3 Islands for Luxury tourism

If you are looking for a luxury holiday, where you wish to be completely secluded and pampered, then there are luxury holiday island resorts dotted all around the world, ready to cater to your every whim. These luxury resorts are ideal for honeymoons, romantic breaks or simply if you need to get away from it all.

1. Turtle Island, Fiji - There is arguably nothing more beautiful than sunset over a Pacific island and Fiji is no different. Turtle Island is a luxury resort that does everything from traditional Fijian weddings to private getaways. The island has everything you will need from personal beaches, to private beach hunts to 'champagne breakfasts'. The island was also where the film “The Blue Lagoon” was shot, for its paradise-esque quality and its clear blue waters.

2. Palm Island, The Grenadines - Located near the southern tip of St. Vincent, Palm Island is a private resort famed for its natural beauty, warm waters and luxurious accommodation. Its resort has 43 bespoke rooms, which are treated to gourmet cuisine as well as host of activities, including spa treatments. It is a wonderful place to forget your worries, with boat trips, hikes, horse riding or simply its pristine beaches at your fingertips.

3. Bedarra Island, Australia - Found on the Great Barrier Reef, Bedarra Island is an top secret exclusive resort that only caters to 32 guests at any given time. In fact in order to get there, you have to charter a boat or plane! Once there however, guests are able to enjoy the island's stunning beauty, its clear waters, its gym, spa treatments and top of the line accommodation, as well as staff that will take care of any requests.

Luxury Shopping in the Spanish Steps Area

The Spanish Steps, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome, epitomizes architectural splendour and luxury shopping. If you are a luxury shopper in Rome, head straight to the Spanish Steps, which has no dearth of luxury boutiques and shops and enjoy a fun filled day of shopping.

When I first visited the Spanish Steps, I was literally dazzled with the wide choice of luxury shopping ahead of me. You will find world famous Italian brands such as Benetton, Dolce and Gabbana and Robert Cavalli have made the Spanish Steps their home. If you are looking for top quality designers and fine clothes, do not forget to visit Alberto Guardiani and Krizia, two world class boutiques in the area.

Men will surely enjoy a trip to Cesare Paciotti, Rocco Barocco or Franco Castiello, which produce the best men’s clothes and designer apparel. Women looking to shop till they drop should head to Marina Rinaldi known for their women’s apparel and designer garments. While Fendi is by far the best place for you if you are interested in the latest fashions, the Laura Biagiotti boutique is also a good place to stop by for those who love classical designs.

I was able to find great belts, wallets and bags at Louis Vuitton, and though I wished I could purchase all those lovely shoes in Fratelli Rosetti, I could only walk away with two pairs without denting my wallet. If you are looking to purchase a cashmere or woollen product, go straight to the Valambert boutique, which has been in the trade since 1985.

Via Condotti is Rome’s most popular street for luxury shopping and you can find designer clothes, shoes, accessories and jewellery here. Other boutiques you can visit in the Spanish Steps area include Dior, Valentino and Gucci, which are located right in front of the steps. Some of the top luxury boutiques you must visit here are Hermes, La Perla, Armani, Trussardi, Alberta Ferreti and Celine, to mention just a few.

Luxury Travel: Try Private Sales

If you are a luxury traveller who has not tried private sales as yet, then you have been missing out on the ultimate luxury shopping experience. Today, you will find several private sales opportunities available if you know where to look; for instance, the private sales site Jetsetter.com will give you an idea of how much you can get from such sales.

Jetsetter is an online community for luxury travellers, where you will find the best deals and expert information on everything from luxury vacations to hotel rooms. The only downside is that Jetsetter sales last only one week and those who come first are served first.

Jetsetter private sales include luxurious five-star hotels, resorts and cruises all over the world. If you like a trip, but have not yet decided whether to purchase it, you can pay just 10 percent of the total amount and keep it on hold for 72 hours until you make up your mind. At the end of the 72 hours, you can either purchase the luxury trip or have your money refunded in the form of Jetsetter credits.

For those luxury travellers who still do not have an inkling of what I am talking about, let me start with the basics. Private sales sites are recent entrants into the luxury travel industry. They are associated with resorts, cruises, luxury hotels and travel companies all over the world, owing to which they have access to unsold rooms or trips, which they sell online at a heavy discount. Sometimes the discount is as large as 70 percent. Jetsetter.com is not the only major private sales site around; and if something about Jetsetter does not appeal to you, you can always try Voyage Prive or Sniqueaway.

You can join a private sales site absolutely free of charge, after which you can either request email updates or login regularly to get the best hotel rooms, cruises, trips, safaris and even golf vacations at top destinations around the globe.

Luxury Independent Travel

In a previous post I talked a bit luxury concierge services for time-challenged travellers and those who prefer to leave the arrangements to someone else. But I also think its possible to have a more independent holiday whilst still enjoying a luxury experience. Renting a luxury holiday apartment or villa is of course one way and the other is purchasing a travel guide suitable to your tastes.

No longer the domain of budget-minded backpackers, there are travel guides these days for nearly every type of traveller, including those wanting a more sophisticated and exclusive holiday.

The first to recognise that not everyone wanted to travel a lonely planet was the luxury baggage makers Louis Vuitton. As to be expected, their City Guides are beautifully designed with a certain 19th century ‘grand tour’ feel to them. They now cover 31 (mainly European) cities and come in boxed sets or nine. But don’t bother looking for them on Amazon. In a canny marketing move these guides are only available at Louis Vuitton shops.

If the Louis Vuitton Guides are aimed at the more distinguished traveller, then the Wallpaper* City Guides appeal to those who appreciate art and design. Small (they are the same dimensions as the classic Moleskin notebook) and compact, each venue featured is accompanied by stunning photograph. Focussing on super select best spas, hotels, shops and bars (and low on practical and background information) you would be fairly lost if this was the only guidebook you popped into your hand luggage for a long trip, though for weekend city breaks they are great.

At Your Service

Even when choosing self-catering accommodation over a hotel, it is possible to have a concierge, as entrepreneurs offering to take the guesswork out of your holiday arrangements are popping up all over the world.

Like a hotel concierge, these individuals or agencies can recommend and reserve restaurant tables, organise for a personal shopper, make onward travel arrangements and even find caterers and baby-sitters.

In Barcelona the website of Alberta La Grup offers (in rather clunky English) ‘a personal assistant to manage exceptional lifestyles’. Services include party planning for those that are coming to the city to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, devising bespoke sightseeing agendas, private gallery viewings, specialist tours and so on. A quick google search will reveal similar such companies in other major cities.

Whilst Alberta la Grup and others offer their services for hire, some other private concierge companies require a membership. Quintessentially charges £ 1,000 per year for ’24-hour access to the world’s finest lifestyle management service’ (or £ 2,500 for a ‘Dedicated’ membership). Working more akin to an exclusive club, Quintessentially claims they can actually save you money by securing discounts and cut rates on the world’s most exclusive hotels and services.

With over 700 people on their staff globally, including in far-flung destinations in the Middle East and Africa, they certainly seem to have the resources to be able to provide you with complete concierge and lifestyle management services on your holidays.

My weekend in Raffles Hotel in Singapore

On my recent trip to Singapore I made a spur of the moment decision to stay at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore instead of the Four Seasons – and enjoyed every minute of my stay there! And, after spending a weekend at Raffles, I realised that this was one hotel that knew the meaning of luxury and indulgence.

Built in 1889, Raffles is the region’s most historic hotel and as a result makes for a very interesting stay. The staff there was so helpful and friendly and seemed to anticipate my every need, I was delighted to find that they were also very well informed about Singapore and could give me directions to any place I wanted to visit in addition to providing suggestions on activities and places I might like to visit.

On my second day here, when I had asked to be taken on a tour of the hotel, I was regaled with stories about the hotel’s past and famous guest list which included the likes of Michael Jackson, Ava Gardner, Hugh Jackman, Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Sofia of Spain and Singapore’s last tiger.

The suites at the Raffles were decadently furnished and it seemed as if every piece of antique furniture had earned its place there along with the Oriental rug and rich, elegant furnishings. I always make it a point of interest to rate the comfort factor of the bed and Raffles gets a ten on ten in this department.

The hotel also houses the Raffles museum and Long Bar renowned all over the world for its famous cocktail: the Singapore Sling, which I personally recommend.

Staying in this hotel that has hosted queens and being served by staff who make sure that every guest is treated like royalty, makes you feel pampered and very good about yourself. Needless to say, I will be going back to Raffles the nest time I am in Singapore! in Asia, you might also be interested in holidays in Korea.

Pamper your Pooch on Holidays

It’s a dog’s life these days. Especially when we choose to take out best friends on holiday with us. And even if we are forced to leave them at home, luxury alternatives to the old-fashioned kennel are popping up everywhere.

One of the first countries to go the extra mile with doggie care was Australia. At the Bark Hyatt in Sydney, dogs and cats are cared for in the lap of luxury at their spacious, green ‘day care centre’. In the just- opened Pan Pacific Hotel in Seattle (US), bottled water, ice-cream and other gourmet treats from a local ‘dog bakery’ are just some of the services that await four-legged guests that check in with you.

As the name suggests, Pet Airways is an airline exclusively for cats and canines or indeed any ‘non-aggressive’ domestic animal. Instead of going in cages in the cargo hold as they would on regular flights, animals become ‘pawsengers’ and fly in the main cabin, albeit inside a carrier.

Owners need to bring along their pets vaccination certificates and other documentation, as well as food for the journey, which will be fed to them by the on-board ‘pet attendants.’ Pet Airways currently operates in the USA only—and regularly participates in post-disaster animal rescue work.

Niche dog beauty products were waiting to happen. Sexy Beast (www.sexybeaststyle.com) makes designer-packaged doggie fragrance (it’s bergamont and vanilla infused), shampoos, conditioners and other coat-care products. For a real treat take them to a pet day spa. Growing in popularity all over the world, places such as The Ritz Canine in the UK offer massage, coat treatments, pedicures and even acupuncture.

The Best Restaurants in the World

The Pellegrino ’50 Best Restaurants in the World’ list has always been somewhat overshadowed by the Michelin star system. That is until this year. Why? Because after four years in the number one position Ferran Adriá’s El Bulli has dropped to second place and to add insult to injury he was de-crowned by a Dane.

The Pellegrino Awards are voted for by an 800–strong panel of international, industry professionals, making them vastly different from the secretive Michelin system of single anonymous judges. They can only allocate three votes to restaurants in the their own locations and two must be allocated to ones outside, and they must have eaten in them in the last 18 months. One could also argue that the Pellegrino Awards are more focussed on the food, as the Michelin reviewers must also take into account the quality of the table settings, crockery and cutlery and service when dishing out their ‘stars’.

This year, four Spanish restaurants made the top ten list, but the biggest surprise of all was that the

number one position went to Noma in Copenhagen. Located in an old warehouse on the city’s waterfront, Noma is run by René Redzepi, who has quietly been toiling away at recreating Nordic classic dishes and re-introducing local ingredients, often foraged from the Danish countryside, to a new audience. Some of the produce that features on his menu includes elderberries, whey, and lovage

Some of the chefs that were left off this year’s list include Gordon ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Ramsay. In fact British haute cuisine, despite the hype that has surrounded it in the past years, fared badly with restaurants such as St. John slipping well-down in rank from previous years.

Premium Class Air Travel

Perhaps it was only to be expected; some airlines have started to introduce private cabins, upping the ante on ‘first class’ by providing full-size beds, bathrooms, room service and - perhaps the greatest luxury of all on the long-haul flight - privacy.

So far its only Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Etihad (another Middle East carrier) that has taken the plunge, but I am sure their initiative will set a trend. The truth is that over the years first class and business class facilities have been getting more and more elaborate. One of the first to recognize the fact that continent-hopping executives were prepared to pay for a little pampering was Virgin Atlantic. Their ‘Upper Class’ offers one of the largest flat beds around and an onboard bar for socializing with fellow passengers. Gourmet in-flight meals are another way airlines are competing with each other.

Qantas Airlines offers an eight course tasting menu designed by Rockpool, one of Sydney’s top restaurants whilst Cathay Pacific has a rice cooker, toaster and skillet in the galley, ready to whip up any food whims on request. Airlines also use amenities to vie for the luxury dollar. Here, Qantas come up trumps again with products from the French company Payot and toiletry bags and complimentary pajamas created by two top Australian designers; Colette Dinnigan for women and Akira Isogawa for men.

Of course, the question remains is whether these ‘little extras’ are worth the (often) 150 percent more that First Class airfares cost over economy ones. But with long-haul travel on the rise again (up 13 percent from 2009 figures) it seems that some people will always be prepared to pay for a comfortable night’s sleep.

The most famous squares in Europe

In the last post I talked a bit about Europe’s most emblematic streets, and this time I thought I’d take the topic a bit further and talk about its most gorgeous squares. My criteria are fairly simple; they need to be architecturally stunning and have a handful of outdoors cafes from which you can enjoy their beauty.

Probably the grand dame of all European squares is Venice’s San Marco, a simply divine stage surrounded by richly detailed baroque and renaissance architecture, including the basilica of the same name. Has there anyone that has not been captivated by it? I actually prefer it at night, when tourists have retired to their hotels and the resident pigeons have flown home. To admire its beauty you can’t beat an outdoor table at the Florian, a café seeped in the city’s history.

Also in Italy, Rome’s Piazza Navona has Bernini’s gorgeous fountain, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi as a centrepiece surrounded by sumptuous palazzi. As the foal point of the centro storico, it’s also busy most of the time. My favourite thing to do here is buy a gelato and sit of the edge the fountain to watch the passing parade.

In Barcelona, the Plaça Reial, just off Las Ramblas has a faded glory that is particularly lovely during the day, whilst Madrid’s Plaza del Sol, scene of medieval bullfights, never fails to impress with its perfect symmetry.

In Paris, the Place de la Concorde, is the largest in the French capital and of course has the famous Obelisk. But my personal favourite is the Place de l’Opera, with the beautiful opera house and the Café de Paris, one of the nicest terrace-cafes in the city.

The Most Famous Streets in Europe

When you stop to think about, every major European city has its Champs Elysees: a grand avenue, generally boasting beautiful historic architecture that has somehow played a major part in the city’s biography. I thought it would be fun to take a virtual stroll down a few of these.

In Barcelona it’s the Passeig de Gràcia (and not, as is commonly thought, the more downbeat Las Ramblas), the Passeig de Gràcia is an elegant avenue that acts as main artery in the Eixample district, or the 19th century ‘New Town’. Florid, grey blue tiles line the pavements. They are reproductions of a design by the great modernista architect Antoni Gaudí and two of his most famous works, the Casa Milá and Casa Batlló are also on the Passeig de Grácia. In between are some more glorious buildings and big name boutiques such as Chanel and Loewe, the luxury Spanish leather goods manufacturers.

In Rome the dog legged-shaped Via Veneto is legendary, largely thanks to Frederico Fellini’s classic 1960 film ‘La Dolce Vita’, which was largely shot on the Via Veneto. The street is home to the (in) famous Café de Paris, the American Embassy and some of the city’s most exclusive hotels.

In Amsterdam the PC Hooftstraat is THE shopping street, with stores and boutiques from Gucci, Cartier, Bulgari et al. The street is named after Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet and naturally, it contains the most expensive real estate in the city. Locals often jokingly refer to SUVs as PC-Hoofttractors, as these large vehicles proliferate in the immediate area.

Short term domestic staff service

In my last post I talked about my preference for staying in holiday apartments (or vacation rentals) when staying for longer than three days on my trips around Europe. I can hear some you saying, but what about the lack of service? Whilst I travel alone and am fairly capable of doing a bit of washing for myself and throwing a meal together, I can understand how families travelling together maybe put off this, especially when on holidays and have other things on their agenda.

I was talking this over with a friend of mine they other day, who was planning a trip with her three children. Whilst she loved the idea of the space and autonomy a holiday apartments affords, she was worried she would spend most of her time on looking after her children as her husband was not able to join them on the trip.

So I suggested she contact a short-term domestic staff service. There is generally one in each city, and they have staff on their books like cooks, maids, butler and even nannies who could give you a hand during your stay. Some ones I have heard about are www.butlerforyou.com and www.4familycare.com.