Dubai to Become World’s Top Spa Destination

by Josh Lew on

Besides being a destination for people who like designer boutiques, tall buildings and overpriced restaurants, Dubai is on its way to becoming the best place in the world to find the perfect spa experience. The spa industry is growing by nearly 20% per year. By 2010, it is projected that Dubai will surpass other destinations with a total of 15 million visitors at its spas.

Everyone (including former Mrs. Kid Rock Pamela Anderson) is trying to get in on the hotel boom that the emirate is currently experiencing. And what’s a luxury hotel without a spa? Themed spas are virtually required for any glitzy new inn.

Yes, Dubai is theme-happy. They have built housing developments that resemble palm trees and world maps. Spas are not immune from this fad. A few examples: The Ritz-Carlton’s Balinese spa, Shangri-La’s Chinese themed Spa, an the Indian spa at the Taj Palace.

Dubai has a leg up on, say, Scottsdale, in terms of luxury. But that is probably because it has to. The whole emirate is a luxurious version of an adult DisneyWorld, complete with Formula One racing and shopping malls.

Would people still be flocking to Dubai if it didn’t have all those over-the-top elements?

Band on the Run: Re-United with Lost Guitars (The Precipice of Air Travel)

by Ember Swift on

Ember Swift, Canadian musician and touring performer, will be keeping us up-to-date on what it’s like to tour a band throughout North America. Having just arrived back from Beijing where she spent three months (check out her “Canadian in Beijing” series), she offers a musician’s perspective on road life. Enjoy!

So I got on a flight out of Maui, Hawaii at 9:30pm island time on Friday and arrived in San Francisco at 5:30am PST. A quick transfer to my (already being held) Vancouver flight and I was back in the air and heading towards my band and the next gig…

without my guitars.

What is it with United? I have had more mishaps (re: lost baggage or stolen luggage) with this airline than any other.

[I guess in this case the transfer time was too tight because no one from that Maui flight who arrived in Vancouver got their luggage. But still, the stats are stacked against United and me. Am I alone here?]

What’s worse is that the call center is in India. The attendants speak English and are very polite, but they’re in India! While trying to track y guitars, I needed to give a geography lesson on Canada while giving my delivery address:

“No, it’s a province. Canada doesn’t have states. It’s the province of British Columbia. <pause> No, there’s no zip code. The equivalent is a postal code. <pause> Yes, postal code. There are letters and numbers. It’s…”

And still, they couldn’t locate them. They told me to call back in a few hours and hopefully their computers will have been updated.

I was reunited with my band without my guitars and there was no time to wait for them to (possibly) arrive on the next flight from San Francisco. The gig that night was in Grand Forks, BC, in the interior of the province about six hours east of Vancouver, and so we had to hop in a vehicle and drive on in order to make it there in time for sound check.

This part of British Columbia is truly stunning. It’s hard to stay grumpy in the presence of such majestic beauty. By the time we got to Grand Forks, I was long recovered from my sleepless night of air travel and the anxiety of lost instruments.

Mountains heal.

We were kindly loaned a guitar that worked out perfectly (a hollow body electric the same shape and similar weight to my Gretsch) and I just geared the whole set to suit an electric guitar sound as opposed to an acoustic. We had a great time on stage and were well received by the modest but appreciative audience at The Festival at the Forks.

They put us up that night at a hilltop spa called Ponderosa Pines. Three kilometres up a rocky dirt road and it felt like we were driving into the clouds. There was nothing around except the view and a steep decline. This single lane path (or was it a long driveway?) seemed to be etched into the side of the mountain itself.

Adam, our drummer, said “These are the times people accuse you of exaggerating when you re-tell the story. You just keep saying ‘no, it really was like that’ and no one believes you.” And he’s right. Maybe these pictures I snapped the next morning will give it some credibility.

Back in the car again pointing west again towards Vancouver and we were following a Budget cube van. When it’s brakes came on suddenly ahead and it swerved right, we slowed too, just in time for us both to miss the young black bear that had leapt out of the bushes and struck out across the highway.

Just the night before, while sitting beside a British guy returning from Maui to the U.S. with his family mid-vacation, we spoke about Canada and all the cultural stereotypes of our country. He jokingly said, “Yeah, Canada, aren’t you shaking the black bears off your legs up there?” I laughed and told him that our legs have no room for black bears for all the beavers trying to take us out at the ankles. We both laughed then and I added the truthful statement that it had actually been ages since I’d even seen a black bear.

Not so now.

And I’m happy to report that the little black bear survived the highway.

When we got back to Vancouver, the guitars still had not arrived at the address we’d given. Another call to India and I found out that one guitar was still in San Francisco and the other was in Vancouver and was supposed to have already been delivered.

Now the reports were starting to conflict and I had memories of last year’s “missing” (read: stolen) pedal board that resulted in a $2,000 insurance claimed and a long fight with the airline. Also, this summer Adam’s custom snare drum (also on United Airlines) took two weeks to be returned to him. When my anxiety level started to spiral upwards, I knew it was time to run.

Running is my release of choice.

Forty minutes later, all stress having sweated out my body, I arrived back to where I was staying to a message telling me that both “red bags” (my cases are red, but the attendants rarely referred to them as guitars, much to my concern!) would be delivered that evening between 9 and 12 at night.

Nothing to do but wait. My flight back to Ontario wasn’t until today anyway.

11:48 on the hall clock and I got a call saying that they were just a few minutes away. To my relief, at 11:56 I was greeting the delivery man and my guitars at the doorway of the house we were staying in. Now earlier today, I flew back to Ontario with my (hopefully not-to-traumatized) guitars who haven’t made it out of their cases since Hawaii. I was so hesitant to let them disappear down the conveyor belt yet again!

But I’m here to report a great big sigh of relief.

When I picked them up in Ottawa, I loudly and gregariously thanked the special handling baggage personnel for not losing them. They laughed and responded with a hearty “You’re welcome!” while I was letting out my held breath.

And now I’m home. On the ground. Guitars in hand.

All’s well.

Reunited.

Chinese Buffet – Part 11: Relocation to Shanghai

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

Now comes what I’ve been calling the Shanghai Shift. After a week on my own in Beijing, dealing with tummy troubles and all the usual ups and downs of solo travel, I had now arrived in a city where I’d be embraced by dear friends and the comforts of home.

And what better way to welcome a weary Italian woman!?!? Beth and Dan, my gracious hosts, picked me up at the Shanghai train station about 9 pm. They had just come from Da Marco, well known in Shanghai for its’ excellent pizza and Italian dishes. And they brought me a doggie bag! After snacking on apples and trail mix for ten hours on the train, this was heaven.

But had I sold out already? Only eight days in China and I’d reverted to familiar comfort food! So soon?!

Ummmm….yeah.

On one hand, it felt a bit strange — like I’d given up on the challenges of independent budget travel too quickly. In Europe, I had gone it alone for months at a time – hostels as my constant home. But this time, after just one week of “roughing it”, I found myself comfy and cool in a spacious Pudong apartment, sipping California wine by candlelight while chatting with two of my best college pals.

I hadn’t given up anything, but my vantage point had certainly changed. I was now going to experience life in China through a completely different lens.

Beth, Dan and their young son Ryan moved to Shanghai in the fall of 2005, signing a contract with Dan’s US-based company to work in China for two years. I was fortunate enough to spend time with them near the end of their stay in Shanghai. By the time this Chinese Buffet series ends next week, they will have repatriated back to the US, where they will switch gears to focus on their next great adventure — baby number two!

Much of what we did the first few days seemed to revolve around finding the right food to eat. With Beth pregnant and my stomach still acting up, we steered clear of adventurous dishes and avoided Chinese food altogether. Unfortunately, Beth and her new bundle had developed quite an aversion to all things Asian. Thank goodness for Carrefour (the obscenely huge grocery store loaded with Western goodies) and Blue Frog, a neighborhood chain with yummy burgers and salads:

After a solid meal, next on the to-do list was a little bit of pampering. Beth suggested an hour foot massage and pedicure to reward my worn-out Great Wall feet. Beijing had given my body a beating, so how could I refuse?

And really, what do best girlfriends do when they get together after not seeing each other for a long time? Beth and I hadn’t done anything like this since I’d been a bridesmaid in her wedding — ten years ago! It was all quite lovely, and seemed such a novelty to me — since we were doing it in China!

Beth, Dan and Ryan live in the Jinqiao Biyun International District, home to a large foreign population. Several shops and restaurants are within walking distance of their apartment (like the funky Starbucks shown above), but unfortunately I visited Shanghai during an intense heat wave — strolls around the neighborhood were an unattractive option.

Thankfully, we could turn to Mr. Ding, the family’s driver, who transports Dan to work and is available to Beth and Ryan also. Have you seen the way folks drive in China? Mr. Ding is the man! He navigates insane intersections with ease, making sure the entire family gets where they need to be — the airport, school, shops. I surely appreciated his air-con car service during my visit too!

And then there is Helen, the ayi. It is very common for foreigners to hire a local Chinese woman to help around the house. It took Beth awhile to get comfortable with the idea, but she eventually connected with this sweet woman who comes to the apartment for a few hours each day. Helen cleans, irons and helps prep meals. She also watches Ryan when Beth and Dan go out.

Both Ding and Helen are wonderful with Ryan, and he is comfortable with both of them as well. He’s learned lots of Chinese words and phrases from them – both Mandarin and Shanghainese, which is the local dialect that Mr. Ding speaks. It was entertaining to watch Ryan interact with them — and vice versa. Tomorrow I’ll look more closely at what life is like for this cute American kid living in China.

Where Not to Wear that Bathrobe

by Catherine Bodry on

Hotels that have tried to class up their lodging by offering guests bathrobes are receiving a surprise backlash — patrons who want to wear their robe everywhere. Guests at high tea in 5-star hotels have been entertained with less-than-appetizing physiques meandering past their tables in tiny terrycloth wraps.

Due to the decrease in unwritten dress-code respect, hotel managers are attempting to encourage guests to “keep it under wraps.” Some have instructed their bar and restaurant staff not to seat anyone in a robe, and others allow freedom to roam fully-robed only on designated floors. Those who don’t want to outright demand that people scamper back upstairs and change into something that actually covers them are going so far as to redesign their spaces. Tactics include building spas that are adjacent to suites, thus dismissing the need to leave one’s room robed, while others are designing wraps that show a little less skin. Still others have simply thrown in the towel, acknowledging that the fight is not worth the effort.

Thanks to jhayman on flickr.com for the photo of some casually-dressed bar patrons.

What’s not included in an All Inclusive Cruise

by Neil Woodburn on

Yesterday we posted about the world’s most expensive cruises and today, we talk about how they sneakily become even more so.

As most of you know, cruise ships tend to be all inclusive. In my book, that means everything is free, and that is a very, very good thing.

Unfortunately, this is not exactly true according to The Cost of Cruising by Jane Archer. Archer fills us is in on those items and services which are not included in an all inclusive.

As I’ve routinely expressed, I’ve never been on a cruise so I was a bit surprised at the additional bills which add up very quickly. For those of you who are cruise veterans, the following list of charges will come as no surprise. But for those considering a cruise for the first time and are trying to manage a budget, spare a moment to look over what’s not included–according to Archer, it can bump up your bill on a seven day cruise upwards of $120 minimum.

Drinks
Ice cream
Spa services
All gratuities (this can really add up)
Specialty restaurants

Want more information on cruises?