In Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here are the best of the best in travel that warrant a visit in 2026
Best Cultural Immersion: Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nara, Japan
If ever there were a destination rich in culture and steadfast in preserving its heritage, it would have to be Japan. Yet even by those standards, the depth of history that permeates Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nara, is remarkable. Set along the western edge of Nara Park, the 43-room property occupies a site shaped by former temple grounds, historic gardens, and the erstwhile official residence of the Nara prefectural governor.
This sense of history begins at the entrance, where a weathered timber gate still bears a plaque identifying the former governor’s residence. Beyond it stands the property’s main building, a Taishō-era structure completed in 1922 and used as the official residence until 2017. Carefully preserved and reimagined by Kengo Kuma & Associates, it now houses the lobby and dining spaces. Archival photographs line the walls, while low doorways and meandering corridors retain the intimacy of a lived-in home. One room, associated with Emperor Shōwa and the ratification of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, has been meticulously maintained as part of the building’s national history.
Ranging from about 40sqm to just under 100sqm, the rooms and suites draw guests in through soft daylight, floor-to-ceiling windows, and views of mature gardens. Twenty-three feature private hot springs or open-air baths, creating spaces in which contemporary comfort remains closely connected to landscape and ritual. Beyond the property, the staff can organise private tours of centuries-old artisan workshops, guided visits to nearby temples, and early-morning outings to meet Nara’s famous deer.
Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nara
Best Mountain Getaway: Forestis, Italy
If you are searching for the heights of travel, Forestis reaches them in more ways than one. Set 1,800m above sea level on the Plose mountain in South Tyrol, the 62-suite retreat sits at eye level with the UNESCO-listed Dolomites. Through architecture, cuisine, and outdoor pursuits shaped by the surrounding landscape, Forestis raises the mountain getaway to a higher plane.
This relationship with nature begins with the architecture. A listed historic building is joined by three sculptural towers whose timber facades and vertical forms evoke the trunks of the surrounding forest. Designed by South Tyrolean architect Armin Sader, the ensemble uses regional stone, untreated spruce, and expansive panes of glass to frame the mountains. Every suite faces south, drawing in sunlight and views of the Dolomites, while the two 200sqm penthouses add private pools and spruce-wood saunas overlooking the peaks.
Outside, the mountain sets the itinerary, with sunrise hikes and snowshoeing through the neighbouring nature park among the pursuits on offer. Forestis, in essence, offers a complete escape: it does not merely place guests in the mountains, but allows the mountains to shape how they sleep, eat, move, and recover.
Best Slow Travel: Aurora and Australis Suites, The Ghan, Australia
The nearly 0.8km-long luxury train trundles through the Australian outback along three different routes, from Adelaide in the south to Darwin’s northern shores. It has always been pleasant enough, but operator Journey Beyond is determined to compete with the new trains from the likes of Belmond and Orient Express. This spring, it added not one but two spectacular suites: Australis (about 25sqm) and Aurora (17sqm). Each of the carriages is sumptuously designed with pearlescent coved ceilings, Tasmanian-myrtle-wood panelling, iron filigree, and sheepskin throws tossed on spacious custom-made beds.
In between dining in an old opal mine in Coober Pedy or taking a bush walk at West Ventures, there’s nowhere better to be than curled up on your sofa as Australia’s vast wilderness passes by. It’s like watching an old slow-shutter film. Observe black cockatoos preen in the drooping she-oaks, or marvel at the Dali-esque outback, filled with its skeletal mallee trees.
Best Safari Makeover: Baines’ Lodge, Botswana
The Okavango Delta is synonymous with top-tier safaris and has attracted a slew of fancy new properties in recent years. The six-suite Baines’ Lodge, though, has stealthily sneaked past them all as an existing camp that has received a thoughtful, artful makeover from operator Abercrombie & Kent.
It’s squarely focused on what made the delta such a must-see in the first place: outdoors and wildlife. Sure, the design is appealing, but it takes second place to the main attraction. From every corner of the lodge, nature is front and centre. Swimming in the small lap pool or having drinks on the sunken deck around the campfire? Expect to spy herds of elephants or noisy hippos wading in the river just a few metres away. Each of the suites is glass-fronted, with wide decks and outdoor bathtubs. Linger there for some stargazing beneath a sky totally untainted by light.
Best Retro Throwback: Pensione America, Italy
No one has invented a time machine yet, but this adults-only hotel in Milan’s answer to the Hamptons is the next best thing. A stay at this 18-room hideaway is like time-warping back to la dolce vita-era Italy. Owner Sara Maestrelli painstakingly revived this once-abandoned mansion, tasking metalworkers with reproducing damaged railings and commissioning custom bamboo furniture that could easily have been snatched from the set of Casablanca. There are retro tasselled keys, a huge white grand piano in the lobby, and the option for full board (a rate including all your meals).
Whether here or at its sister beach club, the wide golden sands are the reason Italians have long flocked to this part of the Tuscan coast. Even the jaunty, jazz-heavy soundtrack by the pool is a glorious throwback. When it absorbs the tennis club next door, you’ll be able to play a match or two in whatever old-school whites you’ve brought. Just make sure to pick up a bike to explore town. Cycling is the preferred method of transport for even the most stylish local here.
Best Luxury Homestead: Andean Tinajani, Peru
Peruvian hotelier Ignacio Masias founded Andean to make guests feel as if they’d scored an invitation to a friend’s relaxed but upscale vacation house. His latest epitomises that instinct. Tinajani, a six-room lodge centred around an old homestead on a former sheep farm, is set at a height of about 3,658m above sea level in the Altiplano.
The main area is traditional Andes, with vintage couches and lamps, but the tented rooms feel Nordic, in shades of pale grey and beige, with wood-fired hot tubs that look onto the majestic rock formations. Guests are drawn here by that remarkable landscape, all red sandstone spires. The altitude takes some getting used to, but once acclimatised, guests can set out on a hike or two through the surrounding hills. There are other lures to this lodge, too, notably the beamed-ceiling, sheepskin-rug-decorated great room, where you can eat your way through the region’s cuisine. The local kitchen team prepares everything from perfectly boiled potatoes—one of Peru’s humble but gourmet staples—to hearty stews.
Best Ski Hideout: Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin, France
Rosewood is notoriously picky about locations and its first winter resort is a testament to that. It’s not only in the most glamorous village of the French Alps’ glitziest ski enclave, but it’s also set close to the gondolas on the most desirable stretch of slope in the stylish Le Jardin Alpin neighbourhood. Though the property is not as high as Le K2, it has better views than the nearby Cheval Blanc.
Interior designer Tristan Auer (whom Rosewood also tapped to remake The Crillon in Paris) composed a take on the region’s classic chalets that blends natural materials—Vals quartzite for architect Imaad Rahmouni’s facade, richly veined marble, and bush-hammered bluestone—with mid-century furnishings and one-of-a-kind art. The suspended crystalline installations in the lobby are a site-specific work from Danish Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson.
Each of the 51 rooms and suites has its own private terrace or balcony for the unmissable mountain vistas, and there are three over-the-top villas, too. The standout is Saluire House, with its Murano-made floating art hanging.
Don’t think this is all flash and no substance, though. The ski concierge can arrange first tracks, allowing guests to make guided turns beneath the alpenglow, thanks to an exclusive agreement.
Best Wellness Retreat: Tulåh Clinical Wellness, India
Wellness has become a crowded space, replete with ideas of longevity, biohacking, and holistic health. Tulåh Clinical Wellness cuts through that noise with a considered proposition: an integrative sanctuary in Kerala combining advanced diagnostics and medical oversight with ayurveda and other traditional healing systems, designed to shape a sustainable approach to living well. Set amid the state’s tranquil landscape, the retreat presents wellness as a lifelong undertaking.
The guest journey begins with a comprehensive understanding of the individual across body, mind, emotions, and spirit, supported by microbiome and genome testing, blood markers, VO2max, grip strength, and body-composition analysis. These findings feed into the proprietary Tulåh Life Index, tracking markers spanning muscle, cardiovascular, immune, and gut health, alongside stress management, lifestyle risk, and quality of life.
Those results are reviewed by a multidisciplinary clinical wellness council comprising medical doctors, ayurvedic and functional-medicine experts, a clinical psychologist, and a nutritionist, who shape a programme around the individual.
Special mention must go to the Sonorium, which Tulåh describes as the world’s largest sound-healing dome. Conceived as a temple to therapeutic sound, the space uses singing bowls, gongs, and harmonic frequencies to send vibrations through the body, encouraging deep rest and balance. It is a fitting expression of the sanctuary’s wider philosophy: ancient practices are not decorative additions, but integrated purposefully into a clinically informed programme.
