The newest travel trend, as seen throughout Italy, is to nuzzle up to nature as much as possible. Italy sets fashion trends, not only in gear but in gallivanting as well. As Castelfalfi in Tuscany, general manager Roberto Protezione looks after A-list guests—no names mentioned, but you can be sure there are more than a handful of household-name movie and sports stars with a sizeable sprinkling of business tycoons. Increasingly, these important individuals (or their “team”) want to know a number of things beforehand. 27 holes of golf, designed by whom? Is there tennis? How about padel, essential these days, and biking and hiking? With the exception of golf clubs, travellers today, it seems, expect hotels to provide the gear and it must be the best, say a Cinelli Nemo Zagato bike, of Columbus Omnicrom steel with a polished nickel finish.
Image courtesy of Castelfalfi
Another trend is entertainment travel. Downton Abbey has made millions in visitors’ fees from eager fans around the globe who flock to Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, where much of the series was shot. It’s all become so commercial that the owner’s wife, the Countess of Carnarvon—former Cooper & Lybrand auditor Fiona Aitken—is obviously perfectly suited to maximise the Downton Abbey brand.
Image courtesy of Peter Vitale / Four Seasons
Now HBO’s White Lotus is having a similar effect. Writer-director Mike White chose Sicily’s San Domenico Palace, Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel after minutely scrutinising a shortlist of over 70 memorable properties around the entirety of Europe. Fortunately, the hotel usually closes for the winter, but it stayed open to house actors and crew, with the ballroom turned into the nerve centre for all operations. Hotel general manager Lorenzo Maraviglia recalls how female stars, in bikinis, had to cavort around while braving January temperatures. It was certainly worth it from San Domenico Palace’s viewpoint: rooms are forward-booked in high summer through to 2027. At other times, Robb Report Hong Kong would recommend the east-facing room 263, elegantly boasting five-metre ceilings in a 19th-century building that overlooks terraced gardens and the Gulf of Naxos.
When it comes to gardens, the big name here is tree specialist Enzo Enea, who starred at Art Basel, the original one in Switzerland, on 17 June this year. This Swiss maestro, whose 280-person studio is on the grounds of a Cistercian convent near Zurich, is attracting cult admiration worldwide for the stunning trees and other greenery he puts into his living art. His work can be seen at the Bulgari Hotel Beijing. In Basel, Enea shared his plans for Puglia’s spectacular Masseria Mavaglia, launching in late 2025, and he showed off the Bosphorus-hugging gardens of The Peninsula Istanbul, commissioned by Sir Michael Kadoorie, The Peninsula’s gentleman of all arts.
Image courtesy of The Peninsula Paris
Sir Michael is renowned, among many things, for vehicles, be they vintage or new classic marques, as long as they are Peninsula Green. He is also fascinated by aircraft from another era. The rooftop L’Oiseau Blanc restaurant at The Peninsula Paris has its own vehicle. In an open space next to the restaurant hangs a life-size copy of the biplane in which WWI aces François Coli and Charles Nungesser disappeared while attempting, on 9 May 1927, to fly the Atlantic before Lindbergh.
What would Sir Michael make, one wonders, of the only running example of the radical “six-wheeler” Tyrell P34, the pride of Ken Tyrell’s portfolio? P34 was designed 50 years ago by Tyrell’s lead designer Derek Gardner. Radically, it had four 10-inch wheels at the front, and two normal wheels at the rear. In the 1976 Formula One season, South African Jody Scheckter and French ace Patrick Depailler took the Tyrell P34 to the Swedish Grand Prix and then Monaco. Tyrell, by then owned by British American Tobacco, stopped racing in 1998, but the plans for the P34 escaped. The car, via the Prestige Driver platform, is ready-to-race with a new FIA HTP.
It is hard to impress these days, but Australia has something on offer. Get to K’gari before your mates. Until last week, it was Fraser Island. Now, the Queensland island has been renamed. At 123 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide, it is Australia’s sixth-largest island and it claims to be the world’s biggest sand island. It’s known for supreme whale-watching. Now to November, boat trips go splashing distance while watching humpback whales halfway through their 10,000-kilometre annual migration.
It’s also impressive to invest in casks of Irish whiskey or Scotch whisky. Jay Bradley, co-founder Whiskey & Wealth Club, explains that some distillers need to finance new-made spirits while maturing in casks until the liquid is, after three documented years, legally whisk(e)y. While not all distilleries use this model, smaller ones can greatly benefit from the arrangement. Everyone wins—the distiller gets income, the investor can subsequently drink his investment in liquid gold or sell on to a brand for a profit, and brands who do not own distilleries can buy aged casks to bottle immediately.
From potables to edibles. Hong Kong’s The Upper House has an experience specialist, Kay Cheung, also known as The Foodie for her behind-the-scenes treks. This sounds like the perfect way to discover The Chinese Library in Tai Kwun, a blend of contemporary art, historic architecture, and decadent Cantonese nibbles. If that’s not enough of an educational meal, add Sheung Wan Market and Cooked Food Centre’s open-air dai pai dong food stalls and ABC Kitchen. Most of life is here, in Hong Kong.
