Destinations of the World News - September 2011

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September 2011

Made in MilanFashion aficionados flock to Milan Fashion Week every year, but many are so

focused on the catwalk they miss out on the real star of the show – Italy’s style capital

SUITE DREAMSGeneva’s crown jewel

HOW TO SPEND ITIndulgent travel inspiration

FAMILY LUXURYWolgan Valley Resort and Spa

Ancient rituals meet new luxe

The city that never sleeps

H20 maestro Mark Fuller gets his hands wet

SPAS OF JORDANAncient rituals meet new luxe

24 HOURS…BEIRUTThe city that never sleeps

LET THERE BE WATERH20 maestro Mark Fuller gets his hands wet

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For more information and bookings please contact Jumeirah Zabeel Saray on Tel: +971 4 453 0000, visit www.jumeirahzabeelsaray.com or call your travel professional.

The Golden Age has returnedLocated on the beachfront of the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah, this majestic resort is stunning in every detail. Marvel at the magnificient Ottoman inspired decor, savour an array of international flavours at our restaurants, unwind in elegant guest rooms where your every need is met, or simply refresh mind, body and soul in one of the region’s largest and most sophisticated spas and Turkish hammams, Talise Ottoman Spa.

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11 July 2011 dotwnews.com

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dotwnews.com September 2011 09

44Age-old custom

Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade, completed in 1877,

exemplifies the city’s fashion ties

On the cover44 Made in Milan

Fashion and hospitality are the cogs that make Milan’s economy tick, says Alice Haine

52 Jordanian indulgence Home of the world’s oldest natural spas, Jordan has plenty to offer, says Caroline Eden

60 Beirut: 24 hours Modern Beirut moves at a break-neck pace - Joe Mortimer tells us how to keep up

ContentsSeptember 2011

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70

34 40

76

ContentsSeptember 2011

In the news18 Retrospective Cartier International Polo Day, England

20 Europe BMW delivers first Olympic vehicles to London

22 Middle East & Africa Africa attracts major hotel investment

26 Asia & Oceania China unveils luxury carrier vessel hotel

30 Americas Gen Y’s spending power influences new luxury hotels

34 Trends New travel and tourism concepts making the news

40 Interview Mark Fuller has spent a lifetime getting his hands wet

Insider62 Diary Out and about this month? Don’t miss these events

64 Spend it The best itineraries from the world’s top travel companies

68 Debut Hot hotels, chic boutiques and exclusive resorts

70 Suite dreams Inside the Presidential Suite at Four Seasons Geneva

72 Review Five-star hospitality with SWISS International Airlines

74 On the road Sometimes we’d rather keep our feet on the ground

76 Family luxe Gemma Greenwood takes the family Down Under

78 Connoisseur Mary Gostelow finds her way around Cape Town

80 Album Tom Hudson and Ed Olver, founders of British Polo Day

82 Final Word Captain Christian Magnusson, Emirates Airline

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12 September 2011 dotwnews.com

Letter from the EditorThis monTh The fashion eliTe will

congregate in four of the world’s fashion capitals – milan, new York, Paris and london – to see the

unveiling of the 2012 Spring/Summer range from the industry’s top designers. For each of the cities, the

Fashion Weeks are an opportunity to throw the flashi-est parties, secure the most lucrative sponsorship deals and charge the most exorbitant hotel rates.

We chose to focus on milan as our September cover story not only because it is the heart and soul of the

world’s fashion industry, but because as the smallest of the four cities, the impact of fashion week on the

local economy is more acutely felt. The event literally takes over the city, with hotels and restaurants booked

up months in advance, and everything from public spaces to local trams advertising the next big event.

But with leggy models drawing focus on the catwalk, there is little time for visitors to admire the real star of the show, which is the city of Milan itself – a magnifi-

cent example of italian style at its most timeless. Read Alice Haine’s full story on page 44.

Back in the Middle East, we take a look at the burgeoning spa scene in Jordan, which is attracting

a new wave of spa aficionados. Home of the Dead sea – the lowest point on earth and site of one of

the earliest spa complexes in recorded history – and the ancient city of Petra, Jordan now boasts a raft of high-end spas that use natural products such as the

mineral-rich Dead Sea mud in their treatments. From top-end operators like Six Senses, which runs

the Evason Ma’In Resort, to more authentic-style spas like Taybet Zaman in Petra, Jordan’s reputation as a must-visit destination for rejuvenation and well-ness is finally maturing. Read Caroline Eden’s take on

the best spas Jordan has to offer on page 52.I’m pleased to introduce several new sections in

this issue which we hope will become regulars in Destinations of the World News. First up is our new ‘24 hours...’ section. When we travel for business, we often don’t have long to enjoy the cities we visit - it’s

often a jam-packed schedule that leaves us little time to explore, and we end up wishing we had a bit

more time to see just the bare necessities. With that in mind, we are putting together a series of short city

guides packed with our recommended itineraries of what we would do if we had 24 hours.

We start off this month with Beirut – a city that never sleeps. Read about what to see, eat and explore in one day and night in the ‘Paris of the middle east’ on page 60. There are some times when jetting off for a long holiday just isn’t possible, which is why we have introduced a motoring section to showcase the best new cars and motorcycles on the market, guaranteed to make any road trip a pleasure. We have some stunning new models from Bugatti and mercedes in the first instalment of ‘On the road’ on page 74.

As I write this letter I’m enjoying the view from the window of a First Great Western Railway train from London Paddington to Truro in Cornwall – deep in the countryside of England’s stunning southwest. The scenery I’m rattling through is the landscape that has inspired poets and artists for centuries – rolling green hills bathed in late evening August sunlight, peaceful rivers that mean-der across fields and valleys, and quaint little villages that all look like they belong on the front of a postcard.

We usually look abroad for travel inspiration, but I note now that it’s all too easy to take your own native country for granted. Today I have remembered that England really is a green and pleasant land, and I for one will be exploring more of it in the future.Happy travels,

Joe Mortimer [email protected]

four seasons BeirutStylish rooftop bars like this one at Four Seasons are typical of modern Beirut.

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T +971 4 348 1281 I M +971 50 459 8690 I [email protected] I www.artmarine.net

S A L E S I S E R V I C E I B R O K E R A G E I C H A R T E R I M A R I N A M A N A G E M E N T I M A R I N E P R O D U C T S

PUT YOURSELF INPOLE POSITION

CHARTER A LUXURY YACHT AND GET CLOSER TO THEACTION AT THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, 11-13 NOV 2011

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September 2011, Issue 63

Publisher Anna [email protected]

Senior Editor Andy [email protected]

Editor Joe [email protected]

Deputy Editor Caitlin [email protected]

Assistant Online Editor Nicci [email protected]

Sales Manager Karla [email protected]

Assistant Sales Manager Andrea [email protected]

Art Director Kris [email protected]

Multimedia Director Salimah [email protected]

Advertising Art Director Fami [email protected]

Multimedia Executive Vandita [email protected]

United Kingdom Sales RepresentativeDavid Hammond

[email protected]

Circulation department [email protected]

Cover imageMain: iStockphoto, Background: Photolibrary

Caroline EdenCaroline Eden is a writer and author specialis-ing in spas, luxury hotels and adventure travel. She contributes to international titles including The National, ELLE, Geographical and Asian Art Newspaper, and is currently writing a book about Mumbai. A fan of long dusty roads, mountains, good wine and Asia’s mega-cities, she finds refuge in bookshops, spas and chic pit-stops. This month she checked out Jordan’s unique spa scene. Read her round-up of the best scrubs, rubs and muds in the Dead Sea and beyond on page 52.

International Commercial RepresentationsDestinations of the World News’ network of international

advertising sales and editorial representatives are based in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Egypt,

France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,

Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America. Destinations of the World News is published monthly by WNN Limited and

distributed globally to the world’s premier airport lounges, our subscriber network and a select number of five-star hotels in the UAE. The title Destinations of the World News is a registered trademark and the publisher reserves all rights. All material in Destinations of the World News is compiled from sources believed to be reliable and articles reflect the

personal opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the publisher. Destinations of the World News is not responsible for omissions or errors that result from misrepresentation of information to the publisher. Advertisers assume all liability

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Published by

Caitlin CheadleDeputy editor Caitlin Cheadle packed her things and left her native Vancouver nearly three years ago, after catching the travel bug while backpack-ing through Europe. Although she misses the wide-open spaces, mountains and fresh air of Canada, she’s happy to stay in Dubai as long as she can travel frequently - which she does. Caitlin recently enjoyed the royal treatment in the Presiden-tial Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva. Thankfully she found time to write about the experience - read about it on page 70.

Gemma GreenwoodGemma Greenwood is a freelance travel journalist

and editorial consultant who recently gave up a full-time position in Dubai to take care of her first-

born daughter back home in Essex in the UK. Far from putting an end to her travels, being a mum appears to be opening up new doors for Gemma and her daughter, who seems to be catching the

travel bug just like her mum. Last month the fam-ily set o¨ for the Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa in

Australia. Find out how they got on in our family luxury column on page 76.

Contributors

Alice HaineAlice has been writing for newspapers and

magazines for the last 13 years. She has been edi-tor of the weekend edition of the UAE’s Emirates

Business 24/7, assistant editor of Emirates Today and a features writer for The People and Bella

magazine in the UK. Alice has lived in eight coun-tries around the world and is now based in Dubai, where she specialises in writing about travel and

lifestyle. Alice recently travelled to Milan for an in-depth look at Milan Fashion Week. Don’t miss

her story on page 44.

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18 December 2010 dotwnews.com

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The hounds are released to much fan-fare at the Cartier International Polo Day 2011 at Guards Polo Club, Wind-sor Great Park in Egham, England, in

association with Hurlingham Polo Association. One of the world’s largest and most high-

profile polo spectator events, the day begins for most at 11am with the Golden Jubilee Trophy match, featuring England’s young up-and-com-ing players and getting guests in the mood for the main event of the day, the afternoon match for the Coronation Cup.

However, as stated by the Guards Polo Club itself, the Cartier International Polo Day is “so

much more than polo”. Indeed for many this annual summer event is just as much about the social scene, if not more so.

Celebrities and VIPs from the world of stage, film, literature, arts and fashion are wined and dined over a gourmet lunch, this year prepared by renowned chef Anton Mosimann. Between matches guests can mingle in the Retail Village, where everything from champagne to luxury cars is on offer.

After the final match and Presentation Cer-emony in the evening, spectators gather at the infamous Chinawhite afterparty in London to celebrate into the early morning hours.

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title SectionyRetrospectiveRetrospective


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The city of Berlin commemorated the 50th anniversary of the build-ing of the Berlin Wall last month, a barrier that divided the city in two for some 28 years.

Eager to cull the exodus of East Berliners to the Allied-controlled western half of the city, the Social-ist Unity Party authorities in the east began erecting a barbed wire fence across the city on August 13, 1961. Several years later the Berlin Wall was a 160-kilometre long concrete barrier laden with metal fences, tank traps and watch towers over-looking “death strips” where anyone who tried to cross would be shot.

Communities and families were divided overnight, and those unlucky enough to be on the eastern side of the wall faced almost three decades of oppression. In a memo-rial service last month, the people of Berlin and Germany’s leading poli-ticians came together to remember the victims of these dark times at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

In the 22 years since the Berlin Wall came down, Berlin has seen one of the most successful renais-sances in modern history, and the city is now a major European tourism destination. In the first

six months of this year, Berlin saw more than 900,000 visitors, which is already more than it saw in the whole of 2010.

Berlin’s mayor and senator of commerce, technology and women Harald Wolf highlighted the impor-tance of the city’s strong tourism economy and the role it has played in the regeneration of the city: “Ber-lin has established itself during the past years with an excellent team

at the top of the European tourism metropolises,” he said at Berlin’s Tourism Day 2011, organised by the city’s tourism board, VisitBerlin.

“Tourism has become a key sec-tor which has a positive impact on all areas of economic development thanks to its extraordinary image effect. In this context it needs to be stressed that without tourist attrac-tions no metropolis is able to engage in an effective medium- and long-term locational development. It is,

therefore, important not to rest on one’s laurels but to hold on to the ball in order to advance tourism in the city.”

Growth of the city’s tourism indus-try is set to continue into 2012, with the opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brand (BER) airport, and a series of commemo-rative events celebrating the history and culture of Berlin, including the 125 year anniversary of the Kur-

furstendamm, West Berlin’s grand boulevard. Until October, the street will be transformed into an open-air exhibition, featuring 125 exhibits telling 125 stories celebrating the boulevard’s turbulent history.

Other events this month include the Berlin Music Week, which includes the famous Club night, in which 40 of Berlin’s top clubs open their doors to the public, and the Berlin Festival, held on the airfields of Tempelhof Airport.

09.11 News

Berlin: the future looks bright

“In the 22 years since the Berlin Wall came down, Berlin has seen one of the greatest renaissances in modern history, and is now a major tourism destination”

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Europe News


While many things in this world are getting smaller, superyachts, it seems, are getting bigger. This is the Sunreef 114 CHE – a 34m sloop-rigged catamaran that’s the largest of its kind in the world, and the second largest sailing multihull. Crafted in the Sunreef shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, the high-performance streamlined vessel can reach speeds of up to 20 knots and can accommodate seven guests and five crew members. CHE is available for private charters from Sunreef Yachts Charter. www.sunreef-yachts.com

I N F O C U S

Visiting London? Kate Middle-ton’s stunning wedding dress, cre-ated by Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton, is on show at Buck-ingham Palace, now through October 3rd, 2011. Palace tours must be pre-booked, www.royalcollection.org.uk

Keep-fit enthusiasts will be fasci-nated by W London Leicester Square’s bespoke bicycles, for free use by guests until the end of October. Bikes have been designed by Ron Arad, Nata-sha Law (sister of Jude) and fashion supremo Alice Temperley, and they are being auctioned on Facebook in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Warsaw’s Chopin Museum is so futur-istically interactive that even the tone-deaf are enthralled: any other museum, worldwide, seems old-fashioned and two-dimensional. You use a person-alised sensor card to follow Chopin’s journeys around Europe, or to swipe pages, iPad style, to listen to any work you want, www.chopin.museum. After-wards, head five minutes away to the Art Deco Café Bristol, in Le Royal Méridien Bristol, for an espresso with a much-praised Florentine biscuit.

Jewellery time. In its home base, Rio de Janeiro, one of the biggest H. Stern stores is at Copacabana Palace. The store can arrange a chauffeured visit to H. Stern headquarters, to see stones being graded, cut and mounted – and you can have one-to-one consultations for special commissions.

By contrast, in Hong Kong I have always found that Regina Wong, in Thomas Wong Jewellery in Sheraton Hong Kong’s arcade, always seems to have exactly what I want, although she cleverly shows, first, the most unsuitable pieces, keeping what is ‘just right’ to the last.

Mary gostelow

The latest in luxury travel

Mary says...

BMw has handed over the first of many vehicles pledged to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for the 2012 Olympics, as part of its ‘Tier One’ sponsorship of the event – a bicycle.

The German carmaker will supply more than 4,000 vehicles for the London 2012 games, which commence July 27, plus 400 bicycles.

“Everybody will be travel-ling to the Games by foot, bicycle or public transport wherever possible, and the

LOCOG team will be no exception to this,” said David Stubbs, head of sustainability for LOCOG. “It is rather fit-ting therefore that the first vehicle we accept for the 2012 fleet is a bike.”

BMW will also supply “highly efficient diesel-pow-ered cars” that meet LOCOG’s “extremely challenging target of 120g/km of CO2”, said BMW global sales and mar-keting director Ian Robertson.

LOCOG has ordered a fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles for the Games,

which will include mod-els from across the BMW Group portfolio, including low-emission BMW 320d and 520d EfficientDynam-ics Saloons, 200 electric MINI Es and BMW 1 Series Active Es, and the first ever appearance on British roads of BMW Hybrid cars.

A range of BMW motor-cycles will also be used for operational support of road and mountain biking events, and the innovative electricity-assisted bicycle, the Pedelec, will be debuted next year.

BMW pedals into London

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Significant developments are already underway in Morocco, where several international hospi-tality operators have partnered with local firms on major projects.

Monte-Carlo SBM is currently working with developer Aerium Atlas Management on the $195.5m Jawhar Resort, Spa and Private Residences in Marrakech, while Rocco Forte Hotels is launching the 90-suite Assoufid Resort in a part-nership with North Africa Holding

Company. Meanwhile Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces is set to launch the Taj Palace Marrakech later this year.

In Egypt, Rocco Forte Hotels is set to reopen the renovated Shep-heard Hotel in Cairo with The Egyp-tian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) in 2013, and Dubai’s Jumeirah Group is devel-oping the Jumeirah Gamsha Bay Resort in Egypt, a luxury 250-room hotel on the mixed-use develop-ment of Palm Gamsha.

News Middle East & Africa

African growthRecent developments like the Cape Town Stadium have helped boost Africa’s booming tourism sector

A shortage of infrastructure, vast geographical distances, and a lack of investor confidence has traditionally held Africa back from major tourism developments, but with a collective GDP of US$1.6 trillion in 2008 and an economy ranked as one of the fastest growing in the world, it looks likely that 2012 could be a boom year for the continent.

Rapid growth of the telecom, banking, retail and construction sectors across Africa over the last decade have seen a sharp rise in demand for hotels and accommoda-tion and today there are some 190 hotels in the pipeline across the con-tinent, totalling some 37,000 rooms.

In a June 2011 report, the McKin-sey Global Institute said the return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than any other developing market in the world.

The fact that the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) saw a return of almost 22 percent a year on its African private equity portfolio from 2000 to March 2010, higher than for any other emerging market’s region, supports these findings.

There is more positive news from the World Travel Organisa-tion (WTO), which recently forecast that foreign tourism to Africa would increase by more than 50 percent by 2020.

In light of the optimistic outlook, Bench Events is launching the 2011 Hotel Investment Conference in Africa (HICA), which will take place in Casablanca from September 26-27, providing investors with an overview of the opportunities in the region and a platform for network-ing and forging new partnerships.

t h e m o n t h i n n u m b e r s

1.4 millionNumber of wildebeest estimated to migrate across Africa during the Great Wildebeest Migration. The animals are usually accompanied by some 360,000 Thomson’s Gazelle, 191,000 Zebra and 12,000 Eland.

6000 BCDate the earliest settlers populated Erbil in Northern Iraq, which will soon house a 200-room Marriott hotel and a 75-unit deluxe Marriott Executive Apartments – part of the mixed-use Empire World project.

US$1.93 billionAmount of cash travel and tourism will inject into the Omani economy in 2011, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Luxury developments like The Wave will see further growth in future years.


Elsewhere in Africa, Sofitel is opening a 200-room luxury hotel and golf resort on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea; Sol Melia is working on a five-star resort in Zanzibar; Hilton has announced a 195-room Hilton N’Djamena in Chad; and Rezidor Hotel Group is set to open its seventh hotel in Nigeria – Park Inn Lagos, Apapa – with additional properties planned for Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and Mozambique.

Africa in the spotlight

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UAE to launch new domestic airline

Emirates First Class Emirates Airline has spared no expense with its second dedicated First Class Lounge in Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3. The 1,058sqm facility features Italian marble flooring, high-quality European leather, and gold-plated Rolex wall clocks from Geneva. First class passengers flying from the 14 departure gates at the Terminal’s Concourse 1 will enjoy shower facilities, wireless connectivity, workstations, business centre, two dining areas and a range of comfortable seating. Just in case that’s not enough, the lounge also has its own water feature and a collection of contemporary artwork.

As if two hugely successful legacy carriers and two regional low cost airlines wasn’t enough, the UAE is set to launch its first domestic airline.

Eastern Express, a partnership between Al Hajjar Aviation and Abul-houl Aviation, will operate flights from the UAE capital Abu Dhabi to the northern emirate of Fujairah, marking the first time scheduled domestic flights have been available between the emirates of the UAE.

“This has been worked on for almost two and a half years now,” Alex de Vos, CEO and president of Al Hajjar Aviation told UAE newspaper Gulf News.

“It’s obviously a condition of mar-ket environment here and what we’ve seen is that the economic situation

in the country and in the world is strengthening again, so it would make it a better time now than a year ago.”

Services will start with two daily flights from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi on a turboprop aircraft, but it is hoped that will increase to three daily flights. The airline is expected to expand its network to other regional destinations in the future.

The flight between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi will take around 40 min-utes, knocking a substantial amount of time off the three-hour drive. However cynics point out that by the time passengers have passed through security checks and customers proce-dures at either end of the flight, the overall travel time between the emir-ates will be about the same.

IN FOCUS


News Middle East & Africa

Techno oasisThere was a time when the best you could hope for when stranded in the Empty Quar-ter of Abu Dhabi was an oasis with a patch of wet sand to roll around in. Nowadays, Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, a five-star oasis in the rolling sand dunes of Liwa, offers guests the use of an iPad throughout their stay, to make tedious tasks like booking spa treatments or ordering from room service even easier. You can even buy items from the souk or send special requests to the concierge.

Towering ambitionNot content with being the 26th richest person in the world and the nephew of Saudi’s King Abdullah, billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has revealed plans to build the world’s tall-est tower. The Kingdom Tower will soar one kilometre into the Jeddah skyline, overtak-ing Dubai’s Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest, and will house a hotel, apartments, luxury condos and offices when it is complete. The Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture project will be built by Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding at a cost of US$1.2bn.

AUH makes flying virtually pain-free Abu Dhabi International Airport’s new website – www.abudhabiairport.ae – is a refreshingly innovative platform for passengers flying out of Abu Dhabi. New features such as the “Passenger Guide” tab allow users to personalise their experience, whether flying out or connecting at AUH – just enter your flight details and up pops helpful info such as the location of your nearest shops, restaurants, banks, ATMs and your departure gate. The site also features real-time arrival and departure information, plus up-to-the-minute transfer updates for those taking connecting flights. Now, if only all airports would follow suit.

Coming soon Flights from Abu Dhabi to the neighbouring emirates

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News Asia & Oceania

If you’ve ever travelled to Sri Lanka (and we highly recommend you do), you’ll know that it’s host to fabulous luxury boutique hotels, gorgeous natural scenery, delicious cuisine and friendly, charming people. It’s also, unfortunately, not very easy to get around once your flight lands. Roads are narrow and windy, people drive in a way that makes seatbelts an absolute necessity (it’s not advis-able to rent a car and attempt to drive yourself), and maps are con-fusing and often incorrect. It’s also time-consuming, with the average drive time from Colombo Airport to the tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya running about six hours – which, if you are on a week-long holiday, is not welcome news.

But now it’s possible to get to your final destination in a matter of minutes, thanks to a new fleet of

seaplanes operating flights to popu-lar destinations such as Kandy, Kog-gala, Nuwara Eliya, and Dikwella on a daily basis, and to Bentota three times a week. Plans to extend the service to Jafna and surfing hotspot

Arugam Bay on the east coast are currently in development as well.

Sri Lanka, which has only recently opened up as a tourist des-tination after the end of a civil war

that plagued the country for over 25 years, has seen remarkable growth in the luxury tourism sector, with luxury boutique properties find-ing their way onto its picturesque shores and lush mountains over the

past few years, and big-name prop-erties set to open in the coming years, including Anantara in Bentota, and Shangri-La hotels in Hamban-tota (2013) and Colombo (2014).

Sri Lanka gets accessible


New heights With regular seaplane flights

in operation, Sri Lanka will now be easier to explore

China to outspend US in luxury travelIn June, a think tank of 15 lead-ers from various luxury travel sectors met at the ILTM Asia (International Luxury Travel Mar-ket) Leaders Forum to discuss the changing climate of luxury travel. Among their conclusions, the panel agreed that China will immediately surpass the US in travel expenditure, both domes-tically and internationally.

Top copsIf you’re planning a holiday in the Philippines, rest assured you’ll feel safe. The Philippines’ Department of Tourism has completed the first phase of its Tourism Oriented Police for Community Order and Protec-tion (TOP COP) programme, featuring a Tourist Police force trained in areas like customer relations, police matters, cri-sis management and first aid. Officers will be deployed in tourist-frequented areas such as Manila, Boracay Island, and Puerto Princesca City.

High flyingA holiday in the archipelago of the Maldives can get off to a slow start if you have to fly from Male International Airport to your final destination. Kuramathi Island Resort has opened its own lounge, featuring sunloungers, dedicated staff to assist with booking restaurants, excursions and spa treatments in advance, WiFi, snacks and beverages, so that guests can start their holi-day that much sooner.

Budding landscapeSingapore’s Gardens by the Bay, adjacent to the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, will comprise 101 hectares at three waterfront sites. The first phase, opening June 2012, will be 54 hectares and will include two conservatories displaying plants from the Mediterranean and tropical montane regions, horticultural themed gardens and events and dining spaces.

Closer to heavenBoutique hotels like Maya in the

remote area of Tangalle will benefit from the new service

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01 Adverts.indd 6 22/08/2011 11:08

News Asia & Oceania

Paris Hilton, US socialite and heiress, waves to fans as she arrives at the SM Megamall in Manila, the Philippines, to open the fourth outpost of her Paris Hilton Handbags & Accessories line of stores. Hilton told the crowd, “I will be back very soon ‘cos I love it here. I’ve had the best time.” However, she is planning to return not to flog more handbags, but to open the Azure Urban Resort Residences, a resort-inspired residential development in the southern part of Manila that features a man-made beach. “I will personally help design The Azure Beach Club, creating a unique and special place that will bring happiness to many people. I am excited for people to experience it,” she said.

The latest luxury hotel in China fea-tures panoramic ocean views, elabo-rate décor, and, not surprisingly, it’ll cost you. But for good reason – it’s housed in an old Soviet aircraft car-rier, the Kiev, billed as ‘China’s first aircraft carrier hotel’ (we weren’t aware of any other existing aircraft carrier hotels, but there you have it).

China’s rising economic power has spurred the country to flex its military muscles, much to the con-cern of Western nations. And while it may be showing that it’s a force to be reckoned with by recently putting its first aircraft carrier, the Varyag – also formerly part of the Soviet fleet – to sea trials, there is growing public interest in the Kiev.

Prices to stay onboard the floating hotel have yet to be finalised, but they surely won’t be cheap. Accord-ing to the South China Morning Post, its owners spent nearly 100m yuan (US $9.6 million) to transform the vessel into a luxury hotel. One of the five Presidential Suites features a white, circular bed, silver lame drapes and a cowskin rug, while another photo shows a luxurious king-size bed accented by silk pil-lows, and surrounded by chocolate-hued velvet sofas and gold damask patterned wallpaper.

I N F O C U SChina’s most innovative luxury hotel

t h e m O N t h I N N U m b e r S

2,484The number of Porsche models delivered to China from January to July 2011, an almost fivefold increase over the same period last year. The most popular model in terms of sales was the Porsche Cayenne.

10/2011The scheduled opening date for the new St Regis Tianjin. The 276-room hotel is located in the Heping district along the picturesque Hai River, home to many of Northern China’s historic and natural attractions.

US$570 millionThe selling price of the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, NY, plus four other luxury hotels owned by Maritz, Wolff & Co and Rosewood Corp., recently purchased by the family of Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-tung.


“It’s been reported owners

spent nearly 100m yuan

(US$9.6 million) transforming the aircraft carrier into a luxury

hotel”

26-28 Asia News.indd 28 24/08/2011 16:25

News Americas

W, Aloft, Edition, Indigo – what do these hotel brands have in com-mon? Well, quite frankly, they’re achingly hip and trendy, and aimed at a luxury traveller who’s cooler than anyone born before 1975 or after 1995 – namely, Gen Y.

The W and Aloft hotels are part of Starwood’s portfolio, while Indigo is the brainchild of IHG Hotels, and the new Edition brand, which currently has locations in Waikiki, Hawaii and Istanbul, Tur-key, is the latest from Marriott, cur-rently looking to attract a newer, younger clientele after taking a hit during the recession.

So why is targeting a youthful clientele, specifically those cur-rently between the ages of 36 and 16, so important in the luxury market? Well, for one thing, Gen Y is the largest generation in the US, surpassing the baby boomers and making up roughly 30% of the current population. They also have the greatest consumer confidence of any other demographic cohort in the US – generally speaking, they

seek to live ‘the good life’. Luxury is important to them, and it defines who they are. Research indicates they are still the biggest spenders in the US, despite the fact that they are the age group to have been hit the hardest by the recession in terms of unemployment.

According to the Financial Times lexicon, Gen Y “is seen as reliant

on new media and digital technol-ogy with short attention spans. They expect entertaining and fast-paced information and are assumed to be self-centred, demanding, and hard to integrate into teams”.

This trend toward modern, fast-paced and somewhat over the top is set to continue as long-established luxury hotel chains scramble to find their place in a society that is

overcome with the new and indi-vidualistic rather than the time-honoured traditional style of his-toric brands such as Ritz-Carlton and St Regis.

This shift in target clientele has also spurred chains to offer their customers a more instant, per-sonable level of service in a more electronically-geared environment.

It’s rare to find a room in a five-star these days that doesn’t have an iPod docking station and, increasingly, a flat-screen TV in the bathroom (heaven forbid one should be away from a TV longer than a few min-utes), and floor concierges or per-sonal butlers are now becoming an expected criteria in most top-end properties. We think these are changes we can all embrace.

Generation Y spurs new luxury hotelsGood moveA new maritime passenger line called Jean Ferry Service will soon offer travellers regu-lar transportation between the Caribbean islands of Dominica, Martinique, and St Lucia for lower prices than are currently available. President of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association Simon Walsh said, “some of the limitations we are having in appealing to the French market [of tourists] has been accessibility. With this new ferry system, let us hope that we are taking a step in the right direction.”

Road to airMajorly exciting news if you have your pilot’s license (and a sizeable bank account), the first car/plane is now available for purchase. Innovative company Terrafugia has launched The Transition, which can travel by road or air, thanks to its spe-cially designed tires and foldable wings, designed and perfected over the last five years by MIT-trained engineers. According to the company’s website, the “anticipated base price” is US$279,000. We expect to see Brangelina enjoying a ride in the aircraft sometime soon.

Romantic relaxationCaribbean-based Sandals Resorts, which feature a wide range of destination wedding and honeymoon packages, is now offering special couples’ honeymoon and wedding prepa-ration spa treatments and wed-ding photography packages.

Living on the edgeThe latest attraction to hit Can-ada, the Edgewalk at Toronto’s CN Tower allows visitors to walk the outside of the circumference of Canada’s tallest building, 1,168 feet above the ground. Edgewalkers are hooked up to harnesses for the stroll along a grated metal ledge and are encouraged to lean out over the streets below to pose for photos.


Young and frivolousGen Y is a top target for hotel brands, as is evident by the new brands coming on the market

“It’s rare to find a room in a five-star these days that doesn’t have an iPod docking station and, increasingly, a flat-screen TV in the bathroom”

30-32 Amercias News.indd 30 23/08/2011 18:03

Tel: +960 664 6655 n Fax: +960 664 3843 n email:[email protected] AA. Ethere Madivaru, North Ari Atoll, Republic of Maldives

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Banyan Tree Madivaru “Delivering an unforgettable experience of ultimate privacy and luxury”

01 Adverts.indd 1 24/08/2011 16:06

News Americas


High hopesThe cable car of the Complexo Alemao favelas glides silently over the hills in northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The cable car is a part of the Rio de Janeiro favela ‘pacification’ programme, in an e�ort by the government to clean up Rio’s slums in time for the 2016 Olympics. Six months ago, government forces drove out the drug lords that ruled the favelas, and the areas are now patrolled 24 hours a day by the military. Residents say the cable car, which spans over 3.5 km and links 14 communities via six stops, is making a di�erence to their quality of life, allowing them to integrate into other areas of Rio outside the favelas.

DOTW NEWS recently visited Canada’s financial capital, Toronto, having last graced its streets over eight years ago, and we can say with complete honesty that we were very impressed. The city has come a long way since 2003, with new initiatives to attract a higher-end kind of trav-eller already in place and further developments on the way.

While the pretty, ocean-side city of Vancouver and the rustic French-Canadian city of Montreal have long been the darlings of Canada’s tourism market, it’s clear Toronto is ready for a slice of the prover-bial pie. One of the first steps the city required to attract new visitors was an upgrade in the luxury hotel department, a venture that is now in full swing.

We stayed at the brand-new Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, tucked away from the maddening crowd of Queen

Street near the city’s iconic CN Tower. The hotel is a blend of mini-malist chic and modern Canadian artwork that makes use of indige-nous natural resources throughout, including walnut panelling, sleek sculptures of Canadian wildlife, and bronze maple leaves encased in marble flooring.

Set to open soon are the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto (2012) and the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto (late 2011), both located in the city’s bustling finan-cial district. “Toronto is a sleeper city,” Trump International Hotels COO Jim Petrus explained to DOTW News.

“It’s been there a long time, but it’s only now that people are realis-ing its potential as both a financial capital and a tourist attraction.”

Add to this a thriving culinary scene, great high-end and vintage shopping and plenty of opportuni-ties for day-trips, whether it’s a yacht cruise on Lake Ontario or a wine-tasting tour at the vineyards in the leafy hills surrounding the pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and it’s easy to see why this Canadian city is becoming a hot ticket in the North American travel market.

I N F O C U S“I’m also going to visit the plane spotters who hang out near the airport. I hear it’s a pretty tight-knit group and I will try to win their hearts over. I’ve been told in order to do that I’ll need aviator sunglasses, a Dodge minivan, binoculars and a mustache.”Jaeger Mah, winner of the contest, ‘live at YVR’, in which entrants competed for a chance to spend 80 days and nights at Vancouver International Airport, says he has additional duties to uphold during his stay.

“The future of transportation security will be gathering intelligence technologically while people are moving at the speed of life, not beginning at a point where passengers are queued up, delayed, stripped down and probed.” Ed Daly, director of intelligence-watch operations for iJet, on the future of airport security operations in the US.

Toronto flaunts its new luxury image

Skyscraper cityThe Ritz-Carlton, Toronto is one of several new five-star hotels

30-32 Amercias News.indd 32 8/28/11 2:18 PM

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Trends

SKY-HIGH INNOVATIONS


Best bar none?Aircraft designers have been having big fun with

the giant space offered to them on the huge A380. There’ve been showers and double beds

for example, but none of their innovations comes close our favourite at Destinations of the World News. Instead of pointy-end passengers having

to rely on the whim of in-flight staff for their beverage of choice, a special manned bar in first

class and two open bars in business are to be installed. Yep – two open bars in business. Now in this day and age we are all responsible adults,

probably all in positions of responsibility, too. We all know our limits don’t we? Really, what could

possibly go wrong?

Novel approachHeathrow Airport is bringing novelist Tony Parsons into its terminals to find inspiration for his first collection of short stories. The author of best-selling Man And Boy will prowl the airport looking for inspiration for Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow. “It’s an incredible opportunity to live at Heathrow and write about the people whose lives are touched by it,” the novelist said. Around 5,000 books will be given away to passengers before it goes on sale. In 2009 the airport employed philosopher Alain de Botton. Several chapters of his book A Week At The Airport: A Heathrow Diary were jotted down in Terminal Five.

Let them eat cakeSo how do you think an airline could add value or incentivise new business among the poor downtrodden travelling classes? Lower prices? Upgrades? Perhaps throw in a free flight? Or provide free cake? Of course, the answer is free cake. In the cut-throat world of airline competition it’s dog eat dog, so you’ve got to find an edge over your rivals. So British Midland International – better known as BMI – is offering free cake for passengers on flights within the UK and Ireland in Flexible Economy between 10am and noon, and 1.30 and 5pm. Sweet.

Photo: Airbus SAS

Bomb-proof bagsWe’d like to pretend we understand the new bomb-proof bags being researched by Sheffield University in the UK, but frankly we don’t. It’s something to do with internal elastomeric coating, fluid that stiffens in explosions, changing orientations and…we give in. The important thing is that these bags could soon be coming to an aircraft hold near you. The university has tested the fabric using an explosion similar to that which destroyed Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 and the results have been very positive, apparently. The aim is to use this fabric to pack hold luggage in such a way that a major blast could be contained. The product could be on sale in less than two years.

34-38 Trends.indd 34 24/08/2011 16:55

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20_DXBSU_235_335_D of the W N.pdf 1 11. 08. 19 오후 1:58


M e x i c oPipe dream reality

Long, long ago on these very pages we featured the wonderful

dasparkhotel, a German hotel concept built from giant old pipes.

Well, this month we are delighted to reveal a similar concept in Mexico. The Tubohotel in Morelos features converted old giant concrete pipes stacked on top of each other. Each

of the ‘tubes’ can be reached by ladder and accommodates two at the budget-blasting price of just US$42.

Certainly beats staying in a hostel. We also liked the hotel’s colourful appeal

to “give us a call Young Jedi, and a Tubo assistant will help you find your

way in a chaotic world”.

H o l l a n dMini-bar in a boxThe difficulty with many mini-bars – as far as hoteliers are concerned – is the fact that they can be an expensive concept. Sadly, not everyone is as honest as devoted disciples of Destinations of World News when they check into their shiny new suite and instantly consider replacing bottle contents with water or black tea. The solution, dear harassed hotelier, is to remove all those old fridges and sell guests a minibarbox (see above). This brainchild of Dutch company HBMEO is a pre-packed assortment box of selected drinks that guests can buy for themselves. Apparently the concept is big in Maastricht…

U KCanine comfortDogs today, eh? Don’t know they’re born. In my day a can of Pedigree Chum and a brisk walk around the block was enough to put a spring in any pet princess. Not now. Today there are dog concierge companies such as the newly launched Chien Bleu in the UK that bills itself as the only “travel specialist devoted to fine accommodations for dogs”. Featured hotels include the likes of London’s Milestone Hotel that has custom-made bedding, room service steak and even Cumberland sausage treats. Chien Bleu says only the highest calibre canine accommodation is considered.

Give your plant a breakIf your yucca’s feeling yucky or your orchid’s feeling awful, send them off on holiday. A new hotel for plants has opened in the Madrid shopping centre of Isla Azul. Thanks to a team of professional botanists, all guests at Hotel Para Plantas get personal attention from water and pruning to spraying and irrigation. There are live webcams as well, of course, for owners who miss their favourite flowering friend and want to check their status online. The service is 100 percent free in return for registering your details on the shopping mall’s customer base. Go on, give the plant a break. And get unsolicited emails in return.

GLOBAL trendS

Trends

S P a i n

34-38 Trends.indd 36 24/08/2011 15:08

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Sectiony title


Trends

INUS$1 for eight hours’ travelNeed to travel from Omaha in Nebraska to Chicago soon? Take a Megabus. The eight-hour-40-minute trip is US$1 with the coach company if you travel before the 17th of this month.

Security check, check-upA US Travel Association survey reveals 45 percent of respondents would pay a fee of “up to US$150” for a background check that would allow them to race through airport security unhindered. So the US Transportation Security is intro-ducing a pilot scheme to test the idea.

Full body scanner paparazziCould it happen? Leaked photographs of celebs from their airport security body scans? X17online thinks so. The site recently posted pictures of George Clooney being scanned at LAX.

Home comfortsWe like an initiative by Beijing Interna-tional Airport that will send home any-thing that was confiscated at security. The price is US$16 for items weighing less than 3kg. We look forward to receiv-ing our souvenir samurai sword soon.

OUTNicely matured

A must-pack travel list from Silvertrave-ladvisor.com for the over 50s: wet wipes,

for cleaning wine stains; walking stick, for jumping queues; haemorrhoid cream,

for concealing bags under eyes; compass to “find way home again”; and passport

in case of ID checks in clubs.

Freak showWe like Air New Zealand’s ads and safety

videos. But we are creeped out by the airline’s viral videos featuring ‘spokespup-

pet’ Rico. Backed with more innuendo than a 1970s medallion-wearing ‘Loth-

ario’, the newest one features Lindsay Lohan. What was she thinking?

Too much honestyIn the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings, Tunisia’s tourism has been hit hard. But

‘humorous’ taglines on the new ad cam-paign such as “they say in Tunisia some

people get heavy handed treatment” under an image of a woman getting a

massage seem a little too much...

Hotel snore patrolsSnore patrols are being trialled at Crowne

Plaza hotels in the UK. The patrol will listen out for “offensive noises” and

knock on the door of guests who are too loud. We reckon that’s a job that’s going

to be flooded with volunteers.

So how’s this for a new hotel concept? You and your wife/husband check into a hotel on Friday night as man and wife. And on Sunday you

check out as divorcees.When happily married Destinations of the World

News stumbled upon this concept, we nearly choked on our favourite chocolate digestive. In fact, we were so convinced it was a publicity stunt, we had to call.

“No, it’s real,” laughs Jim Halfens, commercial director of www.divorcehotel.com, a company based in Holland. “It’s a successful formula to end a marriage in an efficient way. Divorces are just so messy these days. So what we offer is the opportunity to divorce within three days in five-star luxury.”

For EUR 2,500 (US$3,595) divorcehotel.com provides financial consultants, lawyers and – good grief – child psychologists for the little ones. Each partner is booked into a separate luxury hotel and over the course of a weekend the details of divorce are hashed out. You get your own room, and you don’t have to eat with your partner.

And this is a deadly serious business arrangement with the clock running. Halfens says the process has to be highly efficient because the papers have to be before a judge at the start of the week and the divorce detail has to be completed in a weekend.

“Divorce is always an unpleasant experience, we can’t do anything about that, but why go through divorce proceedings in an uncomfortable office when you could relax in comfort in a hotel,” he says. “A hotel is also ideal as a base because there are meeting rooms for specialists. Most of our clients are very, very busy people who have very little time and they tend to like comfort. ”

Halfens says that in Holland, more than one in three marriages end in divorce and far from being a cynical marketing exercise, the company simply spotted a gap in the market. Then, fuelled by “Dutch pragmatism and a reputation for mediation”, the company set up shop, bringing together lawyers, unhappy couples and hotels.

“Many couples may start out amicably when they agree to separate,” he says “but the minute their lawyers, accountants and business associates get involved, tensions start to mount, costs begin to increase and the emotional heartbreak becomes crippling. The stress is enormous, your work, your family, everything suffers. We aim to cut through all that heartbreak.”

Seven couples have used the company’s service so far, but “many more” have approached Halfens for advice. “It’s sad but these people just want to get on with living their lives.”

“The concept can only work with those who are mutually prepared to divorce quickly,” he adds. “We can’t help couples who spend the whole day fighting in the hotel. We carry out an assessment first to see if the process can work before proceeding.

“People don’t just arrive on the Friday without any warning and then leave on the Monday. During the pre-assessment we ask critical questions and couples must do some homework before checking in. Often at this stage we find that the process doesn’t work and these people take the traditional route – several months of negotiation. And misery.”

Halfens says the company is now looking into expanding into other countries where the legislation allows a similar model and says lawyers in Germany and the UK have already expressed an interest.

This is like the reverse of getting married in Vegas overnight. “Both divorcehotel.com and getting married in Vegas provide something quickly that traditionally takes time, but we are deadly serious about what we do. Most couples see our service as an amicable way to end a relationship.”

“I can’t give any examples because obviously cases are confidential, however we have had instances of couples who see the process as very positive and end the weekend with a champagne toast.”

So we now know exactly where to go for a quick divorce, but one last question remained: when did the company launch? “Valentine’s Day.” Of course. n

Heartbreak hotel

34-38 Trends.indd 38 23/08/2011 18:05

People

IntervIew Mark fuller

As the lights come up and the first strains of Andrea Bocelli’s Con te Partirò float over Dubai Fountain, a hush gathers over the audience

and the show begins. Neck hairs stand on end as jets of water shoot 240 feet into the air and dance with astonishing precision to the music. The magnificent creation is the work of Mark Fuller’s WET Design, the company responsible for the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas and a significant number of equally impressive projects across the globe. Blending his passion for H20 with complex scientific principles, not to mention a penchant for the dramatic, Fuller and his team have become pioneers in the world of water technology, setting the bench-mark for water-in-motion projects everywhere.

How did you end up in this unique business?I was working for the Walt Disney Company in the special effects department, creating special effects for their theme parks – Epcot Center at Disneyland. For the most part water fountains at that time were fairly traditional. I took the work that I had done in my college thesis, in which you take the water molecules that move in a stream of water and make them move exactly parallel at exactly the same speed, sort of like a water laser beam. It produces a stream of water that looks like a frozen piece of glass. We did that at the Epcot Center, and it became wildly popular. After that I said, ‘Wow, nobody’s doing much of this’, so we decided to start our own company.

Do you have a lot of competition now?There’s certainly been a tremendous rise in the popularity of water features in luxury proper-ties. When we started the company, one of the biggest obstacles was that we would have to convince the developer to consider putting a water fountain in the middle of a hotel or a park or a mixed-use development. It wasn’t very common. Now it’s hard to think of a hotel or casino that doesn’t have a water feature of some sort and we kind of influenced that. There are a lot of other companies doing similar things, but I don’t really think of them as competitors per se, because we have a very different approach.

So you were basically the trendsetters in terms of water features?Well, put it this way: I look at my iPhone, and I think about how three years ago there wasn’t a mobile phone that had this interactive screen, and it was so innovative at the time. Now it’s become a staple of mobile phones.


The man behind the awe-inspiring Dubai Fountain and the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, Mark Fuller knows how to make jaws drop

Let there be water

Interview: Caitlin Cheadle

40-42 Interview.indd 40 23/08/2011 18:05

Mark fuller

“Now it’s hard to think of a hotel or casino that doesn’t have a water feature of some sort, and we kind of influenced that”

You’ve done several world-renowned projects like the Bellagio Fountains and the Dubai Fountain, which are acclaimed as the best in the business. What kind of budgets do you have to play with when you take on projects like those?The budgets vary greatly. The Bellagio was a multi-million dollar project that took years, but we also do small things that take less time. At the end of the day, the clients are running a business, so we need to come up with some-thing that is a smart investment for our clients.

Can you explain some of the innovative designs that you’ve come up with and how they’ve changed the business forever?One of the first innovations that is so ubiqui-tous now is the idea of the fountains that come out of little holes in the ground. The very first one we did was in Dallas, Texas. It may be everywhere now, but it was radical at the time. With the Dubai Fountain, the jets that come out and ‘dance’ are controlled by underwater robots, and their movements were developed by a choreographer.

Several very talented choreographers work on our team, and sometimes we bring in someone from outside, like Aaron Cash, cho-reographer of High School Musical, who has won several Emmys. He did the choreography for the fountain at the Bellagio, and he said, ‘I can get the same kind of movement from your water jets as I can from a person – whether it be comedy or a dramatic moment’. In order to make it a really emotional experience, it has to be a sophisticated movement.

How much energy is used to power these mega- fountains?We’ve done a tremendous amount of innovation in energy saving. The Bellagio is a good exam-ple. There are these streams of water that are blasted into the sky with the use of compressed air. That uses about 20 percent of the energy that would be used to create the same fountain if you were to use traditional pumps. And the lighting that we use, particularly if you watch the Dubai Fountain, all those lights use an incredible amount of energy, but we developed the technology to switch each light off for a split second, which saves a great amount of energy and money. We really pride ourselves in being leaders in that aspect.

What new innovations will you be incorporating into your newest projects?In Salt Lake city, Utah, it gets very cold in the winter. We are doing several fountains there, which I can’t really tell you much about, but they are opening next March. They will be the most popular water features in the world. When all the other fountains in the city are turned off because it’s too cold, they will be alive and glow-ing. We’re also working on our first large-scale floating fountain off the coast of Mexico, which can accommodate the tides in the ocean.

What is your favourite project?I have a tremendous fondness for the Dubai Fountain, or the Lincoln Center fountain in New York City. Every project has a history, and when I go and see our fountains I find myself

Focal pointDubai Fountain sits below the world’s tallest building - the Burj Khalifa


Arabian spectacleDubai Fountain dances to the strains of Andrea Bocelli and Emirati artist Hussein Al Jasmi

40-42 Interview.indd 41 24/08/2011 15:09


not watching the fountains but turning around and watching the people watching them. I’m glad that the things we spend our lives working to perfect are bringing pleasure to people.

What is it about water that makes people feel like they are in luxurious surroundings? Great question. It’s twofold. Firstly I believe that as creatures and as human beings, we’re drawn to nature. We’re made up of 80 percent water – we need it to survive – and a great part of our amusement and entertainment comes from hanging around various watering holes, like going to the beach or spending the day by the pool. Interestingly enough, as the world becomes more and more virtual, as the experi-ences we have are not real experiences but synthesised ones, I think we crave that contact with the things that are real, and there isn’t anything much more real than water. As the world becomes more virtual, it creates a kind of hunger for nature. Technology is not a real thing; we need to be closer to real elements, like water and fire.

Do you have any personal favourite destinations you like to travel to?I have favourite places in many parts of the world. There are some wonderful small hotels in northern Thailand. I love the hotels in Dubai, but I never stay in the same one; I like to mix it up. The Palace is great, so is The Address Down-town. I find it’s less about the hotel, and more about the staff and the attention to detail. Some hotels really get it, and sometimes you can stay in a beautiful hotel and it’s not the experience you would hope because of the service. I really think Dubai is one of the best places in terms of service; the staff are very well-trained. They have a great attention to their guests’ experience.

Do you think you’ll ever see water features in first class cabins on aircraft?I think there are probably better ways of using fuel than to carry water back and forth, so we’ll keep our designs on the ground for now. n

To see more of Mark Fuller’s designs visit www.wetdesign.com

“As the world becomes more virtual, it creates a kind of hunger for nature. Technology is not a real thing; we need to be closer to real elements, like water and fire”

Water worldPowerful jets shoot water 50

storeys into the air

WET DesignSnapshots of Dubai Fountain (top), Bellagio Fountains (middle) and the lobby fountain in Burj al Arab (bottom)

People

Precision jetsMcNamara Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport

40-42 Interview.indd 42 24/08/2011 15:09

Real-time online booking con�rmation for over 80,000 ground services in more than 1,200 cities.Net wholesale rates for hotels, resorts, apartments, villas, transfers, sightseeing tours and excursions worldwide.*

* FOR TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS ONLY.

WWW.DOTW.COMFOR WORLDWIDE HOTEL RESERVATIONS REGISTER AT

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Luxe Milan


44-50 Milan.indd 44 23/08/2011 18:08

MILANMILANM A D E I N

Italy’s style capital is descended upon by a lineup of designers, fashionistas, models, and media twice a year during Milan Fashion Week, booking up top hotels and restaurants

months before the first designer heel hits the catwalk. But with all the flashbulbs and film reserved for the runways, how does the city itself benefit?

WORDS: Alice Haine

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here is a buzz of excite-ment as the fashion industry’s most important personalities wait for the show to begin. Necks

decorated with the finest jewellery and designer scarves crane to make sure they have the best view of the catwalk.

Buyers, the press and fashionistas whisper to each other as they try and identify the celebrity names seated in the coveted front row, and the wall of photographers camped at the front of the runway re-check their equipment to ensure they capture that iconic catwalk moment. This scene will be replayed over and over again at this month’s Spring/Summer Milan Fashion Week, a style extravaganza that kicks off on September 21 and will see this Italian financial hub engulfed in a sea of fabric and glamour.

Twice a year the revered leaders of the fashion pack descend on the four style capitals of the world– New York, London, Paris and Milan – to cast their critical eyes over the clothes, hair and makeup the rest of us will be wearing in six months’ time.

It’s an event that can transform any city, but in Milan, by far the smallest of the four locations – which attracted fashion lovers and buyers from 37 coun-tries to its February Autumn/Winter week to see shows from 66 labels includ-ing fashion giants Gucci, Prada and Fendi – its impact is more noticeable.

“Shop windows are dressed up, you see more limousines in the Golden Quadrant as the celebrities go shopping and the shop assistants are friendlier, because they don’t know if you are a journalist, an international stylist or tourist at that time of year,” says Celia Abernethy, founder of the fashion, tour-ism and lifestyle portal Milanostyle.com.

In the knowFashionistas and the media flock to Milan twice a year for a heads-up on next season’s hottest designs

Fashion senseCultural exhibitions

and social events around the show draw

thousands of visitors each year

But while the stylish visitors hit the streets trying to outclass each other with their increasingly wacky and up-to-the-minute fashions, the city need only sit back and reap the benefits.

Because with almost every luxury hotel fully-booked, and restaurants and

nightspots scheduled to host a plethora of invite-only afterparties, the financial rewards of being considered a fashion capital are endless – not only for Milan, but for Italy itself.

“It’s hugely beneficial to the country’s tourism and profile because despite the attempts of many other countries to launch fashion weeks, there are still only the ‘Big Four’ – London, Paris, New York and Milan,” says Andrew Groves, fashion course director at London’s Westminster University. “This is because they offer everything that the press and buyers want from fashion; other fashion weeks are poor substitutes.

“Every country or city wants to be a ‘cool’ place for people to visit, but few achieve this. While one can buy the same designer clothes throughout Italy, Milan is where you would go as a tourist and visitor, as this is where all the flag-ship stores and big-name boutiques are.”

Groves estimates that as well as raising Milan’s profile, a typical fashion week can boost the city’s coffers by GBP20 million (US$32.77m) or more.

The in crowdWho’s-who events

like main sponsor Mercedes Benz’s

Fashion Club are a big draw for designers

“LFW brings international buyers and press to London, and this alone gener-ates in the region of £100m (US$164m), contributing over £20m ($32.77m) to the London economy,” says Groves. “Fashion directly contributes nearly £21 billion (US$34.4bn) to the UK economy.

Photo: Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI)


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“It also has an indirect economic impact, encourag-ing spending in other industries of over £16 billion (US$26.2bn). That equals a total impact of £37 billion (US$60.6). And the figures for New York, Paris and Milan would be in a similar region.”

Such an economic boost could not come at a better time for the city that sits in a nation surrounded by countries still deeply troubled by the global financial fallout. And though the fortunes of the region’s fashion industry have experienced an exceptional turna-round in 2010 – the Prada group’s 2010 sales topped its target of EUR2.72 billion (US$1.9bn) and the Gucci Group’s sales went up by 12.2 percent – it is still not one to rest on its stylish laurels, particu-larly as Milan’s economy and that of Italy itself rely so heavily on the manufactur-ing side of the luxury fashion industry.

“This is a crucial sector for our economy,” says Milan mayor Letizia Moratti. “It’s a particularly dynamic sec-tor, with 15,000 companies in Milan and its surrounding areas. In 2010 alone, 342

textile or fashion businesses were cre-ated in Milan.”

This is key for Milan Fashion Week because the fashion pack’s main reason for going is to source the best manufac-turers to make their designs, as the city is generally acknowl-edged as the home of the world’s best-made clothes.

“All four fashion weeks have a different personality, which is also indicative of their national identity,” says Groves. “London is where buyers come to see the latest avant garde ideas, that may be in a completely new direction, which is iconoclastic com-pared to the other fashion capitals.

“New York is where one goes to see high volume, wearable luxe fashion; Paris is where ones goes to see the high-est level of craftsmanship and refine-ment of the art of couture and fashion. And Milan plays with ideas of good and bad taste, with a refinement of materials and manufacturing. Where one might go to see the new ideas in London, Milan is where the fashion editors will be spend-ing their time and money on the latest handbag from Prada or Bottega Veneta.”

“Where one might go to see the

new ideas in London, Milan is

where the fashion editors will be

spending their time and money

on the latest handbag from Prada

or Bottega Veneta”

On the catwalkFront-row seats are reserved for the

biggest names in the fashion industry

Are you in?Fashionistas, VIPs

and celebs fight tooth and nail for

invitations to the top fashion parties

And the trends don’t just stay on the catwalk. Where this high-calibre crowd choose to sleep is just as important as the clothes they are seen in.

Among the luxury design hotels of choice are the Hotel Bulgari – an 18th-century Palazzo that was once a monas-tery, which offers an unpacking service to ensure every fashionista’s wardrobe is kept in tip-top condition – and the Four Seasons Hotel Milan, a former convent now considered the most luxurious hotel in Milan, which boasts a prime location between via Montenapoleone and via della Spiga, the two most exclusive designer shopping streets in Italy.

But getting a room in these luxury hangouts is something that needs to be planned in advance – most are fully booked well ahead of this month’s event.

“The hotel is almost fully commit-ted. But we don’t actually do any special activities, as the clients are busy attend-ing the shows and do not spend much time within the hotel,” says Mohamed Abou Doh, sales manager for the Four Seasons’ Middle Eastern market.

Guests pay EUR830 (US$1,360) for an average room at the 118-room hotel, and enjoy the luxury of a fully staffed hotel, as no one is allowed to take leave during the fashion weeks.

While the Four Seasons may be the hotel of choice in Milan, in New York the preferred place for the stylish to

Style in the cityThe city is taken over by Milan Fashion Week twice a year

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Photo: Camera Nazionale della M

oda Italiana (CNMI)

Luxe Milan


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Bold and BeautifulMilan’s Galleria

Vittorio Emanuele II, one of Europe’s oldest

shopping centres


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Bulgari Milano+39 (02) 805 222bulgarihotels.com Four Seasons Milano+39 (02) 77 088fourseasons.com/milan Park Hyatt Milan+39 (02) 8821 1234milan.park.hyatt.com

Sheraton Diana Majestic+39 (02) 205 81starwoodhotels.com

The Westin Palace+39 (02) 633 61starwoodhotels.com Carlton Hotel Baglioni+39 (02) 77 077baglionihotels.com

COMING SOON Armani Hotel Milano+39 (02) 8883 8381armanihotels.com

THe GOlDeN BOOk

lay their heads is the $490-per-night Bowery Hotel, with its gothic castle meets British country manor style. In London, the hip like to stay in the $440-a-night One Aldwych Hotel, with its 400-piece art collection and chlorine-free swimming pool with underwater music. And in Paris they check straight into the $570-a-night Hotel Costes – a legendary den of opu-lence that takes the word ‘excess’ to new levels.

The exclusivity that comes with the hotels spills out into the fashion shows themselves, and the glamorous afterparties that litter the cities’ most exclusive restaurants and nightspots. But getting into an event is virtually impossible for the average fashion fan.

“If it is easy to get in then you have got into a really rubbish show,” says Groves. “One favourite trick for students is to turn up with an ironing board under their arm and claim they need to be backstage. I have seen this work in Milan, Paris and London.”

And the reason the average punter can’t get in is because the seats are reserved for the pop stars, Hollywood sirens and aspiring models who have already fought hand, tooth and nail to get their seat at the show.

Old meets newBillboards publicise the Autumn/Winter fashion week outside the Duomo Cathedral earlier this year

Media frenzyInternational media look for any opportunity to snap the stars

“The fashion industry has a very clear way of letting you know if you mat-ter or not. You’re either front row, or you’re nothing. In fact row A isn’t even the front row any more, with design-ers having rows AA, and even AAA, so more people feel special. Though there is nothing worse than turning up with a ticket saying row A and thinking you are front row, only to find yourself in the Siberian hinterland of three rows back – social death.

“And no show starts until Suzy Men-kes from the International Herald Trib-une has arrived and sat front row. I have been to shows in Milan where guests had stood outside smoking as the shows were running late, to then suddenly spot Ms Menkes arrive and all run in and sit down as they knew the show would start once she was inside.”

But while the haves and the have-nots fight it out to get their seat at the top of

the table, or an invite to one of the ‘in’ parties, the Milanese are happy to sim-ply watch the elaborate spectacle taking place around them.

“You do see people outside VIP parties trying to see celebrities, but for the most part they are young people and tour-ists. The mature Milanese haven’t got time for such things,” says Milanostyle.com’s Abernethy, who also dismisses the notion that the fashion weeks are the most important events on Milan’s

annual calendar. After all, it is a city that is also famous for being the 10th most important business and finance capital in Europe and home to one of the world’s best football teams.

“Milan hosts a number of expos and events. The fashion season is fun, but it’s not the most frequented. The Interna-tional Home Show and furniture fair probably bring in more visitors to the city,” adds Abernethy.

But while the fashion weeks are a big draw for visitors, it is an insular crowd whose only motivation for being there is to see the fashion, rather than the local tourist sites.

“They stay strictly to the shows, res-taurant openings, happening boutiques or latest clubs. Schedules are planned out weeks in advance via the invitations to all these events. Besides, if you are wearing the latest and highest shoes you really don’t want to be walking anywhere that isn’t red carpeted,” says Groves.

While the fashionistas do not directly boost the local tourism industry with a trip to the colossal Gothic cathedral, the Duomo or Leonardo da Vinci’s breath-taking Last Supper, in the Santa Maria delle Grazie, their presence in the city puts Milan on the tourist trail. In raising the city’s profile as a luxury designer shopping destination, it attracts tourists who are not only interested in high-end fashion but also the iconic style location these leading labels are housed in. n

“The fashion industry has a very clear way of letting you know if you matter or not. You’re either front row, or you’re nothing”



Luxe Milan


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Indulge Jordan

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Jordan’s burgeoning spa scene is driven by a flawless combination of abundant natural resources, international expertise and a spa

history that dates back to Cleopatra’s ruleWORDS: Caroline Eden

Nature Nurture


Jordan may be best known for its abundance of archaeological and cultural treasures, but it also harbours another, more luxurious

delight – a burgeoning spa scene. With its long history of healing

waters, mineral-rich mud and ham-mams, the country’s appeal as a centre of healing is in the midst of a resur-gence, harking back to the days when Cleopatra ordered cosmetic factories and resorts to be built along its shores.

The Dead Sea has always remained an important destination for those in search of healing waters and natural therapies, and new hotels and spa resorts are capitalising on Jordan’s repu-tation as a centre of health and wellness.

Many of the chic four- and five-star hotels that have sprung up around Aqaba, the Dead Sea and Petra, not to mention the capital Amman, offer world-class spa journeys and treatments in super smart surroundings.

This trend is attracting a whole new group of visitors – jet-setting spa goers who are keen to be buffed, polished and massaged to new heights of rejuvenation in blissful five-star comfort.

By blending first-rate hotel spas with resorts and the odd independent stand-alone, the country is now on the international travel radar as a genuine destination of choice for spa aficionados. Here we highlight a few of the very best places to indulge in comfort and style.

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Indulge Jordan

THE DEAD SEAThe Dead Sea is Mother Nature’s spa – a vast expanse of heal-ing water packed full of healing ingredients. The lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea offers a rich cocktail of salts and miner-als, supplying the beauty and spa industries worldwide with some of its finest ingredients.

A 30-minute drive from the Dead Sea and wonderfully isolated in the hills, Six Senses Evason Ma’In Hot Springs is, without a doubt, one of the region’s very best wellness destina-tions. Pure pampering is the aim here, and trained therapists administer a range of treatments that focus on the therapeutic properties of the local mineral-rich waters.

The Six Senses Spa sits immediately under a hot spring waterfall that cascades into the main pool, which alone makes for an unforgettably relaxing experience. Top treatments include the ‘Sensory Journey’, a signature Six Senses treat-ment in which two therapists administer a facial, body massage, footbath and a stress relieving scalp massage – an ideal treat for weary souls.

Anantara Spa at the chic five-star Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea is the largest in the Mid-dle East, making it a must-visit for any serious spa-lover. To really benefit from the natural spa treatments on offer, it pays to go for the Dead Sea Rejuvenating Mud Facial. Combining black mud mask, geranium and pure honey, this treatment purifies and nourishes the skin and leaves all who experience it feeling fresh as a daisy.

Alternatively, try the unusual ‘Wind and Sand Arabian Massage’, based on an ancient ritual used by Bedouin travellers. The treatment consists of movements inspired by the shifting of desert sands and is blissfully soothing. Covering 10,000sqm, and with 20 treatment rooms, this spa has something for everyone and comes with the seamless service guests expect of Anantara.

AMMANThe capital and the country’s largest city, which lies in close proximity to the Dead Sea, is fast becoming a spa destination in its own right. Offering a variety of different cutting-edge spa journeys and time-honoured therapies at many of its high-end hotels, Amman makes the perfect place to begin or conclude a desert adventure.

The Four Seasons brand is well known for its excellent hotel spas, and Four Seasons Amman, located in the business district, is no exception. At this chic spa space, therapists offer the best in indigenous Jordanian rituals, which make the most of natural sea salts and miner-als, aromatherapy oils and botanicals. Special mud treatments are a must, as is the relaxing ‘Spa Prestige’ treatment, which begins with a scalp massage and exfoliation and ends with an indulgent massage using ‘body milk’. With its hilltop setting affording excellent views, royal treatment service and oodles of fresh flowers, Four Seasons Amman is one of the country’s most peaceful sanctuaries.

Grand Hyatt Amman, located in the heart of the city’s smart business district, Jabal Amman, is a striking and cel-ebrated hotel graced with an enormous antique staircase and elegant decor. The property has a much-acclaimed spa on-site, Club Olympus, which offers guests a host of international treatments, some of which have been directly inspired by the local surroundings.

Here guests will find nourishing Dead Sea mud wraps and facials on the menu, which make use of local marine products as well as hot stone therapies. Health nuts will appreciate the fitness centre, which incorporates a well-equipped gymna-sium, free weights, cross trainers and treadmills.

Both of these hotels make excellent bases for adventures further afield – it is possible to visit Petra on a day-trip or the graeco-roman city of Jerash, which is less than an hour’s drive away, and the Dead Sea is a 30-minute drive by car.

Amman comfortsGrand Hyatt Amman’s Club Olympus Spa (top) and the indoor pool at InterContinental Amman (inset)

Dead Sea secretsSix Senses Evason Ma’In Hot Springs is carved out of the rock face 260m below sea level

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Indulge Jordan

AQABA – RED SEA The Red Sea and white sand beaches of Aqaba offer visitors a wealth of spa and recreational experiences. For the energetic, there is jet-skiing, kayaking, swimming, world-class diving and camel safaris, and for slower-paced enjoyment there is luxurious yachting, spa thera-pies and private hideaway dinners on the beach. Culture vultures are also well catered for, as Aqaba makes a conveni-ent base for day-trips to UNESCO World Heritage site Wadi Rum.

Since opening in 2009, Kempinski Hotel Aqaba has raised the stakes of the luxury hotel experience in the local area, offering guests a 24-hour butler service, ‘Panoramic Rooms’ with wraparound views of the Red Sea, a multi-layered pool with a swish swim-up bar, and a private white sand beach. One of the very best features of this impressive hotel though, is the spa. Here, many of the treatments are not only inspired by local traditions and treatments but are also seasonal. In the winter, guests can undergo a restorative ‘Winter Fleece Wrap’ which eases stiff joints using thermal clay, and in the summer, a ‘Pearl Scrub,’ which prepares the skin per-fectly for a summer tanning session. Creative and instinc-tive, this spa is unsurpassed in the local area.

Also with fantastic views of the Gulf of Aqaba is the InterContinental Aqaba, within easy walking distance of the city centre and all of its historical charms – includ-ing Mamluk Fort, which was once a Crusader castle. The Spa here is the InterFit Spa, which is immediately relaxing with its candle-lit Oriental ambiance. As with all the best spas in Jordan, Dead Sea nutrients, with their ability to heal and rejuvenate, are incorporated into the treatments; try a Dead Sea Salts Scrub and Natural Mud Wrap with Dry Floata-tion to see why. The Swedish massage here is particularly good, and there is also a hydrotherapy bath, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and juice bar, making this spa a great all-round experience.

Night swimmingEnjoy the jacuzzi at Kempinski Aqaba under the warm night air of the Red Sea

“With its long history of healing waters, mud products and hammams, the country’s appeal as a centre of healing is in the midst of a resurgence”

Red Sea panoramaInterContinental Aqaba is

one of the newest five-star hotels to hit Jordan’s shores

Red Sea breezesKempinski Aqaba on the shores of the Red Sea is designed for unwinding

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Indulge Jordan

PETRA Jordan’s premier sightseeing destina-tion, the rose-red city of Petra offers wilderness Hammam retreats in nearby vil-lages and revitalising massages at the Mov-enpick resort. Both are ideal for those who want to stay as close as possible to one of the world’s greatest wonders. The award-winning Taybet Zaman, located 10 kilome-tres from Petra, is a uniquely authentic hideaway. Deserted in the 1960s, the resort now offers travellers a special insight into traditional Jordanian ways of life. The old village houses have been neatly converted by the local community into 105 comfortable guest rooms, while off of the old village streets is a swimming pool and an Ottoman-style bath, where excellent spa rejuvena-tion massages are on offer – perfect after a long hot day of sightseeing. Unique to anywhere else, this resort not only offers comfort but also supports the local com-munity and is keeping alive traditional arts and crafts.

For a no less impressive experience, stay at the Movenpick Resort Petra, which appears to have leapt off of the pages of Arabian Nights. There’s not a spa as such, but a Wellness Centre with an outdoor pool, steam bath, fully-equipped gym and a fantastic, well-stocked library full of books about Jordan and Petra. The Al Ghadeer Roof Garden, with its elegant columns, fountain and seating areas, is the spot to come for well-deserved sundown-ers, with live music in the background. Staying here means that the wonders of Petra are literally on the doorstep, which makes for an enchanted, and frankly unbeatable, stay. n

Evason Ma’In Hot Springs+962 5 324 5500www.sixsenses.com/Evason-Ma-In

Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea+962 5 365 8888www.kempinski.com/deadsea

Four Seasons Amman+962 (6) 550 5555www.fourseasons.com/amman

Grand Hyatt Amman+962 6 465 1234www.amman.grand.hyatt.com

Kempinski Hotel Aqaba+962 3 209 0888www.kempinski.com/aqaba

InterContinental Aqaba+962 3 209 2222www.ichotelsgroup.com

Movenpick Resort Petra+962 3 215 71 11www.movenpick-petra.com

Taybet Zaman+962 3 215 0111www.jordantourismresorts.com

THE GolDEn booK

“The lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea offers a rich cocktail of salts and minerals, supplying the beauty and spa industries worldwide with some of its finest ingredients”

Movenpick PetraA rejuvenating steam room is perfect after a dusty day at Petra

Petra panoramaMovenpick Petra’s Al Ghadeer roof garden is a great place to unwind

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08:00 Arrive first thing in the morning and check in at the Four Seasons Beirut (www.fourseasons.com/beirut T: + 961 (1) 761 000). Take a moment to admire the stylish black and gold lobby, the luxurious suite and the sweeping Mediterranean views, then head straight out.

10:00 Ask the unfathomably helpful con-cierge for a map and head for Beirut Corniche, where you’ll enjoy views of the Med on one side and Mount Lebanon behind the city. Look out for the bullet holes in the trunks of the palm trees. Walk all the way to Raouche and take a few photos of Pigeon Rocks – ask a boat-man to take you around them if you’re feeling intrepid. (www.lebanon-tourism.gov.lb)

24 hours Beirut

NIGHT & DAYModern Beirut is awake all hours, which is a good thing for visitors who want a taste of the city

Four Seasons BeirutT: +961 (1) 761 000www.fourseasons.com/beirut

Le GrayT: +961 (1) 971 111www.campbellgray-hotels.com

Raouche Arjaan by RotanaT: +961 (1) 781 111www.rotana.com

Stay12:00 For the best views, head to Aquarius Pool Bar on the 17th floor of Raouche Arjaan by Rotana (www.rotana.com T: +961 (1) 781 111), where you can enjoy a shawarma and a mocktail to keep you going for the afternoon.

14:00 After lunch take a taxi to the Beirut Souks (www.solidere.com/beirut-souks) and wander the covered alleyways of the city’s brand new shopping district. Browse through interna-tional luxury brands and local designers in more than 128,000sqm of open bazaar-style retail.

15:30 Walk to pedestrianised Nejmeh Square and enjoy a shisha and a co�ee at one of the open-air cafes that line the street leading to the Beirut Clock Tower, with its giant Rolex clock face. (www.rolex.com)

16:30 For more shopping treats and some-thing unique to take home, head to the colourful Quartier des Artes (www.solidere.com/saifi/saifi.html) – or Saifi Village as it is o�cially known – and peer through the windows of the independent designer boutiques, art galleries, antique shops and trendy co�ee shops, set in a cluster of new and restored old buildings.

17:30 Walk back via Martyrs Square, staging ground for the city’s political demonstrations in wilder times, and peer at the bullet-hole ridden Martyrs’ Statue. Keep going past the Moham-mad al-Amin Mosque and the Saint George Maronite Cathedral, back through Beirut Souks – a second chance to pick up any must-haves.

18:30 Make sure you’re back at Four Seasons Beirut in time for sundowners on The Roof - the 26th floor open-air lounge and pool area, where the city’s beautiful people warm up for a night on the town with cocktails and DJ sets.

21:30 Things don’t kick o� until late in Beirut, so ease your way into the evening with dinner at Abdel Wahab (www.ghiaholding.com T: +961 (1) 200550/1). It’s one of Beirut’s most popu-lar restaurants, so have the concierge call ahead and reserve a table on the wonderful rooftop. If you want something a little more polished, try Indigo on the Roof at Le Gray Beirut (www.campbellgrayhotels.com T: +971 (1) 972 000 or [email protected]), where you can enjoy some of the best views in town while you choose from Beirut’s most extensive wine list.

00:00 Make your way to nearby Gem-mayze, a ragged enclave containing some of the city’s best bars. It’s war-torn chic, with bars spilling out onto narrow cobbled streets, but the atmosphere is electric.

02:00 If you’re still awake, head to one of the city’s clubs, which literally go on all night. BO18 (www.bo18.com) is an indus-trial style club with an enormous ceiling that opens up onto the starry Beirut sky throughout the evening.

05:00 Dawn will be on its way, and you should be too. There’s just enough time to grab a shower and take one of the hotel’s luxurious BMW limousines to Rafic Hariri Airport. (www.beirutairport.gov.lb)

Beirut SouksLocal labels and international brands are

packed into the brand new complex

Faith in humanityMohammad al-Amin Mosque and Saint George Maronite Cathedral stand side by side

Nejmeh SquareThe recently rebuilt

downtown area

Arabian spectacleThe Roof: luxury lifstyle on the rooftop terrace at Four Seasons Hotel Beirut

Words & photos: Joe Mortimer

60 24 Hours FIN.indd 60 24/08/2011 15:12

LOOKING TO INVESTIN RUSSIA & CIS?

REGISTER NOW!www.russia-cisconference.com or call +44 (0)1462 490609

More and more international hotel brands are building a presence in Russia and the CIS, but as brands enter as franchisor-only partners, there is no contribution of capital.

The Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference brings together over 400 Investors, Developers, Operators, Advisors and Government Offi cials to network and explore opportunities within the region.

Shouldn’t You Be There?

17-19 OC TOBER 2011, R ADISSON ROYAL HOTEL, MOSCOW

CONFERENCE PATRON

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CONFERENCE HOSTS

Mid-Autumn Lantern CelebrationSeptember 4 – 13Hong KongIn homage to the harvest moon, families and friends throughout China will celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a blend of ancient Chinese fable, hand-crafted lanterns, food and fun. In Hong Kong, there are lantern carnivals set up around the city, as well as plenty of opportunities to learn about Chinese culture. A must-see is the three-day fire dragon dance in Tai Hang, Causeway Bay.www.discoverhongkong.com


Rugby World Cup 2011September 9 – October 23

New Zealand This year the Rugby World Cup 2011’s host country, New Zealand, is pulling

out all the stops for this epic six-week sporting event, which sees the top nations from around the world competing for the coveted World Cup. The

REAL New Zealand Festival will take place during the entire duration of the World Cup, offering visitors a unique way to experience the country. From

Whangarei to Invercargill, there will be events revolving around arts, music, cuisine, fashion and New Zealand’s history and culture, so there’s something

for everyone.www.rugbyworldcup.com

OktoberfestSeptember 17 – October 3

Munich, Germany On opening day on September 17 at approximately 12 noon, join the Lord

Mayor of Munich in the Schottenhamel tent for the official opening of the weeks-long celebration of one of Germany’s most beloved exports: beer. After

the first keg has been tapped, all guests are invited to their first sip of beer, and the party continues until closing day on October 3. Expect a feel-good

crowd, carnivals and rides, concerts and performances, and a lot of sausages and sauerkraut. There are no tickets required to participate, and admission to

the beer tents is free. www.oktoberfest.de/en

09.11Diary

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New York Fashion Week

September 8 - 15New York City, USA

Certainly the biggest fashion week event in the US and one of the most

highly-anticipated in the world, New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 will see all the top designer labels showcasing their

latest collections in elaborate shows staged for industry insiders, media

and celebrities. One of the buzziest times of year for the iconic city,

this is a great time to visit. In the daytime Bryant Park is jammed

with photographers, models and society ladies, and at night the bars, restaurants and nightclubs are alive

with afterparties.www.mbfashionweek.com

Festes de la MercesSeptember 22 – 25Barcelona, SpainThis annual event is held in honour of the patron saint le Merce (the Virgin of Mercy). Usually there are up to 500 events taking place in and around Barcelona during the festival. The Correfoc (the procession of the fire-breathing dragons) takes place on the Via Laietana after dark, when people dress up as dragons, devils and other monsters and march the streets, scaring people with noise-makers, sparklers and firecrackers. The Gigantes (the giant parade) is when giant figures of kings and queens, nobles and saints dance and march on the streets, accompanied by live music. In the Gothic quarter, at the Placa de Sant Jaume, the tradition of building human towers, or Castellers, is one of the most popular events. Thousands gather here to watch as competing teams attempt to build the tallest human pyramid.www.bcn.cat/

Spring Racing CarnivalSeptember 17 – November 20Melbourne, AustraliaThis 50-day event combines some of the best thoroughbred racing action with a spectacular party scene that takes over Melbourne for the duration. Each of Melbourne’s country clubs offers its own unique race day, providing guests with their choice of venues and race types. There are plenty of activities to accompany the races, such as fashion shows, luxury hosted lunches and dinners, plus concerts and enviable prizes for best-dressed racegoers. The event is gaining more momentum with each passing year and now sees guests attending from all over the world, including celebrities.www.springracingcarnival.com.au

September What’s onPh

oto:

SDP

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Spend it Itineraries


Cruising in Indonesia, unwinding in the Maldives, or enjoying exclusive access to the PGA Grand Slam – here are our favourite ways to splurge this month

Indonesian OdysseyBoutique cruise company The Yachts of Sea-bourn has introduced a number of new itinerar-ies across its fleet of six luxurious cruise ships for its new 2012-2013 Cruise Collection brochure. Our favourite is the 10-day Indonesian Odyssey aboard the Seabourn Odyssey, which makes its way slowly from Bali to Singapore on March 15, 2013. Embark in Denpassar on the island of Bali, then set off on a Southeast Asian adventure through the islands of the Indonesian archi-pelago, starting with Bali’s neighbour Lombok, then on to Java and the lesser-known Karimun-jawa Islands. Here you will enjoy caviar in the surf served by the ship’s crew and a day of water sports in the waters of the Java Sea, before setting off back to Java for a day tour of the ancient tem-ple of Borobudur. Enjoy the facilities onboard the Seabourn Odyssey on the two-day journey across the South China Sea. If you like your cruises a little longer, the ship’s next departure leaves Singapore for Dubai on March 25.Cost: US$8,480 per person for the Penthouse Suite, based on double occupancy. From: March 15, 2013.www.seabourn.com

Go wild in Costa RicaWild Guanabana – the Middle East’s first carbon neutral adventure travel company – is celebrating its UAE launch with several itinerar-ies for intrepid travellers looking for a holiday with a kick. The company’s ‘Adrenaline Addicts Anonymous – Costa Rica’ journey is a nine- to 14-day adventure that takes you from Caribbean beaches to lush tropical interiors. Spend two weeks racing down white water rivers, trekking in the cloud forests, rappelling down jungle waterfalls, hiking up volcanoes and learning to surf in the frothy waters of the Caribbean. Every day promises a new experience, with itineraries that combine adrenaline filled adventures with rest days and plenty of opportunities to get up close and personal with Costa Rica’s rich flora and fauna. Wild Guanabana offsets all carbon emissions from flights and activities (in this case 4.22 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) and supports local companies and communities.Cost: US$3,200 including accommodation, meals, activities and park fees. Excludes international flights.From: January-April and June-August 2012.Book: [email protected]

Spend it

Adventure awaitsEco-friendly Wild Guanabana offers high-adrenaline holidays

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Itineraries Spend it

Magic in the MaldivesAs the name suggests, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa promises the kind of experience dreams are made of. The romantic private island resort in the Maldives is covered with tropical foliage and surrounded by the azure waters of the Indian Ocean. Your visit starts with a 15-minute speedboat transfer from Malé to the thin strip of land in the South Male Atoll, where pristine white beaches and a butler will greet you before escorting you to your private Premium Beach Villa. The 82sqm villa features an oversized plunge pool, set in its own 111sqm outdoor area, with sunbeds on a private veranda, tropi-cal outdoor shower, private walled garden, plus direct access to the lagoon and a private beach. Days on the island are spent enjoying water sports options – diving, snorkelling, kayaking, windsurfing and dolphin-watching to name a few – or doing absolutely nothing at all, either on the beach, in your villa, at the pool, or in the Jiva Grand Spa, where an extensive list of indulgent treatments awaits. Cost: Premium Beach Villas start from US$1,500 per night including non-motorised water sports, one sunset cruise and airport transfers.From: Until December 23, 2011.Book: [email protected]/maldives

Tantalising ThailandAnyone familiar with Thailand knows that you always leave wanting more, so Anantara is offering guests the chance to stay at two of its stunning prop-erties on two of Thailand’s most beautiful islands with one fantastic package. Start off with three luxurious nights at Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort and Spa, situated at the quiet northern end of popular Chaweng Beach. The excitement of the town is not far away, but from the private tranquil surroundings of Anantara Lawana, you’ll feel like you’re on your own private island paradise. Transfer by speedboat to Koh Phangan and check into one of the 44 villas and suites at Rasananda Phangan Island Resort and Spa, which all come with private plunge pool. Enjoy pure indulgence at the romantic hideaway, with Anantara spa treatments and freshly prepared Thai cuisine, served at one of the resort’s restaurants or in your private villa. Wine connois-seurs will love Koh Phangan’s only seaview wine cel-lar. If all that’s not enough, why not charter the 20m yacht for a day and explore the nearby islands.Cost: From US$592 per night, based on six nights – three at each property. Includes daily buffet breakfast.From: Now until December 20, 2011.www.anantara.com


*All prices are subject to change. Please contact the listed companies for further information.

Set sail for Southeast AsiaEmbark on an Indonesian Odyssey

with The Yachts of Seabourn

Island vistaViews across the Gulf of Thailand from Anantara Lawana

64-66 Spend It.indd 65 24/08/2011 15:15


Spend it Itineraries

Inside the RopesThe 2011 golf season will soon be coming to an end, and what better way to celebrate than with VIP passes to the 2011/12 PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda on October 18 and 19? Elbow Beach Bermuda, a Mandarin Oriental property set in 50 acres of lush manicured gardens that gently slope down to its private pink sand beach, has come up with an “Inside the Ropes” package, offering guest exclusive access to the golfing action combined with five-star accommodation. Guests will receive access to the Trophy Club for the dura-tion of the two-day event, as well as the VIP tent on the 18th green and clubhouse patio, and a number of exclusive roped-off viewing locations, for up close and personal views of their favourite players. Guests will also be invited to the Cham-pions Celebration on 18 October, which will include an hour-long presentation and a banquet with the players. Finish off an amazing event with your own round of golf on the Robert Trent Jones Sr-designed Port Royal Golf Course.Cost: US$6,840 for two people for four nights in a Premier Ocean View Room with daily breakfast.From: October 17 to 21, 2011Book: [email protected]/bermuda

Fresh air guaranteedThere’s nothing like fresh mountain air to clear away the post-summer cobwebs, especially in the Alpine air of the southern Swiss town of Ascona. Fresh from a three-month summer hibernation that saw extensive renovations throughout, Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa is reopening its doors with a raft of tempting offers and new “24-carat” features. Inspired by the surrounding Arosa mountains and their alpine-forested slopes, the new Carlo Rampazzi interiors are designed to infuse the open space with the atmosphere of the region, with a colour palette made up of natural tones with strong red, green and yellow accents. Highlights of the new interiors are the Tschuggen Bar – a 1950s-style cocktail bar with an antique bar and spacious fireplace – and a new gentlemen’s club-style Cigar Lounge, with comfy armchairs and walls incorporating real tobacco leaves. La Collina res-taurant now features tasteful leather-upholstered chairs in yellow, plus wall mirrors in the shape of trees. Book in for four nights and enjoy compli-mentary benefits including a guided hiking tour around the town’s nearby lakes, followed by a soothing treatment in Tschuggen’s luxurious spa. Alternatively, book three nights before Decem-ber 31 and you’ll get an additional room for two children up to the age of 12.Cost: From US$1,547 for four nights’ accommodation, including hiking tour and spa treatments.From: September 1 to October 15, 2011.Book: [email protected] www.tschuggenhotelgroup.ch

Bermudan getawayThe pink sand beach of Mandarin

Oriental’s Elbow Beach

Run for the hillsTschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa is set in the green hills of Ascona

64-66 Spend It.indd 66 23/08/2011 18:17

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Trump Ocean Club International HotelPanama City, PanamaThe latest property in the Trump Hotel Collec-tion, the US$430 million Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower has opened its doors on Panama City’s picturesque waterfront. The 70-storey property, at 932 feet, is the tall-est building in Latin America and features 369 rooms, including 47 suites, 37 elevators, a spa, a marina, beachside pool, a casino, an island with private beach, and a 4,200 square metre convention centre. In addition to the hotel, private residences are available to own, ranging from US$250,000 to $1 million. Inside, the hotel is sleek and modern. Rooms feature freestand-ing bathtubs, a palette of neutral, earthy tones and large floor-to-ceiling windows for viewing Panama’s enchanting skyline.

JW Marriott Hotel AnkaraAnkara, TurkeyThe first of Marriott’s JW properties in Turkey, JW Marriott Hotel Ankara is a 24-storey, 413-room glass tower that rises above the vibrant capital city. Rooms feature marble baths and deep soaking tubs, 300-thread count Turkish linens, and in-room technology such as 40-inch LED TVs. To dine guests can choose from JW Steakhouse, the brand’s sig-

nature restaurant; Fires & Flavors, serving Turkish and International fare; or Sky Vue Lounge and Terrace on the 22nd floor, with a large selection of beverages and cocktails and nightly modern jazz entertainment. Karma Spa Wellness & Fitness boasts indoor and outdoor pools, its main draw being the authentic Turkish Hammam, including a VIP spa area with private hammam.

JW Marriott Hotel AnkaraMarriott’s first property in Turkey

rises 24 floors above the capital

DEBUT

Trump Ocean ClubLuxury living in the heart of Panama’s financial district

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Hot hotels | chic boutiques | exclusive resorts

ing treatments, a state of the art fitness club and separate adult and kids’ pools. Before the hotel opened to the public last month it served as the official hospitality partner for the home team at the exclusive Indian Premier League cricket tournament, hosting various gather-ings in its two ballrooms, nine break-away venues and expansive lawns.

Jaipur Marriott HotelRajasthan, IndiaIn the heart of the bustling city of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan, the Jaipur Marriott Hotel caters to business and leisure travellers, with sleek interiors featuring earthy tones, cascading water fixtures and Rajasthani artwork throughout, plus 43,000 square feet of meeting space and seven food and beverage outlets including a multi-level nightclub. The Quan Spa offers a variety of relax-

Jaipur Marriott HotelRajasthani artwork is found

throughout this inner-city haven


Makepeace IslandNoosa, AustraliaVirgin boss Sir Richard Branson has thrown open the doors to his multi-million dollar luxury retreat in Noosa, Australia. The secluded 10-hectare heart-shaped Makepeace Island sits in the mid-dle of a river and is a 10-minute boat ride from Noosa’s bustling Hastings Street, which contains bars, shops and restaurants. The private island retreat was originally developed for the use of Virgin Blue staff. The resort can be booked by up to 22 guests at a time, who will have access to a two-storey open-air Balinese wantilan, a 500,000 litre lagoon pool, bar, tennis court, spa facilities and lush oriental gardens. Three private bures offer guests a private place to relax away from the main wantilan, and feature volcanic boulder bathtubs, private terraces overlooking the river, and furniture sourced from Bali and Java.

Sofitel Guangzhou SunrichGuangzhou, ChinaLocated in the heart of Guangzhou’s financial district, Tianhe, this elegant five-star property boasts 493 rooms and suites, each done in a tasteful contemporary blend of Asian and Parisian décor, a theme that extends throughout the rest of the hotel. Five bars and restaurants include Robata Bar & Grill, a steakhouse and Japanese Izakaya eatery; Le Chinois, featuring Canton-ese cuisine; 8 Faubourg, an elegant bar that resembles a Parisian apartment; and Mar-Tea-Ni, where guests can enjoy pastries along with the services of a tea sommelier. The So SPA features L’Occitane products, and the So FIT fitness area contains an indoor pool with a sub-aquatic music broadcaster.

Sofitel GuangzhouFrench flair in the heart of Guangzhou’s financial district

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Dine in style The lavish Pierre-Yves Rochon-designed interiors of Il Lago restaurant are fit for a king

crownGeneva’s

jewel

70-71 Suite Dreams.indd 70 23/08/2011 18:19


Geneva is a place where efficiency reigns supreme, but not at the cost of beauty. Reaching the heart of the financial capital of Switzerland

doesn’t require a treacherous journey through miles of suburb. The downtown area, which borders the turquoise waters of Lake Geneva, is only a 15-minute scenic drive from the airport, all the more pleasant when you’re sitting in the back of a chauffeured limousine on your way to the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva, which also happens to be the oldest hotel in the city, originally opened in 1834.

Pulling up to the resplendent building among a crowd of Bentleys, Porsches and Rolls-Royces, several smiling, uniformed staff greet me by name and usher me into a marble-floored lobby with enormous, ornate flower arrangements and walls of robin’s egg-blue trimmed with gold. I’m checked in painlessly while being escorted to the brand new sixth-floor loft suites, which were completed just weeks before my arrival.

Presidential Suite 614 is a sight to behold, awash in shades of cream and royal blue, with light oak hardwood floors, rich abstract paintings and plenty of natural light flooding in through six arch-framed windows, each of which showcases its own idyllic scene: Lake Geneva’s stunning 459-foot Jet d’Eau fountain, the St. Pierre Cathedral and downtown Geneva, backed by the peaks of Mont Saleve and Mont Blanc.

But it’s the added extras that make this suite truly special. Every last detail has been thought through so that guests will feel completely at home. There are two remote-control fireplaces, and in the bathroom, you can soak away your stresses in either the gorgeous limestone-encased double bath, or the generous rain shower, which has its own hammam steam function, activated with the push of a button.

Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva blends modern loft-style luxury with historic opulence, says Caitlin Cheadle, who spent a night in the Presidential Suite

Opposite the bath, embedded within the mirror that backs a marble double sink, is a screen which I only noticed because of the remote control placed beside it. Press the power button and an interactive navigation menu materialises, which you can scroll through to select movies, watch TV or choose bath-time music from a range of playlists.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how to use the suite’s techie tools, or if you just want some advice about what to see and do in Geneva, each floor has a designated concierge at your disposal. Mine is up to my suite within minutes of my calling to ask how to work the TV mirror, and he chats about what I should see in the city as he helps me open a bottle of champagne.

When it’s time to head to dinner, I call to ask that the bottle be taken to the restaurant, where I find it waiting for me in an ice bucket at my table on the terrace of Il Lago, the hotel’s exquisite Italian restaurant.

As I take in the views of Lake Geneva, the unseasonably cool weather forces me to retreat into Il Lago’s interior, an elegant salute to the hotel’s heritage, adorned with ornately framed artwork, frescoes, chandeliers, and prim french bergere chairs. It’s no surprise when I’m told the decor is the work of Pierre-Yves Rochon, who is also responsible for the Four Seasons Georges V in Paris. As I take a seat and note the classical music playing over the hushed conversations of fellow diners, I can’t help but feel like royalty.

What: Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva, 33 Quai des Bergues, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland Cost: the Presidential Suite starts from US$7,600 per night Web: www.fourseasons.com/geneva

The important bit

“It’s the added extras that make this suite truly special. Every last detail has been thought through

so that guests will feel completely at home”

My knowledgeable and charming waiter recommends a crisp Viognier to accompany my starter of scallops with braised chestnuts, which also pairs nicely with the lobster risotto. A delicate sea bass with artichokes has me rethinking my sceptical stance on the ‘foam’ revolution – it’s light, airy and adds just a hint of savoury to the sweet flesh of the fish.

I sample a glass of Muscato Rosé before my dessert arrives, and the meal’s grand finale is the dessert cart, wheeled out with my after-dinner coffee. I feel utterly spoiled as the waiter places one of each delicacy lightly on my plate: calissons, nougat, macaroons, and an assortment of chocolates and truffles.

Later, as I catch up on some reading next to the fireplace, the room is blanketed in silence. This is the kind of suite that will suit any season, but its fur stoles, cosy interior and views would make it the perfect winter hideaway – I make a note to return in the new year. By then, the brand-new rooftop spa will be open. n

Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Suite dreams

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Review Swiss Airlines

Switzerland is synonymous with superb service, a knack for divine chocolates and great

cheeses. So it makes sense that any product coming from the Swiss should honour the same traditions.

SWISS International Airlines has been quietly but confidently conquering the world in recent years. The relatively new airline was formed in 2002, shortly after the financial crash and the embarrassing news of bankruptcy for its predecessor SwissAir, Switzerland’s former flag carrier.

The story of SWISS International Airlines is one of rags to riches, and although it had a fairly humble start in life, today it stands as the Skytrax 2011 World Airline Awards ‘Best Airline in Western Europe’, and was awarded Best Airline for Europe and Best Airline and Business Class on North and South America flights by Business Traveller Awards 2010.

The route network stands at an impressive 72 destinations worldwide, with over half located in Europe, which is why it was my airline of choice to travel on a multi-stop trip through Europe from the Middle East.

Arriving at Dubai International Airport at 11.30pm is never a fun

What: SWISS International AirlinesCost: Round-trip Business Class flights from Dubai to Zurich start from AED 12,010 (US$3,270) from September 1Contact: www.swiss.com

The important bit

SWISS International Airlines offers a five-star experience at 37,000 feet, says Nicci Perides

Precision timing

prospect – the airport is almost always busy – however there is of course the haven of the business class lounge to look forward to. After swiftly checking in, I retire to the lounge for a light dinner and a last-minute check of my e-mails, then make my way to the gate.

The staff welcome me onboard the Business Class Cabin of the LX243 from Dubai to Zurich, and I immediately settle into the seat and check the essentials for a cosy night sleep above the clouds. Firstly, a flat bed. Check. Next, suitable earplugs, socks and eye mask. Check, check and check – all presented in a tidy overnight washbag. The blanket is big enough to cover me and each seat is divided and suitably private.

The crew ensure I have everything I need prior to take-off. The clean, cold towel is exactly what I need to wipe away the sticky night that was Dubai (33 degrees at 01:30am) and a glass of bubbly prior to take-off is the final check before I settle down for the night.

The seats are extremely comfortable even in sitting mode. The in-flight screens are large enough that you don’t have to squint, even when you are lying horizontal. I start the massage function in my chair and soon after

take-off I set the bed to sleep mode and hand in my breakfast card. I feel like I’m in a hotel.

I awake the next morning as breakfast is being prepared. The service is personal, so you eat when you want. The hostess flips out the table, covers it with a white linen tablecloth and serves fresh juice, tea and a continental breakfast.

To my delight the culinary expertise of top Swiss chefs has extended to the in-flight dining, as has my favourite cheese – Le Gruyère. I shouldn’t be surprised by the exquisite service onboard – Switzerland it home to some of the world’s top hotel schools.

We are at the gate before long and disembark in good time – that’s Swiss precision timing, I guess.

The next leg of my trip leaves me with four hours to kill in Zurich airport. The airport is well equipped for passengers with a long transit, and the Business Lounge is a great place for a spot of R&R between flights.

I have a jam-packed schedule ahead, so I opt for a shower. The facilities are great and the concierge provides everything you need, including towels and a hairdryer.

The lounge is huge and incorporates the longest bar in Zurich. The lunch menu includes a hearty lasagne, as well as a selection of snacks to keep you going, including some rather lovely Swiss chocolates.

I arrive at the gate, hop on the plane and two hours later arrive in Madrid. I feel relaxed and refreshed, perfectly ready to face the day in Spain.

72 Review.indd 72 23/08/2011 18:19

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SPORT DUPONT_FP 3/24/10 1:09:23 PM

ON THE ROAD

“I absolutely love it. The most exciting supercar

on earth, bar none.” Bill Thomas, Top Gear magazine

When the Koenigsegg Agera was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show this year, mouths fell agape and wallets ached. The US$1.5m hypercar is quite simply every boy’s dream, with top speeds of 440kph. Its environmentally friendly cousin - the Agera R - runs on biofuel and is even faster.

Koenigsegg Agera Engine: 5 litre V8

twin-turbo V8BHP: 940

0-100kmh: 3.1secsOrigin: Sweden

Cost: US$1.5mwww.koenigsegg.com

74-75 Motoring new.indd 74 23/08/2011 18:20


Motoring On the road

Mercedes E63 AMGEngine: AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturboBHP: 5250-100kmh: 4.3 secsOrigin: GermanyCost: US$119,540www.mercedes-benz.comDescribed by Mercedes-Benz as a the ‘businessman’s dirty little secret’ and a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the new E63 AMG’s cool executive exterior hides a wild 5.5litre V8 biturbo engine under the bonnet. Just aim the Mercedes emblem in the direction you’re going and hit the gas.

Bugatti “L’Or Blanc”Engine: Quad-turbocharged

8.0-litre W16BHP: 987

0-100kmh: 2.7secsOrigin: France

Cost: US$ 2.37 mwww.bugatti.com

Bugatti and Königliche Porzellan- Manufatur Berlin have teamed up

to create, the Bugatti Veyron “L’Or Blanc”, the first ever car to feature

ceramic trim. It’s a thing of beauty – a must-have for motoring aficionados

with a cool US$2.37m to spare.

KING OF NYC

The lifespan of an average New York taxicab is around three to five years. After half a decade on the job, the beasts of burden are usually retired and sold for scrap. It’s an ignoble ending for such an industrious vehicle.

The iconic yellow sedan taxi-cabs are as important to the city’s identity as the Statue of Liberty. They have starred in hundreds of Hollywood high-speed chases, taken dozens of teary-eyed hero-ines home, and helped plenty of leading men to the airport just in time. The streets are awash with more than 13,000 of them.

But as 2011 starts to wind down, so does the present era of the New York taxicab. Over the next few years, the Ford Stretch Crown Victoria, the current car of choice for the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which regulates the City’s taxi business, will be phased out to make room for the latest incar-nation of the ultimate taxi – the Nissan NV200 minicab.

The battery-powered NV200 promises enhanced safety fea-tures and comfort, plus gadgets such as built-in charging stations, and as soon as the NV200 hits the streets at the end of 2013, operators buying new vehicles or replacing old ones will have no choice but to purchase the US$29,000 Nissan.

Production of the much-loved Ford Stretch Crown Victoria has already ground to a halt, and Ford has closed down the Canadian factory that builds them, marking the end of an era for the iconic machine. It’s all in the name of progress, but somehow I can’t imagine the NV200 appearing in a high-speed chase through the streets of the Big Apple.

JOE MORTIMER

dotwnews.com

Blanc”, the first ever car to feature ceramic trim. It’s a thing of beauty –

a must-have for motoring aficionados with a cool US$2.37m to spare.

has closed down the Canadian factory that builds them, marking the end of an era for the iconic machine. It’s all in the name of progress, but somehow I can’t imagine the NV200 appearing in a high-speed chase through the streets of the Big Apple.

Harley V-Rod Engine: 1250 cc Revolution®

BHP: 122 hp @ 8,250 rpmAvailable: 2012

Origin: USCost: US$21,000

www.harley-davidson.com

Harley’s 10th anniversary tribute to the original V-Rod street dragster features a Brilliant Silver Pearl body with extra chrome and polished surfaces on its monstrous 1250 cc Revolution® engine, exhaust and speed screen. Go on, tame the beast.

74-75 Motoring new.indd 75 24/08/2011 15:15


Top-end boutique resorts are not always known for their child-friendly credentials, with many intent on

attracting either the ‘DINKs’ (double income, no kids) or the ‘Silver Surfers’ – the rather inappropriate name for the spritely 50-plus segment who are spending their savings in a frenzy now the kids have flown the nest.

My husband and I fit into neither category, now that we have our daughter in tow, but we had a feeling we’d be made welcome at Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Australia, which is run by the hospitable folks at Emirates – and we were right.

The resort, as the name suggests, is tucked away in a valley that’s nestled on the border between two national parks.

After a two-and-a-half hour scenic drive through the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, we arrived at the understated gated resort entrance, where a four-wheel drive awaited to take us to our accommodation. It was fully kitted out with a car seat for Baby G. So far so good, I thought.

The up-market ‘digs’ blend into the landscape – 4,000 acres of lush green Aussie bushland – such is Emirates’ commitment to sustainable projects that conserve the local environment.

Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa proves a luxury haven for all the family

“The resort is tucked away in a valley that’s nestled on the border between two national parks”

Home from homeMKempinski Hotel

Gravenbruch is set in 100 acres of leafy parkland

Baby goes bush at Emirates’ Oz resort

Anyone who has visited the group’s former Al Maha property in Dubai (now run by Starwood) will immediately recognise that Wolgan Valley, as one would expect, is the Australian version.

Our Heritage Suite was more like a private lodge, comprising a large lounge with comfy chairs and sofas, a bedroom with a four-poster bed (with a large dressing room attached) and a sizeable bathroom with a glass-roofed rain shower. Did I mention the verandah overlooking the plains and the sundeck adjacent to the lap pool?

Emirates says the suites are “ideal for single guests, or couples looking for luxurious surroundings on a romantic break”, but it was also suitable for a family thanks to the huge amount of space and the amenities provided.

Hotel cots for infants are often far from state-of-the-art, but Wolgan Valley surprised us with a brand new travel crib that had been made up with top-quality baby linen, fit for a princess.

Our daughter was also made to feel welcome in the main restaurant – the Wolgan Dining Room – where highchairs were readily available. I expected looks of disdain from couples who wanted to dine in peace, but instead, most guests cooed at Baby G while my husband and I tucked into our

Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa+61 2 6350 1800www.wolganvalley.com

tHe Golden booK

six-course degustation meal. She was on her best behaviour though, and quite happily ‘people-watched’ as we gorged.

In fact Baby G seemed to relish the fresh air, natural surroundings, temperate climate and facilities, such as the in-suite lap pool provided at Wolgan Valley. She also liked the friendly staff, particularly the chef who prepared a freshly squeezed juice from local fruits for her.

For families with older kids there are plenty of activities to keep them occupied – educational nature walks, 4X4 tours, mountain biking, horse riding and other sports – but the excellent service and facilities mean it’s just as suitable for younger visitors.

A trip to Wolgan Valley is a must for anyone visiting Sydney. It’s a chance for an R&R getaway, a gourmet weekend break, an eco holiday or a soft adventure trip – take your pick.

Column Family Luxury

Gemma Greenwood

Luxury travel aficionado and full-time mum

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Mount Nelson HotelStriking 21st-century style in 1899-vintage “The Nellie”

Taj Cape Town can claim what must surely be the only presidential suite with an outdoor, rooftop fireplace on

its private terrace. The 176-room hotel, which opened in 2010, is a conversion of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, right opposite Parliament. The 194sqm Tata Suite has two ensuite bedrooms, one of which has a bathroom with two-person steam shower and an infinity bathtub, a white sculpture set in its own, marble-surround soakaway, and the ‘tap’ is merely a hole in the ceiling, through which the water pours.

The Suite also has its own glass-walled rooftop eyrie. Climb up and use its o�ce, or its private gym, or to take in an amazing view of nearby Table Mountain. At night, the highlight is a real wood fire laid and lit on the eyrie’s private terrace. Sit around the fire, enjoying a glass of South African wine – perhaps Strandveld, from Africa’s most southern winery – and savour the moment.

Taj Cape Town, run by GM Michael Pownall, is full of experiences. The ground floor flows from columned lobby lounge, once the banking hall and now an all-time tea and co�ee connoisseurs’ gathering place, to a Cigar Lounge with South African brandies. Bombay Brasserie, a chandeliered beauty that is sibling to the London original, o�ers such Indian delicacies as tandoori salmon with bishop’s weed and cottage cheese dumpling with green pea curry, and it is full nightly. I love the hotel’s 15-metre lap pool, one of South Africa’s few indoor pools, and the adjacent Technogym. www.tajhotels.com

The top-floor gym of the four-floor Cape Grace, on West Quay of Victoria & Albert Waterfront, is also Technogym. The relaxation room of its adjacent spa can be used for private dining and I am told at least two – successful – proposal dinners have been held here, at a table for two looking across the harbour to Table Bay.

GM Nigel Pace runs this 122-room hotel like a private club. A flower trolley, used by the hotel’s florist, greets you outside the entrance. Inside, a bevy of young personal assistants greet you rather than a front desk. Every upper floor is di�erent: exit the lift on the second floor to be greeted by a wall of authentic book cupboards. Room 210, a 500sq ft Superior looking over the water, is eggshell-blue calm, with hand-painted drapes. Local designers Kathi and Klaudia Weixelbaumer also have a sense of humour; some of the clear crystal chandeliers in public areas are decorated with plates and other white china bits.

Local chef Malika van Reenan, a confidante of England’s Heston Blumenthal, produces some of the best food in South Africa – try her homemade tagliatelle with grilled aubergine cubes and tomato sauce topped with toasted pine nuts and parmesan. There is an outdoor pool, you can rent a yacht, and BMW 7 Series chau�eur service is free within a 12-mile radius of the hotel. www.capegrace.com

Doyenne in this hotel trio, the 1899-vintage Mount Nelson (‘The Nellie’) looks gorgeous, and behaves eternally young thanks to a considerable facelift. Arrive in a hotel hybrid, turn o� Orange Street through a pristine white-white entrance with at least a dozen classical columns, purr up a 150-yard brick drive, and you feel like a lord of the manor. The sprawling pink-exterior 286-room hotel, complete with white wedding cake highlighting, is set in seven acres of gently-sloping gardens.

There is history galore, with original interior panelling and hundreds of bits of memorabilia, but it is also 21st-century. I love room 218, in the main building. Its soft pigeon blue colouring, high-speed free WiFi and organic toiletries, plus a garden view, are very calming. The 24-hour business centre has four stations, and it’s free to use. Planet Restaurant pairs original columns with a back-lit wine bottle-walled private dining alcove, and it even o�ers an all-vegan menu if you must.

The lobby lounge afternoon tea is a help-yourself a�air, from a 12-foot table groaning with men’s-size sandwiches through to ladylike one-bite macaroons. GM Sandro Fabris is the motivator of The Nellie’s eternal youth and style (his front desk girls wear black suits with pearls). Still on his to-do list, he says, are a French brasserie and upgraded fitness facility. Many guests love the outdoor pool or running outside, down the drive and taking the pedestrian-only Parliament Road to Parliament and the city’s business centre. www.orient-express.com

Mary Gostelow

Lifestyle and luxury commentator

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Room with a viewStunning views from the

Presidential Suite at Taj Cape Town

An insider’s guide to the most luxurious hotels in the world

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Founders of British Polo Day worldwide

In 2009, Tom Hudson was asked by his alma mater Eton College to create an annual social event for Old Etonian expats living in the Middle East. Wanting to base it on

a sporting event, yet retain a social emphasis, he decided polo fit the bill perfectly. Tom’s university friend and adjutant of the Household Cavalry in the British Army, Ed Olver, then brought in the British Army Polo Team, and the British Polo Day (www.britishpoloday.com) was born: a celebration of the heritage, history and style of this quintessentially British sport.

Now a firm fixture in Dubai’s sporting and social calendar, and attracting celebrities, VIPs, royalty (HRH Prince Harry of Wales and HRH Prince Rashid of Jordan have competed) and polo aficionados from around the world, other countries are keen to host their own British Polo Day, and Tom and Ed are in the process of going global, with upcoming British Polo Days taking place in Beijing (September), Singapore (November), Jodhpur (December), Thailand (February), South Africa (April), Rome (June), and of course Dubai (March) and England (July).

Jodhpur, IndiaIn 1889 Sir Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur, invited Col. Stuart Beat-son of the Bengal Lancers to help him raise the Jodhpur Lancers, who in turn brought with him polo in its modern form as a splendid sub-stitute for war: the blood-rushing charges, the all-or-nothing riding-off, the frantic change of horses…. The Jodhpur Polo club sits in the grounds of the Umaid Bhawan Palace (above) and next to the glorious 17th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Liz Hurley got married.

Beijing, ChinaPolo was a popular royal pastime for many centuries in China. The polo stick appears on royal coats of arms in China, and the game was part of the court life in the golden age of Chinese classical culture under Ming-Hung, the Radiant Emperor. Polo virtually died out in the mid-19th century but is now undergoing a huge revival, with many wealthy residents taking up the sport and clubs popping up all over China. The most picturesque club in our view is the Sunny Times Polo Club (above).

tom Hudson & ed olver

England, UKOn July 2nd, 400 VIP guests were treated to a day of polo on the grounds of Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber’s Berkshire Estate, Water-ship Down, competing for the cov-eted British Polo Day Charity Cup in support of Sentebale and Tusk Trust, Prince Harry and The Duke of Cam-bridge’s respective charities. HRH Prince Harry of Wales and HRH Prince Rashid of Jordan competed (above) at this now-annual event.

“Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘A polo handicap is a passport to the world’. Nowadays you don’t need to actually play polo to experience it”

“Sir Winston Churchill once famously said, ‘A polo handicap is a passport to the world’”, says Tom. “Nowadays, you don’t need to actually play polo to be able to experience it, and polo destination holidays are on the increase.”

Here Tom (above left) and Ed (above right) discuss the greatest polo venues across the globe with Destinations of the World News.

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ThailandThailand has always carried a roman-tic royal allure, and is now becom-ing known to the travelling elite for its superb polo platforms. The climate results in the most excep-tional pitches. Polo was first played in Thailand by English sportsmen from Penang as a royal command performance before King Rama XII of the Chakri dynasty. Later, the first polo club under royal patronage was established, and today, Royal patron-age is still enjoyed by The Thai Polo and Equestrian Club (above).

Dubai, UAEAlthough Polo is said to have begun millennia ago in Persia, the modern game is relatively new to Dubai. However, as the progressive Emirate has demonstrated, when it wants to do something, it doesn’t hold back, and Dubai now probably has as many polo fields per capita as anywhere in the world. Under the patronage of local families, polo is thriving and there are a number of international tournaments. At British Polo Day Dubai, we like to get things started with a round of camel polo (above).

Kurland, South AfricaBritish cavalry regiments garrisoned in the Eastern Cape in the late 19th century and brought the game to South Africa, with the country’s first recorded polo tournament tak-ing place at King William’s Town in 1885. Nowadays there are a number of stunning polo estates, including the Kurland Polo Estate (above), near the picturesque beach resorts of Plettenberg Bay in the heart of the Garden Route. Here you can stay at the award-winning Kurland Hotel, a five-star small luxury hotel.

Royal ties HRH Prince Harry of Wales and

HRH Price Rashid of Jordan played at British Polo Day UK

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How long have you been an Emirates pilot? I’ve been with Emirates for over seven years now, having enjoyed a long career with Scandinavian Airlines before coming to Dubai. I fly the Airbus 330 and 340.

How does the life of a real pilot stand up to the Hollywood version?Well, the real world normally offers less drama and perhaps a bit less glamour than the Hollywood ver-sion, but we do fly real airplanes, and meet real people under real conditions, so I think the reality stands up well in comparison.

What is the most bizarre in-flight experience you have had?During a flight to Bangkok we were cruising over Uzbekistan when all four pilots in the cockpit thought for a brief moment that we might have seen an UFO. It turned out that we had witnessed the re-entry of the Russian MIR space station, which created a high velocity fire-ball across our lateral path – it was a great moment.

What is the most extreme weather condition you have had to fly in? I remember a flight on a par-ticularly cold and dark night at Chicago O’Hare with strong winds, icy runways and drifting snow the size of swallows, which really chal-lenged our skills.

Do you think the day will come when planes are pilotless? Well, the technology is available today for pilotless flights, but I believe we are still decades away from such a step, mainly due to reli-ability and flexibility issues where man still outperforms machine.

Why must seatbacks and armrests be in the upright position for take-off and landing? The take-off and landing phases are the most critical, so impact protection, situational awareness and availability/access to emergency exits are all aspects in need of prior-ity; hence the rather strict rules.

Which is the most stunning desti-nation to approach from the air?

I would rate Innsbruck in Austria, Funchal on Madeira and the old Kai Tak Hong Kong airport as quite spectacular cities to arrive in.

Which passport stamp are you most proud of?As a Swedish citizen I don’t get as many passport stamps nowadays, but I have a late-1980s stamp from the Soviet Union that is quite fancy.

What do pilots do for the duration of a long-haul flight?We regularly communicate with Air Traffic Control, update our contin-gency plans and try to manage all resources in an optimum way. If it’s a long flight, which requires time for controlled rest, we can read a bit or solve a Sudoku puzzle.

Which new Emirates destination are you looking forward to visiting?I think that Rio de Janeiro and St. Petersburg will be great places to visit as they are coming on line within the next few months. Then, of course, I hope for a direct flight to Stockholm (above) eventually. n

Captain Christian Magnusson Emirates Airline

Competition...

Think you can identify the location in the photo? Visit www.dotwnews.com and click Competition to enter. The winner will receive a 12-month subscription to Destinations of the World News worth US$99 and a gift box from Shiffa Dubai Skin Care*. The destination featured in our August 2011 competition was the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. This month’s winner is Tina Flores, from Dubai, UAE.

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

The captain’s log

*This competition is open to residents of the Middle East and North Africa. The closing date is September 22, 2011. Entrants with the correct answer will be entered into a prize draw. The winner will be announced in the October issue of Destinations of the World News and on dotwnews.com

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Destinations of the World News - September 2011

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