THE GOLD LIST 2018 Our letter to the that make feel sexier, smarter, that make us walk with a little more and remind us who want to be and we to live. GOLD LIST > BEACHES

ALWAYS gardens, horseback riding, WHEN YOU golf, amazing diving, and GREAT just about every other water AND REALLY NEED sport ever invented. CLOSE TO GET (ENOUGH) Nihi Sumba Island AWAY TO HOME An eco-surf dream with green architecture, 560 spread across a five-acre untouched acres of jungle, FOR Amanera Playa Grande, Cheval Blanc Randheli slip of an island. You’ll also and a legendary left- The rare Maldivian resort have your own private breaking wave you’ll have the Cheval Blanc St Barth Isle where the beach villas overwater spa and dive all to yourself. de St. Barts outdo those over water; of center, and exclusive use of all the megawatt luxe a 62-foot yacht. Soneva Fushi Cuixmala Costalegre, resorts in the area, it wins Maldives Mexico for most elegant. Halcyon House, More jungly than others in Eden Rock - St. Barths Cabarita Beach the archipelago, this resort St. Barts El Nido Resorts Yes, it’s an Instagram has a refreshingly unfussy Pangulasian Island darling, but it’s more than vibe; everyone is barefoot Four Seasons Resort Philippines a beachy Aussie photo op and rides bikes on the wind- Living the at Peninsula Forty-two pitched-roof villas with its house restaurant ing paths that seem designed of... Papagayo Costa Rica glamorous life at on alabaster sand along pro- that does some of the best to help you get lost. Four Seasons Resort Lanai Il tected waters teeming with room service and breakfast Hawaii Pellicano in damselfish—and you get anywhere—plus there’s a Trisara, Phuket TAN FEET, Tuscany. sunrise and sunset views. tennis court and a spa on GoldenEye the way. The food alone is enough to get us to this resort that Guana Island Four Seasons Private Island OUTDOOR at Voavah Maldives Laucala Island Resort Fiji overlooks the Andaman Sea. British Virgin Islands Off the grid at This is the spot for a totally This private island is the It’s super secluded too, Hermitage Bay Kamalame OTT friends or extended- new Polynesian paradise, tucked into a quiet cove SHOWERS, AND Cay in the family getaway, with seven with 25 villas set among surrounded by coconut and Hotel Esencia Playa del Bahamas. bedrooms that sleep 22 coconut trees and tropical fishtail palms. AFTERNOON Carmen, Mexico Hôtel Le Toiny St. Barts NAPS Insólito Boutique Hotel Búzios, UNDER A Jumby Bay Island Antigua Kamalame Cay Bahamas PALAPA Malibu Beach Inn Malibu, Calif.

Malliouhana, An Auberge Resort Some beaches make you Ocean House Watch Hill, R.I. want to wear a Valentino dress to dinner, One&Only Palmilla San while others require little more than José del Cabo, Mexico a bikini and a cover-up. Here, the properties The Resort at Pedregal Cabo San Lucas, Mexico we love that satisfy every Jamaica beach fantasy. Rockhouse Rosewood Mayakoba Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa Trancoso, Brazil

lettering by TANYA DESELM From left: Photographs by Yolanda Edwards; Adrian Gaut GOLD LIST > BEACHES

ALL ABOUT THE DAYTIME SPRITZ & WINE WITH LUNCH

Belmond Grand Hotel Hotel Santa Caterina Timeo Taormina, , Italy Etched A requisite stop on the improbably into the side 19th-century Grand Tour, of the mountain overlook- the flawlessly renovated ing the , it’s hotel adjacent to the ancient refreshingly old-school, with Greek theater overlooks brochure stands at the the Bay of Taormina and an front desk and the kind of active Mount Etna in the honest food you want to eat distance. in this part of the world.

Belmond Hotel Splendido Il San Pietro di Portofino, Italy A La Dolce Italy Still the sexiest Vita fantasia overlooking place to stay on the Amalfi Portofino’s harbor, with Coast, full stop. walls lined with photos of Le Sirenuse Positano, Italy Hollywood legends who’ve Almost every memorable passed through and a gen- Instagram image of teel bar, manned, for the Positano’s rooftops, domed past 47 years, by Antonio. church, and deep-blue curve Borgo Egnazia of the Mediterranean was Savelletri di Fasano, Italy shot from the light-flooded Possibly the loveliest break- deck here. fast buffet, with every Maçakizi Hotel charcuterie and cheese you Bodrum, could want, and access At this little-known to super-in-the-know local treasure it’ll be just you advisers (instead of con- and beautiful Turkish mod- cierges) who can point you els and actors you won’t to the most authentic orec- recognize sunbathing and chiette con le cime di rapa. taking dips in the Aegean. Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, Masseria San Domenico a Four Seasons Hotel Saint- Savelletri di Fasano, Italy Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France Caught-in-time yet Classic Côte d’Azur glam totally on point, with with the best pool scene monogrammed mus- ever—dedicated sunglass tard-yellow towels, an inti- desmudgers, an enormous mate three-stool pool saltwater pool absent bar set around an olive tree, any lap swimmers, and and simple alfresco the plushest blue-and-white lunches of grilled sardines striped towels. and tomato salad. Hotel Il Pellicano Porto Ercole, Italy A morning swim followed by poolside tanning and Aperol spritzes WANT MORE TRIP takes you right into cocktail INSPIRATION? hour. It’s like living in a Slim CNTRAVELER.COM Aarons photo. GOLD LIST > SAFARIS

FOR the LOVE of... BEING LULLED TO SLEEP BY THE SOUNDS OF GRUNTING HIPPOS

A few nights in the bush are going to be memorable no mat- ter what, but the right prop- erty—in a spot-on location with expertly trained guides, good community relations, and spaces that enchant during the idle hours between game drives—can make your trip life- changing. What comes to mind are places that plunk you into IMAX-like ecosystems, such as the sleek andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge on Botswana’s lush delta, home also to the new Duba Plains Camp, whose tented

Jack’s Camp in Botswana’s

Makgadikgadi Pans. Photograph by David De Vleeschauwer GOLD LIST > SAFARIS > MOUNTAINS

suites have the copper-tub- chic expedition style of its gold-standard sibling, Zarafa Camp. Or Jack’s Camp out in the Makga­dikgadi Pans, with an Oriental-rug-lined tent surrounded by desert so silent you can hear your own thoughts. For deck view- ing, there’s Jamala Madikwe in , whose five villas overlook a water hole with more wildlife than you’re likely to see on a drive, and Somalisa Camp in Zim­ babwe’s Hwange National Park, where herds of elephant guzzle from the pool. You can’t stay at Sirikoi Lodge, with its family-gathered heirlooms, without feeling linked to the land’s history—and to its future, thanks to the excep- tional rhino conservation work on ’s Lewa Wild- life Conservancy. Segera If you are a die-hard American or Retreat, with its contempo- FOR Canadian Rockies skier who can lean rary African art collection, into chili and beer for a week, there makes you conscious of the the is little incentive to ski any other part continent’s shifting identity, of the world. (A direct flight to Salt and lodges like Bisate in LOVE Lake City, plus the 40-minute drive to Rwanda connect deeply with Montage Deer Valley in Park City, the local community, for of... with its ski-in/ski-out primo positioning, whom safari tourism presents is about as frictionless as this most fric- a new economy beyond tion-filled sport gets, whereas the newly subsistence. Then there are FRESH renovated, historic Hotel Jerome in the places that completely Aspen taps into our cowboy fantasies.) channel the soul of their sur- AIR, That is, unless you’re a sucker for the roundings. Consider old-world charms, historic lodges, ’s Mwiba Lodge, FRESH POWDER, and après-ski culture of the Swiss, where lions sunbathe on giant Austrian, and Italian Alps like we are. stone kopjes nearby; Mikeno In St. Moritz, Badrutt’s Palace Hotel Lodge on the smoking crater AND and Kulm Hotel, which are both on the of a volcano, beside which lake, and , which is mountain gorillas thrive in FONDUE the one resort that has its own lift next the forests of the Democratic to the property, tick every box in our Republic of the Congo’s fairy-tale Alpine dreamscape. As does Virunga National Park; and AT 10,000 Palace in Gstaad. Singita Pamushana Lodge in and its sweeping FEET views that remind you exactly why you came to Africa. Pre-après-ski at Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz.

photograph by MATT HRANEK GOLD LIST > WINERIES > LAKES

Auberge du Soleil FOR the of... FOR Napa Valley, Calif. LOVE I the Babylonstoren A ROOM Simondium, South Africa NEVER ON A LAKE Borgo San Felice THOUGHT LOVE GRAND HOTEL Tuscany, Italy of... SLEEPING A VILLA Calistoga Ranch, An FELTRINELLI Lake Garda, Italy Auberge Resort IN A It’s like staying at the lake FINALLY Napa Valley, Calif. house of that rich, old Italian aunt with incredible The Farmhouse Inn taste you always wished UNDERSTANDING Sonoma, Calif. IN you had. WHAT La Grande Maison THE Bordeaux, France MIDDLE GRAND HOTEL MAKES La Residence TREMEZZO Franschhoek, South Africa OF Lake Como, Italy Stick to the renovated A SUPER Les Sources de Caudalie A HISTORIC classic lakefront rooms Bordeaux, France HILLTOP (versus the less-successful TUSCAN “modern” rooftop suites), São Lourenço do Barrocal VILLAGE the lounge chairs above Monsaraz, the pool area, and the SO WOULD bar-restaurant on the ter- Six Senses Douro Valley race, and you might believe SUPER Lamego, Portugal BE the house Riva is yours. Villa La Coste Provence, France IL SERENO Lake Como, Italy BUT IT You’d only dream of stay- ing in a high-Renaissance WAS— grand dame on Lake Como—until you set foot THE in the Patricia Urquiola– designed interiors (walnut, LIGHTING leather, and nubby gray wool) of this always-sold- WAS out 30-room gem. ALL BY THE POINT Saranac Lake, N.Y. CANDLES, It’s beautiful in summer, but we like it best in winter, AND when ice-skating and snowshoeing are followed by a proper cocktail hour and, if you’re there over a Wednesday or Saturday night, a seven-course, black-tie dinner.

TAJ LAKE PALACE JUST Udaipur, This impossibly romantic GLOWED. hotel seems to float on Lake Pichola, and for years Yolanda Edwards, it seemed to rest on its on Sextantio in Matera, Italy laurels—but a new GM has tightened ship, making it as well run as it is dreamy.

photograph by ODDUR THORISSON 33 GOLD LIST > CITIES

Ho Chi Minh City FOR Park Hyatt Saigon

the Hong Kong The Peninsula Hong Kong; The Upper LOVE House of... Istanbul Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet; Soho House KNOWING Istanbul Jaipur 28 Kothi; Suján WHERE Rajmahal Palace Kyoto Four Seasons Hotel TO STAY IN Kyoto; Kyomachiya Hotel Shiki Juraku

JUST ABOUT Las Vegas The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Mandarin Oriental, Las EVERY CITY Vegas; Wynn Las Vegas & Encore

Lisbon Palácio Belmonte Amsterdam Cape Town Belmond The Beaumont; Conservatorium Hotel; Mount Nelson Hotel; THE RARE Claridge’s; ; Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam One&Only Cape Town NEW-BUILD Rosewood London; The Zetter Townhouse Arles L’Hôtel Particulier Charleston Wentworth THAT HAS Marylebone Mansion; Zero George Street Athens Hotel Grande THE Los Angeles The Beverly Bretagne (Luxury Collection) Chengdu The Ritz- Hills Hotel; Chateau Carlton Chengdu; The Marmont Hotel and Baltimore Four Temple House Seasons Hotel Baltimore; OF AN Bungalows; Hotel Bel-Air; The Ivy Hotel Sunset Tower Hotel Chicago The Langham, Chicago; The Peninsula OLD El Fenn; La Bangkok COMO Marrakech Chicago; The Robey Metropolitan Bangkok; STRUCTURE— Mamounia; L’Hôtel The Siam Marrakech; Royal Mansour Copenhagen Hotel AND D’Angleterre Las Barcelona Mandarin PINCH- Mexico City Oriental, Barcelona; Soho Alcobas Mexico City Belmond Palacio House Barcelona Cuzco YOURSELF (Luxury Collection) Nazarenas Faena Hotel Beijing The Opposite VIEWS OF Miami House; Rosewood Beijing Dublin The Merrion THE Miami Beach Mandarin Berlin Fez Riad Dar Bensouda; Milan Kempinski Berlin Riad Idrissy Oriental, Milan

The Taj Ames Boston Florence Four Seasons Mumbai Hotel; XV Beacon Hotel Firenze; Portrait Mahal Palace Firenze; St. Regis Florence Pilar Guzmán, on Buenos Aires Alvear the Oberoi Palace Hotel; Palacio Duhau Hanoi Legend Amarvilas in Agra, Breakfast in bed at the Bowery - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires Metropole Hanoi India Hotel in New York.

photograph by ODDUR THORISSON GOLD LIST > CITIES & COUNTRY

The library at La Réserve Paris - Hotel and Spa. FOR the LOVE of... Rio de Janeiro Belmond Copacabana Palace; Hotel Santa Teresa BEING IN Rio MGallery by Sofitel THE

Rome Hassler Roma; Hotel MIDDLE de Russie (Rocco Forte OF Hotels); J.K. Place Roma; Portrait Roma; Villa Spalletti NOWHERE Trivelli Alila Jabal Akhdar Nizwa, São Paulo Fasano São Paulo Amangiri Canyon Point, Utah Shanghai Fairmont Peace Hotel; The Peninsula Blackberry Farm Shanghai Walland, Tenn. Casa Grande at Raffles Vermejo Park Ranch Singapore; St. Regis Raton, N.M. Singapore Dunton Hot Springs Stockholm Ett Hem Dolores, Colo.

Sydney Park Hyatt Sydney; Explora Atacama Pretty Beach House Atacama, Chile

Explora Rapa Nui Tangier Hotel Nord-Pinus Easter Island, Chile Tanger; Villa Joséphine The Lodge at Tel Aviv The Norman Tel Kuari Cliffs Aviv Matauri Bay, New Zealand Tokyo Aman Tokyo; Hoshinoya Tokyo; Mandarin Matakauri Lodge Oriental, Tokyo; Park Hyatt Queenstown, Tokyo New Zealand Grand Hotel Hotel; The Carlyle Paris Four Seasons Hotel Vesuvio (Rosewood); George V, Paris; Hôtel de Omni Bedford Crosby Street Hotel; Crillon (Rosewood); Hôtel Vancouver, B.C. Rosewood Hotel Georgia Springs Resort New Delhi The Imperial The Greenwich Hotel; Plaza Athénée; Hôtel Bedford, Pa. The Lowell ; Récamier; La Réserve Paris - Venice Aman Venice; New York City The Marlton Hotel Hotel and Spa; Le Bristol Primland Belmond Hotel Cipriani; JW Baccarat Hotel & Residences Paris; Le Pavillon de la Reine; Meadows of Dan, Va. Marriott Venice Resort & - New York; The Bowery Oslo The Thief Relais Christine; Ritz Paris Spa; Palazzo Venart Luxury Tierra Chiloé Hotel & Spa Hotel Chiloé Island, Chile

Twin Farms IF YOU HAVE AN OVERNIGHT LAYOVER AT CDG, Washington, D.C. SKIP PARIS AND STAY AT THIS GEM JUST 30 The Hay-Adams; The Barnard, Vt. MINUTES FROM THE AIRPORT IN THE CHARMING Jefferson; Park Hyatt The Victoria Falls Hotel Washington DC VILLAGE OF CHANTILLY. THERE’S A GREAT SPA Zimbabwe AND A MICHELIN-STARRED RESTAURANT, TOO. Zürich ; The Wickaninnish Inn

Matt Hranek, on the Auberge du Jeu de Paume in Chantilly, France Tofino, B.C., Canada Thorisson Oddur by Photograph GOLD LIST > CRUISES

a better way to new-in-2018 Scenic Eclipse. Scope castles and cathe- FOR do the caribbean Get serious about wildlife drals (and hit some brew- the Go from to Florida, watching—and sneak in eries) on the way from with stops in Colombia some snorkeling—on a Amsterdam to Basel on the and St. Barts, on the Crystal weeklong expedition on AmaWaterways AmaPrima. LOVE Symphony. Silversea’s Silver Galapagos. of... Skip through the Lesser Sail New Zealand’s fjords take selfies Antilles—Guadeloupe, St. on the Azamara Quest, and with penguins Vincent and the Grenadines— get in a little trekking and Search out wildlife on CRUISING on the Seabourn Odyssey. biking (and wine tasting). Deception and Pleneau Sail to smaller islands like islands and scope cerulean THROUGH FIVE Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, see-it-all european icebergs in the Weddell and aboard river cruises Sea from Ponant’s Le Soléal. CITIES IN A SINGLE Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer. Hit the quintessential Hit the Antarctic Peninsula Danube River stops on one plus the Falklands and TRIP—AND luxury meets of Viking River Cruises’ South Georgia on a 24-day adventure 190-passenger Longships. expedition aboard the ONLY UNPACKING Hit Cartagena, cruise Combine Paris and National Geographic Orion. through the Panama Canal, Normandy with a trip ONCE and see the Pacific coast down the Seine on the score big with of Colombia aboard the Uniworld S.S. Joie de Vivre. the kids See highlights of the Med—Barcelona, Cannes, Naples—while getting an entertainment overload on board the Disney Magic.

truly out-there escapes Stop at some of Tahiti’s most famous atolls and bop around the Marquesas aboard the M.S. Paul Gauguin. Go from Tokyo to northern before crossing the Pacific and sail- ing past Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park on the Windstar Cruises Star Legend. Meander down the Irrawaddy on the Strand Cruise to see the temples of Bagan and Mingun.

over-the-top blowout trips Hit Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, and Easter Island on your way from Rio de Janeiro to Tahiti on a 38-day megasail aboard Oceania Cruises’ Marina. Pretend winter will never come with a 25-day Singapore-to-Sydney trip leaving this November on

the Seabourn Encore. Photograph by Gentl and Hyers GOLD LIST > SPAS & ESTATES

FOR the LOVE of... ALL-ABOUT-YOU, 90-MINUTE, EUCALYPTUS- SCENTED HOT-STONE MASSAGES AMANEMU ISE-SHIMA, JAPAN • BIO-HOTEL STANGLWIRT GOING AM WILDEN KAISER, BRENNERS PARK-HOTEL & SPA BADEN-BADEN, COMO PARROT CAY TURKS AND CAICOS • COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE BALI, INDONESIA HOTEL POST BEZAU AND SUSANNE KAUFMANN SPA BREGENZERWALD, AUSTRIA KALARI KOVILAKOM KERALA, INDIA KAMALAYA KOH SAMUI WELLNESS SANCTUARY AND HOLISTIC SPA KOH SAMUI, THAILAND SIX SENSES ZIL PASYON

FOR the LOVE of... PLAYING HOUSE IN A 20- ROOM MANSION

Babington House Gravetye Manor Somerset, West Sussex, England

Ballyfin La Posta Vecchia County Laois, Lazio, Italy

Barnsley House Les Prés d’Eugénie Gloucestershire, England Eugénie-les-Bains, France

Baumanière les Baux de Lime Wood Provence Hampshire, England France Masseria Potenti Château de Courcelles Puglia, Italy Aisne, France Palé Hall Dromoland Castle Hotel Llandderfel, Wales & Country Estate County Clare, Ireland Relais Borgo Santo Pietro Siena, Italy

Wheatleigh Winding down at Les Prés Lenox, Mass.

d’Eugénie. Thorisson Oddur by Photograph