It is a balmy June afternoon at Delaire, Laurence Graff’s lush, 100-acre vineyard property in Stellenbosch, on South Africa’s Western Cape. The grand opening is just a few days away, but the billionaire jeweler’s latest creation remains a work in progress. The driveway is muddy with landscaping projects, and, inside, …
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Cape Crusader: In and Around Town
Cape Town, South Africa, is often described as the best-kept secret in the realm of travel. If it is a secret, however, it will soon be exposed. Next year, from June 11 through July 11, the world’s most-watched sporting event—the FIFA World Cup—will take place in 10 different venues across …
Beachfront Balinese Villas
For those seeking a luxurious Balinese resort, but prefer a more private vacation, Pantai Lima provides both. Situated along the beach and among lush tropical gardens, Pantai Lima, which means five beaches in Balinese, is composed of five spacious–and completely private–villas, each with unimpeded beach views, gardens, a swimming pool, …
The Made Men Who Made Vegas
Despite its errant image, the desert resort town to which we enthusiastically retreat to indulge our ids is today a bastion of innocence in comparison with its rather sinister past. Las Vegas, after all, has a cadre of founding fathers whose blood sports ably abetted its reputation as Sin City.
When …
Insider’s Las Vegas: Best Bets: Talk of the Town
Nearly every new development in Las Vegas has a theme, but there is nothing contrived about CityCenter. If anything, this ambitious and highly anticipated project is simply intended as a modern city.
The property—a 67-acre collection of glass-and-steel structures sandwiched between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo hotels—is opening in stages …
The Leela Palace Kempinski Udaipur
Contemporary design meets royal Rajasthan at the Leela Palace Kempinski Udaipur, an 80-room resort on the banks of northwestern India’s Lake Pichola. Opened in October, the Leela affords views of the lake (and of the marble-walled Taj Lake Palace hotel in the middle of it) from every room. Corbel arches …
Alila Villas Uluwatu
In June—two months after the Bali provincial administration placed a temporary moratorium on permits for new hotel construction—Alila Villas Uluwatu opened on the island’s Bukit Peninsula. The resort comprises 84 spacious villas (made from local materials), three restaurants, and a spa with five treatment villas, all nestled into a cliff-top …
Capella Pedregal
Few places on Earth have as dense a concentration of first-rate resorts as Mexico’s Los Cabos corridor. This stretch at the tip of Baja California, which connects the towns of San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, is home to the ultraromantic Las Ventanas al Paraíso, the enchanting cliff-top …
HOTEL32 Provides VIP Service atop the Monte Carlo, Las Vegas
For those seeking more intimate, personalized service when in Las Vegas, check out HOTEL32, a new boutique hotel located on the 32nd floor of the Monte Carlo. From the minute you arrive at the private entrance, you are met by a suite assistant who is your designated go-to concierge for …
2010 Luxury Preview: Safe Houses
In 2008 a London penthouse reportedly sold for 0 million—the highest price ever paid for a condo. The luxurious residence is one of 86 units in the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge. When construction ends in late 2010, this address will be among the most exclusive in the world. …