Welcome to my blog. I’m a Traveller of the Continents and a Luxury Travel Advisor. I hope you enjoy my travel reviews!
Rocco Forte has long been on my bucket list of luxury hotels and I finally tried the British family brand in Brussels. The stylish presentation on their website is intriguing and the company’s mission seems very much in line with my own mantra: respect the historical heritage of the place.
Brussels itself is kind of underrated. Yes, it is the home to a bureaucratic behemoth: the parliament of the European Union. On the other hand, though, there is world-class contemporary art, historic and cultural sights, oh and Tin Tin!
The Park Hyatt in Istanbul is a peculiar case for the luxury brand. Yes, it has the understated tasteful interior design and, taking a glance on the map, it certainly is in an appropriate neighbourhood (Nişantaşı). But looking out your window you can’t help but asking: “this is supposed to be a fashionable district of Istanbul? really?”
But let’s not judge too fast and take a look inward. It is a Park Hyatt after all, so there has to be something about it!
Swiss author Johanna Spyri was inspired to write her world-famous children’s book in 1879 after going on spa visits in Bad Ragaz. Just like you and me, her famous heroine Heidi was enchanted by the mountains and didn't want to go back to the dirty city she came from.
Well, to me this town in the Swiss canton St. Gallen at the gate to the Alps was put on the map by the Leading Hotels of the World group. The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is one of the oldest hotels of its kind and wants to adhere to the highest standards of the business to this day. Let’s see if we want to stay with Heidi or rather go back to the big city...
Munich, tourist magnet in Southern Germany and capital of Bavaria, has always been one of the wealthiest cities of the country and thus has a lot to offer for the discerning traveller. It achieves the impossible by resembling a small charming village (which hides its actual size quite well), while still having international renommée in culture, art, science, history and cuisine.
The Bayerischer Hof is the classical choice in Munich. It’s not only frequented by local celebrities and members of high society, it’s also hosting the yearly Security Conference Munich with high profile state guests.
On TripAdvisor, this hotel doesn’t get the expected rating close to 5.0, when you compare it to the other luxury hotels in town (Mandarin Oriental, Rocco Forte, Vier Jahreszeiten,…). I wanted to find out, why that was.
How to get to Switzerland in style? One option is by flying Swiss in Business Class. I had the chance to try this mode of travel for a few of my trips and want to provide you with a general review of this product by combining my experiences into one article.
Swiss is said to be the premium airline of the Lufthansa Group and it shows! Especially if you opt for Business or First Class. Swissness in this case means understated elegance with an Alpine touch.
I am covering the Business Class cabin for the Boeing 777 - 300ER, which is the pride of the Swiss fleet. I should mention, though, that Swiss has finished refurbishing their A340s in January 2020. In fact, the whole long haul fleet of Swiss (A330, A340 and B777) now has the same cabin. Only the Boeing is a little wider allowing for a 2-2-2 configuration, rather than a 2-2-1 in Business Class.
Corona-Update: The Expo 2020 has been moved by one year. I updated the article accordingly,
Are you planning to visit the World Expo 2020 in Dubai? Starting around the Dubai main season on 1st October 2021 and running until 31st March 2022, now (actually not now, but soon!) would be a perfect time to start planning!
I have put together an overview of all the things you need to know on how to make your visit in style. Especially Dubai can give the luxe traveller a headache when planning a trip: the sheer amount of luxury hotels is overwhelming. Fear not, I am giving you the only overview that you need.
The World Fair(tm), as it was then called, has brought us the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Space Needle in Seattle, and for Dubai it will bring us … a lot of unfinished landmarks (Dubai Creek Tower, e.g.) and also the already existing high rises that have been built in the complete absence of a world fair that are worth a trip, nonetheless.
There is an impressive dome, Al Wasl Plaza, at the center of the expo, though, which represents the motto of this event: "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future". This plaza can hold more than 10,000 people, filled with fountains, waterfalls, parks and palm-lined courtyards. The dome itself is a 360-degree projection screen viewable from both the inside and outside.
If you want to have a White Christmas™ in continental Europe, you either need to go up north to the country of reindeers or climb the snowy mountains of the Swiss alps. Especially in the first ski resort ever, St. Moritz, you are quite sure to have snow over the holidays with its 1800 m altitude. For this occasion I tested the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski. It’s located near the mineral springs in the lower part of St. Moritz where the alpine spa history of the town originated in 1831.
Before I booked my stay at the Sharq Village and Spa (part of the vast Marriott group) in Doha, Qatar, I read some reviews mocking the resort as a kitschy “Arabian Disneyland”. As you know, I like it when hotels fit their style to the place and its history, so I actually liked the idea of living in this Arabian-style village. It’s important to me, though, that a place is not kitschy, but authentic. So I was eager to find out whether those accusations were true for the Sharq!
On a one-night stop-over with the wonderful Qatar Airways Business Class I had enough time to check it out and even try a massage in the spa.
The city of Constance is wonderfully nestled at the eponymous lake on the southern border of Germany where the Rhine continuous on towards his long way through Europe. In one of the best areas of the city directly at the lake you will find the SLH boutique hotel Riva (review will follow). This hotel boasts the Two-Michelin-starred restaurant Ophelia where chef Dirk Hoberg celebrates fine cuisine with a local touch. Enjoy the show!
I recently discovered an interesting Sub-Brand of Sofitel, a hotel chain belonging to the Accor conglomerate that I usually don’t pay attention to. With the Legends hotels they got me listening: promising to keep the history of their place, which is usually in a location where actual history took place. And that in utter luxury? My favourite combination!
And now what if this location is Amsterdam? This unique and amazing European city already offers so much culture (Rijksmuseum with Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh anyone?), historical Northern architecture (Dutch Renaissance, Grachten), and the most liberal society on the continent (you know exactly what I mean).
After I had discovered my latest favorite Champagne on a Bordeaux trip, I was thrilled when I learned that a vertical tasting with the Chef de Cave of Henri Giraud was coming to town!
This time the tasting went from MV13 down to MV07, which is roughly related to the year of bottling.
As part of a Bordeaux wine tour through the right bank around St. Emilion, I stayed in the Grand Barrail, a luxurious chateau and SLH boutique hotel amidst the vineyards. Compared to the fantastic Les Sources des Caudalie this place took the more elegant, old-world and aristocratic route when it came to designing the interiors and appreciating the heritage of one of the most famous wine areas in the world.
How bad is it really? How hot? How empty are the streets? How much money can I save for staying off-season?
Dubai in summer - have you been playing with this idea?
I am trying to give some guidance on that topic in this post while recommending a few nice hotels in the city of man-made wonders.
I finally had the chance to try the (still relatively) new Qsuite of Qatar Airways in their Airbus A350-900. This Business Class product promises to be close to other First Class offerings and I have been eager to compare it to my Emirates or Swiss Business experiences.
I was on a short layover in Doha (where I stayed close to the airport in the Sharq Village & Spa, review will follow) and had an early morning flight at 08:00 am to Zurich the next day. This meant I could try out the breakfast and catch up on sleep for about 6 hours of flight time. Let’s find out whether the upgrade price of about 600 USD for this leg was worth it!
Discover something wonderful in Bordeaux. Imagine a place where nothing looks artificial, but blends perfectly into the natural environment. Where the service is first class, but nothing is bling-bling. Where you can have your dinner be prepared by a two-Michelin-star chef, without being pretentious. And all this amidst the best wine region on the planet.
Sound like heaven? It might as well be - to me at least. Will you feel the same?
The Seychelles are a true paradise and naturally most of the worlds luxury hotel brands have settled there. An often underrated chain is the Kempinski group, founding member of GHA, originating in Berlin, Germany, in 1897. Far from the cold of the Northern hemisphere they also set up shop on the Seychelle’s main island Mahé in the Baie Lazare, a wonderful bay where they are the only hotel.
It’s a five star resort with a huge footprint, promising facilities and an acceptable price. Does it all add up? Let’s find out!
St. Moritz - a name of glamour and prestige regarding winter holidays since 1864, where Shahs, playboys and all the other jet set of the 60s and 70s reigned supreme and today mingle with the newly rich and wannabe riches. Located in the always sunny, but high-altitudinal, Engadin county of Switzerland it really delivered on the clearest air I have experienced at -4° F (-20° C) in mid-December. Similar to the heat of Dubai, it was a dry cold that felt slightly more bearable than elsewhere.
The Crystal hotel is part of the SLH network, and, uncommon for them, only has 4 stars. This doesn’t have to be bad - I stayed at wonderful 4 or 3 star hotels - but does the Crystal surprise with unsuspected wonder?
The holidays are here, and that means it’s time to pick out thoughtful gifts for the ones you love. It’s also time to stock the wine cellar with a few jewels to entertain and surprise visiting friends and family. With this in mind, I’ve selected a few wines I’ve tried recently that will just over deliver this Christmas season.
Kaiser, Chancellors and Kings or Queens stayed in this hotel, at the center of political Germany, near the Reichstag at Unter den Linden where history happened so many times: Emperor Wilhelm II. of Prussia before WWI made this hotel possible in the first place and was a preferred guest, a lazaret during the war, then in the roaring 20s where the high society partied and stumbled into the crisis that ended the Weimarer republic.
