Emirates SEA --> DBX Nonstop

[trip style = luxury]

Emirates is one of few airlines in the world to bring fabulous back to flying.

I'm not sure if it's the rose-red lipstick or the swish scarf hats {worn by the female flight attendants}, or the flight network that spans across six continents from Seattle to the Seychelles, but for the past 10 years I've held Emirates in the sky-highest regard. They are the Rolex of roaming, and since March 2012, the most opulent means of reaching the Middle East from the West Coast.

Last week I was invited to fly Emirates for the first time in seat 9D between Seattle and Dubai. Going forward, unless I fly in Richard Branson's private jet---which I imagine must have a Champagne-filled hot tub---95% of air travel will fail to compare, even after my biz class brush with JAL earlier this year.

Before I get into the chic deets, flying Emirates isn't reserved for Mercedes G-Wagon-driving DINKs {double income no kids} and diplomats. It's within reach. A typical economy fare from Seattle to Dubai, the virtual gateway to all Emirates destinations, is around $1,200, a very competitive price for the 14.5hr transcontinental flight. The brand new, ultra-long range Boeing 777-200 takes off daily. Emirates' Dubai-bound birds also fly from Toronto {3 times weekly}, San Francisco, LA, Dallas, Houston, NYC and Washington DC.

Flying Emirates Business Class
Because I love peeping at different airlines' photos of First and Business Class, I thought I'd share snaps from my flight. If you book Emirates and have the chance to upgrade, do it. Otherwise, know this: economy on Emirates is like Delta or Alaska's domestic upper class {think actual cutlery, big screens, etc.}.

Seattle to Dubai Business Class seats

About to settle into my mini-pod for the flight between Seattle and Dubai, approx $8,000 return. A flute of Moet & Chandon is promptly offered; I oblige.

A 17" widescreen TV with 1,200+ channels of on-demand entertainment awaits, as does a game of Tetris {for those who love the mind bender with a strangely addictive soundtrack as much as me}.

Lie-flat seats in business class

Lie-flat seats extending 78 inches rest in mini-pods with basic privacy dividers. As I was about to fall asleep, I learned every business class seat is given a spongy, full-length mattress and pillow to help tired fliers count sheep. When the cabin lights are dimmed, the ceiling turns into a starry sky, like a planetarium.

Two meal services are provided on tray tables draped in linen with china tableware. It's important to note that the meal quality, even in economy, is fresh and extraordinarilyy well executed. Led by a Canadian chef, the Dubai-based Emirates in-flight catering facility crafts 120,000+ made-from-scratch meals per day for flights bound for their 128 worldwide destinations. For the freshest bites, meals are made within the same day and delivered to each flight less than two hours before take off. After my three-course cuisine in the clouds, I was given two Godiva chocolates.

All passengers are given female or male-specific Bvlgari toiletries with a perfume/cologne, face cream, hand cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, brush and comb combo, mirror, towelette and tissues.

Emirates' Business Class Lounge in Dubai

Finally, the Emirates Business Class Lounge at Dubai Airport {DBX} is massive---Super Bowl-sized, really---and includes a spa, a quiet area with leather loungers, multiple food and beverage dining options, and cushy seating.

First Class Suites
I snapped photos of the First Class Suites aboard my flight {which cost approx $14,000 return} before the section filled up.

Emirates' first class suites

On-demand beauty

On-demand drinks

Closed-door suites

[Most photos by @tripstyler (some courtesy of Emirates) taken while on a trip to Dubai sponsored by Emirates]

First Look :: Dubai

[trip style = urban + active & adventure + sun + luxury]

I just got home from Dubai via Seattle last night and my mind is bursting with cityscapes, landscapes and wordscapes.

I'll start my full-throttle dive into Dubai Friday, but until then check out Trip Styler's Instagram for a quick photo tour.

[Photos by @tripstyler taken in Dubai as a guest of Emirates Airlines]

Maui Waui :: What's New In Wailea

[trip style = beach + sun]

Think of a place where wind-swept beaches and lava-laden cliffs interact with Maui's chicest resort cluster. Manicured with the same attention to detail as a Hollywood celebrity, Wailea's five-diamond hotels and mosaic-lined pools glisten in the Southern Shore's sunlight. Here's what's new in this pampered paradise:

Hotel The BIGGEST news from Wailea is the addition of a nouveau hotel to the seafront landscape. Opening in Summer 2013, the Hyatt's hip Andaz brand will take over the former Renaissance Resort. Stripped down to the bones, the 255-room {+ suites and villas} infuses urban styling with swaying palms and cascading pools. Who's in? I AM! PS - rumor has it a Morimoto by Iron Chef Masahura Morimoto will be the hotel's signature restaurant. I've been to Morimoto at the Modern Honolulu {and LOVED it}, and I'm hoping Chef's famous ahi tuna pizza will make an appearance on the menu!

Restaurants Led by Chef Alan Wong, recognized by Bon Appetit as the “master of Hawaiian regional cuisine”, Amasia is one of Wailea’s newest and hottest restaurants. Sparing no expense, this chic evening eatery has streams flowing throughout and sits atop a lagoon in a Japanese tea house brought over piece by piece from Kyoto—even the 800 tonnes of rocks surrounding the East-meets-West dining concept are quarried from Mt. Fuji.

Trip Styler Tip :: Alfresco and au courant, sit at the bar at KO {you'll find the best service there}, the Fairmont Wailea's newest restaurant which recently underwent a 5.1-million dollar renovation. Order the Ahi On The Rocks, an upscale DIY dish which comes with tuna, an orange-ginger miso sauce and a 400-degree F ishiyaki stone to sear the meat to your personal perfection.

Spa Treatments The Grand Wailea's Spa Grande is the largest and most lauded spa in the state of Hawaii. Soothe yourself into island time on a journey through the Japanese-inspired termé hydrotherapy circuit or lounging on the private lanai. At treatment time, go local with the Niu Coconut Muscle Relief massage using e-v-e-r-y part of the coconut---from husk to meat---to exfoliate, moisturize and massage the skin into buttery bliss {$225}, or spring for a tidal wave of a treatment with the 20-Hand Duo Massage using 10 therapists and 100 fingers to perform the "hula wave" on you and your beau {$2000}. Ahh-loha!

More Maui Roam+Board :: Napili Kai Maui Waui :: Paia Another Side of Hawaii Finding the Modern in Waikiki

[photo 1 and 3 taken by @tripstyler while exploring Maui with the island's CVB; photo 2 courtesy Andaz; photo 4 courtesy Spa Grande]

Luxe Canadian Rails

[trip style = luxury + sightseeing]

It started with a toast and went seriously uphill from there, chugging from sea level to a soaring 4540ft.

A few weeks ago, I literally walked on a red carpet leading toward my coach aboard the Rocky Mountaineer---touted as one of the "top 5 trains in the world" by Conde Nast Traveller---for a bucket list journey in my own backyard. Meandering past frothing rivers, glassy lakes and snow-coned peaks, I was briskly reminded that I live in a place sought out by both seasoned and trip-of-a-lifetime travelers for its wild open spaces.

Under the warmth of the sun peeking through my glass-domed coach, the trip style = luxe train started its engine, and with a lurch---almost making my sparkling peach bev fly forward---set off. Beginning in Vancouver's urban landscape, I though I knew what to expect from my looming trip into the Canadian Rockies. I'd been before, heck, I'd even hiked 'em. Looking back, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Consuming the constantly changing countryside at a pace our modern world associates with Old World, and studying it via 360-degree side-to-side and top-to-bottom views, allowed me to view my Canadian surroundings through the eyes of a goggly-eyed tourist, seeing snow, craggy peaks and 500-pound grizzlies {again} for the first time.

On my safari in Kenya's Masai Mara, a tear rolled down my face at the first sight of a family of elephants roaming the plains, and that awe-inspired feeling---the kind that confuses every one of your senses---is how everyone on my train car felt when they saw mountain goats navigating the cliffside and bear cubs foraging for food near the tracks. In the Mara, elephants, lions and rhinos roam freely, and in Western Canada, the same is true with a different set of safari-worthy subjects.

On the Rocky Mountaineer, you co-exist with nature while dining on exec chef-prepared meals and drinking Okanagan chardonnay, or in one jolly gentleman's case a few seats behind me, about 16 G&Ts. {I wish I could hear HIS trip stories, maybe Canadian grizzlies breathe fire?} At one point, I remember rushing to my coach's outside viewing area to snap the scenery, camera in one hand, wine in another. At that moment, a smile came to my face. I was relaxed, well fed and wonderstruck, in my own backyard.

Know This

• Riding the rails in style comes at a pret-a-porter price, so if you'd like to test drive the train, start with the Vancouver to Whistler ride from $149 one-way/$259 round trip.
• There are three classes of service: RedLeaf, SilverLeaf and GoldLeaf. Silver and GoldLeaf each enjoy glass-domed coaches, which I recommend for optimal nature viewing.
• Rocky Mountaineer offers four seasonal routes from April to October: the two-day First Passage to the West (Vancouver-Kamloops-Banff), the two-day Journey Though the Clouds (Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper), the two-day Rainforest to Gold Rush (Whistler-Quesnel-Jasper), and the half-day Sea to Sky Climb (Vancouver-Whistler). Routes can be done in reverse or combined.
• Prices start at $850 per person for the two-day First Passage to the West {trip described above}. This includes the train journey and an overnight hotel. If you want to go for the GoldLeaf, prices start at $1900.
• Rocky Mountaineer and its union are currently involved in an ongoing labor dispute. This does not impact service or schedule.

[photos by @tripstyler, taken while as a guest of the Rocky Mountaineer]

Maiden Voyage by SEA

[trip style = luxury + weekend getaway]

Ladies AND men, listen up! {Men I suggest you don't tune out because if you read this closely, and give this weekend away as a gift, you'll be a superhero}...

It was not my first maiden voyage---aka gals' getaway---nor my first trip to Seattle, but it felt like the first. My stateroom had iconic views, the seafood was Pacific Northwest-fresh and the first mates were first class...

Recently the TS gals were invited to discover an area of Seattle that wasn't on our radar: South Lake Union {SLU}. Sandwiched between the Space Needle and Lake Union, Paul Allen {former Microsoft exec and current bachelor extraordinaire} owned some serious city acreage and decided the area needed a refresh, so he cooked up a work-play locale befitting Seattle's urban movers and shakers {read: volumes of young Amazon.com staffers who work at the recently-minted mega-campus in SLU, aka, the first mates}.

What makes the area unique for a trip style = weekend visitor is the local beat. Industrial, gritty and glassy, it's a place where people actually live, eat, sleep, shop, work and exercise; so we join them, stopping in for a smoothie at Whole Foods, browsing the fashionable furniture at Seva Home and sipping a bev at re:public. Because it's home to many, it feels like a home to us---a place we can settle in and discover bit by bit, bite by bite and step by step. Now, more on our stateroom and fresh catch...

Stay Punctuated by color-popping modern art and a large-scale desk-chic chandelier, find the burgeoning area's most stylish digs at the Pan Pacific Seattle. Far from polar fleece or khaki cargo pants, the 153-room hotel---capturing views of the Space Needle and Lake Union---feels like a contemporary artist's canvas where guests can add their own color. Mine involved a Saturday morning lake-front run beside marinas and houseboats before meeting the TS girls for an afternoon of shopping, the spa and dinner out.

Eat Saddle up to the Raw Bar at Seastar Restaurant and let the masterful chefs have their way with your taste buds. Sushi savants will love the colorful, on-a-whim platters rolled in plain sight. Tasting the ceviche, and crab-topped flame-seared sushi, and chatting with the gentleman beside us {who visits four times per week}, we see why it's the #1 Zagat award-winning seafood restaurant in Seattle. PS - If you retire to the restaurant for your main course, the Reggiano Parmigiano Halibut is mouth-watering and highly recommended.

Do Draped in earth tones and shaped by clean lines, Vida Wellness Spa at the Pan Pacific is a maiden voyage must-do. Known for their facials, the estheticians are knowledgable and highly educated in the art of skin. All three of us---fairly into skin ourselves---could not stop swapping discoveries gleaned from our treatments. PS - you'll love the healing infrared lights over every treatment bed and full-body infrared sauna.

If You Go - Ladies, spring for a night in the swanky and spacious Space Needle-View Suite {from $400}. Champagne tastes so much better overlooking cultural landmarks and large bodies of water! {Trip Styler Tip :: get an adjoining room if you're with a gals' group, and toast the moment in the living room of the suite.} - A complimentary hotel town car runs m-f. - Valet parking is $39. - Free wifi. - SLU is a five minute walk from downtown Seattle.

Related A Gals' Getaway in AZ Condensed Mancations Springtime In The Emerald City YVR To SEA Must-Stops Tulalip Resort - Five Things

[photos by @tripstyler]