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Readers' Choice Awards
Which are your favorite hotels and resorts in the Asia-Pacific region? Where do you return time and again for superlative amenities, service, and location? And which areyour top picks for airlines, airports, city destinations, spas, and island getaways? Six months ago we asked you these questions in our fourth annual Readers’ Choice Awards poll, and your answers are compiled here in a list that defines the best that regional travel has to offer
Sea Change
Cradled by mountains, Busan has transformed itself from a rough-and-tumble port town into one of Korea’s most enticing destinations. The city may not have the historical treasures of Seoul, but it does have a spectacular seaside setting—not to mention a flourishing art scene and an increasingly cosmopolitan buzz
Armenian Rhapsody
Now a World Heritage Site, George Town’s historic core is once more in the preservationists’ spotlight. And at the center of it all is a two-block stretch of shophouses known as Armenian Street, where a happy mingling of past and present might just offer a template for the city’s restoration efforts
A Higher Calling
While not as sedate as they were a generation ago, the cool Blue Mountains of Tamil Nadu are still a very special place, as one returning devotee discovers between visits to tea estates and hill stations
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Set on the island of Sir Bani Yas, just off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, the newly opened Anantara Desert Islands Resort (971/2801-5400; desertislands.anantara.com; doubles from US$517) sits adjacent to the Royal Nature Reserve, home to free-roaming Arabian wildlife. When you’re not on safari, relax in one of the 64 lavish suites, appointed with Middle Eastern art and featuring sweeping views of the Arabian Gulf.
Traveler’s Check
The Emirates-occupied Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (dubaiairport.com) is up and running, offering travelers 4,800 square meters of retail space, dozens of restaurants, two hotels, eight skytrains, and 26 departure gates—five of which are designed for the A380.
Attraction
Star Turn
It may not be as precipitous as The Edge—a glass observation deck suspended 300 meters above the ground in the city’s tallest building, the Eureka Tower—but Melbourne’s latest sky-high attraction will leave your head spinning nonetheless.
Tour
Trunk Terroir
Returning to its roots, Hua Hin Hills Vineyard (66- 81/701-8874; huahinhillsvineyard.com) is luring visitors not only with the promise of great grapes, but also gentle giants.
Music
All That Jazz
A quartet of upcoming festivals will have jazz fans tapping their toes. Kicking things off is the Riverboats, Jazz, Food, and Wine Festival (Feb. 13–15; riverboatsjazzfoodandwine.com.au) in Echuca-Moama, Australia’s “paddlesteamer capital.”
Food News
Full Choc-A-Block
Despite its somewhat clinical name, Singapore’s new Chocolate Research Facility (01-30 Millenia Walk; 65/6338-5191; chocolateresearchfacility.com) is more Willy Wonka than science lab.
Gadget
Designer Data
Only 25 centimeters wide and weighing just over one kilogram, the world’s first “digital clutch” is set to become a default hit.
Hot Spots
Privacy, Please
Shanghai may be late in embracing the private members’ club concept, but that hasn’t stopped two Hong Kong heavyweights from making a swift mainland debut. Opening within weeks of each other, M1NT (24/F, 318 Fuzhou Lu; 86-21/6391-3191) and Kee Club (3/F, 796 Huaihai Lu; 86-21/ 3395- 0888) are wooing high-fliers with opulent interiors, haute cuisine, and the promise of shoulder-rubbing opportunities with celebrities and socialites who pay up to US$1,750 for annual membership.
Exhibition
Go for It
Anyone who has braved a ride in an Indian rickshaw will be familiar with the driver’s cry of “Chalo!” (“let’s go!”), which gives the current exhibition at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum its name.
Jewelry
Full Circle
Inspired by her travels to cities around the world, Thai jeweler Matina Sukhahuta has turned the cocktail ring into an architectural statement. Her new Globetrotters (matinaamanita.com) series of 10 eye-catching designs pays tribute to buildings that “tell a beautiful tale of the city they reside in.”
Resort
Alila’s New Edge
Green-minded globetrotters will feel right at home at Alila Villas Uluwatu (alilavillas.com; doubles from US$725). Opening in April on Bali’s southern Bukit peninsula, the cliffside property is one of the first resorts in Asia to be designed and built according to the guidelines of Green Globe, an Australian NGO that sets strict eco-tourism standards.
Royal Treatments
Oil and water mix sublimely aboard the Jiva Spa Boat (tajhotels.com), the latest offering from Rajasthan’s opulent Taj Lake Palace hotel.
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