My travels took me to all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada where I had the pleasure of staying at the luxurious Wynn Las Vegas.

The experience begin at the exclusive private entrance for the Tower Suites — the hotel’s luxury resort accommodations.  I found the private registration area by way of a magestic atrium adorned with colorful mosaic walkways, lush greenery and koi fish ponds.

Entering the Salon Suite foyer, I had to resist the urge to relax — there was a private massage room waiting for me!

The suite itself, high up on the 33rd floor, boasted an incredible view of the Las Vegas strip. But, the view wasn’t the best part of the room. The chic living area was a great entertaining space because of the wet bar and dining area. Off the bedroom was a huge marble bathroom and dressing area. And, of course, all of the art in the room was from Steve Wynn’s personal collection.

One of the best things about Wynn Las Vegas is the shopping. There are literally dozens of designer shops there. You can even visit one of the highest grossing Ferrari boutiques in the world.

In fact, you never actually have to leave the hotel because there’s an endless amount of entertainment, from golf at the only course on the Strip, to the Casino, to seeing Le Rêvein the hotel’s intimate aqua theatre.

But the real question, of course, is the nightlife. How was it? Incredible!  There’s a lot of ways to spend your evening in style. You can enjoy a cocktail at one of the lounges, or be seen at the 12,000 square foot Tryst nightclub…but, after a night out and a full day of shopping, I chose to escape to the Spa for the Good Luck Ritual Massage, one of the Wynn Las Vegas’ signature treatments.

After that, it was off to dinner. The elegant dining room at the Bartolotta leads down a marble staircase with a view of the lagoon outside. The seafood is flown in daily from the Mediterranean and it is brought to your table for you to view while the waiter explains the expansive menu.

They’re all about customizing your meal to your tastes and desires. It’s quite a production. I ended up having the Sicilian langoustines, seared sea scallops and a delightful vegetable risotto.

If all of this isn’t enough, Wynn is opening a new signature resort on Dec. 22, 2008: Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.  I had a great experience at the Wynn, and can’t wait for my next Vegas excursion.

Luxury Surfing Hotels

1/ Nihiwatu, Sumba Island, Indonesia
This small hideaway actually limits the number of ‘surfing guests’ to avoid crowding their amazing left handed break.

2/ The Byron at Byron Resort & Spa, Byron Bay, Australia
Set within a magnificent rainforest and only a five minute walk to Tallow’s Beach, which provides consistent waves throughout the year.

3/ Naladhu, Maldives
Modern surfing arrived here in the 1970s and today it is quickly becoming a surf mecca.

4/ Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Baja Mexico A super-chic world class resort only 10 minutes from Costa Azul.

5/ Amanwella, Tangalle, Sri Lanka You will need to bring your own board and hire a local, which the GM can assist with, to find the best breaks. The resort feels out of place, as if it should be perched high amongst the hills in Los Angeles – very modern. (more…)

Kiwi Collection CEO Erik Haugen offers journey suggestions to travellers based upon his own personal experiences travelling around the globe. The journey below is meant to provide and idea of what is possible based on our experience and does not represent an endorsement of the particular properties chosen. All the properties in the Kiwi Collection have been chosen based on their ability to provide an outstanding guest experience and are recommended by Kiwi Collection.

Fly to Rome, hire car

Stay for 2 nights at the Posta Vecchia just outside of Rome

Stay for 2 nights in Rome at the Portrait Suites, situated by the beautiful Spanish Steps and close to great shopping and the historic splendour of the coliseum and Roman Forum

Stay for 2 nights at the Hotel Brufani Palace, in the historic Tuscan town of Perugia:

Stay for 2 nights in romantic Florence, staying at the Hotel Savoy, close to the Uffizi Gallery and Ponte Vecchio:

Stay for 2 nights in Grossetto a town in Tuscany and only 12 miles from the sea at the Terme di Saturnia Resort and Spa

Stay for 2 nights at the Hotel Splendido in Portofino, stunningly perched on a cliff overlooking the sea:

Stay for 2 nights in Milan at the Hotel Principe di Savoia, a landmark building overlooking the central Piazza and next to the famous shops of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele:

Fly out of Milan

Kiwi Collection CEO Erik Haugen offers journey suggestions to travellers based upon his own personal experiences travelling around the globe. The journey below is meant to provide and idea of what is possible based on our experience and does not represent an endorsement of the particular properties chosen. All the properties in the Kiwi Collection have been chosen based on their ability to provide an outstanding guest experience and are recommended by Kiwi Collection.

Fly to Buenos Aires

Stay for 4 nights at the Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt for shopping, salsa and steaks

Fly to El Calafante Airport

Stay for 3 nights at Esplendor El Calafate in the beautiful Patagonian countryside, close to the Perito Moreno glacier

Fly to Cordoba Airport

Stay for 3 nights in the Polo playing country of Cordoba at Estancia el Colibri, exploring the area by horseback or indulging in a few spa treatments

Fly to Buenos Aires and transfer to Carmelo by light plane or boat/car

Stay for 4 nights at the Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, near the beautiful UNESCO world heritage town of Colonia in the winery region of Uruguay

Transfer back to Buenos Aires by light plane

Kiwi Collection CEO Erik Haugen offers journey suggestions to travellers based upon his own personal experiences travelling around the globe. The journey below is meant to provide and idea of what is possible based on our experience and does not represent an endorsement of the particular properties chosen. All the properties in the Kiwi Collection have been chosen based on their ability to provide an outstanding guest experience and are recommended by Kiwi Collection.

Fly into Madrid. Transfer to Bilbao, or if you have time, why not take the train?

Stay 2 nights in Bilbao at the stylish and unique Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, taking time to visit the Guggenheim Museum next door

Stay 2 nights in the picturesque and gastronomically famous city of San Sebastian, staying the Hotel Maria Cristina, a classically styled hotel

Stay 3 nights amongst Elciego vineyards in the modern, architecturally stunning Hotel Marques de Riscal, taking advantage of the wine tasting

Stay 3 nights in the centre of Madrid in the art-filled Hotel Urban, relaxing after a day of wandering round the nearby galleries with a swim in their rooftop pool

Fly out of Madrid.

After a construction phase lasting four years, Zurich celebrates the return of one of its most prominent landmarks

It is not only the indoor pool of The Dolder Grand, high above Zurich, Switzerland, that is Guinness World Records’ awesome.

The entire resort fits that bill, as we were to find out. The cab took the winding zigzag road up Dolder hill from the lake & after 15 minutes we were in mountaintop woodland. Round yet another bend, and there we were. We turned left into an entrance flanked by neat limestone (Dietfurter Gala) walls & came into a turning circle with two ten-feet diameter decorative pools, so shallow you would barely get your littlest toe moist, with inset fountains. These were in front of a 1899-vintage structure that had started life as a four-floor wooden chalet, built as a health spa (”kurhaus”), and over the decades grew – and grew – and GREW.

The splendid Leading Hotels of the World treasure reopened April 2008 after a four-year sleep. During this time architects Foster + Partners added two extended curlicue wings. There are still, despite what is said to be a $420 million expansion spent, 173 rooms and suites, but they are now all larger in size, ranging from 460 to 4,000 sq ft.

Back to our arrival. Apart from ‘Dolder Grand’ down at the roadway there was no sign of branding: I was later to suggest that consultants InterBrand Zintzmeyer & Lux had done such a good job with discretion that the few signs of where you are are limited to barely-visible capital Ds on jampots and soap wrapping. A welcoming party of good-looking young men in brown jackets and pale chinos stood on a ‘Swedish red’ carpet on four front steps under a Swedish-red overhanging porte cochère (the color was the original highlight when the chalet was first built). One of today’s eager team members, Thierry, the top greeter, led us through a marbled hall with two ceiling-high Corinthian columns and, behind them on either side a grand double flight of 27 stairs, with Swedish-red and cream carpets, that take you up past original 1899 stained glass windows to the upper level, with more stairs going on up, up and up. A single giant Swarovski crystal chandelier illuminates the lobby.

Back on the entrance level, doors swish open to lead us forward into the ‘new’ area, where brass lettering set into the floor reminds us that owner Urs Schwarzenbach (sadly away in Mongolia today) opened his glorious new creation on March 18th, 2008. We go along a winding S-shaped, glass-sided corridor that has, at intervals, floor-standing vitrines tastefully advertising, for instance, Sotheby’s, or, more ostentatiously, displaying Dior jewelry. We are heading for one of the two new wings, the Spa Wing, which faces south and west. The glass-sided bank of three adjacent elevators is as modern as Heathrow’s terminal five, or the latest watch styles – namely, all the works are deliberately exposed. One of the elevators glides to meet us. Inside, you activate it by the pressure of a room keycard. Up on the top (fourth) floor we walk along another curved corridor and stop outside the Carezza Suite, and again the card opens the door.

Carezza, apparently, was a 1932 work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966, a frequent guest at The Dolder. First, we come to our 2,400 sq ft suite’s circular lobby, with a nine-foot diameter floor that looks like a marble mosaic: it is in fact petrified wood. Unadorned woodwork around, and throughout the suite, is sensationally soft and smooth oiled and brushed oak. The boards extended, it seemed, almost to infinity, or at least into the parlor beyond, a room about 20 x 20 feet with only two sculptured sand-colored rugs relieving those floor boards. The best way to describe the effect of the room is organic. Its far wall, curving outwards, is all glass, looking out on the private balcony, four feet wide, that wends its way round the suite: it is retained by a fret aluminum balustrade that protects all balconies, every level, of the two new wings. Beyond are stunning views down the hill, and across Zurich and its lake. The two sidewalls of the room look convex, thanks to sculpted lines on their white concrete, but it is an illusion, and they are flat. Concealed lighting comes from these walls, from a ledge about ten feet high. A white origami-looking lampshade hangs low from the white ceiling, exactly above a round white table, which has four smooth-smooth armed chairs, wood with black leather seating. The wall by the parlor’s entrance, by the way, is mostly wood, with inset work area one side of the door, and the minibar the other. As well as two circular sandalwood leather sofas, facing out, there are two leather-seated spindly walnut armchairs, designed by Dominique Imbert, in front of a ceiling-suspended chimneyed Scandinavian fire, which apparently works. A giant Bang & Olufsen standing flat screen will turn in whatever direction you want.

The television, and curtains and heating and lighting, are controlled by a robot like control panel that fits into the palm of a hand, round ball beneath, screen above. Will I ever make it work? I do manage the Internet, which is both wired and wireless. I have an access password, and a direct telephone line. Above the desk are copies of every gorgeous book that has ever been published on Giacometti (the largest by Yves Bonnefoy, published by Flammarion). Magazines include the UK edition of Condé Nast Traveller, La Bellavista for German speakers, and a local shopping guide, Magazine Zürcher Bahnhofstrasse.

Two bedrooms lead off the circular foyer. One comes with a small six-person television room and a separate box room with letdown bed that would do for security, or my maid (bother, I left her behind). The master bedroom is a triumph. You walk into an area – still all wood floors, remember – that has a freestanding tub and frosted white glass walls. Behind are a massive steam shower, and a separate sauna. Parallel is another white-glass area, hiding the toilet and a baggage storage facility: facing this are two inset rectangular basins, eight feet apart in an all-white shelf so you do not bump into your other half – above are ceiling high mirrors with inset leaf motifs that are back-lit lights. This, like all the interior design, is the work of United Designers. Fresh orchids stand on the shelving.

Later I find another bathroom, with shower, and a kitchen, and a sauna and at least six closets. All the bath furniture is Villeroy & Boch, with gold fittings. Everything you see is designer-named (even the garbage pail is Brabantia). Main toiletries are Kerstin Florian but I also have Farfalle pure relaxation and pure vitality oils. The minibar’s champagne is Veuve Clicquot, and all the glassware, of course, is Riedel. As well as a Californian-sized bed with real linens, by the way, there is a sand-colored circular leather day bed, and a standing lamp that appears to be covered with a fluted linen wrap, which in fact of course is a designer lampshade.

Madonna is supposed to be at this city-resort somewhere, but the place is so huge it would be hard to find her. I think, anyway, that she only has a day room as she is singing to 70,000 of her close friends in Militarflugplatz Dubendorf and flying back to London, to her own tiny home, afterwards. Other fans have elected to stay here, at this luxury resort only a few minutes from Zurich city-center: these cognoscenti have, like us, decided to make use of the fabulous spa facilities.

Designed by Klafs Saunabau, the indoor pool, lined with glass mosaic tiles, is like a 75-foot whoosh, a wedge that curves, so to speak. On the terrace outside are hot tubs, and lots of lounge seating (designed by Paola Lenti) that is fully used now, in the early evening sun. Both the men and women’s changing areas have full single-sex, nudity-allowed indoor wet areas, with ranges of small pools, saunas, steam and herbed showers.

This is a place for wellness. Bedrooms have fresh air vents that you can open, and all interior air conditioning allows 20 percent fresh air: Thanks to 70 tubes sunk a staggering 450 feet into the surrounding landscape, 75 percent of all required energy is geothermal heat extraction. No wonder the Botox took so many years.

Who on earth put this remarkable resort together? Well fortunately the owner, some six years ago, came across a passionate young man from Bern, Thomas Schmid. For all the intervening time he has reconstructed and expanded, rebuilt and chosen everything, from concept to actual items through to his 400 staff members (and that does not include, by the way, those working in the nearby Dolder sports center, or on the golf course). Schmid does not look quite so teenage as when I first met him but it is amazing after everything he has been through he has not lost his sense of humor or his hair, and neither has the latter gone gray.

Because it is still summer, dinner will be outside, but first we inspect the indoor Restaurant, which a century ago was the chalet’s card room. The tall ceiling has had its original paintings, all playing-card inspired, restored. Walls are now a collage of real silver leaf, and the dominant feature is an interior-lit glass wine cellar. Out on the terrace the architecture is simple, gray walls and floor, to contrast with the brilliance of the multi-hued trees around. Down in the distance a water ballet rises from the lake, and the mountains, sorry, the Alps, are a pale backdrop. There are cream umbrellas shading tables set with real natural-linen linens, exquisitely hemmed. The porcelain is Dibbern, the cutlery Robbe + Berking. We each have a different-pattern of cut glass tumbler.

The first amuse includes little light-as-air rice parcels of flying fish caviar, and there is also olive oil foam. Quite soon the first breads arrive, with an addictive, cannot get enough, cucumber bread. Butters include lemon, mascarpone, ricotta and Serrano ham flavors, another amuse is a tiny fennel salad in a puddle of coffee oil. The chef, Heiko Nieder from Hamburg, comes out, as lean and vital as one could wish. Another lot of breads arrive, the six choices including a mustard seed roll and a couple of bite-sized flavored bagels. I have replaced our set menu’s crab and coconut starter by a simple salad, that arrives like a painting on a plate, and then we proceed to veal, which turns out to be a military precision parade of four shapes set side by side on a plate, veal this, veal that, veal sweetbread, something green, and a fifth shape, a polenta cube, is added.

By now it is completely dark. Concealed lighting and candles in red and clear glass shades enhance the stage set. How can we have room for the raspberry concoction that is our set dessert? There is an a la carte menu but such is the performance here it is honestly easier to go for one of the connoisseur set menus that chef, and the restaurant manager Didier Clauss, propose.

We find our suite, and sneak into a bed that has yet more acres of that hand-rolled natural linen. Somewhere in the world there must be fields of flax growing just for The Dolder, I think, and fall asleep.

I wake wishing I were here for longer, to take advantage of the nine-hole golf, the tennis courts, the hiking (and, in winter, a myriad of snow activities). However, there is no snow, and no time, so I suffice with a marvelous run on up the winding hill, up into the Dolder woods, and have a great shower. We breakfast out on the Garden Terrace. Places are set with peach-colored linens and white Rosenthal Jade china, and little pots of jams, specially made by Markus Kunz for The Dolder Grand. Juice is just-squeezed from oranges obviously kept at exactly the right temperature because it is as if the juice was still on the trees a few minutes before – and the coffee, brought by the cup in china that has pink flowers on it, is similarly just-made. I have a bowl of natural yogurt, a plate of blueberries and banana slices, and I watch my friend admiring his eggs Benedict, a confection of eggs and Hollandaise, two cooked tomatoes on the vine, and a little sprig of greenery: when he cuts into the eggs, the yolks, as yellow as sunflowers, are soft and yielding. Two white ceramic sculptures turn out to be mills for salt and pepper.

It is time for my sports massage. Down at reception of Sylvia’s Spa (my term, as a reminder that the legendary Sylvia Sepielli said hold off too much Asia, but do introduce a bit of Japanese influence) I am greeted by one of the charming staff, and escorted up 27 wood stairs to the waiting room, a cream cocoon of an inner room. Aila from Lucerne, a blonde beauty with neat hair bun and wearing oatmeal-coloured over-vest over matching pyjamas, comes to pick me up, and escorts me along one of the curving corridors past 18 other treatment rooms to the furthest, where I am to be treated. It is all white, apart from the wood floor: the far wall, with white net curtains over the all-wall glass, looks out over pasture. There is a floor-to-ceiling column holding an inset gas fire that is lit from six every evening – a very special atmosphere, says Aila. She offers me four choices of Kerstin Florian perfume, I choose Soothing, lie on the bed and promptly fall asleep.

One hour later she wakes me, tells me yes, my thighs were very tight, I need a whirlpool. On my way out I look at the fabulous spa suite, with two beds, a circular day-bed, double jacuzzi tub, shower, sauna and so on. I check out the spa store, with gym and swim equipment, plus full ranges of all the products used here, not only Kerstin Florian but also La Prairie and Kenzoki, by Kenzo. Back at the suite, the automatically-retracting gauze sunshades are down in front of all windows, for energy-saving.

The greeters back down in the lobby have now become dispatchers. They wish us well, urge us to come back (really, Thomas Schmid has assembled a most attractive and likeable crowd of team members, of all ages). The Lexus Hybrid is waiting, and we speed to the airport, through pastures where I like to think one of the cows is dedicated to producing the milk that was hand-churned for my Dolder breakfast butter. It is this kind of place.

Guy Crawford is CEO of Jumeirah, one of eight divisions of Dubai Holdings.

The emotional philosophy of running luxury hotels is challenging – how exactly do you capture consumers’ hearts and minds?

Relevance, thoughtfulness, consistency and a sense of fun come to mind. At Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, the rooftop Vu’s restaurant is tremendously popular. Its pristine white restaurant, and style is added by the fact that servers’ ties exactly match lilies’ green stems. Now for the sense of fun, that never fails to amuse. Your coffee comes with a little wooden box with a silver dancing man in front – pull him back, a drawer opens and he exactly picks up a toothpick, which invariably produces a laugh.

Jumeirah has 11,500 employees right now, it will need an additional 60,000 by 2012, and yes that figure is manageable if you break it down and control it. It is not just about numbers, it is getting the right emotional and cultural skills. Jumeirah is working on vocational training, particularly in China and the Philippines. The company is planning a small boutique hotel inland in Bali and early on my colleagues talked to local villagers to see how Jumeirah could help them acquire the skills, say basic English, that would enable them to apply for jobs (it is, admittedly, much easier for a small property to interact with the community). Part of the success in hiring and retaining is the direct interaction of the senior team. Someone at the top of the pyramid meets every new hire as soon as possible after induction, to talk about the company’s hallmarks and its DNA.

Jumeirah’s hallmarks are printed on a small card which should be carried at all times by everyone, to remind them to greet a customer by name, never say no, treat colleagues with respect. There are also such underpinnings as pick up your own phone rather than let your assistant do so, and anticipate what any interlocutor actually wants.

I do think that the Jumeirah guest wants individual recognition, consistency of delivery and tailor-made services. The hotel must revolve around them. Our company is run by passionate professionals driving business through its people and there is mutual respect.

Despite the rule to recruit where possible from within, Jumeirah has always had a reputation for hiring strong management who stay. I want my General Managers to be out-front managers, listening and interacting rather than sitting in offices. I want to make sure they are empowered. Happy staff lead to happy guests, leading to happier shareholders.

Jumeirah has a confident target of 60 properties – open or in the pipeline – by the year 2012. There are over 100 under discussion right now. Every hotel will be unique, following the company mantra ‘Jumeirah – stay different’. There will of course be touches of Jumeirah in each property.