A view of Silence beach, where guests at D Maris Bay can enjoy the idyllic scenery

Nestled between the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, D Maris Bay offers a masterclass in understated luxury. From secluded beaches and world-class dining to designer boutiques and cinematic arrivals by yacht, this exclusive retreat in Turkey blends privacy, refined hospitality, and immersive experiences into one of the Mediterranean’s most coveted escapes. LUX Correspondent Maria Webster reports

There’s something undeniably cinematic about arriving at D Maris Bay. Perhaps it’s the winding drive through the Datça Peninsula, where the landscape begins to dissolve into impossible shades of turquoise and deep Aegean blue, just as the Mediterranean Sea meets the Aegean in a quiet, almost imperceptible collision of two worlds. Or maybe it’s the feeling that the resort exists in complete isolation, folded into its own private stretch of coastline where the outside world seems to fade out entirely at the edges of the land. That remoteness is precisely what gives D Maris Bay its rare sense of exclusivity – a place shaped around privacy, discretion, and the kind of escape sought by high-profile guests wanting distance from public attention.

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Life here unfolds at an entirely different pace. Mornings begin slowly with the scent of pine trees and wild Cretan rockrose drifting through open terraces, accompanied by the soft rhythm of the sea below. I stayed in a room with a wonderfully calming atmosphere and uninterrupted views across the bay – the kind of place where mornings were spent quietly with a cup of coffee, listening only to birdsong in complete silence as the coastline slowly came to life. Breakfast at The Terrace easily stretches into late-morning coffee overlooking the bay, while swims become long, unhurried rituals rather than brief interruptions to the day. There’s a natural fluidity to life at D Maris Bay that makes even the busiest schedules feel impossibly far away.

World-class dining at D Maris Bay includes Manos, a restaurant where the atmosphere carries a distinctly Greek spirit – celebratory, expressive, and deeply rooted in tradition

What struck me almost immediately was how even the arrival experience reflects that same atmosphere of effortless discretion. The resort is uniquely equipped to welcome guests by land, sea, or air, with its own private helipad and dedicated mooring facilities for yachts arriving directly at the bay. Guests can move seamlessly from boat to suite within moments, reinforcing the sense that every detail has been designed around privacy and ease. For those arriving by private jet, helicopter transfers from Dalaman or Bodrum airports transform what could be a logistical journey into something cinematic in itself, skimming across the coastline before descending directly into the resort in just under half an hour.

One of D Maris Bay’s most distinctive qualities is the variety of its beaches, each with its own atmosphere and personality. Bay Beach acts as the social heart of the resort – elegant, expansive, and vibrant, where the clarity of the water feels almost surreal. Silence Beach x Zuma offers the opposite mood entirely: quieter, more contemplative, where the soundtrack narrows to wind, water, and distant movement across the bay. At Manos Beach, the energy shifts again into something more celebratory, particularly in the evenings when music, cocktails, and dining spill naturally towards the shoreline.

Meanwhile, La Guérite Beach brings a distinctly Riviera-inspired atmosphere, balancing beach culture with polished Mediterranean glamour. Maris Beach sits closer to the heart of the resort, offering a more classic, relaxed shoreline experience, while Hidden Beach feels more tucked away and secluded, a quieter pocket that feels slightly removed even within the resort itself. Alongside these are smaller coves and platform-style areas that offer pockets of near-complete privacy, allowing guests to move between very different atmospheres without ever leaving the coastline.

Food plays a central role in that rhythm. Dining at D Maris Bay feels less like moving between restaurants and more like travelling through different experiences and cultures over the course of a stay.

The terrace during sunset at Zuma, which offers contemporary Japanese dining

On my first evening, I visited Zuma, one of the world’s most recognised contemporary Japanese dining destinations. As the sun disappeared behind the bay, the entire atmosphere seemed to shift into another register entirely. There was an understated glamour to the room – elegant, international, quietly electric – with beautifully dressed guests moving between tables as the scent of expensive cigars and refined perfumes lingered in the warm night air.

What makes Zuma so compelling is the precision behind it all. The menu balances restraint with boldness effortlessly, from beautifully delicate sushi and sashimi to robata dishes layered with smoky depth and texture. Every plate feels intentional without ever appearing overworked, perfectly suited to long evenings that unfold slowly by the sea.

Read more: Linder through the highball glass

Yet it was D Maris Kitchen that stayed with me most personally. In contrast to the international polish elsewhere, it offers something far more grounded and soulful -an intimate expression of Turkish culinary heritage. Led by Chef Turan Hantas, the restaurant feels deeply personal, shaped by a genuine reverence for local ingredients and traditional flavours. His passion for Turkish cuisine is evident in every detail, from the careful sourcing of produce to the quiet precision of each dish. Meals begin with vibrant mezzes and fresh seasonal salads before moving into beautifully executed grilled dishes rich with smoke and layered flavour. Everything feels honest, generous, and deeply connected to its surroundings. Then, at the end of the meal, comes a simple but meaningful gesture: a glass of traditional Turkish tea, grounding the experience in something comforting and familiar.

The Dior boat, which offers guests at D Maris Bay a private luxury mode of travel

Lunch at Aurora Capri brought an entirely different mood. With more than 130 years of history behind its name, the restaurant carries a quiet confidence that mirrors the spirit of Italian coastal dining itself. It became one of those effortless afternoons where lunch slowly dissolves into late afternoon conversation without anyone noticing the time pass. What stood out most was the simplicity of the menu – beautifully executed pizzas with unmistakable Neapolitan character, vibrant salads, and ingredients chosen with genuine care. Even the tomatoes, brought directly from Capri, carried a sweetness and depth that subtly transformed the dishes. It gave everything a sense of authenticity, as though a small piece of the island had travelled across the Mediterranean with them.

The cocktail menu follows that same spirit of understated Italian ease. Aurora Peach Bellini felt like the obvious choice: light, fragrant, uncomplicated, and perfectly suited to a long seaside lunch where time begins to loosen its grip.

Read more: The heart of London’s art circuit at the Royal Academy

Another memorable evening unfolded at Manos, where the atmosphere carries a distinctly Greek spirit – celebratory, expressive, and deeply rooted in tradition. What began as a relaxed dinner, gradually evolved into something far more immersive as live music filled the space and guests were drawn closer together by the energy of the evening. At one point, plates were broken in celebration, a gesture tied to wishes and shared joy that felt far more cultural than performative. What makes Manos memorable is not simply the spectacle, but the feeling of participation – the sense that you are not merely watching the evening unfold, but becoming part of it.

Fashion, too, feels naturally embedded into the world of D Maris Bay. Dior’s Riviera aesthetic subtly shapes parts of the resort, from the atmosphere around the Dior pool, where guests drift between loungers and refreshing turquoise water beneath the Mediterranean sun, to the beautifully designed Dior boutique hidden within the property. More than retail spaces, the boutiques feel like extensions of the resort itself – relaxed, sun-drenched, and carefully curated.

The Dior pool at D Maris Bay, offering guests a private retreat with views of surrounding nature

Informal, the resort’s boutique space, in particular stood out for its thoughtful edit of designers and artisanal labels, including pieces by master jeweller Sevan Bıçakçı alongside beachwear brands such as Eres, Mantero 1902, and Cult Gaia. It never felt overtly commercial, instead, shopping became another continuation of the resort’s aesthetic language.

And then there are the evenings – perhaps the most memorable aspect of all. Across the resort, signature cocktails created in collaboration with world-renowned Italian mixologist Giancarlo Mancino, arrive polished and inventive. The Terrace becomes especially atmospheric after sunset, when the bay itself feels woven into the experience. Its cocktail menu takes a playful yet refined approach, with each signature drink inspired by a different country, transforming the menu into a kind of global journey through flavour and presentation. It’s a subtle detail, but one that perfectly reflects the resort’s international sensibility while remaining grounded in its coastal setting.

What D Maris Bay understands so well is that modern luxury is defined by atmosphere, pace, and emotional immersion. Somewhere between the stillness of the sea, the discreet glamour, and the sense of complete removal from the outside world, the resort achieves exactly that.

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The Fondation Cab building, which offers guest rooms alongside contemporary art

The south of France and Monaco are becoming among the hottest destinations in the art world, literally as well as metaphorically. The scenic region, once a celebrated home to artists and patrons, has seen a new influx of foundations, private museums, philanthropists and collectors who are supercharging the Riviera vibe. Here, four leading lights from the area, Simon de Pury, Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Christian Levett and Catherine Loewe present the inside track of what’s “ouf” between Marseille and Menton

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Fondation Cab, Saint-Paul de Vence

With views over the Cap d’Antibes peninsula, the Riviera branch of Hubert Bonnet’s Fondation Cab houses a minimalist and conceptual contemporary art collection and offers seasonal exhibitions and artist residencies, all in a restored modernist site.

Quatre couronnes circulaires entremêlées, 2020, by Felice Varini, from the Fondation Cab collection

“My friend Hubert Bonnet was always passionate about architecture, art and design. His Fondation Cab was born from his desire to support artistic creativity and become a source of inspiration. In 2021, the foundation opened a second location in Saint-Paul de Vence. It is a must see in the area! I love the renovation of this 1950s’ house by the architect and interior designer Charles Zana and the beautiful Maison Prouvé in the garden.”

– Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Mater Earth, 2023, by Prune Nourry, on the Château La Coste estate

Château La Coste, Puy-Sainte-Réparade

The historic organic vineyard near Aix-en-Provence inaugurated an art and architecture park, established by Paddy McKillen, in 2011, as well as a hotel and restaurants.

Read more: Inside Milan with Francesco Maccapani Missoni

The Oscar Niemeyer Pavilion, conceived by the architect between 2010 and 2013, and unveiled in 2022 in a vineyard on the Château La Coste estate

“The sculpture garden at Château La Coste is a wonderful and unforgettable experience. At the entrance by Louise Bourgeois’s Crouching Spider is the start of an Art and Architecture Trail, which winds through the hills and vineyards of the estate. Designed by Tadao Ando, the art centre reveals a meticulous attention to materials and textures, and blends seamlessly into its surroundings. Other architectural pavilions, such as those by Renzo Piano and Oscar Niemeyer, are also worth a visit.”

– Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

The 1960s Dragon Hill building, designed by Jacques Couëlle along ecological lines

Dragon Hill, Mouans-Sartoux

The pioneering art residency, founded by London gallerists Jonny Burt and Joe Kennedy, is located on a mountaintop above the village of Mouans-Sartoux, near Cannes. Curators, academics, patrons and collectors are welcomed for visits by appointment.

Read more: A tasting of top Napa Cabernet Sauvignons with Paul Hobbs

A sculpture by Claudia Comte on the Dragon Hill grounds

“Dragon Hill’s dreamy Riviera villa designed by visionary architect Jacques Couëlle is a place one never wants to leave. It is a retreat for artists and writers to revel in the natural beauty, tranquillity and cultural legacy that this part of the world is famed for. I am excited to be curating a special exhibition there for two brilliant women with strong ties to the region, Maryam Eisler and Nicole Farhi.”

– Catherine Loewe

Villa E-1027 is set before Le Corbusier’s Le Cabanon on the Riviera coast

Eileen Gray Villa E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Built in the 1920s and overlooking a small beach beneath a dramatic coastal path, Gray’s villa was fully restored in 2021. The site can be visited from April to October by guided tour and prior booking only.

Read more: A sojourn in Egypt

The furniture was designed for the space by Eileen Gray

“E-1027, the iconic Eileen Gray modernist villa built between 1926 and 1929 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and lovingly restored by Michael Likierman is the perfect destination for a hike along the sea from Monaco.”

– Simon de Pury

The Abstract Expressionist Gallery at Famm

Famm, Mougins

Founded by collector and LUX Contributing Editor Christian Levett, Femmes Artistes Musée Mougins (Famm) opened in 2024 in an historic village near Cannes. The collection, which unfolds across four floors, features artists including Berthe Morisot, Nan Goldin and Jenny Saville. The museum can be visited year round.

Read more: Arch Hades in conversation with Catherine Loewe

Les fils du roi, 1906, by Jacqueline Marval, from the Famm collection

“One of the interesting things about having a museum in the south of France is it’s a place where things are happening: Luma and Cab are fairly recent, Carmignac only opened eight years ago. You have Domaine du Muy, owned by Jean-Gabriel and Edward Mitterrand, near Saint-Tropez – another sculpture park in the area. And there’s Dragon Hill as well, open to private tours by collectors and curators.”

– Christian Levett

A Maeght gallery, designed by Silvio D’Ascia and opened in 2024, was conceived to complement the original architecture by Josep Lluís Sert

Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence

The renowned foundation was founded in 1964 by Marguerite and Aimé Maeght, friends of the most important artists of their time who left their mark on the building and its extensive gardens. Temporary exhibitions include Ellsworth Kelly, from June to November 2026.

The sculpture garden, including two Personnage sculptures, 1970 and 1972, by Joan Miró

“I am always very enthusiastic about the idea of returning to this magical place, nestled among pine trees and bathed in light. Stroll through the sculpture garden, where you encounter Miró, Giacometti or Calder, then enter the museum to admire Chagall, Braque and so many others. A timeless gem that merges art, nature and architecture.”

– Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Read more: The heart of London’s art circuit at the Royal Academy

An exhibition view of Couleurs! Chefs d’oeuvre du Centre Pompidou, 2025 at the Grimaldi Forum

Grimaldi Forum, Monaco

Inaugurated in 2000, with an extension by Alexandre Giraldi and Patrick Raymond in 2025, the 35,000 square metre waterfront site hosts exhibitions, performances and concerts all year round.

An exhibition view of ‘Monet et la Riviera’, 2023, at the Grimaldi Forum

“Under the lead of Sylvie Biancheri, the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco has been reliably churning out one blockbuster show after another. Its flexible interior is any curator’s dream.”

– Simon de Pury

Krauses Gekröse, 2011, by Franz West at Luma’s Parc des Ateliers site

Luma, Arles

Established in 2013 by founder Maja Hoffman and featuring architecture by Frank Gehry, the singular vision for Luma includes exhibitions of multidisciplinary art and programmes supporting engagement with creative ideas and social issues.

Isometric Slides, two 12-metre-high slides in the Tower building, 2021, by Carsten Höller

“With Luma Arles, Maja Hoffmann has founded the ultimate publicly accessible research laboratory combining art and science. Besides which, she is the cultural dynamo responsible for the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh and for Les Rencontres d’Arles de la photographie.”

– Simon de Pury

Paul Hobbs, one of the most celebrated names in the world of wine, photographed in one of the Paul Hobbs Wines vineyards

Paul Hobbs has been a leader in the wine world for decades, so much so that his eponymous wines now have a brand that shines independently of the man. LUX gets together with Hobbs himself for a conversation and tasting of his top Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, sourced from particular vineyard sites

Paul Hobbs is a wine world legend, so much so that one might be surprised that he can be interviewed. Like Louis Vuitton for fashion or Henri Jayer for Burgundy, he is surely a name, not a person.

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But Hobbs, one of the founding team of Opus One and maker of some of North America’s legendary cabernet sauvignons, pinot noirs and chardonnays, is very much alive, well, and on a Zoom with LUX.

Paul Hobbs foster a range of vineyards that stretch across the Russian River Valley, West Sonoma Coast, and Napa Valley

He is a strict, precise interviewee – not someone you feel who would suffer fools or who has much time for small talk. “Wine was not on my radar when I was growing up,” he says in response to a question about whether wine was in his blood like it is with so many other wine legends. He explains that he grew up on a farm in rural New York and it was only when his father took him to visit one of the nascent wineries (then becoming famous for Riesling) in the scenic Finger Lakes area that his interest awoke.

Still, he intended to be a medical doctor – something easy to imagine him as, with a thoroughness of air – but was eventually seduced by wine, even writing a doctorate on the attributes of different oak barrels at America’s Sorbonne of wine: University of California at Davis.

The flagship Nathan Coombs Estate in the Napa Valley, named after the founder of the City of Napa

His scientific background “gave [him] an advantage” over others starting out in the wine industry, he believes, and this rigour stands out in the current precision of production of some of the world’s greatest Cabernet Sauvignons from single vineyard sites in the Napa Valley, which we proceed to taste together.

Read more: A sojourn in Egypt

Hobbs is not an outwardly emotional man but says he is “proud to be at the leading edge” of what he does, setting standards and creating concepts that others aspire to – and he has now done so for decades.

A bottle of the 2021 Nathan Coombs, described by Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai as a ‘dormant volcano’

Tasting notes by Darius Sanai

2021 Nathan Coombs

From a (relatively) cooler part of Napa, this tasted like a dormant volcano in the best way. Power and might and richness, but with a kind of geological precision to it. One to drink at Arzak over roe deer loin, black trumpet leaves and mushrooms

2021 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane

This is a wine to toast a billion dollar deal with, from your mansion above Montecito. Endless in its flavours and layers, it is also a wine for the ages, and if you’re a confident investor in a California longevity company we would suggest cellaring it for the next 100 years and enjoying it in 2126.

Paul Hobbs with his attention to detail in the vineyard

2021 Las Piedras

This is a cult wine for many collectors in the US, and tasting it for the first time, I wanted to be in the LUX mountain hideaway above Aspen (still in planning stage) with three poets and four artists, pondering every savoury, mountain-tinged sip in the forest.

Read more: Arch Hades in conversation with Catherine Loewe

2021 Beckstoffer To Kalon

To Kalon is a vineyard in the Napa Valley known to many as the Chateau Latour of Napa, or perhaps its should be known as the Grands Echezeaux, as wine is made from it by a few producers. This wine is as long as the sky, and we would drink it now either with our last meal, or at dinner with Anne-Sophie Pic (herself) in the rookery of an Umbrian castello, in late autumn, after a rain shower, over a six-course menu she rustled up in the 13th-century kitchen.

paulhobbswinery.com

A portrait of Jennifer Shorto, a textile and wallpaper designer who is inspired by antique textiles from across the world

Jennifer Shorto, textile and wallpaper creator for the famous and discerning around the world, chooses six pieces for the season from the quirkily magnificent collections of London-based jeweller Cora Sheibani

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1. Decorated Gugelhupf ring

Platinum with ebony, diamond, ruby and blue sapphire: there are only bold rings for me – ebony with gems shifts attention from my hands to drama. I am fascinated by wood with stones.

2. Transition earrings

Platinum with pink spinel and grey sapphire: these are classical yet unexpected – rigorous in line, playful in pink. They seduce me into wearing earrings again.

Read more: Bentley by LUNAZ review

3. Triple C&C necklace

Citrine and silex jasper, with 18k yellow-gold clasp: citrine is liquid sunshine, its luminous gold complements my skin and clothes, radiating warmth and vibrant energy.

4. Tetris brooch with jabot pin

18k champagne gold with smoky quartz and aquamarine: I love holding dresses and jackets together with brooches. Smoky quartz with aquamarine is a quietly stunning pairing.

Read more: A tasting of Joseph Phelps wines with Maison President David Pearson

5. Sorbet ring

18k rose gold with peach and purple Edison pearls: the colour clash of these gems is delicious – I’m thrilled to see these unusual pearls.

6. B&B earrings

18k yellow gold with Palmeira citrine and orange zircon: flattering and vibrant, they light up the face. Rigour keeps them timeless, never old-fashioned.

All corasheibani.com

jennifershorto.com

The hotel is located at the highest point in the village of Surlej, just 5 kilometres from St. Moritz. As a result, the hotel offers ski-in ski-out to the slopes

With a spectacular view of the Engadine Valley, and located right by one of the region’s best ski and hiking mountains, Nira Alpina is a hip hotel to inspire the soul – and palate

Nira Alpina offers views of untouched natural scenery and is suitable for both summer and winter adventures

The spa of the hotel offers a relaxation room with coloured mood lighting, a steam room, a sauna, a vast whirlpool, and five large treatment rooms

In the summer the hotel offers multiple outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, skiing and watersports.

During the winter guests have a wide selection of winter activities, including ice skating, winter hiking, sledding, bobsledding, horse riding, hang gliding, sky diving and Nordic walking.

Getting there: 

Boutique hotel La Fiermontina Luxury Home is an homage to Antonia Fiermonte and the two artists who loved her. The garden shares its ancient city walls with Lecce

Lecce, the most celebrated city in Puglia, comes at you unexpectedly, like many of Italy’s gems. You drive past vineyards and olive groves, go through some unremarkable suburbs and then suddenly you are faced with a wall and gate of Roman origin. Once inside, the streets shrink and are cobbled; but what looks like a cluster of ancient buildings also houses more treasures within.

One of these is La Fiermontina Luxury Home, the city’s most celebrated hotel, set around a garden and olive grove within the ancient walls. The owners have just opened a new property, the Fiermonte Museum, 50 metres away down a quiet cobbled street.

All rooms and suites of La Fiermontina Luxury Home are inspired by traditional local buildings and are full of character, decorated with vintage and high-end antique pieces

Turn  right at the old lady who spends her days sewing, sitting on a chair on the cobbles, through a latticed iron gate, and you enter into a bijou courtyard, surrounded by lush trees – you could pick your own loquats certain times of the year.

Under a newly built staircase – the whole construction is new out of old sit two sculptures, and the art theme continues when you walk through the first floor terrace and slide the glass doors open, to be greeted by an array of sculptures and paintings.

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Our room had high, vaulted ceilings, showcase artworks and furnishings – the Fiermontina team are masters at creating contemporary art and design elegance out of historic landmarks.

The artworks around La Fiermontina Luxury Home are part of the carefully selected collection, and the architecture tells a story of the family’s ancestors and the country’s history

The Suite Nocturne of the Fiermonte Museum is covered in blue tones and music-themed

Ceilings and curtains were a deep blue, the window looking out onto a lush tropical treescape (all this within the old town). It was utterly peaceful, silent both at night and during the way, yet a couple of minutes stroll along the cobbles takes you into the heart of the old town.

Read more: Artists In Conversation: Michelangelo Pistoletto and Pascale Marthine Tayou with Maryam Eisler

The Fiermonte Museum consists of works from the Fiermonte family’s private collection, taking visitors on a kaleidoscopic journey through 20th-century art

This really is a Museum with rooms: you are given tickets, key card access and a lantern so you can access the museum in the same building at night. And then have breakfast in the courtyard, with an utterly bijou buffet served by your own staff – it feels like staying in a private home, more than a hotel.

We had dinner on our last night at the Zephyr restaurant.

www.lafiermontinacollection.com

The Hato Restaurant is located in the heart of St. Moritz village, only a few minutes walk away from the well-known Badrutts Palace

In the heart of St Moritz, Hato is all about people watching, inside and out, DJ vibes, and some vibrant pan-Asian cuisine to match anything in Mayfair, as LUX discovers

Slip into a window table at Hato and you have a ringside seat of the high-rolling circus that is St Moritz in season. A slick, dark, club-bar of a restaurant, Hato is right in the heart of the village, slightly elevated from the street, so you can look out, chilling to the DJ tunes, and spot exactly who is in town with which of their lovers/dogs/families.

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The cuisine is Fine Asian and the menu references the Head Chef’s previous role at Sexy Fish in London, but that doesn’t really do justice to Hato: this is much more refined than Sexy Fish, both in concept and execution.

The restaurant with views on the lake of St. Moritz serves fine asian cuisine dishes that are displayed in a very extravagant style

Our Som Tam salad – not jam, coriander, green papaya, carrots, red onion and iceberg – was a dish surely never served before in St Moritz, and had a delicious vibrancy, matched well with our other sharing starter of steamed aubergine with chilli and coriander.

Read More: Roia’s fine-dining in Singapore’s Botanics

Hato started quiet that evening but quite late, as our mains arrived, troupes of young St Moritzians waltzed in, evidently familiar with the place, laughing, jogging over to their regular tables, chatting in the multilingual Esperanto of English, Italian, French and German that is the trademark of the Engadine.

Established in 2015, Hato is known for it’s range of asian foods, from rock shrimp tempura to Hamachi, a new style of yuzu truffle

Next up was handmade dim sum, which we had chosen over tempura, which seems to be everywhere these days. The siu mai and har gau were sufficiently al dente and definite, but it was the spinach and mushroom that caused delectations, likely due to the clarity of the local ingredients.

A main of black cod was originally, and highly successfully, served with saikio miso, truffle yuzu and fennel but the real standout of the whole meal was the whole butterfly seabass, with Thai spices. Zingy, buttery, thought provoking.

Grilled miso chicken, sashimi, nigiri, maki, handmade dim sum with ponzu sauce, shiitake mushrooms, tuna takaky: one doesn’t lack choice at HATO

We’re not sure if people go to Hato for the food or the vibe – both are high up the scale – or to spot their ex walking with someone new down below, to which the only answer is another bottle of Dom Perignon.

www.hato-restaurants.com

The Japanese restaurant Shogun in Zermatt offers sushi, and many other Japanese specialties such as ramen

Zermatt, the celebrated Swiss ski and mountain resort, has a little-known but powerful connection with Japan. Nowhere better to experience it than at Shogun, a properly authentic Japanese in the village centre

A perhaps little known fact about the high Alps is the Japanese connection. Zermatt, cradled by a ring of the most spectacular 4000m peaks in Europe, has a long-term connection with Japanese mountaineers who, like the English, were among the early-adopter climbers of peaks like the Matterhorn and (even more imposing, if less famous) Weisshorn. A significant number of Alpine books available in the village’s bookstores were authored or photographed by established Japanese climbers.

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In that context, it is not surprising that Zermatt has a Japanese restaurant which is quite different in feel from the current trend for Asian-fusion.

Walking into Shogun, you feel like you are entering an eatery in Hokkaido, the mountain and ski island of Japan: through a little garden and up some steps, everything is Zen, simple, wooden, careful, thoughtful.

Shogun prepares the Japanese food freshly and sells it at moderate prices

Menus are bilingual, also in Japanese. We chose a set menu, which featured a stunning, tastebud-reviving hamachi carpaccio with jalapeños, red onion, ponzu sauce and sesame oil, Swiss grilled beef which was tender, simple, almost liquid, and a yuzu cheesecake.

Read more: Mandarin Oriental, Zurich review

From the à la carte we had spicy tuna tartare, topped with quail’s egg, tori kaarage (chicken with soy, ginger and garlic), and grilled scallops and white fish with grilled vegetables.

Next to eating in the restaurant, you can also get the dishes delivered or you can get it at their take away station

A combination of quality of ingredients and care and craft of execution made the food utterly standout, even for someone used to eating at the world’s great Japanese restaurants.

The purity may come as a surprise to a generation reared on the easy-listening Japanese of Asian fusion restaurants, but Zermatt is, at heart, all about purity. Memorable for all the right reasons.

The two japanese chefs import the rice that they are using for the dishes directly from Japan

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The Mandarin Oriental is in the beating banking heart in the old town of Zurich

Zurich has seen the transformation of one of its oldest hotels into a gem in the historic heart of the city

For those unacquainted with Switzerland’s largest city, a visit to Zurich always comes as a positive surprise. You may expect banks and pharmaceutical company HQs in a clinical row; instead you get a bijou medieval old town on the banks of a river filled with swans and storks, a dramatic lakeside waterfront with a view of the Alps, and plenty of olde-Europe atmosphere.

The spiritual centre of the town is the Paradeplatz, the point, a few hundred metres from the lake, where the chic Bahnhofstrasse luxury shopping street meets the edge of the old town, amid some serious-looking private banks housed in historic buildings and trams coming and going (cars are banned from this part of town). And now, for the first time in decades, the Paradeplatz has a hotel to match its stature as the world’s centre of discreet wealth management.

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The Savoy has been on the Paradeplatz for generations; it was one of Switzerland’s original luxury hotels, but until recently had slipped off the pinnacle of hotelerie and was a rather uninspiring and old-fashioned five star hostelry. Now, following a magic wand by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, it is the talk of the town.

The LUX lodgings certainly deserved to be making waves. After walking in and being recognised by the staff without saying our name (always impressive, even if pretty easy with a quick online search), we were whisked upstairs to a corner suite, beautifully and elaborately decorated, with a view over the little square and the streets around. Decor was fresh, light and airy, with thick light taupe carpets and some beautiful marquetry.

Guest can enjoy their morning coffee on their balcony overlooking the famous Paradeplatz

Read more: Visiting Ferrari Trento: The sparkling wine of Formula 1

One of the fascinating questions about the hotel was: how do you meld old Switzerland (the Savoy) with Mandarin Oriental, a luxury brand with its roots in East Asia? While there were hints and accents of contemporary Hong Kong in the design cues, this was, pleasingly, not an attempt to insert one culture inside the other.

Dinner the first night was at the Savoy Brasserie & Bar,  blending just a hint of Swiss formality (white coats for the wait staff) with an ease of spirit and sense of life. Oysters were a feature here – to go with an art deco theme – and we particularly enjoyed a main of monkfish escabeche, with bell pepper and crispy rice chips.

Guests can have drinks and light bites in the Mandarin lounge

The culinary highlight was the next evening; Orsini is technically in the adjacent Orsini building from the 14th century,, but to reach it you stroll around the side of the building, with a historic church reminding you of where you are, and into a narrow entrance opening out into a bijou dining room. Our fellow diners included two highly wealthy finance people of international origin, quietly celebrating a deal, a couple celebrating an anniversary, and another finance person quietly making his next billion on his iPad.

The cuisine was as rarefied as the atmosphere. Artichoke with “cacio e Pepe” milk, grapefruit and Mazara red prawn tartare; potato gnocchi with grilled eel, “Giulio Ferrari” Spumante sauce (that’s a top Italian sparkling wine), fava beans and caviar; both were outstanding in their subtlety. Bravo to Mandarin Oriental for running two such brilliant but contrasting restaurants under the same roof

There are two superb dining options in the hotel: The casual Savoy Brasserie & Bar and the intimatefine dining restaurant Orsini

Those would have been the hotel’s public space pieces de resistance, but while LUX was staying there, the MO opened its rooftop bar. And we learned something quite spectacular about Zurich rooftops. Even if the building is not very high – the MO is just one storey higher than its neighbours – they can make for astonishing views, because as soon as you rise above the buildings around you, you are greeted not just by a view of the city’s churches and other landmarks, but the sweep of the Alps and lake on one side, and dramatic forested hills on the other. A few floors and you are in another world. So the MO is not just the most chi-chi spot in town, but one of the vibeiest also.

This is a boutique MO, not a grand one, but the company has over the years shown it can do old-world boutique (Munich) just as well as it does new and palatial (New York), the sign of a hotel brand immensely comfortable in its own skin and flexible enough not just to move with the times and spaces it operates in, but lead with them.

Mandarin Oriental’s 1838 rooftop bar in Zurich is a hotspot in the city

UPDATE: We visited the 1838 rooftop bar on an early summer evening. There are dramatic views all the way around the city, across its spires and roofs to the surrounding hills and forests, and to one side, the lake and the Alps.

1838 is a funky bar restaurant of the highest echelon. House champagne, served out of magnum, was Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. As you would expect of MO, there is also an array of cocktails, with the signature Tang Tang Boom (tequila, lemongrass, lime and bergamot) very tempting on a sunny evening. The cuisine is beyond what you might expect: black cod and Peruvian hamachi ceviche salad perfectly matched the Blanc de Blancs (and the Ruinart Rosé, also served by the glass.

If you’re not staying at the hotel, you need to reserve – this is the hotspot in the city, with good reason; and even if you are staying, we recommend calling up to secure the nicest table with the best view – although they are all pretty spectacular.

www.mandarinoriental.com/de/zurich/savoy/

Dating back to 1775, this building is nearby the Basilica of Santa Croce in Lecce

Authentic. immaculate, aristocratic, contemporary family-curated luxury in a Baroque palace in a city that’s a living museum? Take us to the Palazzo Bozzi Corso in Lecce, Puglia

Authenticity is becoming an ever greater part of the luxury travel experience. People want experiences when they travel, and cookie-cutter luxury simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

That’s why you get French and Italian fashion and luxury creating spectacular hotels in territories as far apart as Australia and Las Vegas. But authenticity cannot be created through replication or over the Internet; by definition it is something that comes from inside.

The hotel was designed by the 18th-century architect Emanuele Manieri, this historic building attained its unique blend of traditional and contemporary features when it was developed in conjunction with the La Fiermontina Family Collection.

That, more than anything else, is what strikes you when you walk into the Palzzo Bozzi Corso. You are walking along a historic street in Lecce, in the heart of Puglia, buzzing with tourists, locals, craft shops, wine bars, local food markets.

Dedicated to the memory of the boxer and actor Enzo Fiermonte, La Fiermontina Palazzo Bozzi Corso offers its guests spaces with ornate furnishings and artworks

This is and was a wealthy town and the Baroque era buildings are grand and imposing. Then you walk into the Palazzo and you are whisked into the private home of a wealthy merchant of hundreds of years ago: the equivalent of walking into a Rockefeller house in a different era.

Except the Palazzo Bozzi Corso has been sylishly and impeccably updated so it feels almost like a perfectly curated exhibition, a museum of contemporary and 18^th century Italian design, immaculately reimagined as an intimate luxury hotel.

Art by the likes of John Lennon (a friend of the owning family) and Fernand Leger sits among the Renaissance artefacts; no interior designer in the world could create a passion project so warm and thoughtful. This is a place to live, or at least to stay for as long as possible.

The building is also home to original drawings by John Lennon, donated by Yoko Ono, a friend of the owner’s mother.

There are only 10 suites here and every one is different: ours had a stone arch above the bed, church-like high ceilings, modernist furniture, a combination of ancient and contemporary art, eggshell walls, vast mirrors. Bathrooms are out of a show suite at Milan Design Week, except the work, both physically and in the destination.

Walk out of the building and you are in the living museum of Baroque that is Lecce; there is a roof terrace, and you can use the pool in the garden at the nearby sister hotel (also gorgeous), La Fiermontina. Authentic luxury doesn’t even begin to describe Palazzo Bozzi Corso.

Guests also have access to the secret garden and rooftop terrace to see the sunset

www.lafiermontinacollection.com/en/palazzo-bozzi-corso

Darius Sanai is Editor in Chief of LUX and an Editor in Chief at Condé Nast International

The new BMW XM is the first high-performance car from BMW M GmbH with an electrified drive system

BMW’s sporting flagship promises to be the best of its luxury SUV division, combined with the best of its racy M division. Does it deliver?

Many large SUVs are dramatically imposing, aggressive vehicles that look like they are as likely to declare war on Mars as get you to your destination. Which is fine if you are a certain type of person or in a certain mood. But not always.

The BMW XM is certainly a large SUV. It is also a kind of flagship of the company’s range, combining, in an adaptation of their own words, the best of its SUV division (X) with the best of its sports division (M).

It doesn’t need a racing driver to tell you that a huge, tall wide vehicle is not necessarily best suited to a racing purpose; and nor is a racing car mush suited to carrying several people wearing Etro and Patek Philippe and Off White around in comfort.

But in the manner of an athletic rugby forward, or a centre back, the XM carries off that blend of athleticism and muscle.

Unique exterior design twinned with luxurious interior that showcases the ‘M Lounge’ concept

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What is particularly interesting about the car is that while it looks dramatic and striking, it manages not to look aggressive. Perhaps because of its hybrid nature, it gives off an element of futuristic electric vibe.

It’s also great fun to drive, even in town. BMW have somehow managed to endow it with responsive steering, and very flat cornering, it feels astonishingly agile for a car the size of a small hotel. Like all hybrids, it is very relaxing to drive an electric mode, and when the engine kicks in, you get an overlay of sound.

The nature of the sound divided our passengers: Some thought it sounded cool and racy, others said that such a sophisticated looking car should be seen and felt rather than heard. It’s not as noisy as a Lamborghini SUV, but it’s much louder than a Bentley Bentayga or Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Happy medium or compromise? Probably in the eye of the beholder.

Read more: Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Review

What sure is that this is a magnificent long-distance vehicle. Back seat passengers get smart, detachable branded leather cushions. (even the plug-in charging cables in the boot/trunk are housed in a rather striking leather overnight bag), there is masses of legroom and a feeling of a huge amount of space and light in the car, and also that the rear seats are well designed, unlike in some of these vehicles where you end up sitting very upright. A journey between London and Oxford was devoured in one gulp without anybody noticing the in between.

Speaking of gulps, in the past an SUV of this size would have been planet-wearingly thirsty, but due to its engine efficiency and electrical assistance, the XM is remarkably frugal – more so than many cars half its size and power.

The high-performance Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) is powered by a newly developed plug-in hybrid system delivering 653hp and 800Nm of torque

Criticisms? Apart from the size, which you have to be able to deal with f you are buying a car like this, the entertaining and sporty nature of the driving experience means that the ride is quite firm. Don’t expect a limousine here – for that you should look at this car’s I7 sibling. But if you can live with that, this is quite the car.

www.bmw.com

The stunning pool area of the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore

The Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore offers a tropical sanctuary  in the heart of the city. LUX checks in

Singapore’s hawker food is the street food of legend and even features in gastronomic guides. But while the food is astonishing, the stress of getting a table is less so. And much as it is fun to be crammed in with others buzzing with the same experience, sometimes you crave peace. And you do need an appetite for the equatorial heat. We took our Singapore laksa with vintage champagne, in pure tranquillity, in a temperature-controlled garden room, looking over lush plantations, a lawn and a swimming pool. How? The Shangri-La brings the street food to the hotel guests, that’s how.

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At the Line kitchen pop-ups, real street-food chefs from guest hawker stalls, including Habib’s Rojak, cook in the hotel kitchens. It doesn’t replace the authentic experience, but having just landed from Qatar it suited us. After lunch, we wandered down to the huge outdoor pool to swim a few lengths before drifting into the spa for a restorative treatment. The Shangri-La is not among the newest of Singapore’s luxury hotels, but, as seasoned travellers know, newness does not always mean improvement.

The Hotel Lobby Lounge is equipped with a lot of green plants in the Tower Wing

Read more: Waku Ghin, Singapore, Review

A new developer might have been tempted to build over the rich tropical gardens, or make a smaller pool. There’s also the danger of design to social media. A space made to look good on Instagram is not always good to be in, and this is very true of bars, where bold shapes detract from the dreamy ambiance that makes a good bar. And the Shangri-La has a good bar. The Origin is dark, full of corners and has a long wooden bar for sitting at. We asked for a gin southside margarita, a hybrid cocktail of my own invention, and were pleased, although not surprised, that the bartender knew the ingredients.

The rose veranda has a high tea set menu, designed to continue afternoon traditions of luxurious tête-à-têtes over dainty sandwiches, delectable pastries and freshly baked scones served with clotted cream.

This joint effort was so delightful we had another. And another. In Singapore, you want a room with a view, and our suite had just that: high over the gardens and high-rises of the Orchard area. The room was conventional luxury, and all the better for it. To end the day, a charming wander through the gardens, then sitting poolside by a tropical fruit tree at midnight, bracing for another day.

Nestled within 15 acres of tropical landscaped gardens, guests are warmly embraced by the hotel’s distinct service and smiles.

shangri-la.com

The Woodward, Geneva, a discreet all-suite lakefront hotel in a classical building

Darius Sanai checks in at The Woodward, Geneva, where luxury meets discreet elegance

The wow factor

The Woodward is situated in a lakefront building facing the Alps, like a few other luxury Geneva hotels, but there the similarity ends. You enter via a discreet door and are shown up in a lift to a mezzanine floor, where the receptionist sits behind a small table. It is all marble, light furnishings, art and views, like arriving at a beautiful home.

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People-watching

It was as if we were at a friend’s cosmopolitan party, with expensive-looking international couples on the mezzanine floor, but the main feeling was of space and privacy.

The hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Atelier Robuchon

Show me to my room

The Woodward is an all-suite hotel and ours, one of 26, was like a private apartment. The design is by Pierre-Yves Rochon, a king of contemporary hotel and residence design. Furnishings are light, off-white and taupe; coffee-table books are artfully chosen; art is thoughtfully hung.

Read more: Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo, Review

Come dine with me (and other things)

At street level, the L’Atelier Robuchon is all dark lacquer and red leather. We sat at long bar, where we saw the chefs at work and our cocktails being mixed. The atmosphere was buzzing; a contrast to the tranquillity of the hotel above. The food was superb in the Atelier group’s weekend-gourmet style: line-caught turbot fillet poached with verbena, sea lettuce, cockles and clams had a fresh umami taste; farro wheat with mushrooms, black garlic, trompette consommé and Barolo vinegar was an all-time, all-star vegan dish. Then, a sliding door, and you disappear into your apartment and that view.

Find out more: oetkercollection.com/hotels/the-woodward

This article first appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2023/24 issue of LUX

Courtesy of Porsche

In the third part of our Super Powers series from the Spring/Summer 2023 issue, LUX’s car reviewer gets behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS

The Porsche 911 is an example of a design that has succeeded precisely because it is wrong. No car designer would come up with this car now. It is neither a two-seater nor a four-seater, it has an engine where the boot usually goes and a strangely situated storage space between the front wheels. No one else has created anything like it and nor are they likely to. But this endearing design has been with us for 60 years, initially updated slowly, latterly more quickly.

The latest generation, introduced a few years back, still has the car’s distinctive design features, but is as technically sophisticated as any other luxury sports car. The newest iteration, also known as the 992, is remarkably quiet and refined when driven slowly around town – too much so for some, who say it has been overtamed in search of ever broadening markets.

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We at LUX count ourselves Porsche 911 fans, yet, while we are in awe of the technical abilities, design and performance of the standard 992, we also felt it could offer a little more in terms of engagement and excitement. So we were pleased to be given the keys to this GTS model. Porsche typically produces some race-oriented 911 versions for enthusiasts, but they have certain compromises, including a lack of back seats and a handling set up that, while suitable for a smooth race track, is not ideal if you live in the actual world, as you find yourself rattling over potholes and scraping over bumps.

The GTS is a halfway house between the two. It is the 911 you buy if you drive every day but crave a little edge. As such, it is really a tweak of mainstream 911 models rather than anything spectacular, but Porsche engineering means the GTS models feel more special than they should.

The Porsche 911 Carrera GTS adds a frisson of extra excitement to an already practically perfect and endearingly distinctive supercar

First impressions were of a car that is a little more tuned and willing than the standard model. Everything is incremental: the engine sounds racier and is keener to engage; the steering is more lively. When we took our first roundabout, we felt the car spoke to us in a way standard models do not. On fast country roads,
the differences amplified. Our car had manual transmission – Porsche’s automatic gearshift is smooth and easy to use, but, for engagement, we like a manual when we can find one. Infamously, Ferrari has stopped making them, so raising the values of its last manual-transmission models.

With this and the other GTS enhancements, this car is a joy along country lanes. Acceleration is immediate and rapid: turn the steering wheel a fraction and it responds a fraction; exit speedily from a corner and you feel the back of the car tighten, which lovers of all 911s will appreciate. The GTS feels like a standard 911 that has taken a Chenot detox alongside Pilates and musclebuilding, like a friend who has been working on their fitness. We found it even more fun than the faster and more expensive 911 Turbo, which is a hoot for its “Look how fast we are going!” value, but less precise and delicate than this.

Read more: Lamborghini Huracán STO Review

So, the perfect Porsche? At everyday speeds, you won’t let out a rebel yell, as you might in some of its less sophisticated but popular competitors. And you will not love the manual transmission in town – always a compromise. But for adding an edge of excitement to an already beautiful, competent and desirable car, the GTS is as good as it could be. Get yours with rear-wheel drive, a manual gearbox and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres for a car true to the spirit of the model.

LUX Rating: 18.5/20

Find out more: porsche.com

This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2023 issue of LUX

Looking over Marina Bay from the Club Lounge, Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore

In the third part of our luxury travel views column from the Spring/Summer 2023 issue, LUX’s Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai checks in at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore

What drew us there?

Some city hotels have spectacular views of nature – such as those in Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. Others have dramatic city views, as in Hong Kong and Tokyo. From our suite on the 26th floor at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore, we had both. At night, the irregular oval of Marina Bay lit up before us, the spires and curves of its buildings encircling the bay, while the Apple and Louis Vuitton buildings floated on the water amid the ferries. Beyond the skyscrapers was the oil-tanker traffic on the Singapore Strait. We had the nature of an equatorial peninsula and one of the world’s most dynamic financial centres, all in one view.

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The refined living room of the Ritz Suite

How was the stay?

Stroll through the Ritz-Carlton lobby and you are in the centrepiece luxury hotel of a self-confident city. Ceilings are high, artworks are dramatic and well curated, and the energy levels suggest this is the place to be, in the place to be.

A perfect way to experience the hotel’s vista is from the Club Lounge on the 32nd floor. Here, we watched the sky turn orange, purple and blue (a mix of haze and effects from the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia), while drinking Rothschild champagne. The lounge has alcoves and a private room and feels very grown up.

Singapore has become a city that celebrates fine drinking as much as it does fine dining, as we saw later, downstairs in the Republic bar. The bar, voted one of the best in Asia, is 1960s themed. Decor is suitably period, and bottles of spirits and liqueurs from the era are available for drinking or mixing. You can order a Singapore sling, but that is considered a little touristic, and we weren’t brave enough to try a shot of Ramazzotti liqueur from 1960, but the stylish bartender mixed us two excellent dirty martinis. They say Singapore has taken some of the creative zing from Hong Kong. At the Republic, at least, that seemed true.

For a different experience and view, head to the hotel pool. Set in a tropical grove just below the entrance, it is sheltered from the rest of the city – a huge outdoor pool with a restful vibe.

Read more: Royal Riviera, Côte d’Azur Review

Our room was as peaceful as the bar is lively. A Club Deluxe suite, its large windows offer an ever-changing vista of the city and the Marina Bay. Decor is gentle: light pine and muted pastels, eminently suitable for a hotel that is both a high-powered business centre and a resort, which is a great strength in a hotel.

1960s cool at the Republic bar

Anything else?

The hotel is a stroll to both Marina Bay Sands – one of Asia’s most extensive luxury malls – and the hawker food markets in the other direction.

Find out more: ritzcarlton.com

This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2023 issue of LUX

The Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel is the first golf resort on the island

This month we head to Mallorca for a stay with a view of the mountains, ten minutes from the thriving capital Palma

The lowdown

In the summertime, Mediterranean island stakes, LUX is very pro-Mallorca. There is competition from everywhere, ultra-chic individual Cyclades and party-central Mykonos to old establishment Sardinia, and even from its neighbours, vibier younger sister Ibiza, and newly arty Menorca. And dozens of others, many of which could justifiably stake a claim to be the ultimate Mediterranean island to visit.

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And yet: Mallorca has the spirituality and culture of Deia in the west, the intricate beauty and cuisine of Palma in the south, high quality local wines, some celebrated restaurants, and a huge variety of sports, including truly world-leading golf and cycling. It also has the deepest yacht harbour in the Mediterranean, in case your boat doesn’t fit in Monaco’s harbour. And it’s big enough not to bore you.

The hotel has both indoor and outdoor swimming facilities

Which takes us to the Son Vida estate, in a valley and on a hillside outside the city of Palma. The Arabella Sheraton (originally an Arabella hotel, then taken over by Sheraton) is built in the style of a local finca, or farmhouse. It is surrounded by mature gardens and shrubbery; arriving felt more like walking into at a boutique hotel than an international chain, a feeling that persisted throughout our stay.

The arrival

The reception and bar area lead out onto a broad terrace with a curving balustrade facing across the estate and to the mountainside across the valley; beneath are three large, curvaceous pools, all surrounded by trees, beyond which are tennis and other sports facilities. The public spaces are hung with distinctive and compelling art, much of it by local artists, all part of the private collection of the hotel’s German owners. The feeling is more of staying at a private estate than a hotel, amplified by the staff, who all seemed to be local, warm, friendly and professional.

La Bodega del Green serves classic Spanish tapas as well as other local delicacies

On our first night we ate at the Bodega, a wine bar on a terrace on the lower floor; sea bream with capers and courgettes. The atmosphere was casual though the service was anything but. The wine list was broad, although perhaps could have championed wines from Mallorca and the nearest mainland area, Catalonia, a little more.

Take me to my room

Our room, with a long balcony, faced out beyond the pools and the canopy of trees, where Mallorca’s most renowned golf course, Son Vida, was on display. While the clubhouse is less than a long tee shot from the hotel, the Arabella doesn’t feel at all like a golf hotel: no groups, no taking over. Couples and families were equally in evidence.

Hole in One Suite’s living room

On our second night, we had some light bites on the upper terrace, with its sunset views of the mountains: crystal bread with iberico ham and local olive oil, a very delicate gazpacho, a salad of local tomatoes of various shapes. A very attentive and thoughtful bar manager kept everything coming like clockwork; and as throughout our stay, we felt, if not alone, then certainly very much with the luxury of space.

Read more: One&Only The Palm, Dubai, Review

At night, a chorus of frogs from the lake beyond the gardens joined the cicadas.

Out and about

During the days we discovered a great advantage: the hotel’s perfect location. 15 minutes from the centre of Palma – one of the most underrated cities in Europe – 45 minutes from Deia’s beauty, 20 minutes from the beaches, and 25 minutes from the airport. (And if you play golf, that clubhouse is less than four minutes by foot).

LA Bodega overlooks the peaceful Son Vida golf course

So there you have the Arabella Sheraton: a rather nice synthesis between a boutique hideaway and a luxury hotel, and proof that, with excellent management of a very nice property, an excellent hotel can be even more than the sum of its parts.

Rates: From £300 per night (approx. €350/$385)

Book your stay: marriott.com/-sheraton-mallorca-arabella-golf-hotel

Darius Sanai

In the second part of our Driving Force series from the AW 2022/23 issue, LUX’s car reviewer gets behind the wheel of the Audi R8 V10 Spyder.

We at LUX are not engineers. We leave analysis of the technical side of motoring to our specialist colleagues in the automotive media. What we do know, though, as motoring enthusiasts, is that a mid-engined car should be fun to drive.

With only an elementary knowledge of physics, we know that placing an engine – a car’s heaviest part – behind the driver instead of in front, should make a car easier to pivot through a turn. And while LUX readers may not often do their own grocery shopping, anyone who has tried to steer a shopping trolley full of bottles of, say, Dom Pérignon, will know how much harder it is to turn corners than when the trolley is empty. The same principle should theoretically apply to a mid-engined car, where the space under the bonnet is air, not engine.

Driving through a series of sharp corners in the latest Audi R8, we were delighted to feel this theory being put into practice. The R8 is a fine-looking car, making the most of the engine placement. It has a short, aggressive-looking front end and a fat, squat rear, suggesting speed and intent. Then there is its handling. Steer into a corner and the reactions are instantaneous: there is no mass, no trolley full of Dom Pérignon to turn ahead of you. In fact, it turns so quickly you need your wits about you or you will overdo it, steering too much and aiming onto the wrong side of the road. You feel the car’s four-wheel drive getting its claws into the road as the engine shoots out of the curve, ready for the next one. It may be an Audi, but this is one hyper-responsive car, as sharp as a Ferrari or a McLaren. 

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You also have no doubt that the engine is just a few centimetres behind your head. It is a special engine. As you accelerate out of a corner, its howl grows, like the sound of a Formula One track getting closer. The revs continue to rise and the F1 track continues to increase in volume, the engine getting more and more urgent, until you hit the rev limiter at 8,700rpm. It is an exciting experience, and, combined with the concentration required to keep the hyper-responsive steering pointing in the right direction, makes for real fun and engagement.

Most sports cars today that have not turned electric or into part-electric hybrids are powered by turbocharged V8 engines. They are, by and large, very fast, and the engine response in many cases is even swifter than in this car. However, they lack the character and drama of the now old-fashioned V10 engine, as it gains revs and power mid-howl – something to treasure.

This all makes the R a brilliant car to drive. Unsurprisingly, over the years that its similar-looking predecessor was made, it was highly successful and remains highly desirable. If you feel a caveat coming, you are correct – it involves a mystery. This is an unquestionably rapid and exciting car to drive, even more thrilling on a twisty road than some of its acclaimed rivals. However, there is a slight snobbery towards it from some. Both rivals we mentioned have, we think, slightly higher status in the car-collector world, whereas the R8 V10, for all its brilliance, is considered a little more nouveau.

We can’t give a definitive answer as to why that might be. The R8 isn’t perfect, of course – a two-seater sports car rarely is. Even by the standards of this car type, though, there is very little storage space, either in the front boot or the cabin. If two of you were off for a weekend away, let’s just say that even if there were enough room for your bags, there would be none for souvenirs.

It is also true that the cabin suffers from the excellence of Audi’s corporate design. The shape of the interior is as you might expect from a low mid-engined, two-seater sports car. It is beautifully put together and clear in a Bauhaus-for-the-21st-century way, but the materials and interior design don’t feel special. It feels exactly what it is, a premium two-seater sports car from the people who bring you premium saloons and estate cars. However, the exterior shape, which we think looks better than anything else in its class, makes up for the lack of interior flair. 

If you did need further storage space, the Porsche is more practical and spacious, with small back seats that are suitable for humans over short distances. But these are not supposed to be practical cars and, as a racy weekend machine, the R8 is superb. It manages what some much more expensive supercars don’t: it is reactive and lively at low speeds, and you don’t have the feeling – common in some over-capable supercars – that the car is taking everything in its stride and not giving much fun or feedback. 

Read more: Ionic cars are transforming classic cars for an electric future

In the R8 you have the best engine in its class, combined with handling that lets you know you are in a supercar, while keeping you hyper-alert. The steering could have more feel, although that is a common complaint in this era of electrically assisted steering and giant tyres. Importantly, the R8 is the last of its kind. With emissions regulations, Audi will not make another V10. We recommend it, and, for extra fun, opt for the Spyder over the coupé, so you can open the roof and hear the engine even more.

LUX rating: 19/20

Find out more: audi.co.uk

This article first appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2022/23 issue of LUX

Theaster Gates Photo: Sara Pooley Courtesy White Cube

Theaster Gates is a phenomenon — one of the world’s most influential artists, he features at number 56 on Art Review’s list of the most powerful people in art. Gates is also a plain-speaking social commentator and activist. Some of his most powerful work is on display this fall at simultaneous shows held at White Cube’s galleries in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The shows are dominated by ‘salvaged materials’ — found objects, including junk, in layman’s terms— and speak of homelessness, forced migration, and religious and political persecution.

Gates comes from Chicago’s notorious South Side, where he still lives and works. His voice voice is a clear and powerful call connecting art, urban chaos and decay (he trained as an urban planner) and social issues that interweave the world. They are impossible to understand unless seen up close and personal — as anyone who saw his powerful ‘12 Ballads for Huguenot House’, created for last year’s dOCUMENTA (13) fair in Germany, can testify. Now you have a very good excuse for that visit to Hong Kong or Brazil.

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Hutong, fiery food, fiery views

In which our Editor-in-Chief travels from a neo-Mongolian skyscraping culinary landmark in Hong Kong to a 17th century tithe barn in Hampshire, and points between

Arriving in Hong Kong from London in the early evening, being whisked to my hotel and being checked in in-room, the call of mild has never been more powerful. A thorough room service menu, ranging from Cantonese to club sandwich, the assurance of brisk service and a half-bottle of 2009 Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet, a view from the sofa across to Kowloon, and a four-day schedule of meetings starting with no respect to jet-lag at eight the following morning: why would you venture out of your luxury hotel room?

Because… well, just because a friend who owns a tour operator had told me the Star Ferry to Kowloon is the best introductory experience to Hong Kong, and because otherwise the city would be viewed for the first time through the rose-tinted spectacles of dinners, lunches and parties with friends.

And so with pockets jangling with change for the ferry ticket machine, and the hotel doorman’s slightly perplexed ministrations that it would be much more convenient for me to take a taxi to Kowloon, uncomprehending of the fact that the journey was the destination, I headed through the tropical rain, along a latticework of walkways, past hurrying locals and the odd sauntering tourist, and took my place on a seat by the window. The churning journey across the few hundred metres to Kowloon plunges you into a valley of sea between mountain ranges of human endeavour and show, the edifices on either side; and then you are in Kowloon, and ducking into the lobby of an office skyscraper just before the downpour starts again.

Strange for a Westerner to travel to an acclaimed restaurant in the lift of an office building, but exit on the 28th floor and this is the world of Hutong, a sort of Inner Mongolian gastronomic temple (I later learned that it is designed to mimic Ancient Peking) complete with contemporary bar and ravishing guests. I sat at a table by the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed at the jumble of skyscrapers, each bigger than the last, spreading up and across and out, of Central, Hong Kong, obscured sometimes for seconds by drifting low clouds of the storm and then switched on again as the sky cleared. I toasted the view with a half-litre of draft Veltins, one of German’s finest, most aromatic lagers served icecold and surprising at Hutong. The cuisine is a meld of northern Chinese with whatever else they wish to serve, and my beef fillet with Sichuan chillis was edgy, precise and focussed.

The following evening I was taken by a friend to his new(-ish) restaurant, The Principal, in Wan Chai, a formerly sleazy, now rapidly yuppifying, area along the seafront that mixes massage parlours and ultra-cool shops in roughly equal measure. The Principal is unusual for Hong Kong, I was told, in that its entrance is on street level, which makes it very usual for where I come from. You walk through a gleaming bar area and into a restaurant room that is pared back, minimalist contemporary chic. The menu is Australian in its imagination, and quite contemporary London in its simplicity. The signature starter of baby beet, yoghurt, black quinoa and micro herbs was a quadratic equation of flavours with a very complete resolution; saltbush tenderloin of lamb with sweetbreads, aubergine, chickpeas and Moroccan ras-el-hanout was not North African so much as mid-Indian Ocean, and perplexing and delightful. My friend also owns a wine business, so the Wine Atlas, with picks of the most interesting wines from around the world, was very compelling. This sort of laid-back glamour is the new Hong Kong style, apparently, and London could rather do with some of its own.

The Principal, a culinary highlight in Hong Kong’s cool Wan Chai area

Business finished at lunchtime on the last day in Hong Kong, a Sunday, so a friend who runs an auction house and I wandered down at teatime to the Captain’s Bar, a legendary institution in Central, the heart of town. In a part of the world where high floors and astronomical views are de rigueur for bars, it was arresting to be in a windowless space on a ground floor, an L-shape punctuated by glass tableaux of a chess game, low banquettes, and private jet set businesspeople of no fixed abode muttering deals to each other.

This is one of Asia’s most celebrated cocktail bars, but with a 12-hour flight ahead we weren’t in the mood for cocktails, instead finding solace in the metal tankards of extremely cold, perfectly headed Asahi lager. As the Germans and Belgians – and evidently the Hong Kongers – know, beer benefits from being served correctly as much as any wine appreciates its appropriate Riedel stemware. I had never had lager in a metal tankard before, but after two, we agreed that your own personalised, engraved tankard at the Captain’s Bar was an essential item for any gentleman of the world. My friend had auctioned off two of these for charity a year or two before, but sadly they are no longer available, so I left Hong Kong with a slight sense of yearning.

Frank Gehry-designed fish on the seafront at the Hotel Arts, Barcelona

I have wanted to visit the Hotel Arts in Barcelona for more than a decade, but despite a number of trips to the city, never quite managed to make it. Back in 1998, the world, or Europe in any case, had seen nothing like it: a new build skyscraper devoted to showing off artworks to its guests, more six-star than five. In a city as earthy as Barcelona, it is a strange and rather liberating feeling to be hoisted 20 floors into the sky and survey the scene from above, Asian-style. My room was a paragon of contemporary comfort: silence, a perfectly-sprung bed, a bathroom with the glass walls that are essential parts of a hotel designer’s repertoire now (affording more physical space as well as a feeling of it). And if you tire of Barcelona’s rather impressive (for a big city) public beach on the doorstep, you can view what is probably Spain’s finest overall collection of contemporary art or retire to the hotel’s own pool, stretched out just below the landmark Frank Gehry fish sculpture, which could be said to have kickstarted the whole contemporary design trend in northern Spain. The pool’s architecture is such that it reminded me rather of the Villa d’Este’s pool on Lake Como, famously floating in the lake on its own pontoon, even though the Arts’ pool is very much on dry land.

Without wishing to belittle the hotel’s art offering, which is compelling and makes a stay rather like staying in a contemporary museum, my highlight was art of a different form, in the restaurant Arola. This is food with wit, taste and just enough conception: cod esqueixada with tomato pearls, very particular patatas bravas, sea cucumbers and razor clams with kalix (which reminded me of samphire) were wonderful and not overdone. The artistry of the form of the dishes was matched by their culinary execution; here is another example of modern Catalan cuisine taking its inspiration from Ferran Adrià’s now departed El Bulli but painting with its own palette, so to speak. And one of the most refreshing factors was its informality: Arola is conceived as a modern take on a tapas bar, so the service was swift and down-to-earth, not remote and Michelenic.

Home territory this summer featured a tour of the ancient hillsides of the Cotswolds, and a delve further south. I was struck a few years back when a friend who owns some of the coolest hotels in the world told me he considered Barnsley House as his favoured retreat in the now-ultra-fashionable hillsides and wooded folds between Oxford and Gloucester. England has recently been host to a number of spectacular country hotel openings, and I went expecting a grand super-Cotswold resort, only to be greeted by a bijou little property, all higgledy rooms and hidden staircases, tastefully refreshed in a contemporary style.

Our suite was in a former stable, approached along stepping stones in its own private garden – very St Tropez and perfect for a shy rock star making an escape with the wrong person’s girlfriend, in its seclusion. Inside the palette was light and contemporary, an offset to the building’s history. It was all very refreshing, although the garden and private water area could perhaps have been more organic, more easy on the eye. For those who want country without Country Life, Barnsley House is probably a perfect weekend stop.

As traditional and cosy as Barnsley House is New Gen Chic, Woodstock’s Feathers hasn’t changed much, barring the required investment in keeping everything up to date, since I used to escape there on Sunday evenings with friends while a student at Oxford in the late 1980s. This establishment fixture can accurately claim to be the Gateway to the Cotswolds; it is also on the doorstep of my favourite stately home in the area, Blenheim Palace.

The Feathers has been nurtured lovingly into the modern era, not jolted into it: fabrics and warm and autumnal, grandfather clocks still stand, history is alive, but there is a lack of fust and fuss. There is a feeling of cosiness, enhanced by the enclosed (in the best possible way) nature of its 17th century buildings. Service is friendly and country, not town, and you get the feeling that a gin and tonic, rather than a raspberry Martini, will be the favoured drink here for a century to come – although naturally they will serve you both.

Fifty kilometres is a distance that means nothing in China (unless you’re breaching the border between Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region and China proper). In England, it takes you to a different part of the country, as a foray to Norton Park from the Cotswolds attested. Steep rolling hills are replaced by broad downs and open plains, and Norton Park makes the most of these views and its wonderful and vast 17th century tithe barn. Here is a new-style country hotel of a different perspective; the simple, well-sourced and thoughtfully cooked country cuisine tells the tale of a country whose culinary history has been jolted out of a shameful past in just the last 10 years.

Norton Park’s new building is removed by some ancient woodland from its original manor house, where we found snug ceilings, secret passages, and a lawn leading to a duckpond and an overgrown copse; ancient meeting modern.

Darius Sanai is Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Contract Publishing