Top Winter Retreats

While the battle between the forces of universal health-care and free-market capitalism resumes in our nation’s capital, more enlightened minds cast back no farther than the late 19th and early 20th centuries to satisfy themselves that improved public health and increased private wealth can be simultaneously achieved: As the cereal barons of that robust age […]

As it illuminates a snifter of Appleton Estate 30-Year-Old Jamaica Rum, the sunlight of the broad Jamaican sky reveals the faintest tinge of jade at the golden-hued spirit’s edges. “We call this the ‘green ring of aging,’” says Joy Spence, Appleton’s master blender. “It is an indication that the rum has been maturing for a […]

“Simplicity is luxury,” says hotelier Phil Sherburne in describing his vision for Bardessono, a resort and spa in the Napa Valley town of Yountville. This summation is particularly appropriate to the 62-room property not because of its minimalist architecture or Zen-like landscaping, but because of the idea embodied by the serene, flowing complex: that beauty […]

A decade after the end of the Troubles that divided Northern Ireland in two, the region’s stability has sparked a boom in tourism and tourist developments. Among the many signs of this prosperity and optimism is Lough Erne, the first true golf resort in Northern Ireland. The resort opened in late 2007 on a peninsula between […]

When Piero Lissoni develops a new kitchen, he often envisions a refined—if uncommon—atmosphere. “I never consider that the person standing there, cooking in front of the stove, might be wearing a pair of ugly shorts,” says Lissoni, who serves as art director for the Italian kitchen-and-bath company Boffi. “I design kitchens for a more gentlemanly […]

Since he established his menswear business nearly four decades ago, Stefano Ricci has dreamed of opening a signature shop in Florence, Italy, his hometown and the birthplace of his brand; but the indomitable designer, known for his swanky suits, colorful silk-print ties, and exotic-skin accessories, was unable to find a suitable location to showcase his […]

On a nondescript industrial street in Vancouver is the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. The art gallery and cultural center, which opened last year, is dedicated to the man who in the latter half of the 20th century strove to bring the works of the First Nations tribes—most notably their totem poles—to the […]

When making watches, Van Cleef & Arpels plays to its strengths. Instead of trying to showcase its technical expertise—as other jewelry houses have done, often with difficulty and sometimes with dubious results—the French jeweler bases its watch designs on aesthetics, the company’s primary focus throughout its 103-year history. Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest collection for […]

Admittedly, the Panamera’s looks are an acquired taste. But for a moment, banish from your thoughts the knowledge that, from the wrong angle, Porsche’s debut sedan vaguely resembles the aesthetically unfortunate 928 of the 1980s. Forget the troubling headlines emerging from Stuttgart about the company’s financial woes and its impending shotgun marriage to Volkswagen. For […]

Lord Norman Foster, the creative force behind Manhattan’s Hearst Tower, London’s City Hall, and a host of other highly acclaimed projects, is making a big splash with his most recent foray into yacht design. Foster’s visually arresting Ocean Emerald—the first of four identical megayachts being built at Italy’s Rodriquez Cantieri Navali shipyard—was delivered earlier this […]

When Frederick Beringer arrived in St. Helena, Calif., in 1883, he not only replaced his brother Jacob as the driving force behind their recently established winery, but he promptly supplanted his sibling’s house with a majestic one of his own. Jacob’s domicile—a spacious but modest farmhouse with a large veranda, built in 1852—was lifted from […]

Before he begins working over my shoulders, neck, and scalp with a pair of handheld vibrating gadgets that look like small steam irons, William Gornik—owner of the two Gornik & Drucker barbershops in Beverly Hills—tells me the Scientific Rest Facial will be no ordinary grooming experience. That claim quickly proves to be true: No haircut […]

The problem with some business-jet interiors is that they feel like mailing tubes for humans: cramped, limiting spaces designed for nothing beyond the efficient transport of travelers from one location to another. With its new Lineage 1000, Embraer takes a different approach to interior design. The company’s engineers have transformed the interior of an Embraer […]

First as a fishing camp in the 1940s, and later as a rodeo ranch in the 1970s, the stretch of Texas Hill Country that is now the Lake Austin Spa Resort was a haunt for hardened locals for decades. But under the curatorial eye of designer and co-owner Mike McAdams, who acquired the property in […]

When Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress was exiled at the height of South Africa’s decades-long apartheid struggle, the leader accepted an offer of shelter from insurance tycoon Douw Steyn—long before it was acceptable for a white person to make such an offer. Decades later, Mandela still lives part-time at Steyn’s estate in the Waterberg Mountains, […]

Few experiences could be more soothing than the Sacred Water Ritual at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru. The three-hour massage takes place in one of the resort’s four above-water treatment pavilions, so while a therapist uses a coconut-milk massage powder to work out the kinks in your body, you can watch clown […]

Since acquiring the property that would become Como Shambhala Estate, Como Hotels and Resorts has changed the name (from Begawan Giri), added a few private villas, and built a new spa, the Ojas, which includes nine treatment rooms, a yoga pavilion, a swimming pool, and a water-therapy pool. However, while transforming this 23-acre Balinese retreat […]

Since acquiring the property that would become Como Shambhala Estate, Como Hotels and Resorts has changed the name (from Begawan Giri), added a few private villas, and built a new spa, the Ojas, which includes nine treatment rooms, a yoga pavilion, a swimming pool, and a water-therapy pool. However, while transforming this 23-acre Balinese retreat […]

Swine flu, drug wars, and a down economy have discouraged many would-be visitors to Mexico—especially those in search of a wellness experience. But few settings could be more therapeutic than the courtyard relaxation area at Las Ventanas al Paraíso’s spa, where the resonance of crystal bowls rises above the sound of nearby surf. The courtyard […]

Capella Telluride, which opened in February as Capella Hotels and Resorts’ first property in the United States, does things a little differently—as you discover shortly after checking in. The reception desk sits in an attractive, light-filled lobby with stone floors, high beamed ceilings, and a tiered glass-plate chandelier that hovers above the fireplace. Like most […]

For tropical vacations, Sir Richard Branson escapes to his private Necker Island in the Caribbean. But when he hears the call of the mountains, the founder of the Virgin conglomerate heads to Verbier, Switzerland. Broad and accessible off-piste terrain, a sociable community of English-speaking expats, and a central European location have made this Alpine resort […]

At Fiji’s Laucala Island resort, the rest of the world can seem, well, unnecessary. After all, you have just about everything you need to lead the good life: shelter (in the form of 25 ocean-view villas), sustenance (from one of five restaurants, which use produce grown on the island), good company (resort managers Thomas and […]

The city of South San Francisco is an industrial town that lies prostrate between its famous urban neighbor to the north and the tree-studded Santa Cruz Mountains to the south. This mostly unremarkable burg is home to countless strip malls, auto-parts stores, and, refreshingly, a See’s Candies factory. Yet amid all of this mundanity lives […]