Masseria Cardinale is one of The Thinking Traveller’s larger villas in Sicily, located in the countryside with authentic design features

The Thinking Traveller is a villa rental company that offers exclusive access to some of the most desirable properties in the Mediterranean. Guests of The Thinking Traveller also gain access to local insider knowledge through the company’s on-the-ground concierge team who plan bespoke itineraries and experiences. Here, we speak to the founders Huw and Rossella Beaugié about their villa selection process, luxury retreats and their intrinsically sustainable ethos

Rossella & Huw Beaugié

LUX: How was the concept for The Thinking Traveller conceived?
Huw Beaugié: We started the company in 2002. Prior to that [Rossella and I] had been living in Paris, where we met in ‘98. Rossella was a cell biologist doing her PhD in Paris and I was an engineer working in marketing at that time. Rossella is from Sicily, so we had been travelling to Sicily a lot already. We went there in November 2000 and that was the kind of the catalyst. We climbed up a mountain called Stromboli, and doing that made us decide that we would like to move there for a bit, which we ended up doing two years later.

Rossella Beaugié: We started doing walking tours first of all and then very soon my friends started saying ‘oh we’ve got this nice house on the island, would you want to try renting it out?’. So the first brochure we put together had three walking tours with volcanos and hills, and then seven villas, I think. At the time we were doing everything ourselves but it worked.

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Huw Beaugié: There wasn’t anything of great quality in Sicily so we realised that we needed to really help these villa owners to create a property and product that would fit our clients and the people we wanted to be our clients. We started advising [the property owners], helping with design and we even began advancing money to invest in pools or refurbishments. We would make contact with interior designers to help them develop the houses. Really quickly we figured that if we were making all these investments, the only way we could really work with these houses and make it profitable would be to deal with them exclusively. That is one of the things we have stuck with ever since. We started with seven houses and we now have about 220 in various destinations in the Mediterranean, but the really vital and big unique selling point is that they are all exclusive to us and that means we can still keep on investing to make sure the quality and service is right, and to have our people on the ground to support that. We are expanding slowly, being careful to always keep the quality increasing rather than diluting.

Views over the Sicilian countryside from the pool at Masseria Cardinale

Rossella Beaugié: The secret has been that right from the beginning. For the first 10 years we were in Sicily so we were around the whole time and then we started hiring staff who are really knowledgeable people and know everybody locally, meaning they can find the best doctor if needed, the best yoga teacher or if you wanted to organise a dinner we can do that. We don’t have reps who move around, our staff work for us 12 months a year and they have insider knowledge.

LUX: What challenges have you encountered now that your main offices are in the UK and you’re based here?
Rossella Beaugié: We have developed quite slowly. There have been two regions that we were interested in but because we hadn’t found the right people or properties we wanted to offer clients, we decided not to go with them. We are happy with the regions we’re working in because we have amazing teams and the owners of properties share our priorities and ethos. The team here receive so many offers of villas everywhere, we could have 10,000 villas! We get that many offers because they see the website, they like it and we have a good reputation, but we have been careful of where we go and what we take on.

Faro di Brucoli is a refurbished lighthouse in Sicily with views of Mount Etna across the Ionian Sea

LUX: How do you select the villas to represent?
Rossella Beaugié: They tend to come to us. It is usually owners knowing us already, maybe due to our reputation amongst other owners who also have these kinds of top level properties. So what we do first of all is decide whether it’s for us and we can see that now straight away with Google and photos.

Read more: High altitude luxury at Riffelalp Resort 2222m, Zermatt

Huw Beaugié: Probably 70% of them we cut immediately. The next 30% we go further and ask for more information, and then perhaps the final 5% will end up with a visit and a detailed report and out of those, we probably only take on one property.

Here and above: Iola is a contemporary villa located on the Greek island of Corfu with sweeping sea views

LUX: What are the key elements you’re looking for?
Rossella Beaugié: We are now at a stage where we know what our clients want so we have criteria, but at the bottom of it, we really need to truly like the property in terms of style and we have to know that the owner could be a good partner because it’s their house and they continue managing the property so they need to be able to reinvest and sort out problems quickly. In terms of more objective criteria, the location and views are important but it depends on the region. Greece, for example, is really all about location so being on the sea and beaches. Privacy is also important and then there are all the things like ensuite bedrooms, a good kitchen, a nice-sized pool, not being overlooked. Then once we take on the property, we have a list of stuff that they have to have such as good quality linen, appliances etc. We recommend things and then our local managers go and do what we call a quality check.

Read more: Founder of Nila House Lady Carole Bamford’s guide to Jaipur

LUX: Is it important to you to have a wide range of different properties in your portfolio?
Rossella Beaugié: Yes, we have clients that have gone from a very charming, chic, three-bedroom house in Puglia and then they book our best property in Sicily, which sleeps 24 with a chef because maybe they are doing a multi generation family holiday, or it’s someone’s wedding anniversary and they want to invite everyone. So yes, we need diversity in terms of size and level of service. Some people could afford to have service everyday but they just want privacy, they want to be able to go around without clothes if they like. Then there are also different styles of property. Some people want minimal or really cutting-edge design, and some other people want to go to a place in Puglia or Sicily with traditional charm.

Huw Beaugié: We also work a lot with people who haven’t even started building. The optimum situation is when someone comes to us and says ‘I’ve bought a piece of land’ or ‘I’m looking to buy a piece of land, and what are your suggestions?’ Or people say ‘I’ve bought this ruin and what should I do with it?’ With those projects, we are involved from the beginning right through to the delivery. We suggest interior designers, architects, landscape designers, everything. Those are the villas that tend to perform the best.

Masseria Cardinale (here and above) offers guests traditional charm combined with luxurious modern amenities

LUX: Can you tell us a bit more about the experiences side of the business? What can you make happen for your clients?
Huw Beaugié: We try to make anything happen that the clients want as long as it’s not against the law!

Rossella Beaugié: The kinds of things that are becoming standard for us is that everyone wants a cook. Especially in Puglia and Sicily, people want to learn to cook and so we organise cooking classes either in the villas or on vineyards. We have three kids who were born in Sicily and grew up there which means we were able to try out things with them and find out what they found boring. From that, we designed some guided experiences with experts who will prepare the tours on two levels so that it works for the parents and it’s entertaining for the kids. Wine tasting is very requested, and water sports are popular, but then we also have occasions like weddings when people want a Steinway piano in the garden or a certain opera singer to perform.

Read more: Inside The Dorchester Collection’s first branded residences

Huw Beaugié: What we are starting to do more of is themed weeks so things like getting a celebrity chef out to a villa for a week and creating a programme for full immersion in the food, which might include cooking classes, demonstrations and tours of markets. This year, we are doing a partnership with Bodyism so that you can take a wellness instructor out with you to the villa.

The Thinking Traveller has paired up with McQueens Flower shop to offer guests flower arranging courses at Palazzo Gorgoni (above), one of their properties in Puglia

LUX: What’s your approach to sustainability?
Huw Beaugié: It’s the same as when we started. The basic model of restoring or building unique properties in rural locations or old towns using local people to build, cook and garden, all of that is just inherently sustainable. Generally, you’re also using local materials and the money is staying local. The things that have been added to that model since 2004 is more use of solar energy. However, sustainable a client is they never want to give up on air conditioning, which is one of the single biggest consumers of energy in a villa so solar energy supplements that. Then the other big thing is water: drinking water and swimming pool water. Swimming pools lose hundreds of litres of water a day through evaporation so we encourage people to cover pools when they’re not using them and at night. Same with air con, setting the temperature between 24 and 27 degrees, for example, rather than at 18 degrees and wrapping yourself up in a duvet, which uses a lot more energy. In terms of drinking water, we are doing a big campaign to try and get people to install water filters in their homes, which is difficult in the Med where bottled water is standard, but it’s changing.

Rossella Beaugié: We have these little leaflets which we leave in the houses called ‘Think Green’ which have sustainability tips for guests. People are more aware of sustainability issues so it is easier now than it was in the past to encourage these ways of behaving.

View The Thinking Traveller’s portfolio of properties: thethinkingtraveller.com

Visitors to The Garrison Club at Chelsea Barracks are greeted by the art-deco inspired lobby

Chelsea Barracks in Belgravia is one of the most spectacular luxury developments in the world. And at its heart is the semi-secret Garrison Club, a discreet private space where an all-star team of concierges look after their residents every need, as Anna Tyzack discovers

It’s a typical Belgravia street scene – majestic townhouses, gleaming black railings, sausage dogs, cyclists and shoppers. Yet behind the pale stone buildings of Chelsea Barracks is a secret organisation, working 24/7 to ensure the residents of London’s newest neighbourhood want for nothing. “Anything’s possible,” explains André Bremermann, general manager of Chelsea Barracks. “From private jets to movie screenings, from business meetings to introductions to prep schools – we have the relationships in place to make these things happen.”

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The Garrison Club is not dissimilar to the Society of the Crossed Keys in Wes Anderson’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel – it’s formed of leading concierge staff from five-star hotels, as well as prime developments such as One Hyde Park and 199 Knightsbridge. Never before has a service on this scale been available to an entire community – every resident in the 5-hectare Chelsea Barracks development is automatically a member. “What we’re doing here is unique,” Bremermann says. “Chelsea Barracks is not a gated community, it’s a new and exciting part of Belgravia – yet residents can enjoy the security and services of a five-star hotel.”

The Chelsea Barracks townhouses

An average Belgravia townhouse, according to luxury staffing agency, Greycoat Lumleys, has a staff of five or six; residents in 8 Whistler Square, which is just one building within Chelsea Barracks, have access to a team of more than 38 people. This is what makes The Garrison Club so ground-breaking, says Bremermann: residents enjoy the same freedom and anonymity as any Londoner yet with a powerful support network at their fingertips. “They can contact us via the Chelsea Barracks Residents app or on the phone,” he explains. “It’s the modern equivalent of bygone Belgravia when households had footmen, valets, butlers and housekeepers.” Indeed, there’s even a Garrison Club Rolls Royce parked up by the main entrance, ready to whisk residents to Harrods or anywhere else they want to go within a two-mile radius. “You see cars like this at the world’s finest hotels but never private residences,” Bremermann says.

Read more: Sea2See recycles marine plastic to create fashionable eyewear

His team are well aware that true luxury is time – and this, he says, is The Garrison Club’s main consideration when responding to their members. Residents at 8 Whistler Square are greeted by the same faces each day, who will offer to help with their shopping, ask if there is anything they can organise, without ever being intrusive. “It’s about having the right presence and being intuitive enough to read people,”

Bremermann says, “Never a long conversation but always an acknowledgement.” The Garrison Club runs the communal parts of the development, which so far include a Technogym, Elemis spa and 20m pool, connected to the residences and townhouses via lifts and underground walkways. With the app, residents can book training rooms or a Pilates studio, or treatment suites in the Elemis spa. “We know leading personal trainers and beauty therapists and can put our members in touch with them,” Bremermann says.

Residents of the new townhouses at Chelsea Barracks are able to use the facilities of The Garrison Club, such as the spa and pool (above)

His team also runs the private cinema, which has tiered seating for 16, blankets and a popcorn and drinks bar, and the games room with private drinks cabinets for residents and a billiard table. “We can arrange food and drinks at any hour of the day,” he says. “We’ll get to know the residents and make sure we have what they want to hand.”

Read more: Introducing the next generation of filmmakers

The private business suite, with lounge area and two boardrooms, is a surprise hit with residents, who are opting to work from home rather than travel into the office. The Garrison Club staff are on hand to provide tea and coffee and help with the video conferencing and other technology. “If lunch is required, we can arrange for it to be delivered from Daylesford Organic up the road within an hour,” Bremermann says. “We enable our residents to be flexible – which is another luxury in today’s world.”

Residents can make use
of the business centre

For families, the fact that The Garrison Club has relationships with top private schools including Garden House and Eaton House is reassuring, as are its links with leading staffing agencies who can source nannies, housekeepers and drivers. The club can help organise events such as 21st birthdays and christening parties in the opulent Residents Lounge, which can be booked for a relaxed dinner for friends or larger celebrations. “Residents can bring their private chef or we can find them caterers,” Bremermann says. His team also has a close relationship with entertainers Sharky & George, who host some of London’s most elaborate children’s parties. “We can transform the Residents Lounge into a jungle with real crocodiles, Komodo dragons and meerkats as well as aerial acrobatics,” says George Whitefield, co-founder of Sharky & George. “Or an Alice in Wonderland UV disco with edible bubbles, karaoke and 60mph candyfloss.” Bremermann also anticipates helping organise private events in the communal pool and in the spas at the 13 newly completed townhouses, all of which have pools.

The Billiards Room at The Garrison Club

It’s The Garrison Club’s all-seeing eye that Bremermann expects residents will be most grateful for, though. Chelsea Barracks will evolve into a lively neighbourhood with cafés, an art gallery, restaurant and an NHS health centre, but the club’s job is to make sure its members are safe and secure at all times. “It seems free and open here but there are many discreet cameras and everybody working for The Garrison Club is also part of the security team,” Bremermann says. “We know who goes for a run every morning; we know who is familiar and who isn’t. We look after Chelsea Barracks like it’s our own home.” For residents with older children who are studying in London, this support is reassuring, he continues. “We’ve employed people who really care. This is our residents’ London home and it’s our job to make it feel that way.”

The residents’ lounge

As more townhouses and residences are complete, and more residents move into the neighbourhood, The Garrison Club will grow and evolve too, Bremermann says. “We’ll listen to the residents and react to their needs – even if eventually we have to use a golf buggy to respond to their calls.” He sees the moving-in process as a key part of The Garrison Club’s role – so far his colleagues have arranged state-of-the-art machinery to transport valuable artworks and pianos through upper-floor windows and have overseen snagging lists for overseas residents making internal changes to their properties. “There are always glitches when you move into a new home – we are here to smooth things out.”

The Garrison Club is causing quite a stir in Belgravia. One resident is investing in a residence in Chelsea Barracks in order to gain membership, while those who would previously have bought up the period townhouses on Eaton Square are opting for penthouses in the development. “I can see why they’re making that choice,” Bremermann says. “In Belgravia, you’re buying a legacy; at Chelsea Barracks you’re buying a legacy and also a lifestyle.”

For members only

A private jet to Paris
Garrison Club has links with VistaJet, and can also book you lunch at the Le Grand Véfour.

Supervise your shopping
Staff are on hand to receive deliveries and will unpack your groceries.

Plan your birthday party
Complete with private chef, professional tablescapes and entertainment for the little ones by Sharky & George.

Find you a dog walker
Or a leading personal trainer, beauty therapist, nutritionist. Or a hairdresser, to come to the private salon in the spa.

Find a school place
The club has links to leading local private schools and can also find you a nanny and baby-sitter while they’re at it.

Find out more: chelseabarracks.com

This story was originally published in the Spring 2020 Issue.

L’Hotel Marrakech is one of Voyager Club’s Hidden Gems in Morocco

Sophie Caulcutt is the co-founder of luxury travel and fashion concierge company Voyager Club, which connects travellers with unique hotels, provides lifestyle services and curates personalised vacation wardrobes. Here, we speak to the 28-year-old entrepreneur about luxury experiences, fashion, and the hottest destinations for 2020

Sophie Caulcutt

1. How did Voyager Club go from an idea to a reality?

My background is in fashion and my other passion has always been travel. My co-founder, Ashley Barras, (who is also an avid traveller) and I couldn’t understand why no one was connecting the dots between the two, where you were going and what you put in your suitcase…so we had a vision to create a travel and lifestyle company that would be the first company to do just that. Voyager Club was launched in September 2018.

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As well as offering clients a vacation wardrobe service, #MyVacationStylist, that curates bespoke wardrobes for every traveller wherever they are going, partnering with MatchesFashion – Voyager Club also works with Hidden Gem hotels and exclusive privately villas around the world. We do the 360 for clients, from travel to concierge to the vacation wardrobe but all our services are also à la carte.

2. What kinds of experiences can the lifestyle concierge organise?

We strive on offering the most personalised experiences so every trip is bespoke to each client. Anything from insider itineraries and off the radar experiences to curating the perfect holiday wardrobe. With our little black book, Voyager Club can also organise the money can’t buy experiences around the world such as access to exclusive global events with MatchesFashion and their favourite designers to renting a house or yacht that would not usually be for rent. We also offer what we call ‘super brand’ concierge, helping brands make the impossible possible from events, pop-ups and experiences in beautiful destinations.

Another of Voyager Club’s Hidden Gems: Monastero Santa Rosa on the Almalfi Coast

3. How do you tailor a holiday wardrobe to an individual’s preferences?

If a client chooses the #MyVacationStylist service, they will be paired with an expert stylist for an in-person or phone consultation and asked questions about favourite designers, colours as well as the vacation itinerary. Our vacation stylists will then create an edit based on the client’s preferences and ship them to their hotel, villa, yacht or chalet in time for their trip. The best part is you only pay for what you keep.

Read more: Why you should invest in a wine storage cabinet

Voyager Club’s #MyVacationStylist service is a personalised shopping service, tailored to fit with the client’s itinerary

4. Favourite brand right now?

I have a few…This season La Double J which are amazingly versatile in a suitcase, Ulla Johnson and Gioia Bini for vacation mode and my favourite new discovery are Métier bags, which are a work of art.

5. Where do you predict will be the hottest holiday destinations next year?

Eco-retreats in South America as our commitment to sustainability grows and Comporta [in Portugal] for summer escapes with its bohemian beauty.

6. What are your travel essentials?

Noise cancelling headphones, vitamins, a great swimsuit and always a pair of great flats (I always pack a pair of Le Monde Beryl mules). I never travel without my own beauty products which I decant into miniatures from Muji and always keep in my wash bag ready to go!

To find out more, visit: voyagerclub.co

Velocity Black offers a start to finish booking service for high-net-worth individuals 

In 2014, Zia Yusuf quit his job at Goldman Sachs and started an online, ultra-luxury concierge service with his school friend Alex Macdonald. The business is run 100% digitally through the website and app, and membership is by invitation only. We put the co-founder in the hot seat for our 6 Questions interview slot.

Co-founder Zia Yusuf

1. What makes Velocity Black different to other lifestyle services?

Velocity Black is a members’ club reimagined for the digital age and engineered for those looking to lead a limitless life. Velocity Black is built on a breakthrough technology: the world’s first conversational mobile commerce engine for the affluent consumer. Our unique technology is disrupting several multi-trillion dollar industries at once, by re-imagining and simplifying the member experience for discovering and booking travel, dining, events and experiences. Built on the principal that the only thing we truly own is our story and everything else we are simply custodians of, Velocity Black liberates members to make their story as extraordinary as it can be. From planning round-the-world trips, to obtaining the most-sought after luxury goods, a dinner that’ll never be forgotten and original experiences like no other, Velocity Black turns what-ifs, into what’s next.

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We guarantee a response time of one minute 24/7, 365 days a year. We have enabled conversational commerce for the affluent consumer delivering personalised recommendations, automatic payment and fulfilment in real-time, around the clock.

2. How do millennials compare as customers to older generations?

Millennials are the ‘experience generation’. They are bringing a shift in consumption growth away from goods to experiences, valuing a meaningful life and memories shared over material goods. There is also an increase in awareness of the wellbeing of the planet and the effect of humanity on the environment and communities. Many millennials are increasingly looking to ‘give back’. We see that our members are particularly invested in global change.

In addition, instant messaging on smartphones is the preferred form of communication for millennials and they are much more likely to use messaging while travelling. Thanks to an ‘always on’ lifestyle, millennials live in an age of immediate gratification and our guaranteed response time appeals to this.

3. Will Velocity Black ever run out of experiences to offer?

We have delivered more than 45,000 experiences in 60 countries. We strive to assist members to live a limitless life of unforgettable moments and experiences. The world is our oyster. There is always a new experience or discovery to be had and we connect members to these.

Preview the Velocity Black world:

4. Your founding members include public figures such as Gigi Hadid and Vanessa Hudgens. Why is celebrity endorsement so important for the app?

These people work on extraordinary schedules. The reason they find value on our platform is because we make experiences so easy that all they have to do is go and get on a plane, or arrive at a restaurant. Our membership acquisition is based on an outstanding reputation and incredible offering.

5. What’s the craziest experience requested or organised through the app?

Our members benefit from being part of a closed community and we take privacy very seriously. I am therefore unable to disclose the nature of any individual requests, not even the really crazy ones!

6. Where do you go from here?

Velocity Black is one of the fastest growing tech start-ups and we don’t plan on slowing down. As voice search moves from novelty to habitual routine with time poor individuals looking to optimise their time however possible, you can expect to hear Siri and Alexa booking Velocity Black experiences on our member’s behalf. We will also be launching services in health care, real estate and art, later in 2019.

Find out more: velocity.black