The Dandelion Chandelier Luxury Travel Calendar highlights the top 5 luxury travel destinations in March, and select luxury hotel and resort openings around the world in March 2018. For the rest of the Luxury Calendar, click here.
March marks the arrival of spring, but the travel calendar seems to want to jump past it and right into a summertime vibe, with all of the fantastic beach and oceanfront resorts opening this month. In the Maldives, Seychelles and the Andaman Islands you’ll find the luxury of seclusion and untapped beaches to indulge in. In Marbella and Grenada, there are resorts filled with sophistication and glamour. Love culture and history? From ancient Chinese dwellings transported across time, to masterpieces on the walls and on the dining plates, to the old world romance of the rails, there’s something new in March to fuel your wanderlust. Let’s go!
Here are our top 5 picks for luxury travel destinations in March:
1. Spain. Take a road trip across the peninsula and explore the charming small towns along the way. For example, Benasque is surrounded by the tallest peaks in the Pyrenees, making it ideal for outdoor activities. Explore hiking trails, waterfalls, and do some fly fishing.
2. The Emilia Romagna region in Italy provides culinary delights such as balsamic vinegar, Parma ham and Parmigiano. It’s also the birthplace of luxury automobiles, including Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. Visit markets and take an afternoon cooking class in Parma, then visit the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. If you go late in the month, you might want to stay in Italy and celebrate Palm Sunday or Easter in Rome — we did that for Palm Sunday one year, and it was a wonderful experience.
Rimini, in the Emilio-Romagna region of northern Italy
3. Mexico. It’s prime time for whale-watching in Baja, so why not head to the west coast of Mexico? By the way, it’s also prime time for celebrity-watching in Cabo San Lucas.
4. March is the driest month of the year in Vietnam; take advantage of the sunshine and explore the northern mountains, navigate the waters of Halong Bay in a private junk or visit the Khoai Chau district and watch human chess-playing and dragon dancing at the Chu Dong Tu festival.
Spring in Vietnam
5. Ireland seems like a perfect destination in this month of St. Patrick’s Day. We’re keen to stay at the newly-renovated stately Adare Manor.
Recent and upcoming luxury hotel and resort openings, and other travel news you should know:
Aman junkies, rejoice! The long -waited Amanyangyun on the outskirts of Shanghai is finally open. The culmination of years of careful restoration and conservation efforts, it features 13 antique resort villas and 24 guest suites that offer serenity in the heart of historic China. The villas are authentic, centuries-old structures from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, relocated to save them from demolition. Each one comes equipped with its own swimming pool and a heated Jacuzzi, while each suite features two private courtyards and an outdoor bath. The spa is the other big draw here, hosting bathhouses and a banya.
Amanyangyun
After several delays, the Rosewood Phnom Penh in Cambodia is open. The ultra-luxury hotel occupies the top 14 floors of Vattanac Capital Tower One in the heart of the Central Business District and features 175 rooms; the property offers panoramic views of the city and the fabled Mekong River. Dining options include a 120-seat bistro, a 60-seat lobby lounge, two specialty restaurants and a sky bar on a cantilevered terrace.
Luxury road trip! The Four Seasons has launched the classic car experience Road Trip to La Dolce Vita. Cruise between the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Four Seasons Hotel Milano and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in a 1960 Giulietta Spider, a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Cabrio or a 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster.
Also now open is the highly-anticipated MGM Cotai in Macau. Inside the $3.4 billion resort, you’ll find nearly 1,400 rooms splashed in glass and earth tones; a 300-piece MGM Cotai Art Collection; the MGM Theater; and the Chef Graham Elliot-helmed restaurant Coast, specializing in creating edible masterpieces. Sounds like it was worth the wait!
The MGM Cotai, Macau
Located inside a historic 19th-century heritage building in the revitalized ancient port neighborhood of Jaffa is the new W Tel Aviv. The trendy hotel provides a cutting-edge lifestyle experience, featuring 125 stylish guest rooms and suites, including one Extreme WOW Suite (W’s interpretation of the Presidential Suite), as well as panoramic views of the Mediterranean coast.
Kudadoo Private Island by Hurawalhi is one of the most exciting hotel openings in the Maldives this year; the resort was designed by the world-renowned Yuji Yamasaki. The adults-only private island has just 15 luxurious overwater villas; its serviced by the adjacent Hurawalhi Maldives, which is only 5 minutes away, allowing guests to make full use of all the facilities of a larger resort. There, guests will find scuba diving and snorkeling, water sports and excursions, and a choice of fine dining experiences including ‘5.8’ – the world’s largest all-glass undersea restaurant.
Kudadoo Maldives Private Island by Hurawalh
The Four Seasons Seychelles at Desroches Island is the only resort on this captivating coral island. The resort has just 71 accommodations, including villas, bungalows, suites and residences. Only a 35-minute flight from Mahé stands between you and 14 kilometers of private soft white sand beaches.
The Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, Andaman Islands arrives this month at one of the world’s great beach destinations: an archipelago of 300 islands in the Bay of Bengal. Filled with bristling jungle, twisting mangroves and champagne-colored sands, there are countless nature- inspired activities to partake in, including underwater photography and rare turtle-spotting expeditions. Foodies will love the fine dining restaurant fusing Bengali with south-east Asian flavors, as well as the eatery specializing in curries cooked using catch from the Andaman Sea.
The sophisticated community of Uptown Houston touts itself as the place “where you can have it all.” With opening of the 250-room, amenity-filled Post Oak (full-service spa, two higher-end restaurants, a 20,000-bottle wine collection and an onsite Bentley dealership) opening, we’re inclined to agree with that bold declaration.
Another resort that’s crossed our radar is the Six Senses Uluwatu, opening on a superb clifftop setting in Bali. Slated to debut in Pecatu this month, the resort will be close to the famous Uluwatu Temple, an ancient and important spiritual place on the island. Like the temple, the Six Senses Uluwatu will have sweeping views of the sea. In addition to the views, enjoy locally inspired specialty spa treatments together with and extensive range of signature therapies.
The Uluwatu Six Senses, Bali
Grenada offers plenty of natural beauty: sugary sand beaches, waterfalls and lush tropical forest with hiking trails. However, the island has never had the name recognition of other luxurious Caribbean islands. Set to debut this month, Silversands aims to change that: it’s the first major hotel project on the famous Grand Anse Beach in more than a quarter-century. It features 43 suites and nine residential villas spread along a beach and hillside. The resort will also feature a 300-plus-foot swimming pool, the longest in the Caribbean.
Belmond is creating new levels of luxury aboard the legendary Vince Simplon-Orient-Express train with the addition of three new Grand Suites, each themed after cities to which the train travels: Paris, Venice and Istanbul. Capturing the spirit of each city while staying true to the train’s original 1920s Art-Deco design, the new suites have private bathrooms with showers, double beds and a living area. Guests traveling in the suites will enjoy private transfers to and from the train, where they will be welcomed by their personal cabin steward available for all their on-board services, including champagne and caviar on arrival, preferred dining times or in-suite dining. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express travels between London, Paris and Venice beginning this month through November, and from Paris to Istanbul once a year in late summer – March 21
Exclusively for adults, the luxury five-star Nobu Marbella is poised to bring sophistication and style to the ‘Golden Mile’ of Marbella. Boasting an array of luxurious amenities, including a world-class tennis club, a Dave Thomas-designed golf-course as well as an equestrian center, guests of this 81-room resort will also have VIP access to Marbella’s most chic nightclub, La Suite – March 29
Nobu Hotel Marbella
Royal Caribbean International’s newest ship, Symphony of the Seas, is set to launch from Barcelona with new restaurants and entertainment venues, a re-imagined Boardwalk and new cabin categories; at more than 230,000 gross registered tons, she’s reportedly the world’s largest cruise ship, carrying 5,500 guests – March 31
See other March 2018 Events:
— The Arts
Join our community
For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter. And see luxury in a new light.