Most Recent: Travel
Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 2:06 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Golf, Dubai, Tiger Woods, Travel, Punta Brava, Mexico
Tiger Woods 18 Holes in Baja Have Put Our Plans for Dubai on Hold
On the cusp of returning from knee surgery (although he reportedly hasn't started swinging his clubs just yet), Tiger Woods is still busy as ever. With his second child on the way, Woods has already introduced his newest baby to the fairway-aiming world. The baby's name is Punta Brava, a new par-70 all-luxury course located about 65 miles south of San Diego. It?s not the first such project Woods has unveiled, but it could be the most interesting.
With his first pet project, Tiger Woods Dubai, slated to become the Arab world's top-tier golf resort thanks to its private residential lots and fine dining courtesy of chefs like Guy Savoy, Punta Brava has a lot to live up to. The fact that it's a short ride from the Mexican border already endears it to the typical high-end golfer, who may not be looking to fly halfway around the world to play 18 holes, even if it does have a private spa bungalow on site.
With water within site of every hole, Punta Brava already features a backdrop superior to Dubai's. We initially expected Dubai (which has a reputation for making a four-star property look like the Chelsea Hotel circa Sid Vicious) to crush any other property in terms of luxury amenities. But with the plans just being revealed, it looks like Brava might be more than just a gorgeous course.
Aside from the requisite upscale clubhouse, spa, and fine-dining, the new Woods project also features an intriguing combination of residential lots, villa residences, and villa hotel, each of which is expected to offer high-end amenities for the clientele, who will have the intriguing option of accessing the property via either air, land or sea.
Alright, so it looks nice, but Dubai is going to look nice too once it's all done. But Brava does seem to have a Tiger Woods signature on the course that his first private golf resort is lacking. During his Brava press conference, Tiger gushed over some of his favorite holes in a way nobody really seems to be doing with Dubai. He mentioned eight separate shots in which you'll have to blast your ball over water (which is cool) and a No. 12 that he thinks looks remarkably like No. 8 at Pebble Beach.
What's more, he told the Wall Street Journal that he'd be buying a home at Brava too, a home that the native Californian will arguably be seeing more than his Dubai club. With an estimated 2011 opening and sales beginning immediately, you've been given fair warning.
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Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 3:15 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Sports, Travel, Winter, Dogs, Alaska, Jackson Hole, Dogsledding
Mush You Huskies
Your typical winter vacation revolves around either sun or ski. While we're plenty fond of either wintertime option, let's go over a winter getaway alternative that, if nothing, else will put a few hairsicles on your chest. With outdoor adventure always expanding, a number of leading dogsled packages are looking for a few good mushers.
With good reason, a number of sledding packages are operating in Alaska. One of the foremost among them comes courtesy of Alaska Brooks Range tours, offering some of the most isolated and authentic dog sled tours 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The three- and five-day packages offer, among some other basic amenities, a nice sauna ready to greet you once you're done.
Granted, that's a long trek to make for some huskies. Not quite as far as the Arctic Circle is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which offers a variety of scenic tours. Particularly Jackson Hole Iditarod Dog Sled Tours, which started their half-day and full-day tours in late November. While this Iditarod is noticeably no frills, the Spring Creek Ranch, a nearby luxury resort, offers similar tours but with a spa and award-winning dining.
Not to worry East-Coasters. You don't necessarily need to fly cross-country to hit the sled trails. More local options include the Lodge at Moosehead Lake in Maine, which offers a nice selection of amenities, our favorite being the lounge-like pub on-site. Now THAT is how we like to end a long day of dog sledding.
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Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 4:20 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Travel, Brazil, South America, Brazilian Express, Trains, Parade, Carnival
Get Brazilian!
With the world?s biggest and wildest party just on the horizon, it isn?t a bad time to start contemplating that transcendent Brazil trip that makes you momentarily question why you live in New York and not the sandy beaches of Ipanema.
And on that note there?s no better time to plan that voyage, considering Carnivale, the annual Brazilian pseudo-hedonistic celebration featuring countless parades, kicks off in February. There have always been a variety of travel options and packages revolving around Carnivale, confined primarily to Rio de Janeiro, but an expanding series of luxury options also allows you to see more of the country than you normally would.
While the hub for most of the Carnivale celebration has been Rio for over a century, more people are looking to smaller, less commercial options around the country. The most-recommended locale would probably be Salvador in Bahia. The laid-back Northeastern town is the country?s third-largest city and second-largest tourist destination and is targeted by Brazilians looking to avoid the tourist crush of Rio. Its sprawling coastline features some great hotels, particularly the Pestana Bahia and Fiesta Bahia.
As far as getting around the country, your options for getting out of Rio vary. There are plenty of crowded buses, but some of the regional airlines in Brazil have proven surprisingly efficient. Like TAM, the market share leader in Brazil which was found to be Latin America?s most punctual airline.
But if you?re looking for a more scenic luxurious route, you may want to look at the Brazil Express, South America?s only luxury tourist train. While it officially starts operations in June, it is currently running 8-10 day itineraries around the country in an Orient Express-style voyage to destinations that include Rio, Salvador, and the gorgeous Iguassu Falls lying on the Argentine/Paraguay border.
Plan your trip accordingly, and you can experience a once-in-a-lifetime trip through Brazil with both style and substance. We?ll understand if you decide not to come back to New York.
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Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 6:12 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Carl Zeiss, Cinemizer, MyVu Crystal, Travel, Movies, iPod, Technology, Entertainment, Electronics
Watch Movies on Your Glasses
Watching your favorite Blu-Ray DVDs on a new 60-inch plasma is the typical enjoyable home entertainment experience. Then there's the occasional desperate attempt at iPod video viewing. This is not how you were supposed to watch the Godfather.
But some manufacturers are trying to provide a new way to watch your mobile video without squinting. The finest example so far is the new, limited-edition Cinemizer video eyewear from Carl Zeiss. While plenty of tech companies have made a play for this emerging video eyewear market, most of them have been lacking either in design or technology. Such is the case of Toshiba's massive head-mounted unit, where they've taken a mobile medium and turned it into a neck-straining monstrosity.
The Cinemizer, on the other hand, brings a slick design that interacts with your iPod to simulate a four-foot screen at a distance of almost seven feet away. Only 500 of these golden-edition Cinemizer models have been made, providing impressive and clear video straight from your iPod and iPhone. Cinemizer reviews have been strong so far and the new golden version is one of the few video eyewear models that you might actually consider wearing in public. Of course, considering how many New Yorkers we've seen engaged in their texting to such a degree that they almost walk into oncoming traffic, it's probably not a good idea.
For anyone requiring this kind of entertainment during their cross-country or trans-Atlantic flights, there are similar models also earning strong reviews, particularly the MyVu Crystal, an iPod-compatible personal viewer that also happens to look pretty good on your face.
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Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 5:28 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Michael Jackson, Real Estate, California, Travel, Drink, Neverland, Colony Capital, Atlantic City, Las Vegas
Could Neverland Become the Next Hot Resort?
Having dealt with our mixed emotions upon learning that Michael Jackson has officially signed away his ownership of the fabled Neverland Ranch, speculation has already started on what?s next for the bizarre hideaway. Could there be some intriguing new real-estate opportunities in Southern California?
While most of the carnival rides littering the 2,500-acre property have started falling apart, the majority share of the estate is now owned by Sycamore Valley Ranch Company. Other than Jacko no longer living at Neverland, the transfer of the deed didn?t mean much until it was revealed that Sycamore was actually a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital, the investment firm that paid off the roughly $25 million in debt the King of Pop owed on the property.
Colony Capital is also the company behind the Las Vega Hilton, Atlantic City Hilton, Bally?s Tunica, Fairmont Hotels, and Meadowlands Xanadu, the upcoming massive sports and entertainment complex in New Jersey that will feature an indoor ski hill, fine dining, and luxury hotels.
The Southern California estate has been closed since 2006 when Jackson was no longer able to pay his staff or maintain the considerable insurance on a massive property that also has a zoo on the premises. Considering the property lies right in the middle of Santa Barbara wine country, there are a variety of options open to Colony Capital, who could convert the estate into everything from a vineyard to a spa to a luxury resort combining the two. The area is already full of some fine getaways, including the Spanish Colonial-themed Bacara Resort, the picturesque Biltmore Four Seasons, and all kinds of luxury day spas and resorts.
A similar property on the Neverland grounds would dwarf all of its neighbors. Whatever does happen to Neverland, you probably won?t find an amusement park, zoo, or Michael Jackson museum. Either way, there could be a fascinating ground-floor real estate opportunity in there somewhere.
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