Take a long soak outdoors at this Washington spa

The latest openings and events from around the world.

Yakima Valley, Wash. The Open Sky Spa Retreat is more rustic than a traditional day spa (candle-lit waiting rooms with piped-in music are replaced by simple wooden chairs and the smells and sounds of a nearby horse ranch). At this Yakima Valley rest stop ? about a two-hour drive from Seattle ? you can take a long soak in the willow-screened stone and adobe open-air bath before retiring to the Resting Teepee for a rejuvenating shea butter body mask or a deep-tissue massage. There is a strong link to the land here, too. Treatments feature locally sourced virgin red palm oil, grapeseed oil and raw honey, and the poles used to build the Resting Teepee come from the Yakama Nation. Treatments are offered until the end of October. ummelina.com/yakima.cfm

BUTLER SERVICE AT A BRITISH PICNIC

London Tempted to dine on the lawns of Hyde Park, but don't have the energy to do the shopping, schlepping and cleaning up? Enlist the help of a picnic butler. Until the end of August, The Lanesborough hotel is orchestrating the ultimate British picnic for its guests, complete with crystal glasses, fine linens and proper plates and cutlery. A dedicated butler consults on the menu and fills the hamper with everything from canap?s to desserts that are made to order. Course options include Cornish poached lobster with Beluga mayonnaise, truffled foie gras and trifle with pear marmalade. Best of all, the butler service extends to the park: The gourmet spread is expertly laid out, a bottle of Taittinger Champagne is cracked open and the remnants are cleaned up and taken back to the hotel when you're done. Savour this picnicking experience: At ?250 ($395) a person, it doesn't come cheaply. lanesborough.com

FINE ART AND LUXURY LODGING

Paris Scheduled to open on June 28, the five-star Mandarin Oriental Paris sits in fine company among the designer boutiques, grand hotels and iconic monuments of the first arrondissement. What sets it apart from its well-heeled neighbours, however, is the original artwork that lies beneath its art deco fa?ade. Rooms are accented by the provocative snapshots of Iranian photographer Ali Mahdavi, whose work has been featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair, and by subtle velvet reproductions of Man Ray's The Kiss and Masks. Guests who are more into perfect pastry than modern art need not go far for posh petits fours. The hotel's onsite cake shop, which is overseen by chef Thierry Marx, who has two Michelin stars, serves its sweets in-house or to take away. mandarinoriental.com/paris

SHANGHAI'S FRAGILE BEAUTY: THE MUSEUM OF GLASS

Shanghai Tread carefully in the city's new Museum of Glass. Housed in what used to be glass-manufacturing buildings that have been transformed into one shiny, carved and lacquered structure, the 4,900-square-metre museum explores the history, production and uses of glass in art, architecture and science. While exhibition spaces have a fragile feel about them (the collection includes everything from priceless Han dynasty earrings to contemporary works by Dale Chihuly, most of which are on view in transparent cases), there is a more hands-on approach in the museum's interactive exhibits and glass-blowing demonstrations. Pieces by American studio glass artist and Chihuly prot?g? Steven I. Weinberg are slated for a special exhibit in July. en.shmog.org/index.php

Special to The Globe and Mail

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