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Welcome to the March 2008 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 the rest of this month's WOW.travel. Our Insider is Umberto Angeloni, former CEO of Brioni; Concierge Corner is Darren Klingbeil, The Fairmont Vancouver; style specialist is Stacy Small, of Elite Travel International, and Away-Night Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Texas. See also Seven Sensational hotels with wedding chapels. As always, there are hosts of exciting entries in both VIP and future events and happenings. Around The World includes Ferraris in India, Eight Seasons in the Maldives, what to do in Qingdao, South Africa's Wild Coast, Sula wine from India - and Virtuoso's international meeting in Athens.
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Hong Kong is poised to become a serious center for fine wine
Will we see India's Sula wines rushing into the Hong Kong market place now that the Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang has abolished all taxes on wine and beer? It is expected Hong Kong will now become a $514 million-a-year center for the fine wine industry. Sula Vineyards is headed by former Oracle finance manager Rajeev Samant (photo).
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Super Potato has designed a superb new restaurant in Mumbai
One of Mumbai's hottest new restaurants is Thai Pavilion, designed by Super Potato - there has not been an unoccupied table since opening night. Especially sought-after are the two 12-person sunken circular tables next to the display kitchen. We started with the signature duck liver foie gras with sea asparagus in mango sauce - wow, was it good. www.tajhotels.com
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London’s Royal Academy of Arts displays treasures from Russia
Ilya Repin's Manifesto of October 17th, 1905, painted in 1911 and loaned by the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, is one of the many treasures in the French and Russian Master Paintings 1870 - 1925 from Moscow and St Petersburg currently showing through April 18th 2008 at The Royal Academy of Arts. London www.royalacademy.org.uk The Ritz Hotel is offering a table d'hôte lunch, with tickets to the show, until that date. www.theritzlondon.com The Ritz London, London, United Kingdom
See other hotels in London (29)
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An Incredible Calendar . . . Courtesy of Dublin’s Merrion Hotel
The Merrion Hotel, Dublin, celebrates its tenth anniversary with a ten-year calendar-book stretching to 2017. Each year has one of the amazing art pieces in Ireland's best-known capital city hotel (shown, John Boyd's Futile Defence). In the foreword, the Hon Desmond Guinness, Founder of the Irish Georgian Society, praises owners Lochlan Quinn, Martin Naughton and Billy Hastings for their exciting renovation of the house where the Duke of Wellington was born. www.merrionhotel.comThe Merrion, Dublin, Ireland
See other hotels in Dublin (5)
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New Acropolis Museum in Athens: home to fantastically old things
At Athens' stunning New Acropolis Museum, opening later this year, Mary Gostelow with Grecotel SA/Classical Hotels founders Nikos and Maria Daskalantonakis and two of their children, Tina and Yannis, and Virtuoso's Albert Herrrera - read the account of Virtuoso's marvelous visit to the Greek capital.
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An entire hotel designed for one . . . maybe two
Is this the world's most outrageous single-room lodging? Hotel Everland www.everland.ch has one room and bathroom, and it is parked through 2008 on top of the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. It was designed by a Swiss pair, L/B - Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann - known for their installation art. And no, Hotel Everland, designed for the Swiss national exhibition of 2002, is not part of Kiwi Collection.
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A new Spa designed to soothe the senses
In Scotland, The Spa at Gleneagles by ESPA opens this month. Designed by Amanda Rosa, it has 20 treatment rooms and a vitality pool that is dark brown, almost black and lit by fiber optics to stunning effect. There is a new Deseo at the Spa restaurant. www.gleneagles.com
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Somehow staying in shape seems easier when you’re at a luxury destination!
Talking of keeping fit, the Kiwi Collection team believes in it - wholeheartedly. Seen here, before a run at Four Seasons Resort Whistler BC, is Karen Mumby (on the right) with the luxury resort's GM, Scott Taber, a dedicated marathoner.Four Seasons Resort Whistler, Whistler, Canada
See other hotels in Whistler (5)
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This year’s European Fine Art Foundation will feature an important presentation
The Meeting of Joseph and Jacob is on the Bernheimer-Colnaghi stand at The European Fine Art Foundation TEFAF, this year scheduled for March 7-16, 2008, as always in Maastricht, Netherlands. www.tefaf.com On the opening day, HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Honorary Chairman of the Prince Claus Fund, will present the Fund's Cultural Emergency Response program: another speaker will be Omara Khan Massoudi, Director of the National Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Los Colinas GM, Michael Newcombe, prepares for a golf invasion
As GM of Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Michael Newcombe - seen here with Mary Gostelow - is getting ready for the annual EDS Byron Nelson Championship, when about half a million golf enthusiasts descend on Irving TX, USA. Read what it is like staying at this luxury resort.
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The Ferrari Tour Gets Underway
Rajan Tata, left, and the Vice Chairman of the Fiat Group, John Elkann, flagged off the Ferrari tour of India - read the story here.
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Coming next month . . .
Coming next month, our Insider is Gamal Aziz, President and CEO, MGM Mirage Hospitality; Concierge Corner comes from Mexico City; our style specialist comes from Sydney and Away-Night is Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg, Russia. See also Seven Sensational places to stay above the water. Note, if you have not yet signed up for our complimentary emailed newsletter, I invite you to do so now, on www.WOW.travel Have a great month!
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