Hotels are slowly moving beyond the bar, nightclub and restaurant trend to add some hip retail spaces in their properties.

Of course, this is nothing new as some hotels have been doing this already for a long time. But what is news is the report of a Louis Vuitton store opening inside the JW Marriott Bucharest Hotel.

The store will open in June and offer customers the standard LV leather goods as well as the opportunity to design their own travel trunk based on their “requirements and taste.”

The 10-course feast is being touted as a “once-in-a-lifetime inspirational dinner.” On April 5, Bangkok’s five-star Lebua hotel will treat 50 favored guests to a repast prepared by a glittering array of Michelin-starred chefs. To thank the guests for their loyalty to the hotel, Lebua plans to spend $300,000 for the meal. Accustomed though they may be to showy p.r. stunts, social activists are nonetheless up in arms over this particular act of epic extravagance. The reason? The banquet comes with a pre-dinner commitment to what the Lebua’s p.r. mavens have dubbed “emotional tourism.” Hours before digging into truffles and foie gras, the 50 diners will fly by private jet to a village in central Thailand to see how impoverished Thais manage to get by without regular infusions of Brittany lobster and Bresse chicken.

Originally, three Michelin-starred chefs — Alan Soliveres, Michel Trama and Jean-Michel Lorain — were to have catered the dinner, for a fee of $8,000 each. But the trio pulled out last month after European media assailed the hotel group for not committing any of its own money to helping the indigent Thai villagers. Lebua responded by saying it hopes the rural visit will spur some of the assembled guests to donate cash of their own. And the hotel assures potential diners that it has found Michelin-starred replacement chefs — although it will not release their names, presumably for fear that they, too, might be pressured by negative publicity into withdrawing from the event.

Lebua certainly knows all about hosting lavish feasts. Last year, the hotel organized an event it modestly titled “The Epicurean Masters of the World,” a Michelin-starred extravaganza at a cost per head of 1 million baht (around $28,000). Despite the hefty check, the dinner event was fully booked — and it received its share of official criticism, coming at a moment when Thailand’s then-ruling military junta was unveiling an economic policy based, in part, on scaling back ostentatious shows of wealth. The dinner also mystified many ordinary Thais, who are used to dining on some of the world’s tastiest street food for no more than a dollar a plate. [...]

The Burj Al Arab Jumeirah resort in Dubai, is acknowledged as the best hotel in the world.

The stellar customer service starts the moment you land in Dubai, with a chauffeur picking you up in the Rolls Royce that will be yours for the duration of your stay. When you arrive at the breathtaking hotel which stands 321 meters tall in the shape of a sail, you are taken directly to one of the 202 suites where you are checked in, a service that guarantees your privacy.

Each sprawling suite is two levels, and has floor to ceiling windows providing breathtaking views of the Arabian Gulf. Some of the listed in room features are, a private elevator, private cinema, a rotating four-post canopy bed,a separate butler entrance and a study area with a library.

Samsonite presents two new luggage collections for the frequent business traveler – the Solana and Hommage 2

The Solana line is designed to pack everything you would need or could possibly think of for your trip in a neat and organized fashion. It comes with a toiletry kit, wet pocket or removable suit sleeve. There’s even a 5 cm expandability for that extra packing space.

The Hommage 2 collection is an extended line of chi-chi luggage from the Hommage collection, and is only available this summer. With its nappa leather trimmings and lighter tones of almond ecru, sun olive, chocolate and charcoal black, the Hommage 2 collection exudes beauty and timeless elegance. The collection consists of duffles, spinners, shoulder bag, rolling tote, beauty case, toilet kit, lady bag and messenger bag.

Visitors to Istanbul will soon have a chance to view the most spectacular ocean views on the planet. A seven floor, seven-star hotel is being built underwater on what was formerly a tobacco factory.

There will be exhibition halls, and restaurants, and all rooms will be sea facing.This isn’t the first such underwater hotel complex in the world.

That honor goes to the $500 million Poseidon Hotel which is currently being built off Fiji. The Istanbul hotel differs in that it is being built under the city center, which should make for an interesting experience.