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a COMO experience in COMPLETE TRANQUILITY, at the only resort in Thaa Atoll, MALDIVES.
Travel is more than seeing beautiful places and experiencing new things. Travel is all the memories we create along the way. It’s that journey that can’t be replicated, not by somebody else, not even by yourself. Summer is often when we have time to go on longer holidays, on journeys celebrating who we are and where we dream to be.
At EliteVoyage we’ve seen a significant shift towards more complex holidays, especially for families. We love this. Designing holidays is all about small details that make a trip easier, more authentic, and more you.
A single journey can encompass many countries, like our colleague Tomáš Safarik going around the world in 28 days (p.32), or circling the Arctic by private jet with Jón Ólafur Magnússon (p.68). They can be deep and intimate explorations of a single place, like Crete (p.56), Principe (p.126), the Maasai Mara (p.78) or sailing in Croatia (p.90). Or a blank canvas for our imagination, such as our headline destination the USA (p.42).
With a mindset of journey we demand more from our holidays and unlock new possibilities.
Where will you explore?
Bon voyage, Petr Udavský Co-Owner & CEO EliteVoyage
An intimate hideaway on a quiet island coastline, with just 26 rooms and suites, plus three divine villas. This Virgin Limited Edition property is developed from a traditional 16th-century finca, balancing original features with contemporary luxuries. The striking Tower Suites are converted from 13th-century defence towers, with 360-degree mountain and sea views. Opening 16 June 2023.
When fashion designer Christian Louboutin escapes Paris he goes to Alentejo, home to Europe’s best beaches people don’t know about. Now he’s designed his own hotel in Melides, a private space to appreciate art in all its forms, a fresco to relax upon. 13 unique rooms, each different in tonalities, textures and style, surrounded by ocean, vineyards and rice fields.
Grecotel The Dolli
Athens, Greece
A 1925 mansion by Greek classicist architect Andreas Kriezis. Just a few steps from the Acropolis, gazing across at the Parthenon and Plaka neighbourhood. Reimagined as a contemporary hotel de luxe by Grecotel. 46 rooms and apartments bathed in Athentian light, amid the vibrant energy of an incomparable location. Finished off with a member’s only pool and Dolli’s Restaurant on the rooftop.
Heritage and splendour in a fabulous waterfront location on the Bosphorus. The Peninsula Istanbul fronts the city’s trendiest new neighbourhood, the Galataport, ideal for exploring all over the city. It’s spread across four exquisite buildings, with lavish hammams, gleaming suites overlooking the water and a rooftop pool looking out to Asia. Open now, with all facilities open by May 2023.
A secluded location on Table Mountain makes Future Found Sanctuary a stunning addition to Cape Town's already impressive hotel scene. Two villas comprising a total of nine suites, bookable on an exclusive-use basis or by the room. Shunning design trends for the immersive power of nature, this Time + Tide property is all about mountain vistas, African art and seclusion.
Thailand’s last untouched paradise? Pool villas spread along a white beach in the middle of Phang Nga Bay, where limestone islets dot the horizon in all directions. 45 minutes by speedboat from Phuket, Yao Yai is an island of undeveloped beaches, fishing villages, hiking in lush forests, superb snorkelling and diving. Now it’s also home to this quiet family-friendly resort from Anantara.
EliteVoyage Project Director Štěpán Borovec explores a new ulta-lux wellbeing resort.
sounds. Vast open spaces. Walking barefoot on white sand beaches. Lounging in my private pool and all around my beautiful villa. Ah, the Maldives. My favourite holiday destination. Except JOALI BEING is more than the paradise I’ve come to expect in the Maldives. It’s a wellbeing resort, in a destination that isn’t usually associated with wellness and health.
Everything at JOALI BEING is based upon four pillars and they keep repeating this: mind, skin, microbiome and energy. I meet my wellness coordinator and choose a varied wellbeing journey for my five-night stay, intrigued about treatments I know nothing about. Like sound therapy, a mix of vibrations and live percussion that create in me a surreal inner peace. And Watsu, a combination of stretching, acupressure and massage, as I float in a beautiful pool, watching a cosmic star show on its domed ceiling. It’s such a powerful experience my wife Kristýna cries. It’s possible to preplan a wellbeing program before arrival, involving communication between your own doctor and their doctors. At such a beautiful new resort I can also imagine enjoying a peaceful island holiday, without doing any wellbeing program.We met couples doing this, it’s definitely a possibility.
The gym is the largest in the Maldives and the best I’ve seen anywhere. Special machines analyse all of my body’s movements, targeting the causes of my common aches and pains. My private fitness coach shows me exercises to take home and recommendations for my diet. A boxing coach gives me an amazing lesson. I see professional athletes using the cryotherapy facilities and they tell me that this island is their relaxing beach holiday, without losing access to the best sports equipment and super healthy food.
I eat superfood bowls for breakfast and love the teppanyaki grill on the beach. It’s not a health retreat with an odd and restrictive food offering, even pizzas are on the menu here. But every ingredient is the highest quality and made in a healthy way, so my burger at the Ocean Sala BBQ is Wagyu. Instead of a big breakfast loaded with carbs and unhealthy fats, I always
feel good because I’m eating right and staying active throughout my stay.
Alcohol is available on the island but it’s not advertised and partying definitely isn’t the vibe here. It’s quite refreshing to not meet a group of drunk guests. We meet an Australian couple and play tennis in the evening, rather than going for a drink. Many guests are travelling solo, for journeys in both physical and mental healing. Many couples are like us, enjoying this opportunity to focus on themselves, on a very quiet and peaceful island. It feels especially good as the last stop on our holiday, because I know that we’ll return home super relaxed and energised, not in need of a recovery from our holiday.
JOALI BEING still feels new. The villas are strikingly beautiful and spacious. All have private pools, either over the water or on the beach, the smallest beach villa measuring over 500 square metres. Responding to feedback from guests, Wi-Fi is now available everywhere except the Areka wellness area. We decided to tune out and were given a black and white phone upon arrival. It only has one contact, our butler, who we can call anytime. This is one of the best therapies during my stay - no notifications on this old phone!
Certainly, JOALI BEING is on a spectacular island with stunning new accommodations. The whole island is filled with art, like statues, so it’s contemporary and trendy in this regard. Everything is of extremely high quality and it’s almost brand new. Yet the Maldives already has many outstanding resorts and I’m always thinking on behalf of my clients: what is the added value?
At JOALI BEING it is the pioneering focus on wellbeing and long-term health benefits for guests. Created by all the facilities, the unique private treatments, world-leading professionals, a healthy food offering and the resort’s uber positive energy. This wellness resort isn’t about being limited by something, rather, understanding why you want to holiday here and the benefits it will bring. Holidays are about exploring new experiences and finding genuine exclusivity. JOALI BEING is more than a tropical island holiday in the Maldives. It will soon be recognised as one of the world’s leading wellness resorts. I’ve discovered it’s a haven for many types of people, not only wellness fanatics, people coming to realise the central importance of why.
"Enjoying a stunning island holiday at a beautiful new resort, even without a wellness program."
I look over Dubai. Beautiful views from the infinity pool. Cocktails at my cabana. An afternoon of fun beneath the sun. Five days after opening, I’m one of the first Czech people staying at Atlantis The Royal. My expectations are as high as the sky pool. I’m expecting something similar to Atlantis, The Palm, but with higher quality and standards. But this new Atlantis is very different. It’s so much calmer and far more exclusive. I’m discovering a playground for adults, a playground that’s mostly only reserved for hotel guests.
Cloud 22 is the new Dubai icon. There are only 16 cabanas, each only available to in-house hotel guests aged over 21. I love the feeling of space that this exclusivity creates, especially at an already wellknown pool. Some Dubai hotels claim to be ultra luxury yet their lobbies are a meeting place for visitors, who watch you in the spa and fill up the places you’ve paid a premium for. Not so at Atlantis The Royal. The heightened level of privacy is different to almost every Dubai hotel I know.
After sunset I do pre-dinner drinks at Resonance by Heston Blumenthal, a bar lounge backdropped by a huge jellyfish aquarium. Here I order an Octo-dog, just like a hot dog but with an octopus tentacle inside, something delicious and different and not an everyday experience. Atlantis The Royal is heaven for foodies, with too many celebrity chef restaurants for me to try during a short stay.
Gastronomy is the main restaurant for breakfast and it’s quite an experience, like dining in a marketplace. From cheeses to olives, pizzas to a gluten-free station, the selection is just mind-blowing, unlike anything I’ve seen before. It comes with the friendly bustle of a food market, which contrasts my other breakfast option, the Royal Club Lounge. Only accessible to guests staying in Royal Club Rooms or Suites, this lounge is a quiet breakfast and afternoon tea spot, where the scrambled eggs are covered in an incredible quantity of black truffle. Suites also come with butler service and like everything at this hotel, the service is really outstanding.
Lobby
View from my room
My in-room amenities
EliteVoyage CEO Petr Udavský explores 2023’s hottest hotel opening.
“For three years we’ve been collecting the most talented people, from all over the world and especially Dubai,” says Tom Roelens. He’s the General Manager overseeing both Atlantis properties. “We have around 3700 employees at Atlantis The Royal.” I can really feel this. There is always one person just taking care of the elevators, like a hotel of old. Everybody I encounter is well trained, good looking, and full of smiles. There are still some possible improvements, like shortening the waiting time for coffee, but the service is one of the best I’ve experienced in the last two years. Which is remarkable, because newly opened resorts typically encounter problems with service and operations in their first months.
Tom only expects 20% of guests to be families. The room types are most suitable to couples or families with older kids too. As a family you will need to book two interconnecting rooms and they have interconnecting options across all room categories. There is the Atlantis Explorers Kids Club and access to Aquaventure Waterpark, plus the beach and some pools. So I can imagine coming here with kids, especially older kids, but overall, it’s not the hotel’s core vibe.
“Atlantis The Royal is a playground for adults” Tom tells me, before recommending I dine at Le Mar, a restaurant by legendary Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio. His other recommendation is the Little Venice Cake Company by Mich Turner, a pioneer who has created cakes for Queen Elizabeth II among other international royalty. Her store is part of two exclusive galleries inside the hotel, where there’s a range of luxury boutiques, a barber and tailor, plus other shops and services necessary for an extended stay.
Which in some way captures the appeal of Atlantis The Royal. It’s a destination in itself, home to many world firsts. I saunter down to the long private beach and spend an afternoon at Nobu’s first beach and pool club. Here I recommend the Wagyu sandwich, which looks as delicate and sumptuous as a Mich Turner cake and is real Nobu style. At night I drink and dine and dance and party at Ling Ling on the 23rd floor.
My room overlooks Palm Jumeirah and my balcony offers the prime view onto Skyblaze, a fountain that regularly comes alive with a show mixing fire and water. On the opposite side there’s just a view over the sea, like you’re staying on a ship cruising the ocean. Even the standard rooms feature lovely amenities, like a special perfume that’s given as a gift, plus a golden box of amenities. The suites are memorable, especially the Sky Pool Villas, and a penthouse that’s almost 200 metres above the ground. While inspecting the hotel accommodation I find a heightened level of detail that is normally very rare to find in grand new properties.
Most of the guests I see are aged between their early thirties and early fifties. Almost all of them have the calm demeanour I’ve also adopted during my stay.
Atlantis The Royal is a destination for trying new things but it’s also where there’s space to just relax and be yourself. And for all the striking architecture and dazz-
ling interiors, it’s exactly this kind of holiday atmosphere that makes a destination hotel so memorable.
Such a new and different hotel is really worth exploring for a few days. For some of our clients I’d recommend staying at Atlantis The Royal for a few days, as a combo with their favourite Dubai hotel. I also see this as a great layover option, when returning home via Dubai, especially after a busy holiday. You have everything here in one place and there’s so much you can discover, without ever leaving the resort. Mostly I’d recommend Atlantis The Royal as a destination holiday, for seven or more days. It’s one of the most anticipated hotel openings of recent years and it’s exceeded what I expected.
"Atlantis The Royal is a playground for adults" says General Manager Tom Roelens.
"It's a destination in itself" says Petr, "a destination for trying new things, where there's space to just relax and be yourself."
EliteVoyage Private Travel Consultant Tomáš Safarik circumnavigates the globe in less than a month, exploring how such an ambitious holiday can be created.
None of us have the time to visit all the places we want to go. It’s my job to creatively plan holidays. Finding and maximising time for my clients is crucial. I wondered, what if we didn’t fly back and forth but just kept going around, until we reached home again?
Phileas Fogg had 80 days - what a luxury! - but most of us only have the time for one big holiday per year.
I wanted to know if you can travel around the world, comfortably, in only four weeks. Is it the best use of precious holiday time or just a gimmick? The more I explored the route options, the more I appreciated the luxury of choice. There are so many different ways to travel around the world using direct flights. Eventually I set my heart on three continents and three exotic places I most wanted to visit: Bali, Australia and California. And started travelling east.
What if we didn’t fly back and forth but just kept going around, until we reached home again?
Itake the train to Vienna and spend two days slowing down. Vienna isn’t an adventurous choice but it’s nice to start a holiday without a long two-leg flight. At the new Rosewood Vienna I instantly feel at home, its contemporary coolness a welcome change to the formal old-world hotels Vienna typically offers. The city’s architectural grandeur and indulgent cafes are not new to me, yet I explore with a keen eye, certain of how Vienna’s atmosphere will contrast my upcoming destinations. Plus, Vienna has more flight options than Prague. And if I’m going to visit three other continents, why not a little piece of Europe first?
Australia is the biggest bucket list thing for me, especially the big sand islands off the East Coast. Now is the time to do it, after it’s finally reopened. Exploring the travel options I realised just how far Australia is from anywhere, and just how many possible destinations are on route from Europe. With Qantas and other airlines, almost every country in Asia has a direct flight to Australia. Next time I’ll do a week in Japan, or possibly Vietnam. Or after a week in Asia I’ll explore a little of New Zealand. The possibilities are almost endless when you create a multi-leg holiday.
I’ve always wanted to see Bali and the west of this Indonesian island is beautiful. Hiding away at the small Menjangan Resort I’ve swapped baroque Viennese streets for tropical sunshine, Austrian pastries for snorkelling in the Indian Ocean and hiking on lush volcanic mountains. Moving to Lost Lindenberg I find peace on a black sand beach, at a small luxury resort surrounded by trees and temples. It’s a vegan property and the food is so good I don’t even realise this after three meals and a full day of surfing. West Bali is the Bali of my imagination, a mix of unique culture, breathtaking coastal landscapes and towering jungle. Most of the rest of Bali is a whirlwind of unabated mass tourism. Seminyak is horrible, with big resorts crowded together on a long and drab beach. I’m not prepared for the traffic either, crawling at 10 kph maximum speed on narrow old lanes not designed for millions of visitors. Ubud has retained some authenticity. Thousands of people walk through the streets with a big statue that’s too high for the electricity wires, so the city’s power is cut off for three hours until the ceremony ends. I do discover unique Balinese culture here, I just wasn’t expecting so many tourists, which dampens the experience.
Flying out from Denpasar I look down on the world’s biggest archipelago. I want to explore some of Indonesia’s other 18,000 islands, like Lombok, Sumba and Komodo. That’s an amazing thing about travel, you go to a place you always wanted to visit, and learn about even more places to visit next time. Australia is usually considered a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Giving it such a label creates pressure to see and do everything. On this trip I have a more relaxed feeling, because Australia is only one chapter in my holiday. I’m learning that going around the world is a way to slow down, meet people, and focus on specific destinations within a country.
West Bali is the Bali of my imagination, a mix of unique culture, breathtaking coastal landscapes and towering jungle.
Landing in Brisbane I rent a big SUV and set off exploring the East Coast. Once again the culture and landscapes have changed immeasurably. Walking through a park I suddenly see a koala. Then another. On a long wild beach I come face to face with a kangaroo. I see lizards, shedded snake skins, waterfalls and remote surf spots. There’s so much adventure here, as I cross the water to these enormous sand islands and drive upon the dunes. Australia is not about luxury accommodation and the five-star properties are a level below of the Indian Ocean and Europe. Australia is about remarkable nature and experiencing things that don’t exist anywhere else. Like sleeping on a beach on Fraser Island, surrounded by surf and sand dunes, at a private camp erected specially for you. That’s something you never forget. Nor is being the only person on a beach of sunbathing kangaroos.
Brisbane to Sydney is a comfortable tenhour drive on a nice road, at least four kangaroos jumping close to my car. I stop for a night in Byron Bay, finding humpback whales, world-famous surfers, hipster cafes and upscale villas. Sydney is as iconic as the photos, with the CBD, Opera House and Harbour Bridge an interesting place to spend a day. It’s very touristy though and I prefer staying in one of the coastal villages, Bondi Beach.
Now I’m completely in my urban explorer mood, getting happily lost among neighbourhood streets, trying half a dozen distinctive restaurants, drinking sundowners and meeting the locals. The food is amazing, the people are great, there are clubs, cafes, hidden beaches and national parks just outside the city.
Flight times are extremely important for an around the world holiday. I’m continually changing time zones and the flights need more careful planning than a single destination trip. I fly Sydney to Los Angeles, board in the morning and wake up on the same morning, after crossing the international date line and going back a day (remember the end of Phileas Fogg’s adventure!). Reconsidering the globe I realise there are islands even further from home than Australia, yet perfectly on route between Sydney and California. Like New Zealand. Or the islands of Fiji, Hawaii and French Polynesia. Travelling to any of these destinations would take 24 hours from Central Europe, yet Fiji is only four hours northeast of Sydney. The New Zealand dream has never been so close! Nor Bora Bora!
I can really imagine doing this type of trip with kids, because it never gets boring. There’s always this excitement of being in a new country. Doing this trip again I’d definitely add in a Pacific island. Imagine spending three days in Fiji doing virtually nothing, just a little paddle boarding and kayaking, some fresh coconuts and a lot of sunscreen. I love the diversity I’m experiencing, of food, people, weather, culture, of everything. And the feeling of possibility the trip creates.
Luxury in Australia is remarkable nature and experiencing things that don't exist elsewhere.
One day I’m drinking a flat white on a Sydney boardwalk. The very same day I’m absorbing the colours and quirks of Malibu, sleeping at the Japanese hideaway Nobu Ryokan Malibu, such a contrasting experience. Now in California the options feel endless. Vineyards, beaches, cities, so many directions to travel. I’ve been here many times before and for this final chapter of my holiday I reconnect with friends and family living out here. We haven’t seen each other since before the pandemic. I realise how this round the world adventure creates opportunities to see old friends I may otherwise never see again. Friends are also local guides and I discover Ryla, a nonchalant, sophisticated restaurant in Hermosa Beach. Most of my time is spent in Laguna Beach, an artsy upscale beach town south of Los Angeles, and Hermosa Beach, a less crowded alternative to popular Santa Monica nearby (tip: for Santa Monica stay at either Casa del Mar or Shutters to get away from the bustle). Dana Point is a lovely discovery and I brunch at The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, a great property for a couple of nights exploring the Laguna area.
From Los Angeles I can break the journey home in New York. Maybe explore South Carolina, Utah, Alaska or Montana. Perhaps rent a convertible and drive to Napa Valley. But my 28 days are almost over, so these destinations will have to wait for next time. Boarding my final flight I’m aware that the biggest challenge of the entire trip hasn’t been planning, it’s packing. With all this diversity between hemispheres and continents, islands and cities, summer and winter, it’s difficult to be fashion conscious in every destination. But everything else about this trip is very achievable.
On a normal holiday outside Europe you’re always flying return. Half a day flying there, half a day flying back. Going around the world is actually very efficient. You can always fly one way, usually on a direct flight. What initially seemed a crazy idea was actually the most efficient use of my holiday time. Phileas Fogg had to use steamships and 19th-century railroads. With a 21st-century flight network and three or more weeks, the world is much smaller than we think. Next year I’ll do a similar trip but the other way around, flying westwards. It’s so nice to explore one new destination a year. Now I’m planning how to explore four of them on a single holiday.
Going around the world is actually very efficient. You can always fly one way, on a direct flight. What initially seemed a crazy idea, was the most effective and exciting use of my holiday time.
A paradox of contrasting ideas, destinations, colours and dreams.
What is the great American travel experience?
Trendsetting icon. Architectural wonderland. High-rising masterpiece and unbeatable destinations for the arts, theatre, fashion and dining. Equinox Hotel is the in place to stay, a contemporary curation in the city’s new cultural heart.
New York is a destination packed with iconic sights, so go behind the scenes of Broadway or do a pre-opening tour of the MET. It’s also a city of intimate neighbourhoods and countless surprises, like joining the locals for food and shopping at Chelsea Market, or retro, prohibition-style cocktails at Employees Only.
In New York the experience changes with every season, every visit, every second you spend exploring the streets. It’s a destination for every mood, not only a city that doesn’t sleep but a city where each moment awakens another of your senses.
American chronicle. Southern charm. A nation’s history unfolding in sleepy old towns, civil war landmarks and plantation houses. South Carolina is a road trip through the American soul with a thousand stories to find along the way.
Go explore the palm-tree-studded streets of Charleston. Cycle on the beach at Kiawah Island. Discover plantation houses like Boone Hall and Magnolia Plantation. Across the border in Savannah, Georgia, soak up another version of America from centuries ago. Taste southern cooking, like lowcountry boil or shrimp and grits.
In South Carolina there’s a big American story for you to find, amid freshwater marshes, Atlantic coastlines, golf courses and cycle paths. Montage Palmetto Bluff is the best place to stay and you’ll find quintessential southern hospitality all over the state.
Sandstone marvel. Silent desert. Beautiful escapism in a landscape of deep red canyons and soaring mountains. Amangiri is the ultimate luxury getaway here, where outdoor adventure meets serenity and stillness.
Utah is for people who love to explore the outdoors, or love to discover a place without crowds and noise. So follow dusty trails through Antelope Canyon and Arches National Park. Take a helicopter through the Grand Canyon in nearby Arizona. Do your overblown weekend in Vegas, Nevada, then retreat to Amangiri.
In Utah the experience is about slowing down, absorbing the charms of wild open spaces, finding that place where a moment can feel like a lifetime. It’s an easy destination to explore, a place that will make you feel humbled by the power of nature.
The wild west. Endless prairies, remote ranches and big open skies. Montana does wilderness on a massive scale and keeps traditional culture alive. Come here to experience real ranch life and explore the backcountry.
So put on a cowboy hat and hear the sound of horse hooves. Find bison, grizzly bears, snowboarders and mountain goats. Explore vast landscapes in the Rockies, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. Rock Creek, Triple Creek and Paws Up all have a ranch experience for different ages. Think cattle herding, horse riding, fly fishing, kayaking, hiking and a lot more in the outdoors.
In Montana you can retreat and recharge while also experiencing a unique way of life. It’s a destination to be at one with both nature and culture, where the cowboy past is your present, and all ages are invited.
Rugged wonderland. Final frontier. Absolute silence. Alaska conjures superlatives and it’s not just for hardcore adventurers. Luxury lodges exist out here, like Sheldon Chalet, 600 kilometres from the nearest main road.
So helicopter through Denali National Park, touch down on a remote glacier, to be served Alaskan oysters and Champagne on arrival at Sheldon Chalet. Go ice climbing, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. Marvel at the northern lights or midnight sun. Get up close with grizzly bears and even polar bears, elsewhere in this huge state.
Alaska is not one wilderness. It’s a mix of landscapes and national parks, where there are multiple remote lodges to keep you warm and comfortable. So step outside of your comfort zone and explore places where very few people from Europe have ventured.
Idyllic vineyards. Grand estates. Tucked away in an enormous state where a hundred different holidays can be rolled into one. Go from Palm Springs to Pacific surf, legendary cities to ski slopes, the places where trends are made to backcountry where there’s nobody else.
So do the big California road trip or fly in to select destinations. Explore San Francisco, Hollywood, theme parks for the kids and lots of wine. Napa Valley is where you can slow down, while tasting local wine and gastronomy. Stay at Auberge du Soleil, a hint of Southern France on USA's West Coast, with a fabulous restaurant as well.
Drink voluptuous reds in the atmospheric wine caves of Del Dotto estate, or at V. Sattui Bodega. Walk through Cliff Lede Vineyards and taste while overlooking the vines. Dine at French Laundry and other outstanding restaurants - Napa Valley is paradise for foodies. In California you’ll have a new experience every day and Napa is where you can be most indulgent.
I want beach and fun and food and wine.
What do you want from your summer holiday, my travel designer asked.
I want beach and fun and food and wine. I want to feel alive and do things my friends don’t know about. I want peace and rest and comfort without travelling too far. I want something new and I want stories, lots of stories. But of course there’s no place with all of that.
And my travel designer said: well, actually there is.
words Robert Crowe
Usually I am very trusting of my travel designer’s recommendations. But Crete? The island of mass tourism and drunk youngsters in eighties resorts? Even boarding the plane I was reluctant. Why not Santorini? Or at least Mykonos? Landing in Heraklion I almost cried. Barren stony hills greeted me. Big TUI buses proclaiming “luxury holidays” queued to collect their noisy queues of passengers. Heraklion sprawled along the northern coast, chaotic and crowded. Transferring to Agios Nikolaos I really wondered about my holiday choice. Alexander, my guide, guessed my mood. Stopping in a small taverna I was introduced to the owner, then half a dozen of his friends. One of them wanted to buy me a drink. “For luxury tourism I don’t need to wear a tie” said Alexander, “I must create a special program for you and a personal connection with the island, because Crete is a condition of our soul.”
My shoulders loosened a little, then a lot when I settled into Villa Pure C. An infinity pool stretching to the Aegean. Clean lines and wide open spaces, both indoors and out. I’d not expected such contemporary design villas in Crete. It looked and felt Greek, just not how I imagined Greece. A day on the quiet nearby beach relaxed me further, the sand peaceful and remote, not covered in noise and sun loungers as I’d feared. Rugged mountains in the distance, turquoise seas up close, clean air and beautiful light filtering into my villa. There were no famous blue and white houses to photograph, but my mood transformed substantially in 24 hours. Dinner on my verandah lasted three hours. There was kleftiko baked in clay pots and fresh mizithra cheese, my private chef full of hellos and hugs, rather than saying have a nice day.
Rugged mountains in the distance, turquoise seas up close, clean air and beautiful light filtering into my villa.Crete
The following morning I realised how the people of Crete had more time than I did. This was when the holiday really started. We were sailing in a traditional Caique yacht, the local crew cooking lamb antikristo style, over a flame while out at sea. We swam at an empty cove, found a beach without footprints, cruised beneath magnificent cliffs and explored the island fortress of Spinalonga. I measured everything in hours and minutes, as I always did. How long would it take to sail back to Agios Nikolaos? Yet my guides measured time by its quality, by imprecise units.
Back on land there was olive oil, wine bars and a seafood dinner that stretched on blissfully, for an unknown quantity of time.
“Food is a celebration in Crete” said Ioannis Georgiadis my host, local travel designer and co-owner of Snami Travel. “It’s not sit, eat and go. We are always telling people to take things slower, enjoy each dish and every moment. Syga syga, slowly slowly.” It wasn’t the Instagrammable experience
I’d expect from Santorini, or the chic of Mykonos. But on that day I stopped looking at my watch. I discovered that by going slower I found more time. And I felt more in the present.
A veteran cooks me lunch on an open fire, under towering trees where shepherds typically meet.
“Being pretty is not enough without substance” says my guide Ioanna, as we set off exploring more of the island’s east. “Crete has a soul, it’s for people who want authenticity and honest hospitality.” Venturing from village to village we find a fortified Byzantine monastery, the archaic city of Lato, aromas of wild thyme and sage, small villages forgotten down dusty roads. An old lady in black brings me a slice of cooled watermelon. Another offers me fresh yoghurt, accompanied by half a jar of fresh honey. Up high a golden eagle soars. At this slower pace I appreciate these small moments more, how proud locals want me to love their island, their village, more than all the others. There’s always another local wine to try, another view over the sea, another unexpected treasure. A veteran cooks me lunch on an open fire, under towering trees where shepherds typically meet. We sit and eat and talk, raise one glass with a loud “giamas” then many more. Ioanna tells me: “The people of Crete have endured the Romans, Arabs, Crusades, Ottomans, Nazis, and all who shaped the Western World. They know we are transient and make sure each moment is worth it.”
Gnarly shallow-rooted oaks pierce a landscape that feels as foreign as the moon. The truffles are subtle with a hazelnut aroma and we eat from the earth in the back garden of a chef.
Europe’s oldest city and the most monumental site of the Bronze Age? I explore the ancient site of Knossos, observing how people interfered with the natural landscape for the first time. The father of Greek gods? I explore one of the caves where Zeus was allegedly born. The other is also in Crete. A region producing wine 4000 years ago? I explore this too, tasting with two winemakers in the valleys above Heraklion. And now comes this old man with wild hair and doggies and thick weather-beaten boots, a man that appears to be from the earth. He’s a truffle hunter and we explore the Lassithi Plateau together, the sound of bells tinkling from nearby sheep flocks. Gnarly shallow-rooted oaks pierce a landscape that feels as foreign as the moon. The truffles are subtle with a hazelnut aroma and we eat from the earth in the back garden of a chef. “The world is changing” says Ioanna.
“We are looking for more mindful and meaningful moments - the people we meet, what we talk about, what we taste and smell.” It’s dish after dish, every single one with its own story, its own expression of an island where mountains descend to gorges, and forests spill out towards coves and bays. “I see Crete being discovered” says Ioanna, “people want more quality, they’re yearning for real connection and intimacy. And that’s Crete.”
It’s dish after dish, every single one with its own story, its own expression of an island where mountains descend to gorges, and forests spill out towards coves and bays.
For the second half of my holiday I move to the Akrotiri peninsula on the northwestern coast, easily swerving Malia, Hersonissos and the TUI resorts. Crete’s one highway is an easy drive. The other roads are narrow and windy and amazingly pretty without many signposts. With a chauffeur I can measure time by its quality. Without one I’d be lost, miss all the cool stuff and be frustrated by the speed of passing time. Checking into Villa Cavo Dago I found my panoramic Aegean sunset. Verdant forest flanked my two swimming pools. We drank Cretan wine in the garden, looking down on the rooftops of nearby Chania, dined on a seafood barbecue prepared by the villa’s private chef.
In western Crete I did find people having their Instagrammable experience. Elafonisi is the island’s most famous place to visit, its beach painted pink by crushed seashells, where my experience was not private but
timed to avoid the peak crowds. Getting to the beach we hiked through a forest of old cedar trees, their curled branches like mythical creatures. Fossils were everywhere and I wondered how such history can go unnoticed, seemingly in plain sight. Alexander was my guide for the west: “Every single age of Crete has something interesting. In one day you will see different landscapes, different climates, different traditions. So do you want to see rainforest or long sandy beaches? Feel like Robinson Crusoe or feel a 500-year-old way of life?” Alexander is a master of logistics and we always seemed to be arriving when the car park was empty, or taking a tiny imperceptible turn off the main road, a turn I would never find a second time.
Days drifted by. We swam in the lagoon at Ballos and I scuba dived to a 500-year-old wreck, where Venetian cannons and Turkish cannon balls told yet another tale.
We spent half a day immersed in the city of Chania, where Venetian and Turkish and Greek history mingles, minarets besides basilicas and old Orthodox temples. At a small vineyard I drank wine that smelt of bay leaf, rosemary and oregano. The master of logistics ensured we had shady spots for the middle of the day, swimming spots when the light was most beautiful, local spots when we needed more energy. I could never imagine Crete had so much, or that a guide could fit so much authenticity into eight hours.
“My hobby is to travel in Crete” said Alexander, which seemed odd as he was born in Crete and lives in Crete. “I talk to locals and they tell me, on that hill you will find Minoan tombs, over there are the ruins of a classical Hellenic town, down there is a gorge to take your guests.” Parts of Crete, it seemed, remain unknown to the locals. We explored a huge unexcavated Roman town called Gortyna, walking right on top of Roman pottery, handles and jars all over as if we were archaeologists stumbling across a discovery. I moved slowly enough to admire the lilies and orchids. There were goats, shepherds, sheep and time. “I guide people who travel a lot and they can feel how I fulfil my obligations” said Alexander.
“But this job isn’t about an obligation, it’s my hobby. After eight hours am I going to look at my watch and say it’s over - no way!” So we kept exploring, tracing the civilisations that have shaped the island, finding coves, highlands, bays, beaches and untrodden paths. And of course there were many small villages and locals inviting me to share a glass, villages and locals distinct from the first half of my holiday. Eastern Crete feels more mellow and calm. Whereas in western Crete the atmosphere is more intense, more passionate and energetic. The contrasts are subtle and easy to perceive at this slower pace.
People want more quality, they're yearning for real connection and intimacy. And that's Crete.
For my final day I do a tour by helicopter, the contrasts of Crete coming into sharper focus. Mountains so high they are dappled in snow for part of the year. Cliffs and remote coastlines, completely uninhabited and inaccessible by road. All my guides said Crete is a small island with a lot of diversity. I still disagree. Crete is a big island. It’s comfortably the biggest Greek island, 260 kilometres west to east, almost 100 times larger than Santorini, 80 times larger than Mykonos. “Crete is easy to combine with these other Greek islands” says Alexander, “but guests always say to me, why did I spend more time on Santorini than on Crete?” From the air I admire wild open spaces and places from millennia ago. Touching down on Falassarna beach I step from the chopper to the soft sand and straight into the turquoise Aegean. Flying south we descend into Europe’s longest gorge, flying close enough to see the pines and cypresses. And what a juxtaposition, taking a helicopter to a quaint old village, for lunch in a colourful tavern from a century ago. The locals remain famously friendly, despite the day’s elaborate choice of transport.
Now on the final evening I almost cry for a second time in Crete. Cicadas are singing and faintly I hear the sound of somebody playing the bouzouki. White mountains backdrop the villa. Old Chania is illuminated below me. The sun is setting, a waterfall of colours fluttering around the peninsulas and dropping into the sea. They call it "remvaso", this idea of just sitting and staring, simply watching life. It helps me to realise so many important things about my holiday. Everything I ate was from Crete. Everything I drank was from Crete. Everyone I met was from Crete. I had learnt a lot from this rocky, dry, unknown place, with its remarkable zest for life and the most hospitable people I had ever met on a holiday.
Now back in Prague I can still smell the malothira tea with thyme infused honey, taste the ripe, sunburnt tomatoes drenched in olive oil. I had travelled to Crete
with stereotypes and preconceptions, about a tiny slither of a vast and diverse island. No matter my first impression, Crete was an island I didn’t want to leave. And I’m glad to know that part of the island is still in me. Slow down, measure time by experiences and not minutes, and enjoy the simple pleasures that feel so rare.
From the chopper to the soft sand and straight into the turquoise Aegean.
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Icelander Jón Ólafur Magnússon is opening some of the final frontiers in luxury travel. Founder of Icelandbased HL Adventures and lifelong adventurer, Jón is launching a three-week odyssey around the Arctic by private jet.
Jón, you state your profession as a professional adventurer. How do you achieve such a title?
When you feel very comfortable with it, then you are qualified. I would never carry this title if I hadn’t climbed a mountain.
Was there one adventure or place that got you started?
I’ve lived like this my entire life. I grew up on Westfjord in Iceland, the most beautiful place on planet Earth. It’s a very remote village with only 700 people and the winter lasts for eight months. I grew up feeding Arctic foxes by hand and climbing mountains around my village. Over the fjord there were more mountains and glaciers. From a young age I went out measuring glaciers with my great uncle. One year I broke my leg so we fixed a snowshoe under my crutch. I was 12 then. By age 16 I was the youngest fishing boat captain in all of Iceland.
When did you take this job title?
In 1999 I had climbed all the mountains and glaciers in Iceland, so I jumped over to Greenland to live my childhood dream, to live with Inuits. We ate what we hunted and lived off the land. We didn’t speak the same language and we became friends for life.
The landscape and coast of east Greenland is so breathtaking, it’s so everything. It makes you humbled by nature. It made me interested in taking photos and this opened a whole world. I’m so curious. I started travelling further and taking pictures - photographing polar bears, a kayak expedition in Tonga, Antarctica. Living with Inuits is what changed my whole life.
How do you make Iceland and the Arctic comfortable for people who are not professional adventurers?
The whole world is beautiful, but the Arctic is something else. The North Pole is the nicest place on the planet. You’re on top of the earth - wow, it’s so nice. But standing there freezing cold, it’s terrible. You need the experience of a guide, somebody who has been there many times before. Prior to starting HL Adventures in 2000 I was leader of the Reykjavik Rescue Team, trained in navigation, rescue and survival. When I started guiding I already had so much knowledge and experience. I love to guide, it’s effortless for me. There are so many small and important things clients won’t even notice. It’s how I talk, how I act, how I stay calm and lead with confidence and assurance. Anyone can visit the Arctic in the right hands.
Are all your clients so trusting and sure?
We build trust, this is what we do. Years ago I flew to London to meet a very successful CEO who asked me, “what is there on the North Pole?” Nothing, I replied. “What do you mean?” he said. There is nothing. There is no sound, no view, absolutely nothing. He looked at me and said “woah, I want to come.” We like to surprise our clients. I was in contact with this man’s PA and figured out he loved dark chocolate, a specific Cuban cigar and nice whisky. So what did I have in my pocket when we were at the North Pole? This is very important, to absolutely build trust and make sure people go home with a cocktail story.
The landscape of east Greenland is so breathtaking, it's so everything. It makes you humbled by nature.
Can you guarantee a cocktail story?
For every client and every trip I always ask myself, how do I provide a unique experience? Not by checking into a nice hotel. That’s normal, you can do that anywhere in the world. How about sleeping in a luxury tented camp on top of a glacier, with a sauna, beneath the northern lights? You don’t do that everyday, so you will tell your friends about it. During a Greenland tour this old toothless Inuit woman approached us, hugged and kissed me, and invited me and my client into her home. My client still talks about it 20 years later.
With HL Adventures you’ve opened up some very wild places for luxury travel. What’s your inspiration?
I get inspired by my own trips or those of my team. For example, the luxury camp we set up on a glacier was born from my own Greenland expedition. We dined and slept in a big dome tent. It was freezing cold. Climbing gear and camera gear was everywhere, like a man’s cave. We were eating with our feet on the ice. Then came the idea. When I returned home I put up this same tent in my backyard. I asked my wife to help carry our bed outside and set it up, then add some rugs and chairs. Then came the shower, sauna, dining tent, kitchen tent, whatever you need to be more comfortable. This is the way of camping!
You’ve guided some of the world’s richest people in the Arctic. What did you do for them?
These people have something in common, they have money but they don’t have time. They can’t do long expeditions, like a sailing trip I did from Ushuaia to Antarctica to climb some mountains. It was an amazing experience but my clients couldn’t join me because it took too long. I needed to find a fast way of doing it. How? With private jets to fly between destinations.
These people are often similar because they want to do everything, or think they’ve done everything. With private jets we can deliver a life-changing trip, so our clients can experience a remote, beautiful, one-of-a-kind place, in a relatively short amount of time. I know many places for people who say they’ve done everything. Some of these places are disappearing. Our clients won’t be the first to go there, we’ve been there before. But they could be the last.
What’s the inspiration for your newest project, Arctic Horizon?
The idea for Arctic Horizon has evolved over 20 years. It’s a three-week Arctic expedition by private jet, for 50 like-minded explorers. This is the culmination of my life’s work. As a lifelong explorer of the Arctic, my vision is to make this final frontier accessible to people who share my passion, curiosity and respect for it. Guests are going to see places they’ve never seen before. They’re going to meet people they will never meet anywhere else, people living this simple and beautiful life in a disappearing place. By the time they go full circle around the North Pole and return to Iceland, they're not going to be the same person. That’s our whole objective. They will go home and always feel part of something bigger.
With private jets our clients can experience a remote, beautiful, one-of-a-kind place, in a relatively short amount of time.
The Arctic is obviously very big, but what exactly do you mean when you say something bigger?
It’s a feeling of knowing and belonging, hopes and dreams. We hear and see the same messages every day about the Arctic melting. The Arctic is melting, yes, but we have a positive message. There are still wonderful people living there, surrounded by incredible nature, unbelievable wildlife, a rich culture and beautiful food. Our inspiration for Arctic Horizon is also the realisation of how much we can learn from this breathtaking, remote part of the world, with its humble and loving people.
Where are you going on this three-week trip?
The Arctic Horizon expedition travels to seven wonders of the North by private Boeing 757-200, configured with 50 firstclass lie-flat seats, plus butler service and our onboard chef. We start in Greenland with its midnight sun and huge icebergs. The group will participate in a typical Inuit festival with the indigenous people. We venture to Canada, try salmon fly-fishing, and do a wildlife tour by seaplane.
In Alaska we will witness grizzly bears fishing for salmon in the Katmai waterfalls, travel on the Pacific Railroad to the hidden harbour of Whittier, and cruise beneath glaciers carving into Seward Sound. Next stop is the North Pole. Then in Svalbard it’s all about exploration of whales, polar bears and a new frontier. In Norway we will have this king crab fishing experience followed by spending a day with Sami reindeer herder families. Completing the Arctic Circle is Iceland. Geothermal baths of course, only after we descend into an old magma chamber and explore the favourite nature locations of our home, such as a new eruption site.
Where will you be staying on this expedition?
The best accommodation in the Arctic. For example, on the first night in Iceland we’ll stay in luxury tents at the Arctic Explorer Camp, where everybody will become members of the Arctic Foundation. Then for the final days we’ll move to this beautiful hotel, Retreat at the Blue Lagoon. We stay in places like a beautiful salmon fishing lodge in Canada and Sorrisniva Arctic Wilderness Lodge in Norway, so we have warmth and comfort from which to explore the regions.
In Alaska we will witness grizzly bears fishing for salmon in the Katmai waterfalls, travel on the Pacific Railroad to the hidden harbour of Whittier, and cruise beneath glaciers carving into Seward Sound.
Can you operate this trip privately as well, for less clients?
Yes we can. With smaller planes that can land in more places, we can tailor each expedition to the wishes of our clients. HL Adventures has been doing this for over 20 years, giving people the chance to experience a rare place in safe hands.
Arctic Horizon launches its inaugural flight in summer 2024, from 16th July to 4th August.
How can people go on an adventure with you?
Arctic Horizon launches its inaugural flight in summer 2024, from 16th July to 4th August. It’s operated by our new company The North. In over two decades I’ve never been as excited as I am for this project. It will truly change you. Both HL Adventures and The North partner with EliteVoyage, so our adventures are bookable with your EliteVoyage travel designer. Me and my team are ready to welcome you to the Arctic, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, North Pole and beyond. Where will you find your cocktail story?
A safari legend in southern Kenya. Where there’s more than the big five. Where there are millions. More wild land mammals than anywhere else on the planet, from July to October. New mobile camps and contemporary lodges, like Angama, have made the Maasai Mara more exclusive and comfortable. So how does it feel to be immersed in this unfiltered wildlife experience? To be centrestage in a private animal theatre?
Why did we stop here? The elephant herd is over there. Some unusual antelopes are behind us. Through the binoculars you look. Nothing. Why here? All seems quiet and empty. Leaving the main track your Landcruiser bumps slowly across the grass. Still nothing. But your guide knows this land better than anybody. Only now you see her. A leopard, high in a tree, a solitary hunter with a surprising meal. She was watching you long before you spotted her. Now you enter the realm of this solitary cat, observing, listening, wondering. And what a nice contrast when you return to Angama Mara, your safari lodge on the Oloololo Escarpment, 200 metres above the Maasai Mara plains. A massage on your deck. A bubble bath with an uninterrupted view. Sundowners on a cliffedge and a barbecue dinner illuminated by lanterns. A safari here is an escape from your everyday world.
A leopard, high in a tree, a solitary hunter with a surprising meal. She was watching you long before you spotted her.The Maasai Mara
From the sky it’s endless. Wildebeest. Running on and on and on. From the hot air balloon you watch them play, a blur of movement and enthusiasm at this sunrise hour. Gliding lower you pick out their predators, watching, anticipating. From the sky comes the humbling impression of scale, hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra beneath your feet, the great wildebeest migration unfolding.
Touch down. Pause. Breakfast on the grasslands as three giraffe wander by. Now onto a game drive and a thousand eyes look back at you. Zebras resting their heads on each other. Stragglers cantering back to the main herd. From eye level this wildlife spectacle feels different. You’re close enough for tiny details nobody else will ever see. Soon the herd surrounds you. Wildebeest and zebra, stretching on and on and on.
From the sky comes the humbling impression of scale, hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra beneath your feet, the great wildebeest migration unfolding.
Silence. So precious, so rare. A moment like this can last a lifetime, the lions watching you as you watch them. Now the cubs roll and play, provoke their mother before snuggling up close. These are the intimate behaviours of a pride in the far corner of the Mara Triangle. And there’s nobody here to watch it but you. The park gates have closed. Other safari vehicles had to leave. Yet you will stay.
You will sleep here, at the mobile Angama Safari Camp. Nighttime arrives quickly and you’ve swapped lions for cocktails around a campfire with a galaxy of stars. With canvas for walls you’re comfortable and still completely immersed in the Maasai Mara. Later, in the blackness of night, a hippo grunts. A lion roars. When dawn breaks you’ll continue your personal story with this pride. But only after a safari breakfast in your private corner of the Mara.
Silence.
So precious, so rare. A moment like this can last a lifetime, the lions watching you as you watch them.The Maasai Mara
Step, step, step you walk on the escarpment. Elephants were here. Lions come through here. Zebra graze on a dusty football field. A giraffe walks past a Maasai manyatta, or village. It’s a little scary at first, walking in the land of four-legged giants. Yet the Maasai have lived alongside these animals for generations. As you walk you learn from your Maasai warrior guide. Medicinal plants. Animal tracking. Ceremonies. How a traditional culture thrives up here.
This walking safari is a change in rhythm, a connection to another Mara world. Then back at Angama Mara you swim in the pool. Have a picnic on the escarpment with new Maasai friends. As sunset arrives you’re drinking a Kenyan dawa as 50 Maasai sing and dance and jump. It’s not a show. It’s their world. And they are incredible hosts. You’re invited to be part of it.
As you walk you learn from your Maasai warrior guide. Medicinal plants. Animal tracking. Ceremonies. How a traditional culture thrives up here.The Maasai Mara
Spots move in the grass at dawn. A cheetah. Standing beside a fig tree she waits. Watching. Listening. Follow her. Through the high grass she goes, trailing her prey. The herd suspects something. Impala stand erect, spooked, confused. Glance across and there she goes, sneaking silenty across the plains, cutting the distance to her breakfast. A pause. Hunter and hunted clearly before your eyes. When? Not now. She disappears.
The impala relax and begin to graze. The cheetah has gone. The crescendo comes without warning. A flurry of dust, the sound of hoofs, the chase is on and you watch its conclusion. One baby impala that didn’t make it. One baby cheetah you only just spotted. One final game drive in the Maasai Mara. Before one final afternoon of escapism back at Angama Mara.
The Maasai Mara
A cheetah. Standing beside a fig tree she waits. Watching. Listening. Follow her. Through the high grass she goes, trailing her prey.
Stephen Bailey is the editor of Explorer.
Andrew Andrawes is a professional photographer and artist currently based in the Maasai Mara. Born and raised in Nairobi to Egyptian parents, Andrew spent 15 years in the United States before returning to Kenya to pursue his photography dreams. Andrew’s photos: pages 78, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 88 & 89.
Angama Mara and Angama Safari Camp are the EliteVoyage partner for unique and exclusive holidays in the Maasai Mara. Their new lodge in Amboseli opens in late 2023. Angama photos: pages 80, 84 & 87.
Matěj Novák is the managing director of Yacht Club Praha, a pioneer of sailing experiences in Croatia. In partnership with EliteVoyage, they offer the best luxury sailing holidays on the Adriatic. We asked Matej about wind, charters, islands and yachts.
What do you find so special about sailing?
Most of all it’s the freedom. And also to go places that not many people can go. Obviously I like the connection to nature too, it still amazes me how these boats go so fast in limited wind conditions.
How did a Czech company offer sailing in Croatia?
My grandpa started this company and moved it to Croatia in the nineties, it’s the closest sea. He was one of the first to get Czechs on the sea and give them this experience. I went there every summer to work for him, maintain the boats, take care of guests, do the skipper courses. In 2016 he died. I decided to take a shot at the business. I said to myself, either I will be bankrupt or it will be great. I was 24 at the time.
Isn’t Croatia a mass tourism destination? Is it a destination for a luxury holiday?
It’s quite interesting for us Czechs, we have in our minds that Croatia is a backpacking destination, but it’s moving to a more luxury destination, more exclusive destination. Croatia is one of the top sailing destinations because it has a high number of islands, and this gives you a feeling of being on a river. You don’t have to go out on the open sea, you can always see islands and feel sheltered, feel this safety. During the summer we are able to find nice and quiet places where we will be almost by ourselves.
Tell us more about your home base, in Sibenik.
Sibenik is a great destination because it’s in the middle of the coast, so it gives us access to the entire Adriatic and the best access to Kornati National Park and the big islands in the south. It’s about one hour from either Split or Zadar airports, both only 70-minute flights from Prague, so getting here is very fast.
Sibenik is actually on the river and you can sail up the river, which is very unique. The movie Winnetou was filmed in this region, so you experience all these canyons, you really experience Winnetou. You can stop where they plant fresh oysters and muscles, try them fresh, straight from the water. It's also a good destination for people who want to sail during the day and sleep on land in a hotel, like D-Resort Šibenik.
Us Czechs have in our minds that Croatia is a backpacking destination, but it's moving to a more luxury destination.
How has sailing changed since your grandfather’s time?
It’s changed dramatically since my grandfather built his first two boats. The boats have changed from a narrow hull to wide sterns and wide hulls. Before you had big steering wheels in the middle of the cockpit. Now the boats have two steering wheels which means there’s a much bigger space in the cockpit, for guests to relax and enjoy the sea. Before, people wanted to be on the water, that was enough, just to be on the sea. Now people are asking for more luxury and more stuff on the boat, more water toys, challenging us to be better at what we do.
How is a sail yacht different from other types of boat?
There’s a sail yacht, a catamaran and a motor yacht. All have their benefits. By nature I’m a sailor so I like these monohull sailing boats. You can really feel the power of the wind and I love that, to feel how it is moving, how it is heeling. If you want to experience sailing and nature, get a sailing yacht.
If you want to experience more space and more luxury, for a higher price, then go for the catamaran. If you want the ultimate luxury then go for the motoryacht, but this doesn’t go well with nature. It’s noisy and the fuel consumption is huge. They are quite a lot more expensive as well. This is another big benefit of the sailing yacht. You don’t spend money on fuel because you go with the wind. It’s more beautiful and sustainable.
How do you make your sailing yachts comfortable and luxurious then?
The first thing you experience is a huge cockpit with lots of space to sit, it’s where you spend most of your time, enjoying your drinks, enjoying your time on the sea. Continue down and there’s a fully equipped galley, meaning kitchen, so you or the chef can prepare food. There’s a salon area with a nice couch and you can eat there if the weather is bad. Every bedroom cabin is equipped with its own toilet and shower, and provides your own quiet space to just rest. The boats are equipped with air conditioning and all the things you can imagine.
Sailing the Adriatic with Matěj NovákWe’ve tried to build a complex fleet of sail yachts, to be available for all types of groups of people. So we go from small three-cabin boats that measure 11 metres, to bigger three-cabin boats, then four- and five-cabin boats. The largest is 17 metres. We can also modify the biggest five-cabin boat to be a three-cabin boat, for example we did this for a client from EliteVoyage and transformed the boat just for him. So it’s a huge boat for only a small number of people. We’ve been operating in Croatia since the 1990s and know many people here, so through EliteVoyage we help with motor yacht charters or even bigger boats depending on the client.
We’ve been operating in Croatia since the 1990s and know many people here, so through EliteVoyage we help with motor yacht charters or even bigger boats depending on the client.
What services come included with the boat?
We do the holiday based on people’s likes and tastes, we’re making it unique for them. You can be the skipper all by yourself if you want, or you can choose from our well trained skippers, which I recommend, as they make sure you have the best holiday possible. You can choose to have a chef, a hostess, it’s all up to you. We’ve always offered skipper training as well, so you can have a certified instructor teaching you from the basics all the way to a captain’s licence.
We didn’t have any special requirements we couldn’t meet, the only thing we can't do anything about is the weather. If somebody is asking for a Dubrovnik trip and there's a bad forecast, we can adapt the route but not the weather.
When is the best time to go sailing in Croatia and travel all the way to Dubrovnik?
We start in April and continue all the way to October. There’s a colder sea in the beginning of the season, so it’s a slightly different atmosphere and it seems more rough. The middle of the season is perfect for families, the wind is calmer. Our skippers know the area so well they will take you somewhere nobody else is. They take you far outside these crowded places.
At the beginning and end of the season there’s a better chance of getting good winds, proper winds. But maybe they’re not so good for people who don’t want challenging conditions. Personally we like September, you don’t have such high temperatures but the sea is warm. And there are less people.
Croatia is one of the top sailing destinations because it has a high number of islands... you don't have to go out on the open sea.
Tell us about some of the places you love to go to in Croatia.
It’s a secret! We love the islands, especially Kornati National Park. It’s this huge island with these small islands and rocks around it, it’s such a picturesque area. There are so many small places you can anchor and just be by yourself. Plus small fishermen restaurants to go for a nice dinner.
Do you also sail to Montenegro?
We can go to Montenegro, but it’s quite far and you need to spend quite a lot of time just going. It’s a better idea to spend more time experiencing, like swimming, paddle boarding, just going around and having this nice sailing on the sea. The Croatian islands have so many places to go it’s a shame to miss them.
How much time do you need for a Croatia sailing holiday?
We always recommend a week. Almost all our clients say a week was too short. We would recommend two weeks but of course, people don’t have so much time and we understand that. When the boat leaves the marina then the holiday really starts, that’s a matter of hours, not days.
Are you still skippering some of the clients?
Yes, I train some clients who specifically ask for me. This year I bought this small and very fast sporty boat. It’s a very exclusive experience just for three people, they get to experience how it is on a regatta boat with a carbon rig. It goes like a rocket.
Tell us about this new Czech thing, Jetsurf.
It was invented by a company in Brno, it’s a surfboard which is powered by an engine. So you’re on the surfboard and it goes very fast, up to 50 kilometres an hour. We offer them on our boats and it’s a lot of fun, especially if there is flat water.
Finally, how do you think sailing holidays in Croatia will change in the future?
This whole coast will become a more and more exclusive destination, because in a few years the Adriatic will reach its capacity of boats. The whole area is improving, with better facilities and marinas. I've been sailing in Croatia for 20 years and I still experience new places. There are still places I haven’t seen, places that are new to me and that’s really amazing for me.
This whole coast will become a more and more exclusive destination, because in a few years the Adriatic will reach its capacity of boats. The whole area is improving, with better facilities and marinas.Sailing the Adriatic with Matěj Novák
Hotels with striking design and a clear sense of place.
Five Rosewood directors take us behind the scenes of their properties, revealing distinctive approaches to hotel design and operations.
EliteVoyage recently joined the invitation-only Rosewood Elite program. This creates benefits when booking any Rosewood property, like complimentary room upgrades.
Rosewood has realised some very unusual projects, like transforming the Odessa Filomena Matarazzo maternity hospital into Rosewood São Paulo, Brazil. We quizzed Managing Director Edouard Grosmangin about his hotel’s design.
Your hotel is born out of a very practical vernacular building, which was abandoned for some 20 years. What benefits does this unorthodox approach bring for your guests?
The Filomena Matarazzo maternity hospital was not just an abandoned building, rather a historical place where more than 1 million Brazilians were born. The biggest challenge was restoring the “maternity”, keeping this heritage and bringing life back to an important place for São Paulo and its people. The original structure was preserved and the old delivery rooms became the signature Matarazzo suites. Now everyone can build new memories in the place where so many families started. Rosewood São Paulo fuses new and old, modernity and history, with the restored maternity building and the new vertical tower designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel.
Tell us more about the creation and future of this vertical garden tower, one of the world’s largest and home to 10,000 trees.
Jean Nouvel’s Mata Atlantica Tower is certainly a landmark for São Paulo. It combines modern architecture with the exuberance of Brazilian nature, such as gigantic trees from the Mata Atlantica rainforest, placed vertically on the building structure. The tower is a continuation of the Matarazzo Complex Garden, currently the largest upcycling project in Brazil. It’s a reforested city neighbourhood, with over 250 species of native plants and trees. Within one year of opening Rosewood São Paulo is the greenest hotel in Brazil, operating with 100% renewable energy.
Designer Philippe Starck created the hotel’s interiors and he’s known for very diverse and eclectic work. What specifically did he bring to your hotel?
Philippe Starck's interior design was essential to represent what the Rosewood São Paulo project is all about: a celebration of Brazilian culture, music, gastronomy and art, made by Brazilians. He made it possible for this to be perceived in every detail, by bringing the essence of Brazil in his design. He did it masterfully using local materials and suppliers, like rich Brazilian woods, marbles, garden walls, and fine furnishings from renowned local designers. Starck worked with 57 Brazilian artists and artisans to create a permanent collection of more than 450 works of arts, from the pool tiles to the pocket show bar ceiling. So each space of the hotel has its own personality.
The legendary Hôtel de Crillon has long served as one of France’s most luxurious properties. It reopened as a Rosewood property in 2017 and we asked Managing Director Vincent Billiard about the hotel’s contemporary edge.
Karl Lagerfeld created the interiors of Les Grands Appartements at Hôtel de Crillon, one of many renowned designers involved in the four-year renovation. How did you ensure harmony between the diverse creatives involved?
Rosewood called on artistic director Aline Asmar d’Amman. Her approach was to respect history, while injecting a modern attitude and touch of Parisian irreverence. Keeping the building of 1758 and the spirit of old Paris alive was at the heart of the renovation project. She created the project’s key decorative themes, daringly building bridges between the 18th and 21st centuries. Designers Tristan Auer, Chahan Minassian and Cyril Vergniol created alongside her, ensuring this balance of conservation, transformation and coherence. Karl Lagerfeld worked as guest of honour with Aline Asmar d’Amman, infusing the signature suites with his learning and love of the 18th century.
How did you match this creative renovation with the demands of today’s travellers?
We reduced the number of rooms in order to enlarge them, created a pool for the spa,
expanded the lobby and created intimate spaces with different identities. We created a place like a French hotel particulier so Parisians and hotel guests can meet around a cocktail at Bar Les Ambassadeurs, or enjoy traditional French cuisine with a twist in our grill Nonos par Paul Pairet.
Your main buildings were commissioned by King Louis XV, the original Hôtel de Crillon opened in 1909, and you’re a modern hotel overlooking Place de la Concorde. How do you realise this unique sense of place in your everyday operations?
A sense of place is a concept whereby each property reflects its location’s history, culture and sensibilities, so guests are immersed in their destination. Hôtel de Crillon is anchored in its time, the 21st century, in a timeless celebration of art de vivre. Our ambition is to continue and develop collaborations with French companies, such as Citroen with its iconic DS 1973 for our car ride, and Officine Universelle Buly for our bathroom amenities. But to also create events around art and gastronomy that keep this philosophy alive.
Rosewood Vienna opened in August 2022 and featured in the HOT List in Explorer II. Upon visiting we loved the contemporary style, in a city known for posh old-world hotels. Yet it still feels very Viennese. Managing Director Alexander Lahmer tells us more.
Vienna already has a high concentration of luxury hotels. Did you consciously create a hotel that’s very different to the competition?
Vienna has fantastic hotels and understanding the city and competitors is always key to success. Most important is understanding the needs of travellers, which have changed tremendously over the past years. I focused on all the differentiators and unique elements our property offers. We converted a 19th-century bank building and there were many opportunities in the pre-opening phase, especially in terms of room and suite setups. We also developed concepts for our local community and created a program called Discover my Vienna, showcasing Vienna through the eyes of the local community and their recommendations to first-time visitors.
Rosewood has led many hotel design trends over recent years, like the shift towards residentially-styled hotel suites, so prominent at Rosewood Vienna. What hotel trends will we see in the coming years?
With the changing world the focus of guests is changing. Expectations are increasing and the residential approach will remain a key priority for us. We are asking many questions in order to understand each destination, so we can have a warm, bespoke approach, delivered by art, music and accessories. Moving forward it will be all about service, how we take care of our team as they are the ones delivering this amazing service to guests.
Two of Rosewood’s most eye-catching hotels are in Bangkok and Phuket, hotels in Thailand that are visually completely different. Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing Rosemarie Domdom explains their contrasts.
Rosewood Bangkok quickly became an icon of the capital city’s skyline, representing a very modern side to Thailand. Tell us more about the inspiration behind the structure. The two structures of the 31-storey building are a homage to the “wai,” a traditional Thai gesture of hands pressed together in greeting. This is a modern interpretation of welcoming our guests into serene surroundings, while feeling connected to Thailand’s growing influence as a design, fashion and creative hub.
Rosewood Phuket is an ultra luxury beach hideaway, on an island stereotyped for its seedy, backpacker tourism. How do you change the common perceptions of Phuket that are held by discerning travellers?
These days, the discerning traveller is more intentional when choosing where to visit. When travellers are educated on their many choices, they will find that meaningful travel opportunities outweigh any negative perceptions. Rosewood Phuket has an Experience Guide so guests can discover Phuket through an authentic lens, focusing on its culture, traditions and adventure.
Many travellers combine a beach stay at Rosewood Phuket with a layover night or two at Rosewood Bangkok. How do two such contrasting properties meet the same traveller expectations?
At the heart of both properties lies the same ethos: genuine hospitality, ultra-luxury service and accommodations. A guest staying at both properties has the same expectation - that their experience will be flawlessly executed. The stay differs destination wise, so the decision is where to holiday first, a relaxing island getaway or the hustle and bustle of a thriving city. Personally, I would end my stay on the beach!
During the nineties, Hotel Guanahani was a celebrity hangout made famous by Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Leonardo DiCaprio. After a major renovation it reopened as Rosewood Le Guanahani in 2021. Managing Director Marein van Wagenberg tells us more about this beachfront property in the Caribbean.
Most of our readers are very familiar with Indian Ocean beach properties, much less so the Caribbean. How do you think St. Barth is different from what our readers know?
St. Barth has the topography of the Caribbean with its hillsides and beautiful beaches, yet its personality is French, with a touch of Sweden as well. The island is one of a kind: nature, beaches, ocean, lagoon, Caribbean Sea, wildlife underwater and on land, a large selection of exceptional restaurants, shopping with luxury and local brands, art galleries, nightlife.
From the beginning, Rosewood Le Guanahani has been the choice for young families who are cultured, informed, well-travelled and educated. The resort is an ambassador of the island because of its identity. First its name: in the native Taino language, Guanahani means welcome. St. Barth is a French island in the middle of the Caribbean, Rosewood Le Guanahani is a French joie de vivre resort with warm Caribbean energy. Our standalone cottages are bright, with yellow for the sun, lavender for Provence and turquoise for the ocean.
The definitions and expectations of luxury are changing within travel, clearly illustrated by Le Guanahani then and now. What is now considered exclusive and how does this change the overall guest experience at your hotel?
Luxury can have different meanings. Expectations are in constant evolution. What sets our hotel apart can be defined in three key categories. Firstly, space. The resort is spread over 18 acres of private land, so families, couples and individuals can holiday without being on top of each other. Secondly, enabling every type of client to tailor their experience. Our guests are connoisseurs with a taste for beautiful details and we cater to the interests of their various ages. Like the largest spa on the island, Rosewood Explorers kids club, guided nature hikes, wellness classes, tennis courts, eating Mediterranean cuisine with your feet in the sand. Thirdly, service, and the personality of our team. The human connection is the essence of luxury, offering personalised service without being intrusive.
Exploring evolving cuisines with some of the world’s most talented chefs.
Chef Niki Nakayama opened n/naka following the success of her acclaimed sushi restaurant Azami. Partner and sous chef Carole lida-Nakayama joined n/naka in 2012. A contemporary Japanese kaiseki restaurant, located in Los Angeles, n/naka has two Michelin stars and was named in Food & Wine’s best 30 restaurants of the world.
What are your biggest challenges serving traditional kaiseki in a restaurant that's a Pacific Ocean away from Japan?
Carole Iida-Nakayama: The difficulty in doing kaiseki here in Los Angeles is trying to honour the key kaiseki philosophy of seasonality. The climate is much more nuanced, unlike Japan which has four distinct seasons and many microclimates. In Japan, certain ingredients are so strongly symbolic of a particular season and we often can't get those here. For example, sakura (cherry blossoms) are ever present in kaiseki menus in Japan during the Spring, but we don't have cherry blossoms here. We incorporate the flowers and ingredients that represent Spring in Southern California, to stay in line with the expression of seasonality, which is so central to kaiseki cuisine. We always say n/naka is a kaiseki restaurant that could only exist in Los Angeles, precisely because we are honouring the pillar of seasonality by integrating as many local ingredients as possible, while still creating flavours and using techniques that are reflective of kaiseki.
Your menus are seasonal, reflecting the "ever-changing rhythms of the earth." How far in advance can you plan what you will create?
Niki Nakayama: I try to plan the next seasonal menu as soon as I've finalised the current one, but I always work up to the last minute, because the availability of ingredients changes so frequently. Items I thought would be available at a certain time often aren't. Then there are always unexpected ingredients that become available. Working at the last minute causes a bit of scrambling, but it is nice to accept the challenge of working with the unexpected. Creatively, being too tied to something causes more headaches, so it is better to remain open and flexible. Our job is to listen to nature as closely as we can, so this is what I try to remember when creating menus.
Restaurant Arzak in San Sebastian has held three Michelin stars since 1989. Chef Elena Arzak joined her father Juan Mari in the kitchen during the nineties, bringing her own innovation and techniques, for traditional Basque cuisine with a modern twist. In 2012 she won the Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef Award.
Elena, Restaurant Arzak is very proudly Basque. You say it’s rooted in tradition and searching for change. Are you inspired by other cuisines or does the inspiration all come from within Basque?
We are very proud of the Basque cuisine. We look into tradition and use what is worth using. There are traditional cooking methods it would be a shame to lose, like cooking hake with clams. We are also proud in Basque for using seasonal products, from the farmers and the seaside, because geographically we are located in a privileged place for raw materials.
For me, only using Basque ideas is too short. I need to have ideas and spices from all over the world. For example, in Basque food we use olive oil because we like it, but 100 years ago there was no olive oil here. Here there is no ginger, no curry, no lichen. I like to add ingredients from other cultures, but always under the palate of the Basque people. If I was born in Jamaica my food would be different. I can use coconut, but always under the palate of my people. I use a lot of garlic, parsley, red peppers and corn; this is very Basque. Yet those ideas that are traditional for other cultures, for us are new.
Tell us a little more about The Arzak Lab, where you research and create new recipes.
The lab has been going since the year 2000. My father was very creative and we had spices in boxes, in cupboards, in the car, in the office, all over. And we were testing plates in the kitchen, disturbing everyone.
My father decided to organise the creativity, to separate production from creativity. In the lab we have 2500 different ingredients in dry form, ordered with a QR system with a description of each. When I need to finish a plate, I can say crispy and acid and get a lot of ideas. Guests bring us spices and ingredients and everything can give us an idea. Everything is stored. So if in one plate we don’t like 80%, or perhaps we only like the garnish, we can use the garnish for another plate later.
You've worked in so many prestigious restaurants, such as El Bulli. Was there a particular dish or chef that had the most profound impact on your own style?
I was very lucky to train with many extraordinary chefs. I learnt there was not only one way. Each chef has their own way to direct the restaurant. There are different ways to reach the purpose, which is to cook in your own style, make things as good as possible, and make guests as happy as possible. Ferran and Albert of El Bulli were friends of my family. One of their plates that fascinated and impacted me was a plate based on vegetables. I’m talking in the nineties, it was all foam, it was a completely different perception. The person who most influenced me was my father. We are from the same family, we eat the same, we think very similar, even if my style is different because I am from another generation. My father was very good at mixing a lot of ingredients together and for my generation we like less ingredients. It’s not better or worse, it is just updating the cuisine.
Moroccan-Spanish chef Zineb (“Zizi”)
Hattab opened her Zurich restaurant KLE in 2020. It was awarded a Green Michelin Star and 15 points from Gault Millau in 2021, when Zizi opened a sister restaurant and cocktail bar, DAR. KLE recently became the first purely vegan restaurant with a Michelin star in Switzerland.
I lived in New York for a while, and it was a constant source of inspiration. It’s a city in which you can find very authentic cuisines from all over the world.
What are your biggest challenges serving plant-based food?
The biggest challenge I face are the preconceived notions that people have about vegan food. People with different diets come to my restaurants. It’s always very gratifying when guests tell me that the food at KLE or DAR inspired them to make changes to the way they eat. Even if that means they’ve reduced their animal product consumption instead of having stopped it.
Before opening KLE you gained experience across the world, from Osteria Francescana in Modena to Cosme in New York. What most transformed or inspired you?
All the chapters of my training had a very big impact on me, but opening KLE and DAR allowed me to develop my own style. DAR, especially, helped me reconnect with my identity.
What advice would you give a younger version of yourself, knowing the journey you had to walk as a female chef?
Independently from the gender you identify with, I would say to invest time on self-growth, not only what happens in the kitchen. Be interested in other disciplines, visit museums, read books…because it’s very easy to get in the routine of such an operational job.
1. Cucumber and cumin tiradito, at DAR (p. 110)
What happens when women create the luxury travel experience in the world’s most visited country?
We interview women bringing new perspectives and experiences, as they design a more authentic and feminine travel experience in France.
Elbia Eddaikra is the founder of Be Essential Club, a trusted local partner of EliteVoyage. It is a young French travel concierge company specialising in tailored travel experiences all across France.
Be Essential is proudly a female-led company. Is this an anomaly or quite normal in the French travel industry?
It’s quite specific to us. Most of our competitors are run by men and the staff are women. 95% of the travel agents we work with are women. Most of our contacts on site are women, we have more female guides than men. We try to work with women-led companies, like the hoteliers B Signature. The industry is changing but if you look at the numbers we’re not there yet. I believe in leading by example, so I will personally do the best I can to empower female-led companies and support them.
What advantages can you bring to travellers as a female-led travel company?
It’s about being more detail oriented and sensitive to how we can discover a country. Empathy is what really makes the difference, in my opinion. We adapt easier, whether it’s a family or multigeneration group or older couple. That’s probably why we work with a lot of women here. Women don’t stop at making jewellery or perfume, they make wine and cheese and take charge of the family businesses now. More and more collectives are female so we can only grow from here.
How do you think France is perceived as a destination?
A lot of strong women created the image of France abroad, like Coco Chanel, even Grace Kelly although she’s not French. There’s definitely a big female presence everywhere, the perfume, the sensitivity, fashion, food, the glamour of the City of Lights and all the love. So people see France as a very chic country and this is true. It’s also true that France is a destination with great gastronomy and service - everywhere you go you will eat well.
What types of holidays have been popular in the last year or so?
We have a lot of mother daughter trips and we love doing these. France is such a great destination for this, when you combine the fashion, perfume, food and history. Recently we’ve seen more big families travelling together, with grandparents and kids, renting a villa and being outdoors for their holiday. We pride ourselves on working with local people we know so we are a one-stop shop for everywhere and every type of holiday in France.
How about different destinations in France? Where is popular and trendy?
Luxury isn’t only about staying in five-star hotels. The luxury people look for now is the luxury of spending time together in a quiet place, so less discovered regions like Bordeaux and Brittany are really growing. Paris was number one last year and that won’t change, but in France there’s something to do in every region and that’s the beautiful thing. Normandy, down the west coast to Bordeaux and the Basque Country, across to Provence, Cote d’Azur, back up to the Alps, Burgundy, Champagne. And you can travel all year. In the winter you’ll be in the Alps, in the summer in the south, in Paris anytime of year.
How is this new definition of luxury changing the holidays you create?
Luxury for us is about exploring the destination with a local perspective and meeting relevant local people. Travellers nowadays would rather do more rustic things, like meeting a winemaker to learn how the wine is made rather than simply drinking it at fancy places. Or being invited into someone’s home and having dinner with them. We no longer book many Michelin-star restaurants, the luxury is going to the place that nobody knows about, a place recommended by the farmer at the market who told you it has the best oysters. People are starting to pride themselves on these experiences, rather than dining at star-rated restaurants, which many people can get access to.
You pride yourself on creating very unique travel experiences. Talk us through your approach.
For us it’s about creating the memories people will have forever. In Grasse we go to the rose fields where Dior perfume is made. We’re friendly with the great grandson of the painter Paul Cezanne, so visiting the Atelier de Cezanne with him is a different experience, full of family anecdotes and stories, what his great grandfather was thinking when making his paintings. Of course people still want to see some tourist places. If it’s your first time in Paris you want to see the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, but we’ll find a way for teenagers and kids to discover the same place in a different way. It’s all about our attention to detail and anticipation of the guests’ needs.
Tell us about your most favourite experiences in France.
I love visiting the Versailles gardens and we arrange a private tour of the castle and gardens, with the gardener of Versailles. So it’s an insight into how they were created and why, what was the inspiration, how life in the castle was managed. It’s a different perspective with a local person who can tell a story. We have female guides who used to be teachers, writers, old ballet dancers who travelled the world and realised France has so much culture they want to share.
At Musee d’Orsay we offer an olfactory tour with an art guide and perfume specialist that is really unique. You stand in front of a painting of lavender fields and the guide has fresh lavender to smell, so it’s a real sensorial experience. We do a market tour with a Parisian chef, you’d probably call it a farmer’s market, but for us they are local markets that always happen. The chef teaches you how to recognise a fresh fish by looking at the eyes, how to touch the vegetable in a certain way to know its freshness. It’s a food tour and you leave with things to take back with you.
What future do you have planned for Be Essential Club?
We want to specialise even further in the experiences, these very unique and different experiences. We’re thinking of opening other destinations, like Switzerland. You know us women, we’re very detailed oriented and want to do things extremely well, so first we’ll make sure everything in France is really exceptional, then we’ll move to other destinations.
EliteVoyageLuxury for us is about exploring the destination with a local perspective and meeting relevant local people.
Agathe and Anne Jousse are the mother and daughter team running B Signature Hotels & Resorts. They operate five boutique hotels in Paris, one in Brittany and a new ecoresort on the Caribbean island of St. Barth.
How unusual is to for a hotel group to be run by women?
Agathe: We are a hotel group centred around women. There are the two of us. All the general managers in Paris are women. 80-90% of our company are women. But when we go to the International Leisure Travel Market show all the decision makers are men. We need more women.
What advantages does a female perspective bring to your guests?
Anne: Design is so important. Design is not exclusive to women but women are very sensitive to this and it’s so important to all our properties. All the furniture is handpicked. People are looking for something created on a personal level, not mass produced, like they are entering somebody’s home.
Agathe: It’s not about being a woman, it’s about being close to the staff, knowing them by name, greeting them every time. This creates a feeling and an ambiance the guests will see. When you are close to your staff they give that back to the guests. The sensibility may be a bit different. It’s key to have men and women working together, because their vision is not the same and when they work together you get the best for the guest.
Paris has many good hotels, what makes your properties so distinctive?
Anne: The most important thing for each of the properties is location. We found the best location in each area of Paris. Like in Saint Germain we are at the Bel Ami, in front of the church of Saint Germain. Most of the properties are small and intimate, on the boutique hotel side.
Agathe: The design is faithful to the area, so our guests know what area in Paris they are staying. Bel Ami used to be an industrial building, a printing factory. In the rooms you’ll find a Parisian apartment atmosphere with art everywhere, because this was where writers and artists came. In the Champs-Élysées neighbourhood we have Hotel de Sers next to the Four Seasons. It was the former mansion of a noble, so the main building is a historical building, then the back part has been rebuilt new with the rooms.
Tell us about Domaine de la Bretesche, your Relais & Chateaux resort in Brittany.
Anne: Our Brittany property was the first, bought 40 years ago by my father, who was an insurance broker. He bought a golf course and a little hotel with ten rooms, very simple. He loved the place and created this Relais & Chateaux, a little French resort with pools, spa, golf and bicycles. I grew up there. It’s intimate, only 40 rooms, with the services of a big resort, perfect for families and close to the seaside. You know you are in Brittany, the stones, colours, style, everything is local. Inside it’s more contemporary because you need to be in the now, not two or three centuries ago - the fine dining restaurant is where the horse carriages used to park.
Everyone has a different view on Paris. What is yours?
Agathe: All the areas have something. We’re more Left Bank girls, in terms of style and views. I prefer to stay in Saint Germain on the Left Bank, that’s a very personal taste. In Paris you have all these small designers that are more of interest to women than men. All our properties are located in the key areas of Paris, surrounded by art galleries, exhibitions and these unique experiences.
Do you see the definition of luxury changing within travel?
Agathe: Luxury is an emotion not a product. You can be in the best place but if you don’t feel anything you won’t remember it. You need to have emotion when you are anywhere. We’re a family business and we are familiar, people need to feel this kind of approach. So when we are recruiting the main point is the personality, how they are. Maybe our opinion is different because empathy is stronger from a female perspective.
What’s the future for B Signature Hotels & Resorts?
Anne: The last hotel we bought is in St. Barth in the Caribbean. We built it as an ecoresort, with all the luxury of a resort, but using special things to limit the impact on the environment. We now have our Brittany hotel and two other hotels receiving the Clef Verte European label for sustainability. All of our properties will have it by the end of 2023. We are happy with what we have, still making improvements, watching the market to see what’s going on.
Luxury is an emotion not a product. You can be in the best place but if you don’t feel anything you won’t remember it.France - Cherchez la Femme! Domaine de la Bretesche, Brittany
What advantages are there to working with female-led travel companies, such as Be Essential Club?
Women have the emotional intelligence that’s so important for this industry. I work with a lot of women, so it’s powerful to work with a company such as Be Essential Club which is also led by women, as that is not very common. The connection I have with a partner is so important: it’s like we’re long-distance friends. I find communication to be more natural with female partners, as they always have a focus on the small and complex details, which is beneficial because I’m never designing a straightforward trip. These differences are subtle when I’m designing somebody’s holiday. Always the most important thing is the outcome, that’s where we are most selective. The work speaks for the partner and I wouldn’t say females or males achieve this better. Often they can complement each other.
Adéla Hübnerova is a travel designer at EliteVoyage, creating holidays for a wide variety of clients in different destinations. She works in partnership with Be Essential Club when designing holidays to France.
What are female travellers asking for when they go on holiday in France? Emily in Paris?
Emily is a stereotype although women are visiting Paris for shopping. I find women are really into choosing hotels based on the design. France is perfect for this as nowhere else has such a diversity of hotel design styles; more masculine or feminine, hotels with a lot of art, very historic hotels, historic hotels with modern touches. For example, I have a client staying in Airelles Château de Versailles, where the design is very historic and specific to the time of Marie Antoinette. She’s travelling with her husband and they will take the Orient Express back home.
What other types of holidays are you organising in France?
I have a lot of couples visiting Paris, it’s the city of love and women are more sensitive to this word. I focus on exploring the city as Paris has so much to offer. Just to go to Sacré-Coeur and have breakfast with a beautiful view, that’s something to do at least once in your life. Or to have a private visit to the Louvre or Versailles. In general, France is perfect for a celebration. There are so many nice hotels restaurants and things to do in three days. Drinks, food, shopping and fun, it’s an ideal birthday trip.
France is also popular for mother and daughter trips based around a celebration, like a birthday, anniversary or graduation. Each holiday I create in France is completely different to the next. I’ve arranged touring beehives and honey tasting on Parisian rooftops, harvesting fresh oysters in Normandy, a VIP weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix and heli-skiing down Mont Blanc.
What do you personally love about France?
France is really versatile and there are some amazing destinations not very well known in the Czech Republic. Normandy and Brittany are reviving and becoming fashionable destinations. Cities like Lyon and Bordeaux are very interesting in summer. Of course the Riviera is popular but there’s also the island of Corsica, which has so much culture, nature and beaches to explore. The wine regions are incredible too. Champagne is so beautiful, I just designed a celebration holiday there for my clients. I also love the little chateaux you can stay in.
Talk us through the travel design process. We design. We don’t have a template or sell a premade holiday like most other agencies. That’s why we can’t just reply instantly with a proposal. First I must understand what the client really wants from their holiday. Then we work with our partner, discuss the client’s needs and work together on their proposal. Everything is about communication with the partner and this process takes time, because we’re creating something unique and specific every time. It’s my responsibility to make sure everything in the holiday is made specifically for the client. All day we’re working on this creative process and that’s why we’re more than a travel agency.
We do a lot of family travel, like families taking summer trips to France. Female travellers don’t focus on themselves, they build everything around the kids. Here we come to emotional intelligence again. Guys are more likely to say I want to do this and this.
Females are asking about flight connections and specific hotel amenities for their children. The ladies are more focused on the little details along the way and usually have the last word in everything.
EliteVoyageby
It's my responsibility to make sure everything is made specifically for the client.Hotel de Sers, Paris
Dubbed Africa’s heaven of earth, Sao Tome and Principe is one of the world’s least visited countries. Discovering it had a five-star beach resort, Stephen Bailey went to check it out with his family.
Principe, a volcanic island cast adrift in the Atlantic. Black lava rocks glisten as we take breakfast on a golden beach, feet in the sand. Almond and coconut trees unfurl above the coffee pot. A monkey stops to stare. My daughter Leia chews on fresh pineapple. She’s just turned one. I breathe in the humid air and look around. Nobody. No prints in the sand either. Just fingers of rock climbing vertically to the sky, mountains dancing amid the mist. Plus our tented villa and private swimming pool, almost entirely hidden by the forest canopy. We’re one degree north of the equator, somewhere off the coast of Gabon, on an island entirely covered by rainforest. Where they serve Champagne with breakfast and barbecue octopus caught less than a kilometre away. We splash in the shallows and admire how nature reigns, how we’ve found something so rare and precious as a young family: silence and space.
Principe, an island nobody can locate on a map, not even myself. One part of one of the world’s least visited countries. Everything about having a first child is a journey into the unknown. So why not a holiday into the unknown too?
Somewhere we can all experience through the same virgin eyes, away from the routines and easy phone calls to inlaws. But can such uncharted territory be comfortable and relaxing as a family holiday?
First Lisbon, because TAP Air Portugal is the only realistic way to travel from Europe to Sao Tome and Principe. And also because it’s Lisbon, a vibrant city offering something new with every visit. We find ourselves wandering slowly through the Alfama barrio, where fado singing travels around streets of cobblestone and graffiti. Absorbing smells and sights, like the crumbling facade of an abandoned 19th-century palace, next to a hipster cafe and an espresso bar covered in azulejo tiles, down the steps from a tiny Michelin-starred eatery and a wooden-panelled bookstore from the 18th century. Lisbon has so many contrasting scenes and experiences. It’s only later I appreciate how this creates an important balance to the overall holiday. We stay in the newly renovated Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, a reassuring choice before an adventure: marble bathroom, big balcony, huge lounge areas, rooftop running track and lots of indoor space for Leia. The style is 1950s glamour, honouring when the hotel originally opened, the walls alive with vintage art and the lobby dappled in flowers.
After overnighting in Sao Tome, flying into Principe couldn’t feel any more different to Lisbon. Everything on the island is rainforest, reaching over the beaches towards the reefs, climbing up jagged mountains. The runway is the only gap in the trees. Luggage from the 16-seater plane is collected and pulled to the tiny terminal by a 1980s mini Kubota tractor. Fortunately my guide drives a new Landcruiser Prado as there’s hardly a kilometre of asphalt, the road changing from rugged and muddy to near impassable. This island instantly feels like a lost world, which evokes many contrasting emotions with a one-year old in tow. Including a little fear, something a welcome massage in a rainforest spa alleviates slightly.
Principe, an island nobody can locate on a map, not even myself. One part of one of the world’s least visited countries.
At Sundy Praia our wood and canvas villa hides on the beachfront, tucked among trees. It’s actually three villas, centred on a private pool, the design style from a world I don’t recognise: asymmetrical African patterns, porcupine quills, and a cavernous bathtub carved from a single piece of natural stone. A bamboo cocoon with a chequered black-and-white-tiled floor is the restaurant of this 16-unit resort. The big sliding glass doors and four-poster bed are more recognisable from five-star island properties elsewhere, as is a wooden deck reaching towards the ocean. From the sunlounger I hear the rainforest singing, waves rolling, clouds grumbling far away and now our butler, bringing a bottle of bubbles and a glass of passionfruit and mango juice for Leia. She quickly settles in, apart for one uncomfortable moment with a monkey. Leia ran towards it, like it was a benevolent family pet, except it was a wild primate prepared to hiss and bare teeth.
A lack of high quality accommodation prevented us from staying longer on Sao Tome island, where a one-night layover is unavoidable on the outward journey. Sao Tome is bigger and far more populated, even if over half the island has a similarly wild landscape of rainforest and volcanic mountain pinnacles. For now it lacks the infrastructure for a family or luxury holiday. Still, the people are friendly, the ceviche is sublime and somehow Leia didn't fall into any of the innumerable potholes.
Sundy Praia’s all-inclusive concept is unusual and refreshing. Instead of including lunch they include a daily activity. The next morning we walk deeper into the forest, higher upon a trail of red dirt,
following the sounds to a canopy waterfall. Walking in soft mud I glimpse spectacular towers of rock, the highest almost a kilometre above the ocean. There are wild mushrooms bigger than my hand, butterflies of luminous colours and small endemic birds in courtship dance. The entire landscape feels unconquerable, sharply juxtaposing our quiet afternoons by the pool with Champagne.
Down the beach from Sundy Praia a church stands in an evocative state of ruin, trees climbing forth from its roof. Or at least my guide says it was a church, the rainforest not merely overtaking the building, rather using stone as a shortcut towards the canopy. When the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century the island was barely inhabited. Since independence, rainforest has retaken their cacao plantations. Three former plantations are still in use. Colonial stateliness is preserved at Belo Monte, the island’s second five-star resort, on a cliff above Banana Beach. We find the sense of another era here, plus an aeroplane wing abandoned on the clifftops. Roca Sundy is Sundy Praia’s sister property, a working plantation house converted into a four-star property. Lunch from the resident Portuguese chef is magnificent and there’s real visual charm, rainforest in harmony with old stone warehouses and a disused railway line. And what a view from both these plantations! But I wouldn’t recommend staying at either. Neither are on the beach and the facilities are below Sundy Praia’s standard. Leia was bored during our visits, the uneven terrain and more imposing architecture not so suitable for children.
The entire landscape feels unconquerable, sharply juxtaposing our quiet afternoons by the pool with Champagne.
Paciencia is still an island plantation, the cacao replaced by fruits, vegetables and spices used in the Sundy Praia kitchen. “It’s so difficult getting anything to Principe,” says my guide, “everything we use except rice and cooking oil we grow or fish for ourselves." I’ve seen many hotel vegetable gardens, but this is a vast self-sustaining plantation, growing out from rich, fertile soil. Principe receives so
much rainfall it has a dry season, not a rainy season. June to September is the best time to go, plus December and January. These are the drier months, although my guide says there will still be a little rain. I'm travelling in November and with a baby I think that’s perfect. Give me a moody sky over neverending sunscreen application anytime.
We settle into the rhythm of island life. Isn’t it nice to wake up somewhere and think nobody knows where we are? To wake up and wonder, where are we? One morning we wake to the telltale trails of a sea turtle. She arrived after dark and we mark her nests with wooden poles. Another morning we explore three different beaches by boat, each long and golden and dotted with black lava rocks. Sitting on coconut fronds we eat barbecued red snapper, caught only an hour ago. Throughout a week-long stay there are many snorkelling and hiking activities with our private guide, plus visits to villages and tiny communities on the coast.
We settle into the rhythm of island life. Isn’t it nice to wake up somewhere and think nobody knows where we are?
Principe is an adventure destination in the mornings, a beach holiday in the afternoons. I wouldn’t come only for the beach, it’s this combination that makes the island unique. I wonder what Leia is thinking when she’s strapped into the baby carrier, looking out silently and curiously, upon rainforest and Atlantic waters. She’s definitely more of a beach girl, embracing the afternoons when she roams almost as she pleases.
With the current flight schedule less than 150 tourists a week can arrive on Principe. Surprising me most is the balance of wild untouched island and contemporary hospitality. How did they create such comfort in what is still one of the world’s least visited countries? It’s not a destination for the highest levels of luxury, even if it’s extremely comfortable, including for a one-year old. Everything is low-key and delightfully slow, rather than opulent or showy. Where else do the beaches lie so still and empty? Where else is the rainforest so immersive and accessible? These questions relax me when mosquitoes buzz around, even if Principe is malaria free. Or I have these moments of self doubt and realise nobody really knows where we are.
We came here to explore somewhere unknown and I’m finding Leia is the most adaptable among us. Some things are simply not available here, like a better beer than Superbok, which nags me not her. Children are like that I suppose, they’ll replace us one day. What we can do now, they'll do better in 20 years. Principe is a tiny spec in the Atlantic. Really, it’s simply nowhere at all. We’ve found adventure for two and a barefoot beach holiday for three. Everywhere we go we can be alone. Everywhere we go is just rainforest and beach, silence and space. And we’ve found something so rare and precious. An island where five minutes, five hours, even five days can go by, with only family and nature.
Everywhere we go we can be alone. Everywhere we go is just rainforest and beach, silence and space.8. Remains of the first Portuguese church on the island 9. Rainforest restaurant at Sundy Praia 10. Praia Burra in the north of Principe
Markéta Márová - Antipearle
Janja Prokić
Zdeněk Vacek
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Tell us the inspiration behind your latest collection.
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Which places have most inspired your art?
What’s your favourite destination for a shopping trip?
What’s the one piece of jewellery you can’t travel without?
Answer instinctively: what was your most amazing holiday?
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I’ve been working on and off the Inspired by Japan collection since 2011. I presented it at Designblok 2022. I was inspired by Japanese architecture and my work with a Japanese architectural studio. The collection replicates organic growth, multiplication and the subsequent variability of shapes. I came back to it during the pandemic, when I had time and need to finish things that were unfinished, and found space for the collection’s playfulness. Looking for the exact moment when work on a collection begins and ends is futile. Collections are constantly developing and I always find new possibilities.
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I usually travel light because I expect to bring back some discoveries from my travels. But I also like to travel with my own jewellery and wear it for a nice dinner, a trip, or a photo shoot. Mostly it is a mix of different collections. I carry a lot of rings, Japan Kruhy or Japan Veliké earrings with a ring, or a necklace from the Planet collection.
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Sometimes a person purposely goes somewhere to see architecture, design, people on the street, culture. For this I am most inspired by cities like New York and Paris, and Japan, which is a bit like another planet. Other times, a person goes away just to relax; inspiration comes thanks to that relaxation. When I'm in nature I gain inspiration by being fascinated in the diversity of flowers, leaves, animals and colours in the sky.
5 New York! My first solo trip there! It was an experience that led to me having an exhibition there the same year.
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I like to shop abroad because I enjoy discovering new brands, local fashion and store interiors. This way, I might come across a great shoe manufacturer with highly refined craftsmanship and interesting design. Shopping is simply a part of discovering the country in general, because local culture is reflected in the shops themselves.
1The inspiration for my last collection was the need to find light in my surroundings, in the world and especially in myself. Inner light provides a person with a certain lightness of being, necessary for overcoming difficult situations, but also for a positive outlook on life. As a symbol of light, I chose a candle flame, which has symbolised hope in art for centuries. The collection also includes the rare orange spessartine garnet. A legend is attached to it: when Noah set sail with his ark, a huge spessartine illuminated the lantern that shone Noah on his way to save the world.
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I draw most of my designs at a cottage in the north of Bohemia, or on trips to the mountains and sea. It's easiest to concentrate in nature. I relax, and the ideas come by themselves. I have long drawn inspiration from nature, literature and liberal arts. I'm quite inquisitive, so a lot of things influence me and they’re a real mix of perceptions! Free art and art history are essential for me to find connotations and meanings in the visual.
3 Shopping is my big weakness! I love it and could literally be shopping for anything all the time! Berlin and Paris suit my taste the best, as I like shopping for fashion, art and design. I like designers with a clear signature who are not too influenced by short-term trends. In the Czech Republic, I always prefer local designers and artists.
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I have two pieces of jewellery I almost always travel with. A few years ago, I made a ring at the cottage I consider my home, a piece of my favourite forest in the Lusatian Mountains. The second piece has a large teal-hued tourmaline embedded in it - I knew the stone was for me when I was shopping for it. It's like my personal talisman and gives me a sense of balance and anchoring wherever I am.
5 Sicily, a few years ago. And now more recently in the Italian Alps!
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The inspiration for my new Volcano Collection was sea formations that resemble the shape of volcanoes. And also the volcanic mountain ranges, which have always fascinated me. That's why I like to travel around the Canary and Azores islands. Volcanoes are unpredictable, beautiful and threatening at the same time.
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I don't have a specific place, because there are many inspiring places in the world. But I always need the ocean near me. It resonates with my energy.
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I always like to go back to Paris or Berlin, but usually I end up buying stuff online.
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I'm always wearing Antipearle jewellery, usually from the new collection that I'm photographing by the ocean. So I actually have a lot of different stories hanging on me when I travel.
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The most amazing holiday is yet to come…
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I have always been interested in history. The Queens collection was inspired by brave women who significantly influenced world history through their work. They were all ahead of their time, known for their refined tastes and fondness for pearl jewellery. The collection consists mainly of dominant gold rings, freshwater or Tahitian pearls, and diamonds that bear their names. First-class precious stones and pearls are supplied to me by my gemologist husband - a guarantee of quality for me and my clients. My collection is made by experienced masters all over the world. The production is quite demanding, because on flat, geometric surfaces, every small flaw is immediately recognisable.
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I have been inspired by Serbia for many years, where I spend most of the year. It is a sunny country with beautiful nature and a healthy atmosphere, good food and warm, cheerful people with great respect for traditions. In Serbia, you feel that you are really living life and not just surviving. I am inspired by travel and I will return to work with great enthusiasm after every trip I take.
3In general, I don't like to shop, even though I love to decorate myself. I prefer online stores and spend my time creating. I only like to buy groceries because I enjoy cooking. I love pijace with fresh and homemade ingredients. Pijace are farmers markets, essentially cult places in Serbia with social significance. I learned to speak Serbian there. Everyone asks you where you are from and everyone is nice, curious and sharing. Serbs respect Czechs and think very well of us.
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I usually travel with a Cleopatra gold ring with black rhodium from the Queens collection, a Gothic ring from the Engagement collection, and a Saturn bracelet from the Cosmos collection. Plus I always have earrings from my collections or just two simple diamonds from my husband. These particular jewels are practical in shape. I don't need to think about them when I travel, so I can devote myself to new things.
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A family trip to Trollhättan, Sweden. As a family we go on trips to new countries every year. I love Saabs and they were produced in the town of Trollhättan, whose museum was the target of our trip. After arriving in Stockholm, we explored Sweden by train.
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Working with pure gold has long attracted me, not only because of its aura and properties, but also because it’s uncommon in our region. Hence the name of the latest collection: RYZÍ, meaning pure in Czech. It is bright, intuitive, playful, spontaneous and naturally organic, the opposite of my previous collections designed in 3D space. The other inspiration for the RYZÍ collection is purely pragmatic - I consider it an investment, materialised in a beautiful piece of jewellery made of expensive materials with artistic value. I sign each genuine nugget with a number mark, as is customary with investment ingots. By not using any other alloy or solder, the boulders remain 999/000 pure. So the owner carries an investment alloy and a personal talisman in the form of jewellery.
2 Inspirations exist all over the world. But the most important place remains in my head. There, experiences, memories and emotions mix together. That's where my signature is born and the force that drives everything forward.
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For me, shopping for pleasure essentials is always about mood and location. I do not need to bring souvenirs from vacations and work trips. I have clothes from both local designers and from abroad, as I am not fixated on one brand.
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I travel with my jewellery. I consider them shamanic relics that shape me according to needs. Currently, my favourite things to wear are garnet rings made by my mother Jitka. Although they are full of fine details, they appear surprisingly masculine.
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A month travelling around Asia.
Carefree planning and realisation of all your trips.
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Do you share our passion to explore and discover new places? Our planet has so much to experience. Like a polar expedition, coming eye to eye with wild mountain gorillas, witnessing the great wildebeest migration or Amazon jungle. Wherever you dream of exploring, we will plan and arrange every detail of your trip.
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