Luxe City Guides are not your ordinary travel books. In fact, they aren't books at all. They are are beautiful, sleek, accordion-style guides that are small enough to fit in your pocket. These travel and style guides point the discerning traveler to only the best of the best in Asian, European and Australian cities.

From Bali to Tokyo, the guides are packed with personally researched information from city-insiders who know their way around the fashion, food and entertainment scenes. Luxe takes things a step further by including information on services, shops and secrets that you might never find on your own. With Luxe, you are a visitor, not a tourist.

Whether you are looking for the best martini in Istanbul, want to design your own handbags in Hanoi or desire a quiet moment in a secret garden in the heart of Bangkok, Luxe will take you there in style.

The guides are written in an opinionated and irreverent style and are beautiful to look at. With no paid advertising, the Luxe City Guides are updated twice each year with regular online updates.

Buy the guides individually for $9 each, or get a customized boxed set of twelve for $108.

Condo residences are really starting to take off in Thailand. We keep seeing more and more urban complexes. The latest to be announced is the Millennium Residence @ Sukhumvit, a set of four towers in Bangkok. The new condos are designed for both Thais and foreigners and have panoramic views of Bangkok's skyline. The four 51 to 53-story "orchid petal-shaped" towers have 604 units in total. Amenities include a clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis court, jogging track, gymnasium, a sauna and steam room, games room and a playground for the children. Prices range from 6.6 million Baht (around $173,000) to as much as 90 million Baht 9($2.37 million) for a penthouse. The project is expected to be completed by November 2009.

From the pictures, it looks like a modern boutique hotel in New York or Los Angles but Luxx is a new hotel in Bangkok. The tiny hotel of just 13 rooms offers chic and clean modern design to attract trendy travelers. It opened a few weeks ago and Luxx Hotel general manager, Dusadee Srishevachart says that they will be promoting the hotel to  European and American guests.  The hotel will also have a bar called Mess and is hosting their launch party on March 29, 2006 . Luxx is located on Decho Road in an area that offers plenty of nightlife, dining and shopping for tourists. They are offering opening specials as low as $70 per night.

[via HospitalityNet]

WWD has an piece on the latest luxury shopping mecca, the Siam Paragon in Bangkok. The $365 million mall has a giant saltwater aquarium, marble floors, gourmet food and 250 stores to chose from. There is an 860,000 square foot Paragon department store and high-end retail like  Armani, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé, Bottega Veneta, Jimmy Choo and Bulgari. An entire floor of the Siam is the "World of Luxury" where high-end jewelers can be found and there is also a floor devoted to exotic car and yacht dealers. The shopping center is aimed at both rich Thai shoppers and tourists. Tourism is Thailand's top business and although most tourists are from Asia, the number of European and American tourists is rising. Other shopping destinations in the area include the Central Department Stores which spent $20 million adding to its Chidlom flagship to compete with the Siam Paragon and is planning to expand its Zen store; Gaysorn Plaza which also spent  spent $60 million on a face-lift; the 215,000-square-foot Siam Discovery Center which is aimed at customers aged 25 and up, and the 430,000-square-foot Siam Centre complex next to Siam Paragon which is designed to lure preteens and teens. Pictures of the mall and the aquarium can be found on this website. 

Continuing our coverage of Valentine-themed getaways we take you to exotic Bangkok. The Vareena Spa in the Westin Grande Sukhumvit hotel offers the Romeo & Juliet package through the month of February. The package takes place in the Sky View Suite and includes a 30 minute soak in a Jacuzzi pool infused with a milk bath, followed by a body scrub and an hour-long aromatherapy massage. The experience ends with two glasses of red wine.

[via e-travel blackboard]