I recently went on a cruise that considers itself to be in the premium market but uses the word “luxury” a lot. The ship itself was quite nice, but the service left a lot to be desired. What was most frustrating was the fact that it all had to do with training.

For example, when I was on deck, I asked for a pizza from the gentleman whose job it is to provide pizzas. When I made my request, he was gruff and acted as if he were doing me the biggest favor in the world by actually giving me a pizza. Clearly, no one had told him that he shouldn’t behave that way.

On my day of departure from the ship, the room steward knocked on our door and then immediately walked in three times, clearly hoping that we had vacated the cabin, even though the deadline for disembarkation was hours away. The mini-bar attendant on that same morning got an early start (7:30 a.m.) of banging loudly on doors, demanding to be let in so he could see if bottles had been removed from the refrigerator.

Who was driving this behavior? My only conclusion was that the staff onboard this ship had been clearly given leeway to act in this manner, even though it was detrimental to the customer experience. Yikes.

Luxury travel advisors can take a lesson from this. If even one person on your staff deems that it’s ok to be rude, or even indifferent in the way they respond to a client, it mars the experience entirely. It takes that bubble you’ve been so careful to put them in and bursts it in the most jarring manner.

My suggestion is that you hold frequent meetings with your staff to ensure that this isn’t happening. Better yet, instill the philosophy of treating the customer like a kid glove in your basic business practices. Sometimes, if people don’t know they shouldn’t be rude they revert to the way they’d react to an annoying sibling or a cousin they’ve grown up with, by treating them casually and familiarly. To a stranger, this can be downright insulting and they’ll certainly question whether “luxury” is a word that should be used to describe your product.

Starwood’s W brand is making its initial foray into England with announced plans to build in London and Manchester.

Both slated to open in 2010, W London-Leicester Square (rendering left) in the West End will feature 194 rooms and 10 two-level residences, a signature spa, a signature restaurant and W’s Living Room experience. Nine of the 194 rooms will be suites including two WOW suites and one Extreme WOW suite, all featuring custom-made furnishings, W’s signature “munchie boxes” stocked with exclusive amenities and other stylish accents.

Northwest of London, W Manchester, to be located in the city’s warehouse district, a thriving creative community, will boast 160 rooms, 7,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa, fitness facility, a W retail store and signature restaurant. The property is close to many restaurants, theatres and is within walking distance to Manchester’s main Piccadilly Station.

The Fairmont Chicago has finished a $50 million renovation, which promises a more contemporary look. This includes a new lobby, a new wine, cheese and chocolate tasting experience called ENO, renovated guestrooms and a new spa concept called mySpa, which features eight treatment rooms and elements of land, air and water to produce a tranquil setting amid the feverish pitch of Chicago.

Now in place, Fairmont Chicago has also introduced a new level of luxury with Fairmont Gold, which it calls a “hotel within a hotel.” A total of 84 rooms and suites are dedicated to the program, providing a higher level of service. Concierges greet Fairmont Gold guests at a private check-in desk on the hotel’s 15th floor. The Fairmont Gold rooms offer complimentary Internet and exclusive Cologne 1888 amenities by Miller Harris among other nuances.

The ENO wine tasting room may prove to be a big hit, particularly for lovers of wine, cheese and chocolate, all of which are on display. In August, ENO began offering ENO-versity classes, which covers the history of the three elements.

The Fairmont Chicago is located in the Lakeside East neighborhood, close to Millennium Park and the city’s business district. Luxury travel advisors with questions should contact Chris Monico, director of business and leisure travel, at chris.monico@fairmont.com or 312-565-7446.

Have a client who might want to buy a hot car while in Sin City? Or better yet, a group of private party-goers that likes to hang out in glamorous places?

Lamborghini Las Vegas has just opened at the Palazzo Resort Hotel and Casino. Included in the mix is the Lamborghini dealership, a café and retail boutique and Dal Toro, a classy Italian restaurant that provides a glamorous display of the exotic super cars below. Hint: Ask for the the branzino croccante or scaloppini caprese.

Groups, meanwhile, can mingle in private in the exotic car gallery, located on both upper and lower levels, where a fancy array of “supercars” are for sale, including: Bugatti, Ferrari, Saleen, Spyker, McLaren, et bien sur, Lamborghini. Adding to the ambiance are 14 suspended plasma flat-screen TVs, a 10-foot built-in projection screen, a wireless PowerPoint system and a Bose sound system with full club level music capabilities.

For more about The Palazzo, see the August issue of Luxury Travel Advisor.

The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans will be folded into the Waldorf=Astoria Collection in spring 2009 and, when it does, Mark Wilson will be its director of sales and marketing. Wilson previously served as the director of marketing for the Royal Sonesta Hotel.

Wilson began his career with the San Francisco Hilton and went on to hold various positions at properties in New Orleans, including the New Orleans Hilton Riverside, ITT Sheraton and Fairmont. For the past three years he has served as president of the French Quarter Business Association.

Previously the Fairmont New Orleans, the hotel was badly damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. However, after a multi-million-dollar renovation, the famed property will reemerge in 2009 again as the Roosevelt Hotel under the exclusive Waldorf=Astoria banner, which currently is composed of five properties, but will add as many as six more by 2011, including The Palace Jerusalem.

Sun International’s Table Bay Hotel on Cape Town’s harbor front, is touting itself as an ideal venue from which to watch the Volvo Ocean Race on November 4. On that day, seven yachts will enter Cape Town’s harbor as part of their round the global race, which spans 6,500 nautical miles.

The Volvo Ocean Race, formerly the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, starts in Alicante, Spain and visits Cape Town, Kochi, Singapore, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteberg, Stockholm, finally finishing in St. Petersburg.

Elegant touch: Thanks to its prime location, the Table Bay Hotel offers its guests front row seats to watch the moored boats, while enjoying Afternoon Tea on the hotel’s terrace in the lobby or at its Atlantic Restaurant.

We hear there’s still space available at the hotel during the event. For more information, contact the United States Marketing & Sales Office of Sun International Hotels & Resorts at sainfo@sun-int.net; 954-331 8135.

For more luxury travel in Cape Town, see the August 2008 issue of Luxury Travel Advisor.

Foodie clients should head to Tuscany this fall, where Alain Ducasse’s L’Andana, is serving up The Tuscan Cooking Experience. The 33-room inn’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Trattoria Toscana, is known for specializing in the cultivation of wine, olive oil, fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Rotating throughout the fall, The Tuscan Cooking Experience includes such experiences as picking grapes at the Super Tuscan vineyard, Petra, visiting a family farm to harvest chestnuts or journeying to the local market to choose pumpkins. Led by L’Andana’s team of world class chefs, participants will be taught simple and authentic recipes using the central ingredient of their choice.

Packages built around the program include a three-night stay in Deluxe accommodations or a Junior Suite. Included are daily a Tuscan breakfast and a dinner for two at The Villa restaurant. Also included are visit to the nearby Castiglione della Pescaia beaches and a visit to the 6,000-square-foot spa also enhances the perfect Tuscan Cooking Experience.

L’Andana is situated on the 1,240-acre Tenuta La Badiola Estate.

For a one-on-one interview with Alain Ducasse and a review of three of his resorts in Provence, go to the August issue of Luxury Travel Advisor.

The 20th anniversary of Virtuoso Travel Mart kicked off at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Sunday, with an Opening Session headed by Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, and Kristi Jones, president of Virtuoso, with a keynote address by author Carl Honore.

Travel Mart (August 16-22) is considered one of the top travel events in the industry, and this year’s extravaganza attracted 1,344 travel advisors from 393 member agencies and more than 1,500 preferred suppliers. For the seventh consecutive year, the week-long event is being held at Bellagio.

Above all, Travel Mart is a networking dynamo— speed dating for travel advisors and suppliers. Over the next four days, there will be more than 300,000 four-minute appointments between advisors and suppliers. This interaction, while seemingly short, allows Virtuoso agents to discover suppliers on a personal level and, ultimately, offer better itineraries to their clients.

At the Opening Session, Virtuoso’s Jones praised the travel network’s member in the face of growing economic challenges, but noted how well they were positioned for continued success.

The numbers: In 2007, a total of $2.85 trillion was spent on travel, according to the WTO, and that 10 percent of the world GDP was accrued via travel.

The news is getting even better for travel advisors. Jones stated that Internet booking scores are steadily dropping and, with them, customer satisfaction. In fact, 23 percent of people who book online travel, Jones said, would rather work with an agent.

That said, there still aren’t enough travel advisors in the field. Client demand continues to grow, but agent supply is not keeping pace. Moreover, if the travel agent community is to grow, it needs new, younger blood. Jones said that the majority of the travel advisor workforce is over the age of 55. “More cruise ships and more rooms are coming online,” she said, “we need more people to help fill them.”

Jones also commented on Virtuoso Trust (which Luxury Travel Advisor wrote about in its August issue), its new online training course, or learning management system, consisting of 65 courses.

For its keynote address, Virtuoso chose Carl Honore, author of In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed, of which the basis is that mankind would be more productive if it slowed down and unplugged once in a while. For instance, some companies are implementing “e-mail-free days,” forcing workers to call or walk over to a co-worker’s desk with their business. Then there’s car maker Audi’s newest slogan, “This is the slowest car we’ve ever built.” No doubt implying it’s their best car ever built, done with the most care.

Honore ended by applying his thesis to travel, in what he dubbed “Slow Travel”: Finding a lower gear on vacation and savoring each moment. He said that the rise in hotel/resort spas was indicative of this movement to slow down on vacation. —David Eisen

Ted Teng, the former COO of Wyndham International, is taking over as president and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World, which represents over 450 global hotels, resorts and spas. Teng replaces Paul McManus, who will assume the position of vice chairman of Leading Ventures and remain an active board member of the organization, said Jean-Jacques Gauer, chairman of the executive committee.

Teng assumes his new position on September 1, bringing 30 years of hospitality experience. He currently manages his own hotel investment and operations firm, Prime Opus Partners, and before that oversaw the core branded hotel products at Wyndham as COO. He also held different posts with with Starwood.

The board of directors has found Mr. Teng’s broad set of leadership skills, business acumen and operating principles to be an excellent fit to maximize the opportunities for this global hospitality organization,” Gauer said. “We are confident in his abilities to expertly lead the next phase of the company’s significant growth through further strategic development and effective operational execution.”

The Mandarin Oriental, Miami has created two packages for those clients who want to enjoy Miami’s nightlife scene. Guests can tailor their evening by selecting three venues from a selection of exclusive bars, lounges and nightclubs.

The “Ultimate Miami Nights” package includes two nights in either the hotel’s presidential-style suites: The Mandarin Suite has its own spa serenity room (shown here) and The Oriental Suite has its own Media Room. Also included is a daily champagne breakfast; a chilled magnum-sized bottle of champagne and hors d’oeuvres in room upon arrival; a full Presidential Suite bar set up and 24-hour personal butler service. Day One of the program includes a private shopping tour to Miami’s designer boutiques with a personal shopping escort and limo transportation; a celebrity make-up artist to provide professional hair and make-up services prior to evening out with a VIP Nightlife Guide; a professional photo shoot with a top Miami fashion magazine photographer; a chauffeured night out to three of Miami’s most posh dinner, lounge and party venues with a personal VIP Nightlife Guide in a 14-passenger stretch Hummer limousine with bottles of champagne and VIP admission, preferred seating and table service at selected venues.

Day Two is a bit calmer, with a full day in a stunning VIP Spa Suite; use of the private “Opium” bed at the hotel’s Oasis Beach Club; a six-course gourmet dinner prepared by a private chef in the the Presidential Suite’s kitchen and dining room for up to eight people and a late 3 p.m. late check out for late risers.

The cost of the package is a cool $25,000 for a two-night stay. For reservations, contact the hotel directly at 305-913-8288 or at 866- 888-6780.