Thinking of the ultimate romantic international getaway in 2022? Take inspiration from the luxury hotels celebrities like to holiday at, writes Francesca Syz.
This Art Deco hotel just off the Champs-Elysees has been welcoming the world's most well-heeled travellers since it opened in in 1928. Today it has three Michelin-awarded restaurants with five stars between them, a decadent new spa, elegant swimming pool and a courtyard for al fresco dining. It even has a tucked-away vintage lift just for VIPs, of which there are many.
The hotel's artistic director and celebrity florist, Jeff Leatham, is responsible for the extraordinary flower displays throughout the hotel. The hotel is a favourite with Gwyneth Paltrow, who checked in with Brad Falchuk after their star-studded wedding in the Hamptons in 2018.
Where Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk stayed: In one of the hotel's three vast presidential suites, with a Turkish bath, ice fountain, living room, dining room and spectacular views over Avenue Georges V. From $25,600 per night. fourseasons.com
Privacy is everything at this award-winning Turks and Caicos resort, a white-washed wellness retreat frequented by Bruce Willis and Donna Karan, both of whom have owned houses on it (Willis sold the one he'd owned there for 20 years for US$27,000 in 2019), Alexa Chung and Cara Delevingne, who has called it her favourite island in the world.
The 405ha private island in the northern Caribbean is home to rooms, beach villas and private estates, a COMO Shambhala Spa and is even big enough to have its own wetlands and nature trails. Other celebrity visitors include American socialite and entrepreneur Olivia Palermo and her ridiculously handsome German husband and model, Johannes Huebl, who settled in for a week.
Where Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl stayed: A two-bedroom Beach House, which costs from approximately $7630 per night. comohotels.com
The honeymoon destination of choice for actor Idris Elba and model Sabrina Dohwre, riverside Singita Faru Faru sits in the heart of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania, along the renowned annual migratory route of the wildebeest.
The stylish, Scandi-chic lodge, which has nine tented suites with private pools, two organically shaped communal pools and elevated viewing decks over a prime watering hole, provides its guests with exclusive access to more than142,000ha of the Serengeti Mara ecosystem.
As well as twice-daily game drives, guided walks and exquisite food, there are other romantic experiences on offer, like hot air ballooning at dawn over the savannah plains.
Where Idris Elba and Sabrina Dohwre stayed: a tented suite with a private pool, which costs from $3381pp, per night. singita.com
Just four degrees south of the equator, this tiny, verdant, sensitively-developed island with just 17 private villas was the original Seychelles private island resort that set the standard for the rest, most notably, North Island, where guests have included the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and George and Amal Clooney.
Fregate has remained an excellent offering, its eco-credentials going from strength to strength, with a huge hydroponic farm growing all its fresh produce and most of the island left to the free-roaming giant turtles. Honeymooners over the years have included Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayer, and Ronan Keating and Storm Uechtritz, who jetted off there after a few days at Ulusaba in South Africa.
Where Ronan Keating and Storm Uechritz stayed: A private pool residence, which costs from $8738 per night. fregate.com
This trailblazing Maldivian resort set the agenda for conservation tourism in the Maldives 25 years ago and has never looked back. It was one of the first luxury resorts to champion the idea of really taking a circuit break from ordinary life while there, with a refreshing "no news, no shoes" policy and has been a magnet for high-profile travellers looking for exclusive, intelligent luxury.
Fans include Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler and Katy Perry. Actors Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas honeymooned there in 2019. Since their visit the hotel has launched eight huge one-and-two-bedroom Water Retreats, which, as they sound, are over-water villas – a first for the trailblazing conservation-minded island.
Where Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas stayed: a one-bedroom Crusoe Villa, which costs from $2995 per night. soneva.com
Nihi Sumba, Indonesia
This remote Indonesian hideaway owned by fashion designer Tory Burch's ex-husband, Chris Burch, is tucked away on Sumba Island, which is twice the size of Bali but completely unspoilt and little known and just an hour's flight from it.
The property has 33 villas and an even more exclusive private residence – Chris Burch's own home, Raja Mendaka, an estate with five villas on it. Unsurprisingly, it's this offering that attracts the most high-profile guests, like Christian Bale, Heidi Klum and the Beckhams. It's also where Jennifer Lawrence and Cooke Maroney honeymooned in 2019.
Where Jennifer Lawrence and Cooke Maroney stayed: Raja Mendaka, the owner's five-villa estate within the resort, which costs from approx. $11,385 per night on an exclusive-use basis. nihi.com
Aman's modernist luxury desert retreat, set in a 243ha wilderness sanctuary in the parched wilds of Utah, first opened in 1998 and has been a favourite with, well, everyone from Brangelina, who went there a decade ago for some "mommy and daddy time" to almost all the Kardashians, who never seem to stop going.
In July 2020, Hailey Bieber's Instagram account was brimming with pictures of her and husband Justin cuddling on rocks, during a romantic summer stay.
The resort later added Camp Sarika – a luxurious glamping offering with accommodation in 10 tented pavilions a five-minute drive away, for those who want to play at "roughing it".
Where the Biebers stayed: the vast Amangiri Suite, with a large private lap pool, a sky terrace with a daybed for sunbathing and stargazing, a firepit and multiple dining areas. From $7467 per night. aman.com
The Cadogan has a long, colourful history, which looks set to continue now it's in the hands of the Belmond hotel group, albeit in a more sedate way. While it has welcomed many a well-known guest over the years and the actress and socialite Lillie Langtry, who lived next door, was rumoured to have often met her lover, King Edward VII, there on the sly, the main guest who springs to mind is Langtry's friend Oscar Wilde.
Wilde often checked into Room 118 despite living with his wife and kids just a 10-minute walk away, to enjoy many a dalliance with men. Homosexuality being illegal at the time, he was eventually arrested at the hotel on April 6, 1895.
Where Oscar Wilde stayed: Room 118 back then, Wilde's room is now The Royal Suite and costs from $9471 per night. belmond.com
Check Ministry of Health advice and alert level and border restrictions before travel. covid19.govt.nz and safetravel.govt.nz
A spontaneous doco binge leads to kayaking, cable cars and coastline in vibrant Cape Town.