Europe Luxury Travel

“Paris is always a good idea.” – Audrey Hepburn I’d slightly restate Ms. Hepburn’s quote to: “The Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris is always a good idea.” In the City of Lights, one of the most beautiful and celebrated cities in the world, the Four Seasons Paris offers an indelible aperture to experience all…

“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton Germany is one of the world’s most majestic countries, and Munich is its gift to global travelers of a window into the past and a masterful blend of the classic and the current. The luxurious Mandarin Oriental Munich…

“I would rather own a little and see the world, than own the world and see a little” – Alexander Sattler The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest is a European jewel, elegantly positioned at the banks of the River Danube in the stately Gresham Palace. It’s hard to imagine visiting Budapest without enjoying a…

“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen” – Benjamin Disraeli When I first started writing about luxury hotels and resorts, I created a bucketlist of the places I most wanted to visit and experience. From time to time over the years, I would glance…

“In the middle of it, there’s joy” – Unknown   There’s something quite special about life’s unpredictability. A couple of months ago, a trip to Geneva, Switzerland and a stay at one of its finest finest hotels was about as likely as a trip to the moon. But that all changed in the blink of…

“I should like the window to open onto the Lake of Geneva – and there I’d sit and read all day like the picture of somebody reading” – John Keats   A few months ago, the prospect of gazing upon Lake Geneva was as remote as meeting a living Mr. Keats. But funny things happen…

“Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life” – Anna Akhmatova One of the many beauties of Italy is that there are so many different cities and regions to visit, making Italy – in my opinion – the most beautiful destination country in the world. But the flip side is…

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy” – Giuseppe Verdi   The magic of Italy never ceases to amaze, and never disappoints; and the City of Florence – while sometime overshadowed by Paris, Venice, and Tuscany – reveals its own special secrets to those who walk its streets and visit its many…

“I cannot write about Venice; I can only write about me, and the sleeping parts of myself that Venice has shocked into wakefulness.” – Jessica Zafra, Twisted Travels   If you’ve had the fortune to visit Venice, Italy, then this quote likely strikes you in the way it did me.  Venice is the most visually, spiritually,…

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton   Some luxury properties defy description, comparison or categorization – to such an extent that the visitor must simply surrender to the people, the tastes, the scenes, and the surroundings of the property; and just take it…

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery   I’m often asked a variation of the same question – what I refer to as “The Best” question – where someone asks for example: “What’s the best hotel you’ve ever stayed…

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” – Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon This quote really speaks to how I feel about the city of Lisbon, Portugal.…

“Luxury is not always explicit, but ever absolute and incomparable like the gown of a mermaid or the jewel of a nymph.” – Faisal Mushtaq There are moments when visiting luxury resorts and hotels that the beauty of a property is so resplendent as to undermine any attempts at observation or description.  Such moments are rare, but…