Another Luxury Hotel to Open in Soviet Union

Yet another example of what once would have been called bourgeois decadence, a renovated luxury hotel, the Grand Hotel Europe, is scheduled to open in Leningrad in December. It will join other new, Western-style hotels in the Soviet Union, including the elegant, recently opened Savoy and Metropol hotels in Moscow.

The Grand Hotel, which will open in a historic Leningrad hotel building that dates from 1824, has been the object of a $100-million renovation designed to return it to the so-called St. Petersburg art nouveau style it had during the last days of Czarist rule. Since the structure is considered a cultural treasure, any alterations to its appearance are strictly regulated by Soviet law.

The hotel will contain 301 newly renovated rooms--with appropriate modern conveniences--in the center of Leningrad on Nevski Prospekt, walking distance from the Winter Palace. Swedish managers will be in charge of maintenance and service, long considered weak points in Soviet hotels.

Travel Quiz: What is the longest structure ever built and what is its function?

Bag It: What’s next for the exhausted traveler? How about shrink-wrapped luggage that disappears from the hotel room only to reappear at home. Federal Express has teamed up with the Hyatt Regency Maui to create a service for shipping guests’ luggage from the hotel to the airport and directly to their homes, a service Federal Express says is the first of its kind.

No need to break fingernails, strain muscles or get that expensive designer luggage dirty. Guests who participate in the program, called Luggage Express, have their luggage picked up by bellhops at least 90 minutes before checkout. The hotel seals the luggage in shrink-wrap plastic and Federal Express picks up bags from the hotel Monday through Friday at 9 a.m., guaranteeing delivery from Maui to one’s home within three days.

Cost is $39.95 to ship the first piece of luggage (up to 35 pounds) to any mainland destination, and $1.50 per pound for each additional bag. Each piece is automatically insured for $100. Considering that it costs $15.50 to Fed-Ex a letter overnight, some might consider it a bargain--if they don’t need to arrive home with their clothes.

Quick Fact: During the first four months of this year, air traffic delays fell 25%, dropping to their lowest level in five years. (Source: Federal Aviation Administration.)

Clan of the Cave Dancers: The newest thing in Dominican Republic discos is a vast, natural cave 100 feet under the heart of Santo Domingo, which reportedly is packing in trendy locals and busloads of tourists for nights of Latin rhythms.

Visitors to Guacara Taina (Temple of the Taina) cavort to a high-tech light-and-sound show among eerie natural formations of stalactites and stalagmites.

Owner and chief architect Frederico Fermin says the 27,000-square-foot cave is “more like a temple than a nightspot.” He initially wanted to make it into a museum where visitors would learn about natural history, but science-education funding was scarce. It proved easier to raise $1 million for a potentially lucrative nightspot.

Environmentalists are still debating whether the cave should be used at all, but the argument seems moot. “I do not think it is right to make people vacate the spot after a $1-million investment has been made and all of the minimum safety features have been adhered to,” said tourism minister Ellis Perez.

Cholera Count: Six months after the first cholera victim staggered into a hospital emergency room in Peru, doctors say the epidemic that swept through the country and spread throughout the region has subsided, but will probably surge again. It has declined from a peak of 20,000 cases a week in late March to 600 cases reported recently. In this latest epidemic, the disease has struck at least 268,640 people and killed 2,837 in six countries. But it has had the worst impact in Peru, where 235,000 cholera cases have been reported and 2,300 people have died. There, seafood and other food exports have fallen sharply and the tourist industry has been virtually decimated at a cost that the government claims is upwards of $500 million.

Judaic Treasures: For the first time, the public can see the Judaic treasures of the Library of Congress in an exhibit called “From the Ends of the Earth,” a major exhibition spanning 520 years in the history of the Judaic people that will run through Aug. 25 in the James Madison Building in Washington.

Among the treasures on display are Abraham Lincoln’s directive rescinding Ulysses S. Grant’s order banning Jews from several territories under Union control. Also on exhibit are a number of Judaic firsts, including a volume said to be one of the first Hebrew books, richly decorated early maps of the Holy Land, and an astronomical chart used by Christopher Columbus that was prepared by a rabbi named Abraham Zacuto and printed in 1496.

Comparatively Speaking: Percentage of business travelers who find business travel itself stressful: 73%. Percentage who say they relieve that stress with a cocktail: 1%. Percentage who get relief by phoning home to family and friends: 60%. (Source: Corporate Travel Monitor, a survey of 500 travelers by Homewood Suites hotels.)

Fair Warning: The Corn Festival Queen and her court, not to mention 20,000 ears of corn, country and bluegrass music and carnival rides, will be part of the 43rd annual La Habra Corn Festival, Friday and Saturday at El Centro Park in central La Habra. Friday events will begin at 5:30 p.m. and continue until 11:30 p.m. Saturday events will begin 9:30 a.m. with the annual Corn Festival parade that travels down Idaho Street and continues east on La Habra Boulevard to end at El Centro Park. The festival concludes at 11:30 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (213) 691-3482.

Quiz Answer: The Great Wall of China, nearly 4,000 miles long, was built to discourage army invasion. Its primary achievement, however, has been as a tourist attraction.