Not a quiz. Six trips I would actually book — still luxury, less predictable, with the logistics attached. Each one is real, and each one can be planned.
A private island weekend
For anyone who would rather run a small sovereign nation than check into a hotel.
You don’t want a hotel. You want a small sovereign nation for a long weekend, staff who already know your coffee order, and zero chance of being reached by phone unless you’d like to.
Bookable through Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. Anything you can dream can be made real — the fireworks, the dancers, the drone shows. I can help you shape the most mind-blowing event on your private island.
An overnight that is the point
Polished brass, a cabin like a private dining room, countryside sliding past.
You are not interested in getting somewhere quickly. You want the journey to be the point — polished brass, a cabin that feels like a private dining room, and the small theatre of dressing for dinner while the countryside slides past.
Railway experiences to start with: Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Belmond British Pullman, Belmond Royal Scotsman, Rocky Mountaineer, Belmond Eastern & Oriental Express. Enquire for more.
If you book yourself: luggage limits are real, cabins are beautiful and compact, and the cabin you want on a peak departure sells out months ahead. If you book with me: I handle cabin selection, timing, transfers either side, and the small details that make the overnight feel considered rather than complicated.
Sleeping inside a story
Set-jetting, done properly — not a themed lobby.
Set-jetting is the new go-to: sleeping inside a story, not a themed lobby. A White Lotus hotel, a scene from The Tourist, the real places a film you care about touched — with someone who can get the access tourism offices will not put on a brochure. Tell me the wish. I will make sure it is met.
Bookable through Hotel Danieli, Doge Dandolo Royal Suite, and Palazzo Pisani Moretta.
The beauty of it is experiencing Hotel Danieli in the spirit of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp’s characters in The Tourist — a stunning royal suite on the Riva degli Schiavoni facing the lagoon, prepared shopping gifts, and a fairytale of a stay. A celebration of love. I take care of the background logistics so you do not have to.
Cold air and early lifts
The mountain is the programme. Everything else is support.
You want cold air, early lifts, and a hotel that treats ski logistics as seriously as the spa. The mountain is the programme. Everything else is support.
Bookable through Four Seasons Hotel Megève.
What this actually involves: a transfer that gets you on snow for the first morning, boot storage that does not eat twenty minutes, and dinner booked late enough that an afternoon on the mountain is still allowed.
Walls, gardens, and a hush
Courtyards over coastlines. Craft over spectacle.
You want walls, gardens, and the particular hush of a city that performs loudly outside and quietly inside. Courtyards over coastlines. Craft over spectacle — though you will still take the spectacular table if it is the right one.
Bookable through Royal Mansour Marrakech.
What this actually involves: riad-level privacy with palace-level staff, a packing list for both heat and evening cool, and guides who know when to leave you alone in the medina and when to intervene.
One house, one week
A house, not a room key.
You want a house, not a room key. Shared breakfasts, a kitchen that works, and the option to see no one from the hotel corridor for seven days — unless you decide the restaurant is worth leaving for.
Bookable through Hotel Cala di Volpe, Costa Smeralda.
What this actually involves: boat and beach logistics that actually run on time, a villa or suite configuration that fits your group without pretending two adjoining rooms are the same thing, and restaurants booked before the island fills for August.