Search: “kuwait”

SVN, the new wellness luxury resort opening in place of Corniche Club is officially opening on January 1st.

The resort is really really beautiful I can’t emphasize that enough, everything about it from the color palette to the material choices and furniture was well thought out with no expense spared.

The resort is split up into various sections, the top floor has the main gym which includes all the best equipment from Technogym and a 270-degree view of the sea and resort. The top floor also has a women-only gym and separate PT training areas. It’s a very chill vibe but if you’re into heavy lifting or Crossfit, there is a second gym on the lower floor which they’ve nicknamed the dungeon.

The lower floor gym has a completely different look and feel from the rest of the resort with an all-black color scheme and flashing LED lights. This is where you’ll find all the free weights as well as a separate spinning room and a Les Mills studio. On the opposite end of the resort also on the lower floor are the yoga and pilates studios which once inside feels very calming with green grass outside and the tall LA-like palm trees lined up outside the windows.

You also have indoor and outdoor racket courts, a one-hoop basketball court, an indoor pool, two outdoor swimming pools, and various other facilities. The main pool is the one near the main building and allows children but the second pool is an adults-only infinity pool located at the far end of the resort and surrounded by cabanas.

So what are the prices?

Single Male: KD3,000 per year
Single Female: KD2,600 per year
Married Couple: KD4,000 per year
Family (Couple + 2 kids): KD4,900 per year

There really isn’t any place like this in Kuwait. The price puts it out of the reach of a lot of people, but for those who can afford it, they’re going to love the fact a place this nice exists now. If you’re interested in signing up or getting a tour of the resort you can apply through their website svnkw.com

Winter Wonderland just announced the ticket prices on their Instagram account @winterland_kw:

Children 4 and below: Free entry
All other ages from 5 and above: 5KD per person

Nannies and helpers are considered adults.

This is just the entry fee. Once inside you still have to pay for rides which are rumored to be either 1KD or 2KD depending on the ride.

Basil Alsalem (@pepperlab), the same person behind our favorite places like Cocoa Room, White Robata and Milk Bun is officially launching his revamped OFK restaurant next week.

OFK located in Al Hamra Tower will officially open on December 15th and reservations will be available through their website ofkkuwait.com

Jahez, the Saudi equivalent of Talabat launched silently in Kuwait this week.

I know what you’re thinking, why do we need any more food delivery apps? We don’t, but, the more apps there are to compete against one another, the better it is for us because we’ll get better prices, deals, and services. @jahezapp

Today’s Google homepage in the Middle East showcases an illustration created by the talented Kuwaiti illustrator, Ahmed Al-Refaie (owaikeo).

Google is celebrating the Kuwaiti comedian and national icon Abdulhussain Abdulredha on his 83rd birthday. Abdulhussain Abdulredha is widely considered to be one of the Arab community’s most significant actors and playwrights.

Ahmed has uploaded the process behind the illustration as well as some more information which you can check out on his Instagram account @owaikeo

MEI LI is a new Pan Asian fine dining restaurant that is opening at the end of this month at the Grand Hyatt.

I briefly posted about MEI LI in my Grand Hyatt sneak peek post. Back then I wasn’t able to show too many photos of the space but now that they’re getting ready I wanted to share the photos I had taken because it really is a beautiful-looking restaurant.

The restaurant is located near the main lobby of the hotel and their Instagram account is @mei_likw although as of this post there isn’t anything there.

OVO, the vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian restaurant located in Bnaid Al Gar is opening their new location next month. The new location is located in Shuwaikh, inside the Design District, the same complex where the restaurant Cure and the gallery CAP are located.

The new location looks really great and will have both indoor and outdoor seating. It’s also located in the back of the complex overlooking a courtyard so once you’re inside it doesn’t feel like you’re in Kuwait.

If you’re a fan of Pret you’re probably aware that in the UK, any unsold food is always donated through the Pret Foundation.

So this got me thinking, what about Kuwait? Last week I reached out to Pret to find out and it turns out that in Kuwait it’s no different.

Locally, Pret A Manger has partnered up with the local non-profit organization re:food to try and make a difference. Every day any unsold food is donated by Pret to re:food who then take it and pass it along to the people who need it the most.

It’s a win-win for everybody and so I hope more places start doing this.

Urban Outfitters, the lifestyle retailer opened its first store in Kuwait at The Avenue this past weekend. I passed by to check out my favorite section which is the lifestyle area that usually has vinyl records, film cameras, and various books but they didn’t have any of that here instead they had just homeware items. My guess is that wasn’t really in their control.

Pricewise we are pretty similar to the Dubai store prices if not exactly the same, but we’re around 7-10% more expensive than the stores in Europe (the tags all have the Euro prices on them to compare).

Urban Outfitters is located in Avenues Phase II, between Dean & Deluca and Baroue.

10 years ago this month (December 2012) I got the Instagram account @248am. I really wasn’t planning on using it and whenever anyone told me I should move to Instagram I was always quick to kill the idea. I couldn’t see my content working on Instagram and so I wasn’t interested in moving. One of the best things about my blog is that it serves as a major resource for google searches. Anytime anyone searches for anything related to Kuwait, they’re most likely going to end up on my blog. With 13,500+ posts and counting, I’ve covered basically every single topic relating to Kuwait. This vast archive of content accessible by anyone with just an easy google search is something that Instagram just can’t compete with.
 
Then, 6 weeks ago I randomly came across a plugin for the blog that would automatically post my content to Instagram. It wouldn’t require any work from my side so I decided to give it a shot. It didn’t take long for me to realize my content wasn’t really working there. I’d refer to a link on my blog post but since I can’t have links on Instagram it wouldn’t show there. Or I’d refer to a bunch of photos in a post but the plugin I was using would just post one photo. It looked like I didn’t care and I hated that, so I started adjusting and editing my posts a bit to get them more Instagram-friendly.

A month in things just clicked, and I quickly got a grasp of what was working and what wasn’t, I reworked my logo, created a new template for posts, and deleted everything I had posted before that. I also made a new internal set of rules, a list of what I would or wouldn’t post on Instagram, and what kind of topics I would or wouldn’t cover. Things quickly took off and the response has been incredible.

The amount of people I’ve reached, the number of engagements, shares, it’s all been really overwhelming.

The biggest difference I realized between my blog and Instagram is all the feedback that Instagram gives you. With the blog, even though I get thousands of people to come through it every day, the only way I can tell is if I check my stats which I rarely do. But on Instagram, there are so many ways for people to interact with you, people can share posts, they can heart posts, follow you, leave a comment, send you DM’s, tag you, tag a friend, repost you, etc. It’s also super easy for brands to interact with you by reposting your content or just sending you a thank you or a heart. The whole experience so far has been a nonstop bombardment of interactivity that has really gotten me excited about blogging again.

I’ve been blogging daily on this exact same platform for close to 20 years now. That’s obviously incredibly tedious and repetitive work so Instagram is now a new and very exciting challenge for me. I’m taking everything I’m good at and everything I’ve learned and applying it to that platform. My blog isn’t going to go anywhere, it will continue to be my main platform with the more varied posts, but Instagram is now going to play a much larger role and I’m really excited to see where this is all going to go.

@248am

Kei, the first and oldest Japanese restaurant in Kuwait is reopening next month outside Assima Mall.

Kei first opened in Kuwait in 1980 and was initially located at the now-demolished Hilton Hotel in Bneid Al Gar. When the hotel got demolished, they moved to JW Marriott where they remained for 20 years until they had to move out again because the hotel was undergoing a major renovation. Kei is now moving to Assima Mall and for those of you who’ve been long-term customers, you’ll be pleased to know the majority of the old staff will be coming back as well.

The new Kei will be called Kei Downtown to differentiate it from the Kei Restaurant that will eventually reopen again at the JW Marriott. The new Kei will be a more casual dining experience with a more relaxed atmosphere.

The new location is in Assima Mall but on the outside and on the back with no mall access and adjacent to the entrance of the soon-to-open Marriott Executive Suites. To stay posted on the opening, follow @kei_downtown

Since Souq Mubarakiya is under renovation due to the fire earlier this year, an architect asked the question, what if we redeveloped it with trams? Using the artificial intelligence program Midjourney, he was able to generate a few images which I think look great.

Souq Mubarakiya might be too small to need a tram but it could work if it started in the old village under construction across from Seef Palace and then continued through the market and back down to the Kuwait National Museum and library. Check out more photos @architect_abdulahad

According to my source, Pret A Manger is planning to open three new locations in Kuwait after the successful opening of their first one in Al Hamra Tower.

The three locations are:
– Argan Bedaya, Sabah Al Salem
– Hybrid Outlet Mall, Al Khiran
– Argan Square, Salmiya

I’ve reached out to Pret for confirmation and I’m currently waiting for their response.

Saudi Arabia’s leading online food delivery platform is launching in Kuwait next week. Jahez is the Saudi equivalent of Talabat and if you download the app right now you browse through the available restaurants. But, when I tried to register for an account, it wasn’t sending me the OTP code so that will probably start working next week. @jahezapp

Back in August, I posted that Beefbar, the popular meat-focused restaurant from Montecarlo was coming to Kuwait. When I originally posted they hadn’t chosen a location yet but now it looks like they’re hoping to open in Al Hamra Tower. If this location is confirmed, they’re expected to likely open by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Beefbar is already available in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and they’re also opening soon in Bahrain.