Five of the best learning holidays for 2023

Destination

By Olivia McLearon

December 29, 2022

Come back from your holiday with a new skill up your sleeve, whether it’s mixing the perfect cocktail or discovering how to dive.

Holidays are the perfect time for learning and honing rusty skills, whether it’s a scuba-diving lesson in the Indian Ocean, or cooking up a storm with some of Doha’s finest chefs.

Hone your backhand with a tennis pro in Kuala Lumpur, or try something completely new – a guided meditation in Boston, perhaps, or a Thai boxing session in Bangkok. Open your mind to new experiences and prepare to expand your horizons, with five extraordinary masterclasses and courses.

Sort out that serve

Getting fit is a familiar resolution as a new year begins, but how do you make sure you follow through? Simple: find something you enjoy. Tennis is a fun way to get fit, giving your whole body a workout.

Stay at Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur and not only will you get to experience five-star views and service, but tennis buffs (and wannabe pros) can enjoy lessons with world-class instructors.

Take a one-to-one or two-person lesson on its immaculate courts, then head to the spa for a sauna, and soak in its vitality pools.

Yes, chef!

If your culinary repertoire is less than three-star, up your game at the opulent Mandarin Oriental, Doha, with a two-hour masterclass for Fans of M.O.

It’s a whistlestop tour of the hotel’s three restaurants, with hands-on tuition from the teams, which will give you a new appreciation of the artistry involved. Discover the secrets of Cantonese cooking at Liang, then get the inside scoop on IZU’s signature French toast, famed throughout the city.

Dive right in

What could be a more glorious way to dip your toes into 2023 than by learning to scuba dive? Check into The Oberoi Beach Resort, Mauritius and discover a whole new world in the coral-dotted Indian Ocean.

Learn to dive – or improve your skills – with the nearby PADI-certified centre, whose options run from gentle beginner’s sessions to night dives and rescue-dive courses. After a day’s diving, relax in the spa, or head to On the Rocks (you’ve earned that lychee Bellini).

Be your own bartender

To get that perfect serve, take your cues from a professional mixologist. At Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, Fans of M.O. – along with one guest – can sign up for a slick masterclass.

It’s a hands-on, 45-minute session where you’ll learn to make three cocktails – including the bar’s signature creation, the Sunset Hunter, with its hit of Nicaraguan rum and aromatic Fernet Hunter. Its name pays tribute to the bar’s extraordinary Forbidden-City vistas; head out to the terrace, drink in hand, for a scarlet-and-gold sunset like no other.

It's a wrap

Tokyo is a city of artisans, from leather craftsmen and master sushi chefs to edo kiriko glass-cutters. If browsing its boutiques has got you inspired, sign up for a paper-making class, set up by the team at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo.

Hosted by paper store Ozu Washi, in business since 1653, it’s a soothing, in-studio demonstration of the art of washi paper-making. You get to create your own paper, using traditional moulds and tools; rakusui-shi is particularly beautiful, with its delicate, water-drawn patterns.

About the Author

Olivia McLearon

Olivia is a London-based writer and sub-editor, who has written for High Life and Mandarin Oriental.