Robb Report’s Top Ten Luxury Travel Trends Over The Last 40 Years
by Richard D'Ambrosio /The infinity pool at The Joule, Dallas. Photo: Facebook.
They are the milestones and innovations that have shaped the way people pamper themselves on the road; the ten most important trends luxury travel purveyors have created with staying power.
Robb Report, the voice for luxury in travel, autos and virtually every other aspect of life, lists the following top ten trends in its September Issue celebrating the publication’s 40th anniversary.
Private Island Resorts
Robb Report calls Private Island Resorts “the penultimate travel experience” since Richard Branson opened Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands in 1979. In 1995, Soneva Fushi started a similar trend in the Maldives, and Robb Report notes how in 2009, illusionist David Copperfield opened the $39,000-a-night Musha Cay and the Islands at Copperfield Bay.
Celebrity Chef Restaurants
It was when Wolfgang Puck opened a Spago restaurant at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1992, that celebrity chefs became permanent guests at hotels and resorts looking to distinguish themselves. The trend even launched celebrity chef hotels, like Nobu Matsuhisa’s Nobu-branded hotels.
Infinity Edge Pools
Starting in the 1990s, hoteliers fooled us into thinking our swim and our stay could go on forever. Robb Report features photos “over-the-top tiered” Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan and “the heart-stopping” cantilevered rooftop pool at the Joule, a Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel in Dallas.
Private Jet Tours
Round the world private jet tours started with companies like TCS World Travel, letting the rich and famous visit remote destinations like Mongolia, Easter Island, and Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. In October, TCS’s 250th trip is priced from $76,950 per person.
Craft Cocktails
Robb Report credits the 2002 opening of Milk and Honey in London, for launching “a full-blown cocktail craze” in hotel bars at chains like the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton. “Today, the trend has blossomed into a full-blown revolution, in which bartenders are regarded as attractions in their own rights,” the magazine reports.
Luxury Adventure Travel
Botswana-based Wilderness Safaris started offering luxury tents at their wildlife camps back in 1983. Ten years later, Singita opened its first safari lodge in South Africa’s Sabi Sand Reserve.
Full-Service Spas
Was it really 1986 when North America saw its first full-service hotel spa? According to Robb Report, the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas was the innovator, providing private treatment rooms for massages and facials, sauna, and every other amenity common to the must-have full-service spa.
River Cruises
Uniworld, Viking Cruises, and Belmond let river cruisers luxuriate in sumptuous surroundings while the scenery floats by.
Hotel Residences
In 1982, the Four Seasons Hotel Boston set aside eight floors for condominiums, launching the Four Seasons Residential program.
Eco Resorts
Wilderness Safaris launched in Botswana in 1983 while in the Maldives, Soneva Fushi opened collecting rainwater, composting and recycling. In 2009, Australia’s Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley declared itself the world’s first carbon-neutral resort.