Gabonus

18/08/2022

Surrounded by the most splendid gardens on the Amalfi Coast, this historic Ravello property can trace its origins back to the 11th century. The villa was largely rebuilt in the early 1900s by Lord Grimthorpe (an English co-designer of Big Ben), and it soon attracted the likes of Virginia Woolf, Greta Garbo, and E.M. Forster. The sumptuously decorated suites include vaulted ceilings, Majolica tile floors, and cheerful frescoes. Michelin-starred restaurant Il Flauto di Pan serves elegant twists on homestyle local dishes, such as white rabbit ragù and marinated Cetara anchovies. But the villa’s simplest delight is also its most spectacular: Gore Vidal once said that the view from the garden’s belvedere was the most beautiful place in the world.

18/08/2022

A fitting emblem of the new Perth, The Treasury is part of the ambitious Cathedral Square development, a $580 million reinvention of a cluster of 19th-century state treasury and Anglican Diocese buildings on the edge of the Central Business District, which sat empty for more than 20 years before the COMO outpost moved in. Almost every detail in the hotel (which primarily occupies the top floors of three 140-year-old buildings) has been returned to its original state, from the reinstalled dormer windows to the roofline’s copper trim. Check out Wildflower, the hotel's glassed-in rooftop restaurant, for a taste of this pioneer city's thriving food scene, courtesy of executive chef Jed Gerrard, and David Thompson’s Thai street-food joint, Long Chim, adjacent to the hotel.

18/08/2022

Though it’s a sleek, modern hotel with impeccable high-tech hardware in its 185 rooms, Raffles’ address in Istanbul still channels the city’s Byzantine charm and mystery. Chalk it up to the gorgeous views from almost every room and lush Turkish textiles, handicrafts (like pierced metal-and-glass similar to those found in the Blue Mosque), and dramatic, oversized framed photos of its most famous sites. Set in the central Besiktas neighborhood on the European side, the Raffles puts guests right on top of an array of shopping and dining options, and you can see the Bosphorus from many of the rooms.

10/08/2022

Tucked away amid the quiet, tree-lined streets of Shanghai’s former French Concession, this is much more than a luxury hotel. It’s actually a cultural preservation zone—an innovative restoration of the Xuhui District’s last remaining cluster of 1930s-era shikumen townhouses, where traders and expats dwelled in the city’s golden era. In preserving this piece of Shanghai’s cultural heritage, Capella Hotels & Resorts has created its own gateway to the city’s cosmopolitan past. Under the auspices of Jaya International Design, the complex of over 200 townhouses, connected by tiny lanes, has been transformed into an urban resort of 55 luxurious villas and 40 private residences, still linked around shared courtyards and secret gardens, and now enclosing a transformative spa and wellness center (named Auriga, for the constellation in which the Capella star sits).

10/08/2022

Legend holds that on his pilgrimage across Asia, the Buddha stopped to rest where the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers merge, in the middle of what we now know as Luang Prabang. He prophesied that a rich and powerful metropolis would rise along these banks. Though that apex only lasted from the 14th to the 16th century, this Kingdom of a Million Elephants lived on for architect Bill Bensley, who celebrated this era at Rosewood’s low-slung riverside retreat. Minimalist it is not. Hilltop tents overflow with romantic touches—chubby camp beds, clawfoot tubs, silk and velvet accents. At riverfront villas, the rush of water somersaulting over time-smoothed boulders acts as nature’s alarm clock for an early morning meditation with monk-in-residence Sommaiy. Deep community ties mean guests take tea with Tiao Somsanith Nithakhong, a local royal turned patron of lost Lao arts, or join a procession of 800 saffron-clad novices gliding through rice fields and primary forests for a private blessing ceremony. Rosewood’s elephant figurine–festooned cocktail bar is a delightful aerie arched over the waterfall, and make sure to ask to see the secret boutique, stocked with finds like kaleidoscopic scarves woven by a cooperative of young disabled Laotians who are some of the town’s most promising artisans.

10/08/2022

Dublin’s Docklands are known as the “Silicon Docks,” with the European headquarters of Facebook, Google, and Airbnb all taking up residence here. The Marker Hotel, a sleek geometric building in the middle of Grand Canal Square, is the district’s unofficial landmark. There’s a hip vibe throughout, from the light-filled lobby to the bedrooms bursting with pops of color. You’ll always find some young Dubliners having a drink in the atrium, and on sunny days the rooftop bar is sure to be hopping.

30/07/2022

Perhaps the most celeb-beloved hotel in London, the building lives up to the hype: it’s a flouncy, fiery red-brick former fire station between trendy Marylebone High Street and Baker Street. The 26 rooms go all-out with retro British glamor, super-luxe beds with custom-made sheets, working fireplaces, and heated bathroom floors, and all but two rooms have working gas fireplaces. The restaurant—usually booked up months in advance—holds back tables for hotel guests (order the crab-stuffed donuts with wasabi and chopped egg).

30/07/2022

This is a Four Seasons, so you can expect seamless service and a lot of greige carpeting. However, this particular outpost is somewhat unique in that so many big names were tapped for its creation: floral designer Jeff Leatham, composer Brian Eno, architect Norman Foster, and chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Greg Vernick. Their contributions along with expansive skyline views from every vantage point on the property and passionate, genuine service could make this the beginning of a transformation of Philadelphia's hotel scene.

30/07/2022

30/07/2022