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Travel Notes
BRIGHTER LIGHTS
The lights have just been turned up even brighter for Hong Kong’s nightly Symphony of Lights. Since 2002 the coloured lights, laser beams and searchlights of the display have beamed from buildings on Hong Kong island. But on 23 December last year, the spectacle reached across Victoria Harbour and now shines from a further 13 buildings in Kowloon – including the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Museum of Art and Coliseum on the mainland. The best place to see the new and improved version is on board a harbour cruise, from the Avenue of Stars on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, or from the new vantage point on the promenade outside the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai.Tel +852 2508-1234, www.tourism.gov.hk/symphony
HOSPITAL HOLIDAYS
“Nip/tuck” holidays in the Thai capital have doubled in the past year, with Bangkok Hospital witnessing a 198% increase in overseas patients. Dental implants cost a third less than they do in the US. Breast augmentation is about half the cost – less than $3,500. Bangkok is also appealing to those who don’t want to wait in line any longer in their home country for standard procedures, such as hip and knee replacements.
Tel +66 (0)2 310-3101, www.bangkokhospital.com
STAR IN SENTOSA
Singapore’s theme park has taken multimedia entertainment to a new level with a ride where you get to be a movie star. The 4D Magix Theatre combines 3D film with a variety of “4D” special effects. The high-tech wizardry means you will be dodging bullets and jumping over cliff s as if you were in a movie. Other attractions at Sentosa’s Imbiah Lookout include a 650m luge track and panoramic views across Singapore from the 131m-high Carlsberg Sky Tower. www.sentosa.com.sg
TIME OUT BANGKOK & BEACH ESCAPES Written by residents and published in September, this 2nd edition updates the chic urbanite’s guide to Thailand. As well as tips on where to eat and sleep, there’s a whole chapter on shopping, and, in a land awash with quality spas, a section called “A spa too far?”. |
TRIP LIT
UPSCALE ANGKOR
The changes at Siem Reap from a backpacker’s outpost to a luxury destination continue apace, with two new openings. Aman Resorts have added 12 new suites and a spa to Amansara (tel +855 (0)63 760333, www.amanresorts.com), whose name is derived from aman, Sanskrit for “peace”, and apsara, a Hindu nymph seen in bas-reliefs at nearby Angkor Wat. Features include off -white terrazzo and dark timber open-plan suites, a library, and cuisine that combines Khmer with imported French influences, all set in a tranquil countryside location.
For those who want total privacy but want to be at the centre of the action, there’s The One Hotel (tel +855 (0)12 755311, www.theonehotelangkor.com). This new one-bedroom hotel opens in mid-January and is a converted French colonial townhouse on “The Passage”, a pedestrianized street of boutiques and galleries. Ego-pampering packages include “Angkor Memory”, where you star in your own Siem Reap movie, complete with cameraperson and stylist, which is edited into a full-length film and sent to your home.
DOUBLE FIRST
Zeavola has brought two firsts to Koh Phi Phi. On a white sand beach on the north coast of Phi Phi Don, it is the first five-star and the first all-suite resort on the islands.
Fift y-two cottages are laid out in a recreation of a southern Thai village. The thatched roofs, rattan and balau wood of each cottage hide technology such as a TV, CD and DVD player. Facilities are equally reassuring, with an Italian and Thai restaurant, a spa that offers in-room treatments, a PADI dive centre and a staff -to-guest ratio of three to one.
Tel +66 (0)75 627024, www.zeavola.com
TWO-WHEELED TOURS
Buff alo Tours, who started bicycle tours in Vietnam in 1994, have added guided tours of Cambodia to their offering. The Siem Reap tour includes a 17km ride taking in Takeo, Angkor Th om, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei and Angkor Wat, and a 40km tour to the ruins of Banteay Srei.
And for those who prefer a little help: in an effort to reduce noise and pollution, the Cambodian government is now renting 300 battery-powered bicycles to tourists. Usefully, there are 14 stations within the archaeological park where you can recharge your batteries. Tel +84 (0)4 828-0702, www.buffalotours.com
| HOTEL WATCH THAI TRENDS Where Starck and Schrager led the way with hotels such as the Mondrian in LA and St Martin’s Lane in London, so other hoteliers have followed in the past decades. Starck and Schrager’s brand of contemporary minimalism sent shockwaves through hotel interiors around the world. The trend is now being translated into Thai, with a local twist. Many of the country’s newest hotels are touting their “Thai contemporary” interiors, including the Conrad Bangkok, the new Cha-da Beach on Koh Lanta, and the Andaman Princess Resort & Spa on Koh Kor Khao, of Phang Nga. Another global hotel trend filtering through is that of single companies offering several different brands. Just as Starwood operates Sheraton, Regis, Westin, W Hotels and A Loft , so the oldest Thai hotel company, Dusit Hotels & Resorts, has recently launched a new “lifestyle” brand: D2hotels. The downtown D2hotel chiang mai is the first, its ethos integrating traditional Thai culture and modern living.Tel +66 (0)53 999999, www.d2hotels.com HOT HOTELS THAILAND CHINA |
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