Ishigaki, Japan (set to be completed May 2023)
It’s not a hotel, only it is, but not yet.
Ishigaki is an island in the Yaeyama chain, at the very, very south of Japan (technically it’s closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan). Slated to open mid-2023, the design has certainly set tongues wagging—we’re to expect a circular building with an infinity pool, plus a rooftop lawn and pond, all of which blend seamlessly into the landscape.
Designed for one group (of up to ten people), the tranquility of both the island and the building itself will set it apart from other spaces. We can easily imagine a writer penning their debut novel here, or a bunch of mates using it as basecamp as they surf the more or less unheralded waves nearby.
Picture this: it’s a delightful 25 degrees outside, and you’re hiking through a pleasant forest in France’s east…
Fast forward an hour and you’re cooling off by jumping off your own private pontoon, into what feels like your own private lake.
A little while later you’re enjoying drinks in the minimalist, but full-equipped teardrop-shaped treehouse you’re calling home.
As night falls, you can drink a red wine from Burgundy either on your balcony or while soaking in your Nordic bath tub. This is life at Coucoo Cabanes des Grands Lacs, on the banks of Lake Bonnal. And life is good.
LyLo in Auckland is a new kind of stay that straddles the line between cost and radness.
At LyLo you’ll be sleeping in futuristic, private pods that are surprisingly spacious and offer a surprising amount of storage, plus everything you need to recharge—both physically and electronically.
There’s a bar on site so you can hang out with other travellers, plus work and chill areas as you need. It’s the perfect scene for those looking for a social travel experience, but are wanting something a little more upmarket than a hostel filled with teenagers on their first trip away.
It doesn’t compromise on position either; located right at the heart of Auckland, you’re near the city’s underrated nightlife and in a great place to begin your North Island road trip.
Beers in the west have sure come a long way from the humble bush chook.
Busselton’s locally owned Shelter Brewing Co is a recent addition to the thriving West Australian beer scene, joining stalwarts like Little Creatures, Colonial and Bootleg from that part of the world.
As well as producing an array of epic froffies, Shelter run an insightful brewery tour that also happens to be pretty laidback – like everything else here.
Seagulls, the smell of salt and probably a fair amount of sun are likely to be what greets you at Shelter, and it’s difficult to escape the feeling of that you’re in a Tim Winton novel. The brewery itself is humungous, with an arched roof that is typical of the architecture in this part of the world. Out the front is green lawn that leads up to the beach, and the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere.
Inside, the brewery has a capacity of about 800, and has bands playing occasionally. Tom from Shelter takes us around and tells us that 80% of the building’s power comes from the sun, the same ample sun that shines in through the gigantic wall to floor windows in the north-facing building, creating the pleasant aesthetic of drinking a beer in the sun whether you’re sitting inside or outside. He explains Shelter’s philosophy when it comes to brewing beer, which is typically laidback; “we brew beers that we want to drink”.
We walk along a platform, past a row of truly enormous vats while Tom explains the brewing process, made easier to understand with brewers brewing away right in front of us. Magic right there in front of our eyes.
There’s seven beers on tap – ignore any misgivings you might have when you hear the name of the brand-new and limited edition Beetroot Stout. It’s a smoky type of operation that is (thankfully) more stout than beetroot, and it’s delicious. The Indian Pale Ale is great too.
Shelter generally brews seven core beers, and you can get them from from bars and bottle shops around Western Australia, and available to order online for the rest of Australia.
Green is usually reserved for thinking about Ireland, or salads, or traffic lights.
But get lost were on Bohol Island, Philippines recently, and whenever we think of the colour green from here on in, we think we’ll be thinking of the stunning Loboc River, which flows gently from the village of Carmen and into the Bohol Sea.
The vividness of the emerald green water, reflecting its jungle surrounds, makes for a surreal paddle downstream on a stand up paddleboard, which is surely made for this sort of journey. Alone except for occasionally floating past villagers doing a spot of fishing, this river is a spot tranquility, where you can get a work out as well. Pop in for a refreshing dip in the humid climate, or jump off one of many rope swings dotted along the river. Paddle as far and as fast, or as cruisey as you like.
Consider this your green light to go to the Philippines.
Wealth and skyscrapers are probably your first thought when it comes to Abu Dhabi, but Saadiyat Island is proof that there’s heaps (read: HEAPS) more to it than this.
Think epic beaches, stunning wildlife, world class restaurants and a museum to rival some of the world’s best. All on the one island!
Bet you didn’t know that?
Here’s get lost’s top five from Saadiyat Island:
1. Take it really easy on Saadiyat’s pristine, white beaches
One thing that a lot of people don’t understand about Abu Dhabi is that the beaches are absolutely elite. None better than Saadiyat Beach, which has a well-deserved reputation as one the best beaches in the Emirates, accessed via a wood boardwalk in order to protect the beach’s native wildlife.
It’s also home to an uber cool beach club https://www.saadiyatbeachclub.ae/home
A perfect beach all to yourself
2. Unwind at Nurai Island
Alright, Nurai Island might technically be a different island to Saadiyat, but it’s so close, and so damn beautiful, that we have to include it. It’s only a ten-minute boat ride over calm waters, and we doubt you’ll ever stay anywhere more romantic than this private island. This is Emirati opulence meeting romance. https://www.nuraiisland.com/
Now this is a room with a view!
3. Marvel at the wonderful wildlife
Saadiyat Island is a protected haven for wildlife and marine life. The island is home to animals you’ve never heard of, like the Arabian gazelles, graceful beasts that are as cool as their name would suggest, and are often spotted just cruising about the gaff, as if on a Sunday stroll, every day. If you’re lucky you might spot a Hawksbill turtle which seasonally nest on Saadiyat’s pristine beach. By the beach, bottlenose dolphins make frequent appearances and there is a kaleidoscope of vibrant birds to be spotted, if you are of a more aviary sort of inclination.
Who’s staring at who?
4. Get a bite at Mamsha Al Saadiyat
Mamsha Al Saadiyat is a beachfront community with a wide array of restaurants and cafes stretching across a beautiful promenade with breath-taking views of the Arabian Gulf. They say don’t eat places with a view; Mamsha absolutely blows this out of the water. This is THE place to eat on Saadiyat. https://visitabudhabi.ae/en/where-to-go/marinas-and-plazas/mamsha-al-saadiyat
5. Visit the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi
Saadiyat Island is home to the iconic Louvre…no not that one. With stunning architecture and a thought-provoking collection of modern art, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is understandably drawing people from all over the world. It takes a lot for a building to do that but you’ll get why when you walk through the doors of this place. https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/
It’s the sort of place that is low key at night and up-tempo during the day. The Loboc River winds like a snake through the island and eventually out into the ocean, and its water, emerald green on a sunny day, is a stunning location for action and adventure; think stand-up paddle-boarding, fishing, swimming and rope swinging.
Amorita is where you want to be to take it easy at the end of a massive day on this island. It’s actually on an additional island called Pangalao, which is connected to Bohol by a little bridge at its southern end.
Amorita is a stunning collection of designer rooms and villas, and home to two of the most stunning swimming pools you’ll come across. Putting the arms up on the ledge of the beachside pool, and staring out at the water, seeing little fishing boats bobbing up and down as the locals go about their day gives you that surreal feeling that you are elsewhere in the world. Somewhere other than, and better than, home.
The bar serves a delicious rum-based cocktail called Maybe I Should, and speaking from experience, you absolutely should, until you shouldn’t, and even then, you should one more time.
There’s archery and a wellness centre and all of the things you expect from a place with such an excellent reputation, but the low key, unpretentious-while-still-classy vibe that emanates through the staff and then by osmosis seems to transfer to guests is what separates this from the cold, corporate luxury resorts that exist.
Imagine telling your grandparents that a holiday in the future would be going to a farm, collecting eggs from the chooks for breakfast and foraging for your own vegetables for dinner. Working, in other words.
But this is 2023, not 1923, and we can see why the fresh air of Wildflower will appeal to those over in the Big Apple only 90 minutes away.
This is a stay that offers break from the grind, the fresh food on your plate – you know it’s fresh when you pick it yourself. Wellness tourism is a growing trend and, although this has traditionally seen as spas and exercise, eating is obviously a major part of being healthy.
This isn’t any old farm, either. No sleeping in hay stacks here; rooms of bespoke luxury are tucked neatly beneath sweeping tree canopies or within wildflower fields, where it gets its name.
Whether you’re into this sort of holiday or not, it is refreshing to see hotels placing a premium on the most basic of human pleasures – like the crisp air of the Hudson Valley.
You may recall us telling you in digital issue five of get lost about Private Jet Villa, the plane which has been shifted onto a cliff in Uluwatu and made into a villa.
Well, it’s almost ready for take off. Private Jet Villa opens to the public in late-April however you might have to wait a while to stay there. According to the owner, there are unpaid requests to stay at the extraordinary $7,000 a night villa for the next 11 years.
Workers had to remove an estimated 50,000 bolts, and build an entire new road to get the thirty-tonne Boeing 737 aeroplane disassembled and reassembled in its position on the edge of a 150 metre cliff.
Its right wing serves as one of the most epic decks we’ve ever seen, and the newly released designs of the inside suggest a luxurious stay, with two bedrooms and stunning bathrooms, and wall to floor window views of the Indian Ocean.
The word unique gets thrown around a lot these days, but this really is it: there isn’t another place like this on earth. Pretty cool.
“There’s nothing to do in Thailand,” said no-one ever, a rhetoric which continues with Yona Beach Club, the brand-new tropical party paradise floating aimlessly just off the coast of Patong Beach, Phuket.
We saw another article describe this place as a floating oasis, which doesn’t make any sense. How can an oasis, as a body of water, be floating? Yona too, is not a body of water, but a tiny, stunning man-made island. But we know what they mean.
The club’s two palm-tree lined levels offer a restaurant, several bars, a DJ booth, a bunch of cabanas to lounge about and two swimming pools to do the same. There’s kayaking and paddle boarding you can do if you feel like it, and it’s open late – from 11am until 2am every single day. This is probably the ultimate place to have a pool party….got a birthday coming up?
This is one of the most Insta-worthy bars/clubs we’ve seen in a while, and we can see it absolutely exploding as a result.
If chomping mushrooms at full-moon with a bunch of raving youngsters isn’t you, or you’re looking for something a little more upmarket, in the words of Talking Heads, this might be the place.
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