Within the case of my facial, as enjoyable because it was, my reverie was generally disturbed by the undercurrent of airport bulletins. I couldn’t fairly escape the truth that I used to be drifting in a pod a wall away from one of many locations I dislike most on the planet – the safety verify strains on the departure gates.
In case you’ve been in a global airport currently, you’ll discover how laborious lots of them, like Sydney, are positioning themselves as premium purchasing and wonder locations. Sydney now provides a Tiffany & Co boutique that includes a Lobmeyer chandelier glowing with Tiffany Blue crystals, in addition to shops from Balenciaga, Burberry, Dior, Hermes and greater than a dozen different high-end labels.
These identical manufacturers stake their claims in most main airports. Generally it’s laborious to work out which metropolis you’re in whenever you get off the aircraft. Other than the plain benefit for consumers that there’s a small tax-free low cost, I nonetheless wouldn’t do my purchasing at an airport if I had this type of cash to drop. Nicer to be handled like royalty in a boutique on Avenue Montaigne, I might suppose.
However I do see folks boarding flights with shiny packages containing their costly hauls. Do folks actually do their purchasing earlier than they fly as a result of they’ll’t bear the crowds in purchasing malls? As a society are we such horrible shopaholics that even just a few uninteresting minutes earlier than boarding propels us in direction of the closest money register?
My regular engagement with the wonder counters in Obligation-Free is after I cease by for a fast squirt of my favorite fragrance, Chanel 19.
However I’m not averse to a facial, neck therapeutic massage or a little bit of reflexology if there’s a protracted layover between flights. Many airways, equivalent to Etihad, which companions with Six Senses at Abu Dhabi airport, have mini spas and remedy rooms of their lounges, and I’m at all times first to line up for these. A magnificence salon will not be such a radical departure.
Nonetheless, the airport as a luxurious vacation spot? You’ll by no means persuade me.
