tahiti

Have Your Own Rose Ceremony at the Bachelorette's Tahitian Resort

With just three candidates left, Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky headed to the Le Taha'a hotel in Tahiti with her three candidates, Chris Lambton, Roberto Martinez and Frank Neuschaefer on the latest episode of the Bachelorette on ABC. While the course of true love didn't exactly run smoothly, you can't blame the locale. The beautiful Le Taha'a Island Resort & Spa resort is a deeply romantic place to celebrate love. The resort has 48 overwater suites skimming gently above the clear turquoise waters. Viewing platforms set in the floor offer a view of the aquatic life below. The resort features several restaurants including one that overlooks the trees in the garden and another La Plage, located by the pool and beachside.

The hotel has repeatedly been named as one of the top Pacific resorts and is a favorite of honeymooners (Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher just honeymooned there) . To capitalize on all that romance the resort is offering a four-night Bachelorette Package that includes a stay in an overwater bungalow, dinner on the terrace of the suite, a massage for two and more. This package costs $2,650, plus taxes, per couple. Couples can also upgrade the package to include specific experiences seen in the episode like a moonlight dinner on the beach with musical accompaniment or a helicopter flight over Tupai Island and Bora Bora. ABC is also hosting a contest offering a nine-day Tahitian getaway that includes a stay at the Le Taha'a.

Tags: ali fedotowsky, bachelorette, chris lambton, le tahaa, roberto martinez, tahiti

View the Total Solar Eclipse From 40,000 Feet

by Amy Cortese (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events

Been there, done that? How about total umbral immersion 40,000 feet in the air?

For thrill seekers, that's the pitch from Rick Brown, a self-described "eclipse-chaser" who has chartered an Airbus jet that will fly into the path of a total eclipse of the sun set to occur on July 11. (And you thought that was just a Carly Simon lyric).

Total eclipses typically occur only once every year or two. And viewing them can be a challenge: they are often only visible from remote parts of the Earth, and even if you make the trek, clouds or weather can obscure the view. On July 11, for example, the moon's shadow, or umbra, will sweep across the South Pacific in a narrow band, only making landfall on Easter Island and a few atolls in French Polynesia. The "totality," as the period when the sun is completely blocked by the moon is called, will last just four minutes on the ground.

Enter Rick Brown and his EFLIGHT 2010. The forty or so eclipse-chasing passengers high above the clouds will watch as the moon's shadow approach them from over 200 miles away before basking in the darkness of the lunar shadow and gazing at the sun's pearly white corona for nearly 10 full minutes - which Brown says will be a record viewing time.

Tags: adventure travel, Airbus, astronomy, Easter Island, Eclipse Chasers, jet charter, polynesia, private jet, solar eclipse, tahiti

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Marù Spa at Bora Bora Lagoon: A French Polynesian Paradise

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spas

Marù Spa at Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa, an Orient-Express hotel in the South Pacific's French Polynesia, has been nominated for a Readers' Choice Award for Best International Spa Retreat.

Located on an idyllic little motu (islet) called Toopua in the cobalt blue lagoon, Marù Spa is "the only treetop spa in Polynesia." Its wooden cabins fit elegantly into the lush greenery, waterfalls and lilies that surround it high up between two Banyan trees, tucked away from the over-the-water, pandanu-leaf-topped bungalows below. The resort was built in 1992 and is only accessible by boat. There are no roads or villages on the private isle of Toopua, just pristine beaches, blue water and an extraordinary hotel & spa.

Tags: awards-main, best international spa, best spa, bora bora, bora bora lagoon resort and spa, international spa, luxist-awards, Orient-Express, Orient-Express Hotels, Orient-expressHotels, spa, spa-main, tahiti

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3 Great Layovers Worth Stopping For

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

To enjoy air travel, which I still firmly believe is possible, there are a few necessities.

First, it always helps to be elite: traveling in first or business class makes everything better. Second, having some vaunted frequent flier status, lounge access. Third, even with those perks, you need something of a Buddha-like attitude. What will be, will be. Hold your plans lightly. Resolve to be happy wherever you happen to end up.

This last piece of advice is easier when you know about terrific hotels that are close enough to the airport to make them feasible on either an intentional or unintentional layover. These are places that are nice enough that you'll sort of hope to get to stuck there -- places that you might actually plan to come back to for a stay all on their own. Here are my three places that I've spent at least a night at recently while in transit, which I'm adding to my list of my favorite layovers.

InterContinental San Juan: You can see the hotel when you're landing at the airport, that's how close it is -- it's less than a ten minute drive from terminal to hotel check-in. The hotel is in the Isla Verde area, and has access to one of the nicest stretches of beach in San Juan, as well as a lively, private pool area available only to hotel guests. Club level rooms have balconies with a view of the pool.
Cedarbrook Lodge Seattle: It's really hard to believe this is exactly two minutes from the airport, but you're barely on the free shuttle enjoying your complimentary water before you've arrived at this wooded, quiet property. This hotel used to be a private hotel for Washington Mutual, but those days are long over, and it's now open to the public. It's designed for business travelers in mind, with 24 hour complimentary snacks, complimentary continental breakfast, and a load of other perks.
InterContinental Tahiti: Okay, if your work brings you to Tahiti and you get stuck in Papeete, no one is going to have a ton of sympathy for you. A more likely scenario is that you're flying through Tahiti on your way to other islands in French Polynesia, when weather unexpectedly grounds you. Worry not, within five minutes you will be at the InterContinental Tahiti which you really could stay at for an entire vacation. I hope that you're stuck there on one of their Polynesian dancing nights -- their dancers are known for being some of the best in the Society Islands. Bonus points for its brand new fitness center with water views.

Gallery: 3 Great Layovers

Tags: air travel, AirTravel, hotels, layovers, san juan, seattle, tahiti, travel

The Best Sick Day Ever: Flying Air Tahiti Nui's Business Class

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

It's a long flight from LAX to Papeete, Tahiti -- about eight and a half hours -- and somewhere over the Pacific, as the Air Tahiti Nui steward kneeled down beside my reclined chair and murmured if he could bring me anything to drink. I said no thank you and pulled the turquoise fleece blanket around me a little closer snuggling down into the bright yellow pillow. I realized that flying business class is a lot like having a fantastic sick day.

Think about it. You lie down, watch movie after movie, and burrow in soft blankets and pillows while someone brings you food on a tray. Only without the inconvenient illness part. Which is a plus in most ways, but also a minus, since I wasn't sick and therefore restless. So I walked to the back of the cabin and stood in the snack bar area that was set up with cup of soup and had some apple juice, which is something I drink exclusively when I'm sick.

Anyway, as Business Classes go, Air Tahiti Nui's is a nice one. I've written previously about their mid-flight wardrobe change and it was pleasing to see the ladies in their red or pink dresses splashed with white flowers during the flight, and it brought the proper sobriety to the occasion when we landed and everyone was back in their suits. The condition of the cabin itself was a bit shabby -- the seats not the newest, the fabric worn in spots, particularly around the bolts, and stained in others, particularly visible with the bright blue and green color scheme throughout the cabin.

The food was solid, especially the dishes served cold, a box of nuts from Fauchon with pre-meal cocktails, a choice of lobster with caviar or a duck salad for starters, both delicious. The warm dish was pretty much horrible. I had a chicken pot au feu which lacked anything resembling pleasing flavor or texture, but I heard murmurs of discontent from people who made the other entree choices. The after meal choices made amends, with a very thoughtfully selected cheese plate and a dessert course with three flavors of sorbet (framboise, coconut and mango) and other pastries.

I usually hesitate to comment on the service level I experience in an airplane since crews change and personalities are so variable, but this was all unfailingly pleasant and seemed actually caring. When I disembarked into the humid Papeete night, I felt that I'd actually been slowly acclimating to French Polynesia while I was in the air.

Tags: airplanes, business class, BusinessClass, tahiti

Update: Air Tahiti's Balenciaga Uniform Controversy

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wings

Last week, I told you about Air Tahiti's new designer crew uniforms. While I was more concerned about mid-air wardrobe change logistics, and noted only in passing that the new togs didn't look so-very-Balenciaga to me, Jeffries Blackerby of The Moment was right on it. He reports that the outfits were designed by Balenciaga Uniforms, which is a division of a company that apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the design sensibility of Nicolas Ghesquière, Balenciaga's creative director. Blackerby advises Air Tahiti: "let's not get all excited", presumably about being associated with Balenciaga.

Now, let's take a step back. Blackberby is right to point out that Balenciaga Uniforms, which handled the design of Air Tahiti's new uniforms, is owned by a French company called Creation & Image. (Wheras the fashion house Balenciaga is owned by PPR, which also owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.)

But licensing of a designer's name is what makes the fashion world go 'round -- should you need a little brush-up on how this works, here's a nice article from the New York Times (and of course The Moment is a New York Times' blog) concerning Vera Wang. I'll grant that some designers retain more control than seems to be the case at Balenciaga Uniform -- which is apparently absolutely none. (And that's despite the smoking gun that some commenters at The Moment think they've discovered when they point out that Nicolas Ghesquière apparently once worked in the uniform division -- an amusing, if meaningless, sidenote, absent any evidence that Ghesquière is keeping a loving and attentive eye on all the rungs of the ladder he's climbed.)

Still, I submit that Air Tahiti should get every bit as excited as it wants over its Balenciaga uniforms. If we're only going to allow purchasers to take credit for the designer items that they buy that are not made by license, the licensing business ceases to have all value, and really -- do we think our economy can take that? Leaving aside world economic well-being, for the more important fashion issue, I agree with a point that Danica Lo made over at The Haute List: Designers need to keep more control over their name.

Tags: airlines, balenciaga, licensing, tahiti, uniforms

Air Tahiti's Balenciaga Mid-Air Wardrobe Switch

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Picture of Air Tahiti Nui's New Crew Uniforms

While Delta is still catching heat for offering its newly-designed flight attendant uniforms -- a red sexy Richard Tyler wrap around dress -- in sizes 18 and lower, Air Tahiti Nui is also tinkering with crew uniforms.

The airline commissioned Balenciaga to design new uniforms in honor of its 10th anniversary. There are twenty new uniform styles in total, including those for pilots and ground personnel. One is a more traditional flight attendant outfit, a suit or suit-like affair, rendered in a solid ocean blue and a lighter "lagoon" blue, sort of an aqua. It's pretty, if not envelope-pushing (and I'm not completely sure I see the Balenciaga look to it) but the good news you only see it when you're boarded and de-planing, in-flight, because sometime after take-off the cabin crew does a take-off of their own -- they slip into something more comfortable.

Women can choose between a "porotu" or "pretty girl" dress, which is long and tight fitting, or on days when they're presumably feeling less svelte, a "mamaru'au" or a grandmother dress, which is long and flowy -- that's what's pictured here. Male attendants change into a short-sleeved Tahitian shirt. Sexy, grandmotherly, or male, the collection is all tropical colored and with floral accents.

Now, I'm all for everything being lovely down to the smallest detail, but I've sat through enough in-flight safety demonstrations to be able to do them myself, or at the least to mumble along: Flight attendants are here for your safety first, you are required to comply with crew member instructions... We're used to seeing authority figures in uniform, that's partially why they wear them in the first place. I wonder how seriously people will take a crew member's instructions when they're wearing an outfit more typically worn to a cocktail party (in the case of Delta) or at a beach picnic (in the case of Air Tahiti). And who's minding the cabin during the wardrobe change? Will auto-pilot bring me my champagne?

Tags: airlines, delta, tahiti, uniforms

Sofitel Moorea Beach Resort

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

Never heard of Moorea? That just might be a good thing. After all, by the time an idyllic island paradise becomes a household name it is often overrun with resorts and tourists. Moorea is a sister island to the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora. The island was the setting for the Mel Gibson movie The Bounty and boasts calm turquoise seas, white sand beaches and lush mountain scenery. The Sofitel Moorea Beach Resort opened last November and just finished their spa. The hotel is composed of 114 bungalows including 19 over water bungalows with indoor/outdoor rainfall showers, dive off decks, and in-floor viewing windows to the sea below. The resort is also home to a sandy floor, open air restaurant called "K" which has Tahitian dancers performing nightly. The spa has seven treatment rooms with two VIP suites that have hydrotherapy rooms and separate showers. The spa uses local ingredients such as monoi oil, tamanu oil, coconut, papaya and Moorea sand in the treatments. Prices for paradise start at 271 euros. After the jump, an interior shot of one of the bungalows that shows the infloor viewing platform (it's like sleeping in your own glass bottom boat).

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Tags: island, moorea, sofitel, tahiti, travel, vacation

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Gipsy Moth IV Runs Aground

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

One of our favorite yachts, the recently restored Gipsy Moth IV has run into trouble in the South Pacific. The yacht, which went through a £300,000 restoration last year, is owned by the United Kingdom Sailing Academy. The yacht was going from Marquesas to Tahiti as part of a round-the-world trek when she hit a reef. The yacht is lying starboard in deep water and the crew was rescued. Marine salvage is currently attempting to salvage the vessel. Hopefully this historic vessel can be saved and repaired but it isn't known yet if the yacht will continue on the global voyage.

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Tags: gipsy moth iv, GipsyMothIv, marine, tahiti, water, yacht, yacht accident

Tahiti Cruises on the Paul Gauguin

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Yachts & Sailing

Where else would a ship named Paul Gauguin go but to French Polynesia. The ship, which is run by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, has its home port in Tahiti and offers cruises around the idyllic islands. The ship sails from Papeete, Tahiti, every Saturday and meanders around the South Seas islands, visiting Raiatea, Tahaa, the "vanilla island," and spending a day at a barbecue feast on Motu Mahana. Two days are spent in Bora Bora and two full days in Moorea let guests explore Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay. The ship has ocean-view suites, many which have private balconies and there are three restaurants. A retractable water sports platform offers a place for kayaking, water skiing and windsurfing and there is also a shipboard scuba program. If booked by March 31, per person fares on the April 29, May 6, 20, 27 and June 3 seven-night Society Island sojourns start at $1,995 per person.

[via Travel Video News]

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Tags: cruise, cruise ship, holiday, tahiti, vacation