Kotton Magazine

The Best Luxury Hotels You’ve Probably Never Heard Of – But Should Know

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Anantara Hotels & Resorts is a Thai chain founded by an American entrepreneur spanning three continents and more than a dozen countries. As such, it combines the legendary hospitality of its homeland with a modern and global understanding of the luxury hotel industry and what today’s traveler wants. It is also one of the fastest growing luxury brands in the industry, just expanded into Europe, and if you like to travel and stay at top hotels, it is a brand you need to know.

William Heinecke moved to Thailand from the States in the Sixties when he was just 14, and within three years was running a successful advertising agency. Next, he turned his attention to fast food, and built a vast pizza empire that became the foundation of Minor International – so named because he was a legal “minor” when he started and needed parental co-signing of documents. Today, his conglomerate Minor includes a few dozen businesses and is one of the largest hospitality and food players in Asia, with around 150 hotels, nearly 2,000 restaurants and several hundred retail stores. Heinecke owns, operates, or has owned major luxury brand hotels including Four Seasons, St. Regis, Radisson and JW Marriott, and as a frequent international traveler himself, came to the conclusion that there was a void to be filled by a hotel that combined the top shelf service and amenities of a global luxury brand with a more discernible local sense of place that respected and reflected its setting and culture. To that end, he created his top tier “5-Star” brand, Anantara, and his slightly less opulent “4-Star” brand Avani. Today both are thriving and growing. Not surprisingly for a hotel chain started by a restaurateur, the emphasis on culinary experience permeates both brands.

The first Anantara was opened in Thailand’s famed beach resort of Hua Hin just 15 years ago, and now roughly three dozen of the luxury hotels and resorts can be found in a very varied range of city, island and desert settings across Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zambia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and now Europe. The brand just opened its first resort outside of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort on the Portuguese coast. Vilamoura in turn is one of the largest and best-known golf and leisure resorts on the Continent. It is a perfect example of the Anantara philosophy, bringing a branch of the brand’s highly acclaimed Thai-style spa, health club offerings such as tai chi and yoga, and a restaurant specializing in Thai cuisine, but otherwise celebrating the local setting. Rooms were furnished with local artisan products like colorful Portuguese ceramics and items made from cork trees. The main restaurant features local specialties, while a new raw bar eatery will showcase Algarve seafood, and there is a deep resort-wide program showcasing Portuguese wines. The hotel employs the winner of Best Sommelier in Portugal, who will prepare restaurant food and wine pairings, lead tastings for guests, and suites are equipped with wine fridges.

While several hotel chains have branded their spas globally, Anantara is the only one that has taken this approach to cooking schools, with its Spice Spoons program – which always focuses on the local cuisine where the resort is set. In each case, the Spice Spoon half day format begins with obtaining ingredients alongside the chef instructor, which might mean a local market visit, foraging, or at beach resorts even catching the main course. Then guests and chef head into a dedicated demonstration kitchen where they learn to cook a local specialty, enjoy it for lunch and go home with recipes, souvenirs and keepsake ingredients like rice or spices. Guests in Thailand might learn to make green curry, at a Vietnamese beach resort to cook fish, or in this new case to prepare classic Portuguese specialties.

The Spice Spoons concept is one of my favorite features of the Anantara brand, another memorable and experiential activity in each destination, but it is not the only way locales are distinguished and emphasized. In Bangkok, I took a Thai boxing class, which I have not seen on the activity list at the many other luxury resorts I’ve visited worldwide, and it was fun, informative, memorable, and an excellent workout. I have now been to enough Anantara properties to have developed an appreciation of the unique offerings and luxury accommodations. Most locations host live cultural performances for guests, from music to dance to theater, always reflecting local culture. The food is first rate, as are the extensive spas, and most properties encourage exploration by offering extensive off property programs to showcase the location. In Bangkok they have a “Street Guru,” a full time hotel employee, to lead tours of the city complete with an immersion into its famously rich street food culture. In Cambodia’s Siem Reap, home to the world-famous Angkor Wat Temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they have a “temple guru.” The Siem Reap boutique resort offers a laundry list of local outings, from rice paddy to fishing village tours. Outings are offering at various resorts by boat, bicycle, rickshaw and foot. Back at the hotel. rooms are lavish, there are usually multiple dining options, and gorgeous swimming pools are standard. Many resorts also feature villas with private pools. The flagship Anantara Siam in Bangkok used to be a Four Seasons, and is a grand urban business and pleasure hotel in the mold of the Peninsula Hong Kong, with a big ornate lobby, top shelf shops, multiple restaurants and much more. I loved it, and it easily competes toe to toe with any name brand 5-Star luxury hotel in the city – or most cities. But the brand’s other Bangkok property, the Anantara Riverside, is completely different, an urban resort concept with vast gardens, elaborate pools and outdoor spaces, a true oasis in the city, right on the river with its own boat service to popular destinations, outdoor Thai boxing ring and numerous choices for dining and drinking.

 

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2017/05/24/the-best-luxury-hotels-youve-probably-never-heard-of-but-should-know/

On – 24 May, 2017 By Larry Olmsted

8 Of The Best Luxury Fragrances For Men | FashionBeans

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We all know that a hefty price tag doesn’t automatically equate to a superior product. Nonetheless, there are still plenty of reasons to splash out on a spenny scent. For starters, due to the price, luxury fragrances tend to be produced in relatively small quantities and their distribution is often limited. This means you’re far less likely to bump into another man wearing exactly the same.

What’s more, free of commercial constraints, many opt to use only the finest ingredients, and their creators are able to let rip creatively, offering a real – often quirky and original – alternative to everyday department store brands.

“A lot of men genuinely want to try something that’s off the beaten track,” says award-winning fragrance blogger Dariush Alavi. “They’re interested in wearing scents that are different from the wares offered by the mainstream.”

Sound like you? Then crack open the piggy bank and read on because here are some of the best luxury scents money can buy.

Hermès Cuir D’Ange

Described as one of the most masculine fragrances ever made – it “combines an oily, grimy leather note with an astonishing, delicate luminosity,” according to Alavi – Hermès Cuir D’Ange by legendary nose Jean-Claude Ellena appropriately translates into ‘angel leather’.

Part of the French luxury goods firm’s Hermessence range (each one designed to be an ‘olfactory poem’), it’s perfect for fans of sexy leathery fragrances seeking something a little more refined, genteel and complex. Heavenly.

Available at Hermes, priced £269 for 200ml EDT.

Hermès Cuir D’Ange

Roja Parfums Vetiver

The undisputed King of luxury British fragrances, Roja Dove’s creations include perfumes that’ll set you back over £2,500. Thankfully, his ridiculously good Vetiver Pour Homme comes in at a slightly more affordable £375.

Warm, spicy and smoky, it’s laced with green notes like galbanum and has a long-lasting leathery accord, which gives it a lingering sensuality on the skin, along with superb staying power.

“I created it to be the ultimate in how a man should smell,” says Dove. Those who love it would probably agree that he succeeded admirably.

Available at Roja Parfums, priced £375 for 50ml EDP.

Roja Parfums Vetiver

Amouage Bracken Man

Drawing inspiration from its birthplace in the Sultanate of Oman, luxury niche perfume house Amouage is known for its use of carefully sourced, high-quality ingredients such as rare silver frankincense.

Bracken Man is one of its best creations. “It’s an utterly divine fougère that is incredibly compelling and mysterious and really doesn’t smell like anything else out there,” says Josephine Fairley, co-founder of The Perfume Society.

Also worth a sniff is Honour Man, an Amouage fragrance that features a classic trio of masculine notes (incense, patchouli and vetiver), which Alavi describes as a scent projecting the very essence of confidence. And that’s what every man wants from his eau de parfum, right?

Available at Selfridges, priced £225 for 100ml EDP.

Amouage Bracken Man

Creed Aventus

Creed fragrances are a bit like David Bowie albums: everyone has their favourite, but there are a couple that everyone agrees are head and shoulders above the rest.

Original Vetiver is sweet and smoky, while Green Irish Tweed (a favourite of George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan and even P.Diddy) is floral, green and woody – but it’s Aventus that is probably the most accessible.

Launched in 2010 to celebrate Creed’s 250th anniversary (how’s that for staying power?), it’s a complex and juicy yet warm, woody and sophisticated number with notes of pineapple, blackcurrant, jasmine, patchouli, oakmoss and vanilla. Feel free to argue whether it’s a Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory or a Blackstar amongst yourselves.

Available at Creed, priced £230 for 100ml EDP.

Creed Aventus

Clive Christian 1872 (Masculine Edition)

Few companies have done more to popularise luxury perfumery in the UK than Clive Christian. Famous for exquisitely designed bottles with equally exquisite contents, the company’s ‘No 1’ fragrance was once advertised as ‘The World’s Most Expensive Perfume’.

The masculine edition of 1872 – a fresh, citrusy and spicy creation with green grassy notes and a hefty dose of sandalwood – is brilliantly versatile and a great place to start if new to this most luxurious of luxury brands.

Available at Selfridges, priced £350 for 100ml EDP.

Clive Christian 1872 (masculine edition)

Boucheron Oud de Carthage

There are plenty of expensive oud fragrances out there. In fact, so popular in the Middle East is oud that companies have long battled it out to produce ever more wallet-draining versions.

According to Fairley, this one by French jewellery house Boucheron – part of a six-piece scent collection – is one of the best, and at £175 is relatively affordable luxury. “It’s so good because as an oud it has all the edges buffed off it by incense, honey and tonka bean,” she says.

Like all the fragrances in the collection, Oud de Carthage was created by none other than Dominique Ropion, the nose behind scents such as Burberry Brit Rhythm, Paco Rabanne Invictus and countless others by Frederic Malle.

“It’s resinous and smoky with a fabulous incense trail – and a gorgeous bottle,” she says. “And yes, when it comes to luxury, the bottle matters.”

Available at Boucheron, priced £175 for 125ml EDP.

Boucheron Oud de Carthage

Papillon Artisan Perfumes Tobacco Rose

The benefit of many luxury fragrances is their unfettered creativity and experimentation. For a clear example of this, you need to look no further than the niche Tobacco Rose. “Papillon pushes the limits of […] fragrances almost to breaking point,” says fragrance writer Stephan Matthews. “[The brand] challenges people’s perceptions and always adds a dash of sexuality to every perfume.”

Though a floral scent, Tobacco Rose is one that men should not be afraid of wearing. “You get a truly sensuous floral with masculinity coming from the clever use of hay, oakmoss and beeswax, which add a real earthiness to the fragrance,” adds Matthews. The scent itself was nominated for Best New Independent Fragrance at the FiFi Awards (the olfactory Oscars), so you can investigate with confidence.

Available at Papillon, priced £122 for 50ml EDP.

Papillon Artisan Perfumes Tobacco Rose

Les Eaux Primordiales Champ d’Influence

When perfumer Arnaud Poulain, founder of Les Eaux Primordiales, set about creating Champ d’Influence, he had in mind the childhood memory of his grandfather shaving in the kitchen of his house in rural France. Hence there’s a barbershop freshness here thanks to lemon, lavender and geranium, but also a warm, comforting base of woods, musk and patchouli.

“This scent is so full of richness, sentiment, nostalgia, freshness and imagination,” says award-winning fragrance expert James Craven of independent perfumery Les Senteurs. “It has the depth of a vintage Creed, the inspiration of a classic Guerlain and is a modern classic for an assured gentleman of wit, wisdom and joie de vivre.”

Available at Les Senteurs, priced £155 for 100ml EDP.

Les Eaux Primordiales Champ d’Influence

http://www.fashionbeans.com/2017/best-luxury-fragrances-for-men/

On – 23 May, 2017 By Lee Kynaston

WHAT IS LUXURY TODAY? – Dubai Fashion News

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Home Lifestyle WHAT IS LUXURY TODAY?
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The definition of Luxury has evolved over the years. What before was considered a luxury, now might be a commodity. At the Arab Luxury World 2017 held at the Westin Mina Seyahi, we enjoyed the insights of expert speakers.

 

THE BURNING QUESTIONS

From watchmaking, to cars, art, fashion, cigars, perfume or even architecture… we wonder, what is Luxury today? How luxury brands are conveying their messages? What are we, consumers, looking for in them?

For Jean-Claude Biver, President of the Watches division of LMVH Group, Chairman of Hublot and CEO of Tag Heuer and Zenith, Luxury is whatever money cannot buy. He was the first of the many amazing speakers at the Main Hall. Mr Biver shared a bit of his philosophy and sense of humor with the audience. He thinks that art is eternal, whether Greek, roman or contemporary. God is Love in all religions. Art is an expression of love as you cannot create it without passion, which is a form of love. The artist then becomes an ambassador of God through his/her work.

For him watchmaking is an art and therefore, it is eternal. When asked about the iWatch, he smiled and shared a personal story. Before it was common to inherit the watch of your father or grandfather. At the end of the day, it was an investment piece and meant a certain status for the family within society. His, still works seamlessly today and it is from the 40´s. “Digital watches will require updates, chargers or batteries might change… same as the phones, we will end up changing them every 2-3 years”.

To me, time and health are the ultimate luxury. Nothing gets more precious when you are lacking it. So, I agree with Monsieur Biver.

Luxury is whatever money cannot buy.

LUXURY 1 DUBAI FASHION NEWS

COMMUNICATING LUXURY

Luxury used to come from the top-down. Now things are changing and the street is dictating what it might be the next object of desire. Brands need to be out there, constantly innovating, understanding the new needs and behaviors. Things are changing fast.

When we are speaking about Luxury we are encompassing quite a lot of sectors but in general, all of them face a common struggle. How to communicate and engage their potential customers? They might have top notch quality product, a lot of history and amazing craftmanship… but how do you make them appreciate it over the other brands in our saturated markets?

The answer varies from expert to expert but most of them agreed on having “emotion” as the key ingredient. Brands need to create a unique experience. Harrods for example created an educational area dedicated to the art of perfume making. This sensorial experience allows customers to understand the process, the ingredients, and the work behind the next bottle they will buy.

The engagement goes up the roof when you explain how things are done.

THE FUTURE OF LUXURY RETAIL

But then, should stores be like museums? Is the shopping going to happen in a retail floor or online? Online is facilitating the discovering of new brands and products, but we still like to “feel” the products. The success might reside in having a 50/50 between online and offline. Now the question would be… Who is going to bear the cost- the brands or the regional partners in the Middle East?

LUXURY 2 DUBAI FASHION NEWS

The retail space is definitively part of the brand identity and it helps create ad expand the brand awareness.  Victoria de la Fuente from Lambert + Associates mentioned about a new appointment system Moda Operandi has in some cities. As they already know what you liked, what was in your basket, what items got more of your attention… when you go to the physical store the service is exquisite. Thanks to all the data, they are able to recommend you better.

Maybe the future of the shops is to become places where you discover new products. Professor Carlo Ratti from MIT designed the future supermarket for a Milano Food Fair. Every time you approached a product, the product information will show in a digital display above. From source country, calories to carbon footprint… The supermarket was a real-life experiment. The brand was Coop- a real supermarket chain- and the sales they got from this “experiment” were far higher benchmarked to their other outlets.

RESTRICTIONS APPLY

Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard from Davidoff cigars spoke about the many restrictions they have to go through and how they do work with sponsorships.  For example, providing art residencies to artists in the countries where they source their tobacco leaves.

As advertisement is pretty restricted for them, they focus their attention in creating a new retail concept. Smoking lounges at airports and main cities, together with “museum-shops”, adding bar facilities and walk-in humidors. If you are a cigar smoker, you will feel in heaven. Accessories also became part of their strategy, having the help of the above-mentioned artists, and offering bespoke pieces to fit the customer´s décor. They moved from the term “point of sales” to “point of excitement” and all with very little advertisement.

EMBRACING OR RUNNING AWAY FROM DISRUPTION?

We heard nowadays a lot about digital disruption… but what does it take to be really disruptive? As Samer Bohsali from Strategy&, said during his speech, we didn’t invent the light bulb by improving the candle. You have to be ready to break every single rule. This kind of transformation must be led from the top. He mentioned as an example how our Sheikh Mohammed is personally pushing for changes in the UAE and in the region.

LUXURY 3 DUBAI FASHION NEWS

Disruption is an attitude. But it can be scary. Maybe the status quo will change and jobs could be lost, relocated, or replaced. How society can be ready to embrace change when it is meant by definition to bring uncertainty?

One important key would be to change the way we educate. Schools have to teach now how to unlearn and adapt, work on skills and not only on knowledge. We have to keep flexible, see the changes coming and take them as opportunities – Said Jose Antonio Grajales from Noon.com.

The luxury sector is about people. We cannot remove the human touch- said Emre Karaer from Volvo. So, there would be jobs in this sector, maybe not the traditional ones though. This also means new profiles will be on demand.

Arab Luxury World is indeed a very interesting event that we recommend from now on. The insights and reflections shared with the audience were well-informed and thought-provoking. At the end of the day, they were coming from speakers that breath and understand what luxury is all about.

http://dubaifashionnews.com/what-is-luxury-today/

On – 23 May, 2017 By Araceli Gallego

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