region: Europe

Airbnb meets Wuthering Heights

West Yorkshire has never been short on wind, wild skies and stories that gnaw at your imagination, but Airbnb’s latest drop leans right into the moor’s uneasy charm. To celebrate the release of Emerald Fennell’s much-anticipated Wuthering Heights film, they’ve recreated Cathy Earnshaw’s bedroom at Thrushcross Grange – yes, the same fever-dream space from the movie – and are offering a handful of couples the chance to sleep there for free.

The room isn’t your typical cosy countryside bolthole. It’s been styled to reflect Cathy’s inner world, think textured walls, layered fabrics and that uncanny feeling you’re part of something larger than a bed and a pillow, all against the backdrop of Brontë Country where the film was shot.

Beyond the bedroom, the experience leans into the moors rather than the cliché. Guests can wander the landscape on horseback, sip a proper Yorkshire afternoon tea, and settle in for a candlelit dinner that wouldn’t feel out of place next to a roaring hearth. There’s even a curated soundtrack moment featuring music written for the film, plus a vinyl to take home if you’re lucky.

Travel-obsessed romantics, and the plain curious alike, have turned their eyes north, with UK Gen Z searches for stays in West Yorkshire spiking and the region quietly emerging as an unexpected getaway pick.

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to press pause on your own story and slide into someone else’s, this might just be the closest you get; gothic vibes included.

Hope Lodge to open in May

Perched above Loch Hope on Scotland’s rugged northern coast, Hope Lodge is poised to be one of the most compelling hospitality openings of 2026. No, it’s not just a hotel, but a thoughtful reimagining of what it means to stay in the Highlands.

Opening in May 2026, this remote retreat is part of WildLand’s conservation-led vision, where every detail, from the architecture to the daily rhythms, responds to the land it sits within.

At its heart sits a restored 19th-century Highland hunting lodge, reinvented as an intimate hotel with just seven bedrooms. Each room carries a Gaelic name embodying qualities like light, freedom and soul, quietly nodding to the cultural and natural heritage of the region.

Surrounding the lodge are restored cottages and a striking woodland cabin called An Cala, complete with a private wood-fired hot tub, an appreciation of rustic luxury that feels utterly of place amid the pines and sky.

More than bricks and beams, Hope promises an immersive experience. Days unfold in the open; guided hikes, wild swimming, conservation activities and mindful moments that blur the line between guest and landscape. At the centre of it all is The Clachan, a stone-built hub where adventure begins and stories are shared.

Yes, this place is polished escapism, but it’s also Highland hospitality on nature’s terms.

Sleep atop Venice Lagoon

Venice has always known how to show off, but AQVA takes the theatrics to a whole new level. This gleaming, glass-wrapped houseboat sits out on the lagoon like a minimalist mirage, made up of the best parts of a boutique hideaway. It’s also entirely unlike anything else in the city. Like, think of it as Venice but from a better angle.

Step aboard and the whole place feels like it’s been designed by someone who really cares about natural light; three serene double bedrooms, a sleek kitchen for popping Prosecco or pretending you cook on holiday, and panoramic windows framing those moody Venetian blues from sunrise to starlight. Honestly, you’ll soon forget land ever existed.

Days on AQVA unfold at a deliciously lazy lagoon pace: sip espresso while the water taps gently at the hull, drift past colourful islands like Burano and Torcello on a private cruise, or stretch into the morning with yoga on the deck. Nights dial things up with sunset aperitivos, chef-prepared dinners starring Adriatic flavours, and skies so clear you’ll swear someone ordered them specially for you.

Best of all, you’re wrapped in total peace. Venice as it once was, without cruise-ship crowds and without the “scusi” shuffle through alleyways. AQVA gives you the city’s beauty minus its chaos, letting you float on the edge of it all in quiet, glass-cocooned bliss.

Malta is the world’s hottest new dive spot

Saltwater lovers, rejoice: Malta is having a seriously big moment beneath the waves.

The Maltese Islands just scored major bragging rights in the 2026 Scuba Diving Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards, a.k.a. the PADI community’s annual ceremony of “who’s absolutely nailing it underwater.” And Malta? Absolutely nailed it.

The Mediterranean country is now officially known to have the Best Cave, Cavern and Grotto Diving Destination on Earth. Not too shabby for three tiny islands better known for sunshine and rabbit stew.

But the accolades don’t stop there. Malta also grabbed second place for wreck diving (the seabed is stacked with WWII relics, scuttled ships and photographic gold) and second place for shore diving, because here, great dives are literally a few steps from your sun lounger.

Add a handful of “One of the Best” rankings, including Best Value, Best Overall, Best Beginner Diving, Best Advanced Diving, and Best Wall Diving, and you’ve got a destination collecting awards like they’re seashells.

MTA Chairman Dr Charles Mangion says the success reflects Malta’s commitment to sustainability, operator expertise and the serious effort going into protecting its marine environment. In other words: they’re earning every single shiny gold thing they get.

And with Scuba Diving Magazine splashing these results across print, digital, newsletters and social channels reaching millions of divers, Malta’s underwater fame is about to crank up even further.

So, grab your fins. Malta’s waters are waiting.

Zannier Bendor set to open in 2026

If you’ve ever dreamed of running away to your own private French island, but preferably one with a top-tier spa and multiple restaurants, Zannier Bendor is about to make that fantasy very real. Opening May 1, 2026, this freshly revived slice of Provence is stepping back onto the world stage after a five-year glow-up.

Originally the passion project of pastis pioneer Paul Ricard (because of course the man behind anise liqueur also built an island), Île de Bendor has been lovingly restored by the Ricard family and the team at Zannier Hotels.

And the result is a rewilded, reimagined Mediterranean haven with 93 rooms spread across three distinct personalities: Delos (1960s French Riviera chic), Soukana (the zen wellness escape your burnout has been begging for), and Madrague (charming two-storey houses perfect for families who travel with stuff).

Food-wise, come hungry. There are three restaurants, four bars, a creperie, and the kind of culinary programming that heavily suggests you may never cook again. Expect sea-view fine dining at Le Grand Large, Provençal classics at Café Paul Ricard, and the wildly popular Nonna Bazaar making its mainland-France debut with enough sharing plates to ruin normal dining for you.

And then there’s the 1,200-square-metre spa, which casually pulls from Ayurveda, TCM, osteopathy, naturopathy, and whatever else your body didn’t know it needed. Pools, hammam, mud baths, Pilates, pickleball – all you have to do is pick your path to enlightenment.

Paul Ricard wanted an “island garden.” Zannier Bendor is bringing it back, with extra glamour, extra soul, and like, way more trees.

Sleep inside an art installation

Paris has always been dramatic, but this autumn, it’s officially gone full sci-fi. Le Meurice, the impossibly elegant Dorchester Collection hotel that’s been seducing artists for centuries, has teamed up with the design wizards at Things From. to create Suite 1835 – an immersive pop-up that’s both luxury stay and sensory hallucination.

Available from the 8th of October to the 31st of December, this suite isn’t just somewhere to dump your bags; it’s an interactive art installation where the furniture glows as you move, the carpet is made of aluminium, and the walls seem to hum with the future. Basically, it’s Versailles meets Blade Runner.

Guests can even wander into a neighbouring meditation room – think mirrored cube, AI-generated visuals that react to your “energy,” and a quadraphonic sound system.

Naturally, this kind of transcendental weirdness doesn’t come cheap – rooms start at AU$6,883 per night – but hey, enlightenment has never been part of the breakfast buffet. The silver lining? Some of the profits go toward scholarships at Ensaama, so at least your trip to another dimension helps fund the next generation of French designers.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience Paris through light, sound, and slightly trippy introspection, Le Meurice’s Suite 1835 is your one-way ticket to the future. Who wants in?

Beyond the Black Stuff: Dublin’s Open Gate Brewery Lets Guinness Go Wild

Slip down the cobbled lanes behind the Guinness mothership and you’ll find a discreet little door that feels more speakeasy than brewery. No neon, no fanfare and no hordes of tourists. Step inside and you’re not in the Guinness Storehouse throng anymore, you’re in the Open Gate Brewery, the secret lair where Ireland’s most famous pint takes its tie off and gets experimental.

We got lucky, real lucky, stumbling upon a random Stout Festival. Suddenly Guinness isn’t just Guinness, it’s a technicolour freak show of flavours: chili chocolate stout that smacks you silly, peanut butter stout that makes you question life choices, and tiramisu stout that somehow belongs on both a dessert menu and a tap list.

Long tables brim with tasting paddles and strangers debating with new friends about “the one stout to rule them all,” (that’s the Konbad Imperial that crosses my eyes ata lazy 10.5%). DJs keep it loud, the kitchen keeps it stout-soaked, and the whole thing feels more underground rave than brewery tour.

Come back on a regular night and the secret door still delivers. The crowd is thinner, but the taps are no less daring, There’s a selection of saisons, sours, coffee stouts and more beers the Guinness faithful are too polite to mention at the pub down the road. The space is stripped-back and communal, the food ridiculously good (try the stout-braised beef or whiskey-cured salmon), and the vibe one of discovery, like you’ve stumbled into a Dublin secret the tourists missed.

In short: Open Gate Brewery is Guinness gone rogue. Whether you sneak in during the chaos of a Stout Festival or on a quiet Wednesday, the back-door entrance is your ticket to a side of Dublin’s most famous brewery that most never see.

Play Ariodante’s new immersive game

Imagine a treasure hunt so exclusive, so top-secret that even your GPS wouldn’t spill the beans; this is The Queen’s Lost Diamonds, Ariodante’s audacious new immersive “anti-game” debuting in Paris this fall.

But this game is less ‘puzzle with a timer’ and more like a three-day, adrenaline-fueled odyssey across the City of Light where every cobblestone may be hiding a clue, and every café could be your downfall.

Forget the rules because you make your own. With over 100 unique structural scenes, an impressive actor-to-player ratio, and literally dozens of secret venues (some never open to civilians), this isn’t your typical gameplay; it’s guerrilla history.

Here, decisions aren’t hints—they’re your lifeline. Turn left down a dimly lit alley, and you might stumble into a conspiratorial meeting with a ghostly historical figure, and by “historical figure,” we mean anyone from Napoleon I to Delacroix, or a fashion designer who may or may not be part of the script.

Yeah so it costs a decent chunk of cash, starting at around AU971k, but what price do you put on being the hero of your own clandestine saga? Participants must be picked, vetted, and silenced under NDAs; after all, illusions must remain… well, illusive.

And sure, you could spend your weekend queuing to get into the Louvre (it’d be sooo much cheaper), but this game might just be the craziest immersive experience we’ve ever stumbled upon and wading into a different reality on the hunt for pricey gems beats taking a pic of the Mona Lisa any day.

Selar expeditions set to launch in 2026

If your idea of a cruise involves endless buffets, bingo nights, and enough emissions to melt the poles, Selar would like a quiet word (and a strong gust of wind).

Launching in 2026, Selar is the world’s first fully sustainable polar expedition company, and it’s here to prove that you can chase adventure and save the planet at the same time.

Helmed by Arctic explorer, ice pilot, and all-around badass Sophie Galvagnon (alongside two entrepreneurial trailblazers, Julia Bijaoui and Quentin Vacher), Selar’s luxury voyages will take just 36 lucky adventurers on noise-free, zero-emission journeys into the most remote reaches of the Arctic. We’re talking sails with solar panels, cabins with horizon views, a rooftop sauna, and hot chocolate served in driftwood huts. Pinterest, eat your heart out.

But there’s more. Selar’s trips have no set itinerary, just pure, spontaneous adventure. Spot a polar bear? Go silent and observe. Fancy a kayak around a glacier? Done. Want to ski down an untouched fjord then sip glögg under the Northern Lights? Absolutely.

You’ll share the ship with scientists, artists, and maybe a seal or two, as well as take part in polar clean-ups and citizen science. Because why just see the world when you can help save it?

Selar’s whole motto is that they’re ‘not a cruise, but an expedition’. But make it carbon-negative, luxury-forward, and wildly unforgettable.

Laugarás Lagoon

Just when you thought Iceland couldn’t get any more extra with its volcanoes, geysers and Björk, along comes Laugarás Lagoon, a brand-new, two-level geothermal wonderland opening this August. Yes, August 15. Mark it. Tattoo it. Whatever works.

Nestled in the Golden Circle near the town of Laugarás, this steamy newcomer isn’t your average hot spring. For starters, it has a cascading waterfall inside the lagoon. That’s right. You can literally soak, slide, and swan dive your way through levels of geothermally-heated luxury (it’s doing the most).

And the vibe is Nordic chic meets “I may never leave.” Expect warm mineral pools reaching up to 40°C, forest views, and two bars because nothing says wellness quite like sipping bubbly in a 5,000-year-old lava field.

If that’s not enough, there are also saunas, a glacial plunge pool (for people who enjoy voluntary suffering), and a secret grotto where you can hide from your travel companions or contemplate your life choices in peace.

And if all that lounging makes you hungry, fear not. Ylja, the onsite restaurant, is headed up by Icelandic culinary wizard Gísli Matt. Think hyper-local ingredients served with mountain views and zero shame if you wanna wear a robe to dinner.
In short: Laugarás Lagoon is set to be the country’s next hot thing, literally.