Originally fans (flat and folding fans) arrived from East Asia to Europe in the 17^th century. You can see them displayed in portraits of royalties and high-society women. A fan is used to create an air flow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself.

They seem to become more popular, hence we decided to develop our own hand fan (folding fan) for The Ring, Vienna’s Casual Luxury. You can buy them at the reception desk for EUR 10,00 per piece.

Cool yourself with the special designed fan and enjoy some freshness!

1. Who are you?

2. What do you like about what you do?
Being in a creative position- working on itineraries that are quite distinct from the usual fare. We sometimes approach itineraries and develop destinations according to themes- following in the footsteps of Thesiger in Oman, for example, showcasing the lost arts in South East Asia or re-creating the lavish hunting expeditions of Kublai Khan in Mongolia.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?
Missing travel when I’m not travelling and missing a fixed domicile when I’m on the road.

4. What is in your opinion an ‘Urbane Nomad’?
Someone intent on approaching any destination in a sensitive manner, conscious about the impact of tourism and looking for genuine interactions with the destination and people of the country. There’s also the underlying need to travel in a sophisticated, luxurious manner.

5. Please tell us about your website ‘Urbane Nomads’ and your aims
Urbane Nomads’ website represents the destinations that we offer and some of the itineraries that we’d developed. Urbane Nomads aims to offer some of the more off-the-beaten trek destinations and deliver it in as much style and luxury as possible. For the countries that are already developed for tourism, we offer creative itineraries that approach the destination country in a different manner.

6. Are you working with other blogs and if yes, which ones and why?
Urbane Nomads does not have its own blog. We have been featured in quite a few blogs and the last interview I’d given was to MIT’s The Tech (which is an online paper as opposed to a blog).

7. Your TOP 3 city experiences and why?
Istanbul, Beirut and Buenos Aires. Istanbul has an incredibly poetic skyline with an invigorating blend of contemporary lifestyle with a distinctly Oriental flavour. My favourite time-place combination in Istanbul is to be by the Bosphorus during the call to prayer- the muezzin’s call reverberating across the water, from different mosques on both the Asian and European side of Istanbul. Going out in Beirut is always something to look forward to- there’re always new places and the people have an enthusiasm about them that you hardly find anywhere else.
Buenos Aires for its architecture, its distinctive style, the passion and soul of the city. Visiting Buenos Aires during the Argentine Polo Open is always a treat- the weather is great, you get to witness some of the world’s best polo teams in action and sample the latest porteno fashion or enjoy a lazy Sunday brunch in Palermo.

8. Your TOP 3 non-city travel experiences and why?
In no particular order- the Burmese Himalayas, with its unique combination of tropical forests with the cool climes and mountainscapes of the Himalayas.
Waking up in the morning(don’t bring the blinds down) with the sun at the Singita Faru Faru in the Serengeti. The floor to ceiling glass windows operated by remote control allow the outdoors in. You can go for an early morning dip in the private pool, overlooking the expanse of land in the Serengeti, with only a sole baboon looking back at you.
Patagonia is another favourite- days are long in summer, the weather perfect and I recall being at my absolute happiest win Patagonia. Horse treks are a perfect way of experiencing Patagonia- its remoteness, low human population and the vision of wild horses drinking from small streams quite make up my idea of heaven on earth.

9. What are your favourite websites and why?
Kiwi Collection has a very interesting range of hotels. I find World Hum’s focus on literary travel to be very refreshing as well. For a general zeitgeist on what’s happening, I look towards Josh Spear.

10. Any comments you want to share with us?
We work so hard on things that ultimately matter very little. Being able to reflect and focus on things most important to us is probably the greatest luxury in today’s world.

1. Who are you?

2. What do you like about what you do?
The best thing by far is to be totally independent from advertisers – which is really special in the fashion-industry – as my blog Tschilp.com is a non-profit project I’m doing in my spare time.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?
I wouldn’t do it if there were was anything ☺

4. Please tell us about your fashion blog ‘Tschilp’ and your aims
Tschilp.com was founded in 2006 because I wanted to express my personal opinion on fashion as such, but also talk about shopping in Vienna as well as marketing and communication aspects of fashion. Also I felt Austrian fashion being underrepresented in traditional media.

5. Are you working with other blogs, especially in the fashion industry, and if yes, what is your favourite blog?
My blogroll is huge and I’ve subscribed to international fashion-blogs of various kinds – from more personal diary-style blogs to professional industry information – as well as nearly all of the Austrian fashion blogs but it’s hard to name favourites as the landscape is very fluent. One of those I’ve been following for quite a while now is Julia Chesky’s Modelizing. She makes amazing photos of shopping windows in NYC and it has been great pleasure to watch her work evolve during the past years.

6. Your TOP 3 with regards to Austrian fashion brands and why?
Claudia Rosa Lukas
Her collections always have a sophisticated and classy yet reduced chic, high quality garments and manufacturing.

rosa mosa
Simone Springer and Yuji Mizobuchi have been developing a very personal authentic approach which results in simply wonderful as well as comfortable shoes, sometimes with unusual materials like pieces of persiaon rugs.

superated
is an innovative menswear label, I love how they mix classic mens’ cuts with colorful knits and prints.

7. Your TOP 3 with regards to international fashion brands and why?
Celine, Celine, Celine
Phoebe Philo does an exceptional job in updating the French luxury brand. Some pieces seem to be a homage to Jil Sander or Yves Saint Laurent

8. What are your general comments about fashion blogs and the future trends with regards to ‘blogging’?
I think that not only blogs, but in general the real-time communication that happens online is already in the process of changing the fashion world in many ways. For example the seasons (Fall / Winter and Spring / Summer) have dissolved pretty much. Capsule and other intermediate collections increase, and Fast Fashion companies are producing constantly. Consumers are no longer dependent on old media opinion-leaders, but get informed immediately. Why should they have to wait for months to buy the new items?

www.tschilp.com

1. Who are you?

2. What do you like about what you do?
I love the challenge of a creation of a unique luxurious product at the world famous “Frauenkirche” in Dresden. Especially I am deeply involved in international relations to partners, clients, celebrities and getting to know their human stories.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?
A creation and exploration of luxurious goods is often dependent on the development of the national and the international economy.

4. Please tell us about your hotel and your aims with it?
Our luxurious five-star-superior-hotel “Suitess” is located right in the heart of the city, just a few steps from the Dresden Church of Our Lady. Behind an intricately detailed Baroque façade, reconstructed according to the historic model, comfortable single and double rooms, elegant suites, an exclusive wellness area and the “Maurice” gourmet restaurant all await you.

Our luxury hotel of Dresden ensures you to get a taste of the unmistakable character of the world famous Elbflorenz, “the Florence of the North” – because it itself is unmistakable.

The “Suitess” is a member of the luxury collection of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Enjoy all the pleasures of modern times and at the same time experience the artistic comfort of the Biedermeier style on which the décor of our rooms and suites is based. In our newly opened private hotel, all the amenities of five-star standard are combined with the hospitality and creativity of our considerate staff to form a complete harmonious package which leaves nothing to be desired.

It is a privilege for us to welcome our guests and ensure pure comfort.
We want to position our hotel as the first address in Saxony and one of the best houses in Germany.

5. Are you working with blogs and if yes, what is your favourite blog?
For the moment not yet, but we consider it as very interesting and necessary as well as the engagement in other social media tools.

6. Your TOP 3 hotel experiences
- Roccoforte Hotel de Rome, Berlin
- Brandenburger Hof, Berlin
- Ritz, Paris

7. Your TOP 3 destination experiences
- St. Barth
- Corsica, France
- Méribel, France

8. Any comments you want to share with us?
We do like new ways of communicating and developing our house. If you have a creative idea for a comment engagement, please do not hesitate to contact me personally!

The result is definitely a vodka like no other. A rare spirit that ranks among the finest and smoothest in the world, Elit! Guest that attended the 1^st “Elit Night @ Drings” discovered this remarkable combination of elegance and mystique. Nobility and purity. Prestige and pleasure.

The 2 topics for the YHA 2010 are:

1. Back to basics : how to improve customer satisfaction and service levels?
2. Online hotel reviews : do reviews influence hotel revenue and how will the hotel manage this?

The Young Hotelier Award is an initiative of the GMC (General Managers Council) of the leading hotels in Vienna and powered by JohnsonDiversey.

The presentations for the YHA 2010 will be held at the hosting hotel Le Meridien on March 10^th, 2010. More information on the history of YHA, the event itself as well as the partners of YHA can be found on the newly established website www.younghotelier.at

1. Who are you?

I would say that I am a cosmopolitan citizen who wants to make a positive impact in the world. Events in my life encouraged me to be extremely creative and to think for myself. I am originally Slovak and grew up in the old Austro-Hungarian empire, moving to Vienna many years ago. During the last five years I also lived in Marbella, southern Spain. I am also a Spanish resident, even though I now spend most of my time in Vienna. In addition to my main role as a full-time mother, I am an athlete, holistic therapist, former UNIDO staff member and blogger. During the last years, I also created a business concept with my first website-blog, The Best of Marbella. Many friends and business acquaintances would generally describe me as a dynamic and ambitious businesswoman, who doesn´t give up on her dreams.

2. What do you like about what you do?
Public relations, which is very much part of my work: The Best of Marbella blog-website is driven by my love for Marbella and its people. I like to interact and communicate in different languages and express my creativity, touching peoples’ lives in positive ways.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?
Practically nothing, although I have to say that in the beginning writing blogs and updating the website was time consuming. That was really the only challenge; however, I have a very supportive team and associate network, especially my friend-web designer and artist Syl Chad who helps me enormously. There are so many positive aspects of my work that I always prefer to look at the bright side of life …

4. Please tell us about your blog ‘The best of Marbella’ and your aims with it.
The Best of Marbella is much more than an interactive blog-website. It is a unique marketing and promotional concept, one of the leading references about Marbella, the Costa del Sol and beyond. Even during the initial stage The Best of Marbella is listed as one of the top 101 blogs to watch in 2009, according to the WE Magazine in the USA.

We are still developing our project, however, already in this initial stage it is visited by more than 90 countries in the world. Please read about our success story on our blog.

The Best of Marbella mainly promotes the multi-cultural and cosmopolitan lifestyle of Marbella, as well as selected businesses, properties, dining, nightlife, arts and cultural venues, health and beauty, golf clubs, local clubs and associations, events and in addition, business categories from A-Z, linked to an important and thoughtfully selected brand name: The Best of …

The Best of Marbella is also an ever expanding network of local and international professionals. We are associated with many top quality professionals, our associated partners such as CCG, C+Golf, 4Business Global Network, Marbella Dutch Business Club, Asociacion Francofonos, Business and Lifestyle Network, Concordia, Society Living Magazine, The Sentinella Costa West, Blue Sky Luxury Car Hire, Manifesto Design, Smithwood Productions and many more …

5. What are the benefits of a membership?
There are several subscription options and many benefits. Anyone interested in the membership should contact: maria@thebestofmarbella.com. We promote and support charities free of charge and with other colleagues from press and media we offer an exchange of services which is a win-win situation for all.

Benefits:

• Top Google ranking of any business or event when listed with us
• Local and international “visibility” in more than 90 countries around the world giving your business or event massive exposure
• We created strategic alliances with members and associates so that all businesses can also be promoted through a multitude of other websites and blogs that are inter-linked with us
• We promote our members through press and media that are associated with us and by personally introducing our members to each other
• We send free events and business newsletters to 20,000 entries from our database and in addition regular press releases (blog posts) to our ever-expanding social media network. For example, The Best of Marbella can be found on:
  www.thebestofmarbella.com
  thebestofmarbella.blogspot.com
  The Best of Marbella @ Twitter
  The Best of Marbella @ Zimbio
  The Best of Marbella @ YouTube
  The Best of Marbella @ Facebook
  The Best of Marbella @ linkedin
  and many other social and exclusive networks …
• Being promoted by us, your business or activity will become an essential part of our success story as one of the top 101 blogs/websites to watch in 2009, acknowledged by WE Magazine in the USA.
• If suitable, we include businesses and their activities in the promotional packages or events that we promote. “The best of Marbella” can offer and suggest holiday or luxury packages” such as golf breaks, luxury accommodation, luxury car hire, boat or yacht cruises, luxury shopping, cultural excursions, beauty, fitness and anti-stress holidays, adventurous holidays, property investment and corporate holidays, single or family holidays, weddings packages or cultural and business exchange with other places. The Best of Marbella is a franchising concept that will connect many places and countries in the world. Our first franchising destination is The Best of Vienna blog and we are planning to do the same with Moscow and many other attractive destinations in the world.
• Member to member discounts and special offers

During the current economic crisis, many places, especially tourist destinations like Marbella, need promotion and connection with other cities from abroad. Knowing both Marbella and Vienna and speaking many languages, I am in a unique position to connect people and places in many ways.

Marbella has the best climate in Europe and in places like Vienna, where the winters can be too long, cold and grey, escape to sunny Marbella even for a weekend can be uplifting and refreshing.

Another goal is to strengthen the inter-cultural and business exchange between Marbella and Vienna. There are so many talented musicians, artists and singers and most of them need promotion. For example it would be fantastic to invite the Wiener Philharmoniker orchestra or Die Wiener Sängerknaben (The Vienna Boys Choir) to Marbella or, conversely, to move productions and artists from Marbella to Vienna. Since I returned to Vienna, I reconnected with the local, international and diplomatic communities in Vienna and have been discovering new venues, clubs and luxury networks that inspired me to many new ideas.

There are many artists, dancers and musicians in Marbella like Stephen Lloyd Morgan that would be delighted to perform live concerts in the Grand Hotel Wien or The Ring, Vienna’s Casual Luxury Hotel. On the other side, one of the most important events in Marbella that visitors from Vienna and abroad should not miss is Marbella´s International Arts Festival. I am convinced that the Department of Tourism in Marbella and Vienna would also support this kind of inter-cultural and business exchange.

Furthermore, Marbella has so much to offer, not only because of its fantastic climate, beautiful beaches, world class golf courses, delicious food and exciting shopping, parties and nightlife, but also because it boasts some of the most prestigeous and luxurious properties in Europe. I also highly recommend anyone who wants to learn Spanish to visit Marbella. In the next months, we will include many properties on the Best of Marbella, as well as numerous golf courses, hotels and restaurants, to offer our readers the best choices. So, please check the site regularly for updates or even better, keep up to date via a subscription to our free events and business newsletters.

6. Were you working with other blogs and if yes, which ones and why?
This is the first blog I started a year ago when I recognized the opportunity to meet people´s needs by offering a unique promotional concept. We are currently preparing the Best of Vienna blog to connect the two blogs and places in many ways and initiate an inter-cultural and business exchange.

7. Please provide us with your TOP 5 for Marbella
It is very difficult to choose from so many beautiful places in Marbella, but my favourite place is the Paseo Maritimo (seaside promenade) ideal for walking, running and enjoying the warm weather. You can also try delicious food and Spanish wine in numerous chiringuitos. My favourite beach restaurant is Trocadero Playa. Everyone should visit the old Town of Marbella (Orange Square), which is very special and Puerto Banus promenade where you can admire the exclusive yachts and luxury cars, enjoy shopping in some of the most popular boutiques and visit some of the numerous restaurants and bars. If you like golf, Marbella Golf club is one of the best golf courses on “Costa del Golf”. When it comes to beaches and beach clubs, I like the Buddha Beach in Puerto Banus. My favourite restaurants: Villa Tiberio, Sol i Luna, Salotto, Passion Cafe and many more. You can find details about all these places on the Best of Marbella blog in the Dining and Nightlife section.

8. Restaurants/bars/shops/hotels/sightseeing
There are many wonderful restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and sightseeing trips that will be included on our blog-website soon. There is so much to do and see, including the beautiful white villages and places close to Marbella like Ojen, Monda, Guaro (with its Luna Mora festival), Ronda, Gaucin and El Chorro. Further afield Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz and Gibraltar await the curious visitor. The best way to find all the information is to check the existing blog articles and subscribe to our free events and business newsletters that will be sent out as of January.

9. Any comments you want to share with us?
I would like to emphasize the importance of blogs and social media in marketing any business. A lot of people don’t yet appreciate the importance and significance of blogs, so here is a simple explanation why The Best of Marbella is using blogs to promote its members and why it became so successful so far:

1. Blogs are a fantastic marketing and networking tool provided by Google. They are free and can be used in many different ways, depending on individual creativity, knowledge and expertise. In our case, it is a basic tool where every promotion starts.
2. Google invests billions of dollars to develop their software technology that we use
3. Blogs are the fastest growing medium of communication for businesses and individuals and have rapidly become influential components of the Internet. Their importance will grow for some time to come
4. Though blogs have a social function in the first instance, they have also become very popular because of their effectiveness in SEO (blogs are getting the kind of traffic that static websites can only dream of – even without SEO tactics).
5. We include blog links in all our social media networks and profiles including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other social and business tools and networks
6. In our case, our blog is interactive, constantly changing and the most important part of our website www.thebestofmarbella.com that we use for our PR and marketing campaigns and to connect with people locally and globally.

Edited by Manifesto Design.

1. Who are you?

My name is Suzanne Urpecz. I’m the creator of The Hungarian Girl which is a dedicated blog/website about Central & Eastern European food and culture.

I’m currently studying Culinary Arts at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. I’m preparing to open my own authentic Hungarian restaurant in the near future. As well, I operate a specialty cake business that offers the very best in Central and Eastern European desserts.

In addition, I have a background in Journalism – Broadcasting and I’m a graduate of Seneca College. Previously, I worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in their newsroom.

2. What do you like about what you do?

I’ve always wanted to have my own business. I now have the ability to combine two of my greatest passions which is cooking and writing. I also enjoy meeting new people and travelling.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?

The downside of running your own business is that it can be difficult and stressful at times. You’re the “captain of the ship” and that means you’re responsible in making all the necessary decisions. It’s also tough trying to manage a business without proper financing but it also encourages me to find different and unique strategies. Regardless, I always look forward to undertaking new challenges with my business.

4. Please tell us about ‘The Hungarian Girl’ and your aims?

The Hungarian Girl aims to be the #1 portal of information about Central and Eastern European food and culture. In the future, I hope to have my own authentic Hungarian restaurant under the same name. I would also like to have my own television show that focuses on the food and culture of these regions.

5. Are you working with other blogs and if yes, which ones and why?

I’m currently working in a partnership to launch an official website called the Friends of the Tokaji Renaissance. The website will feature information, news, events, articles and reviews about Hungary’s famous sweet wine.

6. Your TOP 3 hotel experiences and why?

One of my most memorable hotel experiences was staying at a bed & breakfast located in the township of Haliburton in Northern Ontario called Swiss Acres. My fiancé and I were staying in the area to go dogsledding that weekend. They treated us like family and made our stay really special. I’ll never forget their wonderful hospitality.

Another excellent hotel experience was staying at the Hotel Palazzo Zichy in Budapest. The hotel is located in a historical building that was originally designed and constructed in the 19th century. It’s such a gorgeous place and the staff is incredibly friendly. I would certainly return to their hotel on my next stay in Budapest.

I would also really like to mention that staying at The Ring Hotel was fantastic! You’ve got a great concept that combines the best of luxury and casual in Vienna.

7. Your TOP 3 food/restaurant experiences and why?

I live in Toronto which is a very multicultural city. One of the best things about the city is the variety of ethnic food. Little India is a place I often enjoy going to which serves authentic Northern Indian cuisine. The family-run restaurant has a wide variety of dishes and the service is excellent. They also have a great lunch buffet.

Of course, being the Hungarian Girl I’m always looking for the very best in Hungarian food. During my last visit to Budapest, I was highly impressed with Bagolyvar Restaurant. I had their chicken paprikash and it was amazing! I also really liked Callas Café and Restaurant for their incredible cakes and pastries.

8. Which food/restaurant concept would you like to share with us?

Quality and service are the two most important elements to managing a successful restaurant. I also believe that going the distance for your customers is always beneficial. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and when you do something special for a customer such as offering them a free dessert or an appetizer. The customer will most likely remember that positive experience and will want to return again to your establishment. After all, you only have one chance to make a lasting impression in this industry.

9. Any comments you want to share with us?

I would really like to thank my family and friends for supporting me throughout my career.

A few examples: Stein Group, Geisel Privathotels in Germany, Schössle Hotel Group and Bulgari Collection. Mostly all boutique hotels are furnished in a themed, aspirational or stylish way, boost between 30 and 80 guest rooms and suites and have special ‘unique selling points’ like for example their location, special features like a spa, themed restaurant or bar, the history of the building, their name, the façade or the connection to a specific luxury lifestyle brand like for example Bulgari Collection.

That is why boutique hotels are considered to be individual and unlikely to be found within the large hotel chains. The term ‘design hotel‘ comes along when parts of a small size hotel are designed by a well known designer or when the hotel did choose a famous interior design company for the room concept, restaurant or bar design or other parts of the hotel. Good examples of design hotels can be found on www.designhotels.com like for example the Lux 11 in Berlin, designed by Guiliana Salmaso – Silvestrin/Salmaso, London as well as Goetz Maximilian Keller – MK Architects, Berlin. This design hotel is situated in Berlin’s upcoming district of ‘Berlin Mitte’, The positioning and style of the hotel has been adapted to the various shops, restaurants and bars in this district. It was opened on July 1st, 2005 and one can see that the interior design and modern structure has been developed together with the historical setting of the building. The hotel offers 72 rooms, suites and apartments so it fits to the defined number of rooms boutique hotels in general feature. Look at the different color concepts and the use of various interior design elements … this is what design is all about.

Another good example of a design hotel is the Rockhouse Hotel, Jamaica. It is stretched across the cliffs of Pristine Cove in Negril, a great location! Interior design/architecture by Jean-Henri Morin, Australia and Cornerstone Design, Jamaica, this hotel can also be defined as ‘lifestyle hotel‘. The hotel can be seen as ultimate exotic escape. It offers 34 rooms and suites in 4 different categories, including villas. The rooms are built from timber, stone and thatch and designed to exist in harmony with the jungle-like garden and volcanic rock of the hotel’s setting.

Boutique and design hotels tend to position themselves, in addition to using the terms ’boutique’ and/or ‘design’, also as ‘hip’, ‘trendy’ or ‘lifestyle’ hotel, different terms with no exact definition. A lifestyle hotel can be seen as a hotel that tries to keep updated with traveler preferences as well as changes in overall travel. A lifestyle hotel can also be seen as a hotel that defines its target group / target audience as well as the travel preferences, habits, level of income, characteristics and ‘personalities’ of this target group, and by combining both a lifestyle hotel defines its interior design, hotel products, level of service, type of outlets etcetera, creating a ‘home-away-from-home’ feeling for the dedicated guest, offering the same ‘lifestyle preferences’ in a hotel as the guest does have at home.

As the big hotel chains see potential in this segment (Hyatt Hotel with their concept ‘Andaz’, InterContinental with their brand ‘Indigo‘, Rezidor does launch ‘Missoni‘ and Starwood has ‘Element‘), the future will show if this trend will continue. If travelers, which tend to prefer small hotels that cater more individually to their personal needs and preferences, will focus more strongly on ‘lifestyle hotels’ … good question.

1. Who are you?

2. What do you like about what you do?
We help companies finding customers who appreciate quality, service and exclusiveness.

3. What don’t you like about what you do?
You only do those things well, which you like to do.

4. Please tell us about your company and your future goals?
Quality and service in its most perfect form, this information we’d like to pass on to our users. Through the selection of the best companies within current fields, latest subjects and a network of like-minded people, we want to provide a platform around the subject of luxury.

Seeing that eLuxu is a marketing service provider of the exclusive class, we try hard to present our users again and again new and interesting subjects and companies.

5. Are you working with blogs and if yes, what is your favourite blog?
Still not.

6. Your experiences with the overall luxury industry?
There are no limits.

7. Tell us about your favourite luxury good(s)
Time, because it gets more and more important.