Thought I would do a quick review of new about luxury travel from around the blogosphere. There are a lot more $1/day type backpacker reviews out there than the sort of place our discerning readership would stay at: but I found some nice places well worth checking out. Also in the current economic climate: some choices for affordable luxury, for those of us who can still afford to travel there are some great deals out there!

Luxury Hotels: Queenstown, New Zealand

We recently looked at Queenstown’s luxury skiing options but Queenstown, New Zealand offers more than skiing. It truly is a year around destination with spectacular scenery (Lord of the Rings really had to do very little CGI on the landscapes) and easy access to Doubtful Sound: one of the world’s most pristine and remote temperate rainforests. This lucky writer got to stay at three premier boutique lodges in Queenstown, which also rank on the world-scale: Matakauri, Blanket Bay, Eichardt’s Hotel and Millbrook Resort. Millbrook is actually at nearby Arrowtown but any of these hotels would make for a special luxury experience any time of the year. A luxury travel trip to New Zealand,

Eichardt's Hotel, Queenstown, NZ

Glamping in Asia with Remote Lands

Well I would just like to point out that you read about “glamping” - Glamorous Camping - aka luxury camping here first. Remote Lands who are the self-proclaimed “world’s leading luxury travel designer of bespoke journeys to Asia” has extended their range of glamping tours, or as they call it “bespoke camping experiences” which take the “rough” out of roughing it.

So its still a bit out-doorsey with the emphasis on walking at horse riding but at least there is a comfortable bed and gourmet meal and massage waiting for you when you return to camp. Remote lands isn’t joking about the remote bit though, their destinations include Gobi Desert, Mongolia that’s a luxury ger camp as the tents are of traditional Mongolian design. In Bhutan their luxury camping includes a private blessing from the head abbot of Punakka Dzong Monastery. The Myanmar (Burma) adventure is based in Chin State a former British colonial hill station.

Mongolian Ger, Traditional not Glamping

Photo credit: andi808

Luxury Hotels for less in North America

Top travel magazine Conde Neste is predicting some sharp hotel prices in North America The sudden sharp decline in travel combined with the boom of hotel building over the last few years adds up to great bargains right across the market. Their picks for great deals are

• destinations which have seen airlines cut their in-bound flights: Caribbean, Hawaii, Las Vegas;
• destinations that do NOT appeal to international visitors particularly Europeans and Chinese who are enjoying the lower dollar. Consider Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Fe, Savannah, Tampa, and Tucson.
• look for brand-new hotels trying to establish themselves in the market. Also look for hotels which switch from one hotel group to another and need to re-brand
• the old standby may well work too: negotiate: the view, the extras, the breakfast and the rate, the customer is once again king

Paris, Las Vegas

Epoque Hotels Offer Interesting and Discounted European Luxury Hotels

Epoque Hotels is a collection of over 300 hotels, mainly in Europe but also in North and South America and Asia. The hotels are divided between trendy chic and traditional luxury and seem to be mainly smaller 4 star properties. The pricing is sharp with clever offers such as a guaranteed US$ rate as well as the more usual bundling of breakfast and museum passes. Worth a look if you want to step up to the next level in Europe particularly.

Rubinstein Hotel, Krakow, Poland

Save Money and Support The Locals

There is a growing awareness among tourists of the environmental impact of of their travelling. But even more devastating can be the impact on local communities when the big-name 5-star resorts come to town. A luxury resort often operates in a vacuum; isolating its guests from the locals except for carefully controlled excursions. There is an excellent post over at travmonkey.com on how to move beyond the resorts: five ways to support local communities

Well hope you found something of this little round-up there are certainly some interesting times coming in the travel industry.

A beautiful luxury train, to a world-famous destination, through some spectacular scenery: what could be wrong with this scenario; well there is a big flaw.

The luxury Hiram Bingham train runs from Cuzco to Machu Picchu daily: making the 7 hour return day trip in fantastic comfort. The train is run by the well known 5 star rail group Orient Express and this is by far the best train in Peru, quite possibly South America. Although the 112km trip from Cuzco to Machu Picchu is not a long train journey, it certainly rates as one of the most scenic railroads in the world.

The Hiram Bingham train is named for the American professor who “discovered” the site in 1911. In reality the local farmers were always aware of the site and it was they who guided Bingham. Bingham was looking for the mythical Inca treasure: but in fact the Machu Picchu site is really a treasure: just not of the gold Bingham had in mind, and little too big to ship home, luckily for the Peruvians.

The Hiram Bingham train is designed in the style of a 1920’s rail experience with blue and gold Pullman style carriages fitted out in paneled wood with brocade upholstery featuring heavily in the dining cars. The train includes two Dining Cars, an Observation Bar Car and a Kitchen Car to serve the 84 passengers it has the capacity to carry.

The passengers board in Cuzco at around 9:00am and then are served brunch as they admire the spectacular Sacred Valley as the Urubamba River valley has been prosaically re-named. Now there are regular trains running this route which can be had for only a few dollars, and you will certainly get to experience a slice of Peruvian life that the Hiram Bingham Train (no chickens on the Orient Express fleet!). However the Hiram Bingham travels slowly through well-cleaned windows and you will definitely see a lot more of the scenery thanks to these innovations, and the lack of standing passengers.

The day tour arrives at Aqua Calientes around midday. The train can’t reach the actual Machu Picchu site: which is high above the valley floor, and a transfer is required my mini-bus. With pre-booked tickets you skip the tours and a guided tour of the site is included in the price. According to Orient Express:
“After the guided tour, guests are given the choice to wander alone through this fascinating World Heritage site, or to enjoy Afternoon Tea at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, the Orient-Express hotel located right at the entrance to the citadel”

Therein is my problem with the day trip to Machu Picchu. It is frankly an annoying tease.

The site is worth a whole day at least. You could spend a week in Cuzco and not run out of things to do. Machu Picchu is an amazing collection of well preserved Inca ruins, but in addition it is located in one of the most attractive locations in the world. And at an altitude of 2300 metres so you can watch the weather move in from below. Add a few colourful locals and lamas for photographic opportunities.

Imagine if the Pompeii was located on the a mountain ridge, which drops away to two beautiful valleys, and up to two spectacular mountain peaks, Take Pompeii and and relocate in a remote beautiful valley at altitude: take several airplane transfers to get there and then spend only a few hours at the site? Wasting some of that time taking tea? Do yourself a favour arrange your trip to Cuzco to include overnight at the Machu Picchu site. Don’t settle for the movie’s trailer: watch the whole show!