While in Dubai recently, I checked out the famed Ski Dubai, which is the largest snow park in the world, conveniently located in the largest mall in the world. Heck, this is Dubai right? It has to be OTT. The skiing was a lot of fun.

The black diamond run is more a light shade of grey (unless my skiing has miraculously improved in the five years since I last went), and you can burn from top to tail in about 45 seconds along the giant dog-leg shaped course. It won’t stretch your limits, but it is really fun skiing – with the added bonus of no crowds or blizzards. Just perhaps the odd sand-storm on exiting the centre!

For those who’d hate to break out the goose pimples with the cold, the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates has lovely lookout views of the snowy slopes.

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It’s all about colour at Dubai’s Hues Hotel, situated close to the airport and near to the old town in Dubai. The Hues Hotel offers a compelling boutique hotel experience in this large and remarkable city.

On arrival, early in the morning, I was struck by the dominance of colour and artwork in the lobby. It’s not called ‘Hues’ for nothing. Colour is applied liberally and skilfully. The 103-bedroom hotel is beautifully executed. My room was a double and had plenty of room to unwind in after a long day touring Dubai.

The room was controlled by a state of the art integrated room panel. The bathroom featured a separate bath and an enormous rain shower; perfect to wash off the effects of my long-haul trip. First up I ventured to the rooftop pool, which features a great view over the coast and in the evening a bar.

Hotel staff at the Hues were polite and helpful and were happy to whisk you the short distance to the airport.

The Hues is close to both the waterfront and airport, with the city centre a short taxi or train ride away.

For those looking for an alternative to the large glossy hotels this city is known for the Hues Hotel is an ideal boutique hotel to see the other side of Dubai from.

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The Orange hotel is nestled at the top of a classic, refurbished bar and restaurant in London’s Belgravia. In the popular bar downstairs the Orange is a favourite for the discerning locals from nearby Chelsea and Belgravia, while upstairs the four upmarket ensuite bedrooms draw guests from around the world looking for a truly unique London homebase.

Each of The Orange’s four rooms features a king-sized bed, marble en-suite bathrooms, air conditioning, and free Wi-Fi. My room, the Pimlico, was the corner suite. It was flooded in light and overlooked the charming Orange Square on Pimlico Road below.

The ceilings were high and the exposed wood beams and panels gave the room warmth and an earthly feel which stands the Orange out from more traditional hotels.

The hotel is small, boutique and perfectly located.

The Orange offers a quintessentially London experience. And being able to enjoy a fine ale in the bar downstairs with friends before making my way up to the comforting rooms was quite a luxury.

The Orange is a hotel for those seeking a boutique Belgravia nest from which to experience the very best of London and her charms.

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We stayed at the hotel courtesy of Mr & Mrs Smith. You can book Smith hotels via (1300-89-66-27) or at www.mrandmrssmith.com.

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The business footprint of Lost At E Minor spans Australia, the US and the UK. So when I needed to head over to the UK to meet with some of our commercial partners, I was lucky enough to fly there with our friends at Emirates. It was certainly an unforgettable experience, resulting in the Hello Tomorrow content series we’ve been running over the past few weeks.

Flying Emirates Business Class (yes, I got lucky) is an exceptional experience. It starts with a chauffeured service picking you up from home and dropping you at the airport, and then meeting you in London and taking you direct to your hotel, in my case The Ampersand.

But there were numerous perks along the way. For instance, once checked in and through customs (via the express security and custom passes I might add) I took a hot shower, then settled into the lounge for some food and drink. To get me going, I chose the seared tuna salad with a single malt whiskey, while enjoying a complementary copy of Habitat. The lounges have free wifi, so I did some work while waiting to board the plane.

In Dubai, the lounge is a vast expanse of plush couches, chilled day-beds, and food and drink. Both times I was there it was reasonably empty.

I flew the new A380s both ways. On boarding the upper-deck, champagne was offered to passengers. The seats have oversized screens and a handy foot locker for storing shoes. A nice touch is your own mini-bar filled with an assortment of drinks. Waking mid-flight, I loved being able to reach over to grab a sparking mineral water, then fall back into my slumber.

Each A380 on Emirates also has a dedicated bar at the back of the plane for Business and First Class passengers. On the first leg from Australia to Dubai, it was humming. Never before has 30,000 feet been such a good place to socialise.

But I was more interested in sleep. And this was made considerably easier than usual. The seat is flattened out fully and covered in a thin mattress and sheet cover, and all the small details have been considered: even the eye-masks are adjustable so the right tension can be provided.

The food and wine (Australian and French) on board is perhaps my fondest memory. Meals are served on Royal Doulton fine bone china accompanied by Robert Welch cutlery.

Emirates is positioning itself as the airline of tomorrow, in keeping with its ‘Hello Tomorrow‘ catchphrase. My experience has set a dangerously high bar for the future of long-haul business travel.

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Luxury boutique hotel Eccleston Square Hotel claims to be London’s most high tech hotel, and it’s easy to see why. While the rooms are gorgeous enough, they are also fitted out with 46” high-definition 3D plasma TVs, surround sound systems, iPod docking stations, VoIP phones and your very own iPad to tinker with. For those of us who hate cold bathroom floors, the marble bathrooms come with under-floor heating. If that doesn’t spoil its guests, we don’t know what will.

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The city of London is a pretty exciting place visually, so it seems almost counterproductive to dine in the dark. But that’s exactly what you’ll do at Dans le Noir? London, where you can experience the world in pitch black while blind waiters serve you your organic meal. It’s supposed to help sharpen your other senses in the meantime, so we can’t think of a better place to start training for super-sensory powers than dining in the dark. Unfortunately, the restrooms are fully lit for safety reasons, so you can’t practise there.

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If you’re looking to get high on alcohol and altitudes alike, the 122th-storey high restaurant-bar At.mosphere in Burj Khalifa, Dubai is your best bet. Naturally, they also serve high tea (but of course).

Needless to say, the fact that At.mosphere is situated just two floors below the observatory deck of the world’s tallest building means you get to enjoy an unparalleled view at downtown Dubai. Though even Adam Tihany, who designed the interiors, admits: “After five times, you feel a bit dizzy. You only want to come up twice.”

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London-based startup company Makielab makes these 10″ super-poseable made-on-demand action dolls with faces and features designed by you. The 3D-printed and hand-dyed makies are pretty cool — and equally impressive is Makielab’s dedication to local manufacturing. The dolls are printed and assembled in London and Amsterdam, entirely assembled in London, and even the packaging materials are sourced from within the UK. Well, now you know where to go if you want to bring your imaginary friend from childhood to life.

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Award-winning London-based shoe designer Chau Har Lee does these really cool made-to-order shoes that redefine the whole notion of killer heels with flat knife-like metal shards instead of pointy little stilettos. These photos by Viktor Vauthier do justice to their coolness.

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London is a city of the future and the past. The Stafford, London uniquely combines the elegance of Victorian London with a modern five-star hotel experience. The outcome is an impressive, truly British hotel experience.

The 105-room Stafford by Kempinski is situated in the very heart of London. Green Park tube is on its doorstep, as is the eponymous park which is a bustle of energy on weekends. For those seeking a more contained fitness venue, a 10-minute stroll will get guests complementary membership at The Third Space, one of London’s most prestigious health clubs.

A key feature of The Stafford is its cul-der-sac location, which offers a private entry point and ensures that guests have gentle transition to and from the hotel into the energy of central London. The American Bar and Lyttelton Restaurant are popular amongst guests. A newly renovated wing caters for the celebrity set, who prefer the private entrance the hotel offers.

Across Green Park is Buckingham Palace. Rumour has it there was once a tunnel between The Stafford and the Palace, used for discrete late night dalliances. My tour of the impressive wine-cellar did little to allay the rumour. In a city as old and intriguing as London, nothing would surprise me.

For a truly insider experience when staying at the Stafford, enquire about a viewing of the still intact and untouched World War II bunker that lies deep beneath the hotel. This is history in front of your eyes. Propaganda posters, gas masks and blankets remain untouched, and they allow an immersion into the world as it once was.

The Stafford’s service is formal and the fit-out is traditional English style, with features such four-poster beds in deluxe rooms and hand-made English bedding.

My room had a marble bathroom, separate bath and shower, and a handcrafted mattress so soft I felt as if I’d never stop sinking into it. The room had good light and a regal air.

Breakfast in the Lyttelton Restaurant comes with elegant silver service.

Nearby to the hotel are most of London’s premier tourist attractions, including Jermyn Street, a favourite of mine for picking up hand-crafted shirts and suits.

The Stafford is a hotel for those in London looking for the archetypical stay in this great city; one which at once offers the comforts of a five-star experience yet which also immerses you into its stately British grandeur of old.

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Finally, a menu that helps us make up our minds about what to eat. Before you even make an order at pan-Asian fusion restaurant inamo St James in London, you can poke around at its interactive menu to beam prospective eats onto your plate.

The system even allows you to check on the chef, choose your tablecloth, get a waiter’s attention (goodbye, frantic hand-waving) or book show tickets. You know what they say: see it to believe it.

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I’ve stayed in many great hotels, but there have been few which are on par with The Ampersand hotel, London. My experience was simply faultless.

It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into the execution of this hotel. In a throw to the nearby Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria & Albert and the Royal Albert Hall, rooms are themed accordingly: birds, botany, architecture, geometry, music or astronomy. Mine was botany, so the wallpaper had subtle floral effects and I had a mini library of related books to peruse. The ensuing effect is subtle, fresh, inspiring.

I arrived direct from a long-haul flight from Australia and fell happily into this room. My double was large, high-ceilinged and flooded with light. A oversized bath was majestic in the bay window and the Ampersand branded rubber-duckie was a light touch. Yes, I used it too!

This is a beautiful and unique hotel. The staff are young, smart and casual. They run the line between helpful but not in your face. Throughout a sense of design pervades and the small details feel completed. The ‘&’ symbol pops up in many places and ties together the visual effect. After all, this is a hotel inspired by that beautiful symbol!

During my stay, my mini-bar was free (what a nice touch). My room had a dedicated Nespresso machine, the bathrooms have must-use Miller Harris toiletries, natural light and heated floors. The gym is small but perfect for shaking off the effects of long-haul. Free WiFi is throughout and the Apero, the Ampersand’s stylish basement restaurant and bar, does morning breakfasts or evening drinks like no other.

The nearest tube, South Kensington, is less than 50 metres away. On The Ampersand’s doorstep are great shops and the best of London’s galleries and museums.

The Ampersand is stylish, upmarket and upbeat and provides the experience boutique hotels aim for.

–
We stayed at the hotel courtesy of Mr & Mrs Smith. You can book Smith hotels via (1300-89-66-27) or at www.mrandmrssmith.com.

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Tower Lodge was recently awarded the Global Luxury Lodge in the 2012 World Luxury Hotel Awards. That’s a fine accolade for this boutique hotel, nestled in Australia’s Hunter Valley, which is gathering momentum as a hotel with few peers.

Tower Lodge’s exteriors are in Spanish/Mexican Mission style, and despite the large proportions of the place, Tower Lodge accommodates just twelve suits. Each is sumptuous in size and boldly unique. Most have fireplaces and all are styled in an eclectic mix of antiques, treasures and collectibles. The style is rich, and daring. It works and throughout your stay you are reminded this is not your typical five star hotel.

In the Chairman’s Suite sits a stunningly original 300 year old, hand-carved bed from Rajasthani. The main doors are 100 years old from the south of France. This is no ordinary hotel.

Our room was a visual treat, with each section designed to be memorable. After an enjoyable wine tasting at the Tower’s winery, we savoured the hotel’s pool. It was bliss to sit in the afternoon sun in absolute luxury watching the gum trees in the breeze. The sunken spa bath was the perfect preparation for our evening ahead.

The dominant theme throughout Tower Estate is of food and wine. Our meal at Roberts Restaurant, sitting under the stars, was memorable. This is a place for people who love great food, coupled with wine to match.

Established in 1999, Tower Estate includes Relais & Chateaux property Tower Lodge, intimate country guest house, the Convent, the historic 1876 Roberts Restaurant, cellar restaurant Nine and an impressive wine offering from Tower Estate Winery. The properties are a short distance from each other, but plans are in place to join them via a series of gardens and walks.

Against this backdrop is a staff who blend casual Australian friendliness with the level of service you would expect from a Relais & Chateaux establishment. Sean Byrne, the new General Manager, has a clear vision for where the hotel is headed and in a short time with the reigns has already made his mark. R.M.Williams uniforms – uniquely Australian attire – are in place and Peppers Convent is set for a full overhaul.

This hotel has real momentum and will increasingly become an important place to stay for travellers experiencing the best Australia has to offer.

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There’s staying in an amazing location, and staying in beautiful accommodation. When the two combine it makes for a memorable get away. The Promised Land Cottages near Bellingen sure live up to their name. Architecturally designed and built almost entirely from hardwood and with rare skill, these boutique luxury cabins are perfectly set-out for a weekend (or week’s) break.

Set a short walk from the beautiful Never Never river, the cabins are private and overlook the Dorrigo National Park mountain range.

One of three on a large property, our cabin had a large main living area with floor to ceiling glass to take in the view, and large outdoor deck for the same (can’t get enough of it!). On either side were two large rooms, one with bunks for the kids. The mountains are a constant backdrop and the cabin is perfectly positioned to make the most of the northern aspect. We sat for hours, watching the changing light shift on the mountains.

The cabins are luxuriously appointed and the small kitchen perfectly equipped. Fresh coffee is ground on arrival and guests are welcome to feed scraps to the chickens, grabbing fresh eggs when available as their reward. New mountain bikes are available for all guests and there’s a tennis court on the property. The owners are a delight to interact with and no request (flat car battery included) was a problem.

The amazing Never Never river is a 3 minute ride. We swam here most days. The water is crystal clear and refreshingly cold! This is a special river with countless spots to stop, swim, read a book, and listen to the bush and the river at work.

The town on Bellingen is five hours north of Sydney, just off the main Pacific Highway and 30 minutes from Coffs Harbour. Nestled on the Bellinger river, this is a very cool little town. The main street is lively, with dozens of great cafes and myriad small boutique stores selling upmarket clothing, vintage finds, and gifts. There are also small grocery stores to stock up for the cabin. Bellingen reminds us of Bangalow (in the Byron hinterland). Each year, Bellingen comes alive with the Bellingen Jazz and Blues Festival, Camp Creative, the Bellingen Music Festival (classical music) and the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival.

Thirty minutes away is the cute town of Sawtel, with its beaches, shops and bars. It makes for a nice change from the hinterland experience.

The Promised Land Cottages are deserving of their reputation as a hidden gem in the mid north coast of NSW. The stay was hard to fault – a truly special part of the world.

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Angus Stone strolled onto the stage in Newcastle, NSW, on the second stop of his Broken Brights Australian Tour. He reached the pocket of the stage, lights deliberately cast from his face, and he let his guitar and melodic voice step forth. And that was the way for the night. No talk, or banter. But Stone and his band, all hipster beards ablaze, were magical, melodic and, as their music turned increasingly psychedelic in the second half, they became captivating.

Stone is a musician whose day has come. He’s stepped out from the path he was taking with his sister, in their duo Angus & Julia Stone. There was no Lady of the Sunshine on this night. The self-produced Broken Brights album went gold in Australia within two months and scored Stone two ARIA nominations. His music is now refined, challenging, complete.

Angus Stone’s style has been described as many things: country folk, cowboy blues, indie-pop, psychedelic rock. On this night, his second of his tour, it’s clear where the direction is heading: psychedelic folk.

Stone eschewed his more popular tracks for this gig. His chart friendly single Wooden Chair wasn’t even played, to the disappointment of some – particularly me. But what was played was a collection of his heartfelt, and beautifully constructed songs which will sit with listeners for some time to come. This is a tour to see, an album to own.

[Image via theherald.com.au]

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It just seems crazy that we can send a mission to Mars yet across the entire dial our cars are still planting rubber on bitumen. Surely we can find a way to remove all that friction from transport and in the process bring flight that one step closer to the everyday man. The Aerofex hover bike does just this. Looking like its flown straight out of Return of the Jedi, the Aerofex flies at altitudes up to about 5 metres, can carry up to 360 kg of load, and it lets you, well, fly! The only rub? They’re slow. Very slow. So slow in fact that they are initially earmarked for the US military as cargo movers rather than for our local zebra-crossing. But here’s hoping in a decade or so we’ll all the riding Aerofexs, and in the process, perhaps save some of those cute animals that morph into roadside kill when they collide with our ground-based cars.

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Segways are so 2000s. While undisputably an amazing invention, they’re not exactly office friendly and their street cred is somewhat lacking. (Ahh, the street. That would be the place Segways are not allowed to be operated on). Step in the Solowheel. Weighing a mere 11kg, this puppy will zip you around without even breaking a sweat. Break a bone? Yes. Quite possibly. But sweat: heck no! I want one! Bad.

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Wooden Chair is the stunning lead song from Angus Stone’s debut album as a solo-act, following the recent parting of ways with his sister, Julia Stone.

The duo Angus & Julia Stone has sold over a million records and has received its fair share of coverage on this site. For good reason: their music is sublimely constructed, and has its own unique emotion and energy. In Broken Brights, Angus Stone has crafted a unique and beautiful album. Hints at his harder rock are present in the album, but the melodies always win out. The production is faultless, with a diverse set of instruments and vocals used throughout the album.

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I don’t think there’s a genuine technology company that doesn’t do a good beanbag in the office. It’s like tea and milk: creative geeks with computers need something comfy to park themselves on while they tap away at their Apple Macs, all the while whistfully dreaming they’re extras in the movie The Social Network. So the Lost At E Minor team were quietly chuffed to get in on the act with our own Omni Bean Bag from Sumo Lounge. If ever there was a beaner to make a company great, this is it. Go forth and code!

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The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania, has been on the Lost At E Minor radar for some time. So we were delighted to be invited to attend the opening of the Theatre of the World exhibition.

Running until 8 April 2013, this collaboration between MONA and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is as ambitious as the building it’s set within. The MONA is carved four levels deep into sandstone. Visitors start their tour by descending into the depths of the rock. The bold and stunning gallery is rapidly becoming a cultural icon in Australia, and this exhibition continues the bravery founder David Walsh has shown at every step with his MONA journey. The exhibition has been four years in the making. Theatre of the World more than meets its ambition, with the exhibition being a thrilling assemblement of designs, media and objects which are grouped in distinct themes as opposed to the traditional categorical grouping by period or media.

The genius behind this exhibiton comes from French curator Jean-Hubert Martin. Each piece cleverly develops the theme within its room and the visitor is left to draw their own meaning from the disparate objects. The works range from taxidermied birds through to trench art, video, and Picasso. They label this a ‘visual search-engine result spectacular’. Somewhat controversially, no author tags are present in the exhibition. And like Google, you must embrace the visual search results Jean-Hubert provides in order to draw your conclusions about each theme.

Theatre of the World is a truly stunning exhibition. It is bold, memorable, and achingly eclectic. Set within the MONA, the combination is an exhibition – and experience – that more than warrants the trip to Hobart.

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