In our latest edition of Tables We Love, we take you to Anacapri and the restaurant, La Terrazza di Lucullo restaurant at Caesar Augustus Hotel. Far from the daytrippers of Capri, this Relais & Chateaux hotel offers a lovely respite with an incredible view to accompany, breakfast, lunch or dinner, this is just the kind of table we love.
Nothing represents a country better than the iconic blue and white of Greece. The Greeks are not big on rules, but one we’re glad they keep is the all-white architecture that contrasts so beautifully with the many aquamarines of the Mediterranean Sea. Take it all in from this perch at the chic Chromata hotel, where informal sophistication is not an oxymoron.
We recently returned from the very first We Are Africa, North America edition. We had a wonderful four days meeting with East and Southern Africa’s best safari camp owners and operators. One of the camps we met was Governors Camp, which has been established in Kenya for over 40 years; perhaps that is why old friends never forget lunch time.
You've taken a helicopter to the top of the glacier; you've had a great morning hiking, filling your lungs with uncommonly fresh, clean air; you're on vacation, but have had a pleasant workout. You turn the corner and there it is - a surprise feast carved in the ice. You say to yourself, "this is the type of trip I've always dreamed of."
There are many incredible views to be had on the Amalfi Coast, but one of our favourites is at Casa Angelina. Located just south of Positano, err, or is that east of Positano? Yes, east, which means the sunsets over the Mediterranean are incredible. One last thing, be sure to ask for the chocolate trolley after dinner (following pics)!
"Our stay in Vienna was great, the highlight was at Steirereck – we had the best table in the place, tucked in a bay looking out over the room offering great people watching." ~ Chris H.
Ranked #10 in the world, Steirereck recently underwent a stunning renovation. The restaurant is located in the picturesque heart of Vienna’s Stadtpark in an airy glass cube, surrounded by light, trees, and concrete. The simplicity of the space allows the incredible dishes to shine when presented at your table. Guten Appetit!
What to do when one sister heads off to Europe to study and everyone misses her? There is only so much bonding one can do on Snapchat and Facetime before you just need some face-to-face sister time!
We organized a memorable trip that met every interest of these adventure-seeking women (one is a bestie... can you spot her?) and kept the family memories building!
Experiences included a guided Cafe Culture walking tour in Prague, front row seats at a local hockey game, a visit to the famous Christmas markets in Vienna, a Private Shopping tour to check out local designers, a performance at the opera at the renown Wiener Staatsoper, and diving into the music and art scene in Salzburg Austria.
Memories built that will last a lifetime!
A visit to Lucerne must include a trip up Mount Rigi for the beautiful panoramic view of its famous lake below. The best way to navigate your way around is with your very own St Bernard, replete day with the traditional barrel of emergency liquid. In this case, the view was not so great, but Barry was great company nevertheless.
BTW, Did you know there was a Great St. Bernard Pass, used by humans to cross the mountain range since the Bronze Age?
Daughter is in University in Europe leaving her mother an ocean apart so we crafted some quality time:
You did it again...
Just when I think I have seen and done everything on my bucket list, you tweak an itinerary that was suppose to be a simple trip to visit a daughter into a simply magical experience! We LOVED the culinary food tour. The food was delicious! Eating and walking, combined with a bit of history made for a super fun and perfect evening under the Athens night sky. Our guide for the Mythology tour was also awesome. We were fascinated by her
stories of the Greek Gods and historic sites built to honor them. And then there's Santorini...WOW! Very nice way to end our travels with a little sight-seeing, hiking and relaxing.
You certainly take the stress out of traveling abroad! Never a glitch or concern about getting to and from airports, hotels, tours. Nice balance between organized touring and time to explore on your own.
Thank you, sincerely, for another wonderful vacation!
Mom & Daughter!
Chào mừng bạn đến viet nam and Welcome to Vietnam!
A family of six asked us to plan a memorable trip to Vietnam over the holidays. They wanted to travel deep and vacation well. Vietnam is the perfect place to bookend experiential travel with time to chill out. Along the way, they will take a Vespa food tour, explore caves and stay on a farm ~ a great trip for the Holidays or Spring Break.
Like the Mayans before you, the Haab' at Banyan Tree Mayakoba gives you a deep-in-the-jungle mystical experience featuring the four sacred elements of water, earth, wind and fire. We're not sure if the ancient Mayans had a killer tequila bar with dedicated bartender at their whim (see the bar on the left), but either way, you and 17 of your besties could have quite a night here.
Travellers recently home from a trip to Spain. We sent them to La Donaira, one of our new favourite places in the Andalucian countryside and it exceeded all expectations.
"Wow. This place was the highlight of the trip by a mile!.......
....... It is the vision of the billionaire founder of PartyPoker, and the house and rooms are off-the-charts awesome. The kitchen was magnificent, and we were served 3 wonderful fresh, organic, vegetarian meals per day directly from the farm products from a world-class chef. We did yoga overlooking the massive fields and hills with an instructor. The natural spring-fed pool with zero chemicals was incredible. And the spa – not on the website yet as it is new – was crazy – huge infinity lap pool with windows overlooking the hills, sauna, ice bath, etc. Horses everywhere. We did a big hike on the property. We would have stayed for 4-5 nights. Ridiculous deal seeing as its all inclusive.
Absolute Heaven."
One of our favourite Napa Valley Getaways, Calistoga Ranch by Auberge Resorts
September is prime time in Napa Valley. From our perspective anytime is a good time to be in the Valley, but right now the grapes are being harvested and the weather is perfect. This September we have a couple of Impresario travellers smart enough to take advantage of this great time of year. One of the trips is staying at the wonderful Calistoga Ranch, recently ranked in the top five in the world by Travel + Leisure's 2017 World's Best awards. The ranch is tucked into a private canyon in the Upper Valley on a 157-acre property marked by ancient oaks, majestic hills, a rock-hewn stream and private lake. This is the way we would suggest doing it!
Soneva Fushi in the Maldives is a trek for a North American - worth at least a week's stay, if you can do it! Once there you do not have to go anywhere, it is all here. At the very least there is a Table We Love to choose from almost every night.
Recently we booked some of our favourite travellers a week-long stay at the beautiful Birkenhead House in Hermanus. While the annual accolades from Condé Nast and other tastemakers are well-deserved, it's the clifftop location of this beach house that we adore. Whether for breakfast, dinner or even a massage, this perch provides all the reasons we need to add it to "Tables We Love".
The newly opened, futuristic-looking Mar Adentro (Spanish for 'The Sea Inside') 5-star hotel, located in Baja California Sur, has not one but two incredible tables we love.
The first, their romantic sushi restaurant El Nido ('The Nest'), makes the biggest design statement. Sheltered under an eye-catching upside-down nest (made of actual twigs!) it appears to drift on a pool of water.
As for the hotel's main restaurant, Origen, its setting is no less impressive to El Nido's. Guests can enjoy alfresco dining within the hyper-modern all-white aesthetic of the hotel, while looking out at the contrasting blue of the Pacific Ocean.
Table for two please!
After studying Venetian Art for a semester at University, Pat wanted to go to Venice. We created a trip that put her in front of all the great things she had studied, which included five nights in Venice, then popping around the Veneto to see more important works in Ravenna, Mantua, Vicenza, and Padua. The last night was in Asolo at the special Villa Cipriani.
Cliffs of Moher
Who: Family of Five
Where: Ireland
When: March
Why: To visit their daughter, studying in Dublin, and explore the countryside as a family
Ireland is the quintessential spot for a family trip. It’s a small country but certainly packs a punch. We recently planned a 10-day trip there for a family of five. They just got back and loved every minute of it (ok maybe not the rain on one of their walking tours - but what’s a visit to Ireland without a wee bit of drizzle).
Some of their highlights included staying in the 18th Ballynahinch Castle in Connemara, being entertained by the wonderful storytelling of their guide Barry on their Kinsale walking tour and catching a demo of sheep dogs herding in their flock at a working sheep farm. To top it off, their main guide Eric introduced them to hidden gems (restaurants, pubs and other spots and sites) not found in many a guidebook, giving them a real flavour for the local culture.
In their words…
“Thank you Chris for organizing such a wonderful tour and making sense of our original wish list which was literally all over the map. Couldn't have picked better places to visit and stay. All accommodations inside and out of Dublin were lovely!
Looking at the map that Eric kindly mapped out tracing our route I'm amazed at the ground we covered and all we saw from major attractions to little out of the way places. And learned so much as well as being entertained and catered to! Thanks again to all who put this 'family tour' together. It was a great success.”
- GL & LL, reflecting from home in Toronto
In a country full of fantastic lodges, Otahuna is one of New Zealand's best. The grand house built in 1895 is lovely, but we all know it is the people that make the difference, in this case it is chef Jimmy McIntyre. In our series of Tables We Love, we present two very different experiences Otahuna can provide. A fabulous lunch with a view and a divine dinner fit for royalty both wonderfully prepared by Jimmy. Two Impresarios have been to Otahuna and we agree it offers some of the best eating in New Zealand.
Imagine sitting down in talcum powder-soft sand for a candle-lit meal with that special someone, and that view stretched out in front of you. We present another table that we love, this time from Zanzibar, created by Mnemba Resort, one of the dreamiest we've ever seen!
"We have arrived! Omg Florence is beautiful, and the hotel is amazing! ... When we arrived at the hotel, they gave us a late breakfast and just brought us some bubbly. So they are looking after us here!
... The cheese farm was excellent and so was lunch, beef, beef, beef beef, BEEF.... I just want to say, every restaurant you recommended was absolutely amazing. We definitly left heavier!
... Just wanted to say thanks for all your help..... I absolutely loved it there, and will certainly find time again to go and spend more time there."
" Everything went very well...great job! We liked Crowbush Cove the best of the PEI golf courses followed by Dundarave and Green Gables....
.... All the tee time reservations worked well...they knew we were coming....
... Your booklet was great...keep doing it!"
"Thank you for a great and memorable trip, it was so nice to have everything planned out for you with such organization and attention to detail.
We also appreciated that you worked so hard to find us the right tour operations and excursions so we didn't mind the back and forth in the planning at all.
We will definitely be using Travel Impresarios in the future. It's been a pleasure!"
“I just wanted to drop you a note to say we are home (sadly) but we had a GREAT time! All of the tours and tour guides were fantastic - my favourite was Stonehenge… loved the battlefields day (it was spectacular with a lovely day spent driving through the French countryside), and … the Louvre tour.
... Again, thank you for everything, especially the wonderfully precise directions on how to get from place to place which saved us a huge amount of precious time.
We'll be in touch for future trips and will pass on your info to others!”
“On a scale of 1-10 this vacation was an 11.5 - seriously, we had an absolutely fabulous time.
… Ranguana is paradise. snorkeling is crazy good, the beach is divine, the water literally teeming with life (e.g. in our first five minutes on the island, wading through the crystal waters a nurse shark cruised by us. eg. bird-life included frigate birds, osprey, boobies, ducks, a kestrel or merlin and one very confused barn swallow)….
… Did I mention it was paradise? We've been to some incredible places before, but none more amazing than this.
… Thanks again, we feel incredibly fortunate to have had this experience.”
"The vacation was amazing! ....
... The highlight of Venice for me was the boat tour. Our guides went above and beyond. They truly made the day.
... The Parmesan Cheese and Balsamic Vinegar producers were interesting to visit. I actually heard my son talking to his friend about it on the phone today! Gelato making was lots of fun, a definite recommendation."
"We truly appreciate your efficiency and attention to detail in planning all our trips. It allows us to give our full attention to experiencing each new place and while the guides you arrange for us are always excellent we especially loved our guide in Poland....
...... We were happy to return to the hotel Ca Sagredo in Venice. They opened the door to our bedroom and I burst out laughing. It is approximately the size of our main floor. I felt like I should pack a lunch to walk to the bathroom. We had not known last time we were there that Galileo spent much time and probably invented the telescope there....
......Thank you for enabling our continued attempts at enriching our lives and becoming better human beings"
“Thank you for organizing such a wonderful tour and making sense of our original wish list which was literally all over the map.
Couldn't have picked better places to visit and stay. All accommodations inside and out of Dublin were lovely! Glad we had a chance to stay at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, loved the decor and staff.
I'm amazed at the ground we covered and all we saw from major attractions to little out of the way places. And learned so much as well as being entertained and catered to!
It was a great success.”
“House is stunning! Weather great ... Hiked the north shore trail today and swam in a waterfall pool ... Doesn’t get much better!!”
— A family of five escaping to Maui and Kauai for hiking, snorkeling, biking, surfing and lots of other adventurous things ending in "ing"
