Until June 30, you can visit 14 French national museums and historic sites without needing to pay anything. Normally most national museums offer one free open-house day a month, but this six-month try out guarantees free entrance to some of the best museums in the country.

In Paris, the museums include the Musée Cluny, the Musée Guimet, Arts et Métiers, the renaissance museum at Ecouen, the national archeology museum of St. Germain-en-Laye, and the Bourget museum of Air and Space. Also, the Pompidou Center offers free entrance for 18-25-year-olds to its contemporary art shows Wednesday evenings, the Orsay is free on Thursday evenings, and the Louvre doesn’t charge on Friday evenings.

In November 2007, Design Hotels released its 2008 edition of the Design Hotels^TM Yearbook featuring almost 40 new members. The 15 years anniversary issue includes over 650 pages of outstanding photography and comprehensive articles on design and architecture. The theme “Looking Forward” mirrors the company’s objective to encourage a new time in hotel design. Nine selected hoteliers and designers share their ideas for the future.

Design Hotels^TM portfolio is improved with a selection of some of the best newly built design hotels in the world. Below, you can see the member hotels opening in 2008.

Europe

Belgium-Genk: Carbon Hotel - April

Germany-Frankfurt: Roomers - September

Germany-Hamburg: The George - August

Hungary-Budapest: Hotel Rosslyn - November

Norway-Oslo: Grims Grenka - January

Switzerland-Laax: The Rocks - February

UK-London: The Franklin Hotel - February

UK-London: Sanctum Soho Hotel - May

UK-Southport: Vincent - March

Asia/Pacific

Indonesia-Bali: Alila Villas Uluwatu - June

Maldives-South Male: Alila Villas Hadahaa - June

Maldives-South Male: Alila Villas Lonudhua - June

Apart from in selected member hotels and retailers, The Design Hotels^TM Yearbook 08 is available online at www.designhotels.com/shop at a cost of 39 Euros.

The latest opened member hotel was Alila Cha-Am, a modern beachside resort only two hours south of Bangkok.

Design Hotels^TM member hotels are united by a dedication to individualism and progressive design. The company has its headquarter in Berlin and branches in London, Barcelona, New York, Singapore, Bali and Tokyo.