Executive Travel

CHRISTMAS SHOP WINDOWS
A store in Paris...

THE PRINTEMPS STORE has been reborn in grand style, as is the case with almost everything that happens in Paris. A show of lights and sound in November led by the Russian top model, Natalia Vodianova, opened the annual end-of-year party season, with the theme Slavic Christmas. At the same time, the 14,000 square meters of restored art nouveaux mosaic facade was unveiled to the public for the first time. After decades of relative obscurity, in the shadow of the neighboring Lafayette Galleries in Boulevard Haussmann, Printemps, already open for 140 years, is back in style and aiming at the high-end luxury market with launches of women’s fashion, housing all the great brand names of Avenue Montaigne, Place Vendôme and Faubourg St. Honoré. The stated strategy is to woo and pamper its clients, whether alone or accompanied – often by the famous personal shoppers –, catering to all their needs, and will deliver your purchases to your home or hotel or provide you with moments alone to enjoy the gastronomic delights in the restaurant on the seventh floor, under a much talked about and amazing glass dome. www.printemps.fr

EXCLUSIVE SHEETS
...a hotel in Berlin...

HOTEL CHAINS TEND to be baptized with names that suggest quality, luxury or both: Leading Ho¬tels of the World, Small Luxury Hotels... the Ritz-Carlton already states its attributes of excellence in its name. The well-known hotel owner, Cesar Ritz, created the brand in Boston more than a century ago, with innovations that were surprising at the time, such as a bathroom on each floor, fresh flowers, à la carte restaurants and an attractive, almost intimate lobby. This standard was maintained in the glittering Ritz-Carlton in Berlin, built on a corner of Potsdamer Platz on the line where, until 1989, the wall that divided the city was erected. Berlin is not as expensive as London or Milan, and the hotel rates start at €265. Some of the main attractions within walking distance are: the Brandenburg Door, the Reichstag (Parliament), with a dome designed by Sir Norman Foster, Checkpoint Char¬lie, the museum about the end of communist Germany, the Holocaust Monument, Friedrichstrasse and its luxury stores and, for those that want to work, the business centers of Sony and Mercedes. www.ritz-carlton.com

FINE FOOD PER KILO
...and a restaurant in London

VERY TRADITIONAL BRAZILIAN FOOD “per kilo” has arrived in the capital of Great Britain in a chic vegetarian version. With open-space architecture, almost trans¬parent external walls made entirely of glass, the new restaurant tibits attracts, from breakfast to dinner, a mix of models, elegant business men and women from the neighboring Regent Street and executives from the City. However, the main attraction is the range of delicious snacks and healthy food, in several flavors – some from Asia – made with organic and fresh ingre¬dients. To drink the restaurant offers fresh juices, all the normal soft drinks, cocktails and even fine wines. www.tibits.co.uk

AVIATION
And the Oscar goes to…

THE RECOGNITION MOST respected in the world of aviation, the annual Airline Industry Awards, is the Oscar of this sector of industry – it is based on passenger votes – was won again this year by Singapore Airlines.
The public’s number one airline in Latin America is not Brazilian, as the Chilean LAN tops the polls. Of the
other companies that fl y to and from Brazil, Continental did well (best business class), Emirates (best Middle Eastern airline) and South African Airways (best African airline). www.oagairlineawards.com/Winners