“You’ve been sentenced to a couple of nights in Pentridge,” — not something you wanted to hear between 1851 and 1997, when the tall bluestone walls of Pentridge Prison housed some of Australia’s most notorious criminals.
If you’re hearing it now though, it’s good news, given the brand-new urban wellness retreat, The Interlude, at Pentridge—a converted jail. And while you’ll walk through the same intimidating prison gates as the likes of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read, escapee Ronald Ryan and even Ned Kelly, you’re in for a slightly different experience.
There are 19 exclusive heritage suites, each created out of the original cells with vaulted brick ceilings, thick cell doors and bluestone walls. The walls they did demolish (to create more expansive bedrooms) took two weeks to break down, FYI. Meanwhile the bar features former cells converted into cosy booths and a wine cellar that was also a cell. A cell-ar, if you will. But the highlight of the entire hotel is surely found below ground, where there’s a candlelit pool that took three months to dig by hand.
We love a private island here at get lost. And Song Saa is up there at the very, very top. Best part? The hullabaloo of Phnom Penh (and your regular life) feel a world away when at Song Saa.
This resort takes the average overwater bungalow and turns the dial up a notch (or seven). The thatched-roof huts seem humble from the outside, but inside they’re packed with luxury.
Think cushy day beds, indoor and outdoor showers, and private pools. Plus you’ve got that south-east Asian cuisine to feast on, and the knowledge that you’re contributing to a hotel that invests majorly into nearby rainforest and mangrove regeneration.
Mull that over while you’re floating in your choice of luxe body of water.
From AU$900 per night. Click and OMG THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SONG
Dryft certainly has Fast and Furious connotations, conjuring images of Vin Diesel flying around corners in fast cars. But the reality couldn’t be more different.
Dryft is a bed of tranquillity—a getaway of palm trees and purity, without internet and without worry. It is a group of glamping tents on the tiny (almost deserted) Darocotan Island, a 15-minute boat ride from the village of Teneguiban on Palawan Island.
And while glamping is the term, this is something different. They’re sort of elegant treehouses, the kind of accommodation you dream about from your desk on a Tuesday arvo.
This is a glorious part of the world, and when you are in such a glorious location, the best place is the one with the least number of barriers to nature. Dryft is exactly that.
Staying at the Rooms Hotel Kazbegi, in Georgia’s incredible northern region, sort of feels as if you’re sat on some shoulders at a gathering of the giants.
With the awe-inspiring Caucasus Mountains looming as a shadow, the hotel would have looked impressive had it just put a tin shed. As it is, the building is a typically Soviet symmetrical thing of beauty, curving slightly if viewed from side on.
There’s a swimming pool for the ages, where you can swim in heated goodness while watching snow doffs the mountain peaks around you through floor to roof windows. There’s fireplaces, leather couches, wooden floors and stylings that reflect Georgia’s unusual place in the world, as a gateway between Europe and Asia.
This is some of the best hiking country in the world in summer, and the trekking – either by foot or by horse – is some of the best you’ll ever do.
The Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument is within reach from here – a very Instagrammable spot, even if Russia and Georgia aren’t always the best of friends.
The rooms at Rooms are plush – ideal for corpsing after a mammoth day of scaling the giants . Georgian recipes handed down from generation to generation are served here – if you’ve never had Georgian food, you’re in for a treat (and some carbs).
The air is clean in this part of the world, so make sure you go out at night and take a big long look at the stars. Some cheeky vodka will warm you up, and word is they roll cigars for you at the lobby if requested. This is living.
Italy has given the world plenty of masterpieces over the years.
The Mona Lisa. The Margherita pizza. Andrea Pirlo’s free-kicks.
Add the Vocablo Mocatelli to those, a hotel of exquisite design in the heart of Umbria, between Florence and Rome, and a concoction of old and new Italy.
The building was previously an ancient monastery, dating back to the 12th century, although we’re pretty certain the monks didn’t have a private sauna, an outdoor jacuzzi and extraordinarily lux furnishings when they were chilling here.
The stone walls remain from the monk days, as well as beamed ceilings, heavy stone fireplaces and wooden floors, a charming contrast with the plushness of everything else.
There’s only 12 rooms, so you don’t feel overran. There’s no set hours for brekky – just wake up whenever, and treat yourself whenever.
There’s a long table outside to enjoy dinner or lunch with a serene Italian countryside setting surrounding you.
A geodesic dome at the heart of the Sacred Valley in Incan territory, Peru.
The dome is designed as a multi-purpose space for social connection, arts, stargazing and meditation, surrounded by lush hillsides, mountains and mystical ruins from centuries gone by.
These are all everyday activities, significantly amplified by incredibly special surrounds.
We’re not breaking any exclusives when we reveal how magnificent this area of the world is, but we can tell you that this extraordinary locale is the ideal place to base yourself, before and after hikes in the area.
There are sand dunes, and then there are the mighty kahunas you’ll find in Oman.
Like the Ramlat Jadilah, a 455-metre peak that’s the tallest in the world.
Magic Camps is the closest to an oasis you’ll likely ever get. And by that we mean a luxury glamping experience in a world-renowned location NOT meeting the Gallagher brothers somewhere in the desert.
You can choose to stay at the permanent campsite in the Wahiba Sands region, or opt for an even more intrepid experience by choosing your own location to explore. Pretty cool.
On Aman New York’s website they give ‘how to get here’ directions from Teterboro Airport. An airport that only serves private jets…
And private jet people are exactly the sort of people that are gonna be frequenting the Aman, which has been dubbed ‘the most expensive hotel in New York’ at an eye-watering AU$3,400 per night.
What does this price get you? Absolute total luxury in Manhattan’s famous Crown Building (around the corner from Central Park), including a spa which takes up three entire floors, and suites of extreme opulence that look straight out of HBO’s Succession.
The former winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race has turned a run-down old motel in Palm Springs, California into a queer paradise—the Trixie Motel.
The refurbished mid-century motel contains seven rooms of whimsical, Barbie-style fabulousness, located in the heart of inimitable Palm Springs.
Until it’s time to sashay away, guests can enjoy over-the-top everything from wild wallpaper and art installations, to retro furnishings like flamingo lampshades and heart-shaped beds, all of which make you feel as if you’re actually on a RuPaul set. The neon motel sign, which is visible from the road, would normally be the loudest thing at a motel, but remarkably, it feels almost understated here.
Somewhere Lombok is a vague, if accurate, name for a hotel that opened on an Indonesian island that’s long been a favoured haunt by Aussies.
Located somewhere on Lombok, Somewhere Lombok is somewhere between luxurious villa, art aesthetic and surf hut.
It is located near a famous break for a start, but to call it a surf stay would be to downgrade the place of its lovely, earthy aesthetic, simple and airy, and making you want to go there right now, whether you surf or not.
Somewhere is the brainchild of two sisters with Indonesian roots. For any wave loving traveller with a bit of extra coin, we can’t imagine you’ll find too many places better than this in 2023.
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