Monthly Archives: October 2010

Nagano hotel offers model railroad suite

A hotel in the northern Japan city of Nagano has installed one of the largest scale model railway sets in the country in a special luxury suite.

The diorama measures 6 meters by nearly 2 meters wide and displays many of the prefecture’s most popular tourist spots, including Zenkoji Temple and Nagano’s famous mountains.

The Hotel Metropolitan’s model has four kinds of electric trains that guests can steer around the track, including a miniature version of the Asama “shinkansen,” the bullet train that runs between Nagano and Tokyo.
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Martell Cognac partners Château de Versailles

Versailles represents the exquisite perfection that artists and master craftsmen can achieve, and the Palace plays a leading role in promoting French culture and art around the world.

Versailles and Martell, the French Cognac house founded in 1715, share the same vision of luxury, the French “art of living”, and the finest gastronomy.

It is in this spirit that Martell decided to support the restoration to its former splendour of the famous Queen’s Antechamber at Versailles.
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Louis Vuitton 100 Postcards Box Set

As part of the 2011 update to Louis Vuitton‘s City Guide, illustrator Ruben Toledo has been commissioned to create this beautiful series of 100 postcards.

Illustrated in black and white and accented with vibrant fluorescent colors, each image aims to capture the unique experience of the depicted destination.

Ruben Toledo was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1961 and is a painter, sculptor, illustrator and fashion chronicler in one. He now lives in New York.
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Bottega Veneta iPhone and iPad Cases

Bottega Veneta have just released these stunning iPhone/Blackberry and iPad cases as part of their up coming Fall/Winter 2010 Collection.

The cases sport Bottega Veneta’s trademark woven motif, produced with the finest of cotton-lined napa leather in two featured colorways (white and black).

There is a strap and brass snap to secure the gadget, and all cases have reinforced panels for additional protection.

Berlin’s hotel boom picks up speed

Although New York has undoubtedly been the hotel construction hotspot of 2010, Berlin is catching up fast as the year draws to a close.

The city’s wave of new openings started in July with the opening of the Weinmeister Berlin-Mitte and continued this month with the inauguration of the new Scandic Hotel at Potsdamer Platz, one of the city’s most vibrant cultural areas where skyscrapers have sprung from where the Berlin Wall once stood.

Boasting eight floors and 563 guest rooms with superb views of the city, the flagship hotel represents the start of a new push by the Nordic chain into Europe proper, preceding future openings in Hamburg around the end of 2011.

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Flydubai set to make fiber optics fly

A new in-flight entertainment system due to be rolled out by Flydubai this month could make watching movies in the sky easier and greener.

The Dubai budget carrier is the launch customer for a new type of in-flight entertainment system from US company Lumexis, dubbed “fiber to the screen.”

The premise of the system is that it uses fiber optics to take information to the seatback displays instead of copper wires, in much the same way that many home cable connections have superseded traditional copper telephone lines.
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Starbucks To Open On Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship

Ubiquitous coffee brand Starbucks is to make its debut at sea on board a new cruise liner, the brand confirmed October 27.

The coffee chain is to open a store on board Royal Caribbean’s latest ship Allure of the Seas, which will share the title of the largest cruise liner in the world with its sister ship Oasis of the Seas when it launches this December.

Guests will be able buy everything they expect from a traditional land-based Starbucks on board the liner, with the company’s vice president Chris Carr saying that the ship is “another place where our customers want and expect us to be.”
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Ferrari World soft opening delayed

Ferrari fans around the world have been forced to wait a little longer for the official arrival of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

The park announced via its Facebook page that the soft opening date set for this week had been postponed out of respect to Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the ruler of Abu Dhabi‘s neighboring emirate Ras Al Khaimah.

Although the official page of the nearby Yas Marina Circuit has said that the park’s opening will now take place on Thursday, November 4, Ferrari World’s call center confirmed that the final opening date was still under discussion.
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James Bond Aston Martin DB5 sells for $4.1 million

A US car enthusiast has bought James Bond’s famous Aston Martin car at auction in London for more than four million dollars.

The 1964 silver Aston Martin DB5 was driven by Sean Connery when he played the fictional British spy in the films “Goldfinger” (1964) and “Thunderball” (1965).

US collector Harry Yeaggy flew into Britain for Wednesday’s sale and outbid his rivals to buy the car for 2.6 million pounds (4.1 million dollars).
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Rare Pink Diamond to be Auctioned by Sotheby’s

An exceptinally rare pink stone is set to break the record for being the world’s most expensive diamond ever.

The pink stone is estimated to be worth $27-38 million when it goes under the hammer on November 16 at Sotheby’s in Geneva

It is classified as ‘fancy intense pink’ – the most perfect pink colour – by the Gemological Institute of America, and is set between shield-shaped diamond shoulders on a silver ring.
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What to expect on menus and shelves in 2011

An industry consultant and trend watcher Andrew Freeman delivered his 2011 food predictions via a “webinar” with the title “Eat, Stay, Love” last week.

The Nation’s Restaurant News, the food service industry’s leading business publication, consolidated Freeman’s trend list that details what’s next for restaurants and the must-have ingredients.
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France boasts Europe’s best hotel bathrooms

The bathrooms in Paris’s swanky Le Meurice hotel have been voted by best in Europe, beating a list of other contenders that prove the French know best when it comes to the salle de bain.

The honor was awarded last week at the industry Villegiature Awards, which recognizes the best aspects of Europe’s hotels — from terraces to websites.

The Philippe Starck-designed bathrooms of Le Meurice were judged to be the best, managing to top competition from Hotel Raphael in Paris, Le Palais Stephanie in Cannes, La Mas Candille in Mougins, and Muse in Ramatuelle (all in France) as well as Luna Baglioni in Venice, Italy.
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Abu Dhabi vies with Dubai for cruising crown

Abu Dhabi is set to challenge Dubai for dominance of the region’s fast-growing cruise market, announcing October 25 that MSC will become the first cruise line to call the emirate home.

MSC Lirica, a 59,000-ton, 2,199-guest liner, will be the first ship ever to use Abu Dhabi as a home port, beginning October 2011.

It will sail 19 seven-night cruises from Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed Port, traveling round the Arabian Gulf peninsula to Muscat, before turning round en route for the UAE’s eastern emirate of Fujairah on the Indian Ocean.
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Paul Smith x Giro Helmets

UK designer Paul Smith and Giro are collaborating on a selection of cycling helmets, reflecting Paul Smith’s interests and youth.

Paul has chosen one style of cycling helmet which he has customised in three different styles – each feature unique Paul Smith designs.

A keen cycling fan, Paul Smith fell into fashion aged 17 after a cycling accident put an end to his hopes of becoming a professional racing cyclist.
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Jimmy Choo to sell perfume along with stilettos

Not content with just selling stilettos, high-end shoe label Jimmy Choo is making its first foray into the fragrance industry.

Tamara Mellon, the founder and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo, unveiled the new scent for women during a press event in London on October 22.

“I wanted to do a fragrance from the beginning of Jimmy Choo. I want to accessorize a woman completely.”
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Expedia launches “Unpublished Hotel Rates”

Expedia claims it’s selling rooms at “unpublished rates”, but what does this actually mean and how can travelers take advantage of it?

“Unpublished rates” are the minimum prices that hotels will sell a room at if they haven’t been able to sell it at the standard rate.

The travel giant announced October 25 that it would dramatically expand its unpublished rate inventory to include 25,000 hotels around the world, claiming that travelers could book hotels at up to 50 percent off the standard online price.
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Millionaires Love Facebook But Have No Time For It

A new poll from SEI Wealth Network, a wealth-advisory firm, suggests that a majority of millionaires have signed up for social media sites. There is just one problem: They don’t have time to actually use them.

70% of respondents with $5 million or more in investible assets are users of Facebook and other social media sites. But the poll also showed that only 17% of the multimillionaires use the sites on a daily basis.

That is far less than the broader population, in which 38% use such sites at least once a day. The main reason: the wealthy are squeezed for time.
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Louis Vuitton Monogram Empreinte Collection

Louis Vuitton team have launched their new collection of accessories named Monogram Empreinte.

The Fall/ Winter 2010/ 2011 range is very diverse and it is mainly focused on handbags which are made of soft and nice-to-touch lamb skin.

The line offers a hobo, very practical tote bags with additional shoulder straps, handbags, wallets and some very appealing clutches.
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