Orient-Express Hotels

Equal parts five-star hotel and deluxe conveyance, the Royal Scotsman is the United Kingdom’s only luxury sleeper train. In April, it will offer three itineraries that wind through some of Scotland’s most magnificent scenery. Lasting four or five nights, each has a specific theme exploring a facet of the country’s heritage. Options include the new […]

The historic Hotel Caruso, Orient-Express Hotels’ fourth property in Italy, incorporates the excavated remains of an 11th-century palace, a colonnade that dates to the 17th century, and buildings and artworks from the 1700s. But the property, which opened after a $30 million restoration in 2005, does not lack for modern comforts. Most of the 47 […]

Early in the 20th century, Spanish King Alfonso XIII assembled a group of investors to build Madrid’s first grand hotel, a palace in the vein of the Ritz in London and Paris. The group enlisted the man behind those hotels, César Ritz, to oversee the development of the Madrid property, which opened across from the […]

After arriving by rail with trunks and suitcases—and a parade of servants carrying parcels, packages, and monogrammed silver—early visitors to Zagreb’s Regent Esplanade were swept directly from the train station, through a park, and into the hotel’s black-and-white marble lobby. The lobby (a space large enough for side-by-side soccer games) remained hushed despite the entourage, […]

Hotel Caruso dangles from a cliff in Ravello, an Italian village of some 1,000 steps and at least as many lemon trees. The resort’s executive chef, Mimmo Di Raffaele, utilizes the ubiquitous citrus in his desserts—including his delìzia al limóne di Amalfi sponge cake—and a variety of seafood entrées. Like its chef, the Caruso at […]

Though unsure of my exact altitude, I am certain—based on my surroundings and shortness of breath—that I am nowhere near sea level. Of course, my gasping also might owe to the precipitous drop directly in front of me, a sheer cliff that plunges into one of Earth’s deepest valleys. Snowcapped volcanic mountains rise above me, […]

On the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, one of the most pleasantly deserted beaches lies on the Baie Longue. Since 1973, the La Samanna resort (www.lasamanna.com) has occupied 55 acres overlooking this beach. Resembling a Greek seaside village, the property features a whitewashed main building and 15 smaller ones that contain a total of 81 […]

Even when it takes place aboard restored vintage passenger cars, luxury train travel is not what it used to be—and for that, passengers can be grateful. A truly authentic first-class train trip likely would involve waiting in line to use the bathroom or to take a shower.   The first of the modern era’s opulent […]

Upon your arrival, the glory of Venice strikes you. It is present in the architecture of the palaces, churches, and squares. The city’s onetime prosperity is witnessed in commissioned paintings by Bellini, Carpaccio, Tintoretto, and Titian. And who is not familiar with the unique cuisine that developed in Venice? After all, when the city-state controlled […]