Innovations and extraordinary experiences proceed to redefine the boundaries of luxurious journey and this month is not any exception. British Airways has unveiled its new First Class seat while Singapore Airlines is embarking on a daring cabin improve additionally, with each setting new requirements for long-haul premium journey. Learn about this and different developments in our newest round-up of tales from the world of luxurious journey.
British Airways has unveiled its brand-new First seat, combining elegant design with professional British craftsmanship, reflective of recent British luxurious journey. The new cabin kinds a part of the airline’s A380 retrofit plans, anticipated to take to the skies in mid-2026. The airline’s new First has been fastidiously designed to offer the texture of a contemporary luxurious lodge, alongside residence comforts and considerate British touches at 35,000ft. The seat has been superbly curated by professional designers and world-class producers from all corners of Great Britain and Ireland, together with London, Glasgow, West Yorkshire, Kilkeel and Dublin.
The new seat is ultra-wide (36.5inches), with a mattress size of 79inches, and encompasses a multi-purpose ottoman and stylish stowable desk, a 32-inch 4K TV display, adjustable temper lighting together with scenes akin to ‘relax’, ‘dine’ and ‘cinema’. The seat could be adjusted with the contact of a button to seek out the right stage of consolation and is situated inside a cocooned 60-inch curved wall for final privateness, while nonetheless offering a spacious atmosphere.
Desert & Delta Safaris, the main safari operator in Botswana, has been honoured with the celebrated World Luxury Travel Awards (WLTA) for Sustainable Tourism in Southern Africa. This accolade recognises the corporate’s excellent dedication to accountable and sustainable tourism in one in every of Africa’s most pristine wildlife locations.
Established in 1982, Desert & Delta Safaris has develop into some of the profitable and revered safari operators in Botswana over the previous 4 many years. The firm owns and manages a portfolio of 9 premier safari properties situated in prime wildlife areas, together with the long-lasting Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park Setting Desert & Delta Safaris aside is its unwavering dedication to sustainable tourism and group improvement. As a 100 per cent Botswana-owned firm, it has performed a major function within the nation’s tourism business, contributing to financial progress and conservation efforts.
IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) has launched its new beautiful life-style model, Atwell Suites, in Greater China. Using “new territorial home” because the core design idea, Atwell Suites is devoted to providing a high-quality expertise for younger friends in search of an beautiful life-style, and making a residing area with aesthetic worth, emotional worth and religious worth. It additionally provides a brand new alternative with wonderful returns for lodge buyers by a excessive premium and low value enterprise mannequin.
Everything that you must plan your journey in 2024
Originally opened by Qantas within the Sixties, this iconic five-star lodge has been revitalised with 436 redesigned rooms and suites, 4 new eating and bar venues by House Made Hospitality, and upgraded occasion areas, together with one in every of Sydney’s largest ballrooms.
Located within the coronary heart of Sydney’s CBD, simply footsteps from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, its new imaginative and prescient reignites the ’60s jet-set glamour that attracted royals, film stars, and dignitaries to Australia‘s premier international hotel. The rebirth of a Sydney icon coincides with the Diamond Jubilee of Accor’s Sofitel model, celebrating 60 years of French-inspired luxurious and understated grandeur.
Bentley Motors has joined forces with London-based trend and life-style model, PICANTE, to launch an unique capsule assortment. The collaboration highlights Bentley’s wealthy heritage by PICANTE’s modern lens and the manufacturers’ love of journey, creating a novel storyline of the open street, and the journey to uncover hidden gems.
The Italian luxurious wellness group, Lefay Resorts & Residences is happy to announce its Grual Restaurant at Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti, led by Executive Chef Matteo Maenza, obtained a Michelin Star.
Opened in December 2019, the Grual Restaurant is known as after the mountain that kinds the backdrop of the resort and emphasizes Trentino-South Tyrol components sourced from natural and sustainable suppliers. Inspired by an enchanted forest, it depends on moral cooking and cautious collection of uncooked supplies for a delicacies of concepts that excite. Its menu is “altimetric” – or organized by altitude – with every dish is made out of components that remember the mountains, in a metaphorical journey that from the valley flooring, rises to the High Mountains, passing by the Alpine pastures. There are two tasting menus: “The Path” and “the Peak,” with 8 and 12 programs, respectively.
Red Sea Global, the developer behind regenerative tourism locations The Red Sea and AMAALA, is happy to announce that Saudi Arabia’s latest luxurious resort, Shebara, and the fourth to open its doorways at The Red Sea vacation spot is welcoming friends from November 2024.
Shebara, the primary to open of RSG’s owned and operated resorts, is constructed to supply luxurious, sustainability, and innovation converging to redefine how tourism is delivered. The resort offers direct entry to a unprecedented marine atmosphere the place friends can get pleasure from diving in a number of the most pristine, biodiverse waters on the planet.
Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi has introduced that legendary Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, will headline its annual New Year’s Eve celebration. Set in opposition to the serene backdrop of the Arabian Gulf and the glittering skyline of the Capital, Andrea Bocelli’s timeless melodies will captivate friends as they ring in 2025 in fashion.
The magical night will start with a welcome cocktail on the Grand Dome adopted by an beautiful collection of limitless premium drinks and lavishly curated gourmand tasting stations. As the countdown begins, friends can count on spectacular renditions of Bocelli’s basic songs carried out outside on the Palace Terrace. At midnight, a blinding fireworks show will gentle up the skies over the Corniche and an unique after-party that includes famend worldwide DJs will proceed till the early hours.
Singapore Airlines is investing SG$1.1 billion in a multi-year initiative to improve the long-haul cabin expertise throughout its fleet of 41 Airbus A350-900 plane. This daring transfer goals to redefine premium journey, enhancing consolation and luxurious for passengers on long-haul and ultra-long-range routes.
As a part of this program, the airline will introduce an opulent First Class cabin on its seven A350-900ULR plane, setting new requirements for luxurious on the world’s longest flights. Business Class passengers will even profit from cutting-edge seat designs, providing higher privateness, consolation, and comfort throughout your entire fleet.
Halong Pacific JSC has launched its 5-star luxurious cruise ship, Luna Halong Cruise, with its maiden voyage having been made on twenty first November 2024. As pioneers in integrating the newest expertise, gear, and modern designs, Luna Halong Cruise goals to ship a refined and distinctive cruise expertise.
Boasting a most capability of 550 friends, the Luna Halong Cruise is presently the largest vessel working in each Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay. Guests can get pleasure from a variety of amenities, together with two luxurious eating places, 11 non-public eating and reception rooms, 50 premium cabins with non-public balconies, a contemporary 360-degree panorama stage and a glass backside pool.
EG Chauffeurs – London & UK Wide, a number one supplier of luxurious chauffeur companies, is proud to announce that it has been awarded the title of The Best Chauffeur Company 2024 and named Regional Winner for Northern Europe on the prestigious World Luxury Travel Awards.
Founded in 2013, EG Chauffeurs focuses on skilled and discreet chauffeur companies, providing an expensive fleet that features the newest Mercedes-Benz S-Class, V-Class, Range Rover, and electrical fashions just like the New BMW i7 and EQVs. The firm serves a world clientele, together with royal households, EAs, CEOs, non-public jet operators, DMCs, and funding corporations, with companies tailor-made to satisfy the very best expectations. Our skilled chauffeurs guarantee a seamless, first-class expertise tailor-made to your wants. Whether for enterprise or leisure, EG Chauffeurs delivers impeccable service with a give attention to security, punctuality, and discretion.
Insider Villas has formally opened its doorways in Sweden, marking its first enlargement into Scandinavia. Located within the mesmerizing great thing about Trensum, Villa Lily Croft provides luxurious vacationers an escape to the breathtaking Blekinge Archipelago. Guests can expertise non-public kayaking journeys by the lake waters, previous unspoiled islands and unspoiled nature. This distinctive villa combines journey with tranquility, completely capturing the essence of Insider Villas’ dedication to luxurious experiences.
With Sweden now a part of its rising assortment of over 200 hand-picked villas and chalets, Insider Villas invitations you to discover this Nordic luxurious retreat.
InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort is delighted to announce its new partnership with luxurious skincare model, Biologique Recherche, the famend French firm celebrated for its holistic method to skincare. Known for curating merchandise that mix medical experience with personalised care, Biologique Recherche will convey a brand new vary of revitalising and purposeful therapies to the resort’s AVI Spa. This thrilling collaboration launched on twenty fifth November 2024.
Biologique Recherche was based 40 years in the past by Yvan and Josette, a biologist and a physiotherapist. Driven by their shared ardour and experience, they developed a medical method to magnificence care, utilising pure, concentrated, and uncooked components alongside modern, meticulously crafted protocols. The model’s methodology is distilled right into a three-step care course of: starting with evaluation, adopted by preparation, and concluding with focused remedy. Each of their merchandise is designed to assist and improve this course of at each stage. Integrating Biologique Recherche’s merchandise and methodology into AVI Spa enhances its choices for friends, delivering an elevated skincare and physique care expertise that goes past a pampering remedy and provides wellness companies with a deeper, purposeful focus.
British Airways has introduced three new routes for summer time 2025, bolstering its intensive community of Italian locations. Launching in May 2025, British Airways will introduce new flights to Rimini (RMI) on the Adriatic Coast from London Heathrow, and Salerno (QSR) on the Amalfi Coast from London Gatwick. A brand new service from London City to Olbia (OLB) in Sardinia will complement current flights from Heathrow. The new routes will convey the overall variety of Italian locations served by the flag provider to 19, greater than every other European nation on the airline’s community.
Step right into a world of class and indulgence as InterContinental Singapore launches the world’s first Champagne Express Lane. Elevating the normal drive-through idea, this luxury expertise provides friends an unparalleled alternative to benefit from the most interesting bubbles and caviar on the go.
The extremely anticipated opening of The Sira, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Lombok has opened. Nestled within the coronary heart of West Nusa Tenggara province in Indonesia, the resort is only a 90-minute drive from Zainuddin Abdul Madjid International Airport. A residing cultural expression of the beloved vacation spot, the resort superbly embodies Lombok’s historical past, tradition, and indigenous traditions, providing world explorers distinctive and genuine experiences, in addition to direct entry to the sprawling sands of Sire Beach. With its debut, The Sira in Lombok joins an ensemble of Luxury Collection properties in Indonesia because the third jewel, alongside the long-lasting The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua in Bali and the enchanting TA’AKTANA, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Labuan Bajo. Each property provides an immersive expertise uniquely crafted to showcase the mesmerizing magnificence, indigenous tradition, and spirit of Indonesia’s most treasured locations.
Jean-Michel Gathy, famend for his visionary contributions to luxurious hospitality design, has as soon as once more raised the bar together with his newest mission, Cheval Blanc Seychelles opening on 1st December 2024. His partnership with LVMH marks a brand new milestone with the launch of this villa-only resort: one other jewel within the Cheval Blanc portfolio.
With 52 villas, Cheval Blanc Seychelles provides mesmerizing panoramas of the Indian Ocean, with 24 elegant villas set on the stainless seashores and 28 ensconced within the lush hills, effortlessly harmonizing with Seychelles’ pure magnificence. Ranging from 220m² to 620m², every villa encompasses a non-public 12.5-meter swimming pool, creating an idyllic setting for {couples}, households, or teams of buddies to relish a exceptional vacation expertise.
The Luxury Group and Sotheby’s will public sale two charming experiences designed to pair world-class hospitality with distinctive treasures from Sotheby’s auctions providing friends the possibility to discover their passions whereas discovering unforgettable locations.
Watch lovers could have the unique alternative to bid on an intimate horology immersion at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel de la Paix, Geneva with legendary watch model Girard-Perregaux, together with a hands-on workshop with the artisans; singular alternatives to buy limited-edition timepieces; and a personal culinary expertise on the Villa Girard-Perregaux in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the model’s ancestral residence. Meanwhile, an epicurean voyage curated by The Luxury Collection will see friends test into Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris earlier than exploring the nation’s culinary treasures, from a guided day journey to Champagne Lallier’s historic Maison in Aÿ for a style of its newest harvests, to a day tea with Global Explorer and esteemed chef and artist, Laila Gohar, whose food-inspired works have been showcased around the globe.
INFINITUM has retained its crown as ‘Europe’s Best Golf Real Estate Venue’ on the illustrious World Golf Awards, whereas the acclaimed Ruins format was named ‘Europe’s Best Nine Hole Golf Course’. Already a significant participant in continental golf, the Catalan resort has taken the actual property business by storm lately, constructing and promoting greater than 200 villas and luxurious flats a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean Sea.
The third section of INFINITUM’s formidable residential mission, comprising of 90 luxurious two, three and four-bedroom flats, is underneath building throughout prime places on the resort. All 150 properties in section one offered out inside a yr, and section two – a collection of opulent flats and villas designed by main architectural agency Batlle I Roig – is on monitor for related gross sales success.
Qatar Airways is proud to announce an thrilling new partnership with Novak Djokovic because the airline’s Global Brand Ambassador and Wellness Advisor. This multi-year collaboration positions Qatar Airways because the Official Airline Partner of Novak Djokovic, bringing collectively the World’s Best Airline, as voted by Skytrax in 2024, and a sporting icon famend for excellence, resilience, and world enchantment.
The partnership was unveiled on the Altitude Wellness Centre at Al Maha Qatar Airways Crew Accommodation Building, a location symbolic of peak efficiency and well-being – qualities synonymous with Novak’s legendary profession. Paying homage to Novak’s unmatched success on tennis courts the world over, this collaboration celebrates his unparalleled achievements and relentless pursuit of excessive efficiency.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has labored within the journey business for greater than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED journal. In addition to different awards, the weblog has additionally been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Telegraph.
Did you get pleasure from this text?
Receive related content material direct to your inbox.