Vacationing is hard work, but fortunately, I’m good at my job.
I’ve always thought LAX was the most glamorous airport in the U.S., not because you stand a better than average chance of spotting a celebrity at the next urinal, but because of the Theme Building, which is as close as it gets to visiting The Jetson’s in their intergalactic bubble house. (OK, there’s always psilocybin mushrooms and a Hannah-Barberra marathon on TV, but you get the drift.)
One time, I thought it would be funny to return home from a February weekend in London with a tan. I’d been bumped up to first class, and spray tanning was one of the myriad ways to waste time/indulge yourself in Virgin’s Upper Class Departure Lounge at Heathrow. … read more
Note that I didn’t say “the best,” although some of them are. At the same time, some of them are down-at-the-heels and far from fashionable, but I offer my rationale for each.
The Bangkok Oriental, Bangkok…
…because in one of the world’s most exotic cities, it sets the gold standard for luxury and service
Twin Farms, Barnard, VT…
…because there actually is a world-class, ultra-luxurious inn (complete with its own ski mountain) in Vermont
The Villa La Massa, Florence, Italy…
because this Medici Villa on the banks of the Arno (where David Bowie and Iman got married) is the sister hotel of the Villa d’Este in Lake Como, and it feels like the Tuscan countryside but it’s only 10 minutes from the Ponte Vecchio
The Serena Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania…
…because it overlooks one of the most extraordinarily wild places on the planet but remains so civilized that the gin martini’s are chilled to 28 degrees
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