DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON
DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON THE RADAR 26 The Lana’s 30-storey tower, set along the banks of the Dubai Canal and flashes of – what else? – the shoe designer’s iconic signature red throughout. Middle East A new crop of luxury hotels continues to add to the Middle East region’s evergrowing skylines. Dubai’s One&Only One Za’abeel (oneandonlyresorts.com) is the brand’s first high-rise urban resort, featuring an extraordinary line-up of culinary talent in The Link, the world’s longest cantilever, including Anne-Sophie Pic, Paco Morales and Tetsuya Wakuda. On the way in the city’s Business Bay district, close to the Burj Khalifa, The Lana’s (dorchestercollection.com) shiny Foster + Partners-designed silhouette is topped by a rooftop infinity pool. Coming soon on the soft stretch of sand at Jumeirah Beach is Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab (jumeirah. com), a sleek, superyacht-shaped resort with extraordinary views of the neighbouring Burj Al Arab and the Arabian Sea beyond. Further north, the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah will welcome its first overwater villas Lake Garda Stunner with the opening of Anantara Mina Al Arab (anantara.com), where beaches, deserts and mountains meet. Over in Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea development will see its first hotels open later this year. In the desert, Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea (sixsenses.com) will offer rooms, suites and pool villas featuring sandy tones and Bedouin textile patterns, and a spa spanning almost 4,000 square metres with a holistic antiageing centre and deep cold pools to plunge into. And on Ummahat Island, the 90 beachfront and overwater villas at The St Regis Red Sea Resort (marriott.com) all come with private pools and opportunities to explore the surrounding pristine marine environment. Asia Travellers to Asia have plenty of new options to choose from this year. The Bill Bensley-designed Shinta Mani in Mustang (shintamani.com) is making access to the remote Himalayan kingdom easier for visitors. Surrounded by soaring mountains, the property There’s ample traffic down on the road that hugs the lake shore, but life is decidedly less frenzied 200 metres higher, where the most stress you’re likely to encounter is deciding whether to take another dip in the pool, head to the spa, or to remain under the shade of an olive tree enjoying an expansive view over the lake. Either way, you’re ideally primed to experience Lake Garda at its finest when you check into the new Cape of Senses. Set on the premises of a former olive grove (90 trees were preserved in the sprawling garden), the sustainability-focused resort blends seamlessly into the surrounding nature with its clean lines and earth-tone colour scheme. In the 55 spacious suites, each with its own terrace, the designers showcase natural materials such as wood, linen and cotton, and the furniture comes from small manufacturers. The best spots to witness a truly spectacular sunset over the lake are the generous roof terrace and the two restaurants – the La Pergola osteria, with Italian favourites and homemade pasta and the gourmet restaurant Al Tramonto. At the latter, chef Francesco Pavan shows what he learned from three-star chef Heinz Beck in Rome. His mantra? La purezza: clarity on the plate, the focus on excellent ingredients from the region and from Italy’s coasts, like the monkfish, which he cooks on the bone to a perfect consistency and adorns with citrus fruits and laurel. The risotto is another highlight, served perfectly al dente and with fruity notes that it owes to an Amarone reduction and sour cherry mostarda, with a delightful accent of bitter almond aroma from crushed cherry stones. capeofsenses.com – Thomas Midulla From top: the resort’s idyllic grounds; breaded monkfish in lemon and laurel sauce at Al Tramonto FROM TOP: © THE LANA, © CAPE OF SENSES, JACOPO SALVI
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © JW MARRIOTT, ANNIE SCHLECHTER, © ROSEWOOD offers a rich menu of natural and cultural activities, as well as a Tibetan wellness programme developed by an 11th-generation traditional herbal medicine doctor. In Bhutan, &Beyond Punakha River Lodge’s (andbeyond. com) luxury tents and suites sit in the lush, green Punakha Valley, with hiking, mountain biking and birdwatching all on the doorstep, along with Bhutanese cooking classes and soothing hot-stone baths. And close to the mountains and lakes of Jiuzhaigou, a Unesco World Heritage Site in China’s Sichuan Province, Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (ritzcarlton.com) offers spectacular views of extraordinary natural landscapes and ancient Tibetan villages. In Sumba, Indonesia, Cap Karoso ( capkaroso.com) welcomes guests to rooms and villas inspired by Sumbanese heritage, where traditional crafts and contemporary art sit side by side on an island that’s home to megalithic tombs, traditional houses with 25m-high roofs and turquoise lagoons. Aman Nai Lert (aman.com), set in a high-rise on Bangkok’s Wireless Road, will be the first urban resort for the brand in Thailand, offering a mix of lush green surroundings from Nai Lert Park, open-air terraces and vertiginous views of the city from the The Shipwreck Bar at the Rosewood Kona Village, set along Hawaii’s Kahuwai Bay Left: a bird’s-eye view of JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge’s tented camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara; below: a peek inside NYC’s Fifth Avenue Hotel higher floors. Aman’s sister brand Janu (janu.com) will be making its debut in Tokyo’s Azabudai Hills and bringing Amanjunkies a change of pace, embracing the energy of its urban setting with eight dining venues and a large spa and wellness centre. A first for the hotel marque in China, the Mondrian Hong Kong (ennismore.com), spread over 40 floors in the Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood, is home to an outpost of Carna by Dario Cecchini as well as a roof terrace with spectacular views, while in the Indian Ocean, SO/Maldives (accor.com) is bringing its playful sense of style to Kaafu Atoll with 80 pool villas. Africa In South Africa, the 12 suites at luxury eco-lodge The Homestead (homesteadlodge.com) in the Nambiti Private Game Reserve are the perfect launchpads for electric-vehicle game drives to spot the Big Five, along with over 50 protected mammal and 300 bird species. In an 89,000ha concession in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Duke’s Camp (naturalselection. travel), located on Kgao Island and named after its custodian, Sarefo “Duke” Sarefo, has added four new tents, embracing old-world glamour with wooden floors, hand-carved four poster beds, and brass fittings. The Kimana Sanctuary, Kenya’s first community-owned conservancy, DEPARTURES 27
