Travel Talk – which goes bimonthly beginning this month – comes to you from Baha Mar, the luxury development in Nassau, Bahamas – comprising a Grand Hyatt, Rosewood and SLS hotels – where I have been attending the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM).
Amid the Bahamian palms, where the great and the good of the most luxurious hotel and travel brands in the world came to contemplate, cogitate and deliberate, we learned about exceptional new eco-travel experiences, from whale watching in Portugal to five-star sustainability and biodiversity in Los Cabos, Mexico, to archaeological digs, helicopter tours and desert stargazing in UNESCO World Heritage Site AlUla in Saudi Arabia.
Closer to home, I learned how Los Angeles is a great city for Uber and ogled gorgeous images of new or nearly hotels in West Hollywood – the 1 Hotel, The West Hollywood Edition and the Pendry among them. Incidentally, we’ll be hearing a lot more about Pendry hotels, the cool, California-inspired subsidiary of Montage Hotels & Resorts, because they’re springing up all over – in San Diego, Chicago, Park City, Utah, Washington, D.C., and even in New York, where their achingly on-trend Manhattan West property is in Hudson Yards.
Still in our backyard, so to speak, ILTM participants learned about the stunning new Rock House, on pristine, seaweed-free Grace Bay in Turks & Caicos, often named as the most beautiful beach in the world. Part of Grace Bay Resorts, Rock House, which opened last year, spans 14 acres on spectacular limestone cliffs, many of its two-to-five-bedroom villas with private pools (and private chefs on request). By all accounts, the Italian-leaning Mediterranean fare in its Vita restaurant is superb.
By contrast, sitting on 110 acres just 25 minutes from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the legendary Round Hill also sits on a seaweed-free beach – one of the finest in the Caribbean as it happens – but Round Hill is no newbie. Established in 1953, this grande dame of Caribbean hotels has been loved by generations of guests but never rests on its laurels. Round Hill may stick to old traditions, like serving English afternoon tea, but its 27 villas and 36 oceanfront rooms, many designed by Ralph Lauren, are the last word in cool and chic comfort and its sports and wellness opportunities are second to none.
For yet another kind of Caribbean-island experience, on the microdot that is St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies, you can go archaeological diving, hike The Quill, the island’s dormant volcano; or enjoy pottering in 20,000 square feet of greenhouses at the ecologically driven Golden Rock Dive and Nature Resort. How to get there? Fly to St. Maarten with JetBlue from New York and then take the scheduled prop plane or fly into St. Kitts and have Golden Rock pick you up by speedboat for the short crossing.
Preferred Hotels & Resorts, which bills itself as “the world’s largest independent hotel collection,” had plenty to offer at ILTM, including a slew of new properties from its extensive portfolio. These include the sumptuous-looking Hotel Artyzen in Singapore, a 20-story property with a dazzling rooftop pool, the new Bo Tree Hotel in fashionable Marylebone in London (more about this one in an upcoming Travel Talk), and the Hôtel Dame des Arts, on the Left Bank in Paris – complete with Eiffel Tower views.
Still in Europe, Preferred also offers Sly Berlin, a hip hotel in that city’s trendy Friedrichshain district and the charming El Fuerte, a refurbished property – once three-star, now distinctly five-star – in the heart of Marbella, Spain.
Auberge Hotels – which started life with one property, the famous Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, California – has been busy, too, with new acquisitions galore. Coming soon from Auberge are The Dunlin, a 2,000-acre resort in Kiawah River, South Carolina, and Bowie House in Fort Worth, Texas. Where cowboys and cattle once roamed, there will be soon be epicurean dining and personalized bar-carts. In Europe, meanwhile, Auberge properties include the ravishing Domaine des Etaings near Limoges, France, while – slated for a 2024 opening – comes Collegio all Querce in Florence, Italy, with Baroque UNESCO buildings and a view of Florence’s celebrated Duomo. Auberge, incidentally, also runs Wildflower Farms, right here in the Hudson Valley – more on this one soon.
Let’s talk about experiences.
For real adventurers, how about flying into teeny-tiny Seymour Galápagos Ecologic Airport on Baltra Island, Ecuador, for a stay at the Pikaia Lodge, the most eco-sustainable lodge in the Galapagos Islands and one of the most advanced green lodges in the world? Offering a new concept in land-based eco-adventure, you stay at the supremely comfortable lodge and make daily forays out to the islands on Pikaia’s private luxury yacht to explore what many call the last paradise on earth.
Switzerland is a ravishing country we don’t hear nearly enough about, although we did at ILTM. The newly refurbished Golden Pass Express – with warmed seats that swivel among its many highlights – links elegant Montreux on the shore of Lake Geneva with ritzy ski resort Gstaad before continuing on to Interlaken. Known as Switzerland’s adventure capital, Interlaken is where the brave head for river rafting, canyoning and skydiving.
Not as well-known for skiing as Switzerland but a cultural experience of its own, Japan is becoming a skiing consideration. There are two resorts on the slopes of volcanic Mount Fuji. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has put together several exciting itineraries, including seven-to-10-night trips taking in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, as well as suggestions for 11 other Japanese cities outside of this “Golden Route.” Fun fact for gourmets: Tokyo has the greatest number of Michelin-starred restaurants of any city in the world.
If I could pick just one experience? That would have to be the 25-day Around the World Expedition by private jet, slated for October 2024, traveling with Geoffrey Kent, founder of Abercrombie & Kent, perhaps the world’s most luxurious travel company. Participants will take part in a private parade in Malta as the guests of honor, experience a private tea ceremony in Kanazawa in the “Snow Country” along the Sea of Japan and enjoy dinner with the King of Ladakh on the highest plateau in India. And that’s just the beginning. As for the price, not that many talk about actual price at ILTM, I can reveal it’s a snip at $184, 950 per person. Fair enough, I suppose – although the single supplement, at $18,995, might raise a well-groomed eyebrow.
For more, visit bahamar.com; visitportugal.com; visitwesthollywood.com; experiencealula.com; pendry.com; roundhill.com; gracebayresorts.com; goldenrockresort.com; pikaialodge.com; preferredhotels.com; aubergeresorts.com; gpx.swiss; abercrombiekent.com.
