I am off to Chicago, the newest U.S. gateway for Hainan Airlines. Starting this month, Hainan will fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of O’Hare International Airport and, according to my friends in China, the carrier provides wonderful service. As Global Traveler has become more involved in the Chinese market, I promise to fly Hainan and report back to you as soon as possible.

I really enjoyed my recent trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai via Toronto on Air Canada. Their business class is an excellent option for U.S. travelers to Asia. I also flew my first short-haul business-class flight on China Eastern Airlines, which made me think we should include these short-haul flights in an upcoming survey.

Last month, we tallied the votes of the GT Tested Reader Survey, which concluded at the end of August, and GT’s Advisory Board held its annual meeting. The board reviewed the year’s efforts and voted for Airline of the Year and Hotel of the Year — the only two GT awards not selected by our readers. It is an exhausting process in which board members review applications submitted by airlines and hotels, but it brings a different level to our successful GT Tested survey, which is celebrating its 10th year. The GT Tested awards ceremony will take place at The Peninsula Beverly Hills in December.

Voting for the Leisure Travel Awards ends Oct. 31; we will present the awards at the Shangri-La Hotel, Santa Monica in April 2014. We chose the Shangri-La because it is representative of these awards: The readers of Global Traveler are luxury business travelers who also take a large number of leisure trips. In a survey conducted more than 25 years ago, United discovered its best business passengers were also its best leisure travelers.

Welcoming guests since 1939, the Shangri-La, Santa Monica is a beautiful, restored hotel on Ocean Avenue overlooking the Pacific Ocean, evoking the grace and elegance of old Hollywood. Its Art Deco architecture, known as Streamline Moderne, reminds me of the transportation of the day and appears to be a cross between steamships like the SS Normandie and the locomotives and planes of this period. The building’s curves look as if speed and aerodynamics were taken into account. It is truly a historic gem painstakingly brought back to its prime. One almost expects to see Joan Crawford at the hotel bar.

Stay tuned as we gear up for an exciting close to 2013 and prepare for 2014 — and some thrilling news soon to come from your team at Global Traveler!