Beyond, The St. Regis Magazine Issue 5 - Spring/Summer 2015

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T H E S T. R E G I S M A G A Z I N E

B E Y O N D , T H E S T. R E G I S M A G A Z I N E ISSUE 5

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CONTributors Jane Goodall The 81-year-old primatologist, the inspiration for Michael Jackson’s song Heal the World and name-checked on The Simpsons, still spends about 360 days a year traversing the world, fundraising and raising awareness about apes.

Her most memorable journey, described in this issue, was sailing to Africa and “seeing for the first time flying fish and dolphins, and smelling exotic flowers and spices wafting from the land”.

Anna Friel Having made her professional debut at the age of 13, the actress has appeared on both sides of the Atlantic, from the London stage in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya to the small screen in Pushing Daisies. She writes about her favorite Italian store: a 17th-century pharmacy, outside which, she says “are amazing handbags on the streets”. Her most memorable trip was driving from Los Angeles to Colorado, stopping off in Arizona. “The scenery was like nothing else I’ve ever seen.”

David Masello The work of this widely published poet, writer and editor, who writes for us about society beauty Babe Paley, has appeared in publications from Art & Antiques to Departures and The New York Times. He is currently executive editor of the design magazine Milieu and is the author of two books about architecture and art. The journey he will never forget was his first business trip to Morocco, “which involved experiences from meeting King Mohammed to hitting golf balls on a one-hole golf course”.

Nigel Tisdall The prolific travel writer’s career began one wet Monday morning in 1985 when he went to London’s Liverpool Street station and caught a train to Hong Kong.

Thirty years later he’s still on the road, most recently island-hopping through French Polynesia for this issue’s feature on Paul Gauguin. His most memorable adventure?

“Sailing along the Swahili Coast from Lamu to Zanzibar in a 1910 schooner, reeling in yellowfin tuna for dinner and falling asleep on a deck roofed with shooting stars.”

Sherman Sam The Singaporean painter and critic Sherman Sam was educated in France and California and contributes regularly to Artforum and Art Review. For Beyond, he interviews septuagenarian artist Tan Swie Hian, who now has two major art spaces devoted to his work. Sherman’s most memorable recent trip, he says, was to a German-English wedding on the day of football’s World Cup final, “when I learned, pretty quickly, that cheering for the Argentinean team was not a wise thing”.

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Getty images

Joanne Froggatt The actress, twice nominated for an Emmy Award and the recipient of a Golden Globe in 2015 for her portrayal of Anna in Downton Abbey, journeyed to Abu Dhabi for this issue, where she sampled the city’s most popular deli. She loves traveling; her favorite trip, she says, “was on a boat around the Whitsunday Islands in Australia.

One day, at the end of a day’s diving, my friend and I sat in the hot tub, drinking Pimm’s and watching the sunset. It couldn’t have felt more luxurious.”

T H E S T. R E G I S M A G A Z I N E

Cover photographed by Taki Bibelas, with thanks to Christine Crespo, Berta Beran, and the team at The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort, Spain

Editorial Editor-in-chief: James Collard, Editor: Lisa Grainger Sub-editors: Tim Pozzi, Andrew Petrie Design: Vanessa Arnaud, Santiago Vargues Fashion: Nadia Balame, Picture editor: Lyndsey Price Assistant picture editor: Emma Hammar , Editorial director: Gill Morgan Publisher: Crispin Jameson, Project manager: Sarah Glyde

Creative and Publishing Brave New World Publishing Ltd, 19 Beak Street, London W1F 9RP T + 44 (0)20 7437 1384

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Reproduction Color reproduction by: PH Media; Printed by: Logical Connections

© Copyright 2015 Brave New World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of

this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from the publishers. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors it may contain

M I K I M OTO.CO M

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CONTENTS 14 The Magnificent Seven – The World in Seven Objects –

From an ancient Chinese snuff bottle and a tiara fit for a princess to Turkey’s tastiest sweetmeat: an extraordinary array of objects, each with a story to tell

32 Island Impressionist

Month of Mary (Te Avae No Maria), 1899, by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), oil on canvas, 96x74.5 cm. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

– The Journey –

The artist Paul Gaugin left gray, rainy Paris in the winter of 1891 in search of a new life and fresh inspiration. The paintings he produced in the South Pacific, says Nigel Tisdall, are every bit as colorful and exotic as the real thing

41 Hidden Treasures

54 Life’s a Breeze

Tastemakers share their secret haunts, from the pharmacy in Florence beloved of Anna Friel and the Abu Dhabi deli favored by Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt to the creative hub frequented

by Singapore’s fashion insider Daniel Boey

The prettiest of this spring’s looks are inspired by nature. Fresh, flower-strewn and charmingly flimsy, the dresses are ideal for relaxed outdoor living, whether on the lawns of The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort or relaxing by the sea

44 Scents and Sensibility

62 On a High

– A Little Place I Know –

– Fashion –

– The Style Interview –

– Architecture –

Mexican-born “perfume architect” Carlos Huber gives beauty expert Hannah Betts a window into his finely fragranced world

Mexico City’s skyline is bristling with inventive architecture, from the Brutalist buildings of Luis Barragán to the latest sinuous silverskinned galleries, says Dominic Bradbury

47 Products

66 The Family Way

– Smart Packing –

– The Trend –

Whether you’re savoring the street life in Moscow, hiking the Himalayas in Lhasa, relishing Renaissance palazzos in Venice or windsurfing the waves in Hawaii, we’ve got the fashion, accessories and gadgets you need to travel in style

These days, no one gets left at home at vacation time: now even grandma and grandpa can take sushi classes in Tokyo or ride a camel in Doha.

Helen Kirwan-Taylor reports on the rise of the multi-generational vacation

Cover: Silk sheath dress, $700, Alexander Lewis. Wishbone ring, $180, Bouton. Brass ring, $125, Caterina Zangrando. Photographed by Taki Bibelas

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Contents

68 The St. Regis Atlas

84 Brushes with God

Our international network of hotels and resorts, from Aspen to Abu Dhabi, Rome to Singapore, plus the Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis, to help you make the most of your stay

Singaporean painter and poet Tan Swie Hian talks to Sherman Sam about communicating love and Buddhism on his canvases

– The Directory –

– Art –

90 Shining Examples

70 Soundtrack to the City

– Interiors –

– Jazz –

Chandeliers have morphed from old-fashioned ornaments into inventive illuminated objects, embraced by designers for homes, as well as hotels like The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort.

Rachel Loos reports

Alfred Lion arrived in New York in 1929 – and created the greatest jazz label the city has ever known, as well as album covers that set new creative standards. Richard Havers, author of a new book on Blue Note Records, charts its rise

94 Kitchen Confidential

78 The Ultimate Babe

– Food –

– The Back Story –

Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay, owner of two restaurants at The St. Regis Doha, on the importance of teamwork, and why he won’t be putting spam on the menu any time soon

Babe Paley was one of America’s greatest beauties, a society hostess who didn’t just marry well, but entertained the best from her own suite in The St. Regis New York. By David Masello

96 Jane Goodall

82 Lord of the Track

– A Life in Seven Journeys –

– The Connoisseur –

Conservationist Jane Goodall talks about the great adventures of her life, from teaching English in postwar Germany to studying chimpanzees on Lake Tanganyika

Photo by Francis Wolff. Courtesy of the family of Max Margulis

The Earl of March and Kinrara talks to Simon de Burton about hats, helmets and his Goodwood Festival of Speed

Blue Note Records co-founder Alfred Lion (second from right) in 1939 with early signings the Pete Johnson Blues Trio and business partner Max Margulis

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The World in Seven Objects

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THE WORLD IN SEVEN OBJECTS Photography by Louisa Parry

unique objects each tell a story of their origins, from the snuff bottles of Qing Dynasty China to the wooden surfboards of 20th-century hawaii. here we present seven wonders from around the world for your delight

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The World in Seven Objects

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Fancy watch faces While many horologists obsess about the movement and complications housed within a watch’s casing, for most watch-lovers, it is the look of a watch that matters most. Hence the trend in the past few years for watch manufacturers to invent increasingly decorative dials. Vacheron Constantin, the world’s oldest watch brand, known for classic dress watches with high complications, has led the way by creating what are considered some of the most elaborate and intricate watches ever made.

Each of its Métiers d’art collection is not just decorated with a different and highly complicated pattern, but layered with enamel, engraved by master craftsmen and then hand-painted by fine artists; many are also adorned with fine jewels.

It is not just the older Swiss houses that are adorning their dials, either. Both Harry Winston and Christian Dior have made watches with a feathered face, proving the decoration can be embellished with all manner of effects, from painted intricate enamel, as seen on Chanel watches, to guillioché, the ancient technique of criss-crossed engraving favored by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Although the trend for decorative watches is gaining momentum, it dates back more than 500 years to when watches were made using mostly brass or copper and the dials enamelled to make them look more luxurious. In the 21st century, just as in the Middle Ages, designers have realized that, while complications are beloved by aficionados and technical precision is essential for keeping time, what no watch-lover can resist is a pretty face. vacheron-constantin.com

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The hydrangea When hip stylist Camille Bidault Waddington was photographed in her home for French Vogue, she chose to be shot alongside just a few of her favorite things: an antique wooden dresser, a sensuous sculpture and a vase overflowing with bulbous pom-poms of inky-blue hydrangeas.

Once, the hydrangea was a plant that was kept strictly outside. Today, it’s the bloom du jour, not just for stylists, but couturiers, jewellers, hoteliers – and even milliners. At last year’s Kentucky Derby, the heads of fashionable women were adorned with it, clearly inspired by such great hat-makers as Paulette Marchand, who created “caps” of hydrangea blossom for such clients as Greta Garbo and Edith Piaf. In gardens, too, they’re back – although not just the traditional pinks and blues, but in more minimalist whites, whose broad glossy leaves, lacy petals and jetblack stems make them a favorite of the fashion set.

Why their return to public affection? Because of our love of all things retro, according to Kally Ellis of florist McQueens, who for the past 15 years has been responsible for the flowers at Vanity Fair’s Oscars Party.

“It’s a throwback to the 1970s,” she says. “All those big English garden blooms are back in vogue, from big old-fashioned garden roses to dahlias and peonies. But hydrangeas always look amazing. They’re both romantic and retro, and as far as I’m concerned a classic.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by florist Reed McIlvaine, whose arrangements adorn The St. Regis New York. “Hydrangeas just go anywhere,” he says.

“In winter we use big white balls of them to recreate snowy scenes, and in fall use them to turn the lobby into a jewelbox of beautiful rich antique colors. They’re incredibly versatile.” mcqueens.co.uk; rennyandreed.com

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The tiara No woman looks bad in a tiara. As designer Vivienne Westwood said: “You can wear rubbish and you can just put [a tiara] on and it does something for your hair.” Hence its return to glamorous heads, from the tousled locks of Georgia May Jagger to the regal crown of the Duchess of Cambridge.

The fashion for tiaras began, of course, in classical times, when wreaths of leaves were worn around the head to symbolize devotion to a particular cult and later crafted by Greeks and Romans into crowns of gold. Although in European royal circles crowns were worn daily as a matter of course (France’s Empress Josephine was rarely without one and Britain’s Queen Mary reportedly wore one every night for supper), in the 20th century they were worn only for formal evening occasions, and then only by married women.

In the past few years crowns have appeared on every catwalk, from Louis Vuitton to Roberto Cavalli, as well as on the head of Carey Mulligan in Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby. In Lisbon in 2013, all of the tiaras at Cartier’s high jewellery sale were sold in a single weekend, and prices have reached record levels; in 2011, a diamond and pearl Rosebery tiara sold for a record $1,816,400 and in 2012, a 1930s Cartier Art Deco tiara fetched $433,500. Why? Partly, specialists say, because of the return of conspicuous displays of wealth in places like China and Russia, and partly because many tiaras are extremely good value. A 19th-century tiara, for instance, can be purchased for less than $20,000, and for many families make a perfect heirloom – particularly those, like the Garrard Tudor Rose collection, that can be dismantled and made into earrings, brooch and pendant. What woman wouldn’t love that? graff.com

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The World in Seven Objects

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Turkish delight Istanbul is crammed with colorful shops vying for attention. But the emporia that really snag the eye are those selling pyramids of gelatinous cubes, splendid in acidic greens, pinks and reds, and dusted with icing sugar. More than mere candy, this Turkish Delight or lokum is a visual and toothsome feast, in a riot of flavors such as rosewater, cherry, orange and apricot, with such delicious additions as cinnamon, ginger and nuts.

Today the sweet is also gaining respect from leading restaurants and shops all over the world. Most notable is Zeynep Keyman’s Lokum Istanbul shop, designed by acclaimed interiors guru Anouska Hempel to resemble a Pasha’s palace chamber. Keyman aims to revive lokum in fashionable circles by placing the jellied sweet in beautiful boxes adorned with Ottoman Toile de Jouy and fez-like tassels. It’s a glorious gift.

A revival of interest in the food of Anatolia and the Levant, courtesy of chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi and Greg Malouf, has also helped, as has the interest in small-plate dining and floral flavors. Basic lokum is made from water, sugar, a stiffening agent, floral ingredients such as rosewater, and flavors from fig to pomegranate and pistachio. The new wave of lokum makers mine Ottoman history, bringing on startling combinations like honey and grape molasses.

Lokum’s origin story is apocryphal. “Supposedly, it was made for a Sultan who, tired of a hard-boiled sweet, called for something soft,” says maker Cimen Teal. Thus the court confectioner made rahat lokum, meaning “comfortable morsel”, and the rest is culinary history. One can see why C.S. Lewis, in The Chronicles of Narnia, chose unlimited Turkish delight as the White Witch’s lure for poor Edmund. It is the perfect perfumed temptation. lokumistanbul.com

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The retro postcard One might have imagined that the postcard would have died a death in the internet age. After all, why go to the trouble of sending a real-life card, with the pain of finding stamps and a mailbox, when you can ping a message from a smartphone?

But cards are still in the post, according to Katherine Hamilton-Smith, director of cultural services at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Chicago, which holds the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, the world’s largest public collection of postcards. And they’ve become collectable: the work of John Hinde’s studio is highly sought after, particularly color-saturated 1960s images of Ireland, as are works by historic postcard artists such as New York-born Ellen Clapsaddle and Australian artist Ida Outhwaite. “There is also a trend for cool types to send old, ‘retro’ postcards,” adds Hamilton-Smith.

The first postcard was sent in 1840, but it took John P. Charlton of Philadelphia in 1861 to patent a decorated card and make it a business proposition. The most popular era for deltiologists (as postcard collectors are called) are the first two decades of the 20th century, when pictures of seasides, city views and saucy pictures were accompanied by messages boastful, wistful and banal.

Far from destroying the postcard, the internet has long been trying to emulate its essence. The first e-postcard site, The Electric Postcard, was created in 1994 at the MIT Media Lab, and since then apps such as Postcard on the Run and Postagram have been invented that convert messages into physical cards. But even with the birth of this innovative technology, old-fashioned postcards will never die out, says Hamilton-Smith. “They’re both a tiny physical gift and a message; evidence that someone somewhere is thinking of you.” teicharchives.org

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The snuff bottle Just as men today might compare watches or cars to assess personal worth, in 17th-century China the object of desire was a snuff bottle.

According to dealer Robert Hall, these miniature bottles were not just objects in which to carry powdered tobacco, but intricately carved and embellished masterpieces, created for China’s elite and often inscribed with personal messages.

Snuff bottles only came to popularity in China because of a ban on smoking tobacco by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. Although smoking the leaf was outlawed, sniffing it in powder form was permitted for medicinal purposes, and imbibing a tiny spoonful through the nose soon became common practice. A snuff bottle that was both portable and watertight became the ultimate vanity object, and exquisite models were created by master craftsmen in materials from porcelain, jade, ivory and coral to wood and glass.

Although the habit of taking snuff died out after the Chinese Revolution, the appreciation for bottles, particularly among Western collectors, continued to grow. Today hundreds of the tiny treasures still make their way into collectors’ hands through auction houses, as well as such organizations as the Baltimore-based International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society and experts such as Hall and Hugh Moss. Their value, too, has soared. In 2010, Bonham’s received one of the biggest ever collections, of 1,700 bottles, which it valued at more than $47m, and in 2011, a bottle delicately painted with a Chinese landscape was sold for a record-breaking $4.17m. They are appealing to non-specialists, too – not just beautifully formed, but small and easy to transport, making them the ultimate travelers’ souvenir. e-yaji.com; snuffbottle.com

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Wooden surfboards For those who didn’t know that wooden surf boards were having a moment, there is plenty of proof online. Such is the devotion of the natural board’s fans that there are now more than 120 websites dedicated to their manufacture: by makers, surfers, carpenters, and people who know that nothing else feels quite the same on water.

Once the means by which islanders would sail between atolls in the South Seas, wooden boards have become not just the most coveted of surfing equipment, but the most expensive, too. Master craftsman Roy Stuart recently made the ultimate luxury board, the $1.3m Rampant, its surface hand-painted in gold leaf and finely skimmed in Paulownia. This Asian wood was relatively unknown by surf board makers until it was used in Australia in the 1980s by the American board-shaper Tom Wegener, who has subsequently become its greatest supporter. Not only is the Asian wood lighter than balsa, but is more resistant to salt water than any other wood. Today, inspired by the ancient alaia boards in Hawaii’s Bishop Museum – often more than six feet long, finless and only half an inch thick – Wegener has created the finest, lightest waveriders ever created, owned by some of surfing’s biggest names.

The feeling from riding a wooden board is like no other, says British boardmaker David Forsyth. “It’s tough to describe the feeling you get when riding one. If makes you feel so alive, like you’re standing on a really firm drum. And you have great sensitivity; you can feel the water in a way you’ve never felt before.” Which, as the great Hawaiian surfer – and wooden alaia fan – Tom “Pohaku” Stone, puts it: “Surfing is an expression of love for the ocean and all of nature; if you can feel the sea more through wood, that can be only a good thing.” driftwoodsurfboards.co.uk

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GAUGUIN’S

POLYNESIA WHEN HE TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH SEAS THE FRENCH PAINTER PAUL GAUGUIN DISCOVERED A bright, fragranced WORLD OF AZURE SEAS, EXOTIC islanders AND RICH COLOR. A CENTURY ON, LITTLE HAS CHANGED

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Getty Images, Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos

Words by Nigel Tisdall

Interview

Into the blue

I

n 1891, it took Paul Gauguin 63 days to sail from Marseilles to Tahiti. This year, it took me 22 hours to fly from Paris. The reception each of us received couldn’t have been more different.

Whereas the arrival of the 43-year-old French painter, sporting shoulder-length hair and a cowboy hat, caused much mirth, I’m greeted at Faa’a International Airport with strumming ukuleles and a garland of heavenly scented flowers. It is warm and sunny, the hills are alive with tropical colors, the gorgeous blue ocean is fringed with joyful whitecapped waves. Everything is instantly, and emphatically, de-stressing. As the artist put it in Noa Noa, the enigmatic illustrated journal he began on his first trip here: “Little by little, step by step, civilization is peeling away.”

Gauguin’s paintings inspired by his time in French Polynesia have become synonymous with our image of the South Seas. With their rich

and glowing hues, strong outlines, confident-faced nudes, lush landscapes and underlying mystery, they are unfailingly exotic. They sing of heat, natural abundance, sensuality and spiritual succor, and the world loves them. In 2003, when the landmark Gauguin-Tahiti exhibition was held at the Grand Palais in Paris to mark the centenary of his death, more than half a million people queued to see famous works such as Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary) and Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

Inevitably, there is commercialism. The gift shops of Papeete, the island capital, are awash with shopping bags, tablemats and even flowerpots exploiting the painter’s masterpieces. Today a 332-passenger ship, Paul Gauguin, cruises the Society Islands, as Tahiti’s central archipelago is known. This name was bequeathed by Captain Cook in 1769, who drily observed in his journal how “more than one half of the better sort of 34

Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos

Previous page, from left: Arearea (Joyousness), 1892, by Paul Gauguin; Tahitian women in a banana grove, looking as though they have stepped out of a Gauguin painting. Above: fishing festival on Bora Bora

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The daily commute A Tahitian man sets off to gather copra from one of the many coconut groves scattered across the islands. The metal bands secured high on the trees are designed to deter rats and crabs

the inhabitants have entered into a resolution of enjoying free liberty in love, without being troubled or disturbed by its consequences”. It’s a reminder that Gauguin was but one of many visitors to confirm the multiple charms of French Polynesia. Two decades after Cook, the Bounty mutineers famously demonstrated the lengths sailors would go to in order to stay in its warm waters, just as writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Rupert Brooke and Somerset Maugham spread the word in later years.

As the critics like to tell us, though, Gauguin’s paintings were a fantasy.

He yearned to escape bourgeois routine, to find the primitive and essential.

Unfortunately for him, the London Missionary Society got here first. In the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, I contemplate black-and-white photos of local families taken from the 1860s onward, in which all the women wear decidedly unrevealing full-length dresses known as “Mother Hubbards”.

My driver-guide is entertainingly blunt on this. “First the English came, telling us to cover up,” he says. “Then the French came, telling us to undress. We prefer the latter.”

Tahiti is actually two islands linked by an isthmus, and as I drive around its figure-of-eight, admiring the mighty forest-cloaked mountains and black-sand beaches, it is not hard to find scenes straight out of Gauguin. A horse grazes in a field of luminous grass, mangoes ripen on a table, vahines (Polynesian women) with long dark hair and a bright flower behind the ear relax on the beach. “Everything in the landscape blinded me, dazzled me,” the painter wrote. Once here, it was natural to paint a red close to a blue. “There is a continuing supposition,” argues his biographer David Sweetman, “that Gauguin invented his own Tahiti, particularly in respect of his colors, but one can only hold to such a view if one has never visited.”

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Interview

Nature’s bounty

Most visitors use Tahiti only as a stepping stone to the other islands, but it is worth a tour. Highlights include the Plateau de Taravao viewpoint, the dramatic surfing spot of Teahupo’o, and Mataiea, where the painter retreated to live in a bamboo hut. It’s sad but understandable that there are few original works by Gauguin to be seen on the island and that the Gauguin Museum, which has them, is currently closed for lengthy renovations. If you want to behold the art that resulted from this great creative adventure you’ll need to visit major galleries in cities such as New York, Boston, Paris and St. Petersburg.

But the real subjects are everywhere. Looking across from Tahiti to the graph-like peaks of neighboring Mo’orea for the first time, I’m as stunned as Gauguin was. “The mountains stood out in strong black upon the blazing sky,” he noted, “all those crests like ancient battlemented

castles.” At times the sunsets here are so magnificent they fill the sky like a prelude to the Second Coming. Why isn’t everyone on their knees praying, I wonder? Because this is a tropical outpost of France, and everyone is far too busy buying baguettes, puffing on cigarettes and driving erratically.

Gauguin never made it to Mo’orea, but I can’t resist whizzing over by high-speed ferry, which takes 35 minutes and provides a chance to mingle with the sturdy, tattoo-covered, ever-smiling Tahitians who so enchanted the French painter. Here I join a Jeep tour that takes a roller-coaster drive inland to savor panoramic views and visit pineapple estates and marae (historic sacred sites). While French Polynesia is traditionally seen as a place for scorching romance and sipping coconut cocktails on the decks of overwater bungalows, it clearly offers much more: 118 islands, in fact, sprinkled over an area the size of Europe, but with just 275,000 inhabitants.

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Corbis, Ferdinando Scianna/Magnum Photos

Sunsets in the South Seas are as magnificent as anywhere on Earth. Above is majestic Mount Rotui on Mo’orea, one of many peaks on the island that made a great impression on Gauguin

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Under my skin A Mo’orea man displays his traditional tattoos. The word “tattoo” comes from the Tahitian “tatau”, dating back to a time in Polynesian society when nearly everyone was tattooed, to indicate genealogy and rank

Rather cheekily, Air Tahiti, the domestic airline, prints its route map superimposed on this continent, with Papeete standing in for Paris and its services shooting off to the equivalent of Bilbao, Stockholm and Istanbul. Point made – French Polynesia is one huge, adventure-packed chunk of paradise that cries out to be explored. Diving the shark-filled Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa, swimming with whales in Rurutu, visiting the pearl farms and vanilla plantations of Taha’a, admiring the coral churches of the remote Gambier archipelago – it is all most enticing.

One place on most wishlists is Bora Bora, a 50-minute flight west of Tahiti. “So beautiful they named it twice” quip the t-shirts, and its reputation as a scenic stunner is deserved. The island presents a sensational pairing of dramatic tooth-like peaks and bewitching blue-green lagoons, and owes its fame in part to the Second World War, when U.S. forces built

an air base here following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Among their number was a young naval officer, James A. Michener, whose 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, which inspired the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific, shone a spotlight on this balmy paradise.

Until the 1960s, when tourism started to develop, Bora Bora was one of the few places you could fly to in French Polynesia, and it has since developed a reputation as the destination for honeymoons and landmark celebrations.

“Have you ever seen green clouds?” a boatman asks as I speed across its divine waters. He points up to the sky, and I see what he means.

At times the lagoon here is so intensely emerald that the sunlight bouncing off its surface gives the puffy clouds above a mesmeric, jadelike sheen. Gauguin would have noticed such things, I’m sure, just as he would have appreciated the tremendous sunsets now enjoyed by guests at 37

Interview

Looking across to neighboring Mo’ orea, I’m as stunned as Gauguin was. “The mountains stood out in strong black upon the blazing sky,” he noted, “all those crests like ancient battlemented castles”

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Ferdinando Scianna/Magnum Photos, Bridgeman Images

Gaugin’s Polynesia The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, which rests on an eastern motu (islet), with a necklace of luxurious over-water villas, offers grandstand views.

For me, it isn’t the soaring silhouette of Mount Otemanu backed by an apricot glow that most impresses; it’s the sights after sunset. When the sun has slipped away but the darkness of night, heralded by the first silvery stars, has yet to take hold, the sky becomes a magical, fleeting shade of indigo. You might even want to paint it… On the other hand, by this time you will surely have sipped a cocktail or two, such as the intriguing watermelon-infused Bora Mary, the signature drink at The St. Regis. Then it will be time for dinner, perhaps on the beach, à deux, with flaming torches. A little poisson cru à la Tahitienne, some roasted spiny lobster with mango. Could life ever get more romantic?

Gauguin returned to France in 1893, where 42 of his Tahitian paintings were exhibited that autumn in Paris, receiving little acclaim. These include the now-celebrated Vahine No Te Tiare (Woman with a Flower) and Manao Tupapau (Spirit of the Dead Watching), which are today in galleries in Copenhagen and Buffalo respectively. Two years later the artist was sailing south again, on a trip from which he never returned. His entire life had been spent rejecting things: wife, children, France, friends, agents, Van Gogh… The final destination this time was the Marquesas Islands, which lie almost 900 miles north-east of Tahiti. For the 19th-century adventurer, let alone a man now ill, penniless and despondent, it was the equivalent of a voyage to Mars.

It took Gauguin five days to sail here from Papeete, but I choose to follow in his wake aboard Aranui 3, a “freighter to paradise” that carries both passengers and cargo. It’s a comfortable but unconventional cruise – there are lectures and entertainment, but the crew are informally dressed and there is a clear sense that we are here to do important work supplying French Polynesia’s far-flung islands. We deliver everything from cars and cement to peanut butter, and then pick up copra and noni fruit for export.

One of the deepest joys of this voyage is being lost amid the vast blue saucer of the South Pacific. At night, up on deck, relishing the warm breezes and a sky peppered with stars, I can’t help thinking of the Polynesian navigators who ventured across these waters in their huge canoes as early as 2000 BC.

While the crew get busy loading and unloading, passengers take excursions. One key stop is the 78 coral atolls known as the Tuamotus, where the horizon is adorned by a long trail of cartoon desert islands.

Renowned for their diving, this is where another great French artist, the 60-year-old Henri Matisse, came in 1930. Like Gauguin, he was drawn to Polynesia’s extraordinary light and color. On Fakarava he went snorkeling, donning wooden goggles to admire the vivid fish, corals and “undersea light like a second sky” – sights that would inspire later works, such as the two Oceania cut-out wall-hangings, dancing with vibrant fish, corals, jellyfish, birds and leaves, that are now in the National Gallery of Australia.

Ten degrees south of the equator, the 15-strong Marquesas are the island group farthest from any continental land mass. Their atmosphere is markedly different from Tahiti, and it is easy to believe they were once peopled with club-carrying cannibals tattooed from head to toe. Rising to 4,000ft, their steep volcanic peaks are blanketed with thick forests that confine village life to narrow valleys and beaches fringed with a waving green sea of coconut palms. Serial escapists can’t keep away. In 1842, Herman Melville jumped ship on Nuka Hiva, his experiences inspiring his first best-selling novel, Typee. Jack London passed through in 1911, and in 1937 a young Thor Heyerdahl lived on Fatu Hiva for a year, trying to lead the simple life as the world moved towards war.

Gauguin only made it to one of the Marquesas, Hiva Oa, and today his simple grave lies in a hilltop cemetery overlooking the capital, Atuona.

It is often adorned with flowers and mementos from the trickle of fans who make it here, and I am moved to pay my respects, too. As with many great artists, Gauguin’s personal life was far from exemplary, but no one could argue with the sensational work he created in his “Studio of the Tropics”. He painted his dreams, but after my 2,000-mile tour through the enchanting islands of French Polynesia, I have only one conclusion: the reality is even better.

Your address: The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort

Flaming passion Left: fire dancing, originally intended to convey messages to divinities, on Mo’orea.

Above: Self-portrait with the Yellow Christ, 1890, painted on the eve of Gauguin’s first trip to Tahiti

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A Little Place I Know ADdress-book secrets from luminaries of the worlds of sport, fashion and film

The 17th-century pharmacy in Florence

by Anna Friel Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella, Via della Scala 16, smnovella.it

This is the most beautiful store I have ever been in. You could easily miss it, because it’s tucked away in a road not far from the train station, and only has a little sign outside. But once you’re inside, you can’t believe how much there is within its walls. Founded by Dominican friars, it first opened its doors to the public in 1612. I discovered it 12 years ago with friends from Siena who had taken us to Florence for the day. Going in through its grand doors was like entering a scene from Patrick Süskind’s novel, Perfume. You can feel the history – and of course, smell it. The minute you enter, you are met with the most incredible fragrances of flowers and essential oils, as well as beautiful ceramic medicinal jars and stunning frescoes on the ceilings. It’s a place to take your time while kind, very knowledgeable members of staff explain about the ingredients in each bottle, and let you sample them.

There are 300 types of soap, powders, lotions and perfumes, all made from natural ingredients, using recipes that are hundreds of years old.

It’s a place in which I could spend all day learning. If you don’t know what you like or even what suits you, the staff will introduce you to different substances until you do. I usually end up with a few perfumes that I use on their own and combine occasionally to create an entirely new blend. That’s fun, because you’re creating something totally original. I also almost always buy Melgrano Terracotta Pomegranate home fragrance, which is a mix of rose and sandalwood, and a candle that smells like the interior of a local church. I never visit Florence without going there; it has become a little treat I look forward to.

The Western-inspired restaurant in Park City

by Kris “Fuzz” Feddersen Purple Sage, 434 Main Street, purplesageparkcity.com

If my wife and I get time for a quiet dinner together, this is where we go. Although Purple Sage has been here as long as I can remember – and I’ve lived in this city for 14 years – it’s the sort of place you could walk by and not really notice. From the outside, it’s pretty small and quaint: one of many galleries, restaurants and bars in the lovely historic brick buildings on Main Street. Inside, though, it’s quite contemporary and funky, and really narrow – just wide enough for a row of tables down one side and a small passageway alongside. It’s all really cozy: between the tables they have hung beautiful cream pieces of fabric painted with sage leaves, creating intimate booths, and it’s lit with pale purple glass lights. The back’s slightly different, with a bar painted with cowboys and broncos and Rocky Mountains by local artist Wes Wright.

Although the décor is fun, it’s the food we go for. We both always order the same thing: after a cocktail, I have the veal meatloaf with poblano chilli peppers and pine nuts, and my wife has the butternut ravioli.

Also, the waiters are clearly all ski-nuts who ski by day, and work here at night: they have that grizzled, outdoors look about them, and clearly love their lives. There are a lot of great restaurants in Park City, but this one is warm, relaxed and homely, so just right for us.

The Master Cleanse, starring Johnny Galecki and Anna Friel, is released this year Your address: The St. Regis Florence

American freestyle skier Fuzz Feddersen competed in three Olympics and coached the gold-medal-winning 1998 US Olympic team. Last year the CEO of Flying Ace Productions was inducted into the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Your address: The St. Regis Deer Valley 41

A Little Place I Know

The craft boutique in Singapore

by Daniel Boey Tyrwhitt General Company, 150a Tyrwhitt Road, thegeneralco.sg

You’d never know from the street that this nondescript pre-war building is Singapore’s hippest creative hub. Look around and all you’ll see are hardware stores and old traditional businesses, and around the corner an ancient Buddhist temple. Even on the front of the building, there is only a sign saying Chye Seng Huat Hardware (which is now closed, the space having been turned into a coffee shop). But go inside, climb a flight of stairs, and you feel like you’ve stumbled upon the Magic Faraway Tree. The space is full of incredible curiosities, all designed and made in Singapore. One of the three owners, Sam, is like a walking encyclopedia on the Singapore crafts scene, and can tell you everything about the pieces he stocks and the people who make them. He also runs great workshops over weekends, teaching skills that range from leathercraft and printmaking to ceramics and floral arrangement. Every time I go in, I’m like a kid in a candy store, because there are always creative people hanging out; you might meet musicians, artists, culinary people, the fashion lot, all coming for inspiration, or to make something. It’s also useful because I am constantly on the lookout for new creatives to collaborate with. And there are fantastic items to buy every time I go there, all displayed as they would be in a hardware store on perforated wooden boards, and ranging from a Star Warsthemed lithograph to badges, wallets, skateboards, scent and books by local artists. What’s nice is that it’s a world that is really creative and far from the commercialization of normal retail outlets. It’s a place that feels like a home.

The gourmet deli in Abu Dhabi

by Joanne Froggatt The very last place you’d expect to find a traditional deli is in a smart mall in the middle of a city of skyscrapers. From the outside, it looks like any other high-end delicatessen. But the minute you walk in, your senses are overloaded with delicious aromas and incredible delicacies arranged in beautiful patterns and colors, and the most impressive gift baskets I’ve ever seen. It’s owned by Dubai’s H. E. Sheikh Mana Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and is packed with every edible treat you could want, from olives, pickles, oils and salads to pastries, lentils, tagines, fresh breads, fresh fish and kebabs as well as sweet treats such as dried fruits, nougat and ice cream; the list goes on and on. The best thing of all is that you can sample it all before you buy. When I was there recently, we ended up trying cabbage stuffed with mild, creamy labneh cheese, bright pink pickled turnip, eggplant stuffed with tomatoes, walnuts and chilies, and a selection of olive salads, which were all fresh and delicious. I like the fact that you can take the food home, or eat it on a lovely balcony with views of the beach; plus, the waiter can bring you a selection, so you can try new things. You’re encouraged to take your time, so we ended up also trying a selection of traditional sweet pastries, which involved lots of syrup, pistachios and cashews – heaven!

– and Moroccan tea served in a beautiful silver pot. In a modern, bustling city like this, it is the perfect place in which to sit for a while, look out to sea and watch the world go by, with a tummy full of treats.

The deli is always full of locals, too, smoking shisha and having leisurely lunches, which is probably the best recommendation you could ever want.

The Book of Daniel: Adventures of a Fashion Insider, chronicling the adventures of Singapore’s “fashion godfather”, is published by Marshall Cavendish Your address: The St. Regis Singapore

Joanne Froggatt won a Golden Globe and has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award for her performance as maid Anna Bates in Downton Abbey.

Your address: The St. Regis Abu Dhabi; The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi 42

Illustrations: Emily Robertson

Wafi Gourmet, Nation Galleria Mall, 1st Street, wafigourmet.com

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Interview

‘Each ingredient in a perfume is like a clue in a story’ Interview by Hannah Betts Photography by Kylie Coutts

mexican-born Carlos Huber lives in New York, where he runs perfume brand Arquiste. he talks to us about the links between scent and memory, and his new fragrance inspired by mrs. astor’s turn-of-the-century ball

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hat do you recollect of the scents of your childhood?

Although I’m absolutely in love with plants, I’ve actually always lived in apartments. But growing up in Mexico City I remember, when the elevator doors would open, always discovering a new flower arrangement that my mom had made. So the scent of flowers would always welcome me home.

the room. The king’s cousin said that the pavilion where they met was so new that it still smelled of pine and varnishing tar.

What are the most exotic locations you have visited in your perfume adventures?

Waiheke Island in New Zealand: it’s full of honeysuckle and jasmine. And Sydney is such a fragrant city – full of star jasmine in late spring, magnolias in the early summer, and frangipani later on.

My favorite ingredients are gardenia, magnolia grandiflora, vanilla, lavender and rosemary, from Mexico, Australia, Spain and France.

How does your love of place and history connect to perfume?

More than any other sense, smell is linked to memory. As abstract and evanescent as a perfume can be, in our minds it is always tied to a concrete time and place. I’ve always been very connected to the discovery of a new city, a new landscape, through its aromas. With each of our scents, I want to guide you through a journey. That’s why it’s very important for me that the perfumes be “transparent”, that you are able to smell each ingredient so that you recognize them as clues in the story.

You live in New York. What is the olfactory character of the Big Apple?

The waterways are definitely important. I love the Hudson for its sharp, briny scent.

What was it like to train under Rodrigo Flores-Roux at Givaudan US? When he discussed a specific note, or an historic perfume accord, he would set it up in its period so I would understand the world around it. It was a cultural history of perfume.

What is the story behind the perfume you have created for St. Regis?

The ambient scent and candle are inspired by Mrs Astor’s ball, held at her Fifth Avenue home on January 29, 1900. Guests were greeted by the scent of American Beauty roses, the hostess’s favorite flower. They made their way down halls lined with potted palms and pillars of apple, quince and almond blossom. From there, they would enter a ballroom decorated with red roses, white lilies, yellow jonquils, violets and carnations. Our scent is a custom composition that is historic, modern, truly signature.

How would you describe your work?

I see myself as a fragrance architect: designing the scent so it highlights the significance of a beautiful story. I strive to be meticulous. The more of the picture I can paint for you, the more connection you will find with your life.

Your scents allude to historical events such as the meeting of Louis XIV of France and María Teresa of Spain in 1660. What inspires you about such moments?

History is my favorite subject. I read about the meeting of the French and Spanish courts in 1660 when the Peace Treaty of the Pyrenees was consolidated. For Fleur de Louis I investigated not only what they used as perfume, but also what they used to scent

Does perfume allow us access to something akin to a sixth sense?

Absolutely. Perfume can create a reaction almost like a vibration.

It can excite, remind or attract you to something that’s beyond rational explanation.

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Kylie Coutts from TPD London

And the aroma of home?

I like to buy fresh flowers and to change them depending on what’s in season, to experience a new scent. I also love burning candles. In the living room there will be a green floral (the St. Regis scent actually), in my bedroom something warmer, and in the bathroom something mossy and green.

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Smart Packing

18kt white gold, pearl and diamond earrings, $4,800, Mikimoto, mikimoto.co.uk

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Men’s Mister Marvelous eau de cologne, $280, Byredo, byredo.com Men’s grey fine-knit wool blazer, $585, Ami, amiparis.fr

Women’s jacquard dress, $1,050, Red Valentino, redvalentino.com

Women’s mirrored leather pumps, $750, Jimmy Choo, jimmychoo.com

Women’s metal and leather box clutch, $1,850, Nina Ricci, ninaricci.com

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Navigating the palatial spaces of moscow requires outfits that dazzle. pack elegant pieces, with a hint of gold, and you’ll feel positively imperial

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Gallery Stock

Whether you’re contemplating horseback riding, planning to hike the Himalayas or making a trip to the celestial lake, you’ll need the ultimate gear

Your address: The St. Regis Lhasa

Lunar olive wood camera, POA, Hasselblad, hasselblad.co.uk

Men’s printed cotton t-shirt, $260, Marni, marni.com

Paisley backpack, $1320, Givenchy, mrporter.com

Talan printed stretch-silk maxi dress, $895, Tory Burch, net-a-porter.com

Women’s leather sandals, $495, Isabel Marant, isabelmarant.com 49

Men’s cotton and linen shorts, $450, Maison Martin Margiela, maisonmartinmargiela.com

Smart Packing

Bella vista

Gallery Stock

Taking children to explore rome’s glorious sights requires packing outfits that will make them feel as elegant as the city itself – and equally as colorful

Your address: The St. Regis Rome

Girls’ animal print satchel, $216, Cambridge Satchel, cambridgesatchel.com

Girls’ pleated chiffon dress, $1,000, Christian Dior, dior.com Boys’ classic chinos, $90, Hackett, hackett.com

Girls’ boucle coat, $289, Rachel Riley, rachelriley.com

Girls’ neon belt, $65, Stella McCartney Kids, stellamccartney.com

Boys’ suede loafers, $195, Gucci, gucci.com

Girls’ butterfly pattern sunglasses, $100, Dolce & Gabbana dolcegabbana.com 50

Boys’ blue stripe cotton shirt, $65, Polo Ralph Lauren, ralphlauren.com

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Women’s patterned triangle bikini, $425, Emilio Pucci, net-a-porter.com

Men’s tortoiseshell wayfarer sunglasses, $165, Ray-Ban, ray-ban.com Men’s cotton-mesh polo shirt, $155, Sunspel, sunspel.com

Women’s zigzag patterned dress, $151, Seafolly, seafolly.com

Men’s Chiffre Rouge A03, steel and black alligator strap, $6,550, Christian Dior, dior.com

Women’s two-tone, wide-brim hat, $365, Eugenia Kim, eugeniakim.com

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Whether you’re snorkeling, surfing on the North Shore or taking in the view of Hanalei Bay you’ll be wanting to channel the laidback chic beach vibe that Hawaii is famous for

Your address: The St. Regis Princeville Resort 53

Men’s midlength shorts, $345, Orlebar Brown, orlebarbrown.co.uk

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petal

power Photography by Taki Bibelas Styling by Ursula Lake

in the lush surroundings of The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort, discover this season’s freshest looks, inspired by nature and adorned with delicate floral prints

Previous page: Diane von Furstenberg pink Davina floral silk chiffon dress, $860 dvf.com; Paul Andrew pink satin slingback shoes, $800 paulandrew.com; Lele Sadoughi Arcade gold cuff, $350 elesadoughi.com; Left: Alexander Lewis silk jacquard floral sheath dress, $700 net-a-porter.com; Bouton modern wishbone ring, $180 bouton.co.uk; Caterina Zangrando brass and resin Gae ring, $125 caterinazangrando.com; Above: silk printed floral dress, $571 hampdenclothing.com; silk printed floral skirt, $1,372 net-a-porter.com; Paul Andrew pink satin slingback shoes, $800 paulandrew.com

Above: Paul Smith red and pink floral swimsuit, $195 bloomingdales.com; Preen by Thornton Bregazzi sunglasses, $235 preenbythorntonbregazzi.com; Right: Mary Katrantzou Nevis floral cotton strapless dress, $2,970 marykatrantzou.com; Shourouk floral crystal earrings, $350 hourouk.com; Bionda Castana cream Lana calf-leather pumps, $763 biondacastana.com

Interview

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Left: Simone Rocha red embroidered floral tulle trench-coat, $3,381 newyork.doverstreetmarket.com; White Honey swimsuit by Violet Lake, $230 violet-lake.com; Caterina Zangrando pearl Gae ring, $125 caterinazangrando.com; Bionda Castana Lana calf-leather pumps, $763 biondacastana.com; Above: Issa appliquĂŠ organza black and white Izabel floral top, $1,500 issalondon.com

Architecture

mexican waves

Words by Dominic Bradbury

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or decades in the second half of the 20th century, Mexico City was dismissed as one of the most dysfunctional cities in the Americas, struggling to cope with a population edging past 20 million and an unfortunate geological site. Founded by the Aztecs in 1325 on an island on Lake Texcoco, the city had been built on soft soil which, as well as subsiding on a regular basis, was vulnerable to flooding and earthquakes. As other cities such as Buenos Aires and Rio flourished, constructing ever-higher skyscrapers, Mexico City had to be content with sprawling outwards, creating a conurbation that, futurists warned, was spiraling out of control.

Fast-forward to 2015, and how things have changed. The city is now a beacon of urban-design brilliance and all the world’s architects want a slice of the action. As architect Zaha Hadid observes, “Mexico City has the most amazing buildings – from Luis Barragán’s masterpieces to Félix Candela’s ‘shell’ building to really strong Brutalist and Mid-Century Modern structures.” In the past few decades, too, the city has undergone

a renaissance, with a new generation of buildings by high-tech architects and designers. As well as a center of finance, Mexico City has become a hub for art, design and creativity, with an economy the size of Peru’s.

“Construction started to boom here even when other parts of the world were in recession,” says architect Ezequiel Farca, who works both in Mexico City and Los Angeles. “Architecture and design are going through a great phase now and are poetic and free enough to create something bold and full of imagination. Young architects are inspired by the Mexican masters, which you can see through their use of color, proportion and building techniques.

At the same time there is a revival of furniture design and a greater appreciation for design icons such as Clara Porset and William Spratling.”

In the past ten years, not only have charming old buildings been given new life, but a mass of hotels, restaurants and stores have sprung up alongside the city’s 150 museums. New landmarks include the Soumaya Museum, designed by Fernando Romero, with its sinuous, futuristic form made of metallic, hexagonal reflective plates to house an art 62

René Burri/Magnum Photos, Adam Wiseman

drawing on the colors and textures of its aztec and spanish past while embracing modernism, mexico city has become a showcase for some of the world’s most exciting architecture

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Clockwise from top left: Inigo Bujedo Aguirre/Viewpictures.co.uk, Adam Wiseman, René Burri/Magnum Photos

Mexican Waves collection amassed by telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim Helú. Next door sits the Museo Jumex, designed by British architect David Chipperfield for fruit-juice giant Grupo Jumex’s contemporary art collection. Also winning admirers is the Chopo Museum, whose glorious extension by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos is an addition to an original 1902 building by Bruno Möhring.

Working alongside local architects are a slew of big international names. British starchitect Norman Foster is coming to town to build, with local hero Fernando Romero, a much-needed new international airport. Argentinian architect César Pelli, who designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, came to Mexico City to build The St. Regis Hotel Tower in 2008, and Richard Meier is busy designing the Reforma Towers, a mixed-use project on main thoroughfare Paseo de la Reforma.

“Thanks to the constant relationship between Europe, North America and Mexico, architects and designers have found Mexico the most beautiful place to express their individuality and have constantly added to the city,” says Emmanuel Picault, a Frenchman who settled in the city when he was 18. “There is still a feeling of liberty and joy that brings people here.”

All of these projects highlight the vibrancy of Mexico City today. But they also add a new layer to a metropolis that has one of the most multifaceted histories of any city in the Americas. This is a city that has reinvented itself many times since the days of Montezuma, when its population was already a great deal larger than that of London.

When Hernán Cortés and his successors began work on a new colonial capital, it was the ruins of Aztec temples and palaces that they used as foundations for their own buildings. Cortés himself ordered the construction of the Metropolitan Cathedral – the oldest in Latin America – alongside the ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor. Centuries later, the architects of “New Spain” continually sought to layer their own designs over those of previous civilizations. Although the later modernizers of the 19th century adopted Spanish and European architectural styles – with influences from Gothic architecture, Spanish neoclassicism and Hispano-Moorish motifs – they were equally inspired by the local mestizo population, creating a style of architecture that was uniquely Mexican.

Walk around Mexico City today and one can observe the process of cultural fusion that has helped to shape the capital. In some parts, such as Colonia Roma, Condesa and Juárez, it is possible to see the French influence of the 19th century and again when Art Nouveau emerged, French-trained architects ruled, and villas sprang up all over the more desirable suburbs.

In other parts, exciting 20th-century architecture dominates: buildings that were created after the end of the revolution in 1920, when a process

of re-evaluation began. While some architects, such as the country’s greatest Modernist Luis Barragán, found inspiration in the simple purity of Mexican adobe houses, others looked to Europeans such as Le Corbusier. By combining both – the pure geometry of Modernism and the organic warmth and character of traditional Mexican architecture – local architects created a regional fusion with a rich personality all of its own.

If there is one architect whose legacy looms the largest in the city, it is Barragán, who died in 1988. His warm, sensitive but contemporary buildings – among the few Modernist examples loved by traditionalists, too – are full of vivid color, rich textures and integrated gardens and fountains.

The ranch house that he designed for Folke Egerström in San Cristóbal is considered one of the greatest delights of 20th-century architecture and a celebration of both the architect’s and client’s love of horses.

Barragán’s Chapel and Convent in Tlálpan are a hymn to light and serenity, while his Satellite City Towers on the Querétaro Highway are a much-loved public landmark. The architect’s own house in Tacubaya is open to the public and an essential stop on any architectural tour of the city.

As well as creating a distinctive architectural lexicon with his own buildings, Barragán also inspired a generation of local architects. They included the great Ricardo Legorreta, who shared his passion for color and texture expressed in vivid, modern forms, and designers such as Félix Candela and Teodoro González de León, who injected Mexican architecture and design with an energy, dynamism and ambition not seen before.

There are plenty of other individualists, too, who have imparted their own specific style on the landscape. Agustin Hernández, for example, takes inspiration from the pyramids, patios and ziggurats of Mayan cities, inventing houses that look like concrete spaceships on slender supporting pillars, hovering over the hills around Mexico City. Adamo Boari and Federico Mariscal created the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the 1930s, inspired by a mixture of neoclassical, Art Deco and Art Nouveau design and graced with murals by Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros. And Juan O’Gorman built a home-cum-studio for Rivera and Frida Kahlo, designed in an early Modernist style but full of color, light and drama. The list goes on.

“We love mystery and surprises,” Ricardo Legorreta once said. “Even in our way of being we are quite mysterious. We say we are a simple people but we are extremely complicated. The depth of the architecture we create is the depth of Mexico and its people.”

Dominic Bradbury writes on design and architecture. His latest book, Mid-Century Modern Complete, is published by Thames & Hudson/Abrams Your address: The St. Regis Mexico City

Light and space Previous page, from left: Barragán’s Egerström house; Romero’s Soumaya Museum. Left, clockwise from top left: Norten’s Chopo Museum extension; Barragán’s Satellite City Towers; inside the Soumaya Museum; beside Satellite City Towers

MEXICAN DESIGN STARS PICK THEIR FAVORITE BUILDINGS

ezequiel farca, architect ◆ National

Autonomous University of Mexico. “Located in Pedregal in the south of the city, an example of great urban planning, where you can spend the whole day looking at the wonderful modernist buildings, gardens and museums.” www.unam.mx

◆ Vasconcelos Public Library. “By Alberto Kalach, this is one of the most impressive contemp­orary buildings in Mexico City.” bibliotecavasconcelos.gob.mx ◆ Casa Barragán by Luis Barragán. “Always inspiring because of the use of light, space, mat­erials and color.” casaluisbarragan.org

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emmanuel picault, designer and gallerist ◆ National

Anthropology Museum.

“Unforgettable.” mna.inah.gob.mx ◆ Anahuacalli Museum. “Diego Rivera’s last atelier.” museoanahuacalli.org.mx; ◆ Teotihuacan. “This is the most powerful archaeo­logical site close to Mexico City.”

The Trend

And granny came too Words by Helen Kirwan-Taylor Illustrations by Ping Zhu

the words “We’re going on holiday with your grandparents” no longer elicit groans from children, thanks to hotels offering activities from camelriding and surfing lessons to family art classes. Today, everyone loves the multigenerational vacation

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ou see them all over the world, jogging, hiking, paddling, surfing and mountain climbing. And no, we’re not talking about athletes here. We’re talking grandparents.

The generation once known as the “blue rinse set” is now not only active, but affluent.

And there is nothing they like more than to spend their reserves of leisure time, money and energy than with their extended family.

According to the National Leisure Travel Monitor, more than a third of all grandparents have been on vacation with their grandchildren.

And children are all for it. A study by the marketing firm Ypartnership confirms that 60 per cent of children between the ages of six and 17 said they would like to travel with their grandparents – and some even said they would prefer to leave their parents at home.

As a result, travel agencies such as Bostonbased Road Scholar now offer extensive holiday options for multigenerational families, including special programs that cater only to grandparents and their grandchildren. At the top of the list, they say, are hiking holidays in the National Parks. “Our clients want to hike, surf, bike and balloon in places like Arizona and Utah,” says manager Andre Purdy. European trips and cruises are also popular, he says, particularly those offering excursions that allow the younger generation to let off steam on land, while their grandparents relax on board.

The trend for multigenerational travel is yet another by-product of ageing baby boomers, says international travel brand consultant Sarah Miller. “The greatest luxury is time well spent,” she says. “Grandparents might have a wonderful memory from the holiday, but the hotels need the grandchildren to remember it too, so that when they grow up, they want to recreate something similar with their own family.”

Which is why hotels all over the world are rapidly adjusting to the trend. “Instead of having just rooms, hotels now have villas which an entire extended family might share,” says Miller. “They are also pushing their footprints beyond their own walls and into the city, by offering shopping excursions, gastronomic tours, cooking classes and art classes.” St. Regis has been at the forefront of this trend with its Family Traditions at St. Regis program.

Large hotels in exotic locations that offer a mix of culture, activities and relaxation – as The St. Regis Abu Dhabi does – are particularly popular with groups whose ages vary. “While one member of a family may feel energetic and go on an excursion, another might want to enjoy time at the beach,” says Laila Rihawi, the hotel’s public relations manager. “There may be one day where they go on an excursion together, say to the Empty Quarter and the Sheikh Zayed

The Trend Grand Mosque. But the next the grandkids and grandparents might go on their own to Yas Island’s water park and Ferrari World, or go on a Big Bus Tour.”

The three-bedroomed Abu Dhabi Super Suite, with staff quarters and a 14-seat dining room, is often booked by extended families, many of whom travel with nannies.

Favorite destinations include places that sleep large groups and have spaces set aside for large-scale parties or entertainment, says Deborah Bigley, a specialist in organizing big group and multi-activity vacations. “Spaces need to be big enough for everyone to have their own independence and yet still be able to come together for dinners, which might be

“Every one of us went for a surfing lesson – and nothing makes a grandson prouder than a surfing grandmother, even if all she did was ride the wave lying down” prepared by a chef one night, and on another by the families themselves.”

Helene Lorentzen, a Palm Beach-based consultant and mother of three young boys, says that exotic destinations are popular, too.

Last year, she brought together her extended family on an island in south-east Asia. “We all had our own enormous rooms, which were very private, as well as a big area where we could all gather. Because the staff were amazing, too, we never had to worry about logistics.”

Her mother – in her eighties – not only enjoyed the reunion, but joined in on all the activities. “Every one of us went for a surfing lesson – and nothing makes a grandson prouder than a surfing grandmother, even if all she did was ride the wave lying down,” says Lorentzen.

“And a morning trek was organized for us though the rice paddies to a remote lunch spot, where my sister got engaged.”

Although the aim of many vacations is just to bring together families, a large number are organized to celebrate a specific milestone.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than three-quarters of travellers have planned a vacation around 67

a celebration such as a birthday, anniversary and wedding.

Marie Divine, a New York-based mother of three, recently returned from a multigenerational visit to Vietnam. “The purpose was to return to the country where I was born [Divine was a diplomat’s daughter] with my husband and children – and then we thought, why not ask my [widowed] mother along as it was an important place in her life, too.”

Divine planned the entire two-week trip with great precision. “When you have all age groups, you have to plan carefully, especially if you’re moving around,” she says. She mapped a daily list of activities that catered to all age groups, and hired a minivan to ferry everyone around.

“This was a critical plus. Though we were moving around, we always settled back into the minivan and chatted about what we just experienced,” she says.

More than anything, it is these chats, she believes, that will always be remembered by her children. “Unlike other family occasions I have been to, like big celebration lunches, a trip is very different. It’s an activity that can be shared, and unlike golf or tennis or skiing which require stamina, all you have to be is present to take part.” And a trip, she adds, is a wonderful time for generations to get to know each other again more intimately – and learn more about their family history. “In our very anonymous world we are increasingly fascinated by our own families and their mythology. And kids no longer think that adults are square – partly because we all do and share so much.”

Her advice to anyone thinking of a similar adventure is to consider pace. “Some people move faster than others. A 15-year-old might decide a morning of sightseeing is enough, and need afternoons off. People should be able to drop out of an activity without feeling they are letting anyone down.”

I know from experience that children really do savor these experiences. My 19-year-old son Ivan, now a college freshman, remembers a holiday we took with my parents eight years ago to Bermuda (the year before my mother died) with great affection. “There’s a short window in a kid’s life when he or she doesn’t realize he is different from his mother. He just thinks he’s just another part of this person that laughs and summons food from nowhere and is warm,” he says. “The family holiday, when it goes right, restores that period. While a lone holiday can provide a masculine re-affirmation, and a couples’ holiday can be passionate, an inter-generational holiday is incredibly calming.

Leaving your everyday circumstances and returning to the family fold can trick you into thinking you’re a blissful baby.”

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label of

Francis Wolff Š Mosaic Images, Š 2015 Universal Music Group

love

Words by Richard Havers

76 years ago a german-jewish immigrant persuaded two piano players to enter a new york RECORDING STUDIO, and the legendary blue note records was born. its artists helped to define jaZZ, But the covers of their albums ARE NOW ALSO HAILED as works of art in their own right

Smokin’ hot Previous page, from left: guitarist Grant Green, a Blue Note stalwart, in rehearsal, August 1961; Meade Lux Lewis’s first release on Blue Note Records, recorded in 1939 (the sleeve designer is unknown)

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n 1927, the year that The St. Regis hotel opened its new wing and ballroom on 55th Street, a Jewish-German teenager left his home in Berlin to try to find work in New York and to pursue his love of jazz. At first he lived rough in Central Park, walking by the grand hotel to find work in the city’s docks. By 1939 he had founded Blue Note Records, the most iconic jazz label in the world and the epitome of style and cool. His name was Alfred Lion.

The city in which he arrived had already become the jazz capital of the world. The first jazz record had been cut there just before the end of World War I, and soon after dozens of venues had sprung up all over the city, from grand ballrooms to tiny spaces. Besides well-known spots such as the Cotton Club in Harlem, where Duke Ellington made his name, a thriving underground scene had evolved around 52nd Street, where musicians gathered to experiment with the form – and imbibe a drink or

two – in the small, smoky interiors. It was here that Lion hung out.

When he wasn’t in clubs, Lion spent a great deal of time at Milt Gabler’s Commodore Music Shop on 52nd Street, talking to the owner and his brother-in-law, Jack Crystal (the father of comedian Billy Crystal), who worked at the shop and helped run gigs at a nearby club. Gabler not only sold records but had his own label, which in April 1939 would put out one of the most important political records ever made: Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, about the lynching of black men in the Southern states.

Alfred Lion’s new Blue Note label had released its first 78rpm disc a month earlier, and while it didn’t have the political resonance of Gabler’s release, it had arguably just as significant an impact. In the last days of 1938 Lion had gone to a landmark concert at Carnegie Hall, showcasing black music from spirituals to swing, and then had been a guest at the opening of Café Society, the first club in the city in which blacks and 72

Free form

© 2015 Universal Music Group

Above: a selection of classic Blue Note sleeves featuring Francis Wolff ’s photography and the definitive designs, playing with lettering and white space, pioneered by Paul Bacon and Reid Miles

whites were treated as equals, greeted at the door with the words “Welcome to Café Society, the wrong place for the right people”. Having spoken to Gabler, he suddenly knew what he wanted to do: get boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis to make some recordings.

In those days, very few records were pressed – and when they were, artists often weren’t paid. So when Lion spoke to the artists, and promised not only to pay them, but to pay them well, the deal was sealed.

A studio was booked on the West Side of Manhattan, a bottle of whisky was procured, and Ammons and Lewis performed a series of solos and duets. At the end of the session Lion didn’t have enough money to cover both the studio time and his artists, and had to return some weeks later for the masters. When he listened to the discs back at his apartment, his life was changed: “I decided to go into the music business.” He pressed 25 copies each of BN1 and BN2, the former featuring two slow blues

tunes, and the second two boogie-woogie numbers. With no distribution in place, he offered them by mail order at $1.50 each.

Over the next quarter of a century Blue Note Records not only became the leading jazz record label, but went on to release music by just about every great name in the genre, from Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk to John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Jimmy Smith. It also produced some of the most distinctive and beautiful covers in the business, with sleeves that were works of art in themselves. Lion’s boyhood friend Francis Wolff, also Jewish, whom Lion had helped to escape Germany in September 1939, took many of the mostly black and white photographs. The arresting graphics, with their echoes of the Bauhaus, were pioneered by Paul Bacon, who describes his early work as “graphic visions of the music. They were drawn by hand and represented the best I could do at the time with two colors.”

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“A thriving underground scene had evolved around 52nd Street, where musicians gathered to experiment with the form – and inbibe a drink or two – in the small, smoky interiors”

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Label of Love

Taking a stand

Francis Wolff © 2015 Mosaic Images

Previous page, clockwise from left: Jimmy Smith at a Philadelphia club in 1956; the Port of Harlem Jazzmen recording in June, 1939; Art Blakey performing with the Jazz Messengers in November, 1955; Thelonious Monk at the Royal Roost jazz club in 1949, photographed by Francis Wolff. Left: contact sheet for Herbie Hancock’s Inventions & Dimensions album of 1963 and, above, the finished cover

Blue Note were not on par with those of Miles and Bacon.

The St. Regis New York is proud of its longstanding connection to jazz.

Count Basie and Duke Ellington played at its historic rooftop ballroom, and celebrated modern-day exponent Jamie Cullum gave a private acoustic show at its King Cole Bar & Salon in October as part of the Jazz Legends at St. Regis series. Blue Note, too, has endured down the years and moved with the times, under the same guiding principle on which Lion established the company in 1939: allowing musicians the opportunity to make records with “uncompromising expression”. Robert Glasper, Gregory Porter, Derrick Hodge, Ambrose Akinmusire, Wayne Shorter and Jason Moran are just some of the names who record for Blue Note today and they, like just about everyone who has preceded them, make records that are the soundtrack to New York City. Records that define jazz in both their sound and in their look.

In 1954, Bacon was joined by another young designer, Reid Miles from Esquire magazine. While continuing to use Wolff ’s portraiture, Miles placed a heavy emphasis on lettering and graphic marks, using stencils and woodblocks, which he intended to represent something of the rhythm and tone of the music. Ironically, given that Blue Note album sleeves have become the benchmark against which all album designs are measured, Miles was not a jazz fan. But he had a talent for reducing the feel of the music into a simple, modern design that reflected not only the revolution that was taking place in music, but in society. With their spare aesthetic, cropped photographs and glorious colors, even today, they look as fresh and revolutionary as they did then: the epitome of cool.

And they were clever, too, reflecting Lion’s belief that jazz was an expressive medium to be taken as seriously as any other high art.

When swamped with work Reid Miles would farm out jobs to friends, including a young Andy Warhol, then a struggling artist desperate for commissions. Warhol produced four album sleeves, three of which were for guitarist Kenny Burrell. Warhol would go on to create one of the most celebrated pop album covers of all time – the banana on the front of The Velvet Undergound and Nico – but his designs for

Uncompromising Expression: Blue Note: 75 Years of The Finest in Jazz by Richard Havers is published by Thames & Hudson and Chronicle Books; thamesandhudson.com; chroniclebooks.com Your address: The St. Regis New York 77

The Back Story

AMERICAN BEAUTY Words by David Masello

T

wentieth-century New York was full of fashion role models: high-society ladies whose wardrobes were as stylish as any European aristocrat’s, whose jewelry was priceless and whose elegance was the result of years of devoted attention. But none quite had the grace of Babe Paley.

Babe was the style icon of her day. The leader for a decade of the Ten Best Dressed list and an inductee into the Fashion Hall of Fame, she was a friend of and hostess to some of the most famous people in America. Babe was part of a circle alongside supposed wartime spy Gloria Guinness, actress and fashion designer C. Z. Guest, Hollywood socialite Slim Keith, Marella Agnelli, wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli, and Pamela Harriman, daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill and a future United States Ambassador to France. Truman Capote (a friend until he wrote an unflattering, minimally fictionalized exposé in 1975 that severed their bond) called these elegant women “the swans”, due to their propensity to group and glide through society like graceful birds.

What made Babe stand out from the rest of the swans was her compelling presence. As her friend, jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane, put it, Babe Paley, like the Mona Lisa, had a face that was both memorable and elusive. Eerily attractive and supremely charismatic, she was a product of a time when society figures were household names – and when women were schooled to be the epitome of elegance.

“One look from Babe and you melted,” Lane says. “You fell in love with her the moment her marvelous eyes looked at you. Every waiter in every restaurant fell in love with her. She made you feel that she was in love with you. If she walked into a room, people didn’t quite stop breathing altogether, but they held their breath for a minute. She had an aura.”

She also knew how to live in supreme style. After her marriage to CBS

founder William S. Paley in 1947, she established an estate, Kiluna Farm, on Long Island, where the couple spent weekends and guests included the likes of Lucille Ball, Grace Kelly and David O. Selznick. In Manhattan they occupied a magnificent suite at The St. Regis, which Babe remodeled with the help of society decorator Billy Baldwin. “I was in my early twenties when I first saw their apartment at The St. Regis,” recalls Lane. “It was a corner suite, and it had been tented by Baldwin. There was a wonderful birdcage chandelier hanging in the middle of the drawing room.”

As David Grafton, who wrote the definitive biography of Babe and her family, The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters, describes the apartment: “Using yard upon yard of Indian cotton… Babe transformed the space into an exotic fantasy.” Later, when she and her husband moved into their 20-room duplex at 820 Fifth Avenue, while still keeping her St. Regis suite, Baldwin “recreated their old St. Regis living room, which he had installed originally as a jewel-like library”.

Babe didn’t have to work her way up in society. She was born into it on July 15, 1915, to Harvey Cushing, a pioneering brain surgeon, and his wife Kate, a gracious but determined society hostess in Boston. As Grafton writes, “Early on, the Cushing sisters learned to entertain and cater to the comforts of an eclectic mix of personalities, many of whom were masters of their own medical or social fiefdoms.” The late Millicent Fenwick, a friend of Babe’s and a New Jersey congresswoman, remarked, “Each of the girls, and especially Babe, entered the world convinced that they were the most attractive young women in the world, combining beauty and brains.”

Barbara was the youngest of the five Cushing children – hence her nickname, Babe – and she and her sisters were groomed from the start to marry well, a goal that became a virtual profession for their mother. Kate proved instrumental in engineering the 1930 marriage of her first daughter 78

Babe Paley, New York, March 3, 1967. Photograph by Richard Avedon. Copyright © The Richard Avedon Foundation

friend to the famous, style icon to a generation, babe paley ruled new york society for almost three decades. those who knew and loved her remember one of history’s best-dressed women

Back Story

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The Back Story

“Babe dedicated her life to beauty – in her personal appearance, the objects she acquired, the people she surrounded herself with” Betsey to James Roosevelt, eldest son of Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Minnie would eventually marry Vincent Astor, Jr., who owned The St. Regis in New York.

In 1940 Babe married Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr., grandson of one of the founders of Standard Oil. She had been working at Vogue, less as a day-to-day line editor and more as one of the magazine’s legions of young, socially prominent women forging connections with designers of the day – the likes of Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Cristobál Balenciaga. She was still at Vogue when the couple divorced in 1946, and she first met the significantly older, still-married Paley.

Their union in 1947 was, in some ways, unlikely, in that Paley, although powerful, was the son of Jewish immigrants – a detail that remained unsettling for Babe’s WASP mother at a time when such issues mattered among America’s elite. But with his intellect and contacts, and her social abilities, the couple became the hub around which high-society events revolved.

While powerful men need not be handsome or even charming, powerful women, especially in the mid-20th century, had to be beautiful.

While Babe certainly possessed the beauty, she also had, as legendary interior designer Mario Buatta says, “substance and a sense of humor.

I remember being at a client’s house for lunch one Sunday. Babe was at the table, about ten of us, and she was very quiet for some reason. But then she secretly put a piece of spinach on a front tooth. Finally, one of

her friends at the table pointed it out to her. It got her the attention she wanted and it brought her into the conversation – a skill she never had any problems with.”

David Jannes, an art collector and former PR who handled some of New York’s most glittering society events, says, “You have to remember that Babe Paley and the women in her circle were true individuals. The society women of today don’t stand out in the way people like Babe Paley did. She dedicated her life to beauty – in her personal appearance, the objects she acquired, the people she surrounded herself with, the homes she made at The St. Regis and Fifth Avenue and elsewhere.”

The couple entertained CBS stars such as Edward R. Murrow, visiting dignitaries and politicians, and writers including Capote, who once famously said of his former friend, “Babe Paley had only one fault. She was perfect. Otherwise she was perfect.” Style was everything at their Fifth Avenue apartment. Sheets were ironed twice, once in the laundry, and once on the bed. Menus were archived to avoid serving the same meals to returning guests. Visitors complained of not being able to get into the bathroom because there were so many flowers. To cap it all, Paley had amassed a distinguished art collection, a centerpiece of which was Picasso’s Boy Leading a Horse (previously owned by Gertrude Stein, and which now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art, a gift from Mr. Paley).

Much has been written about Babe and Paley’s troubled marriage, both 80

Back Story

Horst P. Horst © Condé Nast Archive/Corbis, CBS Photo Archive/Contributor, Erwin Blumenfel D © Condé Nast Archive/Corbis

then and subsequently. Paley was devoted to Babe and keenly aware of the cachet she brought him, yet he was also a conspicuous womanizer.

“Bill was Bill and she knew it,” says Kenneth Jay Lane, who maintained a close friendship with Paley after Babe’s death. “She adored him. He was a fascinating man and much of her role was to make him happy.”

Yet Capote, quoted in Gerald Clarke’s biography of the writer, said, “I never met anybody who was so desperately unhappy as she was… Once she tried to leave [Bill] and I sat down and said, ‘Look… Bill bought you.

It’s as if he went down to Central Casting. Look upon being Mrs William S. Paley as a job, the best job in the world.”

Throughout her decades-long tenure as a society leader, the embodiment of high fashion, and a fundraiser for her favorite charities, Babe also occupied a role that could only have existed in her day. Certainly to fashionable women in New York, but also to those in the far reaches of America, Babe Paley was a recognized name, the exemplar of style and grace. Such was her power that one warm day, upon leaving a Manhattan restaurant, she removed her scarf and tied it to her purse. Paparazzi recorded the moment and “in no time, women throughout America were tying scarves to their handbags,” recalls Grafton. “So great was Babe Paley’s charisma that women of all ages and from every walk of life would do nearly anything to emulate her. They wanted not only to look like her but to be like her.”

Although Babe died in 1978, she is referenced for her style and look as if she were still attending parties and opening the door to her apartment to receive guests. “I think one of the reasons Babe endures is that she

doesn’t look outdated. She looked like a modern-day woman even in the late ’40s and ’50s,” remarks Annette Tapert, who included a chapter about Babe in her iconic book, The Power of Style. “There’s also the fact that her name keeps getting passed down in style folklore. Young girls at fashion magazines today invoke her name.”

Poignantly, it was probably in part the pressures of maintaining the image of style icon and socialite supreme that created fissures in her marriage and contributed to her premature death. While Paley liked to see his wife project an image of impossible glamor, forever draped in furs and the most expensive jewelry, Babe’s love of fashion and design made her an early champion of the unconventional pantsuit. As she aged, rather than attempting to preserve an illusion of youth, she eschewed hair dye and presented her graying locks to the world.

Like many other women of her time, Babe also smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. Just a day before she entered a New York hospital to begin treatment for the lung cancer that would eventually lead to her death, she called her friend Kenneth Jay Lane, and invited him to meet for lunch. “She showed up wearing a long strand of big green beads,” he says. “I loved them. I said, ‘Babe, are those…’ and she said, ‘Yes.’ They were emeralds and I’d never seen the necklace before. ‘I haven’t worn this for years,’ she said, ‘but I knew you’d love them and I wanted to wear them for you.’ That’s the kind of person she was.”

Your address: The St. Regis New York

Life’s a ball Clockwise from left: portrait by Horst P. Horst, 1946; with William S. Paley at Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inaugural ball, 1953; in a Charles James ball gown, 1950; 1947 portrait by Erwin Blumenfeld

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The Connoisseur: Lord March

Gentleman racer Words by Simon de Burton Photographed by John Lindquist

Goodwood House might have remained just another of England’s lesserknown stately homes were it not for the fact that its present incumbent, the entrepreneurial Earl of March and Kinrara, has put it well and truly on the map as the site of the Festival of Speed and Revival events which attract car enthusiasts from all corners of the globe. But while visitors to the interior of the rambling 17th-century property get an impressive display of Sèvres porcelain, furniture by William Kent and paintings by Canaletto and Stubbs, they are seldom privy to the contents of Lord March’s office, which is crammed to the ceiling with an eclectic mix of the sort of car and motorcycle-related trinkets that are commonly known as “automobilia”.

Lord March began the collection in the 1970s. “My grandfather, the aristocrat-turned-racing driver Freddie March, used to send copies of Veteran and Vintage magazines to me at school, and one of the things I’m most attached to comes from that time of my life,” he says. “It’s a copy of The Treasury of the Automobile by the American cartoonist Ralph Stein, which was one of the first of the big, full-color car books to be published during the 1960s. I used to love the pictures of great cars such as Type 35 Bugattis, and I’d spend hours doing drawings of them.

“My grandfather was a very good model-maker. He made lots of models of cars and aircraft, some of which I still have. I’m also trying to collect all of the original Goodwood motor-racing-event posters produced when he originally operated the circuit between 1948 and 1966.”

One of the pieces Lord March most cherishes is also one of the smallest: a trophy in the form of a cigarette lighter engraved with the image of a horse. “My grandfather won it when the Lancia Car Club staged the first hill climb event at Goodwood in 1936. It represents the start of motorsport at Goodwood, which makes it very special. I also have his tattered silk scarf and armband from his racing days, and a lovely Roy Nockolds pencil drawing showing him winning the Brooklands Double Twelve in 1934.”

But it is since the first Festival of Speed 21 years ago that his collection has really taken off. “People just give me things,” he says. “I have hundreds of model cars, dozens of crash helmets. One of my favorites is the helmet worn by the great American driver Dan Gurney when he was racing Ford GT40s. It is incredibly flimsy.

“I also have a couple of Stetsons which were gifts from famous drivers.

One came from Jim Hall, co-founder of the 1960s racing firm Chaparral, who presented it to me after I became one of relatively few people to drive one of the cars. The other belonged to the legendary NASCAR racer Richard Petty – it’s massive and decorated with strange animal bones and bits of fur. It’s possibly the maddest thing in the whole house.”

The 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place June 25 to 28 2015, and the Revival, September 11 to 13 2015, in Sussex, England. goodwood.com

Art

zen diagrams 84

Tan Swie Hian

Words by Sherman Sam

Tan swie hian is one of southeast asia’s bestselling artists, celebrated for his poetry as much as for his canvases, on which he presents a buddhist vision of MOUNTAINS, OCEANS AND EVEN THE WIND

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Art

Nature lover Above: poet and painter Tan Swie Hian. Previous page: Pines, Mount Huangshan, 2000. Chinese ink painting, says Tan, is akin to performance art. “I once demonstrated Chinese Zen ink painting for a documentary, and this is one of a pair of 8ft pieces that took me literally one and a half minutes to complete. It was shown at the 50th Venice Biennale”

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n his adopted homeland of Singapore, Tan Swie Hian is not just one of the most famous painters in the country, but one of Southeast Asia’s best-known poets. In 1993 a museum was built to house his masterpieces, and another – covering a square mile of wooded mountain range – is under construction in Qingdao, China. His works are carved into the rock faces of the Three Gorges on the Yangtse River, and painted onto sacred Buddhist sites. As a result, prices for his works have skyrocketed. When his 2013 Portrait of Bada Shanren was auctioned in Beijing last November, it fetched just over $3.3m – quite an achievement for a self-educated painter.

Yet it was for his poetry that the Indonesian-born artist first achieved recognition. Having completed a degree in English literature, he published a collection of poetry in 1968 entitled The Giant – today considered one of the region’s most important works of Modernist verse. His first brush with professional painting came when he took his first and only job, in the press office of the French embassy, where he was encouraged to contribute drawings to a Malaysian literary magazine. When the French ambassador officiated at his first exhibition in 1973, his second career was launched.

It was at this time, too, that the artist had another awakening – of a spiritual kind. Tan had long been a practising Buddhist, and for a time considered giving up art in order to give himself fully to meditation. Thankfully, he didn’t, and he has subsequently won countless awards, from the Gold Medal at Salon des Artistes Français, Paris (1995) to the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum (2003). In China, in particular, his work is collected avidly – hence the construction, begun in 2001, of The AllWisdom Gardens in Qingdao, which is currently about one third complete, and where some 200 stonemasons are engaged in creating huge works of art under Tan’s direction.

What makes Tan different from other artists? What he’s trying to communicate, he says, is “love”. It is evident in whatever he does, whether calligraphy or paintings of trees, mountains, gardens and flowers, which he injects with a spiritual energy. “My aim is to create something that shows how a free mind functions,” he says. “It’s like a hummingbird flying forward, backward and sideways, soaring, swooping or hovering in midair.”

Tan Swie Han Museum, 460 Sims Avenue, Singapore; tanswiehian.sg Your address: The St. Regis Singapore 86

Tan Swie Hian

A Holy Mountain, 2007 Tan’s devout Buddhism is evident in his continual celebration of the natural world. This painting was inspired by one of his own fables, called A Holy Firefly, about a firefly determined to attract countless other fireflies to a holy mountain. “When night fell, the whole mountain and its heart phosphoresced, visible as well to the shore beyond”

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Top: He Might Be Where the Rainbow Is, 1990 The rainbow has fallen out of fashion for most contemporary artists favoring a conceptual approach. Tan has no such reservations, basing this work on a celebrated poem of the Tang Dynasty by Jia Dao called Seeking But Not Finding the Recluse

Below: A Sea Change, 1986 Much of Tan’s work also reflects his fascination with the practice of meditation. “One can meditate on the sea until the sea boils, rises to love you and weaves a celestial web of interconnected beings,” he says

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Tan Swie Hian

Top: Mountain Wind, 1987 Here Tan is inspired by a Zen expression: “The wind paints the emptiness.” “To embody the voidness of the wind, one could only capture the colorful rustling of foliage, the hollowed mountain surfaces and the rhythms of the atmosphere,” the artist says

Below: A Smile, 2008 “I made this piece to show how misfortune and happiness walk hand in hand in life,” says Tan. The painting includes a twoline couplet which reads: “The red lava flows, and a hundred flowers bloom. The acid rain pours, and a thousand birds fly”

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The Collectibles

let there BE

lights Words by Rachel Loos

until recently they were dusty relics of a bygone age, impractical, outmoded and unloved. But chandeliers have hung in there and, reinvented, are dazzling once more as the ultimate design centerpiece

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The Collectibles

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Making a splash

ust over a decade ago, the chandelier was languishing in design Siberia, deemed a fusty form of lighting that had no place in a chic modern interior. But no longer. In a quite remarkable reversal of fortune, today the chandelier is one of the most exciting, challenging and sexy objects in interior design, and big-name designers are creating dazzling chandeliers that are light years away from the traditional designs of the past.

One of the latest to create a sensation is architect Daniel Libeskind, who won the competition to design the masterplan of the World Trade Center reconstruction. Unveiled at last year’s Salone del Mobile, the trend-setting design fair held annually in Milan, his Ice chandelier fuses mathematics with the centuries-old craft of hand-blown glass.

Commissioned for the Czech lighting company Lasvit, the chandelier features a series of clear-glass, angular pieces that fall like icicles from a reflective glass plate. Light shines through each glass piece, illuminating the edges to give the chandelier a shimmering, ice-like luminosity.

All of which is a far cry from the chandelier’s origins. The earliest chandeliers, in the 14th century, were simple wooden crosses with spikes for fixing candles to, raised to the ceilings of churches and monasteries by a rope or chain. Over the next two centuries the chandelier developed its more familiar shape, with arms to hold the candles, and moved from public buildings into private homes.

Chandeliers in the houses of the prosperous were made of wood, wrought iron and tin. In wealthier residences, they were more finely crafted and fashioned from gilded bronze, known as ormolu, as well as

brass. In palaces, precious metals, such as sterling silver, were used.

The creation of lead glass, or crystal, transformed the chandelier into an extravagant and glittering centerpiece. From the late 18th century onwards, hugely ornate chandeliers were found in the palaces of Europe and Asia. The Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, built between 1843 and 1856, is dripping with chandeliers made by the French crystal company Baccarat, the most spectacular found in the Ceremonial Hall. A gift from Queen Victoria, it remains one of the largest chandeliers in the world, weighing 4.5 tons and featuring 750 lamps and hundreds of Bohemian crystals.

Today’s models are equally eye-catching – but very different in design.

Take the Gabriel chandelier, for instance, designed by Studio Bouroullec for the palace of Versailles. Made to hang above the immense neoclassical Gabriel staircase that is the public entrance, the 40ft-long chandelier resembles an illuminated string of pearls hanging from the ceiling, the soft glow of the many crystal-encrusted LED bulbs changing with the daylight.

The Gabriel chandelier was made by Swarovski, the Austrian crystalmaker that has been at the forefront of the chandelier revival. Its Crystal Palace Project, launched in 2002 and curated by interior designer Ilse Crawford, had the ambitious goal of creating chandeliers with an aesthetic rooted in the 21st century rather than the 19th. The project got off to an inauspicious start. “At that time the classical chandelier was not taken seriously by the contemporary design set. Initially when I approached some well-known designers, most of them refused,” says 92

Previous page: Leo Torri

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Previous page: Light Sculpture by Zaha Hadid for Svarovski. Above, from left: Vincent van Duysen’s Cascade; the Gabriel chandelier designed by Studio Bouroullec for the palace of Versailles

The art of suspense Above, from left: Ice, fashioned from hand-blown glass, by Daniel Libeskind; the Rock chandelier, comprising 8,000 individually made rock crystals, created for The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort by Unitfive Design

Crawford. However, a posse of young designers took up the challenge, and their concepts were groundbreaking. One chandelier was made entirely of rose-pink crystals in the form of a haute-couture ball gown.

Another was made of crystal prisms and resembled a glistening block of ice. Most unexpected was Tord Boontje’s Blossom, shaped like a flowering cherry-tree branch.

In the years since, many of the world’s most respected designers and even architects have realized the chandelier’s potential to thrill.

“Manufacturers of chandeliers started to be interested in working with contemporary design rather than sticking to pastiche tradition,” says Crawford. The result has been some extraordinary creations. Awardwinning architect Zaha Hadid’s limited-edition Fade, for example, incorporates 86 floor-to-ceiling cables, set at a 45-degree angle to create a fluted cone wrapped by 2,700 internally-lit crystals. Dutch designer Vincent van Duysen’s Cascade is a series of LED-lit crystal strings that fall from the ceiling to resemble a torrent of water, while Beau McClellan’s Reflective Glow is officially the world’s largest chandelier. Suspended from a glass atrium between two office complexes in Qatar, it is 126ft long and lit by more than 2,300 hand-ground optical crystals and 55,000 LEDs. Modern chandeliers also incorporate materials other than crystal into their design, such as copper piping and leather. Jo Whiting’s stunning chandelier for UK interior designer Abigail Ahern is made up of hundreds of small squares of porcelain, each of which has been handrolled in muslin for added texture. “Modern chandeliers evoke all the grandeur of the past, but have an edgy new update,” says Ahern.

No longer simply a light, the chandelier is now a work of art, too. “It is more fluid, more unique in design,” says Lisa Santana from Unitfive Design, responsible for the amazing rock chandeliers – 8,000 individually-made rock crystals suspended on hand-forged metal frames – at The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort. “Now it’s possible to develop one-of-a-kind pieces that are a piece of art. They have become a reflection of one’s sense of style and fashion.”

Most recently, it is the development of the LED that has allowed greater scope. “LEDs flood the crystal with light, allowing it to do the talking,” says Billy Canning, chief lighting designer for the Irish crystal company Waterford. Although known for its traditional designs (its chandeliers are in London’s Westminster Abbey), Waterford stepped into the modern arena in dramatic fashion with a spectacular LED ball for the 100th anniversary of the annual Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve, 2007. The design of 672 Waterford crystal triangles lit by more than 9,500 LEDs made for a wonderful spectacle as it descended the flagpole.

However, even traditional chandeliers are enjoying a surge of interest as their star quality is once again appreciated. Baccarat’s Zenith 84 was also unveiled at Salone del Mobile, its glittering opulence a sharp contrast to the bare stone walls surrounding it. A reminder, if one were needed, that the chandelier has the power to transform even the most austere of spaces.

Your address: The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort 93

Interview

Kitchen confidential Interview by Charlotte Hogarth-Jones

in 2001, Gordon Ramsay became one of the youngest chefs in britain ever to be awarded three michelin stars. he reveals the the secrets of his success, his take on steak with salad – and spam

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Gordon Ramsay: A Culinary Genius in Doha When you were a child, what was your favorite food?

Eggs Benedict. I’ve always loved having it in the morning; it’s all about the hollandaise sauce.

The Scottish-born chef Gordon Ramsay originally set out to become a professional soccer player, switching to catering college at age 19 following a knee injury. He went on to train under chef Marco Pierre White before deciding to specialize in French cuisine, working alongside Albert Roux at Le Gavroche in London and Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon in Paris. His first Michelin star came in 1997, when he was chef at Aubergine. When he was 33, his own venture, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, was awarded three Michelin stars. Today, his ever-growing chain of restaurants spans from Los Angeles and New York to Paris and Hong Kong, and he continues to appear on television series such as Kitchen Nightmares and MasterChef. The chef launched two restaurants in 2012 at The St. Regis Doha: Opal by Gordon Ramsay, which serves classic western dishes in a bistro-style environment, and a fine-dining space, Gordon Ramsay Restaurant.

Which meal most reminds you of home?

Beef Wellington, which has become one of my signature dishes. It’s very versatile: you can change what meat you use (I recently used lamb) as well as the spices and secondary ingredients.

Which is the dish you’re most proud of?

King crab tortellini with lemongrass and tomato vinaigrette. It is simple and fresh and always impresses.

Which dish do you most enjoy cooking?

I love cooking all sorts; what I make depends on what mood I’m in and how long I want to spend in the kitchen. In my recent TV cooking series Ultimate Home Cooking, it was all about making tasty food at home: nothing too fancy, but great fish dishes, pies, desserts.

What’s been the most memorable moment of your career?

Getting the first Michelin star for Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (and of course getting three a few years later). But every time I’ve opened a restaurant it has been a really proud moment. I now have 25 globally and 13 in London, and there’s more to come. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have my restaurant business, TV career and wonderful family.

Is there anything you’d rather buy than make?

No. Cooking your own food is always a better and healthier option. I’m a big believer in cooking at home with the family. My kids do a lot of the cooking in the house and it’s much more enjoyable.

Are there any foods that you think are overrated?

No, although anything that is processed or poor quality is never good in my book. I grew up in a household with very little money so we ate some horrible food – spam. That definitely isn’t something I’d eat now.

What do you eat when you’re home alone?

Something quick and simple, such as a good-quality steak with salad and a homemade dressing. I always like to see what’s in the cupboard: you’d be surprised what you can make with just a few staple ingredients.

What do you enjoy most about Doha?

The people. They have always been very friendly and extremely professional.

If you could revisit a meal that you’ve had in the past, what would it be?

I’m very lucky in that I eat out a lot and get to experience lots of different styles, concepts and cultures. The most recent amazing meal I’ve had was at Quique Dacosta in Spain. I was in the area filming for television and found myself in a terrible restaurant. We wanted to show them what amazing service was, so I took them to Quique Dacosta; it was fantastic.

What would you order off the menu at The St. Regis Doha?

From Gordon Ramsay Restaurant, I would choose the carpaccio of Scottish scallops. At Opal, the lamb burger with mint is one of my favorites, although I try different dishes every time I am there. I always ask the chef to create mini versions of dishes on the menu so I can sample all of them.

What’s the secret to running a restaurant really well?

You have to have a great team. I definitely do, and when I’m asked who does the cooking when I’m not there, I say it’s the same people as when I am there. To run a restaurant, and certainly to be a chef, you have to have passion for what you do, work hard and persevere.

How do the dishes there differ from your other restaurants?

Opal is very similar to Bread Street Kitchen in London, and obviously Gordon Ramsay Restaurant is inspired by my three-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant. However, we do make changes to reference the local culture, the flavors that are popular in the region, and the fresh ingredients that we can get.

Your address: The St. Regis Doha

Ramsay’s repertoire Bleu lobster salad, croquant of celeriac and apple with homardine sauce; Terrine of duck foie gras, dried apricots and almonds, strawberry vinegrette; Buttered truffle and guinea fowl with sweet potato purée, chestnuts and mushroom mix

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A Life in Seven Journeys

Jane Goodall

The world-renowned conservationist and primatologist reflects on the journeys that have shaped her life and fueled her passion for the wild

Cornwall, England, 1939 When I was four, the Second World War broke out, so I was taken by my uncle from London, where we lived, to Cornwall. One morning I collected a bucket of “shells”, only realizing that they were living snails when they escaped all over the living room. I was so upset that my family had to turn everything upside down to find them all, so I could take them back to the sea.

2 Germany, 1952 After the war, my mother dispatched me to Germany to teach me that not all Germans were evil. The country had been divided into four, and my uncle and aunt lived in the British section.

They introduced me to a family whose three children I was to teach English.

I was on my own, had never left home before, and the mother in the house was horrible and treated their dogs very badly. I was terribly homesick, but I rode a lot with the youngest daughter and learned to rely on my own resources.

3 England to Nairobi, 1957 Going off to Africa to stay with a school friend was probably the most exciting journey of my life. I’d earned money as a waitress to buy a liner ticket to Kenya, and for 21 days I had a fantastic time, sharing a cabin with three other girls and flirting with all the officers. The really magic part, though, was leaving grey skies behind

and seeing flying fish and dolphins, and smelling exotic flowers and spices wafting from the land.

4 Kenya, 1957 Having read so much about Africa, when I landed I felt I was home. I’d got a job as secretary to Louis Leakey, the paleoanthropologist. In the Serengeti in those days, there were no roads; to find our way to the Olduvai Gorge, we retraced tracks from the year before. We put up tents and camped. The nearest water was 40 miles away, so we had just one glass each to wash ourselves per day. I almost bumped into a rhino and was followed by a lion, and in the three months there, I saw only a few other people: Borana herdsmen.

5 Gombe, Tanzania, 1960 Leakey had found me funding to study chimpanzees in Gombe, on Lake Tanganyika, but the officials there insisted I had a companion, so my amazing mother came with me. After driving for days in our Land Rover and camping at night, we reached Kigoma, only to discover that the Belgian Congo had erupted in civil war and there were traumatized refugees everywhere. Of course, we had to help; one day I must have made 2,000 sandwiches. When we eventually got to Gombe, three weeks later, I remember climbing the mountain overlooking the lake and hearing baboons and birdsong, and smelling 96

grass and woodsmoke in the air. It was magical. I put my bed under a palm tree, and felt I had arrived.

6 Republic of Congo, 2002 Michael Fay – the brilliant biologist who walked more than 2,000 miles across central Africa – found a forest surrounded by swamp where animals had never been exposed to people, and wanted me to go and see it. It was an exhausting journey. My feet were so blistered I had to bind them with masking tape. We were up to our waists in water and mud. But we saw chimps, monkeys and gorillas, and the area is now a national park: the Goualougo Triangle, known as “the last Eden”.

7 Alaska, 2013 Getting to Alaska took days on several planes, the last one a fourseater that landed on a beach where Disney made that wonderful film, Bears. On our very first night we saw them: several grizzlies, fishing for salmon and digging for clams.

A mother and two cubs were as close to us as just across a room, and paid absolutely no attention to us. They were absolutely beautiful. That film, I think, is the best Disney has made.

Jane Goodall’s latest book, Seeds of Hope, is published by Grand Central. She leads the worldwide Roots & Shoots youth-led community action and learning program

Illustration: Tina Berning. Words: Lisa Grainger

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The St. Regis ATLAS The St. Regis story around the globe, from the first hotel opening in Manhattan in 1904 to the latest in Mumbai

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1. The St. Regis New York 2. The St. Regis Beijing 3. The St. Regis Rome 4. The St. Regis Houston 5. The St. Regis Washington, D.C. 6. The St. Regis Aspen Resort 7. The St. Regis Monarch Beach 8. The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort 9. The St. Regis San Francisco 10. The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort 11. The St. Regis Singapore 12. The St. Regis Bali Resort 13. The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort 14. The St. Regis Atlanta

29. The St. Regis Mauritius Resort 15. The St. Regis Mexico City 30. The St. Regis Abu Dhabi 16. The St. Regis Princeville Resort 31. The St. Regis Venice San Clemente Palace 17. The St. Regis Deer Valley 32. The St. Regis Chengdu 18. The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico 33. The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya 19. The St. Regis Osaka 34. The St. Regis Istanbul 20. The St. Regis Lhasa Resort 35. The St. Regis Mumbai 21. The St. Regis Bangkok 22. The St. Regis Florence 23. The St. Regis Tianjin COMING SOON 24. The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort 25. The St. Regis Shenzhen 26. The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi 36. The St. Regis Macao, Cotai Central August 2015 27. The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort 37. The St. Regis Dubai Q3 2015 28. The St. Regis Doha 38. The St. Regis Langkawi Q4 2015

A Message from St. Regis

A TALE OF THREE CITIES

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he St. Regis story began in New York’s celebrated Gilded Age in 1904, when John Jacob Astor IV, scion of one of America’s most storied dynasties, set out to build the finest, most luxurious hotel in the New World. He succeeded, creating a hotel which became a byword for service and sophistication.

The standards Jack Astor set remain the benchmark for every St. Regis, and we are delighted to be able to tell you that in the coming months three new properties will open, all bearing the name our founder chose for that first address on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue – and they are opening in three of the world’s most extraordinary cities.

Istanbul, the capital of two great empires and a city that still fascinates and amazes, Venice, the very thought of which makes us want to embark on a Grand Tour of our own; and Macao, the port city celebrated for its ability to work hard and play even harder.

Combining classic sophistication with a modern sensibility, The St. Regis brand is committed to delivering exceptional experiences at more than 30 of the best addresses around the world. Our hotels and resorts are settings for exceptional moments, where signature rituals such as enjoying a Bloody Mary or taking afternoon tea draw on the brand heritage and create emotional connections with guests. These time-honored traditions reflect the distinct cultural influences and local flavors of each unique destination.

Personalized, anticipatory service and luxurious pursuits are the hallmark of our brand history, as well as the essence of The St. Regis Aficionado program, where exclusive access is tailored to each guest – from an entrée to the world’s premiere private collections to swimming with dolphins in Mauritius.

Past and future, rare and refined, this is the signature of St. Regis.

Yours faithfully

Paul James Global Brand Leader, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts

The Aficionado’s Guide

An introduction to St. Regis Hotels and Resorts around the world, in alphabetical order by region Page #

AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST

The St. Regis Abu Dhabi The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi The St. Regis Doha The St. Regis Mauritius Resort Coming Soon Dubai, Opening 2015

THE AMERICAS

The St. Regis Aspen Resort 9 The St. Regis Atlanta 10 The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico 11 The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort 12 The St. Regis Deer Valley 13 The St. Regis Houston 14 The St. Regis Mexico City 15 The St. Regis Monarch Beach 16 The St. Regis New York 17 The St. Regis Princeville Resort 18 The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort 19 The St. Regis San Francisco 20 The St. Regis Washington, D.C. 21

ASIA PACIFIC

The St. Regis Bali Resort The St. Regis Bangkok The St. Regis Beijing The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort The St. Regis Chengdu The St. Regis Lhasa Resort The St. Regis Mumbai The St. Regis Osaka The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort The St. Regis Shenzhen The St. Regis Singapore The St. Regis Tianjin Coming Soon Macao, Langkawi Opening 2015

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EUROPE

The St. Regis Florence The St. Regis Istanbul The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya The St. Regis Rome The St. Regis Venice San Clemente Palace

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The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Africa & the Middle East

The St. Regis Abu Dhabi Enduring Legacy, Arabian Sophistication

Ask us about The ornate Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which can house up to 41,000 worshippers, making it the eighth-largest mosque in the world.

Arrive around 4:30pm (except Fridays) to catch the afternoon sunlight glinting on the mosque’s 82 domes of differing sizes.

Mangrove kayaking. Explore a uniquely beautiful marine ecosystem and its stunningly rich birdlife, including herons, sandpipers, cormorants and pink flamingos.

Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital.

Falconry is an integral part of desert life and has been practiced in the UAE for centuries. The Falcon Hospital provides a deep insight into the life of this majestic bird.

The guest room of the Al Hosen Suite; the Nation Riviera Beach Club

It’s easy to understand the appeal of The St. Regis Abu Dhabi. The capital of the United Arab Emirates is fast developing a major arts and cultural scene, turning the city into an ever more sophisticated metropolis blessed with cutting-edge architecture and world-class sports. Part of the prestigious Nation Towers complex on the Corniche, a five-mile stretch adjacent to the Arabian Gulf where you’ll find walking and cycling paths and children’s play areas, The St. Regis Abu Dhabi is the ideal homeaway-from-home. The hotel is near several major corporate headquarters and embassies and is convenient for shopping malls. After a day exploring, relax and soak up the sun with a refreshing cocktail on the private beachfront at the exclusive Nation Riviera Beach Club, before enjoying dinner at Villa Toscana, where you can savor regional Italian delicacies from Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Yas Waterworld on Yas Island, where funseekers pour in from far and wide looking for thrills all day long at this state-of-the-art theme park. It’s an adventure of a lifetime, with 43 rides, slides and attractions – the Bandit Bomber rollercoaster alone is an awesome 550m long.

The sand dune and camel farm visit.

Take a trip out to the Al Khatim desert for a thrilling ride, then on to a camel farm to meet the ‘ships of the desert’. Learn more at stregis.com/ familytraditions

time out abu dhabi restaurant awards, best afternoon tea 2014

Nation Towers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates u T. (971) (2) 694 4444 u info.abudhabi@stregis.com 283 guest rooms and suites; 7 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; private beach; children’s club stregis.com/abudhabi 5

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Africa & the Middle East

The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi Visionary Destination, Seductive Address

Ask us about Playing a round at the championship Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, just a few minutes away. The beachfront course was designed by Gary Player.

Three saltwater lakes, dunes and the beach itself are challenges along the way of this par-72 course. Lessons can be arranged.

A visit to Yas Mall. Our staff can can arrange transportation to this glittering new shopping destination, Abu Dhabi’s biggest mall, just 10 minutes from the hotel.

The Private Abu Dhabi City Tour.

The perfect way to discover this vibrant metropolis, with the option to customize your trip. You may wish to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, linger at the fascinating Central Market or spend more time on amazing Yas Island.

The exterior of the hotel at night; the Majestic Suite

Saadiyat is an island of only ten square miles, but it packs a lot into that space. Just 15 minutes’ drive from the center of Abu Dhabi, it has a white sand beach, a designer golf course and, very soon, offshoots of both the Louvre and Guggenheim museums. It’s a chic retreat from the bustle of the city. The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort’s architecture and interior design are stunning, showcasing the bold design principles of the award-winning architecture firm Woods Bagot and Johannesburgbased Northpoint Architects. Each room has panoramic vistas of the Gulf or golf course and interiors that meld Spanish and Arabian elements with a contemporary edge. In addition to business facilities, the resort has an Iridium spa offering products from luxury skincare brand ESPA, four swimming pools, a dedicated children’s club and the state-ofthe-art St. Regis Athletic Club. Dolphins frolic in the blue waters, while nearby Saadiyat Beach is a nesting site for hawksbill turtles.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Ferrari Fun. Explore the world’s first and largest indoor theme park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. It has more than 20 unique rides and attractions including the world’s fastest rollercoaster, dedicated entertainment, themed stores and restaurants. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 8pm. Learn more at stregis.com/ familytraditions

55&5th, Best Steakhouse at the time out abu dhabi awards, 2014 Sontaya restaurant, Highly Commended in the SouthEast Asian category at the time out abu dhabi awards, 2014

Saadiyat Island, P.O. Box 54345, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates u T. (971) (2) 4988888 u saadiyat@stregis.com 377 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; beach; golf; children’s club stregis.com/saadiyatisland 6

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Africa & the Middle East

The St. Regis Doha The Finest Address in Qatar

Ask us about A private guided shopping trip to the Souq Waqif for Middle Eastern spices and souvenirs. This is the premier souq in the city and is within walking distance of the Corniche, Doha’s waterfront promenade.

Gondola rides at Katara Cultural Village. Explore the ocean from the relaxed comfort of a traditional, Venetian-style flat-bottomed boat, the only such attraction in the Middle East.

The Museum of Islamic Art, home to one of the world’s most complete collections of Islamic artifacts, is on a purpose-built island just off Doha’s Corniche. Our concierge would be delighted to organize a private tour with one of the curators of the museum.

The hotel’s postmodern Arabian exterior is both bold and welcoming; enjoy the cool ambience of the Sarab Lounge Terrace

Doha has transformed itself in an incredibly short time. Now the media and arts capital of its region, a major player in the aviation stakes and the host of the 2022 World Cup, it’s an ultra-cosmopolitan capital.

Victorian travellers needed to visit Florence, Paris and Vienna, but any 21st-century Grand Tour would definitely take in this city. The St. Regis Doha, with its postmodern Arabian architecture and panoramic views of the Persian Gulf from all rooms, is a fitting address for a stay. Five miles from the main diplomatic and financial districts and close to several of the big energy corporate headquarters, it makes business sense to base yourself here. The hotel’s Hakkasan Doha restaurant has won awards for its Cantonese fine dining. Thanks to the hotel’s Jazz at Lincoln Center venue, which has made Doha the jazz hub of the Middle East, you are in the right place for the best evening’s entertainment, too.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Private dhow cruising.

Along the Corniche you will find traditional fishing boats that offer guests dinner and music aboard. It’s a delightful way to see the sweep of the bay from the land, and the sea breezes as the sun goes down are especially refreshing after the heat of the day.

Desert safari. In the south of Qatar, this family trip is a thrilling ride into the dunes. Enjoy a picnic lunch, sand boarding, camel riding and desert quad biking. Learn more at stregis.com/ familytraditions

winner, QATAR’S LEADING HOTEL SUITE, PRESIDENTIAL SUITE, WORLD TRAVEL Awards, 2014 WINNER, QATAR’S LEADING RESORT, WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS 2014

Doha West Bay, Doha 14435, Qatar u T. (974) 44460000 u stregisdoha@stregis.com 336 guest rooms and suites; 10 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; tennis; private beach stregis.com/doha 7

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Africa & the Middle East

The St. Regis Mauritius Resort Island Sanctuary

Ask us about The Mauritius Photography Museum. If you like photography, you’ll love this museum’s rich collection of cameras, projectors and other apparatus dating back as far as 1840, located in an 18th-century whitewashed French colonial building in the center of Port Louis.

Blue Marlin fishing from the legendary Le Morne Angler’s Club in Black River. Some of the world’s best game fishing lies within a few miles of Mauritius’s coral barrier reef. Watch out for blue and black marlin, mako sharks, dorado, barracudas, swordfish, yellowfin tuna and others.

Aerial view of Le Morne peninsula; a St. Regis Grand Suite Bedroom, just steps away from the beach and lagoon

The Indian Ocean is famed for many things: blissful beaches, indigo seas, sublime diving and a vibrant culture that melds Asian and African traditions. Mauritius brings all these together, then adds a few more.

Sheltered from the open sea by the world’s third largest coral reef, the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” also harbors, inland, some of the planet’s most beautiful mountain scenery: lofty waterfalls, lush forests and wildlife that you won’t find anywhere else, such as the Mauritian flying fox. The St. Regis Mauritius Resort has a beachfront setting at Le Morne, a seductive peninsula at the south-western tip of the island, and will indulge you with fine food and wine, spa experiences, world-class kite surfing, activities and excursions to excite the senses. An epicenter of culture and history, the peninsula has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008, and is less than 60 minutes’ drive from the capital and 20 minutes’ drive from the famed Black River Gorges National Park.

Rhumerie de Chamarel Distillery.

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of this distillery, and taste the rum for which it is justly celebrated. Then partake in local delicacies over lunch at L’Alchimiste restaurant.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Casela Nature & Leisure Park. Home to monkeys, giant tortoises, zebras and lions – with visitors given the unique opportunity to actually walk with the lions. For the energetic, there are also quad bikes, Segways and zip lines. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Included in Condé Nast Traveler’s HOT list, 2013 FEATURED in Tatler’s 101 Best HotelS, 2013

Le Morne Peninsula, Le Morne, Mauritius u T. (230) 403 9000 u stregismauritius@stregis.com 172 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; children’s club stregis.com/mauritius 8

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Aspen Resort Majestic Spirit of the Rockies

Ask us about Blast & Cast with Aspen Outfitting Company. For any level of angler, experienced or novice, the resort’s private trout fly fishing lake and Gold Medal Water provides a sumptuous setting for a battle of wits with what lies beneath. Test your aim at the private clay target shooting range with certified professionals who can analyze technique and impart proper shooting etiquette.

Guided USA Pro Challenge cycling course. For the cycling enthusiast, come out and ride the same worldclass mountain terrain as the USA Pro Challenge race. Experience the adrenaline, inclines and breath-taking views the course has to offer.

The heated water of the hotel’s pool ensure it can be enjoyed year-round; the living room of the Presidential Suite

Aspen is a special place where people can lose themselves in nature, yet find great pleasure in the many sports on offer. Yoga, fly fishing, rock climbing, jeep tours, paragliding, ballooning, hiking… the menu of lifestyle options rivals the food and drink you’ll enjoy here. There is also the arts scene and of course great spa-based activities. The Rèmede Spa, recently renovated to feature warm, elegantly earthy tones, was voted Best Spa in the World, 2014 by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. One of our restaurants, Trecento Quindici Decano, has a vibrant blend of contemporary Italian and American cuisines for the whole family, including handmade pastas and pizzas. And there’s something about the raw, unspoilt setting that visitors find inspiring. Comprehensively redesigned by acclaimed architect Lauren Rottet, The St. Regis Aspen Resort is in downtown Aspen, within walking distance of Aspen’s shops, restaurants and entertainment, while the celebrated Chefs Club by FOOD & WINE adds America’s most innovative cuisine to your resort experience.

Hot-air ballooning. There’s no more breathtaking way to experience the splendor of the Rockies than from high up in a hot-air balloon. The views of majestic 14,000-foot peaks and glorious sweeping meadows will stay with you forever.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Backcountry sunset Jeep dinner. Great food – spare ribs, salmon, s’mores – starlit mountain skies and live music make this four hour excursion to Burlingame Cabin on Snowmass Mountain one for the whole family to savor. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

travel + leisure magazine, No. 1 spa in the world, 2014 Winner, Best Ski Resorts & Hotels category in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, 2013

315 East Dean Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611, United States u T. (970) 920 3300 u info@stregisaspen.com 179 guest rooms and suites; 3 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; golf; ski stregis.com/aspen 9

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Atlanta Refining Southern Tradition

Ask us about A helicopter flight to see the bas-relief at Stone Mountain. The largest carving in the world, sculpted into the face of this massive natural quartz dome, is magnificent. Stone Mountain is surrounded by a park with scenic trails and plenty of attractions for families. Hire a private guide to show you around the Antebellum Plantation, a collection of 18th- and 19th-century dwellings that bring history to life.

Saks Fifth Avenue. Travel in style via a chauffeured Mercedes-Benz to Atlanta’s premier shopping destination, Saks Fifth Avenue. Then enjoy a style consultation with a Saks Personal Stylist, and refine the look that best suits your personality.

The hotel entrance; the dining room of the Empire Suite

Atlanta is known for its breezy, Southern, uncomplicated approach to life, business, culture… and just about everything else. It’s a perfect city for getting things done and for enjoying some great boutique shopping, cuisine, art, jazz and sports: major league baseball, basketball and football teams are based here. The King Center, the CNN headquarters (which is open for tours), the Atlanta Ballet and Symphony Orchestra are all a short drive from The St. Regis Atlanta. Inside the hotel, you’ll find an “in-town resort,” including the 40,000 sq-ft Pool Piazza. New for 2015 is dinner-only restaurant Atlas, featuring a seasonally inspired American menu accented with European influences, created by consulting chef Gerry Klaskala and designed by architect Bill Johnson. And if the mood takes you, try the hotel’s first signature tequila, The St. Regis Atlanta Herradura Private Selection Tequila, handcrafted in Mexico’s legendary Casa Herradura distillery, served in The St. Regis Bar & Wine Room.

Private Swan House Capitol Tours.

The Swan House at the Atlanta History Center was used as a set for the movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. This experience offers exclusive behind-the-scenes access, and the chance to discover more about Atlanta’s burgeoning film industry.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Whale encounters. At Georgia Aquarium try the new Beluga & Friends Interactive Program, which offers a two-hour wetsuit encounter with its extraordinary beluga whales.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Best U.S. Business Travel Hotel in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, 2013 Voted IN THE Top 5 U.S. Hotels for Service in Travel + Leisure, 2013

Eighty-Eight West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30305, United States u T. (404) 563 7900 u stregisatlanta@stregis.com 151 guest rooms and suites; 4 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym stregis.com/atlanta 10

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico Caribbean Indulgence

Ask us about Hiking in El Yunque National Forest. A sub-tropical rainforest on the east of the island that boasts plenty of well-marked trails for an experience which is sure to thrill the more adventurous traveler with extraordinary sights and sounds.

Tucking into the flavorful local cuisine, known as cocina criolla: try traditional dishes such as arepas (corn patties), arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans, the delicious local staple), empanadillas (small patties with various fillings) and the favorite, mofongo (stuffed plantain).

The balcony of the Governor’s suite; two miles of pristine beach

Puerto Rico is where American and Latin American cultures meld and clash and get up to dance. A key center of the salsa music revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it is still the home of many star performers. The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico the first St. Regis property in the Caribbean, opened in 2010 on a former coconut plantation and is the only Five-Diamond resort on the island. The expansive 483-acre property boasts views of El Yunque National Forest (with trails galore through the forest) and the Atlantic Ocean, and its low-rise plantationstyle buildings have been designed with the natural surroundings in mind.

There’s a two-mile secluded beach, a bird sanctuary, a Remède spa and a golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Puerto Rico is a muchloved beach destination, but its tropical waters are also perfect for seakayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, windsurfing and fishing. The island is known for its distinctive cuisine, culture and Caribbean vibe.

Culinary U is an evening event designed for food lovers and wine connoisseurs. Enjoy culinary classes given by some of Puerto Rico’s top chefs and sommeliers, followed by live entertainment. The event will be held in August 2015 at the hotel. Please ask the concierge for details.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Organize a kayak tour to the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo or Vieques; where the water contains billions of single-celled organisms called bioluminescent dinoflagellates that emit light at night. Best viewed on an evening without any moonlight.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

One of Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Hotels, 2014 The only property in Puerto Rico with a 5 Diamond award, AAA, 2014

State Road 187 kilometer 4.2, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico 00745, United States u T. (787) 809 8000 u reservations.bahiabeach@stregis.com 139 guest rooms and suites; 3 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; tennis; beach; children’s club stregis.com/bahiabeach 11

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort Miami Beach’s Most Exclusive Enclave

Ask us about Old Miami: rent a vintage car (open-top, of course) and drive around the historic Art Deco district.

Or make a day of it and, afterwards, head out to the Keys.

Hiring a private guide to show you the coolest film locations. Miami has been a movie set for celluloid classics, such as Goldfinger, Scarface and There’s Something about Mary. It’s a hugely entertaining trip to discover the real places in front of Hollywood’s lens.

Tours of Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Discover the city’s exciting new cultural attraction, a home for international art of the 20th and 21st centuries, with one of PAMM’s experts. With its focus on works that reflect Miami’s diverse roots, it’s a great way to get an instant handle on its dynamic identity.

The resort’s oceanside pool; the bedroom of the Imperial Suite

Miami is a city that never loses its buzz. Art Basel, South Beach’s effervescent social whirl, the global chic of sophisticated urbanites, the rediscovery of Art Deco: all these have kept the world’s attention on one of the cities that will define America’s future. Exclusive Bal Harbour, on Miami Beach, has a rich history as a hotspot attracting jazz musicians, including those Rat Pack legends. It’s now one of South Florida’s premier retail arenas, with more than 100 boutiques and dozens of superb bistros and cafés. With the Atlantic right on its doorstep, The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort has become one of the key sites of Miami’s buzzing social scene. The hotel’s comprehensive Wellness Program offers more than 25 different fitness classes and optimally balanced menus. In addition, its poolside and beachfront dining venue, Fresco, offers enchanting dining experiences based on chef Scott Dolbee’s insistence on the freshest seasonal ingredients.

The Bal Harbour Art Access Program. Complimentary access to the top private art collections in Miami, including the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation and the De La Cruz Collection.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: On the Jungle Island VIP Safari Tour you come very close to some of the world’s most exotic animals: red ruffed lemur, a tame cassowary and red kangaroo from Australia. It’s a day to remember. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

AWARDED AAA FIVE DIAMOND, 2014 AWARDED 5 STAR AWARD BY FORBES, 2014

9703 Collins Avenue, Bal Harbour, Miami Beach, Florida 33154, United States u T. (305) 993 3300 u info.balharbour@stregis.com 227 guest rooms and suites; 4 restaurants and bars; spa; gym; children’s club stregis.com/balharbour 12

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Deer Valley Slope-side Sophistication

Ask us about World-class fly fishing. Deer Valley is blessed with many prized Blue Ribbon fly fishing rivers and streams, including the exclusive Thousand Peaks Ranch, only minutes from the hotel. Chefs at the J&G Grill will gladly prepare your catch for dinner.

High West Distillery. Enjoy a tour of the first legal distillery to open in Utah since the end of Prohibition.

Go behind the scenes and learn about Rocky Mountain whiskies and other mountain-crafted spirits.

The Alf Engen Ski Museum, named after the ski-jumping legend, and the 2002 Eccles Olympic Winter Games Museum are both fascinating places to visit all year round.

The pool at The St. Regis Deer Valley; a guest bedroom with a spectacular view

Catch a cool arthouse movie or a largemouth bass, relax with a hot-air balloon flight over the peaks or feel the exhilaration of a high-alpine trek.

The St. Regis Deer Valley is surrounded by the majestic Wasatch Mountains, an all-season playground: walking and mountain biking trails, golf courses, art galleries, shops and restaurants. The two buildings of The St. Regis Deer Valley are connected by a funicular rail line, the only one of its kind in the US, which makes for easy access from the base of the mountain to the resort. Once settled in, try our Remède Spa, where a reflecting pool flows from outside the resort into the spa’s first floor lobby and a grand spiral staircase leads to 11 peaceful treatment rooms. Two private spa suites situated on the first level open to spacious heated patios offering couples an opportunity to experience treatments in the comfort of one another or linger after indoor treatments.

Saddling up for a horseback ride into the Wasatch Mountains to take in some of America’s most ruggedly beautiful scenery, including memorable views of Hunter Creek and the Continental Divide.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Bobsledding at Utah Olympic Park. During the summer season, the sleds are modified for the track’s concrete surface. Reach speeds of up to 70mph with a professional bobsled pilot. All you have to do is enjoy the ride, or shut your eyes. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

gold list 2014, Condé Nast Traveler best ski resorts and ski hotels in the us 2014, condé nast traveler

2300 Deer Valley Drive East, Park City, Utah 84060, United States u T. (435) 940 5700 u deervalley.reservations@stregis.com 181 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; ski stregis.com/deervalley 13

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Houston Explore Houston’s Best Address

Ask us about Saddling up and playing a chukka or two at Houston Polo Club after a private lesson. If that’s too energetic, Sundays are when the pros play, and you can sit on the sidelines sipping bubbly and admire the fast polo ponies.

A tour of Bayou Bend, the Museum of Fine Arts’ house museum of decorative arts and paintings. Set amid 14 acres of gardens, the former home of philanthropist Ima Hogg showcases superb American furnishings, silverware and ceramics.

Playing the role of oil baron at the Oil Ranch, a 50-acre theme park just outside the city, where there is paintball, pony rides, miniature golf, fishing and even gemstone mining.

The destination swimming pool; the master bedroom of the Presidential Suite

Energy and power, Texan pride and individuality, open space and outer space, Houston is the big-muscled business capital of the Lone Star State. If the city has a reputation for getting things done and no messing around, The St. Regis Houston, in the tranquil, residential neighborhood of Post Oak Park and River Oaks, is the perfect complement. It is gracious, opulent and discreet. It’s also conveniently located only half a mile from the Galleria retail area and six miles from Houston’s central business district. Celebrated design firm ForrestPerkins have created a warm and welcoming Tea Lounge with a library so guests can punctuate their outings with morning coffee, afternoon tea or pre-dinner cocktails.

The spectacular outdoor pool and sundeck, located on the mezzanine level and adjacent to the spa and fitness room, draw guests back time after time. It is open from 5am until 11pm daily, for guests who love to work hard and play hard as well.

Houston Culinary Tours are led by the city’s top chefs, keen to introduce guests to Houston’s neighborhood restaurants. Including tastings, complimentary drinks and gift bags, they’re a great way of seeing the city.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: George Ranch Historical Park is the essence of Texas, a living-history museum tracing the Texas story, with exhibits including a prairie home, a mansion and a ranch complex with cattle demonstrations. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Awarded AAA Five Diamond, 2013 Gold Medal winner voted by Global Business Travel Association, 2013

1919 Briar Oaks Lane, Houston, Texas 77027-3408, United States u T. (713) 840 7600 u res247.stregishouston@stregis.com 232 guest rooms and suites; 2 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; exercise room stregis.com/houston 14

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Mexico City Grace and Distinction Uncompromised

Ask us about Our Cultural Curator Service. A private guided tour for guests to discover selected and emerging fashion designers and fashion houses.

Ballooning to ancient Teotihuacan.

This complex of temples and pyramids lies 30 miles north of Mexico City and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built between the first and seventh centuries, it was first excavated in the 19th century.

A particularly magical way to view this extraordinary site is by a guided hot-air balloon adventure from Mexico City.

The sleek hotel dominates the Mexico City skyline; one of the suites’ living rooms

The St. Regis Mexico City is the main resident of the Torre Libertad, an architectural masterpiece built by César Pelli. It sits on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma, a grand thoroughfare modeled on the Old World’s iconic boulevards, and a bridge between the city center and the Imperial Palace in the Chapultepec Forest. In the heart of the metropolis, you can, from the helipad, take in views of the most mind-boggling urban sprawl.

Down on la Reforma, you’re a taxi ride away from Polanco and Condesa, the smart, leafy ’burbs, and from the Aztec temples, art galleries and cool bars and clubs of the resurgent downtown. Sylvain Desboiss at Restaurant Diana and Maycoll Calderón at the J&G Grill, two signature restaurants within the hotel, are among the very best chefs at work in this city. Plus, our signature Cultural Curator service offers curated experiences and exclusive access to the city’s most intriguing cultural destinations, which can also be tailored to families.

The Frida Kahlo Museum. Visit the art collection in “the Blue House,” the former home of the Mexican artist and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. As well as works by the couple themselves, it contains Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items and more.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: The El Papalote Museum is a children’s museum with exhibitions of science, technology and art. Young visitors will enjoy the 228 interactive exhibits, while grown-ups will love the Mayanthemed garden next door. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Included among the Top 10 hotels in Mexico in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, 2014 US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, BEST HOTEL IN MEXICO, 2014

Paseo de la Reforma 439, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City, Federal District 06500, Mexico u T. (52)(55) 5228 1818 u mexico.city@stregis.com 189 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; tennis; children’s club stregis.com/mexicocity 15

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Monarch Beach A Spectacular Setting

Ask us about Golf Lessons. Perfect your putting skills, tweak your swing or master the art of the chip shot with instruction for couples, children or the whole family.

The Mission at San Capistrano.

Visit this lovingly restored Alta California mission, founded by Spanish Franciscan monks in the 1770s. There are picturesque ruins of the Great Stone Church, which was destroyed in the 1812 earthquake, as well as a fascinating little museum.

Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

Enjoy the unique blend of luxury designer and speciality boutiques with a personal shopper before relaxing in one of the many fine and al fresco dining options.

The main pool at dusk; a signature pool view guestroom

With its high bluffs, sheltered coves and long, inviting beaches, Monarch Beach at Dana Point, only a short drive from Los Angeles and San Diego, is one of the romantic addresses on the California coastline. A legendary surf spot, it is also recognized as one of the lifestyle hubs of southern California.

Monarch Beach gets its name from a bay backing on to hills clad in sagebrush and manzanita, where the Monarch butterfly was found. The St. Regis Monarch Beach at Dana Point is a 172-acre estate with elegant signature rooms and suites as well as an award-winning spa. The 18-hole championship-caliber oceanfront golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., while the hotel’s private beach has memorable views. With everything from vintage car gatherings to whale watching and even a tallships festival in September, this is so much more than the ultimate Californian beach destination.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Dana Point Harbor cruise.

Take in the extraordinary sight of dolphins and whales in herds up to 5,000 strong, in a boat with a glass viewing pod, allowing you and your family to see this, one of nature’s great sights, up close, personal and in comfort.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

AwardeD FORBES travel guide five-star award, 2014 Awarded AAA Five Diamond, 2014

One Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point, California 92629, United States u T. (949) 234 3200 u reservations@stregis.com 400 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; tennis; golf; children’s club stregis.com/monarchbeach 16

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis New York The Address Is The Experience

Ask us about Private art tours. Explore New York’s finest galleries – MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and discover the history of some of the world’s most highly prized treasures.

VIP shopping at Dior and Tiffany & Co. The Parisian fashion house of Dior has been a favorite with well-heeled New Yorkers ever since the New Look, while Tiffany & Co.’s iconic status in the city was confirmed by the store’s starring role in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Both brands are justly renowned for their personal service.

The Fischbach Food Tour is a way to discover New York City’s great food culture. With five different itineraries to choose from, you will discover renowned restaurants and delis across NY’s five boroughs.

The hotel’s lobby; the living room of the Royal Suite

New York City is a collection of exceptional experiences, from the natural beauty of Central Park to the bustle of Broadway, from contemporary art at MoMA to the cobblestone streets of the Meatpacking District. In the heart of it all is The St. Regis New York, the ultimate Manhattan hotel, which completed a stunning renovation in September 2013 – and which more recently has seen the opening of The St. Regis Athletic Club on the 19th floor, plus newly redesigned meeting spaces on the second floor and lower lobby – infusing contemporary style with great heritage. Since opening its doors in 1904, the hotel founded by John Jacob Astor IV has been synonymous with bespoke service, innovation and luxury. The St. Regis New York celebrates a rich history that includes famous residents (Salvador Dalí, Marlene Dietrich) and the invention of the “Red Snapper” – more commonly known as the Bloody Mary – by legendary barman Fernand Petiot in 1934. The classic cocktail can still be enjoyed today in front of the same Maxfield Parrish mural at the hotel’s King Cole Bar.

VIP tours of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Visit an artisanal pie shop, an ultra-hip coffee house, eclectic boutiques and historic sites along the way.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Central Park Escape.

Discover the largest park in Manhattan with our family fun expert guides. They will show you the best of the park’s culture, public art and gardens before you relax and enjoy a picnic lunch prepared by the hotel’s chef. Learn more at stregis.com/ familytraditions

Included in Condé NasT Traveler’s Gold list, 2014 Included in Travel + Leisure’s 500 World’s Best Hotels, 2013

2 East 55th Street at Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10022, United States u T. (212) 753 4500 u stregisny.res@stregis.com 238 guest rooms and suites; 1 restaurant and bar; gym stregis.com/newyork 17

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Princeville Resort The Address for Life’s Celebrations

Ask us about A round on the 18-hole championship Makai golf course, designed by the renowned Robert Trent Jones Jr. in 1971, who returned some 30 years after its construction to make revisions, adding length to some holes and reshaping bunkers.

Just try not to be distracted by the mountain and ocean views!

Na Aina Kai. The “Lands by the Sea” are an ever-expanding botanical paradise spanning 240 acres. Its natural wonders combine with man-made artistic endeavors in the shape of a superb sculpture park.

Tropical Taste at family owned Moloa’a Sunrise Juice Bar. Try the delicious, freshly-prepared juices with fun names such as Passion Fruit Hoot, and discover the fabulous flavors of local Kauai farm produce.

The stylish dining area of the Royal Suite; the view over the magical Hanalei Bay

The first thing you’ll notice on arrival on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is the remarkable collage of natural beauty wherever you look. Lush tropical foliage is set against a deep blue ocean with a backdrop of majestic mountain peaks. The St. Regis Princeville Resort, which was given a multi-million-dollar renovation by the hotel design firm WATG and local Hawaiian architecture firm Group 70, pays homage to this beautiful setting. The clean, modern exterior is unfussy yet sophisticated, and the lobby is dominated by a cascading chandelier of more than 4,000 pieces of Murano glass, representing the waterfall on Na Molokama mountain. Among the many relaxing treatments on offer at the Halele’a Spa, which utilizes the healing properties of indigenous plants, why not try a Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage to nurture the body and experience perfect relaxation? Four restaurants serve locally farmed and produced ingredients, and the hotel’s infinity pool overlooks the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

Niihau is a privately owned island just off the southwest coast and a great place to snorkel via a catamaran sea tour. The marine life in these waters includes manta rays and sea turtles.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Hanalei stargazing. The ancient Polynesians used the stars to navigate across the Pacific to discover Hawaii. Discover the links between traditional culture and astronomy in the company of a local guide. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Featured in Condé Nast Traveler’s Gold list, 2014 One of Travel + Leisure’s 500 World’s Best Hotels, 2014

5520 Ka Haku Road, Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii 96722, United States u T. (808) 826 9644 u travelspecialist@stregis.com 251 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; tennis; golf; children’s club stregis.com/princeville 18

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort Paradise Revealed

Ask us about A lesson with a pro at one of the hotel’s two breathtakingly beautiful, 18-hole, par-72 Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses, Pacifico and Bahia, a challenge to golfers of every level.

Rest and relaxation the Remède way: the 10,000 sq ft Remède Spa features views of the landscapes of Punta Mita from every angle, making it the perfect setting for pampering both body and spirit.

Sayulita. Explore this bohemian enclave just 20 minutes from the resort, filled with art galleries and restaurants, and perhaps take a surfing lesson or go horseback riding.

The living room of the Presidential Suite; beach life with a touch of luxury

On the same latitude as Hawaii, and blessed with year-round balmy sun and ocean breezes, Punta Mita on Mexico’s Pacific Coast is where Mexico City’s high society comes for its beach-side retreats. The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort is in the Riviera Nayarit, a 1,500-acre resort and residential community, looking out on to a flawless white sand beach and surrounded by luxuriant tropical flora. There are three infinity pools on the beachfront, and the pool butlers can arrange snorkeling tours as well as excursions in the region, while La Tortuga Children’s Club provides an exciting schedule of creative and energetic activities for children aged between 5 and 12. There are two Jack Nicklaus golf courses, three full-service restaurants, villa residences, a Beach Club and the luxe Remède Spa on site, but this is no gated island experience: nearby seaside villages are kept vibrant by fishing and agriculture and by the indigenous Huichol, who maintain their artisanal traditions.

Spearfishing. Learn the techniques to hunt successfully the tastiest fish in the area under the guidance of a professional spear fisherman.

Diving in the waters off the Marietas Islands. The ecosystem of this sanctuary for marine and bird life offers a good chance of seeing manta rays, dolphins and humpback whales.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Surf ’s Up surfing lessons are available for all ages and abilities.

Alternatively, why not try stand-up paddle boarding. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Awarded AAA Five Diamond, 2014 BEST BEACH HOTEL, Travel + Leisure Mexico, 2014

Lote H-4, Carretera Federal 200, KM 19.5, Punta Mita, Nayarit 63734, Mexico u T. (52)(329) 291 5800 u puntamita.butler@stregis.com 120 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; 3 pools; beach; spa; golf; diving; tennis; gym; children’s club stregis.com/puntamita 19

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis San Francisco An Icon of Elegance and Artistry

Ask us about The San Francisco Giants Package is a treat for baseball fans with accommodation in a Metropolitan Suite, two St. Regis baseball hats, a St. Regis stadium blanket and two premium tickets to a game.

Enjoy wine tasting and lunch at Darioush, Napa. Set within 95 acres, the estate is known for its Bordeauxstyle wines and has received many awards from Decanter and Wine Spectator.

If time is limited, please let our concierge know as they can always arrange a helicopter transfer.

Summer Season at the San Francisco Opera. Enjoy productions of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Berlioz’s The Trojans at the War Memorial Opera House, one of the West Coast’s great cultural destinations.

The magnificent mural in the lobby lounge; a view across the city from the Astor Suite

The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, cable cars, beaches, beautiful city vistas, the Beats, the breezes… it’s little wonder San Francisco tops many people’s lists of must-see cities. The St. Regis San Francisco is on the corner of Third and Mission, a short walk from the financial district, but when you have downtime, the city is a great playground for cultural days and nights on the town. On your doorstep you’ll find the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the African Diaspora, worldclass shopping in Union Square, and the Yerba Buena Gardens. Take a trip out of town to enjoy Napa Valley, the coastal towns of Carmel and Monterey, or the redwood trees in Muir Woods. Relax in the Remède Spa, where the innovative St. Regis Stillness Ritual treatment, a calming aromatherapy bath, followed by a nurturing Swedish massage combined with gentle yet powerful cranio-sacral techniques that focus on your head, neck and spinal areas. Or simply unwind and enjoy this extraordinary property, with its spa, infinity pool and Michelin-starred Ame restaurant.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: A day in the park. This offers children the chance to mold clay figures and create their own video of a favorite San Francisco activity.

Allow us to prepare a delicious picnic lunch. Later, return to the hotel for a private grape juice blending activity where your child can bottle their own personal juice blend. Ingredients, equipment, and souvenir juice containers are provided. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Ame Restaurant awarded one Michelin Star, 2015 included in Condé Nast Traveler gold list, 2014

125 3rd Street, San Francisco, California 94103, United States u T. (415) 284 4000 u sanfrancisco@stregis.com 260 guest rooms and suites; 2 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym stregis.com/sanfrancisco 20

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: The Americas

The St. Regis Washington, D.C. Where Glamour Meets Tradition

Ask us about The Mythology Modern Chop House/Lore Lounge is the “hot” new opening in the Atlas district for 2015. Todd Luongo is aiming to create a sophisticated and sexy vibe, offering modern American cuisine with a quality wine program and rotating craft beers.

The Mingering Mike Collection at the Smithsonian. View the artwork of this self-taught artist from D.C., whose identity was a secret for decades. His work represents the boom times of black radio and his youthful fantasy of being a soul singer.

The hotel exterior at night on K Street; one of the elegant suites

In the city of powerful addresses, the grand, gracious St. Regis Washington, D.C., two blocks north of the White House, remains the powerbrokers’ hotel of choice. It was opened by President Coolidge in 1926; Ronald Reagan used to drop in to see his barber, Milton Pitts; and Jacqueline Onassis, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor were loyal guests. Over the years, redesigns by Henry Wardman and Sills Huniford have enhanced the legendary status of this, one of America’s most iconic hotels. Business and politics are right on the doorstep, but the hotel is also close to the cultural heart of D.C., a short stroll from the splendors of the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center. Eat at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Decanter, which serves the freshest seasonal ingredients by executive chef Sebastien Rondier, influenced by the cuisines of France, Spain, Turkey and Italy, and served in a landmark restaurant designed by architect David Rockwell.

Monuments by moonlight. Explore the city’s major monuments when they are gloriously illuminated at night. Historic sites to visit include the memorials of World War II, the Vietnam War, Abraham Lincoln, the Korean War, FDR and Martin Luther King Jr. Family Traditions at St. Regis program: A D.C. scavenger hunt with 11 mind-bending riddles and a special bonus challenge, this scavenger hunt will surely test the skills of intrepid young guests. The concierge team has prepared an official St. Regis scroll, replete with rhymes, clues and riddles. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

One of Travel + Leisure’s 500 World’s Best Hotels, 2013 best hotels in washington, d.c. in Condé Nast Traveler readers’ awards, 2014

923 16th and K Streets, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia, 20006 United States u T (202) 638 2626 00193 u reservations@stregis.com 182 guest rooms and suites; 2 restaurants and bars; gym stregis.com/washingtondc 21

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Bali Resort Beachfront Elegance

Ask us about White water rafting. A two-hour journey with a professional guide takes you through the best river runs with dramatic drops and spectacular waterfalls, against a backdrop of unspoiled rainforest, towering gorges and magnificent rice paddy terraces.

A ‘Rijsttafel’ at Dulang Restaurant.

Deriving its name from a Dutch word meaning ‘rice table’, the traditional Indonesian Rijsttafel features a wide array of traditional home-cooked dishes from all around the archipelago with varying flavors, colors, texture and degrees of spiciness.

The private sandy beach at the southernmost tip of Bali; the exterior of Strand Villa

Bali is the best known of several thousand Indonesian islands and has been inhabited since 2000 BC. Its natural wonders are the main draw: beautiful beaches, colorful coral reefs, a central mountain range and dense tropical rainforest harboring many species of flora and fauna, including orchids, butterflies, ferns, birds and monkeys. The St. Regis Bali Resort is in Nusa Dua, on the southernmost tip of the island overlooking the Indian Ocean, with a private sandy beach, a saltwater swimmable lagoon and the sublime Remède Spa with its hydrotherapy pool. It’s the perfect base for a Bali break. In its own tropical park, the Children’s Learning Center has intelligent, fun-filled activities for the youngest connoisseurs. From your journey around the island, take back souvenirs of local crafts, such as woodcarving, weaving, and colorful batik textiles, which make wonderful gifts. In the evening, dine in style at Kayuputi or enjoy the traditional live gamelan music along with Indonesian specialities at Dulang.

‘Bali Agung’ at Bali Theater. This spectacular show tells the story of the marriage between a Balinese king and a Chinese princess, performed by 180 of Bali’s most talented dancers and performers and dozens of live animals in a 1,200-capacity modern theater located within the Bali Safari & Marine Park.

Jatiluwih rice terraces. More than 2,000 feet above sea level on the slopes of Mount Batukaru lie the spectacular Jatiluwih terraces of rice paddies. On an island renowned for its surfing and beaches, Jatiluwih is a beautiful contrast with its soothing mountains, stretching in endless contours over hills and valleys, green as far as the eye can see.

gold list 2014, condé nast traveler Best Hotel (Indonesia), Best Resort Hotel (Indonesia), International Hotel Awards

Kawasan Pariwisata, Lot S6, PO Box 44, Nusa Dua, Bali 80363, Indonesia u T. (62) (361) 8478 111 u stregis.bali@stregis.com 123 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; children’s club stregis.com/bali 22

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Bangkok Vibrant Location, Discreet Hospitality

Ask us about The hotel, together with the Blue Elephant Cooking School, offers private cookery classes tailored to any skill level, from complete beginner to professional. They take place in an atmosphere of warm encouragement to inspire you to get creative in your own kitchen.

Learning Thai massage. Wat Po is an important center of Thai arts, where in-depth massage courses are offered to a professional standard.

Vimanmek Mansion. The world’s largest golden teakwood structure was once the palace of the Royal Family.

Today it is a museum, filled with precious artifacts that offer a rare insight into its former owners’ lives.

The St. Regis Bangkok overlooks the Royal Bangkok Sports Club; the living room in the John Jacob Astor Suite

Tuk-tuks, trucks, riverboats, bicycles, boats and buses... the Thai capital is a whirling mass of energy that will surprise returning visitors as much as first-timers. But Bangkok is a warm and friendly place, thanks to its people, and you can always follow up that sweltering morning’s outing, business meeting or hike around the spectacular 18th-century Grand Palace with a slow meal of the most fragrant cuisine on earth. The soothing décor of The St. Regis Bangkok immerses guests in luxury from the moment they arrive. It might be in the fast-beating heart of central Bangkok, but it is also just moments from the peaceful Lumpini Park, with its lawns, trees and boating lake. What could be better than starting your evening with cocktails in the Sky Lounge, watching the sun set on another eventful day?

Guided tours of Ratchaprasong.

Discover the many hidden shrines tucked away in the heart of Bangkok’s most colorful shopping district.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Caring for elephants is an inspiring experience at Elephant World, a rehabilitation facility in the Kanchanaburi province, 110 miles from Bangkok. During your visit, learn how to feed and bathe elephants.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Named second Hotel in Thailand in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, 2014 One of Smart Travel Asia’s Top 25 Business Hotels in Asia, 2014

159 Rajadamri Road Bangkok, 10330 Thailand u T. (66) (2) 207 7777 u stregis.bangkok@stregis.com 227 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym stregis.com/bangkok 23

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Beijing Beijing’s Most Prestigious Address

Ask us about The art districts. The neighborhoods of 798 (Dashanzi) and Caochangdi, both in the Chaoyang area of the city, are not only fascinating for their contemporary art shows but also have a laid-back village feel, with lots of coffee shops and cozy bars.

Entertainment at Laoshe Tea House.

Enjoy a diverse performance of everything from acrobatics to puppetry, kung fu, hand imagery and even a little opera. A great way to experience the lighter side of Beijing’s cultural heritage.

The porte-cochère at night, just a short walk from the Silk Market; a Diplomat Deluxe Room

Beijing is the capital of a great power once more, and The St. Regis Beijing is ideally positioned close to the diplomatic quarter, business district and the Forbidden City, as well as being surrounded by some of the city’s finest restaurants and bars. The signature St. Regis Butler Service, private-dining suites and mansion ambience reflect the values of old China, preparing you for your next foray into local business or culture and the dizzying experience of Chinese cuisine, including the highly-esteemed Celestial Court restaurant, serving authentic southern Chinese cuisine in a traditional setting. Or try the new Salami Room in Dianeli’s restaurant, and enjoy Beijing’s largest selection of Italian wine.

Afterwards, take time to unwind in the hotel’s Iridium Spa, one of Beijing’s most luxurious, and one that has its own natural hot spring water for soaking in. On the spa menu you will find as many as 40 Western and Chinese therapies, a comprehensive list that is sure to soothe the spirits and rejuvenate the senses.

A morning on the lawns of the Temple of Heaven among today’s tai chi students, opera singers and musicians. They gather here at the base of a cluster of 15th-century buildings to practice their arts in the open air. An ancient pine forest still surrounds this architectural masterpiece.

Family Traditions at St. Regis progam: Try the great new food and beverage turndown amenities for children up to the age of 17. Four different menus have been created, for four different age groups. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

gold list 2014, condé nast traveler China’s Leading City Hotel , World Travel Awards 2014

21 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Beijing 100020, China u T. (86) (10) 6460 6688 u stregis.beijing@stregis.com 258 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym stregis.com/beijing 24

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort Paradise Perfected

Ask us about Snorkeling in the hotel’s private lagoon. The crystal-clear waters surrounding Bora Bora are home to a rich variety of marine life including beautiful coral, manta rays, white-tip reef sharks, turtles and dolphins.

Discover the secrets of Tahitian cultured pearls. This is an unmissable chance to gain a fascinating insight into the world of pearl cultivation and to try pearl diving for yourself in one of the world’s most beautiful lagoons.

If you are lucky enough to find one of these fabulous creations, it is yours to keep.

One of the over water villas facing Mt Otemanu; a Master Bedroom overlooking the ocean

Bora Bora, discovered by Captain Cook in 1769, is a 16-square-mile tropical island surrounded by coral reef and lagoons. This muchmythologized South Pacific island is some 5,000 miles west of Lima and almost 4,000 miles northeast of Sydney, its remoteness matched by its year-round warm climate and outstanding beauty. A step away from the picture-perfect beaches are rugged volcanic mountains covered with lush tropical vegetation. At the secluded 44-acre St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, all rooms have private dining areas, daybeds and state-of-the-art entertainment systems, and are elegantly decorated with Polynesian arts and crafts. Rooms either have direct access to the beach or are thatched villas built over water; views are of the extinct volcanoes, the lagoon or the reef. For the utmost privacy, the three-bedroom Royal Estate has four bathrooms, its own beach, a pool and a spa with sauna and hamam. If you are in search of perfect pampering, go to the resort’s Miri Miri Spa

by Clarins, a place of deep relaxation on its own private island.

Skimming across the waves out to a private island retreat for a picnic.

Your motorboat skipper will whisk you away to a deserted motu, a coral-andsand speck in the ocean. Here you experience a true Robinson Crusoe hideaway, but one where you never have to forgo fine food and wine.

Taking a history-themed 4x4 safari of the island. During the Second World War, Bora Bora was home to 7,000 U.S. troops, who used the island as a supply base. The surviving cannons make an eerie contrast to the tropical landscape.

Voted first hotel spa and fourth resort in the South Pacific in Travel + Leisure, 2013 winner, Top 25 hotels in the South Pacific, TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice, 2013

MotOme’e BP 506, Bora Bora 98730, French Polynesia u T. (689) 607898 u reservations@stregisborabora.com 100 guest rooms and suites; 4 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; tennis; children’s club stregis.com/borabora 25

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Chengdu A Modern Legacy of Storied Luxury

Ask us about Visit the Leshan Buddha. The world’s largest Buddha sculpture calmly overlooks the Min River opposite Leshan town, about two hours by road south of Chengdu.

It’s a humbling experience standing next to this 233-foot colossus, carved into red sandstone cliffs during the ninth century.

Dialogue in the Dark is a museum unlike any other. Led by a blind or partially-sighted guide, visitors equipped with canes explore pitch-dark galleries representing everyday areas of Chengdu such as a busy street or a food market.

A private tour can be arranged.

The Grand Staircase and Drawing Room; a Grand Deluxe Room

The capital city of Sichuan province is flourishing as a business hub, in part because of the excellent links to the rest of the province. But this is nothing new for Chengdu. It was one of the first places in the world to issue paper currency and the starting point for part of the Southern Silk Route, from where merchants would take the region’s renowned wares to the wider world. Yet for all its importance, this ancient metropolis, founded in 316 BC, retains a remarkably relaxed atmosphere. You’ll find delicious Sichuan food being served at the hotel’s signature restaurant Yan Ting, numerous of tea houses and, for downtime, parks and temples to explore. Thanks to its location, The St. Regis Chengdu, the newest St. Regis hotel, is perfectly placed for business meetings, yet within easy reach of prestige boutiques and cultural highlights, including temples, museums and parks. Later, enjoy our signature Chuan Mary cocktail at the Vantage XXVII outdoor sky bar on the 27th floor, opening in April 2015, boasting skyline views and a statement bronze bar.

The Shui Jing Fang distillery.

A private tour can be arranged in which guests meet the master distillers and unlock the secrets of Chinese spirit Baijiu.

Learn Sichuan mahjong, a southern Chinese variant that strips the rules down to a minimum and is therefore an excellent introduction.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: The Chengdu Panda Base, six miles north of Chengdu, is a spacious park with lakes, lawns and bamboo forest that’s home to 120 giant pandas and other endangered animals.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

best new business hotel 2014 in china, city traveler magazine best new hotel in china 2014, travel info magazine

99 Tidu Street, Qingyang District, Chengdu 610016, Sichuan, China u T. (86) (266) 287 6666 u stregis.chengdu@stregis.com 279 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; athletic club; indoor & outdoor pools stregis.com/chengdu 26

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Lhasa Resort Pinnacle Address

Ask us about The Potala Palace. One of the most famous architectural works in the world and a symbol of the Tibetan people, just 15 minutes from the resort. See it after hours, in an atmosphere of peace and sanctity.

Tibetan painting. Wall painting originated in Tibet in ancient times, and many of the glorious examples found in Lhasa’s temples are hundreds of years old. Depicting weddings and religious and sporting events, they offer a precious insight into Tibet’s history.

Visiting the celestial lake on the Tibetan Plateau. There are hundreds of high-altitude lakes; among the most popular with visitors is Yandro Yumtso Lake, 80 miles from Lhasa.

The magnificent Potala Palace overlooking Lhasa; the Khailash Suite’s living room

Set 12,000 ft above sea level, Lhasa is surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, with air as clean as you’ll find anywhere in the world. This extreme location will most likely take your breath away in more ways than one – you may need time to adjust to the altitude. For centuries, Lhasa has been the spiritual and political home of Buddhism, and the city is booming as tourists and pilgrims alike search for enlightenment and peace in the Place of the Gods, the name given to the city by the ancients. The St. Regis Lhasa Resort is a luxury five-star property in the city’s bustling old quarter where the Jokhang Temple, frequented by Buddhist pilgrims, is found. The resort’s spectacular Iridium spa offers specialist Tibetan treatments, or you might find healthy inspiration at the hotel’s cooking school. A must for lovers of good food, the Si Zi Kang Restaurant is one of the first gastronomic Tibetan restaurants in the world and through cooking and décor, will bring you closer to this fascinating culture.

Touring the Jokhang Temple (Balang North Street, Chengguan). This seventh-century temple is Tibet’s holiest site. Go in the morning when Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims arrive, and stay until the afternoon, when the interior is opened to non-Buddhists.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Seeing Namtso Lake, the largest in Tibet and one of the highest-altitude saltwater lakes in the world. Yaks and horseback riding are available for families in this threehour excursion. Learn more at stregis.com/ familytraditions

CHINA’S TOP 100 HOTELs OF 2014, TRAVEL + LEISURE TripAdvisor CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

No. 22, Jiangsu Road, Lhasa, Tibet (Xizang) 850000 China u T. (86) (891) 680 8888 u reservation.lhasa@stregis.com 162 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; yoga; pilates; cookery school stregis.com/lhasa 27

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Mumbai Ask us about The Elephanta Caves. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, this ancient shrine hewn from solid basalt on an island in Mumbai harbor is easily accessible by boat tour from the iconic Gate of India.

The sculptures of Hindu gods date back to at least the eighth century and still bear traces of their original decorative paintwork.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Only 90 minutes from bustling Mumbai lie 40 square miles of protected tropical forest, home to everything from spotted deer to mynah birds, not to mention 150 different species of butterfly.

You might even glimpse a wild leopard amid the dense foliage.

The luxurious poolside cabanas overlooking the city; the stunning interior of a Deluxe Room

India’s largest city, Mumbai is a spectacular metropolis full of architectural treasures that bear witness to its periods under Portuguese and British rule. The St. Regis Mumbai is a luxury oasis in the heart of the city, the striking interiors of the grand lobby warmly welcoming guests with their old-world charm accentuated by Rajasthani Tikri artwork. As the tallest luxury hotel in India, it would be close to impossible to find more panoramic vistas elsewhere. The city’s highest nightclub and lounge are also housed on the penthouse floors of the hotel to ensure an unforgettable experience. The hotel is ideally located for leisure and business travelers owing to its prox­imity to the city’s entertainment districts and commercial properties. After a long day of meetings, head to the dedicated Wellness Floor for a massage at The Spa, known for its award-winning therapists and signature treatments, or relax in the infinity pool overlooking the city.

Shopping at the World Trade Centre.

Avoid the crowded street markets with a trip to the Trade Centre’s arcade, just 30 minutes away, full of government-approved stores selling exquisite carpets, jewelry and tea.

Several of India’s states have set up their emporia here to showcase local handicrafts.

Watch a game of cricket. Indians are passionate about cricket, and every street in Mumbai can become a makeshift pitch. This triangular sports ground near the gigantic Gothic central rail terminus is a great place to watch the city at play.

462 Senapti Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013, India u T. (91) (22) 6162 8000 u stregis.mumbai@stregis.com 324 guest rooms and suites; 12 restaurants and bars; spa; excercise room; pool stregis.com/mumbai 28

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Osaka Cosmopolitan Distinction

Ask us about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. One of only two Harry Potter theme parks in the world is housed at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, featuring a unique recreation of Hogwarts Castle.

Kuidaore: the food-lovers’ pastime.

Osaka is the foodie capital of Japan, and you should spend an evening exploring neon-lit Dotonbori, trying delicacies such as takoyaki octopus balls and puffer fish sashimi.

Walking the seven slopes of Tennoji, and visiting a handful of the 200 temples and shrines on the south side of Osaka Castle. The route, along Kamimachi-suji street, is lined with ancient cherry trees laden with blossom in spring and filled with the fragrance of incense.

The St. Regis Osaka Zen Garden; the master bedroom of the Royal Suite

For many travelers, Osaka has all the urban energy and lively vibe of Tokyo with the heritage and historical riches of Kyoto. On Midosuji Avenue, where The St. Regis Osaka is located, you will find examples of the city’s long history, in the form of architectural masterpieces dating from the Taisho Era (1912-1926) and the following Showa period. The avenue has been dubbed the Champs Elysées of the Orient. The St. Regis Osaka is within a 27-story building, the tallest in the urban renewal zone.

It provides striking views over the city and is perfectly positioned for you to explore Osaka’s multi-Michelin-starred restaurant scene, cultural life and Buddhist shrines. The hotel’s garden terrace is lush with plants and has a stone garden around which to take a stroll, or you can sit and take time out from the streetscape below.

Yamamoto Noh Theater. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the home of Japanese musical drama, with its impressive collection of masks and costumes, and experience what it feels like to take the stage.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: My Cup Noodle Factory makes for a fascinating excursion.

Learn about ramen noodles, create a custom noodle soup, design your own cup and explore the museum.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

five-pavilion award in Michelin Guide Kansai region, 2014 Japan’s Leading Hotel, World Travel Awards, 2014

3-6-12 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan u T. (81) (6) 6258 3333 u stregis.osaka@stregis.com 160 guest rooms and suites; 3 restaurants and bars; spa; excercise room stregis.com/osaka 29

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort China’s Most Coveted Beachfront Address

Ask us about Visiting Nanshan Temple. The sprawling Buddhist temple at the foot of Nanshan mountain, 25 miles from Sanya, was completed only in 1998 (2,000 years after the arrival of Buddhism in China), and comprises replica Tang Dynasty architecture.

Diving or snorkeling. You can see coral reefs and colorful tropical fish in the calm waters surrounding the small island of Wuzhizhou, which lies in Haitang Bay, just northeast of Sanya. The island itself is home to up to 2,700 individual plant species.

Lagoon View bedroom; the hotel’s marina

The tropical island of Hainan, China’s smallest province, has clean air, tropical vegetation, pristine beaches and offers the perfect escape from the bustle of the mainland cities. Located in the exclusive Yalong Bay on the south coast of Hainan Island in South China, The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort opened in November 2011 and is the perfect choice for guests looking for a deluxe, relaxing vacation. It has access to more than half a mile of coastline on Yalong Bay (also called Asian Dragon Bay), where guests can stroll, swim or enjoy a seafood barbecue at the new beachfront bar. The bay has the island’s only sail-in, sail-out access for yachts, through an exclusive partnership with the Sanya Yalong Bay Yacht Club (and the only golf driving range on the coveted beach side of Yalong Bay), and guests can charter a fully staffed Yacht Club vessel for a sunset cruise. Our team can arrange a sailing trip to the hidden treasures of Baifu Bay, a stunning cove that offers a soft sand beach, clear turquoise waters and a secluded coral reef.

Learning to sail on the South China Sea. The Yalong Bay Yacht Club is directly adjacent to the resort, and provides excellent short sailing courses. The coastline of southern Hainan is quiet and clean and offers many peaceful havens for a beach picnic.

Sanya Kayaking Fun Program, a 90-minute guided tour of the Mangrove Ecology Pocket. This ecosystem is rich with wildlife, and the St. Regis Butler service provides drinks halfway through the trip.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Family Cooking Class. An experience for all the family to enjoy together, making cookies and cakes. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

gold list, condé nast traVELER 2014 best hotel service award, city traveler magazine 2014

Yalong Bay National Resort District, Sanya Yalong Bay, Hainan 572016, China u T. (86) (898) 8855 5555 u reservations.sanya@stregis.com 401 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; private beach; water sports; tennis; children’s club stregis.com/sanyayalongbay 30

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Shenzhen Towering Sophistication

Ask us about Visiting OCT-LOFT in Nanshan District. These renovated factory buildings support creative industries, such as art, design, photography and animation, alongside restaurants and cafes.

Lychee picking. Take a trip beyond the bustle of the city to get better acquainted with China’s favorite fruit.

The Window of the World, a theme park with models of sights from around the world, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Angkor Wat of Cambodia. Continue your visit in the world’s largest fossil forest, Fairy Lake Botanical Garden and Shenzhen Palaeontological Museum.

Malt, serving single malt whiskies and cigars on the 100th floor; the Iridium spa pool

Shenzhen, a commercial hub in southern China just to the north of Hong Kong, is one of the country’s most dynamic supercities. The hotel, which opened in 2011, was designed by the renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell, and occupies the top 28 floors of the landmark glass-and-steel 100-story Kingkey 100 tower in the heart of the Luohu financial district.

Take advantage of the height at The Drawing Room on the 96th floor, which serves a delicious afternoon tea and has stunning panoramic views of Shenzhen city. Business travelers like to unwind with a treatment in The St. Regis Shenzhen’s Iridium Spa, or meet colleagues in Decanter wine bar or in Malt, the whisky bar. Shoppers are spoilt for choice and make straight for the upmarket KK Mall. Otherwise, head off to explore the city’s local theme parks, gardens and historical attractions.

Discovering Dapeng Ancient Town.

This fortress city, overlooking Daya Bay in the east of Shenzhen was built during the Ming Dynasty at the end of the 14th century and offers visitors a powerful connection to China’s imperial past.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Happy Valley. Shenzhen’s most famous theme park, with almost 100 exciting rides and attractions in nine themed areas, including Cartoon City, Mount Adventure, Shangri-la Woods and Sunshine Beach. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

The Best Service Hotel in China, City Traveler magazine, 2014 one of Travel + Leisure’s Best 100 Hotels in China, 2014

No. 5016 Shennan Road East, LuohDistrict Shenzhen, Guangdong 518001 China u T. (86)(755) 8308 8888 u stregis.shenzhen@stregis.com 290 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym stregis.com/shenzhen 31

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Singapore Timeless Elegance

Ask us about Chinatown Food Street. Located on Smith Street in the heart of Chinatown, Food Street celebrates the coming together of specialty dishes from all regions of China.

Gillman Barracks is one of Asia’s newest contemporary art destinations.

Visitors to this former military stronghold enjoy regularly changing exhibitions in the international art galleries.

Hop on a Duck Tour and enjoy a land and sea adventure in a converted WWII amphibious vehicle. The hourlong ride will enable you to see Singapore’s famous skyline, historical landmarks and gorgeous bay view from this unique craft.

A Penthouse Room on the 20th floor; the pool with its sculpture Floating to Sukhavati, by the Taiwanese artist Li Chen

Singapore is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2015 and the city will be abuzz with activity over the course of the year. Close to The St. Regis Singapore, in the embassy district, the Singapore Botanic Gardens offer a respite from the city’s bustle. Stroll around its themed gardens, and enjoy lakes, sculptures and displays of exotic flora: orchids, mature kapok and rain trees. The hotel is also close to the financial district, the famous shopping on Orchard Road, and Dempsey Hill, a revitalized colonial neighborhood with restaurants, clubs, bars, boutiques, antiques stores and art galleries. And if you want more of the latter, The St. Regis Singapore is home to one of the finest private art collections in Asia, with works by Miró, Chagall and Fernando Botero. For dining, the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant, Yan Ting, has new interpretations of classic dishes, or experience contemporary French cuisine at Brasserie Les Saveurs or Italian at LaBrezza. Each restaurant has a Children’s Menu tailored by our masterchefs to cater to the young ones.

Telok Ayer. A stretch of eateries, quaint cafes and boutiques showcasing emerging designers from Asia and Europe, as well as yoga and fitness studios perfect for the health-conscious.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: The Singapore Botanic Gardens offers an exciting array of attractions. Children will be delighted by the Tree House and Waterplay Area. This experience includes round-trip transportation, a two-hour tour, and a picnic lunch. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

RANKED #5 FOR BEST HOTELS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2014 WINE SPECTATOR AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNER: BRASSERIE LES SAVEURS

29 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247911 u T. (65) 6506 6888 u stregis.singapore@stregis.com 299 guest rooms and suites; 6 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; tennis stregis.com/singapore 32

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Asia Pacific

The St. Regis Tianjin Tianjin’s Premier Address

Ask us about Tianjin Grand Theather. Tianjin regularly hosts grand operas such as Tosca, Eugene Onegin and the Ring Cycle, and has hosted the worldfamous Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Ballet.

The Tianjin Museum. In a colossal building shaped like a swan, the second-largest museum in China houses more than 150,000 exhibits incuding ancient artifacts, jade, porcelain and calligraphy.

Tianjin Radio and Television Tower.

Visible from all over the city, this 1,362-foot tower was once the tallest building Asia. On a clear day, the 360-degree viewing deck offers you a fantastic view of the city.

The hotel’s spectacular exterior – part of the city’s march skywards; the Presidential Suite bedroom

China’s fourth-largest city, the coastal metropolis of Tianjin has a fascinating history as the entry point for foreigners visiting and trading with Beijing and the rest of northern China. The European-style houses of the French and German concessions add a dash of grandeur to the metropolis, and original turn-of-the-century architecture can still be seen in the Wudadao district. The hotel is opposite the glittering Riverside 66 shopping mall, home to 400 renowned international brands. All rooms have city views, but if it’s a special trip, book the Presidential Suite, which has Chinese antiques, its own dining room and whirlpool bath.

Also try the My Humble House restaurant on the second floor of The St. Regis Tianjin, which continues to build upon our unique Modern Chinese culinary concept, while introducing more Chinese creations, such as our classical interpretation of Peking Duck.

The Astor Museum. The hotel’s very own museum is a testament to the building’s heritage. From illustrious guest portraits to priceless documents, the museum provides an overview of Tianjin’s colonial past.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Ancient Chinese Mansion Tour. The Shi Family Courtyard dates from the late Qing Dynasty and is a great place to find out about the history and traditions of Northern China. Includes round trip transfers

by Audi, soft drinks, and snacks, perfectly suited for a family of four.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Best Business Hotel In Tianjin, Business Traveller Awards China 2014 Best Al Fresco Dining, That’s Tianjin Food & Drink Awards 2014

158 Zhangzizhong Road, Heping District Tianjin, Tianjin 300041, China u T. (86) (22) 5830 9999 u stregis.tianjin@stregis.com 274 guest rooms and suites; 3 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; gym; cookery school stregis.com/tianjin 33

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: europe

The St. Regis Florence Premiere Location, Renaissance Grandeur

Ask us about Art Unveiled is our bespoke program dedicated to providing art and culture connoisseurs with personally guided tours and access to the finest museums and private contemporary art galleries in Florence, including the Marino Marini Museum and the Strozzina Center for Contemporary Culture.

The Vasari Corridor. A half-mile long passageway that connects the Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti Palace, lined with works from the 16th and 17th centuries as well as a unique collection of artists’ self-portraits, including works from Andrea del Sarto to Chagall.

The Duomo and the rooftops of Florence; the Presidential Suite

A palazzo designed in 1432 by Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect of the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, The St. Regis Florence was converted into a hotel in the mid-1800s. When Queen Victoria took a Grand Tour, she stayed here. Now there’s a designer suite by Italian luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta, and the hotel is collaborating with luxury cosmetics brand Clarins. The Michelin-starred Winter Garden by Caino restaurant has a 19th-century illuminated colored-glass ceiling; and in keeping with the Tuscan capital’s Renaissance heritage, there are classic frescoes and antiques throughout the building. Florence is a compact and, in the right season, relaxing city. After you’ve seen the world-class Uffizi Gallery and Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia, make the most of the hotel’s location on the Piazza Ognissanti in the city’s historical heart: order an aperitivo, and sit back and watch as dusk falls over the city’s churches, hills and belltowers.

Old Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella. Said to be the oldest extant pharmacy in the world. Established in 1221 by the Dominicans, who produced herbal medicines, it is still dispensing prescriptions today.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Renaissance Discovery.

Unearth history with an interactive, immersive tour of the Palazzo Vecchio. Allow us to transport you there by horse-drawn carriage, just as the Medicis did so many years ago.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

The 50 best hotels in italy Reader’s choice Award 2014, Condé Nast SPG Member Favorite: the ultimate 10

Piazza Ognissanti 1, Florence 50123, Italy u T. 0039 055 27161 u stregisflorence@stregis.com 100 guest rooms and suites; 1 restaurant and bar; spa; gym stregis.com/florence 34

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: europe

The St. Regis Istanbul Istanbul’s Modern Masterpiece

Ask us about Turkish coffee and baklava. Coffee shops across Turkey are rarely quiet.

In the mornings you’ll often see businessmen conducting meetings while at night the chairs are filled with a younger crowd intent on socializing.

Whatever time of day, the balance of strong bitter coffee with super-sweet sticky baklava delivers a perfect caffeine and sugar combo.

Antiques shopping. Enlist a personal guide to help you navigate the city’s best shops selling Turkish, Islamic and Ottoman art, carpets, books, textiles and ornaments.

The St.Regis Brasserie; a Deluxe Room

Istanbul has long been the place where Europe and Asia met and exchanged goods, philosophies, cultures and credos. In the past decade, it has become a confident, modern city and has witnessed booms in the art scene, in the quality and range of its nightlife, and in business. Ancient meets modern with confidence in this metropolis, and at The St. Regis Istanbul. Once you’ve ticked off traditional landmarks including Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, explore modern must-sees such as contemporary art at Istanbul Modern and Galerie Nev, hip fashion boutiques in Cihangir or nightlife in Ortakoy or Beyoglu. The St. Regis Istanbul’s neighbourhood of Sisli is a quiet one adjoining bustling Beyoglu, so you get the best of both worlds.

Beyoglu. Hang out with the hipsters and arty crowd, browse the boutiques and studio-galleries that are housed in rejuvenated historical buildings in the higgledy-piggledy streets of the neighbourhood near Taksim Square and Istiklal Caddesi.

Bathing. Few things revive a jetlagged body more efficiently than a vigorous scrub and massage in a steamy Turkish hamam.

A private cruise. Sightsee the Istanbul skyline Sultan-style from the Bosphorus aboard a chartered yacht.

Mim Kemal Oke Cad. N° 35, Nisantasi, Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey u T. (90)(212) 368 0000 u stregis.istanbul@stregis.com 118 guest rooms and suites; 3 restaurants and bars; spa; gym stregis.com/istanbul 35

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Europe

The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort Mediterranean Sanctuary, Privileged Address

Ask us about The Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation museum in Alcudia, a collection of child portraits from the 16th to 19th centuries and a library of more than 6,000 volumes of art history.

Culinary Safari. On 5 July 2015, top chefs from all over Spain will host a celebration of global cuisine in an atmospheric setting, accompanied by a selection of the finest Mallorcan wines.

Moros y Cristianos. The nearby towns of Pollença and Sóller stage spectacular re-enactments of the battles between Moors and Christians every August.

The resort’s swimming pool; Mediterranean vegetation enhance the traditional-looking Spanish architecture

All the pleasures and treasures of the Western Mediterranean are found in Mallorca, the main island of the Balearics. The beaches get a lot of attention and some are pretty stunning, but inland are olive groves and vineyards, mountains and rural mansions, cozy old restaurants and tourist-free towns and villages. Long before the mad rush for the sand and the sea, the wealthier and wiser islanders preferred to build their estates high up and away from the coast to avoid pirates – follow their lead to get a real insider’s view of the place. In the southwestern corner of the island on the Costa d’en Blanes, there are turquoise waters and a sense of being apart from the hubbub. This is also where you’ll find The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort, whose guest rooms were designed by Claudio Carbone. It is a lovely hideaway and a perfect base for exploring the best of the island. Continue your relaxing stay with a session on the new wooden yoga platform, which has a tranquil sea view.

A day out in Deià. Long associated with intellectuals, writers and artists, this tumbling, terraced village, now home to celebrities, makes an idyllic setting for a spot of lunch.

Family Traditions at St. Regis progam: The Tramuntana Mountains, close to the hotel, are one of Mallorca’s greatest natural assets and UNESCOlisted as a World Heritage Site. Walks and treks to suit all take place in this exquisite landscape. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

RestaurAnt Es Fum awarded one Michelin Star, 2011

Carretera Palma – Andratx 19, Costa d’en Blanes, Mallorca 07181, Spain u T. (34)(971) 629629 u info.mardavall@stregis.com 130 guest rooms and suites; 4 restaurants and bars; spa; pool; beach; gym; private jetty; children’s club stregis.com/mallorca 36

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Europe

The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya Contemporary Heritage in the Heart of Moscow

Ask us about Porsche experience. Experience an individual test drive around the Kremlin in any Porsche car, with a transfer to the Porsche dealer center, a personal assistant, a special offer for car purchase and service and a branded souvenir.

The ultimate shopping experience with TSUM department store.

Enjoy the services of a personal shopping assistant, priority reservations of VIP dressing rooms, TSUM VIP lounge access, welcome drink, discount card and delivery of purchases to the hotel. In-room shopping is available upon request.

The bedroom of the Royal Suite; the luxurious L. Raphael spa swimming pool

One of the world’s greatest cities, Moscow is a powerhouse of business, culture and tourism. Situated in the historic center of the Russian capital, within easy walking distance of the celebrated Bolshoi Theater and the Kremlin, you’ll find The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya. A stone’s throw also from major business centers and the Duma – Russia’s parliament – the hotel’s well-equipped business center provides outstanding conference facilities and responsive service for business travellers, with the opportunity to unwind in the stylish L. Raphael spa and fitness center.

For leisure travellers, the hotel promises a heady mix of high culture and world-class retail in the boutiques of Nikolskaya Plaza, the city’s new luxury shopping destination. When it comes to dining, the hotel’s Osteria A Tavola is a delightful contemporary Italian restaurant where each season guests can savor dishes inspired by one of Italy’s regions of exemplary cuisine: Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria.

Silver Age Legacy: hidden treasures of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art. Enjoy a private guided tour of Moscow’s largest museum of European art, home to masterpieces by the likes of Rembrandt, Degas and van Gogh.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Nikulin Circus Backstage Tour. See acrobats practicing before the show, clowns putting on makeup, and animals being fed and trained.

The experience provides roundtrip transportation, the backstage tour and best-category seats for the show.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

Nikolskaya Street 12, Moscow, 109012, Russian Federation u T. (7)(495) 967 7776 u moscow@stregis.com 210 guest rooms and suites; 5 restaurants and bars; pool; spa; fitness center stregis.com/moscow 37

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Europe

The St. Regis Rome Patrimony of Art & Legacy of Service

Ask us about Art Unveiled is the St. Regis’s bespoke program dedicated to providing art and culture connoisseurs with personally guided tours and access to the finest museums and private contemporary art galleries in Rome, including the Museum of XXI Century Art and the Magazzino d’Arte Moderna.

Elizabeth Minchilli’s Insider Food Tour is an expert’s guide to gastronomic Rome. The author takes you on a day-long culinary walk through Rome’s neighborhoods, eating and drinking en route.

The hotel’s façade, next to the historic Fountain of Moses; the living room of the Couture Suite

For history, beauty, style, culture and romance, Rome has few rivals as the world’s most compelling metropolis. Here ancient palaces, temples, churches and monuments sit alongside all the contemporary attractions of a modern European capital. Such a city deserves a hotel of classical proportions, and The St. Regis Rome, built right beside the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, more than lives up to those expectations. Rome’s first grand hotel, this palazzo was opened by celebrated hotelier César Ritz in 1894, and it retains its majesty and prominence in the life of this great city to this day. The hotel, with its luxurious interiors, beautiful ballroom, chandeliers and hand-painted frescos, makes for a majestic base from which to explore the Eternal City.

La Grande Bellezza. Paulo Sorrentino’s glorious homage to the Eternal City, translated as The Great Beauty, won last year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Why not take a tour of the timeless landmarks photographed in the movie?

Live jazz. In exclusive partnership with Gregory’s Jazz Club, one of Rome’s most celebrated music venues, we are pleased to present Aperitif & Jazz evenings on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Wonders of Rome. For younger guests may we suggest a special customized Ancient Rome legendary sites tour with an expert.

Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

top 500 world’s best hotels, travel + Leisure, 2014 winner, Best Italy Luxury Hotel, in TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice, 2012

Via Vittorio E. Orlando 3, Rome 00185, Italy u T. (39)(06) 47091 u stregisgrandrome@stregis.com 161 guest rooms and suites; 2 restaurants and bars; spa stregis.com/rome 38

The Aficionado’s Guide to St. Regis: Europe

The St. Regis Venice San Clemente Palace Unexpected Enchantment. A Private Venetian Retreat

Ask us about Literary tours. Discover the hidden gems frequented by legendary writers and poets including Lord Byron, Henry James, Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway.

Acquariva boat trips. Explore the southern part of the lagoon, and delight in the charm and hospitality of its heritage “valli.”

Visiting film locations. It’s a long way from Hollywood, but the incomparable Venice cityscape has been the setting for many classic movies. Follow in the footsteps of the stars of films such as Casino Royale and The Talented Mr Ripley.

A Lagon View Room; the hotel’s private boat

First settled in the 12th century, the island of San Clemente lies in the Venetian Lagoon between the city and the famous lido, and was historically known as ‘the gateway to Venice’. Its Renaissance palace traditionally provided accommodation for distinguished guests of the Venetian Republic and is now home to the newest addition to the St. Regis family of luxury. Just a few minutes by boat from St. Mark’s Square, the island boasts a lush garden of linden, cypress and elm trees, making it both your perfect point of entry to the magical city of Venice and an oasis of calm and luxury. Hotel guests can enjoy a dip in the pool, a game of tennis, jogging on the dedicated path, or a round of golf on the three-hole course. Don’t miss the Acquerello Restaurant, the signature restaurant by Roberto Dal Seno, which enjoys magnificent lagoon views.

Venice is the perfect city in which to get pleasantly lost. The endless maze of canals and bridges will always yield another hidden courtyard or undiscovered vinoteca. As the suns sets, savor the hotel’s views across the lagoon to Venice’s stunning panorama of palazzos and belltowers.

World-class culture. Italy’s wealth of cultural history is there to be explored at Galleria dell’Accademia di Venezia and the Doge’s Palace. Or if your tastes are more modern, try the Fondazione Prada.

Family Traditions at St. Regis program: Culinary perfection. We invite your children to come and master the ultimate Italian art of pizza-making with one of our chefs. Learn more at stregis.com/familytraditions

the daily meal, world’s best hotel restaurants 2014, acquerello

Isola di San Clemente 1, Venice 30124, Italy u T. (39)(041) 4750111 u sanclementepalace@stregis.com 191 guest rooms and suites; 4 restaurants and bars; pool; exercise room; children’s club; tennis; private jetty; helipad; private church stregis.com/venice 39

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