Critics Choice Vacations

06/02/2026

In Ecuador, luxury travel is helping protect some of the world’s most extraordinary ecosystems. At Mashpi Lodge, guests can support cloud forest restoration efforts, while Galápagos voyages aboard the National Geographic Delfina contribute to projects bringing giant tortoises back to Floreana Island. 🌎✨

Read more about the journeys featured on Virtuoso’s 2026 Impact List, then let’s plan your trip.

The best trips are more than just a great time – they also do good. Virtuoso’s 2026 Impact List celebrates travel experiences that make a positive impact in the world.

06/02/2026

Some trips are worth doing properly. These are three of them.

Japan. The food culture alone makes it worth the flight. Add the precision of the hospitality, the range from Tokyo to Kyoto to the ski resorts of Hokkaido, and becomes one of the most consistently excellent trips we design.

Safari. The wildlife, the guides, and the lodge experience at the top end of the market is something no nature documentary fully prepares you for.

The Maldives. The distance is real, the cost is real, and the experience tends to permanently reset what clients think a hotel stay can be.

Three different trips. The same result: clients who come home saying it was worth every dollar. Get in touch if any of these are on your list.

06/01/2026

Most people assume the work is done once a trip is confirmed. On our end, that's closer to when it begins.

After a booking is placed, we follow up with every property to confirm arrival details and communicate preferences. Preferred room assignments, dietary notes, occasion acknowledgments, and early check-in requests all go in at this stage, not as afterthoughts.

We track the booking through any itinerary changes. Flight times shift, connections get modified, and the downstream effects on transfers and hotel arrivals need to be caught before they become problems at the other end.

We stay in contact with suppliers in the weeks leading up to departure. For complex itineraries, that means multiple confirmations across properties, guides, and logistics contacts. Things confirmed in theory sometimes need to be confirmed in practice.

And we're reachable during the trip itself. If something doesn't go as planned, a room isn't ready, a transfer doesn't show, a restaurant confirmation falls through, the first call isn't to a front desk. It's to us.

This is what working with a travel advisor actually looks like. If you'd like to experience it for your next trip, get in touch.

05/31/2026

Christian Louboutin's first hotel is in a tiny coastal village in Portugal that most people have never heard of. Very on brand.

Vermelho means red in Portuguese, and Louboutin's signature color shows up exactly where you'd expect it. Each of the 13 rooms is individually designed with antique furniture, hand-painted frescoes, and artwork from his personal collection.

It's a Relais & Châteaux property, and the restaurant Xtian, serving Alentejo cuisine on hand-thrown local tableware, is a big part of why.

The village of Melides itself is the quieter, less discovered neighbor of Comporta on the Alentejo coast. The beach is a ten-minute ride away; guests get there in Fiat 500s with red roofs.

This is the kind of property that books up fast. Message us to start planning!

05/30/2026

A trip that covers seven cities in ten days has a name. It's called exhausting.

The itineraries we see most often overpacked are usually the ones built by people who've waited a long time for the trip and want to make sure they don't miss anything. That instinct is understandable. It also tends to produce the least memorable versions of the places on the list.

What we've found after planning a lot of these trips: the experiences clients talk about for years afterward almost never happened on a tight schedule. They happened when there was time to follow a recommendation, stay somewhere an extra night, or simply not be somewhere else at a specific time.

Moving every two nights rarely allows for that. A well-designed trip isn't about doing less. It's about choosing better and giving each place enough time to actually land.

That's one of the things we focus on when we help plan a trip. If you want help getting the balance right, get in touch.

05/29/2026

Does travel feel more expensive right now? It's not your imagination, and it's not one thing.

Demand at the top end of the market has grown considerably. More travelers competing for the same number of genuinely excellent hotels, private guides, and limited-access experiences means pricing has moved in one direction.

International premium cabin pricing has shifted significantly since 2022 and hasn't come back down. The windows where pricing softens are shorter than they used to be. Then there's the currency piece. A strong dollar helps in some markets and doesn't in others. Knowing where and when it matters is part of the planning.

What this means practically: the travelers who get the most out of their budget right now are planning further ahead, staying flexible with timing, and being strategic about where they spend well versus where it doesn't change the experience.

If you're trying to make sense of what a trip should actually cost right now, we're happy to walk through it with you.

05/29/2026

Summer travel doesn't have to mean Europe. Some of the best itineraries we're building right now are in Southeast Asia.

The island-hopping combination of Thailand and Indonesia is one of the strongest trips we put together. Private villas, boat charters through some of the most spectacular water in the world, extraordinary food, and a value proposition that Europe simply cannot compete with at the moment.

Thailand's Andaman islands, Koh Lanta, Koh Yao Noi, and the stretches well away from the main Phuket strip, set the tone beautifully before connecting into Bali as a second base. The Komodo Islands for diving and wildlife. Lombok for something calmer. Raja Ampat for some of the best marine biodiversity on earth.

05/28/2026

Set on a reimagined sheep farm turned luxury lodge, Eleven Deplar Farm is made for travelers who want big days and beautiful nights, featuring puffin-filled cliffs and heli-accessed adventures. 🏔️🍷

Read the five reasons this off-grid escape is worth a visit, then reach out to plan your adventure in Iceland’s north.

Island-sourced meals, a swim-up bar in a geothermal pool, and heli-hiking on Iceland’s northern Troll Peninsula.

05/27/2026

Some travelers are planning with a different set of priorities right now. Destinations that feel stable, well-organized, and deliver an excellent experience without uncertainty. A few we keep recommending:

Switzerland, for alpine adventures that are hard to match anywhere. In summer, gondola rides into the Alps, mountain coasters, and for the chocolate lovers, Geneva has an unlimited chocolate pass honored at the city's best artisanal chocolatiers.

Ireland and Scotland, for long summer days, the Wild Atlantic Way, and a hospitality culture that consistently surprises first-time visitors in the best way.

Japan, for cherry blossom season, world-class powder skiing, small-ship cruising along its coastline, and a level of cultural depth that clients say changed how they think about travel entirely.

Australia and New Zealand, for stunning natural landscapes, serious food culture, and a well-run English-speaking environment that works particularly well for first-time long-haul travelers. Book New Zealand now before its first Michelin Guide puts the best tables out of reach.

If this is the kind of trip you're planning, we'll help you find the right destination and design it properly.

05/26/2026

Puerto Rico’s cocina criolla is all about comfort, culture, and bold flavor. Rooted in Taíno, Spanish, and African influences, the island’s Creole cuisine tells its story one bold bite at a time 🌴🍽️

Read more below, then let’s plan a journey where food, culture, and beach days go hand in hand.

📷: Getty Images