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Newark Airport Tries to Add a Little Luxury Between Flights

Posted on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 7:55 PM
by: Tal Pinch

Tagged as: Drink, Airport Lounges, Newark, Heineken, Thai Air, Airport, Airlines, Dinner

New York-area terminals don't give first-class passengers much in the way of luxury lounges to help make their delays and stopovers seem less painful. Newark in particular has been lacking. Continental Airlines does offer three Presidents Club lounges in two different terminals and the Delta Crown Room isn't a horrible getaway, but recent openings show that Newark Liberty is trying to offer an alternative to the Caliente Cab with mixed results.

It started with the opening of Silverjet's VIP Lounge, a nice compliment to the business-class-only airline that started flying out of Newark in 2007. What started as a makeshift small room that was hard to find in Terminal B was supposed to become a luxury lounge roughly three times bigger. Unfortunately, the airline spent most of the Spring struggling with its finances before eventually ceasing operations. A proposed buyout looked as if there still might be hope for the proposed Newark luxury lounge, but that fell through.

Hopes are that a new recently-opened Heineken Lounge could provide some extra luxury to Terminal C. The new lounge offers a variety of Heineken brews as well as gourmet foods, Wi-Fi, and a few entertainment options. While it's referred to as Heinken's "first branded luxury bar in the U.S." it's not the kind of luxury pre-flight break you're looking for.

If you are in Newark or Laguardia, the best options are Continental's Presidents Club and Delta's Crown Room, which can be found at both airports. Both lounges feature complimentary bar service and businesscenter but only Newark's Presidents Club offers top-rated wines courtesy of some fine Napa Valley vineyards. Delta's Crown Rooms also offer satellite TV and even putting greens in some locations, but the truth is you'll need to get far away from New York to find the world's finest business- and first-class lounges.

Considered the world's finest airport lounge, Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong lounge offers full business center, buffet, and showers. The library is a nice touch but it's the game center featuring video game consoles, spa, and noodle bar that really make this a world-class airport pit stop. Along with Cathay Pacific, Thai Air's Royal Orchid lounges at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok have set a real standard for how to spend that long hour before your flight boards.

Book Your Favorite Celebrity For Your Next Party

Posted on Friday, December 5, 2008 at 3:05 PM
by: Tal Pinch

Tagged as: Entertainment, Green Day, Grabow, Don Rickles, Bill Cowher, U2, AC/DC, Christina Aguilera, Bob Dylan, Elton John

Next time you start putting together plans for a house party, you could do yourself a favor and make sure it consists of something more than just a stocked bar and a special iPod playlist. Whatever the occasion, if you want to make a truly indelible mark on your guests, Grabow is one of the top entertainment bookers of high-end talent we've found.

Unlike some talent bookers, Grabow isn't in the habit of booking Rick Springfield and Tiffany in an attempt to resuscitate their careers. Not even close. In fact, some of the artists Grabow has booked to entertain at events include Bob Dylan, Christina Aguilera, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Steve Miller, Green Day, Tina Turner, AC/DC, and U2. Naturally, each of these artists hastheir own schedule to contend with when it comes time to book your event, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a finer roster of entertainers for a house party.

If you are not looking for a musical act, the company also works with a number of other celebrities who you could book and subsequently pay to basically hang out at your party. Which, depending on the celeb, could be a sound investment. Such guests listed by Grabow include everyone from former NFL coach Bill Cowher to Lance Armstrong to (one of our personal favorites) Don Rickles.

In fact, if there is any way we could get Rickles to greet our guests at the door, perhaps in tandem with Cowher, THAT would be an event to remember.

Tiger Woods' 18 Holes in Baja Have Put Our Plans for Dubai on Hold

Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 2:06 PM
by: Tal Pinch

Tagged as: Golf, Punta Brava, Mexico, Travel, Dubai, Tiger Woods

On the cusp of returning from knee surgery (although he reportedly hasn't started swinging his clubs just yet), Tiger Woods is still busy as ever. With his second child on the way, Woods has already introduced his newest baby to the fairway-aiming world. The baby's name is Punta Brava, a new par-70 all-luxury course located about 65 miles south of San Diego. It'snot the first such project Woods has unveiled, but it could be the most interesting.

With his first pet project, Tiger Woods Dubai, slated to become the Arab world's top-tier golf resort thanks to its private residential lots and fine dining courtesy of chefs like Guy Savoy, Punta Brava has a lot to live up to. The fact that it's a short ride from the Mexican border already endears it to the typical high-end golfer, who may not be looking to fly halfway aroundthe world to play 18 holes, even if it does have a private spa bungalow on site.

With water within site of every hole, Punta Brava already features a backdrop superior to Dubai's.We initially expected Dubai (which has a reputation for making a four-star property look like the Chelsea Hotel circa Sid Vicious) to crush any other property in terms of luxury amenities. But with the plans just being revealed, it looks like Brava might be more than just a gorgeous course.

Aside from the requisite upscale clubhouse, spa, and fine-dining, the new Woods project also features an intriguing combination of residential lots, villa residences, and villa hotel, each of which is expected to offer high-end amenities for the clientele, who will have the intriguing option of accessing the property via either air, land or sea.

Alright, so it looks nice, but Dubai is going to look nice too once it's all done. But Brava does seem to have a Tiger Woods signature on the course that his first private golf resort is lacking. During his Brava press conference, Tiger gushed over some of his favorite holes in a way nobody really seems to be doing with Dubai. Hementioned eight separate shots in which you'll have to blast your ball over water (which is cool) and a No. 12 that he thinks looks remarkably like No. 8 at Pebble Beach.

What's more, he told the Wall Street Journal that he'd be buying a home at Brava too, a home that the native Californian will arguably be seeing more than his Dubai club. With an estimated 2011 opening and sales beginning immediately, you've been given fair warning.

Mush You Huskies

Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 3:15 PM
by: Tal Pinch

Tagged as: Alaska, Jackson Hole, Dogsledding, Sports, Winter, Travel, Dogs

Your typical winter vacation revolves around either sun or ski. While we're plenty fond of either wintertime option, let's go over a winter getaway alternative that, if nothing, else will put a few hairsicles on your chest. With outdoor adventure always expanding, a number of leading dogsled packages are looking for a few good mushers.

With good reason, a number of sledding packages are operating in Alaska. One of the foremost among them comes courtesy of Alaska Brooks Range tours, offering some of the most isolated and authentic dog sled tours 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The three- and five-day packages offer, among some other basic amenities, a nice sauna ready to greet you once you're done.

Granted, that's a long trek to make for some huskies. Not quite as far as the Arctic Circle is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which offers a variety of scenic tours. Particularly Jackson Hole Iditarod Dog Sled Tours, which started their half-day and full-day tours in late November. While this Iditarod is noticeably no frills, the Spring Creek Ranch, a nearby luxury resort, offers similar tours but with a spa and award-winning dining.

Not to worry East-Coasters. You don't necessarily need to fly cross-country to hit the sled trails. More local options include the Lodge at Moosehead Lake in Maine, which offers a nice selection of amenities, our favorite being the lounge-like pub on-site. Now THAT is how we like to end a long day of dog sledding.

iSmacked: The MacBook Backlash Has Already Begun

Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 3:01 PM
by: Tal Pinch

Tagged as: Laptop, MacBook, Technology, Games, Computer, iPhone, Apple, iPod

It didn't come with the same kind of bluster accompanying the latest iPod or iPhone, butthe recent launch of Apple's latest MacBooks did come with its fair share of hype. Although on paper, it seemed to be warranted. The addition of new high-end Nvidia graphic chips and multi-touch track pads made it look like the world of intense gaming, which requires high-end video components to play sprawling, graphically-intense games, may finally be coming to Mac.

The specs looked impressive but the starting price of $999 disappointed a lot of people in the market who expected more competitive price points. For the people who were looking to get the latest MacBook anyway, it probably didn't mean all that much, but it was still disillusionment enough to make Apple's stock drop. The backlash didn?t end there.

Initial reviews of the new Books have so far been not-so gentle. For one, the aforementioned track pad to help navigate your way cannot be replaced if it is damaged, so you're already in trouble if you get a little physical with your laptop. The keyboard has also proven unpopular. But if you're looking to replace it, you'll have to remove 80 screws, which is probably more trouble than it's worth.

With an adverse response to even a little moisture and some models even reportedly missing important keys (see if you can find the letter b on this model), it hasn't taken long for the MacBook hype to subside. While it seems to run high-impact applications more efficiently, the absence of Blu-Ray indicates this may be more of a gateway model, so you could be best off waiting for the next line of MacBooks, whenever that may be.

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