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Elaf Al Taqwa Hotel Honoured with Prestigious Global Award by Booking.com

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Elaf Al Taqwa Hotel was honoured with Traveller Review Award 2023 by Booking.com, recognising its continuous efforts to deliver exceptional services to guests and raise the standards of hospitality excellence.

The hotel achieved a rating of 9 out of 10, which reflects the level of satisfaction of the guests with the services the hotel provides. The score reinforces the leading position of Elaf Al Taqwa as one of the luxury hotels that combines modern touches with authentic hospitality values to welcome visitors and pilgrims in Madinah.

The award by one of the world’s largest online travel agencies demonstrates the hotel’s commitment to realising Elaf Group’s vision and strategy to ensure the satisfaction of visitors and provide them with a one-of-its-kind experience during their stay at the establishment.

Dr Adel Ezzat, CEO of Elaf Group, said: “We are truly honoured to receive this recognition. This strengthens our position as a leading hospitality service provider in the kingdom and recognises our efforts to ensure the satisfaction of our guests. At Elaf Group, we believe true luxury should always deliver a personalised experience and we keep this as our brand promise as well. In line with this, we continue to invest in our capabilities, empower our teams with the tools they require, and elevate authentic service. We look forward to welcoming our guests with top-quality facilities and services to exceed the customer expectation, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.”

The 11th Annual Booking.com Traveller Review Award recognises travel providers from across 220 countries and territories for their commitment in offering excellent service and hospitality in the past year.

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TWG Tea Unveils the TWG Tea Gallery, Its Largest Flagship and First-Ever TWG Tea Museum at Singapore Changi Airport

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TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, unveils its largest global flagship, TWG Tea Gallery, at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, marking a significant milestone in the brand’s international growth. Welcoming travellers around the clock, the TWG Tea Gallery is strategically located within one of the world’s leading aviation hubs, underscoring TWG Tea’s continued investment in travel retail as a key pillar of its global expansion strategy. Spanning 2,700 square feet beneath a soaring 23-foot-high ceiling, the new flagship represents the brand’s most ambitious retail expression to date, setting a new benchmark for luxury tea in the global travel retail landscape.

Envisioned as an immersive expression of TWG Tea’s craftsmanship and savoir-faire, this destination invites discerning travellers into a luminous world where rare harvests, exquisite blends and timeless rituals converge. Its landmark TWG Tea Museum showcases more than 170 antique tea wares and over 50 antique Russian samovars from the 17th to 20th centuries, personally curated by the brand over the past 15 years from around the world. TWG Tea Gallery also introduces a selection of exclusive creations, including the Grand Voyage Tea from the Grand Mode Tea Collection, the Singapore Surprise Gift Set, and specially created tea-infused macarons, ice cream and sorbet.

Bringing together the Tea Boutique, curated tea accessories, bespoke gifting and a Takeaway experience, this flagship also introduces Singapore’s only Tea-Infused Ice Cream & Sorbet concept, designed for travellers on the go. An impressive tea wall displaying more than 1,200 tea tins anchors the space, transforming the space into a compelling new expression of TWG Tea for today’s global traveller.

“The TWG Tea Gallery represents the most definitive expression of TWG Tea to date. More than a Tea Boutique, the flagship brings the past, present and future of tea into one immersive experience, celebrating the stories, traditions and artistry that have shaped tea over the centuries, brought to life through its landmark TWG Tea Museum. Singapore has remained central to TWG Tea since its founding, and we are honoured to present our largest global flagship at Changi Airport, an icon of aviation excellence and an extraordinary platform to bring the world of TWG Tea to travellers from around the world.”
—Taha Bouqdib, President & CEO of V3 Gourmet and Co-Founder of TWG Tea

“Changi Airport is proud to be home to TWG Tea’s largest flagship store in the world and its first-ever TWG Tea Museum. As one of Singapore’s most recognised brands, TWG Tea offers travellers a uniquely Singapore experience. Together with TWG Tea, we are delighted to introduce a collection of exclusives created specially for Changi Airport, including Singapore’s only tea-infused ice cream and sorbet concept. This new flagship transforms a retail visit into an immersive journey through the heritage, artistry and culture of tea, reflecting the innovation and hospitality that define both TWG Tea and Changi.”
—
Hung Jean, Managing Director of Airside Concessions at Changi Airport Group

A Voyage Through Design

This location within Changi Airport was chosen to house TWG Tea Museum to form a defining part of the flagship experience, showcasing more than 170 antique tea wares and decorative objects spanning cultures and eras. The collection offers a compelling window into the artistry and cultures that have shaped tea over the centuries, adding a rich traditional dimension to the contemporary travel retail experience.

Among its highlights are Yixing clay teapots, traditionally marked by their makers and prized for their craftsmanship and provenance, alongside Chinese and Western tea wares tracing evolving traditions of form and decoration from the 18th century to the present day. Blue-and-white ceramics shaped by Chinese-Islamic artistic exchange sit alongside porcelain once prized in Europe as “white gold,” revealing the movement of ideas and aesthetics across cultures through the rituals of tea.

The collection also includes more than 50 antique samovars from Russia, with notable 19th- and early-20th-century examples from the celebrated workshops of Tula and beyond. Works by makers such as the Batashev and Shemarin brothers bear distinctive hallmarks attesting to their provenance and craftsmanship, offering a further perspective on the decorative traditions surrounding tea.

This dialogue between cultures continues in the flagship’s design, crowned by a hand-painted ceiling depicting a luminous world tea map. As its defining architectural feature, the composition traces the global journey of tea through intricate motifs and rich colour, extending the museum’s narrative of cultural exchange into the contemporary setting of Changi Airport Terminal 3.

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From AMAYA to MYA: Dubai Mall Dining Destination Refines Its Global Identity

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AMAYA is now MYA. As the brand expands its regional and international presence, a unified name gives every location one voice and every guest one clear promise. MYA supports consistency across its growing portfolio of destinations while preserving the energy, hospitality and attention to detail established in Dubai.

The Dubai-born dining and lifestyle brand has refined its name as part of its continued growth: one concise name that can be recognized, remembered and expressed with equal confidence in every market. MYA is shorter by design, creating greater clarity across destinations, partnerships, communications and digital platforms.

The refinement is precise. MYA carries forward the same founder and leadership, the same team, the same concept, the same culinary direction, the same standards and the same distinctive guest experience. Everything that earned the trust of AMAYA’s guests remains at the heart of MYA.

“Strong brands grow through clarity, consistency and trust. MYA gives the name we have built a sharper global expression. Our people, standards and guest experience remain exactly the same. One name. One vision. One uncompromising standard, built in Dubai and continuing forward as MYA.”               

–  Murat Tutuncu and Moe Ezzat  | Founders & CEO, MYA

MYA’s purpose is clear – to give the established Dubai-born hospitality brand a shorter and more consistent name as it grows across destinations. The shorter name increases recognition, the unified name strengthens consistency, and the same standards give the brand the foundation to grow confidently across cultures and geographies.

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Pai Thai Welcomes Blue Elephant for a Four-Hands Celebration of Thai Cuisine

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This October, Pai Thai at Jumeirah Al Qasr invites guests to an exceptional weekend of Thai gastronomy. On 16 and 17 October, the award-winning dining destination welcomes Blue Elephant founder, Master Chef Nooror Somany Steppe to Dubai, where she joins Head Chef Amara Mahayothee for a limited series of four-hands dinners and an intimate culinary masterclass.

Across two evenings, the chefs will present three- and five-course menus combining dishes from Pai Thai and Blue Elephant. Among the highlights are “Naam Dokmai” green mango lobster salad, prepared with mango from Master Chef Nooror Somany Steppe’s native province; organic green chicken curry with Thai sweet basil and kaffir lime leaves; and ribeye with Blue Elephant Black Diamond garlic, GI pepper and a hint of truffle.

The dinner menu draws upon recipes with personal and historical significance. The jumbo river prawn tom yum replicates the traditional version served during the period of King Rama V in the late nineteenth century. Uniting Emirati dates with Thai mung bean and jasmine essence, the date cake dessert is inspired by a recipe from Master Chef Nooror Somany Steppe’s late mother. These stories bring the collaboration’s wider narrative of heritage and tradition to the table while connecting Thai culinary techniques with its Dubai setting.

On Saturday 17 October, the chefs take guests beyond the dining room with a hands-on masterclass exploring four Thai favourites: Yam Som O, Chor Muang, Gaeng Phed Goong and Khao Niew Ma Muang. Participants will discover the techniques and cultural stories behind each recipe before enjoying a seated three-course lunch at Pai Thai.

Event details:

Four-Hands Thai Dinner

Dates: 16 and 17 October 2026
Time: 18:00 onwards
Price: AED 395 per person for the three-course set menu; AED 695 per person for the five-course set menu. Beverages are available à la carte.

Four-Hands Thai Masterclass

Date: 17 October 2026
Time: 11:00 to 14:30
Price: AED 695 per person, including a three-course lunch and soft beverages; AED 895 per person, including a three-course lunch with wine pairing

Beyond the collaboration, Pai Thai continues to bring the flavours of Thailand to the enchanting setting of Jumeirah Al Qasr, inviting guests to savour a refined expression of Thai cuisine over dinner daily from 18:00 to 22:30, or during Kin Samrap Lunch, served Friday to Sunday from 12:30 to 14:30 and extending to a daily lunch offering from November.

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