360 DEGREES Weblog

I don’t know if carrying around a case that looks like it could be filled with flammable fuel is a good thing when you have to go through airport security,  but hey, these look awesome. The bags are available in either Zippo-lighter style flip-top or traditional suitcase cabinet-door variants. And if you thought that these were made out of plastic, you’d be dead wrong! They’re made out of steel and mounted on heavy-duty trolley wheels.
This is kind of cool, but absurd at the same time. Steel luggage will weigh a ton compared to plastic or nylon luggage. You lose a lot of packing capacity to the actual weight of the bag. If you’re exploring and you need a heavy duty case, this might be the perfect one. For now, these cases are only available in Europe and prices start at around €100 (appx. $137 (USD).

British Airways is showing off their new first class cabin. Simply named First, the new cabin includes a personal wardrobe, a bed which is almost half again as wide as the previous one, leather-bound writing table and personal electronic blinds and is being installed on a B777 which flies from London Heathrow to Chicago O’ Hare. Seats are 60 percent wider at the shoulder and the lighting system is designed to recreate the subtlety of natural light throughout the day to help you feel more relaxed.

When you are ready to sleep you can don cotton pajamas and request turndown service in which the seat is made into a fully flat bed with a single–piece quilted mattress, white 400–thread Egyptian cotton duvet and pillow. The First cabin also comes with products including eye gel, lip balm and moisturizer from D.R. Harris, one of London’s longest established traditional pharmacies that uses only natural ingredients. Products are all tucked into an Anya Hindmarch bag which was exclusively designed for First.

If you’re ever flying on South Africa’s kulula airline you’ll never have to worry about hearing an intercom announcement asking if there’s a pilot on board, because their recent rebranding will leave every passenger with a basic knowledge of aviation and aircraft. It’s rather clever and educational (I had no idea where the black box was stashed) though something tells me it would never fly in certain countries (no pun intended) because who knows how this knowledge could be used.

When in Barcelona, you will want to check into one of the several new or refurbished and distinctively cool hotels that have opened there recently. Among them, W Barcelona, located on La Barceloneta and designed by architect Ricardo Bofill

The latest hotel launch capturing design media attention is Mandarin Oriental Barcelona. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group operates in 25 countries, but this is its first entry into southern Europe. Mandarin Oriental Barcelona’s official opening was celebrated in November 2009 with a lavish gala attended by the city’s style leaders and elite.

The hotel’s cool factor is a lucky combination of three elements: The convenience of the central location on Passeig de Gràcia, the good bones of the refurbished 20th-century former bank building, and most significant, the tour de force of design by Spanish-born Milano-based architect, Patricia Urquiola, responsible for the interior decor of the 98-room hotel, including most of the furnishings.

Urquiola is best known for her prolific career in designing clean-lined furniture and accessories for brands such as Foscarini, B&B Italia, Alessi, Capellini, Cassina, Knoll and Moroso. At Mandarin Oriental Barcelona she has created a strong sense of timeless elegance by using white confidently and lavishly, and by applying a Scandinavian sense of scale and clean lines.

To soften the linear angularity, Urquiola added beautiful touches that reflect the weightlessness and precious fragility of origami or intricate lace. The overall effect is stunning.

Remember the excitement you felt receiving mail as a child? That’s the inspiration behind San Francisco-based Little Passports, a new educational subscription service that aims to turn 5-to-10-year-olds into world travellers, one country at a time. Little Passports delivers monthly travel packages designed to provide a fun, hands-on way for kids to learn about other countries without leaving home. The first shipment in the USD 10.95 per month subscription prepares little voyagers for their global adventure with a mini suitcase, passport, world map and a letter and photo introducing their travel guides, Sam and Sofia.

Each following month, children receive a personalized letter and package from Sam and Sofia, which includes travel-related items like a passport stamp, suitcase sticker and collectible boarding pass to access online games and activities that teach geography, history, culture and vocabulary. As the months pass, little travellers notch up a jetsetter’s stamp-filled passport, personalize their suitcase, and pack it with country-specific souvenirs.

In an era dominated by electronic communication, people are embracing concepts from a slower age, like the company that transforms emails into paper letters and one that resurrected the classic telegram. Little Passports combines that nostalgia for ‘real’ mail and combines it with the convenience of a subscription service.

We’ve seen myriad examples of hotels partnering with non-hotel brands, including W Hotels’ collaboration with Puma for in-hotel fitness services, as well as sponsored rooms in various hotels. Now taking the branding even further is La Casa del Camino Hotel in Laguna Beach., Calif., where every one of the hotel’s 10 newly renovated suites features a different, immersive branded experience.

Billabong Suite 206, for example, is designed to be a surfer’s paradise, with artwork including a 3D piece that tells the company’s history through images of surfers, palm trees and the Billabong logo cut into reclaimed wood. Glacéau Suite 315, meanwhile, features aquatic hues and fabrics made, appropriately, from recycled plastic bottles. Other brands involved include Rip Curl, etnies, Roxy, Quiksilver, L* Space and Lost International. A different designer was recruited to create the theme in each branded suite; together, they are all part of the Casa Surf Project in the Riviera Magazine Design series. Pricing for each suite begins at about USD 250 per night, and a portion of the proceeds is donated to charity during the hotel’s first year. Pets are welcome.

Whereas many of the in-hotel branding efforts we’ve covered have amounted to tryvertising initiatives, this one is closer to a collection of brand spaces, offering patrons an immersive look at each brand’s signature style. In addition to tapping into the name recognition of those brands, of course, La Casa del Camino’s use of corporate sponsorship also no doubt helped subsidize the costs of renovation.

The most expensive joint on the Las Vegas Strip finally opened to public on Wednesday night. Christened the Aria Resort & Casino, this 4,000 room resort is located at the heart of the $8.5 billion CityCenter complex. CityCenter owners, MGM Mirage and Dubai World thanked the architects and the employees at a morning ceremony at the resort’s main valet, hours before an evening gala and Aria’s public opening before midnight. The 61-story Aria Resort & Casino was to be publicly unveiled with fireworks and fanfare. According to research analyst’s, once Aria opens, its rooms, along with those at CityCenter’s Mandarin Oriental and Vdara hotels, will increase room capacity on the Las Vegas Strip by 8.5 percent.

Hats off, gentleman — hats off. I can say with certainty that this is the best roller bag ever made. Why this particular bit of genius hasn’t caught on, I can’t imagine. Possibly because, like those who ride the accursed Segway, riders of this contraption would give off a certain “punch me” vibe. And yet, one can’t entirely suppress the feeling of wanting to switch places with them, if only for a moment. Shameful, but understandable.

The Trolley Scooter from Samsonite und Micro Mobility is the perfect tool for bloggers like myself who, at trade shows like CES, must walk miles (miles!) with packs full of gear just to bring you guys the freshest news. I’d rather scoot. I’d rather scoot than do most things, to be perfectly honest.

No price is given and I can’t find it on Micro Mobility’s site, but I would ballpark its cost at around 100€ — $120 or thereabouts.

You have obviously heard of tour packages that satisfy vacation dreams, but have you ever heard of a life-changing tour? No, not the expression, but literally life-changing? Well, an affiliate of Utopia Residences of Beverly Hills has executed a binding letter of intent to build a luxury residential ocean liner, where passengers, call them residents, on the ship will be able to take all their belongings with them in their private homes as they travel onboard the grandest ship in the world. Measuring 296 meters and over 105,000 gross tons, Utopia will have 200 luxury residences ranging in size from 130 to 613 square meters along with a 204 room boutique luxury hotel, casino, spa, theater, night club, swimming pools, marina, signature restaurants and private residents club. If that’s not enough, the ocean liner will travel to ports during major cultural and sporting events such as the Cannes Film Festival, Monte Carlo Grand Prix, the Olympics, Carnaval, Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, Melbourne Cup and other major events of international acclaim. Well, to make the luxury this gallant and glorious, Samsung estimates the value at $1.1 billion and hopes to deliver the same by 2013, but you’ve gotta hurry and contact Utopia Residences to purchase homes onboard the ocean liner.

Las Vegas’ big gamble, the massive CityCenter is finally starting to be open to the public. The Vdara Hotel and Spa is partnering with Vanity Fair to co-host a grand opening gala hosted by Sebastian Copeland with Orlando Bloom and Rosario Dawson on Tuesday in support of the Sebastian Copeland Foundation, a new foundation to explore climate change. Entertainment will be provided by DJs Donovan Leitch and Mathieu Schreyer and guests will dine on food from Martin Heierling, executive chef of Vdara and the hotel’s contemporary Mediterranean restaurant, Silk Road.

Vdara is a non-gaming, smoke-free environment which is physically connected to Bellagio and adjacent to the ARIA resort. The LEED Gold certified project includes the 18,000-square-foot, two-level wellness spa, Vdara Health and Beauty. The hotel features a variety of stay options the most lavish of which are the two-bedroom penthouse suites which each have a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, flatscreen televisions and a bathroom with a soaking tub.

The 4,004-room Aria Resort & Casino will open on December 16. Many are concerned about how eager people will be to check out the new hotel considering that room prices are lower across the Strip and tourism is still down. The AP reports that including condominiums, CityCenter will have nearly 6,800 units open early next year. Rates at Vdara start at $129, $149 at anchor resort Aria and $345 at the Mandarin Oriental.