Journeys
Planning a honeymoon
A honeymoon carries a date, and the trip has to be capable of carrying it. Trips like this fail in a recognisable way: they feel like any other trip. The dinner is good, the hotel is fine, and nothing in the shape of the days says this is the one.
The work is in finding the defining moment and building everything else around it. The properties carry more weight here than on other trips, because one wrong hotel can damage the whole occasion.
Some honeymoons cross two countries over two weeks. Others are deliberately short and do one thing properly.
Adults only
For some couples the point is the absence of everyone else. These stays are for adults only, or for guests over a set age, as each one states it: Ambiente, A Landscape Hotel, Castle Hot Springs, Chiva-Som, La Casa de la Playa, Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, Mii amo, Miraval Austin Resort & Spa, Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa, Nayara Bocas del Toro, Nayara Springs, Rancho La Puerta, Sensei Lānaʻi, A Four Seasons Resort, Sequoia Lodge, andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas.
Before the honeymoon
If the question has not been asked yet, that can be designed too: a proposal.
How it works
Five conversations, in order: Introduction, Brief, Design, Departure and Reflection. How working with me unfolds.
Journeys written for two
Bali and Sumba for Two: Four nights in Ubud's river valley, then four on Sumba's Indian Ocean shore. Eight nights, Indonesia.
Caribbean Honeymoon, Six Islands: Fourteen nights by the sea, from a private island in the Florida Keys through the Bahamas and the Leeward Islands to Dominica. 14 nights, United States, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, Saint Barthélemy, Dominica.
Munich, Salzburg and Vienna: Two cities and a castle on a lake, by private car in seven nights. Seven nights, Germany, Austria.
Perth to Hobart: Across southern Australia in 18 nights, from the Indian Ocean to Tasmania. 18 nights, Australia.
Tahiti, Bora Bora and Tetiaroa: Bora Bora's lagoon, then the atoll Marlon Brando kept, by private plane. 11 nights, French Polynesia.
Yellowstone in Winter: Wolves in the Lamar Valley, then the Tetons from the air, in six winter nights. Six nights, United States.
Two practical questions
What if I want to travel somewhere you haven't covered? Write anyway. The network extends globally, and most considered destinations are reachable through trusted partners. The first conversation establishes whether the destination is one I can serve well. If not, I'll often be able to introduce you to someone better placed.
Adults-only stays, a line each
Ambiente, A Landscape Hotel, Sedona, Arizona: Ambiente stands among the red rocks of Sedona, an adults-only hotel built on the idea that the landscape should come first.
Castle Hot Springs, Morristown, Arizona: Castle Hot Springs opened in 1896 as Arizona's first wellness resort, on 1,100 acres where natural springs rise at 180,000 gallons a day.
Chiva-Som, Hua Hin, Thailand: Chiva-Som opened on April 19, 1995, on 6.7 acres of beachfront in Hua Hin, where the Thai royal family built summer palaces in the 1920s.
La Casa de la Playa, Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico: La Casa de la Playa opened on December 13, 2021, created by Grupo Xcaret as an adults-only, all-inclusive retreat on the Riviera Maya.
Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, Little Torch Key, Florida Keys, Florida: Little Palm Island is a four-acre island off Little Torch Key, reached only by seaplane or by the resort's motor yacht from its welcome station at Mile Marker 28.5 on the Overseas Highway.
Mii amo, Boynton Canyon, Sedona, Arizona: Mii amo opened in 2001 in Boynton Canyon, among the red rocks of Sedona, and reopened in February 2023 after a two-year renovation and expansion by Gluckman Tang that grew the resort by more than 40 per cent.
Miraval Austin Resort & Spa, Austin, Texas: Miraval Austin opened in February 2019 on the former Travaasa site above Lake Travis, Miraval's second resort after Tucson, bordering the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve in the Texas Hill Country.
Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa, Lenox, Massachusetts: Miraval Berkshires opened on July 15, 2020, as Miraval's first resort east of the Mississippi, across 380 acres of the Berkshires that include Wyndhurst, a Gilded Age mansion with grounds by Frederick Law Olmsted and a golf course from 1926.
Nayara Bocas del Toro, Isla Frangipani, Bocas del Toro, Panama: Nayara Bocas del Toro is an adults-only resort on its own small island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, close to the lively harbour of Bocas Town.
Nayara Springs, La Fortuna, Arenal, Costa Rica: Nayara Springs sits in the rainforest at La Fortuna, facing Arenal Volcano in central Costa Rica, as the adults-only part of a Nayara complex that also includes Nayara Gardens and Nayara Tented Camp.
Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Baja California, Mexico: Rancho La Puerta was founded in June 1940 by Edmond and Deborah Szekely, when she was 18; early guests brought their own tents and helped with the chores.
Sensei Lānaʻi, A Four Seasons Resort, Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi, Hawaii: Sensei Lānaʻi stands in the cool, pine-covered uplands of Lānaʻi, far from the island's beaches, on the site of The Lodge at Koele.
Sequoia Lodge, Crafers, Adelaide Hills, South Australia: Sequoia Lodge sits high on Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills, on a 30-acre property beside the Mount Lofty House estate, about 20 minutes from the centre of Adelaide.
andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas, Chobe National Park, Botswana: andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas is a semi-permanent camp in the north of Chobe National Park, Botswana's first national park, near the Chobe River and home to some of the largest elephant herds in Africa.
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When you’re ready