This Week's Luxury Travel News: August 3, 2012

  Mandarin Oriental New York As compiled from Andrew Harper’s twitter feed, @HarperTravel. Please note that news about upcoming properties does not constitute endorsement from Andrew Harper.

• Jan D. Goessing Appointed Area Vice President and General Manager of Mandarin Oriental, New York
• St. Regis Bal Harbour sees biggest single sale - 5 contiguous apartments
• Ritz Paris officially closed
• Claridges Television Documentary to Mark 200th anniversary 
• 2012 Pebble Beach Concours Posters Revealed
• "There is no Abercrombie. I made it up so the company would appear higher in the phone book."
• Samsonite buys Hartmann in luxury travel goods push
• Orient-Express Hotels Reports Second Quarter 2012 Results
• New York's Plaza Hotel sold to Sahara for $570 million
• Montage Residences Beverly Hills Announces Two New Closings; Four In The Last Three Months
• Flexjet partners with Abercrombie & Kent
• The Beverly Hills Hotel Named First Historic Landmark by the City of Beverly Hills
• Orient-Express to Re-Open El Encanto, Iconic Santa Barbara Luxury Hotel
• Ritz-Carlton ranked top luxury hotel brand in guest satisfaction survey
• Huvafen Fushi nveils new renovations
• The cheapest time to buy vacation tickets? August/September and December/January. via @WSJ
• Silver Cloud Passengers Sailed Under the 2012 Olympic Rings
• Emirates Expands A380 Service to Amsterdam
• Hotel Splendido adds 5 new suites
• Startling Arizona Wines: Arizona Stronghold and more
• Japan airline ANA partners with Mandarin Oriental Tokyo on flight cuisine
• August Hideaway Report: Umbria and Arizona
• Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance, September 7-9, 2012
• Amanresorts News: Amanzoe, Greece
• Some of my favorite shops & cafes in Dublin. AH.
• Four Seasons and Peninsula rank 6 & 7 on the most searched luxury hotel brands by Chinese travelers 
• Four Seasons is headed to Tanzania
• Indian Supreme Court judge bans tourism in many of the country’s tiger reserves
• Greenbrier hosting Pete Sampras and John McEnroe tennis match this fall
• "We will definitely spread to more spots in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador" Amanresorts' Adrian Zecha
• New exec chef at Post Ranch Inn
• Orient-Express is selling the Westcliff 
• Harper Blog: Notable August Events
• Oman's Alila Jabal Akhdar, first Middle Eastern venture from Asia-based hotel group Alila 
• Four Seasons Milan rolls out new spa 
• Healdsburg's Cyrus restaurant closing, new Le Mars owners taking over space
• Abercrombie & Kent Windsor Concours of Elegance, September 5-14, 2012
• FS Shanghai, Pudong & Beijing now accepting reservations
• Happy 20th to Amankila