Adrian Cheng has long been a face of investment, jewellery, and retail, and the K11 shopping experience in Hong Kong far exceeds what such icons as Neiman Marcus and Harrods, or even Hong Kong-owned Harvey Nichols, can offer. But the CEO of New World Development was impressively speaking as the founder of the WEMP Foundation at Bloomberg Wealth Asia Summit on 9 May. WEMP, he explained, stands for well-being, EQ, mental wellness, and parenting.

Communication with kids is also a message put out by American singer John Legend—he had his own kids at the launch of his Loved01 wellness brand. Interestingly, he believes that families bond in the bathroom—perhaps fighting over Loved01’s sea buckthorn and rosehip oil-infused toning mist? He even talked male face-care at The Business of Beauty: Global Forum 2023, streamed on 30 and 31 May from Stanly Ranch, Napa Valley.

The one-year-old Stanly Ranch, by the way, is part of Auberge Resorts Collection—it was originally conceived as St Regis, but that’s another story. Stay in one of the 40 villas or 135 rooms to have access to the 288-hectare ranch, overseen by general manager Avi Haksar. As well as obvious wine tastings, design a Hampui hat while you are there. Designer Willee Roberts helps plan a hat that incorporates, perhaps vine branches or other embellishments, then handmade in Hampui’s Berkeley studio and sent to your home.

For more on the fashion front, go Tiffany blue—the Nike x Tiffany Air Force 1 1837 is black suede with a Tiffany swoosh. It’s interesting that Charles Lewis Tiffany was only 25 when he opened a boutique on New York’s Broadway in 1837. Next time in the Big Apple, visit Tiffany’s current flagship, on Fifth Avenue. Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Petrossian caviars. Later in the day, try Tiffany’s Blue Box Café’s CLT, a chicken club sandwich named for the founder.

Zanzibar is becoming really hot on the world map, possibly because of Freddie Mercury—born Farrokh Bulsara, he was brought up on the island. In 2019, the must-visit Freddie Mercury Museum was established there ocean-side by his band, Queen, and two childhood friends (stay three minutes away, at Park Hyatt Zanzibar, preferably in its 450-square-metre Zamani Suite). In London, Sotheby’s is selling Mercury memories from 6 to 13 September. He left everything to his one-time girlfriend Mary Austin, who has been living in his Kensington home, Garden Lodge, since his death in 1991. Prior to the auction—which includes a Picasso—a display, Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, is currently at Sotheby’s London. It will travel to Hong Kong sometime late August. 

Combine a trip to Zanzibar with a tour of South Africa’s justly famous Constantia and Franschhoek vineyards, travelling in the sidecar of a baby-pink 1960s motorbike, Nellie. It has an 18hp Boxer-style side-valve CJ750, influenced by BMW’s R71, which was introduced in 1935. Owners Cape Sidecar Adventures, who provide both vehicle and rider-guide, have named Nellie for Cape Town’s Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel, which had its exterior painted to symbolise joy and peace at the end of WWI. Mount Nelson is part of the sprawling LVMH portfolio, and as well as standard bedrooms there are charming just-modernised two-suite cottages in historic Sydenham Terrace, 200 metres from the main 1899 building. 

Today’s luxury travellers relish at least a hint of history. Way back in the mid-1970s, Orient-Express owner James Sherwood and The Peninsula’s parent company, Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels, both wanted a development on Victoria Harbour, but Bob Burns triumphed and the Regent Hong Kong opened in 1977. It’s now magnificently re-opening. Three floors of the 497-key beauty are already fully operational, says managing director Michel Chertouh (don’t miss the bath experiences, with Perricone toiletries and more—soak and look, at designer Chi Wing-lo’s bamboo wall, adding a sense of nature).

Michelin-starred Lai Ching Heen and that eternal favourite Steak House, with its dedicated buffet room, are full of Hong Kong gourmets. Nobu re-opens in September, along with a new travel-themed bar. The legendary 700-square-metre duplex, the Presidential Suite, will, of course, be open in time before the grand opening in the second week of November.