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- 5 luxury vacations in Chile
- London's dash to 'toilet restaurants'
- Songkran Festival 2013: World's biggest water fight
- Southern Africa's best boutique safari reserves
| Posted: 15 Apr 2013 03:00 AM PDT When planning an empty-the-vault, max-out-the-credit-card vacation -- complete with helicopter rides and private yachts -- Chile may not spring to mind. True, South America isn't known for service and opulence in the same way as, say, Asia. But travel this long, thin country with a fat wallet and you'll find plush resorts, personal butlers and private tours standing by. Better still, Chile's high-end hotspots are under-publicized. Mining turns the country's financial wheels, while tourism accounts for just 3% of GDP. Who are world's best tourists? We don't call then Chill'eans for nothing Yet from a traveler's viewpoint, Chile has it all -- mountains, desert, ocean, fjords, glaciers, lakes and volcanoes. Now there's a wave of high-end hospitality to match the beauty. 1. Vineyard heli-tours Wine tasting by bike, horseback and car is so last year. The view is far better from above. As luck would have it, family-run vineyard Loma Larga has its own helicopter. This Casablanca Valley winery produces Chile's only cold-climate Malbec, a 93-point 2010 Cabernet Franc; and an unusual blend of Syrah, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc called Rapsodia, which smells of strawberries and cream. "This isn't one of the big, mass-produced vineyards," says Loma Larga sommelier Alejandra Gutierrez. "It's family run, and our coastal winds make completely unique wine." World's 10 best drinking nations Next it's up and over the Casablanca Valley, swooping over the vines and landing in San Antonio on the front lawn of Viña Matetic. This winery uses gravity for grape production, rather than pumps, and makes the most of its resident chickens, geese and alpacas for fertilization. It's one of few vineyards where you actually see the winemaking process -- something to see, since all the grapes are handpicked. The lineup for tasting is Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Then it's on to the hacienda-style wine lodge, La Casona, where all seven bedrooms are named after varieties of wine. Sauvignon Blanc -- the only suite -- has a pool view, four-poster bed and Jacuzzi. Santiago Adventures operates helicopter tours of wine valleys; +56 22 44 2750; $1,037 for one person, maximum 3 people at US$456 per person; www.santiagoadventures.com 2. Slick SantiagoLuxury factors: Butlers trained for royalty, extreme Chilean cuisine Where to sleep in Santiago? No one does old school glamour like The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago, while The W is the queen of modern cool, complete with infinity pool and helipad -- handy if you fancy hitching that helicopter back from the vineyards. Insider Guide: Best of Santiago But the 138-room San Cristóbal Tower is the only hotel with personal butlers to unpack, press, polish and bring you morning tea. We're not talking run-of-the-mill butlers -- these guys are trained by the lady (quite literally Lady Iris Spencer) who shapes up butlers for the British royal family. Plus, the Presidential Suite was good enough for Barack Obama. As for food, the buzz around Peruvian cuisine is so loud you can hear it globally. Yes, there's an Astrid & Gaston in town, but for high-end Chilean food the spot is Boragó. The first thing you notice at Boragó is a smoky aroma. Chef Rodolfo Guzmán is a foraging fiend who uses all-native food. His motivation? Rescuing products and Mapuche techniques that have been forgotten. Guzmán cooks over volcanic rocks, with local flowers and herbs in place of traditional condiments. He lives by one rule: "Anything that grows at 4,000 meters must be good." The eight-course tasting menu comes on 5-kilo plates made from river rocks, and changes daily depending what Rodolfo forages. In 2011, he fashioned 725 different dishes. Highlights include Patagonian Murtilla berries that grow for just two weeks each year; seeds from an Atacaman tree that taste like cinder toffee; and a Glacial Freeze dessert that makes you breathe out steam (dry ice) like a dragon. San Cristóbal Tower; Josefina Edwards De Ferrari 0100, Santiago; +56 2 2707 1000; Presidential Suite US$3,000 per night; www.starwoodhotels.com Boragó, Vitacura 8369, Santiago; +56 2 224 8278; Boragó 3. Private Patagonia
Splitting your Patagonia stay between The Singular and Explora's Hotel Salto Chico is the ultimate way to see Patagonia. Salto Chico is the best hotel inside Torres del Paine National Park and the view over the Paine Massif is so unbelievable it looks like a screensaver. 27 sights that will remind you how incredible Earth is "It's like a five-star base camp," says Patagonia guide, Romi da Pieve. "The luxury is waking up to this incredible view, spending all day outside hiking, horseback riding and visiting glaciers, and all evening relaxing and eating." The Singular, however, serves the best food in the south, conjuring local dishes like Magellan lamb and king crab in an open kitchen for all to see. Located near the small town of Puerto Natales, the Singular has three 70-meter suites and is in a good position for exploring other parts of Patagonia, like Milodon Cave, where giant sloth lived 10,000 years ago. The hotel itself has some history -- it was built by Brits in 1915 for mutton processing, and the original machinery remains. Both hotels do excursions in style, with top guides and a ready supply of pisco sours -- on Explora's boat ride to Grey Glacier, the boatman chills your drink with 10,000-year-old ice carved from the glacier. Hotel Salto Chico; +1 866 750 6699; full board from US$2,040 for three nights; www.explora.com The Singular, Puerto Bories; +562 2954 0480; full board in a suite from US$910 per night; http://thesingular.com 4. Chiloé fjords by yacht
The charm of Chiloé lies in its eccentricity. Like traveling back 100 years in time, myths, religion and tradition pave the way of island life. Not counting too many stars yet? Don't worry, there's a yacht on the horizon. Tourism comes (slowly) to Chile's best-kept secret Rather than an über-glam Monaco-style yacht, what Chiloé resident Vicente Zegers had in mind for his dream business was a handcrafted wooden boat. He commissioned local craftsmen to build it, and after two years in the making, the 17-meter Ona took to the waters. "This is a voyage along channels of incomparable beauty, with remote landscapes where the ancient culture and traditions make an adventure for your eyes and senses," says Raffaele Di Biase, cruise naturalist and owner of Birds Chile. Three-night, four-day cruises take you to the most remote parts of the archipelago, places accessible only by sea, making stops at small villages to visit some of the area's 150 churches, eating local delicacies such as locos (a type of abalone) and sipping pisco sours as the sun sets without a person in sight. The Ona accommodates a maximum of eight guests (you can book the whole yacht for yourself), plus a guide on board to fill you in on the Chilote myths -- one recounts the legend of a phantom vessel -- and a chef to fill you up with fresh seafood. +56 233 455 96; minimum value for charter US$13,500; www.travesiasur.cl 5. Desert comfort
The Atacama is the driest desert on earth, and travelers come here to explore some of the planet's largest salt planes and highest geysers. At Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa, six swimming pools take the edge off life with little natural water. Highly recommended is cycling to the salt lakes, catching sunrise at the geysers and hiking across the Valley of the Moon. Thanks to the dry climate, high altitude and lack of light pollution, these are some of the clearest skies in the southern hemisphere and Alto Atacama has its own observatory. If you don't want to mix with the masses, private tours can be booked. You'll be pushed to find food this good elsewhere in the desert. Lodge chef Daniel Molina uses local, organic produce such as native Socaire potatoes and quinoa, and rustles up a mean rica rica gnocchi. If you need more proof this is no desert outpost, the Puri Spa has Finnish saunas, Turkish baths, Scottish showers and quinoa facials. Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa; Camino Pukara S/N, Sector Suchor, Allyú de Quitor, San Pedro de Atacama; +56 2957 0303; prices from US$726 per night for full board and full-day private excursions; www.altoatacama.com      |
| London's dash to 'toilet restaurants' Posted: 14 Apr 2013 11:00 PM PDT When the first toilet-themed restaurant, Modern Toilet, opened in Taipei in 2004, public reaction was mixed. Was it weird, funny or just plain unsavory? Whatever the answer, the concept's popularity quickly became obvious -- the chain now has successful franchises across Asia. London, however, has put a new spin on the business. Not toilet-themed restaurants, restaurants in former toilets
Story's hearty and inventive offerings includes a 10-course menu featuring such dishes as burnt onion, apple, gin and thyme; crab with smoked leek, rapeseed, pear and lovage; lamb bread, sheep yogurt and wild garlic; and beef cheek, stout and cauliflower yeast. 50 reasons London is the world's greatest city The 26-year-old Sellers' resume includes Thomas Kellers' Michelin-starred restaurants French Laundry and Per Se in the United States, as well as a stint at what some call the world's best restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen. It's not just Sellers' culinary pedigree that's piqued interest in his new project. It's the fact that his new restaurant is located on the site of a former toilet block. Sellers isn't alone in his curious site selection -- Story's story follows on the heels of another recent opening, The Attendant, a subterranean London cafe that occupies a former Victorian toilet built around the 1890s. Unlike Story, The Attendant has kept many of its restored period features. "We kept everything, including the original teak Attendant's office door, which we converted into our little kitchen," says Attendant owner Peter Tomlinson. "There is even a 1950s hand drier still on the wall. "Floors, walls and urinals made by Doulton & Paisley at their Lambeth Factory on the shore of the River Thames in 1890 are all original." With the addition of wooden panels, each urinal has been transformed into a seating cubicle. How to be a London local: 10 tips for faking it As far as Tomlinson is concerned, "it's no different to an espresso bar or restaurant in the middle of a department store which has no natural light." Rest easy, the place has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. A third London public toilet has recently been sold under auction, this one with planning permission to become a restaurant with a roof terrace. The Walham Green toilets in Fulham will be stripped down and rebuilt, leaving little hint of its former life. Not just London London isn't alone in using former toilet space for hip restaurants. On the east coast of England, Toulouse restaurant in Westcliff-on-Sea is housed in former sea-facing public toilets. In the west country, the Sea Mills Community Initiative in Bristol has created a community-run cafe in disused toilets. Even footballers are getting in on the action, with former Rangers star Jorg Albertz backing a restaurant project on the site of disused toilets in Glasgow. Restaurants aren't the only uses for revamped toilets. In fact, the re-purposing of disused toilets started with bars. In east London, Public Life nightclub in trendy Shoreditch was located in an old toilet before closing early last year. Cellar Door in central London is a popular subterranean cocktail and cabaret lounge. West London's Ginglik was created within the confines of a toilet built for the 1908 Olympic games. Business behind the business
Affordability is a driving factor. 10 of London's most interesting shops Many public toilets have been decommissioned or fallen into disrepair and been neglected. With property prices high and available space low, disused public toilets have become prime real estate. Peter Frankum, director of urban design at property developer Savills, sees regeneration as a perfect solution. "Local authorities have been trying to deal with demands of budget reduction and the delivery of the regeneration of urban areas," says Frankum. "The re-use and conversion of high maintenance and underused buildings to more profitable and beneficial uses is a way of reducing maintenance costs and enhance local areas." Frankum also notes that changes to local regulations have made it easier to implement urban regeneration in former public spaces. That's good news for young restaurateurs such as Tom Sellers -- and diners who don't mind a little historic business with their restaurant business. Story, 201 Tooley Street, London SE1; www.restaurantstory.co.uk    |
| Songkran Festival 2013: World's biggest water fight Posted: 14 Apr 2013 06:55 PM PDT Armed with water guns, travelers have been streaming into Thailand over the weekend for Songkran, the country's most popular festival that runs April 12-15. On Saturday Thailand joined other southeast Asian countries in kicking off the region's New Year festival and the official start of summer the way Thais do every year -- with chaotic water fights and nonstop partying. Splashing water is traditionally used during Songkran to pay respect and wish people good luck, but it has also evolved into a wild nationwide water fight. Click here for our travel guide to Songkran, complete with tips on how to avoid wet powder and why you should bring a plastic bag as well as detailed rules of engagement. The revelries can be dangerous -- especially on the roads. Dubbed the "seven dangerous days of Songkran," the festive week often records an alarmingly high number of accidents. The current road death toll for this year is 218, said Thailand's Interior Ministry road safety center on Sunday, nearly double the already high daily average of deaths from road accidents. In 2012, the Bangkok Post reported that a total of 320 people were killed around this time. The biggest cause of death was drunk driving. More on CNN: Insider Guide: Best of Bangkok    |
| Southern Africa's best boutique safari reserves Posted: 14 Apr 2013 03:00 PM PDT The Serengeti, the Maasai Mara -- perhaps Africa's best known safari destinations. But East Africa doesn't have a monopoly on acacia tree horizons and dusty lion trails. For some smaller, private and luxury reserves look south of the equator, where many tour groups and management companies maintain some of Africa's highest quality parks. The animals are healthy, the service is impeccable -- best of all the tourists are few, and always satisfied. Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia
One of the best places to experience its savannah beauty is in the Chongwe River House, located deep in the Lower Zambezi National Park, a highly original creation using ferro walls, river stones and contorted branches in its construction. Safari pioneer Geoffrey Kent's incredible African odyssey Wild game is rampant here with elephants in sight almost daily -- you can watch them from your outdoor pool. The hosts can also arrange tiger fishing trips. Hippos frequently take a stroll over the camp's front lawn. Chongwe River House, Plot 48, Acacia Road, Eureka Park, Lusaka, Zambia; +260 211 841051; www.chongweriverhouse.com Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
In Hwange, which, at nearly 15,000 square kilometers is the nation's largest national park, it's still possible to spot leopard, giraffe, hyenas, lions and tens of thousands of elephants that migrate through the park on their way to Botswana each year. The luxury tented suites at The Hide rest camp fuse contemporary chic with an atavistic colonial feel -- the owners will take you out on night drives to nearby watering holes to watch the animals whose lives go on unchanged in this turbulent country. The Hide, 74 Steppes Road, Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe; +263 4 498835-6; www.thehide.com Mthethomusha Game Reserve, South Africa
Here you'll find numerous 2,000-year-old rock paintings daubed by the San people hidden in caves -- new ones are being discovered every year. As well as the Big Five, game includes zebra, waterbuck and the occasional pack of wild dogs. 4 best places for photographing big cats Night drives along the floors of the valleys that rip across the reserve can be followed up with a feast of traditional South African dishes, such as ostrich steak at the Bongani Mountain Lodge. Bongani Mountain Lodge, P.O. Box 41, Kaapmuiden, 1295; +27 13 764 3577; www.bonganimountainlodge.co.za Mundulea Nature Reserve, Namibia
You might see a black rhino called Hooker, as well as leopard, eland, impala and zebra, among others, before heading back to the discreet bush camp with a roaring fire and furniture carved from weeping wattle trees. For information and tours contact Thurnstone Tours, P.O. Box 307, Swakopmund, Namibia; +264 64 403123; www.mundulea.com Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
Back in the 1960s the likes of Cary Grant visited Gorongosa National Park. Decades of civil war all but destroyed the big game population, but since peace in the early 1990s progress has been made with the desert plains and mountain ranges now alive with the lions, sable, waterbuck, kudu and crocodile. Africa's 10 best national parks Zimbabwean couple Rob and Jocelyn Janisch recently opened the low-key Explore Gorongosa tented safari camp and arrange drives and walks around a park that, they hope, will once again be considered the most beautiful in Africa. For information and tours contact Explore Gorongosa; +27 21 813 9534; www.exploregorongosa.com Thanda Private Game Reserve, South Africa
The unique and vibrant culture of the Zulu people who inhabit this stretch of Eastern South Africa is celebrated in the Thanda Lodge. Surviving the Sahara: Three weeks with the Tuareg Built in the circular style of a traditional "kraal," the lodge is home to what the owners describe as a "living mueseum," where guests can learn about the art of spear combat and taste traditional local beer, the perfect way to wind down after a day spent bird-watching, diving or even getting to feed the numerous crocodiles. Contact Thanda Private Game Reserve, +27 (0)87 806 1210; www.thanda.com Liwonde National Park, Malawi
Miniscule Malawi is best known for its gargantuan eponymous lake, but the Liwonde National Park in the center of this landlocked nation also offers an old fashioned safari experience where the animals do as they please -- they're not yet used to cars and humans. Buffalo, elephant and crocodiles four meters long reside here and the park is also home to a rhino sanctuary protecting the beasts who have recently been re-introduced to the wild. During the wet season (January to March) the park transforms from parched bush into a dripping vista of green with cobalt lakes, wallowing hippos and skittish zebra and antelope. For trip information contact Tribes Travel; +44 1473 890499; www.tribes.co.uk Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Botswana
Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta get all the plaudits from visitors to tranquil Botswana, leaving the south of the country all but untouched by tourism. Searching for hippos in the Okavango Delta The Mokolodi Nature Reserve is gloriously free of 4x4s, creating a solitary experience amid the white rhino, giraffe, leopard and impala in a landscape of swamps, lakes and scrub. The park is mentioned in Alexander McCall Smith's "Number One Ladies Detective Agency" books and you can recline with a thumb-eared copy at night in the park's traditional, no-frills rondavels (thatched huts) named after the author. Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Gaborone, Botswana; +267 316 1955/6; www.mokolodi.com Hlane Royal National Park, Swaziland
Owned by King Mswati III (Africa's last absolute monarch), part of the reserve is fenced off as his own personal hunting reserve. The rest is open for all to spot lion, rhino, cheetah, hyena and leopard through the wild thorny bush. Accommodation in the Ndlovu Camp is rustic wooden lodges with a game-viewing terrace and the chance to go on walks into the bush with guides where you can get within touching distance of some of the more friendly elephants. Trips can be booked through Jenman African Safaris, P.O. Box 36146, Glosderry, 7702, Cape Town, South Africa; +27 (0)21 683 7826; www.jenmansafaris.com Aquila Private Game Reserve, South AfricaThis is one of the few game reserves within easy reach of Cape Town on South Africa's southernmost tip. In a region more famously known for its beach life and vineyards, Aquilia is located in a 7,500-hectare area of the southern Karoo semi-desert region and is home to all of the Big Five, as well as hippo, giraffe and more than 170 species of bird. How to take great wildlife photos Accommodation is in luxurious wooden chalets, complete with balconies, built in the hillside with al fresco showers and huge fireplaces. There's also the option to escape the traditional game-viewing experience from the back of a safari truck -- Aquila offers safari treks through the bush on horseback or quad bike. For information and tours contact Aquila Private Game Reserve, P.O. Box 1861, Cape Town, 8000; +27 (0) 21 430 7260; www.aquilasafari.com    |
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