Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Image Credit & Copyright: Jens Hackmann
Where can you drink the world's best cocktails?
London, New York, Paris? Nope: the planet's premier bartenders ply their trade in Asia-Pacific
Tim Philips -- the only bartender we know who's comfortable with fig jam and quails' eggs.
Kae Yin reflects on another expertly crafted Trinitea.Cocktail culture is on the rise in Asia, and bartenders like Yin are leading the trend with innovative techniques and a style all their own.
Shigeki Yoshida at work on his Fantasia, pineapple flambé and all.Japanese bartenders have had a profound impact on the development of the profession in Asia.
Philips ascends to the only throne that matters in the bartending world.Although major differences exist between the bar scenes in Australia and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, Global Bartender of the Year Tim Philips notes that the number of discerning drinkers is growing.
Tim Philips -- the only bartender we know who's comfortable with fig jam and quails' eggs.
Standing before the judges at the Diageo Reserve World Class Final bartending competition in Rio de Janeiro, Taiwanese bartender Kae Yin’s hands trembled slightly as presented his cocktail.
With his index finger, he carefully etched a flower into the layer of powdered green tea that he’d sprinkled over a plate of rice flour.
“The rice powder represents our soil, which is the source of all things that grow from the ground and give sustenance to the Taiwanese people,” he explains, speaking through a translator.
“It symbolizes growth and prosperity.”
The audience watched with curiosity as Yin added homemade bitters and violet liqueur to a bamboo cup containing an infusion of Tanqueray 10 gin, Chinese chamomile tea, oolong tea and honey.
He covered the rim of the vessel with an inverted teacup, and then swiftly flipped it over before placing the cocktail on the plate, in the center of the rice-flower.
I’d seen this technique before in Chinese tea ceremony, but I’d never imagined it could be applied to mixology.
“This cocktail is called Trinitea,” he says, spelling out the last three letters for effect.
He served the drink on a slatted bamboo box, enveloped in a cloud of vapor that emanated from a dish of dry ice beneath the lid.
The cocktail tasted pleasantly bitter and earthy, with soft herbal notes that balanced the zing of the gin.
It came as no surprise to me when Yin was named Asia-Pacific Bartender of the Year.
Asian expansion
Kae Yin reflects on another expertly crafted Trinitea.Cocktail culture is on the rise in Asia, and bartenders like Yin are leading the trend with innovative techniques and a style all their own.
“We have influences from Japan but also look to Europe or America for creative ideas,” he tells me.
“This is just the beginning. Bartenders in Asia will go a lot farther.”
Of the 16 contestants who made it through to the semifinal rounds at the World Class competition, six were from the Asia-Pacific region, and three went on to earn top honors in four categories.
Last year’s global winner, Manabu Ohtake, hails from Japan, and this year, the award went to Tim Philips of Australia.
At the bar, Marsalis, where Yin works in Taipei, the 26-year-old bartender specializes in making classic cocktails with a Taiwanese twist.
He started out as a cook, and the confidence with which he combines unusual ingredients -- like Taiwanese lily flower and Oriental Beauty tea with vodka, rum and plum liqueur -- suggests that he knows his way around a kitchen.
Japanese influence
Shigeki Yoshida at work on his Fantasia, pineapple flambé and all.Japanese bartenders have had a profound impact on the development of the profession in Asia.
Renowned for their precise technique and fastidious attention to detail, established Ginza legends such as Hisashi Kishi of Star Bar and Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five are attracting attention from the international media and helping raise the standard of bartending in countries like China and Korea.
Shigeki Yoshida, who represented Japan at the contest and ranked first in the “Cocktails Against the Clock” category, says that, while the emphasis has always been on exactitude of execution over personal charisma, some Japanese bartenders are starting to show more individual personality.
“In Japanese bartending culture, things like erect posture and perfectly straight form are considered good things, but people abroad may see this as a little unnatural or robotic,” he explains.
“If we can skillfully incorporate a little bit of Western-style bartending into the basic Japanese style, I think it would be something great to show the world.”
Yoshida oversees the bar Bellovisto, perched on the 40th floor of the Cerulean Tower in Shibuya.
When I visited him there, he treated me to the kind of impeccable hospitality that defines the Japanese bar experience.
He pulled out my chair for me and presented the menu with a flourish.
After inquiring about my drink preferences, he suggested a Caipirinha made with Don Julio Reposado tequila instead of the usual cachaca.
The jade-colored drink was simple but beautifully balanced, and Yoshida served it with a small metal instrument that resembled a miniature potato masher.
“You can use this to muddle the lime to taste,” he explains, before giving a slight bow and leaving me to enjoy the panoramic view of western Tokyo.
As I sipped my Caipirinha, Yoshida described the new drink he had developed especially for the World Class competition.
Called Fantasia, the Brazilian-inspired cocktail -- a blend of blood orange juice and tequila spiced with flambéed pineapple, cardamom and coriander -- will make its debut at Bellovisto later this summer.
Leave it to the pros
Philips ascends to the only throne that matters in the bartending world.Although major differences exist between the bar scenes in Australia and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, Global Bartender of the Year Tim Philips notes that the number of discerning drinkers is growing.
“People are taking bartending seriously as a profession,” he observes. “Pop culture has also had an influence.”
Sydney is fast becoming one of the most exciting cities for cocktails in Australia. Hemmesphere, the swanky bar where Philips made his name, is known for its extensive drinks list and plush interior.
At the moment, the 28-year-old bartender is busy preparing to open his own bar in a couple of months.
His new joint, called Bulletin Place, will feature a daily changing menu of five cocktails based on fresh, seasonal ingredients.
“We’ll take the selection process out of the customer’s hands, and they’ll have to trust that the drinks we’re serving are great,” he tells me.
It’s a daring idea, but Philips has a penchant for the unconventional.
His signature cocktail, the Reincarnation Flip, is a surprising mix of rum, Scotch and fig jam, finished with raw quail’s egg.
For the World Class competition, he devised a “drinking game of chance,” where drinkers were asked to spin a wheel to determine the ingredients (which included an array of homemade flavored syrups and ice cubes) that would go into a Scotch-based Old Fashioned.
“Drinking should be fun,” he says with a chuckle.
I couldn’t agree more. For cocktail lovers in Asia, the fun is just beginning.
Marsalis, Home Hotel 3/F, 90 SongRen Road, XinYi District, Taipei, Taiwan; +886 (0) 2 8789 0111;www.homehotel.com.tw
Bellovisto, Cerulean Tower Tokyo Hotel 40/F, 26-1 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan; + 81 (0) 3 3476 3000; www.ceruleantower-hotel.com
Hemmesphere, Establishment Hotel 4/F, 252 George St., Sydney, Australia; + 61 (0) 2 9240 3000;merivale.com.au
Booming illegal ivory trade taking severe toll on Africa's elephants, groups say
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: China says it has enacted laws and regulations on ivory trafficking
- Elephant poaching is the worst it has been in 10 years, wildlife groups say
- It is being driven by strong demand for ivory from countries like China
- Weak law enforcement in central Africa enables the slaughter, activists say
(CNN) -- Elephants are being killed in Africa at an alarming rate by increasingly efficient and well-armed poachers as international demand soars for the ivory from their tusks, wildlife conservation groups say.
The slaughter, described by some activists as unprecedented, is enabled by ineffective law enforcement, official corruption, porous borders and a rapidly expanding population seeking sustenance, the groups say. And it is being driven by a growing appetite for ivory products in increasingly affluent Asian countries, particularly China and Thailand.
"China has taken over Japan as the world's largest ivory consumer. And from 2006 to last year, the ivory price in China has tripled. So that's why some Chinese buy ivory products in Africa with dollars and smuggle them back to China to sell for a better price," said Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said his government has taken a firm stance on ivory trafficking.
"We have enacted corresponding laws and regulations, and made significant efforts in enforcing them," he said. "We have made positive contributions to tackling ivory trafficking activities worldwide. We will keep this momentum going in our future work."
Gabriel said the Chinese government has done a "great job" in banning online trade of ivory products, ordering online shopping sites to remove such items and closing ivory trade websites. But she said that while 136 Chinese retailers are authorized to sell ivory products, many more illegal stores have set up shop, according to International Fund for Animal Welfare investigations.
The numbers available are stark: The poaching of elephants is the most intense it has been in a decade, and the number of documented ivory seizures has reached its highest level since 1989, a group of agencies that monitor elephant populations and the ivory trade said in June.
The elephant population in central Africa, where the worst of the killing is believed to be taking place, has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, according to estimates cited by Bas Huijbregts, head of field programs for the conservation organization WWF in the Congo Basin region.
The level of butchery is a throwback to the 1980s, when an estimated 100,000 elephants were being killed every year, according to WWF. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1989 outlawed the international ivory trade and sharply reduced illegal killing in some countries.
The chief reason for the deteriorating situation today is the rising demand in Asia and the weak law enforcement against poachers and illegal ivory traders in central African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, Huijbregts said.
Little is being done to prosecute the people in those countries who run the ivory trade, he said, largely because they are often local government officials who use their authority to sidestep inspections and intimidate law enforcement agents.
"They don't hunt themselves, but they use their government status, and indeed their government vehicles, to organize the crime behind the scenes," said Huijbregts, who has spent 16 years working in the region.
Wildlife wardens in rural areas can have little incentive to risk their publicly funded jobs by pursuing and prosecuting powerful local officials, he said. The money to be made from killing elephants for a living is also tempting for many people in the region, where population growth is rapid and poverty rates are high.
"With the price of ivory skyrocketing over the past few years, it becomes a very lucrative business for local people," Huijbregts said.
The wildlife wardens are often outgunned by the poachers, whose growing use of automatic firearms and other weapons has been documented by conservation groups.
They are also now confronting not just local poachers, but also seasoned fighters from war-torn areas of the continent like Sudan, conservationists say.
Once the ivory has been harvested from the slaughtered elephants, it is transported across thinly and badly policed borders to ports in countries like Kenya and Nigeria. From the trading hubs, it is shipped abroad, mainly to Asia.
"Most illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in either China or Thailand," according to TRAFFIC, an organization that monitors the wildlife trade.
The biggest demand is from China, Huijbregts said, where ivory household items, like chopsticks, are increasingly sought after by tens of millions of people newly enriched by the country's past decade of meteoric economic growth.
Ivory is also purchased as a collector's item or for investment, Gabriel said.
Thailand is also a good market for the criminal gangs that traffic the ivory because it is a popular tourist destination with weak laws governing the sale of ivory products and lax policing, according to Huijbregts.
Despite the bleak situation, efforts are under way to clamp down on the illegal trade, as the increase in elephant killing damages governments' credibility and, in the case of incursions by foreign poachers, presents possible security threats.
Some African countries are starting to share information about poaching between them, Huijbregts said. And Interpol has joined efforts to investigate those involved in the trade of ivory and other illicit wildlife products.
The U.S. government has also been "extremely active in the Congo Basin region in putting pressure on governments to take this issue seriously," according to Huijbregts.
"There is light as well as darkness," he said.
7.6-magnitude quake hits Costa Rican coast
Tsunami warnings were issued for much of the Pacific coastlines of Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- It started out mild, then "really got going," a witness says
- The quake was on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, on the Pacific coast
- CNN affiliate Teletica shows people streaming out of buildings after the quake
(CNN) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck the northwest coast of Costa Rica Wednesday, resulting in some damage, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake struck Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, on the Pacific coast about 87 miles west of the capital, San Jose. It was centered more than 28 miles deep. The Geological Survey originally measured the quake at magnitude 7.9, but revised it downward.
The earthquake did not generate any aftershocks, said Julie Dutton of the USGS. She said the agency has received reports of some damage.
The epicenter was just six miles away from the city of Hojancha.
"It started out pretty mild, but then it really got going," said Bill Root, owner of a hotel in Samara, also near the epicenter. "It was a very strong earthquake. Everything was falling off the shelves and the ground was rolling."
Authorities issued tsunami warnings for much of the Pacific coastlines of Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The warning was canceled for other locations.
An earlier tsunami watch for the Caribbean was sent out inadvertently and subsequently retracted.
CNN affiliate Teletica showed people streaming out of buildings after the quake.
Telephone service was knocked out in the cities near the epicenter, Teletica reported. The station showed photos submitted by viewers of a partially collapsed bridge over the Rio Sucio and a landslide on a highway. Other photos showed floors littered with merchandise inside of stores and homes with minor damages.
"It's unnerving when solid concrete beneath you is shaking from side to side. It was pretty scary," said David Boddinger, editor of the English-language Tico Times in San Jose.
There is some damage, including debris that has fallen on the roads, and damage to the roads themselves at a spot on the Nicoya Peninsula about 14 kilometers (8 miles) from the epicenter, Boddinger said.
Seismologists have been predicting a strong quake for that area for years now, and Costa Ricans were wondering if this was the big one, he said.
TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE TRAVEL MISTAKES
Save money on your next vacation by avoiding these costly (and common) travel mistakes.
1. Forgetting to Buy a Service Plan for Your Phone.
Using your cell phone in a foreign land without an international service plan - what we like to call “roaming without a net” – could be shockingly expensive.
Best Health Web-Editor Melissa Greer recently travelled to Greece and Italy for a relaxing two-week vacay. She brought her phone and turned it on infrequently, just to check emails and send a few texts back home. The results? A $1300 roaming fee from her phone company. “I was shocked,” Greer says. “I didn’t realize that turning my phone on for 30 seconds would ever cost so much!”
The solution? Contact your service provider to inquire about overseas fees and packages for voice, text and data. If you’re travelling for a longer period of time, do what Heibert did while travelling in Germany: “I bought myself a German mobile phone because it was a lot less money than taking my Blackberry,” says Heibert.
2. Losing Your Passport
Is there a bigger waste of money than spending your vacation tracking down consulates and misplaced documents? Still, this major goof could happen to the best of us, and Heibert advises all of her clients to be prepared. Make two copies of your passport, leave one at home with a friend or family member and keep the other one tucked away in your suitcase. “If your passport is lost or stolen, take the copy to your consulate so they can trace the number, cancel the original passport and issue you a new one,” she says. Find contact info for the nearest consulate on this list of Canadian offices abroad.
3. Taking Too Much Stuff
Arriving at the airport with overweight suitcases could have you busting your travel budget before take-off. Most airlines allow you to check one bag for free on international flights, but you could be charged up to $100 per additional piece of luggage or overweight bags. “It’s wise to review what you’re bringing and think about what you really need and what you can layer and reuse,” Heibert advises. Regularly check weather reports for your destination to help determine what items you really need. Avoid an expensive situation at check-in, review your airline’s baggage regulations before you pack.
4. Travelling Without Medical Insurance
No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios when planning a fun time away, but it pays to be prepared for accidents. What if you wipe out on a back-country cycling excursion, or for the less adventurous, slip on wet tiles at the spa? Winding up in a foreign hospital without insurance can be a huge financial blow. “Your provincial insurance isn’t necessarily going to cut it, even when travelling in Canada,” Heibert warns. Make sure you have enough medical coverage and top it up if you’re not certain. Here’s hoping you never have to use it.
5. Forgetting to Call Your Credit Card Company
If dropping 200 euro on a purse in Milan is out of your regular shopping pattern (if it’s not, lucky you!), your credit card company may suspect fraud and suspend your card until you’ve confirmed the purchase. It’s comforting to know they’re looking out for you and all, but not having access to credit while abroad is a huge hassle that takes time away from your well-earned vacation. Avoid this situation altogether by giving your credit card company a heads-up that you’ll be travelling.
6. Booking Too Soon
You’ve finally decided to take a dream trip to London next spring. Congratulations! But hold off on booking your plane ticket – making a reservation too soon could be a costly blunder. “People like to book their tickets well in advance, but sometimes they overpay because there are opportunities for seat sales and discounts through your travel agent,” says Hiebert. If you’re travelling to a common destination, wait to book your flight until three months before you want to leave.
7. Making Changes to Your Reservation
Scheduled your holiday on the same date as your sister’s wedding? Seems unlikely, but Heibert says that rebooking departure dates is one of the most common (and expensive) mistakes that travellers make. “You can make all sorts of changes to tickets, but you’re looking at a hefty cost,” she warns.
Double check your calendar before making any reservations and consider travel dates set in stone.
8. Arriving Without a Place To Stay
Travelling is an adventure, but landing in an unfamiliar city without a hotel reservation could be a costly risk. You may end up paying more than you expect for a last-minute room if economical accommodations are all booked up. Plus, wandering around jetlagged and desperate for a place to rest probably isn’t your idea of super-fun spontaneity. “I often recommend to people who want to be flexible, that they at least book their first night because when you arrive you’ll be tired and you’ll want a place to put your suitcases down,” Heibert says.
9. Arriving Clueless About Transportation
Do you know how you’ll get from the airport to your hotel, or to the quaint little town you want to explore? Winging it with transportation can really ratchet up the expense of your trip. Cabs can be surprisingly expensive in some cities, so do your research on options for public transportation. If you’re planning to take the train, Heibert recommends buying rail passes before you depart because some of the more economical options may only be available for purchase in Canada.
10. Sticking To The Tourist Traps
While you’ll certainly want to see the Eiffel Tower and stroll the Champs-Élysée, visiting smaller destinations and less-trafficked sites could significantly reduce the cost of your trip. “Some of the most interesting places are not big tourist centres,” says Heibert. “It’s amazing what you can see when you get off the beaten path.”
Could this be the scariest hotel swimming pool ever?
Is this a bird? Is this a plane? No, it's a daredevil swimmer.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Holiday Inn pool in Shanghai stretches over street, 24 stories up
- Portion of pool has glass bottom and is suspended in mid-air
- The pool was designed by Singaporean firm Chan Sau Yan Associates
(CNN) -- Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao's swimming pool has an exceptional view, as the image above shows.
Part of the indoor pool, which perches atop the 24-story hotel, protrudes from the main building and is suspended mid-air. Its bottom is constructed with toughened glass.
This gives guests a delirious sense of swimming in the sky -- they can see the street clearly down below while passers-by on Xiuyan Lu can see the swimmers way up above.
"I felt as if I was flying in the sky -- I could also enjoy the beautiful scenery of Pudong from here ... it's so cool and wonderful," a swimmer told CCTV.
Most of the pool at Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao is indoors, without the overhang.
"We wanted to provide our guests a unique swimming experience, and let them feel they're vacationing even in a bustling city," said a spokesperson from InterContinental Hotels Group, parent company of Holiday Inn.
While not splashing in the water, guests can enjoy Pudong urban views stretching as far as the Lujiazui skyline at the poolside lounge.
First of its kind in China
Exactly 30 meters long (about 98 feet), six meters wide (20 feet) and 1.5 meters deep (5 feet), the swimming pool is the first of its kind in China. It was designed by Singaporean firm Chan Sau Yan Associates, which helmed the interior design of the four-star hotel.
The Holiday Inn Shanghai branch said it gathered input from various architects and even aerospace experts while constructing this sky-high glass-bottomed water container to ensure its safety.
The hotel did not reveal the pool's construction cost.
The 390-room, four-star hotel -- which opened in May 2011, is located in the booming suburb of Kangqiao, which is some 22 kilometers southeast from Shanghai downtown and 30 kilometers west of Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
According to the staff working at the hotel's gym, the swimming pool is open to hotel guests and a limited number of health club members.
Annual membership for the gym starts from about $2,400 per person.
Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao, 1088 Xiuyan Lu, near Henghe Zhong Lu, Shanghai. +86 21 3829 1888, nightly rate: from $125, www.holidayinn.com
Do you know any cooler hotel swimming pools? Tell us about them in the comments section below.
TRAVELZOO...$629 -- Jamaica 4-Star All-Inclusive Trip w/Air, Save $245*
$629 -- Jamaica 4-Star All-Inclusive Trip w/Air, Save $245*
With a savings of $245 per person, jet off to an upscale, sprawling resort on a secluded strip of the Jamaican coastline. This all-inclusive beach vacation costs $629 per person and covers:
- Roundtrip airfare
- Four nights at Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa or Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa
- All meals and alcoholic beverages
- All taxes and fees
Depart select dates September-October.
Situated on a stretch of beach between Montego Bay and Negril, the resort is home to an expansive infinity-edge pool overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Guests have access to 10 restaurants, 12 bars (including a large swim-up bar), five pools, a soccer field, a theater and a kids club.
Depart from (dates may vary):
- Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale ... +$0
- Baltimore, Washington, D.C. ... +$130
- Boston, Raleigh ... +$150-$160
- Dozens of additional departure cities are also discounted
Book by Sept. 7. Top 20 deal – sells out quickly.
How to Book This Deal |  | |
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Click here to book online at CheapCaribbean.com
Note: Enhanced travel insurance is optional; it is reflected in the final price online but can be removed.
| |
 | Call CheapCaribbean.com at http://www.travelzoo.com | |
8 hotel tours to make your stay more interesting
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Some hotels provide interesting attractions right on the grounds
- In Idaho, the Dog Park Bark Inn's unique beagle architecture is worth a stop
- Take a bird tour at the J.W. Marriott in Palm Desert, California
(CNN) -- Check in to any nice hotel, and the concierge will be more than happy to recommend or reserve a tour of the area. But in some cases, you don't even have to leave the property to take in the sights, because what's right there under your nose is worth further exploration.
Here are a handful of hotels around the globe that offer guided tours of some of their more unique and fascinating features.
CUISINART GOLF RESORT & SPAAnguilla
This Caribbean gem isn't just home to five-star accommodations and amenities, it's also the site of the world's first resort-based hydroponic farm, which sources the vast majority of herbs, vegetables and edible flowers used in all five of the resort's restaurants, as well as its spa.
Tours of the farm are held three times each week and are led by Dr. Howard M. Resh, a noted hydroponics researcher and author, who educates guests about the unique process of cultivating plants in water rather than soil. So when you sign up for a treatment at the Venus Spa that utilizes ingredients like lavender or aloe, or when you munch on the fresh cherry tomatoes that show up in your room upon arrival, you'll know exactly where and how they were grown.Tours are free; open to all. www.cuisinartresort.com
JW MARRIOTT DESERT SPRINGS RESORT & SPAPalm Desert, California
More than 25 species of exotic birds make their home of the grounds of this 450-acre resort 13 miles southeast of Palm Springs. On daily tours, Linda Whittington, the property's full-time animal care specialist and aviary expert, introduces visitors to the flock of feathered residents, like the African grey parrots and Australian black swans, while explaining about their origins and their eating habits and even letting tourgoers feed the flamingoes. Tours are free; open to all. www.desertspringsresort.com
SANDPEARL RESORT & SPA Clearwater Beach, Florida
You may notice this plush beachfront property's award-winning environmental efforts when you take a lap in the chlorine-free pool or sleep on the sheets washed using an ozone process rather than harsh chemicals. But every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Brian Grant, the hotel's director of engineering, takes you behind the scenes to really delve into all of the green initiatives Sandpearl has undertaken to achieve its coveted silver LEED certification.
Tourgoers visit the mechanical plant, laundry facility, garage, back of the house and other areas as Grant explains their clean-air practices and recycling efforts, their use of compostable and biodegradable products and even how, through partnership with Clean the World, discarded guestroom amenities are reprocessed and distributed to other countries to help stop the spread of disease. Tours are free; open to all. www.sandpearl.com
DOG BARK PARK INNCottonwood, Idaho
This kitschy B&B may be slightly off the beaten path, but then, considering that it's in the shape of a 30-foot-tall beagle, it's also slightly out of the ordinary. The one-room creation, nicknamed Sweet Willy, is the brainchild of owners Frances Conklin and Dennis Sullivan, who are both chainsaw artists.
In fact, they have a studio on-site and give interested guests a tour of the space, as well as a peek at some of their works in progress and a demonstration of what goes into creating the folk-art-style canine carvings they've been crafting for the past 25 years. Tours are free; open to all. www.dogbarkparkinn.com
THE INN AT PERRY CABINSt. Michaels, Maryland
Joanne Effinger has been the head gardener at this Orient-Express lodging on Maryland's eastern shore for 16 years now, and she can name every flower, bulb and bush on the property. She does just that on the weekly horticultural tour of the lush grounds and gardens that are such an important part of the Inn at Perry Cabin's rich history, including a 210-year-old holly tree that clocks in as the state's oldest.
Just be sure to bring your camera along so you can capture all of the colorful hydrangeas, vitexes, hellebores, snowdrops and other seasonal and perennial blooms gracing the elegant estate. Tours are free; for guests only. www.perrycabin.com
RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORESingapore
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia has a lot to show for its five stars, like the spacious rooms with spectacular views of either the Singapore skyline or Marina Bay, but the feature that really makes it stand out is its museum-quality art collection, numbering more than 300 pieces and valued at $4 million.
Guests are treated to a guided tour of the collection via a podcast showcasing works by artists such as David Hockney, Frank Stella, Dale Chihuly and Andy Warhol, 90% of which were commissioned specifically for the hotel. Don't have your own iPod to download the podcast onto? You can borrow one from the concierge. Tours are free; for guests only. www.ritzcarlton.com/singapore
STANLEY HOTELEstes Park, Colorado
If you like things that go bump in the night, you'll love this legendary hotel's regularly scheduled ghost tours. Guests and non-guests alike have several options to choose from, each of them exploring the supposed paranormal activity that goes on at the century-old property, from the mysterious piano playing in the music room to the children who have long since checked out roaming the halls on the fourth floor.
Also noted is the fact that the Overlook, the haunted hotel in Stephen King's chilling novel "The Shining," was inspired by a stay at the Stanley. $10-$60, depending on tour; open to all.www.stanleyhotel.com
SOFITEL LEGEND METROPOLE HANOIHanoi, Vietnam
During a renovation at this 111-year-old hotel in August 2011, engineers chipped away at more than 6 feet of earth and concrete to discover an underground bunker dating to the Vietnam War.
The 130-square-foot shelter is now part of the Path of History tour, which retraces the Metropole's origins from one of Asia's most opulent accommodations, attracting a long list of celebrities such as Somerset Maugham and Charlie Chaplin, to a stint as a government-run wartime guesthouse to its current incarnation as a luxury retreat for business and leisure travelers alike.
The guides who lead the daily tours were instructed by none other than Andreas Augustin, who wrote a book on the history of the iconic property for his Most Famous Hotels in the World series.Tours are free; open to hotel guests only (maximum 10 people per tour). www.sofitel.com
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