June 30, 2010
Island hopping on the Andaman Sea.
June 29, 2010
Simple as ABC
Pavillon de la Reine on Place de Vosges in the Marais district in Paris is a favourite The Luxury Travel Bible find, the boutique hotel in a 17th century ivy-covered building is like a private home and we love the wallpaper here almost as much as we do the Hotel Daniel's (not that we're obsessed or anything). Now owner Jerome Chevalier is set to open another hotel, Pavillon des Lettres, in the 8th Arrrondissement in September. Each of the rooms will be identified as a different letter of the alphabet, so there are 26, right. Maybe we should also add this to our Top ten iPad Hotels since each room will have its own iPad too. http://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/
Posted 29/6/10
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 28, 2010
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
NEW: Singapore's newest and most innovative hotel, the Marina Bay Sands hotel officially opened in spectacular style on 23 June 2010. The Luxury Travel Bible was there for the opening and we bring you one of the first reviews worldwide. Click here to read.
TLTB's Singapore correspondent at SkyPark during his stay at the opening of Marina Bay Sands.
Champagne and Ice
We love champagne on ice, in the ice ...and the snow so The Luxury Travel Bible just has to mention The Denman Hotel & Spa's ultimate skiing indulgence, a series of Veuve Clicquot après ski picnics in the snow on the slopes of Thredbo, in Australia's Snowy Mountains. The picnics are part of the inaugural Clicquot in the Snow held in Thredbo from 22 - 25 July. The Luxury Travel Bible also stayed at Lake Crackenback Resort last week, so we'll be bringing bring you the full Perisher, Snowy Mountains ski report shortly . http://www.thedenham.com.au/ , http://www.lakecrackenback.com.au/
UPDATED 19/7/10 - Click here to view Lake Crackenback Resort and Mount Perisher Destination Report
Chilly in Chile
As we’ve said before The Luxury Travel Bible loves the thought that somewhere someone in the world is always skiing. The Chile ski season officially launched this weekend with the opening of . Portillo and Chillán. El Colorado has been open since June 3. La Parva, Farellones and Valle Nevado opened on June 19. Villarrica follows soon. We’ll be bringing you a Southern Hemisphere Ski Report (Including Chile, NZ & Australia) in our July issue.
http://www.lan.com/
http://www.lan.com/
Check out the view...
Just back from the slopes so keep an eye on http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/ for reports and stories that will be coming soon but until then we thought The Luxury Travel Bible followers might like to see the view at Mt. Perisher - S.B.
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 25, 2010
Claridges most Fashionable Suites Unveiled
The latest designer turning up the heat at historic Claridge's Mayfair is Diane von Furstenberg who unveiled her fashion suites this week to a crowd that included Christian Louboutin, Tom Ford, Natalia Vodianova, Valentino and Madonna. Still very fond of being greeted as 'Highness' as she walks through the Art Deco doors, von Furstenberg has been a guest here since the 70s. "Like many of you I have had affairs in Claridge's, business meetings in Claridge's and many memorable moments here," she said. "If walls could talk these rooms could write books and books and books." While these walls might still be chattering about Kate Moss' reportedly infamous 30th birthday orgy...oops, party....The Luxury Travel Bible senses DVF's intent on creating rooms that are sensual as well as stylish as she signed off with, "Let's not stop having affairs." We are sure the suites will inspire us all.
http://www.claridges.co.uk/
Prue Rushton
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
http://www.claridges.co.uk/
Prue Rushton
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 24, 2010
Marina Bay Sands Grand Opening
Last night our Singapore correspondent attended the grand gala party for the opening of the futuristic Marina Bay Sands which is also home to the amazing Sands SkyPark (opening to the public today) . He reports everyone who was anyone in SIngaporean high society was there - including a tuxed-up The Luxury Travel Bible, naturally. We'll be bringing you a full review of the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel very shortly.http://www.marinabaysands.com/
June 23, 2010
NEW Junior Master Chefs
Bizarrely, children the world over seem to have taken to the Masterchef TV show with a vengeance. So for all those aspiring mini-chefs out there The Luxury Travel Bible just has to mention one of our favourite hotel programs for junior luxies, The Peninsula New York's 'Kids in the Kitchen' class that includes a tour of the pastry kitchen and the chance to watch the pastry chef in action. We've road-tasted (sic) a few other luxury hotels kids cooking courses too, so watch this space for more soon. Chocolate crackle anyone? www.peninsula.com
June 22, 2010
NEW Savoy Hotel Sets a date
It has been a lonnnng time coming with so many potential opening dates we've lost count - July, August, September . Finally, two and a half years and 100 million pounds later The Savoy, one of London's most famous luxury Hotels has set a re-opening date and with a certain amount of Savoy style it has to be said. Hoping the world will give it a 10 out of 10 for its shiny new look created by Pierre -Yves Rochon, the hotel (now under Fairmont's mighty wing) will open on 10.10.10. Yes, October 10 is the day we'll all get to see the new Royal Suite, the new River Suites, The Savoy Grill (masterminded by Gordon Ramsey Holdings) and much, much more. If you want to be ahead of the crowd (and what The Luxury Travel Bible reader doesn't) put another ten in your diary August 10 ,2010 - that's the day The Savoy starts taking forward bookings. We wish GM Kiaran MacDonald and his team all the best in the lead up to the auspicious day www.the-savoy.com
Posted 22/6/10
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
Posted 22/6/10
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 21, 2010
You can call us shallow but ...
Call us shallow but we love our spa treatments and in The Luxury Travel Bible's humble opinion Karma Resorts always gives good spa. We are therefore very excited to hear this latest news about Karma Kandara and the renowned Fumi Yamamoto. Fumi is renowned for her Zen facials, described by some as "better than a face lift" and certainly more relaxing. Now Fumi is heading to Karma Kandara in Bali to lead a three day holistic workshop.
Click here to learn more about the workshop.
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
This week's New Top Ten: Luxury Resorts with Mega-Pools is now up
We aren't thinking about a nice neat kidney or square patch of blue here. We are talking serious water that wends its way around the outline of luxury suites and villas. Terracing, fountains, tunnels, and all manner of foliage and landscaping aren't out of the question. In fact, they are merely the beginnings of serious pool culture with swim-out suites and swim-up bars and who knows what next.So, what did The Luxury Travel Bible choose for the Top Ten Largest and Most Exotic Resort Pools in the World? Click here to view.
Hilary Doling & Prue Rushton http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 18, 2010
Matakauri Lodge, NZ - Opening Soon
The Luxury Travel Bible has been awaiting this one with baited breath for a while now. August 27 is the scheduled open for the re-styled Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown, New Zealand, interior-designed by Virginia Fisher (who also designed Huka Lodge and Grand Provence in SA ). Matakauri was acquired last year by US billionaire Julian Robertson who also owns the sublime Kauri Cliffs in Northland and the much-awarded Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay both renowned for their golf courses and their luxurious accommodation. TLTB is primed to bring you an in-depth luxury report soon after opening - so watch this space.
Luxury Link: http://www.matakauri.co.nz/
Luxury Link: http://www.matakauri.co.nz/
June 17, 2010
Big Game off Luxury Lizard Island
The Coral Sea off Lizard Island near the Great Barrier Reef is one of the only known spawning areas on the planet for black marlin. The waters off luxurious Lizard Island resort are one of the few areas in the world where you have a chance of catching one of the real giants. Black marlin weighing a massive 1000lb plus have been caught and released off Lizard Island where they come to feed off the tuna and mackerel found in the tropical waters. Why are we telling you this? Because the 24th Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic runs from October 16th- 23rd. Be there to bag a big one. http://www.lizardisland.com.au/
Anyone for tea?
The Luxury Travel Bible is partial to a spot of afternoon tea, especially when it is served in a quintessential English salon, but we are REALLY looking forward to enjoying Firmdale Hotels' new offering.
Click here to read more about this 'Sensory Tea extravaganza'.
June 16, 2010
Calling all luxury lovers...
Now it is YOUR turn to have a say. Each month a Club Exclusive member shares their experiences with us (hey, why should we do all the work?) This month Club Exclusive member Anthony Johns has just returned from Melbourne, Australia and was kind enough to share his experience with all of us. Click here to read JUST UNPACKED FROM... Melbourne, Australia.
If you are a Club Exclusive member and would like to share your luxury experiences with like minded travellers please contact us with details.
SB www.luxurytravelbible.com
SB www.luxurytravelbible.com
This Month
Check your Inbox! The Luxury Travel Bible's June Newsletter has been sent out. If you haven't yet registered and would like to know where our jet-weary writers have ridden their Vespas, what ultimate luxury escape allows you the chance to fly so high you see the curve of the earth, what resort we describe as being a "riot of Caribbean colour mixed with retro chic" as well as much, much more. . . If you haven't yet registered Click Here and we'll sent you June's newsletter.
SB http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 15, 2010
... watching Pas de Deux in Paradise.
The Luxury Travel Bible has just returned from a stunning weekend at qualia, one of the Whitsunday Islands' most luxurious resorts; an exclusive performance by the Australian Ballet in the open air on a stage at the edge of the Coral Sea under a starry Queensland sky. Principal Artists Lucinda Dunn, Robert Curran and Rachel Rawlins with Senior Artist Andrew Killian performed a selection of dramatic pas de deux in front of a select crowd of less than a 150 guests who also mingled with dances and watched rehearsals during the celebrity-studded weekend. The Luxury Travel Bible doubts you could see this standard of ballet in a more original or beautiful setting anywhere in the world. The good news is that they intend to do it all again next year. Dates have not yet to be confirmed but watch this space. The experience is not to be missed. HD http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 9, 2010
Free Luxury Sports Car
Now there's an offer to be conjured with. There is just one small hitch, to get the batmobile-style supercar complete with twin V12 turbo engines and a top speed of 230mph (370kph) you will have to spend a cool $US24 million+ on a state-of the-art 38 metre superyacht first. Click here to learn moreAP http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
June 8, 2010
We love The Seven Hotel, Paris. Everything about it, really especially two particular suites ...
It's not the beds that float above the floor. Nor the clouds on the ceiling. The tiny star lights twinkling down. The foot above the floor bath. The clever team at The Five Hotel in Paris already had us on cloud nine with those delicious suite treats in its concept One By The Five hotel (also in Paris). While much of that kind of style is glamorously recaptured by The Seven (don't they just love a number?) in the 28 individually created guest rooms, it's what's going on inside the seven suites that has The Luxury Travel Bible suite hopping. We really can't decide between two in particular - The Sublime Suite, which in an homage to women glistens white with soft curves that include a large round bed and droplets of light dripping from the ceiling; and The 007 Suite, super sleek and spy sly with moulded timber lounging area and a steam bath. Sigh...we do like to be stirred. Set in the Latin Quarter, it is only a 10 minutes skip to Boulevard Saint-Germain. PR www.luxurytravelbible.com/ 
Luxury Link: http://www.sevenhotelparis.com/
Bob San sushi restaurant, lounge and bar in young hip Chicago neighbourhood, Bucktown.
Bob San has been interior designed by architect and designer Jordan Mozer, also know for innovative hotel design.Bob San's Dining Room (pictured) was an existing room Mozer renovated. "We made the chairs by carving wood and casting the forms in Kevlar reinforced, internally pigmented non-combustible resin," Jordan Mozer tells us."The chandelier is composed of hand blown glass, designed for the project. The colors are inspired by Japanese Manga comics".
We also love the octopus chandelier which was, says Mozer,"inspired by Tako sushi".
HD http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/Luxury Link: http://www.bob-san.com/
The extravagant design of the Crazy Bear Group hotels.
This is where English eccentricity meets excess and it works. Outside the hotels are all olde worlde innocence inside it is a different matter. In Beaconsfield the oldest documented building has been madly made-over into a palace of opulence. We love the custom-made, seventeen-metre black chesterfield, studded with Swarovski crystal , the pythons decorated railing on the grand staircase and the black walls and gold bath in the room 8. At the hotel in Stadhampton in Oxfordshire we're very partial to the flamboyant silver bedroom. Crazy Bear also has an equally zanny bar and restaurant in London's Fitzrovia. Luxury Link: http://www.crazybeargroup.co.uk/
The tranquillity of Therme Vals, Switzerland.
Designed by the architect's architect Peter Zumthor and completed in 1996, these spa baths, around two-and-a-half hours drive from Zurich, have an elegance and sensuality that takes them beyond time and fashion. So exquisite is the sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces that embodies stone, glass and thermal spring water that the building had a protective order put on it in 1998, and a book, containing details of the architect's original sketches and concept was published in 2007 (Peter Zumthor Therme Vals, published by Verlag Scheidegger and Spiess). Zumthor insisted that the Therme be built from 60,000 slabs of locally quarried quartzite and covered its roof in Alpine meadow grass, but it is the architect's singular ability to manifest a "beautiful silence" in his buildings that stands out. Therme Vals makes it easy to find your own.
Luxury Link : http://www.therme-vals.ch/
'Green Thursday' at La Residence Phou Vao.
Every Thursday at La Residence Phou Vao, Orient Express group's boutique hotel in Luang Prabang, Laos, the staff gather their brooms and brushes and set out on tuk tuks to collect rubbish, waste and discarded plastic, to help keep Luang Prabang clean and unpolluted. Called 'Green Thursday', this private initiative is a first. As residents and businesses in Luang Prabang pay to have their rubbish collected, and very few are able to afford to do so, the project really helps the local community and preserves the beauty of the area for travellers. HD http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
Luxury links: http://www.residencephouvao.com/ , http://www.orient-express.com/
Relaxation pods at the spa at Scarlet eco-hotel in Cornwall.
The experience is rather like being suspended in a silk cocoon. We guarantee you'll emerge butterfly-like from the spa a new, improved you. We also love the outdoor cliff-top tomato-red baths where you can have a seaweed soak with a fantastic view of the wild Cornish coast and the pounding Atlantic ocean.
Luxury links: http://www.scarlethotel.co.uk/ , http://www.designhotels.com/
A hotel that wants you to smell as good as it looks.
Hotel Costes, designed by Jacques Garcia whose maxim is 'all things in excess' has a house fragrance. If minor celebrities can have their name on a perfume bottle, why not a hotel? Costes No 1 and Costes No 2 are available as an Eau de Toilette or in matching body & home fragrance. Order directly from the hotel's website. RB http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
Luxury links: http://www.hotelcostes.com/
We love the wallpaper in Hotel Daniel, Paris.
The Luxury Travel Bible was once a junior luxie who quickly devoured vegetables simply to uncover the blue and white Chinese Willow pattern on the dinner plate and swoon about far-away places. Now all grown-up, Hotel Daniel has channelled the same sort of fascination into its series of exotic hand-painted wallpapers. With names like Fair of Cairo, Bahia, Toile du Lac, Kipling and Siam, select your room according to your favourite whimsy and dream. PR http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/Luxury link: http://www.hoteldanielparis.com/
Say "thank you" to Merci Paris
It may be a year old now, but The Luxury Travel Bible's Paris correspondent is still finding this concept store with a conscience just as loveable as it is loving. Set in the Marais and laid out with the heart-felt care of a home rather than a shop, you can browse through 16,1461 square feet (1500 square metres) of loft-like gorgeousness. Here you will find everything from special creations donated by designers like Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent and Marni at a third of the price off as well as discounted Bonpoint children's clothing whose owners - Bernand and Marie-France Cohen - created this store. There are also vintage Dior and Chanel as well as finds for the home - from Tolix chairs in exclusively commissioned colours through to 1930s Bakelite switches. Curl up on a couch with a secondhand book, sip café au lait in the literary café and on the way out buy a bunch of flowers from the florist. All of these pretties are reason enough to spend big, but there's more...Most importantly, don't forget the shop's reason for being: after break-even all proceeds go to a children's charity in Madagascar. RL http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
Luxury link: http://www.merci-merci.com/
The opulent, over-the-top Miami extravagance of The Villa by Barton G.
This just-opened (March 2010) hotel is housed in the villa that Gianni Versace once called home. Miami-based restaurateur Barton G. Weiss has turned the gated beachfront villa into a grand and glamorous ten-room fantasy of fabulous fabrics, frescoes and fountains. Gianni would probably have loved it. The Luxury Travel Bible particularly loves the Venus Suite with twin balconies overlooking Ocean Drive and the Villa Suite which was Versace's original bedroom and is decked out with a 9-foot bed and seven closets for al y our designer gear. You also get personal British-trained butlers, Frette linens and Thierry Mugler toiletries, The price is pretty extravagant too with rooms starting from around $2,000+ a night. Live the dream we say. Luxury links: http://www.thevillabybartong.com/, http://www.casacasuarina.com/
Café Gitane, NoLita, New York.
For around a decade now, this tiny Mott Street café/restaurant has been serving up its own take on French Morroccan to swizzle-stick models and the uber-hip. Café Habana may be the new kid around the corner giving it a run for its cash-only money; every few months there's a warning written somewhere that Gitane is about to lose its cool...and, mind the attitude. The Luxury Travel Bible, nevertheless, eschews all. Decorated with the casual insouciance of the confident, our NYC correspondent still regards this café as one of the easiest places in New York to show-up solo on a stool at the bar to dine or schmooze away an afternoon at a side-walk table. Must-have is the Moroccan Couscous. DS
http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/ Londolozi's electric game drive vehicle
Renowned for its original thought in the areas of conservation and ecotourism Londolozi safari camp in South Africa introduced the first zero emissions, electric Safari game drive vehicle in mid-2009. It runs for up to eight hours, with a significantly lower carbon footprint than the conventional 4×4. Co-owner Dave Varty , says "There is widespread recognition that battery vehicles are a new frontier in clean technology development". An added plus is that the vehicle is silence, so the animals are less likely to hear you coming. JS. http://www.luxurytravelbible.com/
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