Uwern Jong, Experientialist-in-Chief, OutThere magazine

South African man in a long ochre robe talks to male Asian tourist in a white shirt, shorts and tan boots in the gardens of on a healing farm hotel in South Africa

Virtuoso Travel Week 2025:
In the next, inevitably AI-driven year, will human connection become the ultimate luxury?

One phrase echoed with particular resonance at Virtuoso® Travel Week earlier this year – "Human Connection" and we are reminded that while technology can send us anywhere in a click, it is still people who make travel truly OutThere.

Cali Mykonos birds-eye view over very long infinity pool, whitewashed buildings and Aegean Sea

Cali Mykonos
Mykonos, Greece

There’s a moment, somewhere between the last boat back from Super Paradise and the eye-watering bill at Scorpios,...

Birds fly over the rocky, mid-century modern walls of Mykonos Theoxenia poolside accommodation

Mykonos Theoxenia
Mykonos, Greece

While many of the island’s newer five-star contenders have gone for what we affectionately call “Cycladic clone chic”...

External views of a cubic villa with an outdoor pool

Capella Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand

There’s something intoxicatingly poetic about the Chao Phraya River at dusk. It shimmers like a silken ribbon flung...

Bougainvilla strewn suite terrace with sun beds, chairs and plunge pool looking out over the Caldera at Andronis Boutique Hotel

Andronis Boutique Hotel
Oia, Santorini, Greece

You haven’t really seen Santorini until you’ve sipped chilled Assyrtiko in a plunge pool, suspended somewhere between volcanic...

Exterior of the Carbon and Carbide Building in Chicago, now the Pendry Chicago with gilt gold trimmings, black frontage, art deco features and green terracotta tiles

Pendry Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA

There was something rather ‘magnificent’ (it had to be said!) about waking up in one of Chicago’s most...

View of Tokyo Tower from the Tokyo EDITION Toranomon lobby

The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon
Tokyo, Japan

If the playful, design-forward and effortlessly luxurious EDITION hotels in Japan were a family, then The Tokyo EDITION...

Bedroom interiors at Leven Manchester with monochrome artwork above bed and brown leather headboard

LEVEN Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom

Some hotels you simply check into. At LEVEN Manchester, you more or less move in – or at...

Six Senses Kyoto spa pool overlooking garden

Six Senses Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan

The storied Japanese city of Kyoto has a tendency to whisper rather than shout. It’s a city of...

Villas along the shore at The Brando, French Polynesia

The Brando
Tetiaroa, French Polynesia

It’s not every day that Mother Nature and Marlon Brando have a lovechild, but if they did, it...

The Prince Park Tower
Tokyo, Japan

Many hotels claim to be in the heart of Tokyo, but this one can do so rightfully, cradled...

Janice Tjon Sien Kie with her partner Beatriz and dog Chivaz

Viewpoint:
Janice Tjon Sien Kie, Outcaribbean, Curacao

Janice Tjon Sien Kie helped build Curaçao Pride and gain marriage equality for the Caribbean outpost, proving that even the smallest islands can make the biggest changes.

Opulent hotel lobby in Park Lane, London

The Dorchester
London, United Kingdom

The Dorchester is many things: a grand dame of London’s hotel scene; a showcase of gilded glitz and...

NYC Thai-American Drag Queen Pattaya Hart

Scott Dunn x Tourism Authority of Thailand:
NYC Pride

There are few places in the world that speak to the soul of OutThere quite like New York...

Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC
NYC, USA

Some hotels stir a sense of déjà vu – impossibly familiar, comforting, almost. For us, the Gansevoort Meatpacking...

Two women at sunset on the beach, travel proud with Scott Dunn

Scott Dunn:
Travel proud all year round

In today’s world, where travel is transformative, liberating and deeply personal, Pride Month is a vibrant reminder that...

Santo Mine Oia Suites
Oia, Santorini, Greece

There is a moment, just before sunset, when the light dips low and the Aegean basks in an...

L’Ermitage Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

To the casual, unknowing eye, L’Ermitage Beverly Hills could easily be overlooked – and actually, that’s sort of...

Aman Venice
Venice, Italy

The Aman brand may be renowned for its luxurious minimalism and rich simplicity. But in “La Serenissima”, it’s...

Rosewood Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand

The Rosewood Bangkok is a sleek, avant-garde and design-forward reverie of Thai metropolitan decadence – a towering promise...

Man with rainbow glitter in his hair and face at Pride

Editor’s viewpoint:
Pride month – still here, still queer and still fighting

As we enter June, the Experientialist® pauses to ask: what does Pride really mean today? And why it is so important that we celebrate it authentically? This isn’t your typical Pride Month message.

Eden Rock St Barths
St. Barts

Eden Rock is unquestionably in reach of Caribbean ‘grande dame’ status but seems however to respectfully decline such...

Forever boho
St. Barts

Quick to magnetise the jet-set in its early years, St Barths’ original beacon of utopian high-end hedonism, Eden...

Cowboy and his horse at Diamond Cross Ranch, Jackson Hole

New at Four Seasons:
From horse/seahorse whispering to alpinotherapy, expect more sizzle to your stay

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts are artfully blending already experiential check-ins with more immersive, one-of-a-kind adventures. The Experientialist® takes a closer look at what’s new at the iconic hotel brand.

Canal plus
Venice, Italy

At first glance, the gracious palazzos, labyrinthine streets and winding waterways that made ‘La Serenissima’ the world’s first...

Penthouse bedroom with a view of the Empire State Building at The Dominick

The Dominick
NYC, USA

Once under the management of the Trump hotel group – though now thoroughly grown up and determinedly distancing...

Ducks gather in front of old Dutch era farm house at Babylonstoren, South Africa

Babylonstoren
Franschhoek, South Africa

There is a moment – perhaps while walking barefoot through the manicured rows of the garden, or catching...

W Osaka
Osaka, Japan

In the Japanese city that continues to defy expectations and dance to its own eclectic beat, the W...

La Gniappe band in New Orleans, at the start of a Louisiana roadtrip

The Spirit of Louisiana road trip:
Bayous, byways and belonging

A Louisiana roadtrip isn’t merely about ticking off towns on a map; it’s about diving headfirst into a culture that is joyfully, unapologetically itself. And that, in our humble opinion, is a rather splendid reason to hit the road.

Ett Hem
Stockholm, Sweden

Since it emerged on the Stockholm hospitality scene, Ett Hem has become known as the top dog for luxurious...

Soneva Fushi
The Maldives

Soneva Fushi, in the azure expanse of the Indian Ocean, is a paradisiacal playground that has, for over...

Thompson Central Park New York
NYC, USA

Amidst the OutThere energy of New York City, the sleek urban sanctuary that is Thompson Central Park deftly...

Sky Gallery Lounge Levita at Prince Gallery Kioicho in Tokyo

The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Tokyo, Japan

The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, offers an artful blend of luxury and cultural immersion in the Japanese capital....

Chef Mauro Colagreco in his garden at Mirazur a Relais and Chateaux restaurant in France

Relais & Châteaux:
Seven chefs celebrate seven decades of luxury rooted in epicurean excellence

For over seventy years, Relais & Châteaux has curated epic luxury stories, shaped by the hands of artisans in hospitality. To celebrate those stories, we speak to seven visionary chefs who are redefining fine-dining by honouring the land, its culture, diversity, and sustainable practices.

Experientialist Awards 2025 winners trophy and Awards Issue

The Experientialist® Awards 24/25:
The winners

Drumroll, please! It’s time to unveil the winners of this year’s Experientialist® Awards – our not-for-profit, feel-good celebration of luxury brands and visionaries who’ve gone above and beyond with bold, community-driven and downright ingenious initiatives.