N.J., features six golf courses within a 5-mile radius, four driving ranges, and the David Glenz Golf Academy. The courses were designed by architects including Roger Rulewich, George Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones. The resort's 53,000-square-foot Country Club has more than 14,000 square feet of meeting space. Opening later this year adjacent to the clubhouse will be GRAND CASCADES LODGE, a 212-suite condominium hotel with a 10,000-square-foot conservatory featuring two heated pools. The lodge will also have a 6,000-square-foot, full-service spa. The resort's MINERALS HOTEL & SPA offers 200 guest rooms and Elements Spa, which has nine treatment rooms in 4,500 square feet of space. Minerals Hotel & Spa has more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, seven indoor/outdoor pools, and a sports club.

• Stowe, Vt., is hard at work transforming itself into a four-season destination. STOWE MOUNTAIN CLUB, a four-season private club located at Spruce Peak at Stowe, a new luxury resort and residential community set to be unveiled in June, is part of that effort. Created by Bob Cupp, its 18-hole, par-72 course winds along the lower reaches of Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak and will be available to Stowe Mountain Club members as well as guests of the new 139-room STOWE MOUNTAIN LODGE, opening in fall 2007. The lodge will have 12,100 square feet of meeting space.

• OMNI TUCSON NATIONAL GOLF RESORT & SPA will begin a $40 million renovation and expansion in June. When completed in late 2008, the resort will feature an enhanced 15,000-square-foot spa, two championship golf courses, and a new 7,500-square-foot ballroom. Seventy-two guest rooms will be added, increasing the total number of guest rooms from 167 to 239, including 28 suites. Golfers will enjoy a state-of-the-art clubhouse and renovated locker rooms.

• Redquartz Boundary Ltd., the new SAWGRASS MARRIOTT RESORT & SPA (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) ownership group, together with the Sawgrass Marriott and TPC Sawgrass teams, is investing more than $56 million in The Players Stadium Course, a new TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse, and renovation of the Marriott guest rooms. Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa has already undergone $16 million in renovations to guest rooms in the main tower. The resort, with 508 guest rooms, suites, and villas, includes the new 20,000-square-foot Spa at Sawgrass. The Players Stadium Course is nearing completion of its multimillion-dollar renovation. The adjacent Dye's Valley Course completed more than $1 million in enhancements in 2006. Both courses will be complemented by a new 77,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival-style clubhouse, scheduled to open in May. The clubhouse will have an 11,000-square-foot event lawn and 11,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space.

• ASSOCIATED LUXURY HOTELS INTERNATIONAL has added THE OLD COURSE HOTEL, GOLF RESORT & SPA, its first hotel in Scotland, and the INTERCONTINENTAL PARIS LE GRAND HOTEL, its first hotel in France, to its membership. They join ALHI's other European member, the InterContinental London Park Lane in London, which reopened in November 2006 after a two-year makeover. Built in 1862, the InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel reopened in December after an 18-month, multimillion-dollar restoration that included all 470 rooms and suites and added a Club Floor and Club Lounge. The hotel features 23,000 square feet of event space. Overlooking the most famous hole in golf, The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa features a scenic location along the 17th fairway of the legendary Old Course, and is a short stroll from the heart of St. Andrews. The hotel offers 142 rooms and suites, 10 meeting rooms, a Kohler Waters Spa, wireless Internet technology throughout, and five restaurants and bars. Groups have access to 10 golf courses in the immediate area, including The Old Course and the recently restored Duke's St. Andrews, and 20 additional golf courses within a half-hour drive.

• BAY POINT RESORT, Panama City Beach, Fla., completed a major renovation of the Nicklaus Course at Bay Point Resort in 2006. The par-72, 18-hole championship golf course opened in September 2005 and was redesigned by the Nicklaus Design team from North Palm Beach. Nestled on a 1,100-acre wildlife sanctuary overlooking St. Andrews Bay, Bay Point Resort offers 356 renovated guest rooms (including 78 suites), 36 holes of championship golf, 40,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, four restaurants, a day spa and fitness center, a 200-slip deep-water marina, one indoor and three outdoor pools, and a private bay beach area.

• THE BALSAMS GRAND RESORT HOTEL, Dixville Notch, N.H., has offered golf since 1897. Donald Ross designed the resort's 18-hole championship golf course in 1912, and Golf Digest has consistently ranked it New Hampshire's No. 1 public access course since 1997. In addition, a nine-hole executive course is located right next to the hotel. From the clubhouse, you can see Maine, Vermont, and Canada. The resort offers 202 guest rooms and suites, four dining venues, and more than 10,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space in three meeting rooms and additional breakout rooms. It also claims 23 identified ghosts as residents.

• SEA TRAIL GOLF RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTER, Sunset Beach, N.C., has renovated its restaurant, Magnolias, in the Jones/Byrd clubhouse. The restaurant offers panoramic views of the 18th greens of both the Jones and Byrd courses. Sea Trail offers 600 guest accommodations on a 2,000-acre golf resort with three championship golf courses designed by Dan Maples, Rees Jones, and Willard Byrd and the largest conference facility on North Carolina's coast. The resort has more than 62,000 square feet of meeting and function space. Other amenities include a swim and fitness center with indoor and outdoor pools and whirlpools, an on-staff licensed massage therapist, and supervised children's activities.

• Guests at the MARQUIS LOS CABOS BEACH RESORT & SPA, on the Sea of Cortez at the southernmost tip of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, can play at six public courses — designed by some of the most recognized names in golf — within a short drive of the resort. The resort offers a total of 214 suites and 28 casitas, as well as 9,200 square feet of flexible meeting space.

• KINGSTON PLANTATION, Myrtle Beach, S.C., offers two hotels on its 145 acres: EMBASSY SUITES MYRTLE BEACH HOTEL and KINGSTON PLANTATION VILLAS & CONDOS. Including its sister property, the HILTON MYRTLE BEACH RESORT, Kingston Plantation offers 1,300 guest accommodations, from guest rooms to suites to condominiums. The 18-hole, par-72 championship Arcadian Shores Golf Course was designed by Rees Jones. The resort offers 100,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.

• The 125-acre, 318-room NAPLES BEACH HOTEL & GOLF CLUB, Naples, Fla., completed a remodeling of the guest rooms and suites in two of its six wings late last year. The 35 guest rooms and suites in the Florida Wing feature all-new furniture and soft goods. The suites in the Cabana Wing have new tile and redesigned bathrooms. These improvements follow a five-year, $40 million enhancement and expansion that was completed in 2005. The resort has 34,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Amenities include an on-site, 18-hole, par-72 PGA championship golf course; a spa and fitness center; a tennis center; and Beach Klub 4 Kids, a recreational program for children ages 5 to 12.

• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. continues to expand in the Asia-Pacific region with the signing of LE MéRIDIEN SUVARNABHUMI GOLF RESORT & SPA, Thailand. Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Summit Windmill Golf Club Co. Ltd. have agreed to manage the new resort in Samut Prakan, southeast of Bangkok and approximately 3 miles from the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport of Bangkok. The resort will open in July 2008. The 214-room golf resort and spa will be within the 160-acre, mixed-used enclave comprising Summit Windmill Golf Club, an 18-hole Nick Faldo-designed golf course, and serviced apartments. The resort is a 40-minute drive from Bangkok. Other facilities include a spa with eight treatment rooms, a health club, about 9,700 square feet of meeting space, four restaurants, and a pool.

Disney to Add Ocean Liners

Disney Cruise Line announced in late February that it plans to add two new ocean liners to its fleet. The new ships, which are scheduled to launch in 2011 and 2012, will more than double the line's passenger capacity and help Disney meet demand for its cruise business.

The company is negotiating with Meyer Werft shipyard, based in Papenburg, Germany, to build the 122,000-ton liners. Each of the new ships will be two decks taller than the existing 83,000-ton Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder (which each have 877 staterooms), and will have 1,250 staterooms.

Similar to the original two ships, the new vessels will be a modern interpretation of classic ocean liners of the 1930s. Disney designers drew inspiration from the original trans-Atlantic ships that featured a dramatic black hull with two funnels and porthole windows.

The black hulls are accented with red and white, and Disney received special permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to have its lifeboats done in Mickey yellow instead of the traditional orange.