The practice
A private travel designer, in London
Naylor & Co. is a London practice with one designer, Jess Naylor. It plans journeys end to end for a small number of households at a time: the hotels, the transfers, the private guides, the restaurants, and the pace and rhythm of the days.
The practice operates within Virtuoso through Colletts Travel, a member agency of the Global Travel Collection. Colletts Travel Limited is the licence holder, and your bookings are made through them.
It starts with a first conversation of about thirty minutes, to see whether the practice is the right place for the trip. Then a longer brief, and a design shaped over one to three weeks, with options where options matter. Every property is briefed in writing before you leave, and the same person looks after you from the first reply to the trip after next.
Five conversations, in order
Introduction. We talk. About where you've been, what landed, what didn't. If we're a fit, the practice opens its work to you.
Brief. A structured conversation that captures the obvious things, and the ones you didn't know you cared about until I asked.
Design. The itinerary is shaped, iterated, refined. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
Departure. Before you leave: every property briefed, every detail confirmed. Throughout the trip: the kind of background presence that means you rarely need to use it.
Reflection. A few days after you return, the welcome-home call. What worked, what surprised you, what you'd do differently. That conversation shapes the next journey.
What working with me includes
The five conversations: Introduction, Brief, Design, Departure and Reflection
Two or three options for each decision that matters, each with a reason and the one I would choose
Every hotel briefed in writing on who you are before you arrive
Virtuoso amenities where the hotel offers them, usually breakfast, a hotel credit and an upgrade, early check-in or late check-out, subject to availability
Concierge for your journey: restaurants at the hour you like to dine, spa, activities, a surprise
Your own journey page and documents, saved to your phone
A reply within one working day, and usually the same day
Staying in London
The London stays I recommend: Bvlgari Hotel London, The Savoy.
For the city itself, see Europe, and for the year ahead, 2027, worth planning around.
The London stays, in a line each
Bvlgari Hotel London: Bvlgari Hotel London stands at 171 Knightsbridge on the edge of Hyde Park, under a minute's walk from Harrods, with the museums of Kensington close by.
The Savoy: The Savoy takes its name from the palace that Count Peter of Savoy built beside the Thames in the 13th century.
How I look after you: you deal with me, always
From the first conversation to the welcome home, the person writing to you is the person doing the work.
How I look after you: replies
I reply to every message within one working day, and usually the same day. If something is urgent, I say when you’ll hear back and keep to it.
How I look after you: two or three options, never twenty
When I suggest hotels or routes, I give you two or three I’d stand behind, and say which I’d choose and why. Part of the work is taking things out.
How I look after you: before you travel
Each hotel hears from me before you arrive: who’s coming, when, what the trip is for, and anything that must never go wrong. A few days before you leave, I reconfirm the rooms, cars and first-night tables.
How I look after you: while you’re away
You have my mobile number, my WhatsApp, and the direct numbers of the people looking after you, at each property and on the ground.
How I look after you: when you’re home
The Reflection, your welcome-home call. A few days after you return, I ask how it went: what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d change. It’s how the next trip starts better than this one.
Questions people ask first
I already know where I want to go. Do I still need you? Usually that is where the useful work begins. The place is rarely the hard part; the room, the order of the days, the week that misses the crowds and the person who meets you are.
Why not plan it myself with AI? You can, and for some trips it works well. AI is good at a list of hotels and a sensible order of days. What it cannot do is ring the people at a property I know, tell you which rooms are worth asking for, or book through the network portal, which is where the breakfast, the property credit and the upgrade request come from. And when a flight is cancelled late at night, it will not be the one on the phone to the airline and the hotel.
How long does it take to design a trip? One to three weeks from formal brief to first proposal, for most journeys. Complex multi-country trips with peak-season availability constraints can run four to six weeks. The timeline doesn't reduce the work, it concentrates it.
How responsive will you be during the trip? Highly. I keep WhatsApp on UK hours during business days, and usually answer messages within the hour during most waking hours of yours, including time-shifted destinations. For trip-critical issues, meaning flight cancellations, illness, anything that requires me to act, I'm available at any hour.
What happens if something goes wrong during the trip? You have my mobile number, my WhatsApp, and the direct numbers of the people looking after you, at each property and on the ground. Most things that go wrong are resolved by a call from me to the right person. The time difference between London and most destinations is workable, and the relationships are the point. Travel insurance with cancellation cover is required on every trip and arranged separately.
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.
Where the work goes
Most of the work is for journeys far from London: see Journeys, Stays and Where to go, month by month. Households from anywhere can begin the same way; if you are planning from the United States, this page covers the time difference and how to reach me.
Read on
When you’re ready