Breakaway - Club Med 60th Anniversary Party - We Were There!

This year, Club Med celebrates its 60th birthday in a huge way and Antoinette was at its Cherating ‘village’ on a sponsored trip earlier this year to celebrate. She gets us a rundown on its new openings!

I sure am glad I was there for the huge Club Med 60th anniversary party at Club Med Cherating earlier this year. Thanks Club Med! After four days of activity Club Med style, our programme ended with a “star-studded” red carpet night with lots of great company, awesome food, cocktails and drinks, and dancing ‘til the wee hours with Village Chief Ugo Damiani and Mr Olivier Horps, Managing Director Asia-Pacific, plus a special appearance by “Michael Jackson” himself!

Marking their anniversary, Club Med Cherating has rebranded itself as Club Med’s first Eco Nature Resort, and launched a new Jungle Walk and Natural Rock Wall Climbing this year – fun for both nature lovers and city dwellers like myself – plus a revamped Mini Club Med for the tiny tots. To counter the vast buffet spreads that are laid out to fatten guests three times a day, the resort has just introduced a Healthy Cuisine section (as if!) where ingredients going into each dish, and their accompanying calories are clearly labelled for good measure! (Check out their low GI foods. Healthy and yummyyy!)

Beyond the Andaman Sea, the resort chain is launching new villages and concepts too – like the new Club Med Yabuli Ski Resort in China we just wrote about, the first villa concept in Albion, Mauritius, and upgrades at other Club Med resorts: Bintan’s got a gorgeous new spa (Watch out for our news on that – we’ve already checked it out!), Club Med Phuket has renovated its Mini Club Med and launched its new Baby Club Med (more couple time while kids get to have their own fun and games!) and Club Med Bali has also been renovated. For those who like their dose of exotic, 2010 is also set to see new resorts like Club Med Taba in Egypt, Club Med Buzios in Brazil and Club Med Oman in Senegal.

And if top-notch luxury is your thing, Club Med Kani has introduced a dedicated 5 Trident space, the most lavish of their ranks, complete with premium amenities; while Club Med Albion Villa is the first ever Club Med Villa. Situated on a protected Mauritian coast, Club Med Albion Villa adjoins the 5-Trident Resort La Plantation d’Albion for complete and overwhelming luxury.

It’s funny how a concept that started over half a century ago is still successful these days. But pioneers Gerard Blitz and Gilbert Trigano had wanted to create an all-inclusive holiday concept way back in 1950, where guests didn’t have to worry about a thing - just relax and enjoy quality time doing what they liked, and weave in a bit (or a lot of) crazy fun. And those are things which still make a great holiday today. Thanks to this vision in 1950, there are now more than 80 Club Med destinations around the world.

 

Oh, and on top of the all-inclusive meals and activities and private beaches, did you know that the average space of a Club Med resort is about two-and-a-half times larger than other resorts?

For the rest of this year, Club Med continues to celebrate with special activities and events at all their properties, to celebrate 60 years of fun.