Le Guanahani recently finished a $40-million, top-to-bottom renovation giving the St. Barths favorite a fresh look inside and out. Exteriors are in bright turquoise, yellow and lavender, while new interiors, including the 30 rooms, 27 suites and 10 signature suites, channel “explorer” and “contemporary Creole” designs. Public areas, restaurants, rooms and suites all have custom Luis Pons-designed furniture. The decorator was inspired by the luggage chests explorers used for their journeys in the Caribbean. Additionally, there is an extensive fitness center, a Spa by Clarins and several dining and bar options, including dining on the beach with your feet in the sand. The “cook your catch” program and extensive wellness options are unique. Activities here range from hiking to aqua fitness, paddle fitness, yoga and Pilates. The renovation includes a full-service salon and, of course, the highlight of Le Guanahani remains its location spread
across 18 acres with beaches on adjacent bays and a reef.
Downtown Manhattan has a new luxury hotel, a second Four Seasons, and it nicely complements its midtown sister. It features Wolfgang Puck’s first restaurant in the Big Apple, his seventh CUT, which has a private dining room that seats up to 30. The hotel features 189 rooms occupying the first 24 of 82 floors with residences on the floors above. Located on Barclay Street, it will compete with the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park, the new Conrad and Trump Soho, as well as several boutique hotels, in terms of luxury players. It’s about a seven-minute stroll to Foley Square and various courthouses and is even closer to City Hall and the Federal Reserve. If you’re on vacation, it’s a quick walk to the Hudson River with its paths for walking and biking, the 911 Memorial, the South Street Seaport and up to Tribeca. Chinatown also is within walking distance, and it offers easy access across the bridge to Brooklyn as well. And if you plan to fly in or out, it’s about a mile from the Downtown Heliport.
One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos continues to rack up awards, but the real news is the 14,000-square-foot Villa One. A glass house with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, it provides views of the private infinity-edge pool, the Sea of Cortez and Los Cabos from every room. From the 870-square-foot master bedroom to the private chef, this villa is one of a kind. There is an “inclusive full-bar selection” offered for guests and spa treatments can be done in-house. Los Cabos offers a variety of spectacular villas, including the Ty Warner Mansion at Rosewood’s Las Ventanas. Villa One&Only enables those of you who enjoy the villa experience to also combine it with five-star hotel service and facilities.
Situated some 1,500 feet above Lake Lucerne, Bürgenstock is a resort complex that, when it reopens later this year, is expected to take a place on numerous “best” lists. A favorite of fifties and sixties celebrities, it’s where Audrey Hepburn married Mel Ferrer and it served as home for Sofia Loren and Carlo Ponti. One hour from Zurich Airport, the complex will include four hotels, such as the legendary Palace Hotel and The Waldhotel — which is being redesigned by Matteo Thun. There will be numerous restaurants of different styles from Swiss and Asian to Indian; most will offer spectacular views of the hills and lake below. In addition to two golf courses, a variety of outdoor activities and a spa, general wellness will be the central theme. Menus designed by “nutrition scientists” will be part of the offering to guests who want to visit for weight loss as part of medical tourism.
From “Robb Report” and the “Financial Times” to “Vanity Fair,” the “Hong Kong Tatler,” “Conde Nast Traveler,” “Harper’s Bazar” and more, Nihiwatu has generated global media coverage. Not only was it rated the number one hotel in the world in 2016 by “Travel + Leisure,” but it also has nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram. This is more than the entire Peninsula Hotels group and twice as many as iconic hotels such as Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, despite being located on the secluded Indonesian island of Sumba. Fly in from Bali for a nice combination destination.
The work of former Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood executive James McBride, this former surfer’s hideaway brings the cultures of Africa and Asia together. There is a large equestrian program, a secluded spa where you can stay overnight in a private elevated spa villa, villas with private pools and decks that sit over the ocean, a unique connection with nature and small details of luxury. There are just 33 villas across 600 acres, each with different appeal. The Boathouse is a popular gathering point at the end of the day to watch the sunset, have a drink and enjoy freshly caught sashimi.
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