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Favorite Luxury Vacation Site?

14K views 79 replies 72 participants last post by  JD10 
#1 ·
So, we've been more willing in recent years to upgrade our travel, and we've taken some nice vacations.

I'm always up for new recommendations to save for further research, so I thought I'd ask:

What's YOUR favorite luxury vacation? Where and Why?
 
#6 ·
Bali, and stay at both of the Four Seasons.
 
#10 ·
I haven't been to Bali yet, but I've heard good things from several different people.

For a relaxing getaway from crowds, the Maldives are nice and quiet.

Italy (all of it) is my favorite European destination.
 
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#7 ·
This time of year Zermatt Switzerland, stay in the Grand Hotel Zematterhof, get a room with a view of the Matterhorn. This assumes you are a skier or want to learn or just like the mountains. One thing you do NOT have to deal with in Zermatt is traffic, since the only cars are official ones. Lake Geneva is also awesome.

The opposite approach is Maui or Kauia.

For quick getaways my wife and I love Lake Tahoe any season, lots of great stuff to do if you are the outdoorsy type no matter what season it is. However, be aware there are a couple of dead zones between winter and summer when you can no longer ski and the boating/kayaking and other water sports rentals are closed.

Another CONUS favorite of ours is Napa. We love the food more than the wine. We like to stay at Bardessona in Yountville (the best dining in Napa is walking distance). Certainly eating at The French Laundry is a must IF you can get a reservation, meal and wine for 2 will run $700 or so, but one of the best restaurants in the US. Bouchon is Keller's Michelin one star in Yountville opened to appease those that can't get FL reservations, also get some treats at the Bouchon Bakery and try Ad Hoc for more homey food. Also try to find out what day Addendum (behind Ad Hoc) is serving fried chicken box lunches, it is a must have. As you can see you can eat a lot in Napa even if you only eat at Thomas Keller joints! Also if you eat at any of the non-tasting menu Keller restaurants (especially Bouchon) don't gloss over the chicken, I usually see chicken as the non-foody menu item for the "safe" people, BUT Keller is known for chicken. Now that I am finished with Keller actually my favorite is Redd several of my favorite dishes I have ever had were there, my absolute favorite was a petrole sole over jasmine rice with chorizo in a saffron curry nage, I can't even begin to describe that experience. As with almost every restaurant (that has one) I suggest getting the tasting menu, Redd usually has two, we always get one of each and the wine pairings for each and switch mid-way through each course. It ends up like a 10 course meal with 10 different wines. Sorry I rambled on, I stopped before I went through about 10 other Napa restaurants! As you can probably tell my wife and I love food!
 
#23 ·
Manhattan is a huge treat for a long-weekend type of vacation. I particularly like the few weeks before Christmas or late October, if you want to get out to see the leaves.

Because I like the outdoors and want to get out of the Texas summer heat, the place I go to over and over is Jackson Hole. It's good for a 4 day trip or for two weeks. Plenty of upscale accommodations and good food.
 
#24 ·
Like others, Maldives and Bali for beach.

It does really depend on what you consider "luxury" is though. I've been fortunate to stay in what most will consider top hotels in many countries and there is a real gap between them and what they focus on.

The Burj Al Arab in Dubai is obviously an amazing place and they do try exceptionally hard but the Dorchester Collection's Hotel Principe di Savoia was without doubt more luxurious in my book despite the fact that everything isn't covered in gold. In both the sommeliers/waiters made wine recommendations and "recalled" what we had had the night before but at the Burj they'd referred to the computer system and they couldnt then say why they'd recommended the new wine where as in Milano there was no obvious referral to computers and the sommelier went into great depth in explaining his recommendation. Whilst it didnt happen to me one of the barmen in the Burj also recommended Bombay Sapphire (gin) when a customer said they wanted to try a new whiskey.

Staying in India earlier in the year, the location was fantastic, food good, staff very friendly/ helpful but their solution appeared to be to throw people at problems rather than develop systems/ controls and so the place was over run with people scurrying around doing things but all highly inefficient. 5 waiters would ask you if you wanted a drink, sometimes it'd turn up, sometimes 3 would, sometimes none. That said their spa was one of the best, not so much in the treatment itself (which was good) but in the post treatment there was a beautiful dedicated room to relax in with herbal teas etc.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Bali is very nice, but far from luxury - full of drunk Aussies;-)
For luxury think of Maldives, Tahiti, Fiji, Mustique ...

In watch terms - Bali in general is nice affordable (think of Seiko, from 5 to SARB), Tahiti is Rolex, Mustique is Patek.

Of course there are a couple of hi-end luxury resorts and vilas in Bali, and some affordable places in Maldives and Tahiti.

The right place depends on what one expects - partying, relaxing, unspoiled nature, activities ...
 
#28 ·
I'm an fanatic snowboarder, and i always go on wintervacation with a good friend of mine who has been skiing since the age of 4..

we plan on going to another place each year, but the last two years we went to Ischgl.


Ischgl is a bit "jet set"but not as much as Lech or Sankt Moritz.. but.. it's a nice little, and quiet village.. there are some clubs for those who want to go out at night...
In general, hotels are quite expensive, but those are mostly the hotels in the center.. i always stay on the edge of the village, where hotels are much less expensive, even cheap, and only 200 meters away from the lifts.. and every morning i watch those people that pay twice as much for a hotelroom, come walking all the way from the center.. carrying all their gear.. :)
250 Km's of great ski-slopes, long runs, short runs.. enough lifts to get you anywhere in a jiffy, and.. you can ski across the border to switzerland to visit Samnaum, to buy some taxfree watches.. :)

in Summer.. well.. wherever my motorbike takes me is fine.. as long as there are mountains.. Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, visited them all.. nice landscapes, quiet.. and roads with plenty of curves.. :)
 
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