Author: Charlotte Gill

Fashion and frites

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Antwerp epitomises everything you wouldn’t expect from Belgium: it’s fashionable, unstuffy and, unlike bureaucracy heavy Brussels and the open-air museum Bruges, definitely not dull. A city of some 500,000 people, and one still relatively unexplored by UK business travellers, Antwerp is probably best known as the centre of the European diamond industry and home to the Antwerp Six fashion collective. But with free onward connections for Eurostar ticket holders and a major new regeneration project coming to fruition, it is emerging as an important business destination. Proof, at last, that there’s more to Antwerp than big rocks and posh frocks.

The current buzz around Antwerp is the soon-to-be-completed redevelopment of Eilandje (Little Island), the formerly derelict harbour district. It will redefine both the physical appearance and cultural landscape of the city. Located to the northeast of the main square Groenplaats, but just a 15-minute walk to the traditional Old Town district, the waterside regeneration will be launched onto the international agenda in May 2011 with the opening of the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS).

This major new museum project will reconnect the people of Antwerp with their rich maritime heritage. Antwerp port is, after all, the second largest in Europe after Rotterdam. The Dutch architecture firm Neutelings Riedijk, won the commission for MAS with their warehouse-style design reflecting the heritage of the docks.

“MAS is a historic museum which wants to tell the history of the port, the city and its inhabitants,” says architect Willem Jan Neutelings. “But this building really has to become a public, living place and not just a depot for old stuff.”

MAS will be the crowning glory of the regeneration of Eilandje, but it’s not the only project underway. The Antwerp-based artist Luc Tuymans has been commissioned to design Museum Square immediately outside of MAS. His giant ‘Dead Skull’ mosaic, best viewed from MAS’s panoramic top floor, will fan out across the whole of Hanzestedenplaats. The Royal Ballet of Flanders will move to a purpose-built new space in Eilandje during spring 2011, while a slew of smart new places to stay, eat and drink are moving into the area in preparation for the renaissance. The pick of the bunch is currently Het Pomphuis (Siberiastraat; +32 3 770 8625; www.hetpomphuis.be), where the ambiance is very industrial-heritage chic with rough-stone walls and museum-piece machinery.

Further urban regeneration projects in Antwerp’s northern district will see Willem Dock become Antwerp’s new marina; Bonaparte Dock converted into a museum for old boats; and another new museum, People on the Move, housed in the former Red Star Line building. The latter will open in 2012. Further north again, the Cadix neighbourhood is being developed as a new residential district for families within walking distance of Spoor Noord Park.

Elsewhere in the city, other developments include the Flanders Congress and Concert Centre (FCCC). The British architecture firm, Ian Simpson Architects, has been awarded the contract to revamp the space with work centred on the Queen Elisabeth Hall. The project involves restoration of listed buildings and adapting the existing 1960s structure, plus a 2,000sq m entrance foyer and new connections to nearby Astrid Square. The 2,100 seat auditorium will be the new home for the Royal Flemish Philharmonic when the work is completed in late 2012.

Threads and rocks
Antwerp took its place on the world commercial stage in the 14th century, building a reputation as the most important trading and financial centre in Western Europe. Growth was based largely on its seaport and wool market.

But Belgium’s second largest city has always been its primary creative hub. In the 16th and 17th century it was home to great masters such as Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck and Jacob Jordaen; in the 20th and 21st centuries, it is a centre for fashion, design and architecture. Antwerp Zuid, the city’s southern district, is home to numerous Art Nouveau buildings, while the Antwerp Law Courts, unveiled by British architecture firm Richard Rogers Partnership in 2006, is an impressive piece of contemporary architecture.

To get a sense of Flemish style, head down Nationalestraat from Groenplaats to visit the city’s fashion district. In 1988, six members of Antwerp’s fashion school jumped in a camper van and headed to London Fashion Week. The so-called Antwerp Six returned home as heroes, having taken Belgian couture to the world. Paul Smith’s new flagship store recently opened on Kelderstraat, but local designers are still the favourite boutiques to flex the plastic. Head for Nationalestraat for Dries van Noten at number 16, Veronique Branquinho at 73 and Walter van Beirendonck nearby at 12 St. Antoniusstraat.

This year the Flanders Fashion Institute (FFI), working in collaboration with Antwerp Tourism and Congress, developed a series of Antwerp Fashion Maps: five self-guided walks through Antwerp’s fashion districts. Packed with insider tips and en-vogue addresses, the five themed walks cover Belgian designers, international fashion houses, fashions for children, male couture and trendy vintage stores. They are available from tourist information centres in Central Station and at Grote Markt.

Or, for an alternative take on Antwerp’s fashion sense, take a stroll around the latest exhibition at the Modemuseum (MOMU). The modernist museum offers a glimpse of cutting-edge design from the next generation of graduates of the neighbouring FFI. Keeping with the art motif, the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, the city’s contemporary art museum, reopened last autumn with a new facade featuring artworks by Turner Prize-nominated artist Enrico David. Antwerp’s hip Photo Museum, meanwhile, is one of Europe’s best, featuring works by Anton Cobijn and Paul Seawright. The downstairs exhibition is free and the shop an ideal spot to pick up vintage Lomo and Holga cameras.

Also re-opened is the Paleis op de Meir, an 18th century city palace with a rococo style facade. In 1970 the Palace became the International Cultural Centre and, after that, the Film Museum. The building is now open again to visitors with a first-floor presentation of the Palace and its former inhabitants, plus the stylish Café Impérial for all-day snacks. Antwerp is also home to the World Diamond Centre and today the city handles 85 percent of the world’s rough-cut diamonds – but behind closed doors. The closest visitors can get to a precious mineral is to catch the latest exhibition at the Diamantmuseum. The museum hosts a regular programme of events, celebrating the glamour of the precious stone.

Ultimately, however, it’s the local speciality food and drink that makes Antwerp such a little gem. In fact, for a first-time visitor to the city, there’s no better way to take the pulse of Antwerp life at grass-roots level than by trying a couple of local delicacies – it’s the best of Antwerp yet most people often miss it.

Local treats
To really get to know the locals, simply join the queue at the local frituur: a simple, informal eatery and a Belgian institution. It’s a place where master fryers prepare superior fries and serve them in a paper cone. The best fries are prepared from Belgian Bintje potatoes, cut to a width of 11mm and fried twice for extra crispiness. The Flanders region is home to Belgium’s finest frituurs with Antwerp alone boasting over 200 frituurs. Crucially, they are seen in Belgium as a place where people from all walks of life can come together amid the informal surroundings of Formica tables and plastic sauce dispensers. Despite Belgium’s current linguistic and political divides, all men and women are equal when it comes to standing in line at their local frituur.

“As a country with no obvious symbols of nationalism, the humble frituur is our only symbol,” says Paul Ilegems, a historian and author of Frietgeheimen (Secrets of the Fries) and Het Volkomen Frietboek (The Complete Fries Book) amongst others. “It reflects the ad-hoc nature of the Belgian personality; our inherent indifference to aesthetics.”

On Groenplaats, with views across the square to the 14th century Cathedral of our Lady and a collection of works by Rubens, Fritkot Max (www.fritkotmax.be) is the oldest frituur in town. It dates, in fact, from 1842. The restaurant’s tiny upstairs room has an exhibition of art and memorabilia devoted to the history of fries, the artworks including a cheeky update of Rubens’ 1597 Baroque painting of Adam and Eve. The twist? Adam is tempting Eve with a cone-shaped bag of chips.

For another local delicacy, take a stroll through the cobblestone sidestreets of the Old Town to De Vagant or ‘The Troubadour’ (Reyndersstraat 25, +32 3 233 1538; www.devagant.be). A charismatic old cafe with heavy wooden tables, low lighting and the constant hum of conversation, this is the best place in Antwerp to sample jenever, a local take on gin, sometimes flavoured with fruit juices. De Vagant stocks over 200 varieties of jenever, with 40 fruit flavours from mango to cherry, plus several grand cru, grain-based varieties. Jenever flavoured with extract of juniper berry is the closest they serve to traditional gin, but it’s actually less popular in Flanders.

Jenever enthusiast Ronald Ferket opened the bar in honour of his favourite tipple in 1985 and has since become something of a jenever collector, both in terms of historical documents and new varieties of the liquor uncovered from old family recipes. “The first references to jenever date from the 17th century, with distilleries in northern Belgium and the Netherlands producing a ‘burnt beer,’” explains Ronald, sipping a cherry-flavoured shot. “Flanders remains the hub for jenever distilleries today, with production in Antwerp and Gent.”

Fried potatoes and firewater aside, Antwerp is evolving fast. With headline-grabbing regeneration and new ease of access thanks to those free onwards connections from Eurostar services, there’s a sense that Antwerp is about to blossom from rising star to fully-fledged world beater. So soak up the atmosphere and take time to get to know the locals. But one tip: just don’t mistake the Flemish for Dutch. Although Flemish is a dialect of Dutch, Antwerpians take offence at being called Dutch. Remember that – and don’t push in the queue at the frituur – and you’ll be fine.

Tourism Flanders – tel: 0207 307 7738; www.visitflanders.co.uk; Tourism Antwerp – tel: +32 3 232 0103; visit.antwerpen.be

Pokit pal

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

The word ‘indie’ is one of the fashion industry’s most covetable terms right now, but to survive the harsh retail climate and to tap into the values of the new era, other elements work a treat too – such as quality and upscale craftsmanship.

Priding itself on all of these components, it should be no surprise that London label Pokit is having a moment. As indie and underground as it gets, Pokit was founded in 1999 by Claire and Bayode Oduwole, who conceived their brainchild to bring an “innovative and fresh approach” to the fashion world. Having grown organically over the past decade without any financial backing whatsoever, the company started out with a miniscule budget of £500 – just enough to produce a set of four leather bags, which they sold from a humble outlet in London’s Maida Vale.

Fast-forward to 2010, and Pokit has extended it repertoire to offer a full range of suits, footwear, accessories and leather goods for both men and women. For a company as small as Pokit, it’s an impressive feat to serve up a range of fashion goods as extensive as that of firmly established household names like Margaret Howell and Paul Smith.

With the excess of the boom having deemed throwaway rags and fleeting trends somewhat redundant, Pokit’s classic essence and focus on quality feels more relevant than ever. Albeit advocating a decidedly clean-cut aesthetic, Pokit’s wares can be styled to look subversive or conservative as you wish, and this chameleon-like quality makes the label versatile as few. Distinctive and understated, but with an unmistakable edge, the label has been described as a young Hermes but it also exudes a quietly conceptual air akin to that of Martin Margiela or Comme des Garçons. In Japan, Pokit’s only wholesale territory, the mere mention of the name sends style mavens into a spin and its increasing cult status is undeniable.

Though the discerning fashion elite passionately embrace Pokit, it doesn’t cater exclusively to this achingly cool camp by any means. Pokit sits just as comfortably in corporate environments and can accommodate lawyers and business people looking to infuse a bit of character into their office get-up. To make sartorial life easier for customers, and entice them to come back to Pokit, all suits include a post-wear service to solve any minor mishaps in terms of the fit of the garment.

Recognising the fact that getting the fit right in a suit is as crucial as it is potentially tricky and even daunting, Pokit launched a bespoke suit service in 2005 called Fabri-k. To use the Pokit duo’s own description of the innovation, this is a “modern process to allow the mystical process of bespoke tailoring to be transformed into a modular one.”

Emma Holmqvist caught up with Pokit’s Creative Director and co-founder Bayode Oduwole to get the lowdown on the company’s ethos and its increasing focus on bespoke suits

Describe Pokit in a nutshell.
In essence, Pokit is a modern British brand. Without pushing a concept that is overly romantic about being British, our aim is to offer products that are designed in a modern, rational way, created using authentic manufacturing methods and materials of high quality. In Japan, Pokit is revered as a true cult brand, whereas in the UK it’s considered something of a ‘best kept secret.’ We’re still trying to figure out why Pokit is surrounded by such mystique, as for us it’s just a multi-disciplinary outfitter offering carefully designed and manufactured collections.

Being a small company, how did you manage to extend the offer from four bags to incorporate an all-encompassing range of footwear, suits, clothing and accessories?
Pokit is small but perfectly formed, but it hasn’t arrived at its current state by chance. By growing the brand organically ourselves over a long period of time, it’s allowed us to hone our skills and perfect the product offer and brand concept down to a T. We’ve researched every product area in minute detail over the past 10 years and experimented endlessly to get the best results. It’s been a tiring process, but definitely a rewarding one. Today we get the respect we deserve, and with our new retail space in Soho, we’ve come a log way since our humble beginnings in Maida Vale.

Who’s the Pokit customer?
The shop is frequented by ultra cool people, and this is great, but we want to convey the fact that we’re not elitist or dauntingly edgy at all. Everyone is welcome to visit the shop, and anyone can wear Pokit and make the look their own. A 20-year old rock star will look as good in a Pokit suit as a 70-year old gentleman, and increasingly, we attract a lot of media lawyers. It’s quite difficult for a brand to appeal to such a broad customer base, and without trying to sound pompous, Pokit could be called a phenomenon on those grounds.

You seem to focus increasingly on bespoke suits, was this move a conscious decision to fill a gap in the market?
Absolutely, we carefully studied the market and observed all segments, from high street brands to the most exclusive Savile Row tailors. We discovered clear limitations and noted the fact that this product group hasn’t developed at all. Thus, we set about to offer an extended range of suits to plug that hole and try to re-educate people that buying a suit doesn’t have to be an intimidating and precious operation. At Pokit, a suit looks like a suit and it smells like a suit too, but it’s executed in a new way and the method of buying is different, allowing the consumer to experience more intimacy with their purchase. What they’ll get at the end of the process is a robust suit that will last as long as clothes did in the past, although the design is modern.

To make a Pokit suit work its best in a corporate environment, what’s your top styling tip?
Pokit’s signature is cool, humorous and proper but never too serious – a formula that works well in corporate environments. We advocate a style that we call ‘never inappropriately dressed,’ which translates to looking good and respectable but never too straight-laced and characterless as the term ‘appropriately dressed’ suggests. It’s a huge difference between these two style formulas. Stepping into the office wearing a Pokit suit won’t make you look like a freak, but it will certainly make you look different. Still, the label is actually quite conservative at heart – it’s old-school stuff transferred to modern times. We never apply fashion fads or gimmicks; why apply 10 buttons to a cuff if it doesn’t add anything to the functionality of the piece? A Pokit suit works like a blank canvas, and how you wear it is up to you.

You’re known in the industry to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of fashion. Does this expertise benefit your work as Creative Director at Pokit?
It definitely does. To have an avid interest in the history of clothing and being able to reference archival styles are invaluable assets. This season, we’ve designed a pair of bright pink cords for men, and some people walk past the shop window pointing and laughing at the trousers as if they were silly fashion gimmicks. Actually, you’ll find very similar pieces if you walk down the classic menswear hub that is Jermyn Street, as this style of trouser is a true British classic. These referential designs work like a secret code if you’re in the know, and we love to incorporate historic elements wherever possible.

132 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 8ZW; tel: +44(0)20 7434 2875; www.pokit.co.uk

A future in the forest

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

W hen the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company first penetrated the highlands and rainforests of Papua New Guinea in 1929, the many tribes they found were using seashells as the main form of currency. The last known tribe using stone-age technology was discovered in the Papuan jungle in 1980. Suddenly exposed to a modern, globalised society, the Papuan people have skipped thousands of years of developmental stages and gone from hunting and gathering to a modern state economy within a few decades.

Approximately 500 miles from Cairns in Australia sits Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. It’s a noisy, unsettled place of 400,000 that lends itself to the tentacles of economic progress.

An indigenous culture has clashed with the weight of the modern age. Papuan cultural identity in a globalised world has had to adopt and adapt. This shock has meant many rural people have abandoned traditional subsistence lives in favour of life in cities like Port Moresby. Poverty has spread in these urban centres where people outnumber jobs.

New urbanites, fresh from the forest, are more accustomed to spreading seeds than spreadsheets. Crime in poor areas is a daily feature of life as desperation rises with unemployment. Domestic violence, an accepted part of family life, seems more brutal once in close urban confinement.

Around £600m worth of British trade lies in Papua. Rich in natural resources, it’s a dual economy trading in mining (gold, silver, copper and nickel) and oil, as well as more traditional means like fishing, forestry, coffee, palm oil, copra, cocoa and vanilla.

Exploitation has been hampered by a naturally rugged terrain and the high cost of developing infrastructure.

Agriculture still provides 75 percent of Papuans with a subsistence livelihood, yet two-thirds of the country’s export relies on mineral deposits. The demand for what lies beneath its soil is what’s kept it largely immune from the effects of the global financial crisis.

By the end of 2010 an estimated 227bn cubic metres of natural gas reserves will be tapped into, following the installation of a liquefied natural gas production facility. When Papua begins to export the results three or four years later, the current GDP of nearly £10bn could double and its export revenue triple.

Grave digging
A spine of mountains and rainforests runs through the country. This provides the raw material for a logging industry dominated by Malaysian-owned companies. Environmental groups highlight that Papua New Guinea’s forests, like the Amazon rainforest, serve as indispensable filters for the planet’s carbon dioxide. Local activism can work to change some logging practices: a local movement led by policeman-turned-environmentalist Galeva Sep chased out an exploitative Malaysian logging firm, replacing it with locally run eco-logging operations. But those victories are few and far between.

However, grass roots activism is growing almost in direct proportion to foreign speculation on Papuan land. As companies move in, people rise up.

Mining on the Papua New Guinea/West Papuan border has destroyed land by flooding iron phosphate sediments at Kiunga’s Ok Tedi mine into the river system. The sediment is the result of gold and copper mining and contains poisonous iron pyrites. Environmentalists predict that over 300,000 hectares of land will be poisoned by these sediments at the next major flood, directly affecting hundreds of thousands living on the Ok Tedi and Fly River basin who rely on a delicate environmental balance for their livelihoods. People hunt, fish, bathe and cultivate land on the banks of these sediment-shrunken rivers.

It is clear where Papua New Guinea’s government stands in the tussle between the planet and prosperity. They have upset conservationists, landowners and parliamentarians after recently changing environmental laws that will make it harder to prosecute mining projects like the environmentally damaging Chinese-run Ramu nickel mine. The law now prevents local landowners from suing companies for negligence.

The mine’s owners, Chinese Metallurgical, lobbied hard to amend the law, which can also be applied to any other resource project in the country. Rugged terrain, lack of infrastructure, corruption and disputes with landowners have previously hampered foreign companies from investing heavily in Papua New Guinea. But because it is one of the few places in the world as yet untouched by widespread resource development, it is ripe for exploitation.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare’s government has spent most of its energy remaining in power. He was the first Prime Minister to complete a five-year term and has been a prominent feature in the country’s progress since independence in 1975. Through expenditure control and controversial legislation, his government has brought stability to the national budget. But they face the challenges of gaining investor confidence, restoring integrity and trust to state institutions, and balancing relations with Australia – its strongest trading partner and the Western country with the most sway in Papua New Guinea’s fate.

Land privatisation is a major source of wealth, but also what’s been blamed for the civil war on Bougainville Island.

Papuan land is, by tradition, communally owned by the tribe or an alliance of tribes. Private investment and purchase of land and resource, usually by a foreign multinational, upsets this historical balance. Instead of fighting off conquistadors and colonials, Papuans fought among themselves and flew progress as a standard.

Spirited away
Papuans are an incredibly diverse social bunch. Over a thousand different cultural groups exist in Papua New Guinea and nearly a third of the world’s dialects and languages can be found there. Although declared a Christian country, its tribal and animist roots come through in its art, dance, weaponry, costume, music and architecture. Ancestor spirits are represented in wood-carvings in the form of plants and animals along the Sepik River.

Papuans have a clan system called “wantok” – a Pidgin English corruption of “one talk” – by which members of the same tribe look out for, feed and help each other. It is not unknown for Papuan tribes to have their own language. This extended tribal family underpins all of Papuan society – including that of government.

Highland peoples take part in colourful rituals called “sing-sings”. They paint themselves and dress up in feathers, pearls, shells and animal skins to represent birds, trees and mountain spirits. They then re-enact important legends, battles and events in dance and song.

Religious change has also thrust its way across the country, which is now 96 percent Christian. Papuan law upholds the constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought and belief, and old animist spirit houses are now churches for Catholics, Lutherans and other denominations. Images of Christ hang next to those of Spirit Men and the skulls of ancestors. Christianity is seen as a positive in Papua New Guinea; people talk of how it’s brought education, medicine and some degree of inter-tribal unity.

As one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world, Papua New Guinea is not without its socio-cultural mountains. It has the highest infection rate of HIV/AIDS in all of East Asia and the Pacific; more than 11 percent of the population are thought to be infected, and it is one of the leading causes of death in the country. Urgent steps by non-governmental organisations and the World Health Organisation are being taken to prevent the spread, but the country is likely to become a major HIV/AIDS centre within the next decade.

Concrete jungles
It’s also a notoriously violent place. Crisis-level social violence is commonplace. Normal. A way to deal with the everyday. Medecins Sans Frontiers and other charities have stressed that violence in Papua New Guinea is like poverty in need of long-term systemic change, rather than an emergency response.

Cities like Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen are facing one of the side-effects of rising economic prosperity: gangs. Tribal allegiances and divisions are ingrained even after migration to the cities, and the gangs formed as a result – called Raskals – are arming themselves by trading drugs for guns. The level of violence in these cities is astonishing, particularly for a country that is not at war. While the machete is still the weapon of choice, firearms are becoming more accessible and popular. Police shoot first and ask questions later.

Gender imbalance in Papua New Guinea runs deep. A recent report from Amnesty International declares that two thirds of women experience physical violence at the hands of their husbands – and in one part of the country, it’s close to 100 percent. Sixty percent of men have admitted to being involved in at least one gang rape.

Although the government says it is committed to eradicating all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, it is not legislation that is lacking but the enforcement of it. Due to the lack of white collar education for rural women migrating to urban centres, prostitution is high.

The UK Foreign Office recommends travellers are “vigilant while travelling in all cities, particularly in hours of darkness.” “Armed carjackings, assaults, robbery, shootings and serious sexual offences, including rape, are common,” it says: “the situation is unpredictable.” However, there are currently no travel restrictions for British travellers in place for Papua New Guinea.

Thanks to its mountainous spine, in-country transport is heavily limited. Port Moresby, the nation’s capital, is isolated. It isn’t linked to any other major town and many villages can only be reached on foot, light aircraft or helicopter. To this end, air travel underpins national travel. People and products are transported through the skies. Papua New Guinea has two international airfields and no fewer than 578 airstrips – most of which are unpaved and rather choppy at landing. This bottom-breaking means of moving about is to be redressed as the need for a more unified transport network becomes greater.

There’s an adage about trying to run before learning to walk. In Papua New Guinea’s case, it’s off doing a triathlon as soon as it’s taken its first breaths of life. The pressures of money and power are heavy on a state that suffers the culture shock of a globalised world. With cooperative international help, it can overcome its handicap to become a newly industrialised economy with its people’s interest at its core. But without a careful hand, the country’s rush into modernity could turn it into a place for multinationals to thoughtlessly plunder natural resources. Its people will suffer the indignity of being governed by the greed of cronyism. The traditions of care for the greater good will drown in poisoned floods. And culture will be reduced to headdresses and body paint – a museum piece for tourists.

Swiss skies

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Travellers with Swiss enjoy a wide range of service options well before they actually take off. One example is its mobile service (mobile.swiss.com), which lets passengers buy tickets and check in on their mobile phone before leaving for the airport. It’s also possible for customers to have their boarding pass sent to their mobile, while those who have previously created an online profile can save time booking flights.

The airline strives to make the time customers spend at the airport as pleasant as possible. Passengers travelling in first and business classes can enjoy spacious lounges along with ‘Miles and More’ frequent fliers and Star Alliance members, who also gain all the benefits of membership of the world’s biggest airline network.

Sustainable in style
Thanks to fleet investment and innovations in cabin interior design, customers now fly in greater style than ever. The Airbus A330-200 will be gradually replaced by the Airbus A330-300, which is equipped with totally new seats in all three classes.

The new first class cabin sets new benchmarks in comfort, privacy and design elegance. Each seat’s spacious surroundings and individually adjustable side walls offer extensive privacy. The unique guest seat, meanwhile – complete with backrest and armrests – lets travellers dine and work at a spacious table with a fellow traveller.

The seat can be reclined at the touch of a button into a lie-flat bed more than two metres long, complete with down duvet. Further at-seat extras include a 23 inch flatscreen television – the largest currently available worldwide – as well as ample work surfaces and stowage facilities.

Business class seats can be reclined to a fully lie-flat position, while its adjustable air cushion can be set to be as firm as a futon or as soft as a four-poster. The seat also features USB and iPod sockets. The new cabin layout provides greater room and privacy at every seat, with most seats directly accessible from the aisle. Business class is a fine example of the flag carrier’s environmental and sustainability innovations: the air cushion alone makes the seat some four kilograms lighter than its foam-filled equivalent, saving in fuel consumption and the resulting carbon dioxide emissions.

Connected to the world
SWISS offers travellers a well-coordinated route network of 73 destinations worldwide from Zurich Airport, a popular air transport hub in the heart of Europe as well as from Geneva and Basel. Zurich Airport is home to state of the art infrastructure and offers short walking distances and ideal transfer times. The airline continues to invest in the future: this June it added San Francisco to the route network, and as of 2014 it will replace its European Avro RJ100 fleet with the introduction of the newest generation of Bombardier CSeries aircraft, providing high levels of passenger comfort, significantly quieter engines and lower CO2 emissions.

www.swiss.com/uk

Walking in the sky

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Half a mile above Montreux-Vevey and overlooking the beautiful Lake Geneva, Le Mirador Kempinski offers high class luxury service in a breathtaking setting, with a simply magnificent view of the Alps above and lake below.

After 10 months of major renovations, the hotel reopened in 2009, offering more modern facilities and design to enhance the hotel’s high quality service and beautiful panorama. Thanks to this multi-million Swiss Franc renovation programme, the historical manor’s 64 lake view rooms and suites now combine state of the art equipment with sophisticated design and refined European flair.

Nestled in the hills of the picturesque village of Chardonne, it is a secure and intimate resort; stylishly appointed and offering royal comfort and elegance. The hotel’s 45 junior suites each offer a generous 50sq m of space in the south wing. Naturally lit through large picture windows which frame the beautiful landscape, the suites are elegantly decorated in warm tones, harmoniously contrasting with the vivid blue sky. Oversized beds and natural stone bathrooms ensure pampered relaxation, and large private balconies command further awe inspiring views of the Alps.

Modern facilities include high speed internet, free Wi-Fi in the hotel’s public areas, Logitech Dream-Fi iPod docks and full high-definition televisions – Le Mirador Kempinski is the first five star hotel in Switzerland to offer these. Grander suites – including the 190sq m Duplex Deluxe Lake View and the 250sq m Royal Suite – are also elegantly appointed.

The hotel offers a wide range of dining opportunities. The tables of Mediterranean restaurant Le Patio stretch out onto Le Mirador Kempinski’s stunning terrace, serving salads, delicate amuse bouche and authentically flavoured Italian cuisine. French gourmet Le Trianon combines lake-caught fish with seasonal flavours to create a distinguished gastronomic experience. Au Chalet, an authentic Swiss outpost moments from the main hotel building, provides rural feasts, while the new breakfast room L’Horizon distracts from a sumptuous buffet with its show kitchen and magnificent views. The exceptional Piano Bar Lounge, furnished with deep leather armchairs, offers a collection of exquisite champagnes and vintage whiskies.

With such breathtaking views and photogenic backdrops, Le Mirador Kempinski is an ideal destination for a wedding. The dramatic location is the perfect stage for a perfect day, and the hotel’s experienced wedding team can assist with all the meticulous detail. It is also a fine choice for an indulgent, relaxing getaway: the Givenchy Spa includes 11 treatment cabins, a new Givenchy boutique, hair fashion salon, relaxation room, and a new centralised reception which is shared with Le Mirador Medical Centre.

There’s also the new 90sq m Day Spa Suite: consisting of a sauna, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi, relaxation area and massage area for two. Signature treatments are Le Soin Noir – a complete beauty skincare renewal; and Oriental – an eastern fusion massage.

Tel: +41 21 925 1111; www.kempinski-mirador.com

The Gold Coast

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Situated only one kilometre from Kotoka International Airport and just seven kilometres from the city centre, Holiday Inn Accra Airport is ideally located for the business traveller or adventurous tourist. Widely acknowledged as the premium hotel in Accra, it recently played host to the US first family during their visit to Ghana – the first by US President Obama to sub-Saharan Africa since he came to office.

Leisure facilities at the hotel are extensive, and include a swimming pool, a fully equipped gym and a health centre.

The seven storey hotel has 98 standard rooms, 48 executive rooms, 14 deluxe rooms, six executive suites and two presidential suites. All are luxuriously appointed and equipped with satellite television, mini-bar and Wi-Fi. Coffee and tea making facilities complement the 24-hour room service and in-room safe deposit boxes.

The hotel offers some of the best cuisine to be found in Accra. The main restaurant is the elegant Wiase Restaurant, which has a terrace overlooking the swimming pool, and is open all day offering guests the choice of a delectable buffet or a set menu. A highlight at the Wiase Restaurant is the Ghanian Sunday brunch, where a selection of breakfast and lunch items are freshly prepared using local recipes.

For guests looking for a more laid back experience, La Cabana Pool Bar and Restaurant provides a varied menu in a relaxed environment – as well as a splendid view. A popular highlight at La Cabana is Friday’s happy hour, as well as music from live bands.

As a conference venue, the Holiday Inn Accra Airport is unsurpassed. Its proximity to the airport, state of the art technology and top quality meeting rooms ensure that every client requirement is met. Exceptional conferencing facilities are matched by the skills of the dedicated conferencing and banqueting manager, whose team can cater for a reception for 450 people and a banquet or seated conference for up to 250 people. The hotel has one boardroom, three meeting rooms and a banquet and conference hall, all designed to allow for a great deal of flexibility in how they are used and the number of people that they can accommodate.

sales@holidayinnaccraairport.com

The Dublin advantage

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Effortlessly combining traditional and modern, historic and contemporary, dynamism and that famous Irish laid back attitude, Dublin is a uniquely charming destination. Scoring highly on organisers’ essential criteria such as accessibility, destination appeal and excellent service, it also stands out with a collection of individual and inspirational venues, high quality facilities and international calibre wow-factor.

Dublin Airport is among the 10 busiest airports in Europe in terms of international flights, serving 170 destinations via 98 airlines. Over the last 10 years €2bn has been invested to improve and modernise the passenger experience.

An extension of the original terminal was completed in 2009, and a brand new terminal will open in November this year. Other projects continue to improve movement into and across the airport. The city is also accessible by regular ferry services from the UK.

Because of the appeal of the destination, Dublin invariably attracts a higher delegate attendance than other comparable cities. While this is in part due to improved visibility over recent years, such success wouldn’t be possible without Dublin’s rich history and culture. The city is steeped in music and literature, with plenty to see and do for pre- and post tour options, social events and partner programmes. City, sea and countryside are all within easy reach, meaning activities such as golf, horse riding, hiking, teambuilding, sailing, windsurfing and canoeing are simply and quickly organised.

Modern and medieval
Dublin’s venue range includes the unusual, the traditional, and the purpose-built. Ancient castles, underground vaults and international breweries can make a conference or incentive trip stand out from the crowd, while those in search of inspiring modern architecture will enjoy the modern facilities of the city’s stadiums, colleges and the new Convention Centre Dublin, opening in September. This iconic landmark building combines a central location with magnificent views of the city, bay and mountains, offering state of the art facilities and an unrivalled service for delegations of up to 8,000. The city has around 20,000 hotel rooms – and a business delegate attending a qualifying conference is entitled to reclaim the VAT paid in respect of accommodation costs incurred while attending.

The Dublin Pass is the capital’s official visitor card. Available at a discounted price to conference delegates, it includes airport transfer, access to 31 of Dublin’s top attractions and many more added value facilities. Visiting groups don’t descend into a void of industry and development: over 1,200 overseas companies have chosen Ireland as their European base, representing a wide range of sectors including ICT, pharmaceuticals, health care, finance and international services.

Accessing Dublin’s perfect mix of ingredients is simple: the Dublin Convention Bureau offers a one stop shop for conference organisers, offering expert advice and comprehensive local knowledge to ensure a superlative event experience. Its extensive contact list, venue finding service and other core provisions are available without any fee or commission.

The Dublin Convention Bureau, Dublin Tourism Centre, Suffolk Street, Dublin 2; tel: +353 1 605 7774; www.dublinconventionbureau.com; dcb@dublinconventionbureau.com

A stiff upper lip

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Too damned right I’ve got a volcanic ash moan! I’ve been flying since 1966 and been delayed all over the world for reasons ranging from non-arrival of incoming aircraft, fog, snow, ice, even a hurricane – through to pilots with upset stomachs and the non-appearance of the in-flight catering.

I was once held up for almost two hours in a remote part of Tanzania because of elephants on the runway. And this was way before jumbo jets.

But it’s a first to linger in foreign parts indefinitely because of vicious volcano vomit in Bjork’s homeland.

(And what is it with Iceland? First they swallow our savings in the great financial glacier meltdown, and then they screw up our air travel. The Cod War was in the 70s, isn’t it time for them to bury the hatchet – and not in our craniums?)

But don’t worry, this isn’t one of those “The bastards at (fill in airline) left me stranded and I’ve spent $5,000 / £6,000 / €7,000 on phone calls / hotels / food…” rants variety. In fact I was in a spacious room in a luxurious North African hotel and the airline happily picked up the tab for my enforced stay.

It was the Brits that got me fuming by turning a 21st century travel crisis into a World War Two PoW camp drama.

It started at breakfast. A rat-faced man sidled up to me, looked both ways like he was being watched by the guards and hissed through clenched teeth: “You’re British right? Well we’re all stranded. That’s right: stranded. Volcanic ash. Emergency meeting. Ten o’clock. Hotel lobby.”

Suddenly we had all been transmogrified into inmates, and all anyone could think of was the Great Escape.

For curiosity’s sake I went along to the meeting. Judging by the conspiratorial atmosphere inside I expected to look out and see barbed wire, watchtowers and helmeted sentries.

The enemy was manifold. The airlines, that damned Icelandic volcano, the Met Office, the British Airports Authority, and of course – Johnny Foreigner.

The first suggestion until we could get back safely to Blighty was to steal and hoard dining room tea-bags for future emergency. “If push comes to shove at least we’ll be able to have a cuppa.”

Then someone moved a vote that we should all swap mobile phone numbers in case one got news of a flight out and could alert the others. It passed unanimously. “Don’t stray too far from the hotel and have your bag packed in case we get the word.” It was stiff upper lip time.

Rumours spread like wildfire through the camp grapevine. One frequent flyer offered: “Word is they’re laying on a special charter flight to Barcelona tomorrow, then coaches to Boulogne and a ferry.” Another chipped in: “I’ve had it from the horse’s mouth that they’ve chartered a boat to take us from Alexandria to Marseille. Then it’s a train to Paris and the Eurostar.”

I half expected us to start digging tunnels under the cover of a vaulting horse, hiding the dirt in the hotel grounds while trying to avoid the watchful eyes of the goons patrolling the electric fence.

By day four the wartime parody was getting all too real. There was a self-appointed escape leader. He had his baseball cap on the wrong way around – more Steve McQueen than Dickie Attenborough.

And on cue the spectre of the Old Enemy hove into view. “Word is,” Wing Commander Baseball-Cap-On-Backwards told us, “the Germans have commandeered the first landing slots when the ash lifts. This is totally unfair. Damned if a bunch of Krauts are jumping the queue.”

Not content with dawn dive bombing the poolside loungers with their towels, now the bally Hun was bagging the very runways. In the background I swear I could hear someone whistling the Dambusters March.

By Delay Day Six morale was low and my fellow Brits looked like listless PoWs with no end of the war in sight. “Says on Sky this could go on for months,” Flight Lt. Latest-Rumour told us.

But hell, we weren’t scraping by on ersatz coffee and Red Cross parcels. The days were hot and lazy, the pool shimmered, and best of all: we had the perfect excuse.

D-Day Seven my telephone rang. I had a place on the first available Escape Airlines flight to London. I was going over the wall!

That night I sneaked out quietly, leaving the Escape Committee members still feverishly plotting their own exodus.

You’re grounded

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

I’m sitting at Malta airport cursing the skies. It feels like something out of a scene from Lost, just without the umpteen luscious palm trees and – thankfully – plane debris. As I am fast discovering, an island isn’t exactly the ideal place to be caught during any sort of travel emergency and, along with my unhappy band of fellow stranded travellers, we’re wishing we’d stayed on the mainland – any mainland.

Sadly for me, my holiday plans quickly became null and void as, short of hopping on the nearest ferry to Italy and then peddling my way along to the south of France for my planned vacation, I wasn’t going anywhere. All around me people were in a similar pickle as they desperately tried to “get back to the office for a breakfast meeting at 9am” or “pick little Amy up from her auntie’s.” Never before had I looked at my island home as any form of entrapment, but suddenly I was ready to scale down the cliffs just to get off.

As the scene unfolded, and we all watched the telly goggle-eyed at the hundred of thousands of trapped people everywhere, it became evident that the whole of Europe had it bad. Train tickets turned to gold dust and motorways ground to a standstill. We now know that, as the Cloud marched its way across Europe, it wreaked the world’s worst bout of travel chaos since 9/11. Business travel took an instant hard hit; international conferences were cancelled and events postponed – many for months.

It all felt so unprecedented; as though the thought of no planes in the sky was completely new to us as a species. After all, what were our options? Weeks on, and now that the disruption has passed us by, the Cloud has managed to raise new questions about modes of transport. Personally, I’m still surprised that the idea of donkeys as viable travel substitutes didn’t take off.

Meanwhile, I think it is us islanders for whom the worry of the Cloud will live on the longest, as we nervously assess the real repercussions of how this could affect us and the industries around us. Among those worrying, niche Sicilian conference organiser, Roberto Risso, offers very real concerns for the future of his business. “We were hit hard by the cloud itself,” he remarks. “We suffered instant cancellations and other groups postponed their travel indefinitely due to the uncertainty. All that was frightening, but what is yet to come worries me more.

“The evolution of air transport has made it easy to get to and from an island, but now I think people are starting to rethink that. It won’t take much for businesses to exclude the idea of unnecessary business travel to islands completely, and to stay closer to home for their conferences, meetings or incentives. The Cloud has cost the travel industry billions – not just in cancelled travel plans, but in potential losses of business to companies all over the world. The full extent of those repercussions does remain to be seen, but I am not optimistic.”    

Yes, in the event of an ash cloud it does seem that your whole world suddenly becomes a whole lot smaller. Without the option of ‘jetting off’ for the weekend, or even grabbing a freshly flown-in tropical fruit from the supermarket shelves, life does look a little dim. In fact, I may well find myself backing alternative plans to connect Malta to the rest of the world through a complex warren of under-sea tunnels or a nice cross-water train system. After all, we’ve got to keep our options open.  

Weeks later and the threat of the Cloud still hangs over our heads in a frighteningly omnipotent and devilish manner. But what of my own future travel plans, I hear you ask? Well, they’re on hold until I’ve purchased a dinghy.

Jo Caruana is a writer, actress, and director of writemeanything.com, an innovative writing services company. When not trapped in Malta, she enjoys working as a travel journalist

Weekend in the cIty

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Cairo, a city where traditional bazaars nestle beside neon malls, where overcrowded slums border lavish neighbourhoods, has long captured the imagination of adventurous travellers. It is commonly dubbed the ‘city of a thousand minarets,’ and the skyline is perfectly crowded with them: short ones, tall ones, double-headed ones and even quadruple ones sprout around the domed mosques that crowd the frenetic, congested streets.

A chaotic, crowded metropolis teeming with traffic, Cairo elicits all but indifference from its visitors. It is a glorious beacon of history and culture, interweaving influences from Turkish, French and British colonial rule. In modern times the city has become an anchor for film, music and pop culture embraced across the Arab world.

It can take a lifetime to properly explore a city, but visiting with just a weekend to spare – that would be Friday and Saturday in Egypt – can still be a rich experience. The weekend starts quietly: locals sleep late on a Friday, and the call to noon prayers are the quietest of the week. The normally overwhelming traffic is temporarily subdued, presenting the best opportunity for visitors who, despite themselves, are intent on visiting the Giza Necropolis. Just 15 miles southwest of Cairo city centre, the trip is a stunning cliché and tourist trap, but for perfectly understandable reasons: the Great Pyramid is the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, and although its height of 139m is scarcely anything compared with today’s skyscrapers, its sheer bulk (nearly six million tonnes and 2,500,000 cubic metres) is overwhelming.

Returning to the city for lunch, the century-old Cafe Riche in the downtown neighbourhood provides an entertaining lesson in modern history. Its basement was a meeting point for resistance members during the 1919 Revolution against British occupation, and is now a popular hangout for many of the city’s intellectuals.

Downtown Cairo is well worth an amble. Its 19th and early 20th century boulevards and buildings were once home to Cairo’s elite, unfortunately now sullied after years of neglect; however they remain home to several French-inspired architectural gems. Downtown also offers culture buffs an interesting shopping experience, with rare books, lithographs, maps and other authentic collectables on sale.

In the evening the Nile’s many feluccas – traditional wooden sailboats, available for hire for less than $20 an hour – provide a tranquil moment to enjoy the lights of the city. A good place to board one is on the riverside boulevard, the Corniche, in front of The Four Seasons Nile Plaza hotel.

Unlike the more oppressive scene in Dubai, where nightlife options are restricted to – albeit luxurious – ex-pat and tourist venues, Cairo offers destinations with more local flair. Seqouia is an open-air restaurant right on the Nile in the Zamalek district: built like a modern tent with a white marquee, canopies and upholstery, it serves Mediterranean cuisine and traditional Egyptian dishes, with water pipes available for smokers and the culturally curious.

Just a 10 minute walk from Seqouia is the glitzy Aperitivo, a bistro-lounge that opened last year. Adorned with crystal chandeliers, leather upholstery and funky artwork, it’s the ideal venue to sip creative cocktails and experience the glamorous side of Cairo. Or for a more local experience, downtown’s Arabesque – a recently refurbished oriental style bar-cum-dancing-hotspot – is a popular hangout for Cairo’s young crowd. A belly-dancer performs every Friday, but it does get very crowded. Right next door is the After 8 bar, which offers live music and DJs well into the wee hours.

After a much-needed lie in and healthy breakfast, the following day can be almost entirely absorbed by exploring Egypt’s religious heritage. Coptic Cairo is a good starting point: it is home to the intricately designed Hanging Church, which holds some 110 ancient and medieval religious icons. The district is also home to the Ben Ezra synagogue. Originally built in the 4th century as a church, it was turned into a synagogue five centuries later. Legend has it the synagogue was built near the spot where Pharaoh’s daughter found baby Moses.

Islamic Cairo is just a short drive from the Coptic quarters and is brimming with mosques and other monuments.

Begin with Ibn Tulun mosque, named after the founder of the Tulun dynasty that ruled Egypt in the late 9th century, and Al-Rifai mosque, now the burial spot of Egypt’s King Farouk and Iran’s Mohamed Reza Shah Pahlavi. A must-see in Islamic Cairo is the renowned Citadel, a 12th-century bastion built to protect Egypt against the Crusaders.

Also there is a grand mosque built by Muhammad Ali Pasha, Egypt’s Ottoman ruler throughout the first half of the 19th century.

Finally, the Khan El Khalili souk offers one last taste of authentic Cairo. Despite occasional terrorist attacks this remains a popular – and vast – bazaar, selling traditional souvenirs including home ornaments, jewellery, garments, spices and water pipes.

Toast to the coast

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Taking its name from the Count of Villa Padierna – one of Spain’s last great aristocrats, whose bronze statue greets guests as they enter – the hotel has a regal and elegant ambience similar to that of a grand estate. Surrounded by three 18 hole golf courses and with its own amphitheatre, ballroom, chapel and ESPA spa, it has plenty to explore and discover.

Each of the hotel’s 11 villas and 118 rooms and suites are unique, with carefully chosen antique furnishings incorporating the new with the old. Plasma televisions, music systems and high speed internet access allow guests to enjoy the hotel as a home away from home. Additional amenities, such as espresso coffee machines, private pools, sun decks and kitchens are also available in the elaborate villas. The majority of bathrooms also have floor to ceiling windows opening onto terraces.

The heart of the hotel is a 20m tall glass atrium courtyard, where guests are invited to sit and relax while having a drink or light snack. The courtyard unites each of the guestroom hallways to the main building, and on each of the ground level hallways marble statues and Florentine frescoes decorate the public spaces.

The outdoor garden is modelled on the historical Persian garden Bagh e Fin: a series of fountains and waterways made of glazed turquoise Islamic tiles, set among clusters of flora and fauna. Marble benches line smaller courtyard areas protected by lush foliage for quiet conversations and contemplation. Wonderful fragrances from jasmine and lady of the night lift the senses, while cypress trees and palms surrounding the lake-like swimming pool offer guests shade from the Mediterranean sun. A spectacular amphitheatre and chapel provide the perfect venue for weddings and cultural events throughout the year, especially under the clear night sky, when the array of fountains shines under different coloured lights.

Eating in
Villa Padierna offers a number of fine dining opportunities, with personal cuisine created with unique techniques, imaginative ideas and fresh seasonal ingredients. Víctor Taborda, executive chef for La Veranda restaurant, has been trained by several award winning chefs, including Martín Berasategui. His menu creates a gastronomic fusion of northern and southern Spanish cuisine, which puts Hotel Villa Padierna in a well known culinary scene.

La Loggia offers casual alfresco dining on a spacious terrace, where guests can enjoy delicious regional and international dishes while taking in the magnificent and peaceful views over the golf course. On a clear day, the beautiful silhouette of Gibraltar and the coastline of Africa are visible.

The pool bar, La Pergola, is the perfect setting to enjoy a cocktail under the Costa del Sol’s glorious summer sky.

Cooler evenings are better spent in Eddy’s Bar: named after Villa Padierna’s architect Ed Gilbert, this is a cosy, English-inspired study warmed by a fireplace and decorated with valuable antiques and Spanish oil paintings. The ceiling’s arc shaped lunettes are decorated with reproductions of paintings depicting the original Medici Estate, closely resembling the architecture and landscape of the hotel. El Salon is adjacent to Eddy’s Bar and offers an indoor area for those who wish to smoke with a selection of fine cigars and aged whiskeys. The graceful sitting room contains antique gold gilded mirrors, two fireplaces and a range of antique furniture, clocks and oil paintings depicting the Roman emperors.

Chilling out
The 2,000sq m ESPA Thermae Spa contains a vast range of treatment rooms including steam rooms, saunas, a cold water plunge pool, a relaxation pool and a large indoor swimming pool with massage jets. More unusual treatments include salt vapour treatments and an ice fountain. For the more active guests there is a gymnasium with state of the art equipment.

The spa echoes the style of the hotel, with marble predominant and statues of gods and goddesses throughout the treatment rooms. The hallway is decorated with anatomical drawings taken from an 18th century textbook, providing insights into the constitution of the human body. Using ESPA treatments throughout, the 12 treatment rooms provide space for a wide range of techniques including massages, body wraps, manicures, pedicures and facials.

The scented steam rooms offer an unforgettable experience. The Vapour of Bali is a marble steam room with gold tiles and provides guests with relaxing music, fragrances and artefacts from Bali. This room, constantly kept at 38ºC, acts as the ideal environment in which guests can relax and relieve stress. The Vapour of India contains gold tiled alcoves and is adorned with blue, orange and green lights. Echoing the sounds and scents of India, the room is filled with delicious fragrances of curry, ginger, cinnamon, lemongrass and orange, aimed to stimulate the senses and aid circulation.

Following the ‘round the world’ theme, the Turkish Hammam is composed of chic striped marble tiles, and is scented with refreshing eucalyptus and mint oils, creating a purifying and detoxifying effect. After this, guests can experience the Vapour of Salt, a steam room containing large statues and a pedestal filled with sea salt. It is here visitors can act as the Romans did, scrubbing their bodies with the highly mineralised salt to exfoliate the skin, and then relax in large marble chairs while absorbing the steam, releasing toxins from the body. The orange-scented Shower of Oil then cleanses the skin by rinsing off the sea salt.

The Greek sauna is perhaps the most romantic of all, with tiny star-like lights illuminating the ceiling, and the warming aroma of rosemary and lavender. If guests want to relax their muscles, the Finnish saunas are ideal. With one at 95ºC and the other at 75ºC, they activate the blood circulation, eliminate toxins and relaxe the muscles. The Laconium, meanwhile, is maintained at body temperature and is the last stage of the thermal circuit, used to normalise blood pressure, and contains soothing palm rose and ylang-ylang scents. After a day in the spa, visitors can head for the spacious relaxation room, where fruits, tea and relaxing beds provide respite and replenishment from everyday stress, and luxurious silk curtains allow just enough sunlight to create a calming ambience.

What’s your SLQ?

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

On a typical business trip you’re likely to find yourself queuing at least 12 times. Standing in line can test the tolerance of the most hardened road warrior, so: how do you improve your SIQ (that’s Standing in Queues) rating?
I once worked with a guy who had a hugely negative SIQ. There was no queue that he wouldn’t jump, dodge or ignore.

To cut a long story short, we worked together as a team in the States, often jumping on planes at the last moment, trying to get places fast.

If my buddy was faced with a check-in queue at the airport gate, he would simply walk straight to the front. He would breezily wave his boarding card and, with a smile and a snappy one-liner, head for the plane (I must explain at this point that this was some time ago, in a more innocent age).

Once on the plane, he would sit himself down in first class, typically seat 1A. This would happen despite the fact that he rarely held a ticket for anything except coach. That’s right: coach, where people had to queue to get on the plane, and then queue again to find a seat.

He would get away with this routine time after time. I attribute this to the fact that he was young, fairly good looking and was clearly a foreigner, with an exotic accent.

The flight attendants would have to make an instant judgement. Was he simply a chancer, who should be chastised and sent to the back of the plane? Or was he a charming innocent abroad, whose breaches of etiquette should be indulged?

Most of the time, he was indulged.

It was his chutzpah versus their polite tolerance. Chutzpah versus saying nothing: it’s a classic queuing dynamic.
 
If you have a low SIQ, you might find yourself tutting this guy’s type of behaviour, or worse. In these more security-conscious times, he would probably find himself sitting in the custody suite rather than first class.

The need for greater security has added to the queues we face when travelling. Quite right, too, in my opinion. As Thomas Jefferson is reputed to have said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

Jefferson, I think, would have understood that rather than fretting over queues, we should learn to embrace their unnatural constraints. We should learn to increase our SIQ.

On a typical foreign trip, the queuing begins at check-in, followed by security, boarding, passport control at your destination, a wait at the taxi rank, and checking in at the hotel. Repeat on the way back, and you have at least 12 queues every time you travel abroad.

Queuing is not hard-wired into the human brain. Neanderthal man did not form an orderly line to pick berries or strip the meat from the fallen animal. Queuing is a mark of a civilised society.

So, without getting all zen on you, learning to queue a little more patiently might make you a better human being.

But, let’s face it: we need some help increasing our collective SIQ. We can’t do it on our own. This is where the travel industry – particularly airports and airlines – can do something.

Give the traveller something to do, or look at. Time spent doing something seems to pass more quickly than time spent staring at the wall. TV monitors can carry not just news and information, but advertising too. There is no more captive an audience than 200 people waiting for a plane.

Let the travellers know that the show has begun. If you tell passengers that boarding is likely to start in 30 minutes, they have some information to work with. They know what is going on. The ancient part of the brain that detests being kept in the dark will relax.

Explain delays. Seems obvious, huh? Well, you’d be surprised how often check-in desks are closed, boarding is delayed or the plane goes into an unexplained holding pattern. On these occasions, each minute can seem an eternity.
Oh, and keep a look-out for a distinguished looking chap with an exotic accent and bags of chutzpah bluffing his way to the front of the queue. And, if you see him, tell him he owes me 50 bucks.

Hywel Jones is a television producer who has travelled the world with the BBC and ITV. He now runs the international broadcast and corporate TV production company hi.tv. His favourite destination is San Francisco.