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September travel news

THE ORDER OF ST JOHN
There’s no confirmation that the mini-bar will contain Fernet Branca, and we’re still not sure if you’ll be able to order a roasted pig’s head in your room, but Fergus Henderson has told us that there’s a good chance seed cake with a glass of Madeira will appear on the room service menu at the St John Hotel. The white-on-white comfortable simplicity of Smithfield’s St John and Spitalfields’s St John Bread & Wine, the restaurants co-owned by chef Henderson and restaurateur Trevor Gulliver, has carried over to the pair’s debut into the hotel world. Opening late October, the St John Hotel, on the old Manzi’s restaurant site just off Leicester Square, has 15 rooms, a ground-floor restaurant and an upstairs bar. The restaurant will have an all-day menu similar to that at Bread & Wine, but will stay open as late as 2am to cater for the theatreland crowd. Rooms from about $350. St John Hotel, 1 Leicester St, London, +44 207 251 0848. PAT NOURSE

LUXURY ADDITION
Keep an eye on hot Tasmanian property Saffire, currently under consideration as a new addition to the Luxury Lodges of Australia portfolio. LLoA’s Penny Rafferty, just back from a visit, told us: “The property is brand new and striking, the service is understated, personal and impeccable, and above all, Saffire offers guests an immediate connection with the Freycinet region, an unmistakable sense of place.”

SYDNEY ICON UPGRADE
Sydney’s Park Hyatt, so favoured by visiting celebs, has announced its biggest-ever reno, for 2011. Watch that space.

GROUND SUPPORT
Before you check in, check out Sydney’s Flight 001, a retail extension of the website which has taken off with travellers seeking cool, eclectic yet practical accessories for life on the road. Mimicking the interior of an airliner’s fuselage, the store carries GT favourites such as the Luxe and Wallpaper travel guides, Mandarina Duck luggage and funky designs emblazoned over everything from eye masks to laptop bags. 6/285a Crown St, Surry Hills, NSW, (02) 9332 1777.

BREAK OUT THE CIGARS
Ballet aficionados are in for a treat with the National Ballet of Cuba performing Don Quixote in Brisbane, 24 September to 3 October. Tickets from $44. 136 246.

HOLIDAY LIKE CASANOVA
When it comes to romance, it’s difficult to find a more seductive location than the Hotel Cipriani’s. And if the stunning views from Giudecca Island aren’t enough to bowl you over, the Venetian classic’s recent makeover will give you plenty of excuses to fall in love with the place. The hotel has 79 rooms, with 16 more in the adjacent 15th-century Palazzo Vendramin. Over the past three years, more than half the rooms have been refurbished in pastel tones with fine Murano glass mirrors and Fortuny lamps.

This season, guests are invited to design their own “dinner for two” in a cosy corner of the hotel – a candlelit spot with views across the water to St Mark’s Square, say, or a private nook by the pool. In keeping with the city’s theatrical tradition, couples will be served Dom Pérignon under the stars by a masked waiter, order from a menu of fine parchment and receive their own Venetian masks produced by local artisans. Dinner for Two, $1150 per couple. Rooms from $1300. Hotel Cipriani, Giudecca 10, 30133 Venice, Italy, +39 041 520 7744. JOSEPHINE MCKENNA

DESIGNER CHECK-IN
Marc Newson has continued his collaboration with Qantas by designing the airline’s new Next Generation Check-in at Perth Airport, prior to a roll-out across the rest of the country’s key hubs over the coming year. New Frequent Flyer cards with smart chips will enable passengers who haven’t already checked in online to do so with a single swipe at the sleek Newson-designed Q Card Readers in the departures hall. The new smart cards will also serve as permanent boarding cards, replacing the old-style paper passes. For an online demo, go to www.qantas.com/nextgenerationcheckin.

REACHING FOR THE STARS
Earthlings have moved one step closer to commercial sub-orbital travel after Virgin Galactic successfully tested its VSS Enterprise spaceship with crew on board, albeit attached to a mothership, the VMS Eve. The Virgin Group, which brought space-age luxury to its lounges at Heathrow, has also just unveiled a new livery for its fleet of Virgin Atlantic aircraft. Beam us up, Sir Richard.

CHEWING THE FAT
With figures showing that Australia has the highest obesity rate in the world, how airlines deal with larger passengers is becoming an increasingly contentious issue. So tell us what you think: should obese airline passengers have to pay for two seats? Vote now.

LIVING IT UP FOR LESS
In the beginning there was nothing. And then there was Huka Lodge… which is not only something, but something else. And Huka Lodge begat Kauri Cliffs and Wharekauhau and Otahuna and Whare Kea. And New Zealand tourism had an abundance of luxury retreats unique in style and location.

Huka Lodge, once a group of modest fishing huts on the banks of the Waikato River, is today a favoured sanctuary for heads of state, celebrities and anyone else smart enough to know that true wealth is measured not in bank balances but in experiences. While service and accommodation are peerless, Huka remains the pre-eminent address in the New Zealand lodge directory for the things that money can’t buy. It is iconic for its conviviality, its character and its spirit of generous hospitality, which have remained unchanged since the 1920s when Irishman Alan Pye established a fishing lodge here.

The location adds to Huka’s charm – seven landscaped hectares with sweeps of lawn and garden between the main building, its guest lodges and cottages, and the swift turquoise waters of the river. The interiors – inspired by the setting and its inherent sense of adventure – are the work of leading lodge designer Virginia Fisher.

Despite the sense of indulgence radiated by the 18 accommodation lodges, guests gravitate to the main building for meals, for refreshments throughout the day, for relaxing on the terraces, in the library or in the trophy room, and for the pre-dinner drinks muster which perpetuates the tradition of lodge camaraderie.

Food, always a feature of the Huka experience, has been elevated to a new level by chef Michel Louws. With experience in Michelin-starred kitchens in Europe, Louws brings a modern sensibility to the hunting lodge pantry with dishes such as a poached duck egg with hash browns and wilted greens at breakfast; wild rabbit Bolognese with lovage pesto and vintage Gouda at lunch; and venison with pickled beetroot, oysters, celeriac and wasabi at dinner. Each evening he presents inspired five-course dinners, all the more palatable for the knowledge that they’re included in the room rates along with pre-dinner drinks and country breakfasts.

Huka’s food and wine fame extends to a lively calendar of special events. September features a banquet designed to complement selected styles of Bollinger Champagne, as well as Huka’s legendary Big Red Dinner featuring Te Mata Estate’s epic red wines.

There were never many cons about Huka Lodge, and the last two – cost and distance – have just evaporated. Until the New Zealand dollar regains its composure, our currency constitutes a 20 per cent discount on tariffs. And while Taupo is about 300km from Auckland and Wellington airports, Air New Zealand now has direct flights from Australia to Rotorua, just 50 minutes from Taupo, with Huka providing limo transfers. Do yourself a favour. Doubles from $1800 a night. Huka Lodge, +64 7 378 5791. ROB INGRAM

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
The latest drawcard for jetsetters seeking splendour and luxury: the monolithic, skyline-changing Marina Bay Sands, which opened in June. While much has been said about the resort’s casino – Boston-based architect Moshe Safdie says he took inspiration for his distinctive three-tower design from a deck of cards – Marina Bay Sands is about more than just giving Singaporeans a chance to gamble on home soil. A total of 2561 rooms (from $290) offer luxury levels that rise by the floor number, though all guests enjoy access to the Sands SkyPark. Perched 200 metres above the ground, this new-school Hanging Garden of Babylon is home to a lush tropical oasis, restaurants and a sky-high infinity pool just in case postcard-ready views of Singapore get boring. In a reflection of the country’s dining-as-a-religion philosophy, visitors can fend off hunger at more than 50 different eateries, including restaurants from some of the food world’s biggest names, such as Mario Batali, Guy Savoy and Sydney’s own Tetsuya Wakuda, whose Singaporean outpost, Waku Ghin, opened recently.  MAX VEENHUYZEN