Hello dear readers! I was recently a guest blogger at my favorite luxury blogger's website: http://luxurytraveldiva.com and I'd though I would share some of the interview questions and add some tips of my own. Hope they help and inspire your next adventure!
What do you most appreciate in a travel partner?
Flexibility. Being able to get up and go on an adventure at any given time but also sit down on a park
bench and watch the world go by.
What is your greatest extravagance while abroad?
I would say transportation, we both feel that sometimes seeing a place is more important than saving a few euros. Especially when on a tight schedule. We rather pay a taxi than take two buses, a tram and walk for another 15 minutes before getting to a venue. Many of our trips are quite short and we want to spend time in the actual places instead of getting there. Another one is meals, we believe in eating like locals and that includes a gourmet local place as well. It won’t always be the most expensive one but we do like to find historic venues with amazing food.
What is your favorite app or website to get the best flights/accommodation?
I would say I always check first with Skyscanner is a great place to get a good comparison. My favorite is the “month long” option when you have flexible travel time download the app here http://bit.ly/2bJVJvl
What is to you is a luxury trip?
To us it is all based upon service and exclusivity. Not because something is expensive is it automatically luxurious. Service and attention to detail is the best way to show you care about your guests. It’s the people behind an establishment and how they make you feel in their hotel that define whether it is luxurious or not. An example of this is India. As soon as we exited the gate we saw our names on a large board held by a smiling man in beautiful traditional uniform. He took our luggage and escorted us to a car with AC ready with cold bottles of water and a warm towel to clean our faces. All these small step made us feel relaxed and taken care of, before even arriving at the hotel, which of course was an absolute beauty on its own. We stayed at The Oberoi in Jaipur, New Delhi and Agra. But hotels many times forget that from the first email or phone call exchange the guest can start having this hotel experience with you.
Ariannes Favourites
Favourite International Airport: Koh Samui Thailand
Favourite Hotel: Zighy Bay Six Senses in Oman and Oberoi Hotel in Agra.
Favourite Travel Credit Card: Amex and Miles and More Lufthansa
Favourite Island: Santorini
Favourite bubbly: Champagne de Watere
Favourite Luxury Restaurant: l’Europe at Belmond Hotel in St Petersburg
Travel Tip: wake up early! There is nothing like the sunrise light and a place loses its magic when there are 10,000 selfie sticks around you!
What is a country that you cannot do in a luxury way?
Tibet! Although you can still do Lhasa the capital in a luxurious way. We stayed at the St Regis where they spoiled us rotten, but as soon as you leave the city and start your way up towards Everest all luxuries end! To be more precise most basic necessities end too! Most ‘hotels’ don’t have heating and the windows are paper thin, the base camp itself didn’t have indoor bathrooms. Let’s just say it was worth it but we definitely roughed it up!
What is your favorite kind of hotel?
That is a difficult question. We love hotels. Gian grew up in a luxury hotel so he feels right at home in them! Perhaps our favorite kind are medium 30-50 rooms with an excellent ecological policy the takes care of the environment and the local community it is based in. We prefer hotels that blend in the scenery and preferably in a historic setting. A hotel with a great concierge service and really comfy beds makes our day!
If you had unlimited resources, where would you go and what would you do?
We would probably just not come back! Starting off with a good six months discovering Botswana, Tanzania and the Serengeti region, South Africa and Madagascar. Then South America another year and do some diving. Then a trip through Iceland, Greenland and the Nordic countries. See them both in the summer and in the winter enjoy the Northern lights. Of course then visit just about every island from Bora Bora to Maldives to Cozumel! Really if there was unlimited resources we would probably never stop traveling!
