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Welcome to the September 2007 issue of WOWConfidential, Kiwi Collection's exclusive insider's newsletter by Mary Gostelow, editor-in-chief of WOW.travel, our online luxury magazine for discerning global travellers.
Please enjoy this month's WOW.travel. Our Insider is Marié-Béatrice Lallemand, CEO of Barry Sternlicht's top hotels, and our monthly concierge is Apostolos Papayiannakis, Hotel Grand Bretagne, Athens, Greece. Away-night is the unique Dunton Hot Springs in the Colorado Rockies and we have Seven Sensational four-post beds. As always, there are hosts of exciting entries in both VIP and future events and happenings. Around The World includes the Virtuoso travel market in Las Vegas, Le Manoir Hovey outside North Hatley, Quebec, spa-ing in Seattle, and a culinary masterpiece near Melbourne, Australia.
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Dunton Hot Springs has been transformed from remnants of a ghost town
One major highlight this past month was visiting - with Philippe Kjellgren, President of Kiwi Collection Inc. - the world's best ghost town luxury resort, Dunton Hot Springs. The photo shows your intrepid editor with the resort's owner, Christoph Henkel. Read more on what is surely a unique Away Night.Dunton Hot Springs, Telluride, United States
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Scattering inspiration one dandelion seed at a time
DeWitt Jones showed this photo of a dandelion seed pod as one of the brilliant illustrations at his keynote speech to the supreme Virtuoso consortium of travel consultants in Las Vegas last month (WOW.travel was there, read more here). Jones illustrated that experiences are not only immediate but subsequent, www.dewittjones.com.
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Capture the MOment at Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C.
Talking of photos, stay at Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. this autumn/fall and, on its Capture a Moment package, a professional photographer will accompany you and give hints on how best to take lasting memories of such nearby national monuments as the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. Jan Gössing is General Manager of the 400-room hotel, which as at the far south-west of Maryland Avenue SW on the shore of Washington Channel. We loved the view of the waterfront and marina from room 843, running round the shore, swimming laps in the 50-foot pool (open from 5.30am) and the 10,000 sq ft spa. (Worth noting, too, is that this hotel's Singapore sibling will finally change its name to Mandarin Oriental Singapore on September 25th, an auspicious day in the Chinese calendar.) www.mandarinoriental.comMandarin Oriental Washington DC, Washington, United States
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Charleston Grill at Charleston Place: French-Influenced Lowcountry Cuisine
Bob Waggoner is Executive Chef at Orient-Express' Charleston Place, the luxury hotel in South Carolina. This month Waggoner's book Charleston Grill at Charleston Place: French-Influenced Lowcountry Cuisine, will be published by Gibbs Smith - it reveals how Waggoner fuses traditional Low Country cooking with his own French-inspired techniques (Waggoner has a fan in the 440-room hotel's General Manager, Paul Stracey, who was cooking for his family in his native England before going to London's Westminster College). www.charlestonplace.com
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I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
Talking of food, the Fairmont Chicago has a nifty idea - order ahead and they will make an ice cream of your own choosing. Strangest flavor to date, apparently, has been a guacamole ice cream with pico de gallo (rooster's beak, in Spanish), which I now learn is, in culinary terms, a fresh salsa of chopped tomato, onion and chiles, plus lime juice, cilantro (coriander), avocado and radish. The 692-room hotel is owned by Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc, which is headed by its founder, Laurence Geller, who started his adult life as a trainee in the kitchens of The Connaught Hotel, London - and he is busy putting Eno serious-wine bars into many of his other hotels. www.fairmont.com
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The uniquely-shaped Sheraton Dameisha Resort opens
Is any other hotel shaped like a dragon holding a pearl? The 368-room Sheraton Dameisha Resort, on the southern China coast, opened August 19th. Owned by Shenzhen Kingkey Real-Estate Development Co Ltd, the sensational architecture is by Terry Farrell & Partners Co Ltd. Hirsch Bedner has done the interiors, and the 4,000 sq ft Presidential Suite will be especially popular: it is at the dragon's head, and a wrap-round balcony gives a 270-degree view of Hawaii-like Dameisha Beach and the ocean. General Manager is Philip Kang, www.sheraton.com.
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Discover the magic of Milford Sound with Exclusively New Zealand
One of New Zealand's most justly famous sites is Milford Sound, on the southwest of the country's South Island. More accurately a fjord, it runs 12 miles inland from the Tasman Sea and it is surrounded by sheer rock faces, rising over 3,500 feet; its waters are home to dolphins, penguins and white seals. Rob Young, Chairman of Exclusively New Zealand, suggests staying in Queenstown (say at our May Away Night, Eichardt's Private Hotel), and taking a day trip above the Sound. He can arrange everything. You will take a helicopter over the Fiordland National Park and Te Wahi Pounamu – the South West World Heritage Area, and have a four-hour guided kayak tour of the Sound, www.exclusivelynz.com.Eichardt's Private Hotel, Queenstown, New Zealand
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Rekindle your romance at Montage Resort & Spa Laguna Beach
How about an Art of Romance class, either with one significant other or with a group? This month Montage Resort & Spa Laguna Beach starts its first hour-long classes, to 'discover the three parts to the magic of love, identify your own relationship index and learn how to make every personal or business relationship extraordinary'. Teacher is David-Dorian Ross, who apparently is a martial arts guru in his spare time, www.montagelagunabeach.com. By the way, this fabulous luxury cliff top resort is expecting a family member next year: the 228-room Montage Beverly Hills will open under General Manager Ali Kasikci, who is moving ten blocks east from the Peninsula Beverly Hills, www.montageresorts.com.Montage Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach, United States
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Apple laptop doctors are all booked up
Apple-Mac addicts know that since the birth of the iPod getting an appointment to see your laptop doctor is as difficult as getting the cell number of Brad Pitt (who was next to me in the Los Angeles Apple Store, in The Grove, when I first went there). Anyway, the other week the concierge at Campton Place, a Taj Hotel, San Francisco miraculously got me - or the Mac PowerBook G4 - seen to, without an appointment at the Apple Store a couple of blocks away. It brought back memories of similar incidents at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore and Fairmont Vancouver. We busy travelers - who wear the letters off the keys, if nothing else - not only need more Apple Stores (the latest opened in Glasgow, Scotland, August 25th) but also hotel concierges who can pull strings! www.apple.comShangri-La Hotel, Singapore, The Valley Wing, Singapore, Singapore
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Thinking of you, thinking of me: Kiki de Montparnasse products
I am really pleased to come across Kiki de Montparnasse products (thank you Stephen Brandman, COO of Thompson Hotels, who has put KdM into some of his 'minibars', www.thompsonhotels.com). Glorious intimate items are named for Kiki (real name Alice Prin, 1901-1953), the singer who was muse for photographer Man Ray. Kiki de Montparnasse design, inspired by Lenny Kravitz, is the brainchild of Australian marketer Andrew Pollard and Canadian designer Jennifer Zuccarini, www.kikidm.com.
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Wickaninnish Inn is more than just an outstanding resort, it’s full of culture too
Stay at Wickaninnish Inn, near Tofino, on Vancouver Island, and you can learn so much about local people. Gisele Martin (photo), a native of Clayoquot Sound, is a member of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, who have inhabited the West Coast of Vancouver Island for thousands of years. Five years ago Gisele and her husband started Tlaook Cultural Adventures, which can take you paddling Clayoquot Sound in a hand-crafted dugout canoe, hiking Meares Island or sampling a traditional salmon barbecue, www.nuuchahnulth.org. Obviously you will stay at the magnificent Wickaninnish Inn, the luxury resort where sea swells only add to guests' panoramic views, www.wickinn.com.The Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Canada
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A must when visiting Delhi – My Humble House restaurant
In India - if you are passing through Delhi - try the newly-opened My Humble House. At the ITC Maurya, www.luxurycollection.com, this new restaurant is a clone of already found in Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo. My Humble House is the idea of the Singapore-based Tung Lok group, and its corporate chef, Sam Leong, heads Singapore Airlines' culinary panel. Leong will soon be cooking, at the Singapore restaurant, for Sydney-based Julian Hayward who has just paid $100,380, at a charity auction, to be at the airline's take-over of its first Airbus A-380, in Toulouse, followed by a meal at My Humble House Singapore, before flying with a friend, in First Class private suites on the world inaugural A-380 scheduled flight, from Singapore to Sydney. www.tunglok.com
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Special delivery for Capella Castlemartyr
Kiwi Collection's Regional Vice President EMEA, Rachel Denning (left) was on hand when Capella Castlemartyr's General Manager Peter Bowling took delivery of the new 103-room resort's piano. Capella Castlemartyr, which opened August 6th, is in 220 acres of idyllic Irish countryside, 30 minutes' drive from Cork and five minutes from the ocean. Once the home of the Earls of Cork, and Sir Walter Raleigh, today there are 103 rooms and suites, designed by Peter Silling, who has done the Ritz-Carltons in Berlin and Moscow, and there is a 12-room Auriga spa, with treatments dedicated to the phase of the moon - which with Organic Pharmacy products, as favored, apparently, by Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. The 18-hole golf course is by Ron Kirby, who made his name at Dromoland Castle and Sun City. www.capellacastlemartyr.com
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North Island is a sustainable, eco-friendly resort - responsible for the wellbeing of 8% of White-Eyes population
After nearly ten years of intensive rehabilitation of North Island, Seychelles, 25 near-extinct Seychelles White-Eyes were checked in at the resort (the rare birds came from Conception Island adjacent to Mahé and were moved by helicopter in five separate translocations by Helicopter Seychelles and Zil Air - on arrival they were held overnight for observation and analysis). The resort is now responsible for the wellbeing of around 8% of the world’s Seychelles White-Eyes population. www.north-island.comNorth Island, North Island, Seychelles
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Otahuna became nationally famous for its fields of daffodils – the largest in New Zealand during the 20th century
All this month, the daffodils at Otahuna ('the little hill amongst the hills', in Maori), Christchurch, should be spectacular. The seven-room lodge was built in 1895 for Sir Heaton Rhodes, and he lived here until he died, in 1956, at the age of 95. His gardens were cultivated by A E Lowe who trained at London's Kew Gardens - he put in a unique blend of New Zealand natives and English colonial planting, with many rare and exotic oaks, many of which are now protected by law. Sir Heaton was president of the Canterbury Horticultural Society for 53 years. www.otahuna.co.nzOtahuna Lodge, Christchurch, New Zealand
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The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas opening - a culinary arts experience benefiting Chefs for Humanity
The long-awaited new Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, hosts a culinary weekend to benefit Chefs for Humanity, September 14-16. Key players will be Dean Fearing, the guitar-playing, Lucchese-booted chef-patron of Fearing's restaurant, and his on-site chef, Cat Cora, plus Barbara Fairchild, Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appétit magazine. The 216-room hotel, designed by Frank Nicholson, has a large spa and indoor pool: General Manager is Roberto van Geenen, www.ritzcarlton.com.
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Spa bliss at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, California
The next monthly Spa Soirée at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village California is September 19th, www.fourseasons.com. At the August Soirée, dozens of white Pilates balls floated in the outdoor pool, around which sunflower-yellow cabanas were turned into mini treatment rooms, for massages, consultants and even in-your-face Botox (extra - all other treatments are included in the Soirée entrance ticket, as is outstanding food and a full bar). I also met the king of California's orchids, who provides the thousands of glorious blooms around the luxury hotel, which is adjacent to the headquarters of Dole Food Company, also owned by entrepreneur David Murdock. The hotel has a sensational spa and the integral California Well Being Institute, www.experiencecwi.com.
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The Monaco Yacht Show brings together professionals from the international luxury yachting sector
Monaco's annual yacht show, September 19th - 22nd 2007, is exclusively for super yachts that are at least 82 feet long. As well as over 500 exhibitors there will be some 95 floating exhibits ranging up to 262 feet. Official sponsors for this unique gathering of luxury yachts are Blancpain, Compagnie Monégasque de Banque CMB, Mercedes-Benz, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Jamie Edmiston (shown in photo with Robyn Forma of International Yacht Vacations & Charters Magazine) parks his helicopter on the rooftop of the Port Palace Hotel during the show, www.monacoyachtshow.org.Hotel Port Palace, Monte Carlo, Monaco
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Htein Lin: Burma Inside Out
An extraordinary art collection is showing at London's Asia House until October 13th. It features over 230 works secretly painted by Burmese artist Htein Lin during the nearly seven years he was in a military prison. Htein Lein was born in Mezaligon in the Ayerawady delta in 1966: following his release he married the British Ambassador to Burma, who after graduating from Cambridge studied Burmese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (she also speaks French, German, Portuguese and Spanish). www.asiahouse.org
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Coming next month
Coming next month, we have Insider Mark Hoplamazian, President/CEO of Global Hyatt, our concierge is from The Stafford Hotel, London, and Away-Night is Lapa Palace, Lisbon. See also Seven Sensational luxury hotels and resorts for horseback riding. Note, if you have not yet signed up for our complimentary emailed newsletter, I invite you to do so now. Have a great month!
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