I FIND IT AMAZING we are celebrating the 15th annual GT Tested Reader Survey awards with the December issue. We look forward to the gala evening at The Peninsula Beverly Hills where we will honor the best the industry offers, all from your selections!

As I compose this letter, I am preparing for a trip to Cairo and Dubai. It has been many years since I visited Egypt’s lovely city, and I anticipate revisiting the pyramids and all the sites Cairo offers. I have always found the Egyptian people kind and willing to showcase their country to new and frequent visitors alike.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, a renowned Egyptologist, introduced me to Walid El Batouty, who will provide a personal tour between our meetings with the Egyptian Tourist Office in Cairo. We are flying EgyptAir, and I will report on its business class in an upcoming GT Tested review. We’re staying at the lovely Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Residence. From Cairo, we wing off to Dubai, landing at an ungodly hour of the morning.

In Dubai, we’re booked at The Address Boulevard, with meetings scheduled all over the city. I really look forward to seeing The Address Downtown, just reopened after completing renovations necessitated by the New Year’s Eve fire of 2016. I am sure it returns even better than its former glory, which was quite spectacular. As you recall, readers voted this property Best Individual Hotel in the World for many years in our survey.

I usually stop on the way back from Los Angeles to check on our rental property in Cape San Blas, Florida. As you are aware, the devastating hurricane Michael came into the Panhandle as a Category 5 and decimated the area, along with Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach. Our place needs substantial repairs, but others lost everything. Please remember them in your year-end giving.

Raise a glass to this year’s GT Tested award winners, and we will see what new destinations 2019 brings!