November 10th, 2011
When most people think of the Maldives, they think of powdery beaches, deserted pearl-strung islands, and world-famous diving, but that’s not all – the pristine and virtually untouched open water is home to some extraordinary big game fish. From now through November 13, the Maldives Game Fishing Association (MGFA) is holding the first ever Maldives Game Fishing Challenge. In this “tag and release” tournament, competitors bait their lines in hopes of landing Marlin, Sailfish, Wahoo, Yellowfin, Big Eye, and Dog Tooth Tuna. In addition to supporting sustainable recreational fishing methods, scientists are present at the tournament to tag the caught fish for research and conservation purposes.
November 9th, 2011
With temperatures dipping below freezing and a snowstorm in October, it’s no secret that winter came much too soon. While we can’t control the weather, we can certainly run from it! Ditch the snow boots, pack your warm weather gear and escape with top luxury line, Crystal Cruises, instead.
Voted World’s Best more than any other cruise line in history, Crystal Cruises offers a diverse collection of itineraries exploring the Panama Canal, South America, Caribbean, and the Pacific Coast. Book before December 31, 2011 and receive up to $4,000 per couple in additional savings! But hurry, Crystal Cruises’ Book Now Fares don’t last forever.
Other exclusive offers, available for a limited time, include 2-for-1 fares, special savings for repeat Crystal Society guests, families and friends traveling together, new-to-Crystal savings, early full payment savings, and generous savings for back-to-back combination cruises. So, pull out your bathing suits and sun block, put away your hats and gloves, and book now to save!
November 3rd, 2011
Nantucket Town is about as traditional New England as it gets – grey shingled buildings line the cobblestone streets, ice cream parlors and general stores flourish and there is not a traffic light in sight. Add Victorian-appareled carolers, hot cider and cornbread, and Santa Claus parading down Main Street and it reads just like the pages out of a storybook.
Nantucket Island fetes the entire holiday season with Nantucket Noel, a month-long celebration organized by the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce. The highlight event is the Annual Christmas Stroll Weekend that takes place December 2-4, 2011. Stores, shops, and restaurants open their doors for holidays shoppers, carolers sing favorite holiday tunes, and Santa Claus arrives via a Coast Guard Vessel. This is an authentic experience not to be missed! (Especially for shoppers looking for the perfect present – almost everything on the island is on sale at this time to make way for new merchandise coming in for the following season.)
Several Nantucket Island Resorts properties are open for the Stroll Weekend, including the historic and centrally located Jared Coffin House, the iconic White Elephant, The Cottages and Lofts at the Boat Basin, and the luxurious White Elephant Hotel Residences. These properties offer a variety of cozy accommodations for visitors to the island.
November 2nd, 2011
Alice Marshall Public Relations is thrilled to announce its representation of the One&Only Resort collection. Set in some of the most beautiful locales in the world, each award-winning resort offers guests a distinctive style, genuine hospitality and lively energy that is unrivaled. Properties include One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives; One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius; One&Only Royal Mirage in Dubai; One&Only Ocean Club in The Bahamas, One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico; One&Only Cape Town, South Africa and One&Only The Palm, Dubai which opened in November 2010.
As an authority on luxury hotels and goods for over 20-years, AMPR is adept at identifying trends and reporting news from their clients in a carefully crafted and nuanced way. From high-end hotels to exceptional cruises, trains, exotic spas and lavish products, One&Only Resorts joins an exemplary roster of AMPR clientele bursting with exciting and original content.
To kick-off the holiday season, we would like to share with you our One&Only Gift Guide. From a mouth-watering cookbook by South African chef Reuben Riffel to a Physique57® Fitness Retreat, One&Only has your gift wrapped up.
Your One&Only Gift Guide
- Instead of the traditional gift of wine, One&Only Palmilla’s sommelier Manuel Arteaga recommends gifting a bottle of Mezcal from his four favorite artisanal producers: Pierde Almas, Alipuz, Ilegal Mezcal, or Los Danzantes. Often touted as ‘the new tequila,’ mezcal is distilled from the agave (like tequila) and has a distinctive smokiness – perfect to warm up a winter-chilled body. For the ultimate Mezcal Tasting Experience, guests at One&Only Palmilla can schedule a private tasting with Manuel and learn about the production process, regions, and categories, followed by a tasting of seven mescals at the Agua bar. $55 per person.
- For the fitness buff, pair Physique 57®’s new book, The Physique 57® Solution: The Groundbreaking 2-Week Plan for a Lean, Beautiful Body in stores nationwide on January 4th, with the promise of a stay at One&Only Ocean Club during one of their 4-night Physique57® Fitness Retreats. Guests enjoy two daily classes with Physique 57® instructors, use of a Balinese-style spa, nutritional cuisine by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, all in a Bahamian paradise. Retreats are scheduled for December 4-8, 2011, January 12-16, 2012, May 3-7, 2012, September 20-24, 2012, and December 2-6, 2012.
- For the chef, One&Only Cape Town’s Reuben Riffel’s new cookbook Reuben Cooks Local, takes home chefs on a journey through one of South Africa’s most well-loved culinary repertoires from his celebrated city bistro. Filled with over 230 pages of recipes and tempting images, readers also learn what inspired this chef and his rise through the South African restaurant ranks.
- Cape Town-bound spa-goers will swoon over ‘The Essence of Africa’ at One&Only Cape Town’s award-winning spa. The new therapy combines traditional African massage tools, such as the ‘Eucalyptus wooden rungu,’ and age old healing ingredients such as Baobab tree oil and Rooibos herbs from the bush to lift the senses, improve skin elasticity, and reduce stress. If you can’t make it to South Africa, try gifting some new in-room bath and body products by South African Charlotte Rhys, just out with her new line of men’s amenities in time for the holidays.
- For the music buff, give the gift of three nights at One&Only Ocean Club during December 7-13 and get VIP tickets to hear country sensation Brad Paisley perform live at the Grand Ballroom at Atlantis, Paradise Island, on Saturday, December 10 at 9:30pm. (Book by December 5.)
November 1st, 2011
So maybe you’re more of an Estée than an Ina. That doesn’t mean you can’t create a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast for yourself (don’t worry – no turkeys are involved). We’ve created the perfect holiday menu for the spa-goer. Bon appétit!
Wine
To celebrate
In Argentina, Kaua Club & Spa at Park Hyatt Mendoza’s Wine Antioxident Spa treatment diminishes the effects of an extended afternoon wine tasting. Using grapes to rejuvenate and refresh recipients from head to toe, beginning with a Mendoza’s Wine Body Glow and followed by a facial of choice, aromatherapy massage with wine essence oils, and topped-off with a Grape Body Masque. Restoration is complete!
Passed hors d’oeuvres
Nuts, olives, and caviar
Rehydrate dehydrated skin with Guinot’s Hydra Cellulaire Serum featuring macadamia oil and give skin an extra boost with Guinot’s moisturizing Masque Hydra Beauté with olive wax.
For those indulgent snackers, in Nantucket, The Wauwinet’s Spa by the Sea’s Ultimate Caviar Facial is a 90 minute treatment that hydrates, lifts, firms, and smoothes the skin with protein-rich caviar.
Salad
Cucumber and carrot salad
Banish dark circles and puffiness with Guinot’s Anti-Fatigue Yeux with calming cucumber. To pamper maturing, dry, or stressed skin, spread on a soupcon of ESPA’s Regenerating Face Treatment Oil with carrot extract.
Sides
Cranberry sauce and wild yams
For a radiant complexion, apply Guinot’s Nouvel Eclat fresh radiance exfoliating peel-off mask, rich with cranberry extract, to give your face a “second skin” effect.
ESPA’s Deeply Nourishing Body Cream is the perfect winter moisturizer, deeply moisturizing skin with collagen-strengthening wild yam, along with liquorice, bearberry, and mulberry extracts.
Intermezzo
Ginger, to cleanse the palate
The Lanna Experience at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa in Thailand uses a species of ginger revered for its ability to cool inflammation, aid digestion, and combat joint and muscle aches during a foot ritual, scrub, body wrap, and massage.
Mains
Instead of wasting perfectly good seasonings on a turkey, use these aromatic herbs on yourself.
ESPA’s 24-Hour Balancing Moisturizer uses white thyme and lavender for a light moisturizing treatment for beautifully soft, clear, hydrated skin.
For an Eastern feast, ESPA’s Men’s Invigorating Body Reviver is bursting with the aromas of lemongrass and thyme – sure to be a hit with the ladies as well.
For a classic English herb, pour a capful of ESPA’s Energizing Bath Oil into your tub and sink back into an energizing rosemary-scented soak. For a double dose of rosemary, slough off dry winter skin with ESPA’s Relaxing Salt Scrub with rosemary and lavender.
Dessert
Pumpkin pie and fruit cake
No vegetable represents autumn quite like a big, orange pumpkin. Sub out the pumpkin pie for a radiant face with ESPA’s Skin Radiance Mask with pumpkin to enliven dull and tired skin.
For a decadent fruity spa treatment, pair Guinot’s Masque Hydra Beauté with its moisturizing fig derivative formula and ESPA’s Pink Hair and Scalp Mud with apricot kernel oil for silky, healthy hair and an immediate moisture boost for soft and supple skin.
Tea and Coffee
Chamomile, Rooibos, and Caffeine
Nothing soothes quite like a warm cup of chamomile tea, so extend that soothing feeling to pacify an irritated or red face with Guinot’s Crème Hydra Sensitive, loaded with calming chamomile.
En lieu of a toasty mug of Rooibos tea, slip on ESPA’s Calm and Soothe Mask, a deeply comforting treatment to help cool and mollify skin prone to redness made with Rooibos tea.
Liven up those limbs with a good dose of caffeine with Guinot’s Double Minceur Ciblée gel cream. The contouring cream helps tone and targets the initial process wherein fat starts to store itself.
October 26th, 2011
Diwali, also known as Deepavali or Devali, is a holiday observed by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. Known as the “festival of lights,” Diwali is celebrated between mid-October and mid-November every year, as it is based on the luni-solar Hindu calendar. It is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji, but it is celebrated all over the world. While the story behind Diwali varies from region to region, as do the celebrations (which may include the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil, but can also involve fireworks, sharing sweets, and many other traditions and forms of worship) the fundamental meaning behind the holiday remains the same – to celebrate the victory of good over evil, to rejoice in the inner light (known as Atman), and to celebrate the reality in all things (Brahman).
For our friends who celebrate Diwali, we wish you a very happy holiday!
October 25th, 2011
Eggnog, pigs in a blanket, champagne, cookies… our indulgences during the holiday season. Dressed festively and attending holiday soirees, from Thanksgiving to New Years, we tend to stop paying attention to healthy eating (and living). Instead of simply resolving to treat the body with a little more TLC next year, be proactive. Here are some post-holiday retreats sure to jump start many a resolution.
Turks & Caicos
Where: Parrot Cay
What: An Ayurvedic escape for the mind, body, and spirit
Why: With its crystal clear ocean and mile-long stretch of white sand, this private island resort is the ideal place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and treat yourself to a customized, Ayurvedic Program. Pay a visit to Parrot Cay’s own Ayurvedic doctor who will recommend a special holistic treatment plan designed to rejuvenate the mind and body. Whether it is with yoga, a specialized diet, body treatments, detox, or meditation, guests are sure to leave the resort feeling rested and revitalized. The program includes all meals.
Rates for a three-night program start at $3,140 based on single occupancy and $5,009 based on double occupancy
Bali, Indonesia
Where: COMO Shambhala Estate
What: A stress-free vacation
Why: It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the pressures of work and home, especially during the holiday season. That’s why COMO Shambhala Estate, nestled in the heart of Bali, offers a Stress-Management Program specifically designed to relieve participants from the strains and anxieties of everyday life. The program focuses on the concepts and philosophies of Yoga, Chi Kung, and Tai Chi. Consultants craft a program incorporating meditation, outdoor pursuits, soothing therapies, and wellbeing lectures to ensure guests have the tools necessary to release built-up stress and to return home feeling revived and relaxed. The program includes all meals.
Rates for a three-night program start at $1,700 based on single occupancy and $2,600 based on double occupancy
Geneva, Switzerland
Where: La Réserve Genève
What: A four day anti-aging detox
Why: The holiday season, best known as the most wonderful time of the year, can also be one of the most stressful. Once the presents have been unwrapped, the giant family meals have been gobbled down, and the in-laws have finally left, treat yourself to a much needed post-holiday detox. La Réserve Genève’s Four-Day Better-Aging Detox Program includes a complete checkup and personalized action plan to restore the body’s balance and adopt a new, long-term, healthier lifestyle – just in time for the New Year! With full access to the spa facilities, inclusive healthful meals, daily sports activities, and a range of massages, wraps, and treatments, the stress from the holidays is sure melt away.
Si Kao, Thailand
Where: Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa
What: A restorative retreat in Thailand
Why: For guests looking for a guided and wide-ranging wellness retreat, the Body Detox Programme at Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa is just the ticket. Included in this package are private consultations with Naturopathic and Ayurvedic doctors in keeping with the resort’s specialized approach to wellness. A variety of spa treatments accompany these consultations, including detox massages, herbal heat treatments, and an Indian head massage. Participants are provided with a personalized diet program to take home so the wellness experience can continue long after leaving the resort.
Rates for a three-night program start at $753 based on single occupancy and $1,245 based on double occupancy. This package is also available for 1 night, 5 nights, and 7 nights.
October 13th, 2011
Big news from Bhutan – it’s another royal wedding! Today, the nation’s ultra-popular “Dragon King” married Jetsun Pema, a 21-year-old student and the daughter of an airline pilot. The marriage, first announced in May, was televised live across the country, resulting in widespread celebration. The colorful ceremony took place in a sacred monastery surrounded by the elated people of Bhutan. Find out more here!
October 7th, 2011
Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa has been named ‘Thailand’s Leading Resort’ at the 18th Annual World Travel Awards, voted on by travel agents worldwide. General Manager Mr. Chris Adams was on hand to accept the award, saying “I’d like to dedicate this win to all the staff members at Anantara Golden Triangle who continuously strive to give our guests a truly unique and indigenous five star experience.” A whopping 213,000 travel industry professionals voted in the awards, which celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry.
The resort’s big win is only one of many recent accolades it has received, including Green Globe Certification and runner-up in the wildlife category in Condé Nast Traveler’s World Saver Awards for the second year in a row. Congratulations to the dedicated hospitality mavens and conservationists at Anantara Golden Triangle!
October 4th, 2011
Following the success of its inaugural art exhibit earlier this summer, Royal Mansour Marrakech is showcasing another local artist, Youssef Titou. The exhibit, entitled Fragments of Space, opens on October 1 and will be on display through November 30. Titou uses an assortment of techniques to create his exceptionally evocative and abstract images that are based on the elements of space.
Titou, a native of Fez, follows the showcase of French-Moroccan photographer, Leila Alaoui. Royal Mansour will continue to welcome the country’s top artists bimonthly, providing a unique platform to showcase their works.
These temporary exhibits join the hotel’s permanent art collection of over 80 contemporary Moroccan artists. The artwork is dotted among the hotel’s public spaces and private riads, seamlessly blending with the property’s stunning Moroccan décor.
For more information about Royal Mansour Marrakech, please visit their new website, www.royalmansour.com.