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Paul Chai

Paul Chai has been a travel writer for over two decades. He has dived with great white sharks in South Australia, walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival and stuffed himself with enough food and wine working on the Good Food Guide to make his GP shake his head. Chai is currently managing editor of Dream by Luxury Escapes.

AustraliaVictoriaExploreNews

Largest Australian Hotel Opening of 2024 Lands at Melbourne Airport

The new-build Novotel & ibis Styles Melbourne Airport also boasts Melbourne Airport’s first health and wellbeing club. Melbourne Airport welcomed its first new hotel in 20 years this week with the launch of Accor’s Novotel & ibis Styles Melbourne Airport. The dual-branded hotel is a much-needed addition to the airport which has already returned to […]

ExploreNews

Australian Icon: Neil Perry Honoured at World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the “Oscars” of the Food World

In a list otherwise devoid of Australian entries, veteran chef Neil Perry took home the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his services to the industry. Veteran chef and creator of the Rockpool restaurant group, Neil Perry was the sole Australian to receive an honour at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards held in Las Vegas […]

BaliExploreFlightsNewsQueensland

Bali for Less: AirAsia Indonesia Launches its First-Ever Flight from Cairns to Bali

Queensland travellers will find it easier than ever to get to Australia’s favourite Indonesian island with a new route from the low-cost carrier. AirAsia Indonesia has announced its first-ever direct flights between Bali and the gateway to Tropical North Queensland with the Cairns flights starting on August 14. The flights mark the first time that […]

ExploreFlightsNews

Capital Gains: Vietjet Launches New Direct Route from Melbourne to Hanoi

Melbourne this week welcomed the inaugural flight from Hanoi to Melbourne by low-cost carrier Vietjet, part of a huge push by the airline into the Australian market. Vietjet cemented a big year in the Australian market by launching a new route from the Vietnamese capital to Melbourne, with Sydney launching just a few days later. […]

AustraliaVictoriaTravel Guides

Coast Modern: The Perfect Food-Lover’s Weekend on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula

Just over an hours’ drive out of Melbourne, the Bellarine region, with Victoria’s second-city of Geelong at its heart, has long been popular with Melburnians fond of sand dunes and salty air, not to mention fish and chips. But, in the past few years, a new wave of Bellarine fine diners has been attracting a […]

AsiaFlightsMalaysiaReviews

Business Class Perks with an Economy Price Tag on AirAsia

AirAsia’s Premium Flatbed offers excellent value at a time when airfares can be the most prohibitive part of an international holiday and, with lounges back open recently, flying Premium Flatbed is business class treatment at a much lower price point. The seat and route Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Melbourne (MEL). Seat 2G on a widebody […]

AustraliaVictoriaNews

Sofitel Melbourne on Collins Brings the Razzle Dazzle with Official Chicago Partnership

As part of its official tie-in with the Melbourne musical, Sofitel Melbourne on Collins has transformed its bar with killer cocktails themed around the play’s main characters. Blockbuster Broadway musical Chicago is back on stage in Melbourne starring Zoe Ventoura as Velma Kelly and Lucy Maunder as Roxie Hart – the fame hungry murderesses at […]

AustraliaVictoria

European Sophistication in South Yarra at The Lyall

Tucked down a tree-lined side street off busy Toorak Road, The Lyall is the little hotel that could, a boutique space but with the service and sophistication in the tradition of a grand hotel. The rooms tout Parisienne balconies, French bubbles and the hotel itself appears to be channelling a local Saint-Germain stay, right down […]

AsiaExploreMalaysiaReviews

Sky-High Hotel Value at EQ Makes the Perfect Kuala Lumpur City Break

When the Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur was demolished in 2012, the Malaysian capital lost a beloved institution first opened in 1973 but, phoenix-like, the soaring 52-storey new Equatorial Plaza has risen in its place (EQ takes up the uppermost floors), a modern classic with one of the best rooftop bars in the city. What’s […]

FlightsNews

Flying High: Air Asia Merger Signals the Fightback of Low-Cost Air Travel

The merging of Air Asia and Air Asia X is being touted as the “the beginning of a new era” for low-cost air travel, at a time when consumers need it most. At a lively press conference in Kuala Lumpur last week, including a couple of dance numbers by Air Asia staff, CEO of Capital […]

Dream MagazineExploreThailand

Golden Treasures: Roadtripping Northern Thailand’s Golden Triangle

On a northern Thailand road trip, Paul Chai spends a memorable night in a “jungle bubble” in the Golden Triangle surrounded by elephants, gets blessed by a monk in Chiang Mai and visits a quirky modern temple with more bling than Vegas-era Elvis. Resting on a fallen log in the Thai jungle, the air hefty […]

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