DESERT PALM RETREAT
Dubai
Desert Palm is a polo resort set in the desert, complete with lush greenery and a spa.
Opened last year, the resort has stables for 300 horses as well as a riding school on-site. Last year, the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge was held here.
Located 20 minutes outside Dubai city and a 15-minute drive from Dubai International Airport, the resort has 24 suites and villas, some with private swimming pools. Besides horse riding and
enjoying quiet times in the spa, the resort can also arrange excursions for a range of activities
including camel riding, sky-diving, hot-air ballooning, desert safaris and watersports.
www.desertpalm.ae
DUBAI WORLD CUP
Dubai
The Dubai World Cup is one of the highlights of the international horse-racing calendar
and it happens at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. The hot-ticket item already has a waiting list for next year’s race, according to the Dubai Racing Club, but there are other races every Thursday from November to March. Live bands and DJs take over the Gainsborough Lounge at the Millennium Grandstand after the races.
The racing club also offers a variety of corporate hospitality packages that can include dining packages (both buffet and sit-down options), racing passes, afternoon tea and beverages.
Spaces available for corporate groups, which range from 10 to 300 people, include
suites with private balconies, private terraces, a glass-fronted restaurant and an outdoor terrace.
Nad Al Sheba Racecourse is an easy drive from both Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Airport.
www.dubairacingclub.com
ONE & ONLY MALDIVES AT REETHRI RAH
The Maldives
An all-villa resort on one of the largest islands in the North Malé Atoll in the Maldives, One&Only at Reethri Rah offers luxury, exclusivity and a wide range of culinary and activity choices. The resort is 35km from the airport at Malé, capital of the Maldives – a 75-minute ride
on-board a luxury yacht to the resort.
Each of the 130 private villas features either a view of the beach or are set above the lagoon on stilts, and are attended by a personal host.
All villas have private beach verandas, private infinity pools, or large over-water decks. The resort also offers six kilometres of private coastline with 12 white-sand beaches.
The spa is a highlight of the resort, with large gardens and treatment rooms with ocean views. The services of nutritionists, therapists and chefs are also available to spa guests.
Also of note is Tapsake Restaurant, which serves modern Japanese cuisine and offers great seating in over-water pavilions.
Other activities for guests include snorkelling and diving, beach sports, bicycles for rent and a host of workshops on wine tasting, flower arrangement, cooking and champagne tasting. The
resort can also arrange excursions for diving, big-game fishing, sea plane flights and dining on a private island.
www.oneandonlyresorts.com
THE EASTERN AND ORIENT EXPRESS
Singapore/ Malaysia/Thailand
The Eastern and Orient Express offers luxury travel between Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand. Passengers can gaze out at rainforests, mountains, temples, rubber plantations and little towns and villages, from the air-conditioned rarefied colonial atmosphere of the train. The longest journey takes seven nights and eight days between Singapore and Chiang Mai. The standard journey between Singapore and Bangkok takes three days and two nights. Passengers
can board from either Singapore, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, or Butterworth. The train can accommodate up to 132 passengers in 66 cabins.
www.orient-express.com
PALACE ON WHEELS
India
The ‘Maharaja Luxury Tour’ is the tagline for this luxury train service across Rajasthan.
The eight-day ramble includes daily city sightseeing tours with dedicated coach and
guides. Embarkation and disembarkation are both in New Delhi. Stops along the way
include Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan and the daily sightseeing tours take in bustling
markets, forts and palaces.
Interiors of carriages are replicas of the historic coaches once owned by the maharajas and operated on the same route.
Each train has 14 carriages with four twin-bed chambers. There are a total of 52 rooms on the train for up to 104 guests.
www.palaceonwheelsind.com
HOT AIR BALLOONING IN MELBOURNE
Australia
A hot-air balloon ride is an unusual way to see Melbourne for smaller groups of ten to 12 people. The flights typically start at dawn due to temperature requirements – so balloon passengers can catch the sunrise as well as overhead views of Melbourne’s skyline and Yarra River.
Each flight takes about an hour, but the actual time is dependent on wind direction and strength.
Packages include hotel pick-ups and a champagne breakfast after touchdown.
www.hotairballooning.com.au;
www.balloonovermelbourne.com.au
BANYAN TREE PHUKET
Phuket
The Banyan Tree Phuket offers an all-villa set-up that is well suited for high-end rewards in tropical Phuket. The resort is right on Bang Tao beach and so all of its villas are only minutes away from the sand and sea.
Banyan Tree Phuket was also voted by readers of CEI Asia Pacific as being the Best Resort in Phuket in the 2008 Industry Survey, an award it has also won previously.
The highlight in the villa category is its double-pool villas, which have won numerous
awards globally for their design and privacy.
The villa comes with daily breakfast cooked in the villa and a 90-minute massage.
The resort is part of the Laguna Complex and is conveniently located next to the Banyan Tree Golf Course, the resort’s signature Banyan Tree Spa, shops and other resort areas, although the villas on their own provide a compelling case for never going further than the front door.
www.banyantree.com/phuket
VALLEY WING, SHANGRI-LA SINGAPORE
Singapore
The Valley Wing at the Shangri-La Singapore is one of Asia’s most exclusive hotel areas and
exists as a separate part of the main Shangri-La hotel complex. With 131 rooms including
27 suites, it has its own reception area and private lounge.
The immaculately designed public area – the floor to ceiling painting by Lam Chong must be seen to be believed – includes allday cocktail service for guests.
A major highlight is the Valley Wing Shangri-La Suite on the 17th floor, which has its own private elevator and entrance way.
The suite comes with its own dedicated butler, private gym and personalised bathrobes,
pillowcases and stationery. The two-bedroom suite is 370 sqm and is decked out in imported
walnut timber flooring and has a large balcony overlooking the Singapore skyline.
The hotel itself is built within its own tropical gardens that feature a staggering 133,000 individual plants. Guests can also use the facilities at Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort on Sentosa Island.
www.shangri-la.com
YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE
China
Several cruise options are available for a leisurely drift along China’s longest river, the Yangtze. The cruises depart from Chongqing in southwestern China. Onshore excursions and tours of tributaries on smaller boats are also options. The cruise takes in the spectacular Three Gorges, the famous (or infamous) Three Gorges Dam and dramatic scenery along the way.
The five-star cruise liners have a maximum capacity of 266 passengers and all guest
rooms have private balconies, as well as a sun deck and other amenities. On-board meals,
performances, English language commentary on the sights and attractions along the way are
also provided. Conference facilities are available on all the boats in Victoria Cruises’
fleet.
Different itineraries are available ranging from four to nine days either upstream or
downstream. The longest itinerary is between Chongqing and Shanghai.
www.tui.cn; www.victoriacruises.com
THE EMPIRE HOTEL AND COUNTRY CLUB
Brunei
Opulence is the theme running throughout this golf resort. Located 15 km from the
Brunei International Airport, the Empire Hotel and Country Club features a Jack
Nicklaus-designed golf course and 359 spacious rooms. Surroundings are palatial – all the rooms feature private balconies overlooking the South China Sea, the lagoon, garden, or golf course; there are eight swimming pools and the grand ballroom has details covered in real gold.
Comprehensive meeting facilities cater to groups of 12 to 700. Ricoh Australia and
Amway have held events here. The resort has also hosted the Commonwealth Finance
Ministers’ Meeting and the APEC CEO Summit. Besides meeting rooms and a theatre, the resort also has three cinemas that can be booked for private screenings.
www.theempirehotel.com.
PANGKOR LAUT RESORT
Malaysia
A jungle island fantasy come to life, Pangkor Laut Resort is not easy to get to but this resort
on the privately owned island off the West Coast of Malaysia offers seclusion and exclusivity. Bordered by white-sand beaches, hills and rainforests, the 142 rooms here include categories like spa villas, sea villas, beach villas and hill villas.
There are also eight estates on the island to choose from – four on the waterfront with
a private beach and another four set in a hillside jungle overlooking the ocean. Two
dedicated staff, who will cook and serve meals and deal with housekeeping, serve
every estate. The service of a car and driver is also available for when guests want to
enjoy the facilities of the resort.
The resort spa has won several accolades internationally. And to stave off island fever, the resort offers activities such as batik painting, island-hopping trips, cocktail cruises, sailing, trekking, and fishing excursions.
The nearest international airport is Kuala Lumpur International Airport. From there, the
resort can be reached by land and air, and a ferry connection. The coastal town of Lamut
is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from KLIA, and a 45-minute ferry ride will take guests
to the resort. Alternatively, fly from Subang airport on a 48-seater plane operated by
Berjaya Air to Palau Pangkor, followed by a 30-minute ferry ride from Pangkor island to
the resort. Another option is to charter a helicopter from either Subang or KLIA, which will take guests directly to the resort.
While getting there may seem slightly daunting, it has not deterred international
personalities like the late great tenor Luciano Pavarotti or golfing great Nick Faldo. The
resort has also hosted corporate meetings and Honda’s Civic test-drive event.
www.pangkorlautresort.com
EMIRATES PALACE
Abu Dhabi
The Emirates Palace offers extensive meeting facilities ideal for events with up to 2,400
participants at the International Conference Centre of Abu Dhabi on its grounds.
In addition to 40 meeting rooms, there are also large terraces and a variety of
pre-function areas to choose from.
Abu Dhabi International Airport is a 30-minute drive away while Dubai Airport is a two-hour drive. Of the 11 food and beverage outlets within the resort, Embassy Abu Dhabi is most noteworthy. The restaurant, which opened last year, is headed by Michelin-starred chef Garry Hollihead.
Emirates Palace hosts the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and is set to be the start point
for the Formula One Grand Prix Abu Dhabi, a city course, in 2009.
Besides golf, the 1.3km private white-sand beach and expansive water-park style
swimming pool provides other sporting options. The resort has a total of 302 guestrooms.
www.emiratespalace.com