The brief history of boutique hotels is fascinating if you’re a boutique hotel junkie, beginning in London in 1978 with Anouska Hempel’s Blakes Hotel and taken to giddy heights in New York City by Studio 54’s Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell with the Paramount Hotel. I have to confess to having been a budding boutique …
With only one day in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital, we recommend you soak up the history of Abu Dhabi and its traditional Emirati heritage and culture, as well as get a taste of its art, architecture and cuisine. The United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi is having its moment, thanks to …
Most beautiful Blue Mountains accommodation includes grand Art Deco hotels on clifftop escarpments overlooking vast valleys, remote eco-friendly lodges serving Australian cuisine from fresh local produce and garden cottages on sprawling estates. Encompassing a whopping 11,400 km² of native Australian bushland, rocky escarpments, dramatic rock formations, stupendous valleys, pockets of rainforest, spectacular caves, and quaint towns …
Living like locals in Phuket will give you a more enriching experience of the Southern Thai island than staying at a beach resort. Rent an apartment, breakfast with the locals, learn to cook some Phuket food, and you’ll leave with more than a taste of Phuket. Living like locals in Phuket, the Southern Thailand island, …
This Sri Lanka luxury escape for less deal is for a 7-night stay at the seafront Fortress Resort and Spa boutique hotel at Koggala, Sri Lanka, which has been designed in the style of Galle’s historic fort and pays homage to Sri Lanka’s Dutch influence. Today’s Sri Lanka luxury escape for less package is at …
The best Bangkok Old City heritage boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts offer an intimate, personal experience, a quaint taste of the past, and a step back in time, as much as a temporary retreat from the Thai capital's chaos and traffic gridlock. It’s fourteen years since our first trip to Thailand and I have to confess …
The best Singapore hotels for views that will take your breath away range from the unrivalled rooftop panoramas from the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands Sky Park to the sumptuous Mandarin Oriental's sweeping vistas of Marina Bay Sands and the city skyline. Who doesn’t want a room with a view when you’re on holidays? As …
Luxury for less in Siem Reap means a 5-course gastronomic tasting menu at a fine dining restaurant for as little as US$24, a three-hour spa package priced at US$65, and chic boutique hotels starting from as little as US$50 in low season. Our Luxury for Less in Siem Reap guide is the first in a …
Best Bangkok hotel swimming pools range from luxury towers with rooftop infinity pools boasting dazzling panoramic vistas of the Bangkok city skyline to charming Chao Phraya riverside boutique hotels offering water views from your sun-bed. I have to confess that I’m a water baby. I spent my childhood splashing in the shallow waters of backyard blow-up …
Luxury for Less in Southeast Asia is possible year-round. While travelling to the region during the low season will get you jaw-dropping bargains on flights, hotels and tours – and help the local economy – Southeast Asia offers affordable luxury in abundance all year and a warm welcome. We’re launching a Luxury for Less series …
Luxury Escapes for less – who doesn’t love some affordable luxury? Now, thanks to our new partnership with Luxury Escapes you can book jaw-dropping deals on gorgeous resorts, villas, hotels, and small group luxury tours for less – along with exclusive packages created just for Grantourismo readers. I first heard about Luxury Escapes from some …
Living like locals in Darwin, Australia’s Northern Territory capital, is the best way to appreciate this sultry tropical city’s laidback vibe, rich indigenous culture, ethnic diversity, multicultural neighbourhood markets, and gobsmacking sunsets. For many travellers to Australia, Darwin is little more than the launching pad for more epic adventures east, south (to Alice Springs and …