Hotel Miramonte Bad Gastein, Austria Reitlpromenade 3 / A-5640 Tel:+43 6434 2577-0 / +43 6434 2577-9 info@hotelmiramonte.com https://hotelmiramonte.com/ LOCATION There is no better setting for any wayfarer in pursuit of self cure but in the Alps. Along the lush and dramatic landscape of the belle epoque spa town of Bad Gastein in the Austrian Hohe Tauern mountain range, Hotel Miramonte sits on a hillside – a traveler’s dream oasis that rises from the early morning mist and blooms in the sun. The hotel is hidden away from the crowd but close enough to walk to the center of Bad Gastein vi ..read more

Heading to Spain soon? The chances of coming across some common local expressions are inevitable as soaking oneself in the glorious Spanish sunshine.   The Spanish have long convinced themselves that they love nothing more than life itself. As an all too familiar saying goes, ‘vida’ is short  and so they celebrate it with a passion. And boy how the good people of Spain do it. Like everything in Spain, the locals infused passion in their poetry, beliefs, flamenco and romance. Above all, their emotions are the embodiment of their expressions.  No surprise that when they talk, wor ..read more

Raffles Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey Zorlu Center Address: Levazım, Vadi Caddesi Zorlu Center, 34340 Beşiktaş  Tel:+90 212 924 02 00 https://www.raffles.com/istanbul/ LOCATION If there’s a city that reads like a sacred verse but appears like a spell, it’s Istanbul. Anyone who arrives in the former capital of the Roman Empire for more than a thousand years  –  by way of sea, air or land instantly falls for its sensory enchantment; as redolent passages of the Quran, like a welcome overture, reverberate from the city’s minarets. Istanbul, whilst happy to put on an ancien ..read more

Complain like the French, but first learn some phrases. The French are creatures obsessed with their food. So much so that they invoke them comme d’hatibute in their non-chalant quotidien. They refer to food when talking about something or someone, nourish one’s nostalgia, to flirt and tease, as well as use food as a clear-cut insult. Their great l’amour of food (as well as women) is what sets the French apart from the rest of the world and it’s no surprise that food has found their way in the French language and expressions. Learn a few of them and you’ll never look at a cabbage or sausage t ..read more

In travel, there is foreignness and familiarity. It’s like flipping a coin, you get one or the other. The most fascinating part? The sense of wonder and surprise.   Every so often, when the occasion arises, I would find myself traveling to one of my favorite European cities. I never get tired of visiting Vienna. For the last ten years, I have made pilgrimages to Austria’s capital. Each visit reveals a different side of the city. A new enriching experience. My early trips had been about rushing to see the sights, but the later ones mellowed into a comforting rhythm. I would walk around my ..read more

Throw a cat in the air, it will always land on its feet. But what happens when a cat lands in water? I’m that cat in the water. I’ve realized since moving to Spain, no amount of freestyle will keep me afloat when learning the language. Turns out, it requires steeling one’s self from shame and saying si, yes for Spanish. But as to how long  would my ‘yes’ endure?   This I must confess. Since my arrival in Spain, I’ve lost count of the times I have said yes to someone or something. I’m not completely in the dark when it comes to the Spanish language, partly thanks to what was once my ..read more

While the temptation of regenerative treatments flow abundantly in the Austrian Alps, visitors look the other way and seek out a new kind of healing.   At age 68, with a voluminous coif in a shade reminiscent of a melting snow, Ike Ikrath is overflowing with energy. So much so that he calls running a hotel his therapy.  Donning his usual Clark Kent rimmed glasses and expressive whimsy, he gestures to an Alvar Aalto’s Paimio lounge chair stationed neatly in a corner where newly arrived guests and those with trained eyes would spot it with ease.  “What are the odds?” I said quiet ..read more

The Okura Prestige Bangkok Bangkok, Thailand 57, Park Ventures Ecoplex 57 Witthayu Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan Tel:+66 (0) 2687 9000 Fax: tel:+66 (0) 2687 9001 https://www.okurabangkok.com/ LOCATION Bangkok is a city of contradictions and concessions. Its eagerness to indulge the visitor in the delights of materialism and extravagance without batting an eye is as good as its readiness to reorient human nature in the Buddhist cycle of karma and moral healing.  While almost, if not everything in this sprawling Thai capital seems like a paradox, coming upon an exception is a rarity ..read more

Love it or loathe it, Malate is a kind of place that lives up to its legendary reputation and the best way to know it is to embrace it.   Between the patchy phone line and the tropical downpour brought on by an approaching typhoon, I could barely make out what my former college friend was saying. “Malate?”, she repeated disbelievingly. An endless tittering ensued. Just before I could say anything, the line suddenly cut-off and went silent. It seems Malate, where I’ll be bedding down for two nights, still conjures up a certain reputation. A sort of neighborhood in Manila marked with red d ..read more

  Auersperg Hotel & Villa Salzburg, Austria Auerspergstraße 61, 5020 Telephone: +43 662 88 9 44 0 https://www.auersperg.at/en/ LOCATION Anyone who has visited or perhaps ‘Ländlered’ into Salzburg is familiar not just with its music but also with the landscape the city inhabits; the dramatic Salzach River, the mountains that creep from behind and a towering cliff decked with bulbous domes and graceful spires. For an intimate city like Salzburg, being close to everything while being far from the city’s daily hum is more than just a dream package but an absolute hideaway for every disc ..read more