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Signature layouts in Central Vietnam make local engagement a cornerstone of their mission

Phuket resort’s new wellness retreat makes its debut with neuroscientist-led program

Creating unforgettable memories that last a lifetime has been part of The Peninsula's ethos since the very beginning, almost a century ago. Following this tradition, The Peninsula London unveils its new Peninsula Academy programme, offering extraordinary and immersive destination-specific experiences. New private tours and learning adventures will be introduced throughout the year, enlivening the range of once-in-a-lifetime activities available to guests. Curated cultural, historical and creative journeys include a special Crown Jewels Tour and regal Afternoon Tea with Garrard, an exhilarating Children's Adventure Quest in partnership with Sharkey and George and an automotive experience in partnership with Brooklands Museum and a rare opportunity to sit for Royal portraitist Ralph Heimans. The Peninsula London's Academy programme invites participants to enjoy exclusive access to the most fascinating locations and cultural gems in the company of the country's most expert guides. Crown Jewels Tour and Gemmology Crown Jewels Tour and Gemmology Take a scintillating trip through the history of Royal patrons and jewellery in London with luxury British jeweller, Garrard. The outing starts with a private, guided tour of the magnificent Crown Jewels, a dazzling collection of gems that has been guarded in the Tower of London since 1661. Treasures to discover include the Imperial State Crown and Queen Mary's Crown – which was originally made by Garrard, the Royal family's first Crown Jeweller, in 1911, and subsequently modified for the 2023 coronation of Her Majesty Queen Camilla. Return to the hotel for a jewel masterclass led by Garrard's in-house gemmologist, held at The Peninsula London's Garrard boutique. The class will include service of signature Peninsula Afternoon Tea, and the chance to try on replica Royal tiaras worn by famous queens and princesses. The Crown Jewels and Gemmology Academy is limited to a maximum of four guests. Prices start from £605 per person. The Peninsula Children's Adventure Quest The Peninsula Children's Adventure Quest A highly interactive experience, created to keep children engaged whilst sightseeing, The Peninsula Children's Adventure Quest, will see families embark on an exciting adventure which transforms children and parents into secret agents for the day. The exhilarating quest takes families around the city to some of London's most iconic landmarks, from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street, where they will decode clues and unlock mysteries to successfully complete their mission to recover Chef Terry Wong's stolen spice mix. One of The Peninsula's luxurious liveried fleet of cars is on hand to help families move between locations. The quest concludes with a well-deserved traditional Afternoon Tea in The Lobby. The Peninsula Children's Adventure Quest is available for a maximum of 8 people. Children must be between 6-12 years old. Prices start from £292 per person. Concorde Legacy Experience at Brooklands Concorde Legacy Experience at Brooklands Connecting to The Peninsula's own abiding passion for all things automotive, this is a must for all motor and aviation enthusiasts. The Race to Brooklands Experience offers an exclusive journey through the history of British motorsports and aviation, beginning with a Rolls Royce transfer to Brooklands Museum, accompanied by a Peninsula Page. Refreshments in the storied Members' Bar is followed by Champagne on board the legendary Concorde and visit to the flight deck. Lunch in the company of Former Chief Concorde Pilots Mike Bannister and John Tye, who share unique stories of captaining the iconic aircraft and guide guests through a virtual flight on the world's only Concorde Simulator. Returning back to The Peninsula London, this special journey continues with a delectable 7-course dinner at Brooklands by Claude Bosi – the hotel's spectacular rooftop restaurant which pays homage to the classic eras of British aviation and motorsport. The Concorde Legacy Experience at Brooklands starts from £6,400 per person, limited to 2 guests only. Bletchley Park Private Tour and Dinner Bletchley Park Private Tour and Dinner A VIP itinerary curated for The Peninsula London, this Academy transports guests to the former top-secret home of the World War Two codebreakers and intelligence analysts, Bletchley Park. Upon arrival via private transfer, guests will be met by Sir Dermot Turing, nephew of legendary World War II code-breaker Alan Turing, for cocktails and canapes. A private tour will follow, where Sir Dermot will provide valuable insights into Bletchley's rich history, sharing anecdotes from his uncle's lifetime and offering expert guidance. The evening concludes with an exquisite three-course dinner in the grand Ballroom, hosted by Sir Dermot, before being transported back to The Peninsula London in the late evening. The Bletchley Park Private Tour and Dinner is available for a maximum of 5 guests. Prices start from £3,049 per person, including dinner. The Peninsula's Grand Tour of London The Peninsula's Grand Tour of London This thoughtfully-designed excursion takes guests on a tour through 2,000 years of London's deep history. Transported by one of The Peninsula London's custom Rolls Royces and accompanied by a Blue Badge-accredited, private guide, guests will visit the city's most iconic landmarks and learn about the history, secrets and scandals behind them. From Buckingham Palace to the Tower of London, guests will become fully immersed in London's rich history and culture. The trip concludes with a signature Peninsula Afternoon Tea in The Lobby. Prices for The Peninsula's Grand Tour of London start from £155 per person Private Sitting with Royal Portraitist Ralph Heimans Private Sitting with Royal Portraitist Ralph Heimans An exceptional opportunity to sit for a private portrait with renowned Royal artist Ralph Heimans – whose captivating works have included portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh, and The Prince of Wales (now His Royal Highness King Charles). This unforgettable journey into the world of Royal portraiture starts with an initial consultation with Mr. Heiman's representative, followed by private viewings of his portraits in Westminster Abbey and St. James' Palace. The sitting with Mr Heimans will take place in a Signature Suite at The Peninsula London, where the finished portrait will be unveiled once it is completed, with a drinks reception for friends and family in the very same Suite. Price on application

Vietnam’s Alma Resort, named the top resort in Southeast Asia in this year’s Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, has introduced a romantic package replete with a private candle-lit dinner for two on the beach, floating breakfast, and a couple’s massage. With rates starting at USD 170 net per night, the “Alma Amore” package includes a VIP welcome with sparkling wine and local artisanal chocolate-dipped fruits, daily international breakfast for two, daily sunset cocktails at Beach Bar affording panoramic views of Long Beach, and a nightly turndown service with romantic surprises. One picture-perfect floating breakfast is also included for couples staying at a pavilion with its own private pool. Vietnam’s Alma Resort Cumulative benefits include a 60-minute “Couple’s Indulgence” signature spa massage at Le Spa, a romantic candle-lit dinner for two on the beach and a Vietnamese cooking class for minimum stays of two nights, three nights and four nights respectively. Other Alma Amore perks include round-trip airport transfers, unlimited access to daily wellness activities, the fitness center and sports facilities as well as resort-wide high-speed Wi-Fi, and late check-out until 6pm. The “Paradise of Love” romantic dinner for two comprises a set-up of a candle-lit table on the sands of Long Beach with a private chef and waiter. Featuring highlights from the nearby ocean, such as oysters, prawns and lobster, the intimate five-course meal comprises salad, soup, fresh oysters, rose sorbet to clean the palate, a main of either ‘surf and turf’ grilled beef steak and prawns or baked half lobster thermidor, and dessert. The dinner includes a bottle of red or white. Vietnam’s Alma Resort As part of the Vietnamese cooking class at Atlantis, held at Alma’s beachfront restaurant Atlantis, the couple learn recipes that have been handed down the generations. Together they cook quintessential Vietnamese dishes including bò lá lốt (ground beef wrapped in betel leaves), chả giò tươi (fresh spring rolls) and phở (Vietnamese soup with bone broth, rice noodles and meat). Alma has been called out as the top resort in Southeast Asia, the No. 2 resort in Asia and No. 9 resort worldwide in this year’s Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards. The US-based publication announced the winners of its World’s Best Awards on July 9, with Alma scoring 99.2 on the awards’ 100-point survey. The World’s Best Awards are widely considered to be one of the two most important awards in the worldwide hospitality industry. Alma Amore is valid for stays until March 2025. To contact Alma or to make a booking, please visit alma-resort.com, call +84 258 399 1666 or email info@alma-resort.com.

A charming new bar at The Anam Mui Ne, an Indochine-era inspired resort in Vietnam’s popular beach town Mui Ne, has introduced an exciting menu replete with imaginative cocktails, homemade kombucha, tapas and ‘smoothie bowls’. The 1.2 hectare resort recently opened the new Saigon Bar, in homage to the intimate Saigon bars of yesteryear on some of the resort’s most inspiring ground overlooking Mui Ne beach. The Anam Mui Ne Saigon Bar’s extensive drinks menu includes a broad spectrum of spirits, beers, wines, soju beverages, signature cocktails, martinis, gin cocktails and sour cocktails. Signature cocktails include ‘Mother River’ comprising Song Cai dry gin, DOM Benedictine, dill, clarified lemon juice and maple syrup, and ‘Tikki Passion’ made up of Vietnamese Rum Sampan 54°, Flor de Cana white rum, Kraken rum, pineapple juice, clarified lemon juice, orgeat syrup, cinnamon syrup and cinnamon powder. Classic cocktails with a twist include, for example, ‘The Anam Negroni’ with Vietnamese AT gin, strawberry infused Campari and Dolin vermouth red.The Herbal Spritz with De Bortoli sparkling wine, St-Germain elderflower, soda water is among the selection of Spritz cocktails. The espresso martini, ‘Smokey Garden Gin’ with Vietnamese AT gin, Dolin vermouth white, DOM Benedictine, angostura bitter, fresh mint, soda water and smoked apple tree bark, and ‘Pisco Sour’ featuring Pisco Demonio de los Andes, lime juice, syrup and egg white, are among the most popular martinis, gin cocktails and sour cocktails respectively. Bar-goers select their own fruit for their mojitos, daiquiris, and margaritas such as mixed berries, strawberry and red dragon fruit. The Anam Mui Ne The bar’s shelves are lined with all sorts of boutique spirits from Vietnam and around the world, such as Ho Chi Minh City-based Lady Trieu’s craft gins including ‘Dalat Flowerbomb’, ‘Mekong Delta Dry’, ‘Hoi An Spice Road’ and ‘Sapa Citrus Tea’. The menu brims with all sorts of non-alcoholic beverages such as Vietnamese coffee, Italian coffee, hot chocolate, milk shakes, loose green and black leaf teas, freshly squeezed juices, and home-made iced teas. Watermelon-, passion fruit-, berry-, and turmeric and ginger-flavoured kombucha is concocted on the resort’s grounds. Kombucha is believed to offer all sorts of health benefits ranging from controlling cholesterol and boosting the immune system to cleaning the liver. In addition to ‘smoothie bowls’ packed with different fruits, the bar also serves tapas including the likes of a cheese board, deep fried crab spring rolls, grilled half sundried calamari, salted and spicy crispy pork skin, and deep fried potato wedges with parmesan cheese. The selection of desserts includes ‘Signature Chocolate Bliss’, a moist mousse cake made from Valrhona chocolate with black cherry coulis and red fruit salsa, and ‘Dragon Fruit Cheesecake’, with a cream cheese dragon fruit baked cheesecake accompanied by chocolate, mint and raspberry sorbet. Adjacent to the resort’s 266sqm saltwater infinity swimming pool and immaculate lawn, Saigon Bar is situated at the other end of the beach to Lang Viet Restaurant & Bar, bookending the resort’s best view over the waterfront. Softly lit with caged lanterns and candles, the bar is fashioned from hardwood sourced from sustainably cultivated forests in Vietnam’s Nam Dinh province and bedecked with customized encaustic tiles, evoking an atmosphere of old-world elegance. Fronted by a grey cobble-stone terrace with a handful of outdoor wooden bar tables flanked by rattan stools, Saigon Bar’s interior is home to cozy rattan chairs clustered in semi-circles and a bar featuring woodwork that took craftspeople months to complete. Greenery cascades down the bar’s exterior from wooden plant boxes fastened to a balcony above. For further information or to make a booking, visit.theanam.com, email info.mn@theanam.com or reservations.mn@theanam.com, or telephone +(84) 252 628 4868

Alma Resort, lauded as the top resort in Southeast Asia in this year’s Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, has launched a remarkable package jam-packed with excitement for the whole family. Dubbed “Family Bonding Blast: Discover Southeast Asia's #1 Resort”, the package includes a family movie night with popcorn and drinks at Alma’s 75-seat cinema, a 60-minute “Tee Off Together” session on the resort’s cutting-edge Bravo Pro Golf Simulator and kite-flying on Long Beach’s buttermilk sands. Alma Resort Designed for aspiring young hoteliers, a behind-the-scenes “Little Hotelier” tour takes the family through the inner workings of the resort, with various stops including the engineers’ workshop, laundry, uniform area, buggy station, generator, air conditioner centre, water treatment centre and the pastry kitchen. Starting from USD 160 net per night, the package also includes planting a family tree in the resort’s gardens, a treasure hunt, a VIP tour of Alma’s onsite organic sustainable Chicken Farm and Herb Garden, complimentary access to the property’s Splash Water Park replete with a wave pool, lazy river, water slides and kids pool, and unlimited access to Alma’s Kids Club, Youth Club and Science Museum. Welcome fruits, minibar on arrival with daily refills for families staying in a pavilion, daily international breakfast feast for the whole family, daily poolside “ice cream social hour”, sunset cocktails or mocktails with canapes, and unlimited use of the fitness center and outdoor sports courts are also among the package’s inclusions. For minimum stays of three nights or more, the package also includes one “Taste of Vietnam” family cooking class with boutique agency Zazen Travel, a VND 300,000 F&B credit per adult per stay, and a complimentary 60-minute “Parents’ Retreat” spa treatment with Le Spa. Alma Resort The package also affords priority check-in and late check-out, fast-track restaurant and spa reservations and resort-wide high-speed Wi-Fi. Alma has been called out as the top resort in Southeast Asia, the No. 2 resort in Asia and No. 9 resort worldwide in this year’s Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards. The US-based publication announced the winners of its World’s Best Awards on July 9, with Alma scoring 99.2 on the awards’ 100-point survey. The World’s Best Awards are widely considered to be one of the two most important awards in the worldwide hospitality industry. The Family Bonding Blast: Discover Southeast Asia's #1 Resort package is valid for stays until March 2025. For more information or to make a booking, visit alma-resort.com, call +84 258 399 1666 or email info@alma-resort.com

Legendary 400-year-old Parisian restaurant will take over Le Beaulieu for 5 days in October

A fun and colourful dining experience designed to “pack a punch on the senses”, INNSiDE By Meliá Bangkok Sukhumvit’s 31st floor all-day dining restaurant The Kites Eatery has launched “Pinto Lunch Set”. Served in multi-coloured, round traditional Thai lunch boxes, named “pinto”, the four-course set lunch celebrates authentic Thai home-cooking with a starter, main course, side dish and dessert.  Innside Bangkok Sukhumvit There are three different four-course sets to choose from, dubbed “Pinto Bang Rak”, “Pinto Banglamphu” and “Pinto Sao Chingcha”. All begin with “Nam Phrik”, a seasonal Thai dip with local vegetables. Pinto Bang Rak features starter “Moo Tod Kamin” deep-fried pork belly with fish sauce and herbs, side dish “Tod Mun Pla Yang” charcoal grilled Thai fish cake, and main course “Gang Phed Ped” sous vide duck in red curry with seasonal fruit and basil. Pinto Banglamphu’s starter, side dish and main are “Gai Yang Takrai” grilled chicken marinated with lemongrass, “Kai Jiew” authentic Thai omelette, and “Massaman Nuea” slow-cooked beef with aromatic herbs, respectively. Pinto Sao Chingcha comprises starter “Laab Moo Tod” fried minced pork balls marinated with Thai herbs and spices, side dish “Pla Phad Phrik Thai Dam” stir-fried fish with black pepper, and main dish “Kai Palo Khun Mae”, executive chef Katisak Pinkaew’s mother’s recipe, made of egg and chicken cooked in sweet brown soup. Innside Bangkok Sukhumvit All three Pinto Lunch Sets’ main courses are served with “Khao Hom Mali” steamed jasmine rice. The dining experience is rounded off with “Khong Wan” daily desserts such as local coconut ice-cream, rice noodles with coconut cream, grass jelly with ice and brown sugar, or water chestnuts in coconut milk. “Served against a backdrop of soaring windows giving way to spectacular views of Bangkok, our Pinto Lunch Sets pack a punch on the senses,” said the hotel’s general manager Aarron Nelson. “As you open the pinto boxes with various dishes that make for a riot of colour, the aromas are disarming and the tastes and textures of our fresh, local ingredients in our home-cooked, tried and true recipes can’t be beat.” “You’re not only enjoying a meal but also a cultural journey. Pintos are traditionally used to transport home-cooked meals to work or school, maintaining the freshness and flavors of the food. The meticulous preparation and presentation of each dish reflect the Thai values of harmony and balance,” he added. Offered daily from 12-3pm, a Pinto Lunch Set is priced at THB 300 net.  The Kites Eatery is adorned with abstract artwork of kites - a reference to the popular pastime of kite flying in state park Sanum Luang. Tapping local roots with fresh, colourful Thai cuisine, the restaurant’s chefs serve up central, northern, north-eastern and southern Thai cuisine a la minute using quality ingredients sourced from local farms. Open from 6.30am-11pm, The Kites Eatery offers a healthy buffet breakfast and a la carte menu from noon, as well as customised lunches and banquets for meetings and events.  For more details and reservations, contact +66 (0) 2 340 5496 or kites@innsidebangkok.com.

Thrilling activities, calming spa experiences and family fun await guests this season at Madinat Jumeirah’s properties. In-house and day guests alike can indulge in rejuvenating treatments at special summer prices with savings of up to 50% the award-winning Talise Spa

Six exquisite flavours and intricately illustrated mooncake boxes available in 2024

Luxury heritage hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia is a local leader in environmental innovation

A Fully Sponsored 30-day Journey Across Japan Awaits a Travel Enthusiast and Storyteller.