Travellers' ChecksTwo nights in Phuket from HK$2,750; Alila opens in China
Farrington Vacations has various hotel options in Phuket, on a deal available until October, writes Adam Nebbs. Also in travel news, boutique hotel operator Alila opens its first China resort, and Park Hyatt opens in Mallorca, Spain
Alila Hotels and Resorts, operator of boutique hotels in India, Indonesia and Oman, has made its first overture in China with the Alila Anji, a Chinese-village-style resort with 74 rooms and villas in Anji county, Zhejiang province. About 90 minutes by car from Hangzhou, the resort trades on an ecological theme, and is surrounded by bamboo and tea plantations, not far from where parts of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed. To mark the opening, four weekend packages, or "WKND Experiences" are being offered, for 2,088 yuan (HK$2,468) and 2,888 yuan per night in a Lakeview Room (above) or Lakeview Villa (below), respectively. They include a Destination Journey, Farmhouse Experience, Kids' Journey and Couple Celebration, and will be available until December 31 for bookings made by the end of August.
Lakeview Villa, Alila Anji, Zhejiang
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Plane English "I was forty-two when the American Airlines aircraft I'd boarded in Chicago was set to explode in midair," writes Arthur Plotnik, in the opening line of the essay "Surviving the Unabomber". It's a compelling piece of prose, and one of the best of many contained in a new book, titled Airplane Reading. Edited by American English professors and scholarly travel writers Christopher Schaberg and Mark Yakich, this "re-examining [of] the strange and ordinary world of air travel" features both previously unpublished writing and essays submitted to their Airplane Reading website. Tony D'Souza's "Flight Benefits" is among the best. It tells of his experiences flying around the world for free as the teenage son of an airline employee, and accidentally discovering the seamier side of Hong Kong when his plans to fly from Japan to India go awry after one too many Asahis at Narita. One piece that didn't make the book but is found on the website is by Scott Saalman, whose great-great uncle, Joe Reed, was a wing walker in the 1920s, doing "loop-the-loops, barrel rolls and [hanging] from planes' axles". Saalman himself is terrified of flying, and his encounter with the fearsome roar of an aircraft toilet flush is comedy gold. Airplane Reading will be published in paperback next month (see amazon.com), but much of its content and plenty more, by both professional and amateur contributors, can be found at airplanereading.org. You can also submit your own writing for consideration.
