6 of the Best Travel in 2018

Just Like Paradise

Kokomo Private Island Fiji 

6 of the Best Travel in 2018. What is it about Kokomo (kokomoislandfiji.com)? You feel it the minute you step off the resort’s seaplane. The heat of the sun-bleached jetty is warm enough to put a spring in your barefoot step, yet you can’t help but take your time, soaking up the views of the vibrant lagoon – one that’s somehow even bluer than the rest of the South Pacific Ocean – and golden sands. Greetings of “Bula!” ring out every time you arrive in the lobby, which, to be fair, is hardly a lobby at all but rather a breezy, beachy living room where you’re as comfortable in a dripping-wet swimsuit, fresh catch in hand (a gift for executive chef Anthony Healy to cook up for lunch), as you are dressed for the nightly fivecourse tasting menu.

Kokomo is the kind of place where plenty of guests never leave their villa. And who can blame them? Those sparkling infinity pools and soaking tubs are reason enough to keep room service on speed dial (especially when the menu includes the freshest sashimi this side of Japan). But an equally persuasive case can be made for experiencing everything Kokomo has to offer: which includes diving at the Great Astrolabe Reef – the fourthlargest barrier reef in the world – and sipping kava with the local chiefs on a neighbouring island. Whatever it is about Kokomo, it’s impossible to replicate – and almost as impossible to leave. – JACKIE CARADONIO

Right on track

Belmond Andean Explorer

Peru’s vast altiplano is an adventure as much for what it offers (riverbeds filled with hotpink Chilean flamingos, galloping gauchos, volcanoes spewing smoke) as for what it doesn’t (luxury hotels). The Belmond Andean Explorer (belmond.com) has introduced a way to see it all in comfort – without disrupting its undeveloped appeal. The 24-cabin sleeper train roared down the region’s storied rails for the first time last summer, taking passengers on epic one- and two-night trips from Cuzco to Arequipa and stopping along the way at ancient Incan ruins, Quechua villages and remote mountaintop markets. 

As with any great adventure, however, it’s the journey – not the destination – that makes the experience aboard the Andean Explorer so arresting. One day, the train may halt in the shadows of the Andes for an impromptu ceviche-making class; the next, it might roll apace with a herd of llamas. And on those evenings when nothing more than the limitless altiplano landscapes are left to keep you company, it’s a crisp pisco sour in the observation car that makes the voyage all the more moving. – ELAINE GLUSAC

Force of nature

Bisate Lodge

It’s easy to be blinded by the beauty of Bisate. Set in the heart of northern Rwanda’s Musanze Valley at the foot of the majestic Virunga Mountains, the safari lodge is unlike any you’ve ever seen. There are no canvas tents adorned with leather trunks or mosquito-net-covered beds here. Utterly un-camp-like are its six thatched villas that, burrowed deep into a fern-covered hill, call to mind giant birds’ nests or oversize baskets. Inside is equally distinct: the domes are a strange and wonderful combination of royal and rustic, where glittering green chandeliers composed of thousands of recycled glass shards, and giant, black, egg-shaped bathtubs blend with volcanic-stone walls and black-andwhite animal hides. Only the sweeping terraces off each villa provide a reality check, offering views over Mount Bisoke and, just beyond, the legendary Volcanoes National Park.

Indeed, the real beauty of Bisate is what lies outside its shaggy walls. The lodge has helped to open up the wonders of this long-overlooked African country, where nearly half of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas reside and where Dian Fossey carried out her groundbreaking research on the great apes during the ’60s and ’70s. Thanks to its unique setting and style, Bisate creates the dilemma that every safari camp should: the hunger to experience everything – and the temptation to relax and do nothing at all. – JACKIE CARADONIO

Urban Oasis

Amanyangyun

Shanghai didn’t need another luxury hotel – but it needed Amanyangyun (aman.com). Opened in January in the quiet suburb of Minhang, the newest property from Aman Resorts has nothing in common with the city’s modern hotels. Rather, tucked away in a forest of centuries-old camphor trees, this tranquil retreat, with its utter lack of ostentation, is a reminder that there’s more to China’s famed financial capital than skyscrapers and urban sprawl. Those camphor trees? They travelled over 600 kilometres from the southeast province of Jiangxi before being replanted on Aman’s 10-hectare parcel. 

More than a vanity project, the monumental relocation was an act of preservation that saved the forest – along with 50 Ming dynasty stone houses – from being submerged by a local reservoir. Re-created brick by brick, the village houses have been repurposed as 13 guest villas that feature deep soaking tubs and infinity- edge pools alongside original carved wood walls and antique desks. As is the Aman way, Amanyangyun delves into the sleek and minimal, too. A collection of 24 suites offers more contemporary interiors, while three restaurants walk the line between old and new, with cuisines that range from traditional Jiangxi to farmto- table Italian. Perhaps most needed in frenetic Shanghai, however, is the 2800-square-metre spa, where traditional Chinese medicine and modern wellness work hand in hand. – PHOEBE NEUMAN

Reinvention

Hotel De Crillon

Until last year, Louis XV deserved much of the credit for Hôtel de Crillon (rosewood hotels.com). The landmark structure, which the king commissioned in 1755, had been Paris’s most regal address for centuries, a grand showcase of neoclassical extravagance filled with frescoes, friezes and miles of marble. But last July, a new Crillon emerged as a brighter and more vivacious version of its former self, brought to life by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and a dream team of Paris-based designers, artisans and craftspeople. Unlike Paris’s other recently renovated palace hotels, the Crillon has pulled off a true reinvention. 

Gone are the Louis XV salon chairs and heavy velvet drapes. In their place are custom furnishings with a mid-century modern flair, vibrant textiles and, in the Karl Lagerfeld-designed Les Grand Appartements, sleek bathrooms covered wall-to-wall in marble. The legendary fine-dining restaurant, Les Ambassadeurs, has been transformed into an elegant, gilded bar and a long- ignored courtyard is now the alfresco spot for lunch in Paris. Of course, plenty of original details – those decadent gold-andmarble walls included – needed little more than a faithful refresh. The result is a hotel that honours its royal past, yet remains firmly rooted in the present. And though the Crillon perhaps feels a little bit less French – and, blessedly, a lot less stuffy – we can’t help but think that even Louis the Beloved would have approved. – CHRISTINA LIAO

Spa Supreme

Burgenstok Resort

The ancient Romans may have invented the concept of a spa, but the Swiss have perfected it with their combination of cutting- edge products and clinics and crisp Alpine air. Further solidifying Switzerland’s place at the peak of world wellness is the country’s most anticipated project in years: Bürgenstock Resort (buergenstock.ch). 

Set on the edge of Lake Lucerne, the historic Bürgenstock – which hosted Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn during its first heyday – relaunched in full last December following a CHF550 million ($730 million) renovation. The 60-hectare mountain retreat is a one-stop wellness hub, home to the Waldhotel – a contemporary, 160-room property with a comprehensive medical centre – and the five-star Bürgenstock Hotel, with its 9900-square-metre Alpine Spa. Visit the latter for pure relaxation – La Prairie facials and Kneipp baths included. Check into the former for exclusive wellness retreats and targeted programs that range from personal training and medical procedures to anti-ageing skin therapies and organic cuisine. Eschewing all of that Swiss innovation, however, is Bürgenstock’s purest form of wellness: many kilometres of private hiking trails, surrounded by unspoiled Alpine forests and an endless supply of fresh air. – SANDRA RAMANI

Sources: Robb Report Australia, July 2018

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