Most members arrive with a question — a season, a country, a stage of life. These are the collections I send back, edited by hand and refreshed each quarter.
Italy is the country we send members to more than any other. Lake Como in late October, Amalfi shoulder weeks, Tuscan harvest, Sicily out of season, Venice in winter fog. These are the houses our counsellors come back to most.
Sometimes a hotel isn't the shape of the trip. A private villa in the Tuscan hills with the chef on call; a four-bedroom chalet ten minutes from the gondola; a Mallorcan finca for a long week without a single restaurant booking.
The Riviera works on the shoulder weeks. Late May before the season opens. The week between Cannes and Monaco. The first week of October when the boats are still in and the heat is gone.
Three openings worth the booking effort right now. We send a junior editor to every new opening before we list it; these three came back with stronger recommendations than usual.
The properties our members request by name year on year. There's a quiet honesty to repeat bookings — these are the rooms people come home to.
The properties that get the children's part right — kids clubs that are actually run by adults you'd hand your child to, multi-bedroom suites, the buffet at the right height, and a kitchen that knows how to handle a fussy six-year-old without making it a thing.
The country houses you take when the cities feel too loud — a private library, a working garden, a kitchen that cooks what's in season, a footpath out the back door.
There is a fashion-side and a clinical-side to wellness travel. We tend to send members to the clinical side — a physician-led week with measurable outcomes and an honest restaurant.
The European city break is the easiest, most underrated trip in the calendar. Friday morning flight, Sunday evening home, a museum, a market, a restaurant table you wouldn't normally hold.
A train journey, properly done, is its own holiday — a small fleet of carriages, a dining car you genuinely want to eat in, and a scheduled stop at one or two places worth the descent.
Three reserves we send members to most. Each does a different thing. Each is approachable for first-time safari travellers if introduced the right way.
The overwater bungalow is now its own category — and there are perhaps eight or nine properties in the world doing it at the level our members expect. Three of the best below.
Our editors and advisors are available to refine any of the above into a tailored itinerary. Members may write at any time.
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