Holidays are the perfect time to pick up a new skill, suggests Katie McGonagle
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If I had more time, I would… learn another language, get to know a shiraz from a chardonnay, work out how to use more than just the automatic mode on my camera.No matter how a client finishes that sentence, there’s certain to be something they’ve always wanted to learn, but never quite got around to.
That’s why holidays are the ideal opportunity to set some time aside and fulfil that ambition, without day-to-day stresses getting in the way.
Not only will clients come back with a sense of achievement, but they’ll also have a new-found skill that lasts long after their tan has faded.
Language of love
Most of us can cobble together a bit of basic vocabulary on holiday – bonjour, hola, ciao – but ask anything more complicated and no comprende is more likely the answer. But getting a feel for the local language is the fastest way to enrich a holiday, whether it means visitors can stop and ask directions from a stranger, or simply avoid embarrassment when ordering dinner and drinks.
Visitors to Italy certainly won’t want to miss out on mouth-watering cuisine, which is why the Italian classes at Preferred Hotel Group’s Castello di Casole in the Tuscan countryside teach guests to order everything from antipasti to dolci (£33 per 90 minutes; B&B rates from £323 per night).
Español is on the menu at AMResorts, where Spanish lessons are part of the all-inclusive package. Funway Holidays’ Nandita Patel says: “All AMResorts offer this; I did a beginners’ Spanish lesson at the Secrets Capri. It lasts an hour and you sit outside with other guests and go through a few basic words and phrases to help you in resort, such as asking for assistance or prices.”
Visitors who really want to come back sounding like a local with a language they can’t learn anywhere else could opt for the Creole sessions at Zilwa Attitude in Mauritius. Not only is this exactly how every child wishes school could be – in the open air, with fun stories and tasty snacks to maintain interest – but this fascinating combination of French, English, African and Asian languages also offers an insight into the island’s melting-pot culture. Lessons are free, rates start at £100 per night all-inclusive.
What’s cooking?
How often do you dream of whipping up MasterChef-worthy culinary creations – then get home after a long day and settle for beans on toast? With free time and extra inspiration from the local cuisine, holidays are the ideal time to brush up those cooking skills ready to recreate at home.
Best Western Plus property The Castle Inn Hotel near Bassenthwaite in the Lake District has added a bread-making course this year, to make and knead dough for loaves, focaccia and rolls – Great British Bake-Offeat your heart out (£134.50 including two nights’ accommodation).
But if Greek cuisine whets clients’ appetites, Peloponnese resort Costa Navarino offers cookery lessons at local families’ homes (from £45), and the Aldemar Royal Mare near Hersonissos in Crete hosts weekly lessons teaching guests to cook seasonal food such as traditional wheat dish xinohontros with Cretan graviera cheese.
Local ingredients also take priority at the Epicurean School of The Gritti Palace, A Luxury Collection Hotel in Venice, where cooking courses start with a tour of Rialto Market, moving on to a bacaro (wine bar) for an aperitif and tapas-like cicchetti, followed by a lesson in Venetian cuisine at the hotel’s kitchen (9am-3pm with four-course lunch, €250).
The bambinos can get involved too. They can make pizzas and gelato on the Family Explorer package at Hotel d’Inghilterra in Rome (from £795 for two nights), or join the Mini Masterchef summer camp at Atlantis The Palm in Dubai (from £317, selected dates July-September).
Anyone keen to master more exotic cuisine should visit the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, which teaches recipes once cooked for the Cambodian royal family (classes from £50.35 per adult, £32.60 per child plus tax). Sushi fans need not go all the way to Japan to prepare their favourite dish: Japanese chef Yamamoto Masamitsu offers sushi rolling lessons at The Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi (£40 plus tax).
Grape escape
With food comes wine, and there’ll never be a need to stare blankly at a restaurant wine list again after these wine-tasting courses.
Warner Leisure Hotels offers Getting to Grips with Grapes (£8), focusing on the taste differences between old and new world wines, while One&Only Cape Town makes the most of its excellent South African wines with dedicated tasting area the Wine Loft (from £20) and even monthly Wine&Dine evenings led by the sommelier and owner.
For fresh-as-a-daisy liqueurs, learn to make limoncello at the Capri Tiberio Palace, Italy, part of a full-day sightseeing excursion that ends with harvesting fresh lemons and turning them into limoncello (€280).
Snap happy
Ever wondered what turns an average holiday snap into a striking image that captures the essence of a destination? Take a photography-focused trip and not only will clients come home with great pictures, but they’ll transform every future holiday album too.
Marrakech’s kaleidoscope of colours make this city one of the most photogenic around, which is why the Mosaic Palais Aziza & Spa runs themed weekends, Marrakech Through a Lens, to explore the city with professional photographer Terry Munson.
Guests not only see areas rarely visited by tourists – tanneries, a communal oven where women bake their bread, the colourful vegetable market set in front of the city jail – but will also get expert advice on how to capture the lively character of Djemaa el Fna square. Agents earn 10% commission on packages, from €745 for three nights’ bed-and-breakfast in a pavilion with airport transfers, dinner and a spa treatment; flights extra.
Budding snappers can also capture images of the indigenous red colobus monkey with the three-day Photography Journey from The Residence Zanzibar (from £420, accommodation and flights not included). Or immerse themselves in history at Belmond’s La Residence d’Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia, whose Zooming in on Cambodia package includes a full-day excursion with a photographer and three-day pass to Angkor Wat so guests have time to find their favourite shots, plus optional extras such as a helicopter photo flight (from £843 with two nights’ B&B).
Arts attack
Help clients indulge their creative side with the toe-tapping rhythms on Do You Warner Dance sessions at most Warner Leisure Hotels; choose from ballroom, latin, line dancing, tap dancing and some party moves thrown in for good measure. Dancing can also be a great way of getting active, so Warner’s new ‘BalletBeFit – feel young workshops’ combine core strengthening movements with classical and pop tunes for a fun way to get fit.
The Scratch DJ Academy at Beaches Resorts will teach would-be DJs how to work the decks without missing a beat. Choose from sessions in mixing or scratching (both 40 minutes, $15) or a combination of both (one hour, $25), or get the whole brood involved with a Family Combo session (one hour, $40 for one adult and child then $15 for each additional person). Add even more artistic flair afterwards with Spin Art, a chance to design your own vinyl record ($5).
If clients are lacking inspiration, perhaps the views of Majorca’s mountains from the sheltered Belmond La Residencia in Deià will be just what they need, and there’s a sculptor and artist-in-residence to offer guidance when the impulse strikes. Art classes start at €75 for a group session or €125 for individuals. Sculpture lessons start from €120 for four hours.
Alternatively, having a go at an area’s traditional crafts might be enough to get the creative juices flowing. Premier Holidays recommends Chiang Mai’s four-star Tamarind Village Hotel where complimentary activities – all of which take place by the pool – include paper umbrella painting, folding pandan leaves into flowers, or weaving flower garlands from jasmine blossoms and brightly-coloured blooms.
Spa skills
Clients who get a taste for the muscle-stretching art of Thai massage would do well to invest some time in learning to do it themselves; they will save a packet on massages back in the UK, especially if they share their new-found skill. The Sarojin in Khao Lak, Thailand, has 90-minute couples’ classes taught by a team of local masseurs, focusing on pressure-point techniques for oil and foot massages (from £80), while Amari Palm Reef in Koh Samui offers free weekly half-hour classes in basic Thai massage to guests.
Self-healing is the focus at Shanti Maurice in Mauritius this year: the hotel is running reiki workshops led by a grand master with an introduction, daily exercises and breathing techniques, from €299 for two days, taking place on October 18-19 and December 13-14; rooms from €700 half-board.
Also promising to save visitors some cash when they get home, Alila Manggis in Bali offers lessons in how to make spa products using ingredients from their organic garden, so visitors will never need to buy a face pack or a bar of soap again.
