Transpacific Bound

Hotels, Resorts & Luxury

Hotel and resort reviews, openings, service, design, and value.

Use this collection to decide where a better room, resort, cruise, or level of service materially improves the trip. The guides compare location, privacy, design, food, recovery, and the tradeoffs behind premium pricing.

Supporting collections cover hotels and design as well as resorts and beach stays.

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36 stories

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The Landmark Nagoya Sakae tower with the illuminated Conrad name rising above central Nagoya at sunset
Hotels & Design

Conrad Nagoya Is Open Above Sakae

Conrad has opened its first Nagoya hotel atop The Landmark Nagoya Sakae. Here is when the new luxury base justifies getting off the Tokyo–Kyoto train.

6 min · Aug 16, 2026

Aurōra Spa treatment room aboard a Crystal ship with a prepared massage table facing a large ocean-view window
Luxury Travel

Crystal Is Running Back-to-Back Wellness Cruises Down the Pacific Coast

Crystal’s third annual Wellness at Sea pair stitches a Pacific coast week to a longer run south. Here is what the curriculum actually includes—and what still competes with it onboard.

6 min · Aug 14, 2026

Oceania Cruises Aquamar spa terrace with thermal pool, waterfall spout, and a green coastline beyond the glass railing
Luxury Travel

Oceania Cruises Adds More Than 50 Wellness Excursions

Oceania’s Wellness Discovery Tours top fifty. Here’s which Asian options open a real clinic, monastery, or park practice—and which are cultural days with a calmer headline.

6 min · Aug 13, 2026

IHG and Natai Venture executives at the Kimpton Phang-Nga Natai Beach signing ceremony, with a Natai coastline image on the backdrop screen
Hotels & Design

IHG Is Bringing Kimpton to Phang Nga

Kimpton Phang-Nga Natai Beach is a signing, not a soft open. Here’s where it sits relative to Phuket and Khao Lak, what the brand signals about Phang Nga, and when travelers should wait versus book elsewhere now.

6 min · Aug 12, 2026

Bamboo-framed terrace and still water looking out to pine-covered islands in Matsushima Bay from YOKI MATSUSHIMA — A 26-Room Onsen Hotel Just Made Matsushima Worth the Overnight
Hotels & Design

A 26-Room Onsen Hotel Just Made Matsushima Worth the Overnight

Matsushima was already famous. What it lacked was a small overnight with a bay-facing bath. From today, that overnight has a name.

6 min · Aug 10, 2026

Halong Bay, Vietnam — Hate Cruises? Bhaya Soul on Halong Bay May Change Your Mind
Luxury Travel

Hate Cruises? Bhaya Soul on Halong Bay May Change Your Mind

From $289 per person for two days on Bhaya Soul, small-ship Halong Bay for travelers who dislike buffet ships but want the karsts.

4 min · Jul 6, 2026

White sand and turquoise lagoon along the Arorangi coast of Rarotonga, Cook Islands, with palms and a beachfront building
Luxury Travel

A New Resort Lands on Arorangi’s Golden Mile

Cook Islander Brett Baudinet’s beachfront all-suite resort is three weeks from opening on the Golden Mile. Here is what it promises, how you get there, and who it is for.

6 min · Sep 9, 2026

A black Corvette and a cream classic coupe on the lawn at The Quail during Monterey Car Week, with a Burgess yacht tent and Carmel Valley hills behind
Luxury

Are Luxury Events the New Status-Symbol Getaways?

When Art Basel weekends fill with people who rarely buy art, and Cannes fills with people who rarely see films, the event itself has become the souvenir. Transpacific travel still prices that habit differently.

7 min · Aug 21, 2026

Circular wood-paneled lobby at KAI Matsumoto with Nagano wine bar seating and musicians at piano and guitar during the evening Sonority Concert — KAI Matsumoto Reopened With Italian Dinner, Nagano Wine, and a Nightly Lobby Concert
Luxury Travel

KAI Matsumoto Reopened With Italian Dinner, Nagano Wine, and a Nightly Lobby Concert

Skip the kaiseki script for one night. Soak, put on a yukata, eat Italian with Shinshu wine, and listen to the lobby concert before you sleep.

5 min · Aug 10, 2026

Elevated pool villa amid tropical forest at The Farm at San Benito in Lipa, Batangas — The Philippines’ First Autograph Hotel Is a Wellness Sanctuary Outside Manila
Hotels & Design

The Philippines’ First Autograph Hotel Is a Wellness Sanctuary Outside Manila

The Farm at San Benito keeps its wellness identity under Autograph: Bonvoy points, a soft-renovation chapter, and a 300-year-old mango tree as the house landmark.

4 min · Aug 2, 2026

Aerial view of forested Ōshima island off Nichinan, Miyazaki, with turquoise shallows and deep Pacific blue — A Depopulated Miyazaki Island Soft-Opens as a Seven-Villa Pacific Resort
Hotels & Design

A Depopulated Miyazaki Island Soft-Opens as a Seven-Villa Pacific Resort

Seven private villas on a quiet Pacific island off Nichinan: soft open today, ceremony August 12, finished brand September 1.

4 min · Aug 1, 2026

Open-air sulfur rock bath beside the wooden lodge at UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OKUNIKKO in Nikko National Park — A 1959 Onsen Lodge Just Got a Boutique Second Life in Nikko National Park
Hotels & Design

A 1959 Onsen Lodge Just Got a Boutique Second Life in Nikko National Park

Past Chuzenji and into Okunikko, a mid-century hot-spring hotel keeps its sulfur spring and forest setting—now under the UNWIND banner from August 8.

4 min · Jul 29, 2026

Dato’ Bobby Ting of Elica Equity with IHG and Elica colleagues at the voco Kuching partnership announcement — The Developer Who Bet Kuching Could Carry Malaysia’s First voco
Hotels & Design

The Developer Who Bet Kuching Could Carry Malaysia’s First voco

A Malaysian property developer’s adaptive reuse of a familiar Kuching landmark finally gives East Malaysia an IHG voco—and a people story worth the homepage.

4 min · Jul 28, 2026

Australis Suite lounge aboard a Journey Beyond train, with seating, personal bar, and Australian scrubland visible through the window — Journey Beyond Finally Sells Australia by Suite
Luxury Travel

Journey Beyond Finally Sells Australia by Suite

Australis is estimated at three times a Platinum cabin; Aurora at double. Here’s the size ladder, April 2026 debut, and fare bands to confirm before you hold 2027 dates.

4 min · Jul 27, 2026

Nusantara Explorer luxury sleeper carriage marked Advanced Class at a station platform during KAI testing — KAI Is Testing a Luxury Sleeper—Tickets Are Still TBA
Luxury Travel

KAI Is Testing a Luxury Sleeper—Tickets Are Still TBA

Indonesia’s luxury sleeper left the workshop for a Surabaya–Lamongan test loop. Note twelve cars planned, three cabin classes named, and no public timetable yet.

3 min · Jul 27, 2026

Aerial view of The Leela Coorg Forest Sanctuary among forest and coffee estate canopy near Madikeri — The Leela Puts a Forest Sanctuary Name on Coorg
Luxury Travel

The Leela Puts a Forest Sanctuary Name on Coorg

Leela’s Coorg chapter is an estate sanctuary, not a city palace: pool villas, a seven-acre lake, Aujasya wellness, and coffee walks—if you plan the long drive from Bengaluru, Mangalore, or Kannur.

4 min · Jul 27, 2026

Aerial view of Songtsam Linka Kunming beside Dianchi Lake in Yunnan — Songtsam’s First City Hotel Opens Beside Dianchi Lake
Luxury Travel

Songtsam’s First City Hotel Opens Beside Dianchi Lake

Songtsam brought its Plateau lodging culture to Kunming as a lowland gateway: Wang Shu architecture, villa suites named for sacred mountains, and Jing for Cantonese-Chaoshan nights before the higher road.

4 min · Jul 27, 2026

Night courtyard at Capella Kyoto in Miyagawa-cho — Capella Kyoto Puts SingleThread on a Miyagawa-cho Counter
Luxury Travel

Capella Kyoto Puts SingleThread on a Miyagawa-cho Counter

Capella opened in Miyagawa-cho on March 22 with onsen suites, Auriga Spa, and a twelve-seat SingleThread counter. Here’s what to book, confirm, and leave for another Kyoto night.

4 min · Jul 27, 2026

Top-floor outdoor onsen at KAI Miyajima framing the Seto Inland Sea and oyster rafts — Sleep Facing Miyajima Without the Island Crowds
Luxury Travel

Sleep Facing Miyajima Without the Island Crowds

Hoshino’s first Hiroshima ryokan opened at Miyajimaguchi Onsen on July 23. Here’s the Umigiri room story, the sea-level bath, and how to pair a calm mainland night with an island day.

4 min · Jul 25, 2026

Three Camel Lodge, Gobi Desert — Why Mongolia’s Three Camel Lodge Belongs on Your Next Asia List
Luxury Travel

Why Mongolia’s Three Camel Lodge Belongs on Your Next Asia List

From about $2,885 per person for two nights land, May through November. Yol Valley, dinosaur cliffs, and a lodge built for travelers who want the Gobi without backpacker improvisation.

4 min · Jul 23, 2026

Hotel Gajoen Tokyo atrium and Japanese garden, from Hilton’s LXR Tokyo press package — Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Reopens July 27, Before the LXR Nameplate Arrives
Luxury Travel

Hotel Gajoen Tokyo Reopens July 27, Before the LXR Nameplate Arrives

Bookings opened July 8 for a July 27 restart: sixty rooms of 70 square meters or more in Meguro, garden restaurants, and a heritage Tokyo stay that is not yet wearing the LXR badge.

4 min · Jul 21, 2026

Norden Camp, Gannan — Why Gannan’s Norden Camp Belongs on Your Next Asia List
Luxury Travel

Why Gannan’s Norden Camp Belongs on Your Next Asia List

Nine cabins on Sangke Grassland, from $2,400 for two nights. Labrang, Norlha, and plateau silence two hours from Lanzhou by road.

5 min · Jul 6, 2026

Indonesian phinisi yacht — Adventurous Luxury in Indonesia: The Si Datu Bua Charter
Luxury Travel

Adventurous Luxury in Indonesia: The Si Datu Bua Charter

Broker-listed from $12,500 per night, Si Datu Bua is a mobile base camp for whale sharks and Papuan water: not a resort with a marina desk.

5 min · Jul 5, 2026

Tokyo — Where to Stay in Tokyo: A Neighborhood Hotel Guide
Hotels & Design

Where to Stay in Tokyo: A Neighborhood Hotel Guide

The room matters less than which train line you sleep on.

6 min · Jun 3, 2026

Paris — Milan for People Who Care About Taste More Than Tourism
Luxury Travel

Milan for People Who Care About Taste More Than Tourism

Milan is not a postcard. That is the point.

3 min · Mar 30, 2026

Dubai — Dubai Is Not Subtle, but That Does Not Mean It Is Stupid
Luxury Travel

Dubai Is Not Subtle, but That Does Not Mean It Is Stupid

Dubai rewards travelers who can enjoy scale without irony poisoning.

4 min · Mar 28, 2026

The First Safari Is a Test of What Kind of Luxury You Actually Like — The First Safari Is a Test of What Kind of Luxury You Actually Like
Luxury Travel

The First Safari Is a Test of What Kind of Luxury You Actually Like

Safari luxury is not marble. It is competence in the bush.

3 min · Feb 15, 2026

Tokyo — A Hotel Lobby Can Tell You Whether a City Understands Itself
Hotels & Design

A Hotel Lobby Can Tell You Whether a City Understands Itself

Lobbies are not decoration. They are arguments.

3 min · Feb 5, 2026

The Caribbean Resort Trip for People Who Get Bored Easily — The Caribbean Resort Trip for People Who Get Bored Easily
Resorts

The Caribbean Resort Trip for People Who Get Bored Easily

Beach alone is not an itinerary.

3 min · Dec 20, 2025

Why Asian Travelers Often Undervalue the Caribbean — Why Asian Travelers Often Undervalue the Caribbean
Resorts

Why Asian Travelers Often Undervalue the Caribbean

The Caribbean is far, yes. It is also not what many assume.

3 min · Dec 15, 2025

Singapore — The Resort Breakfast Is More Important Than People Admit
Resorts

The Resort Breakfast Is More Important Than People Admit

Breakfast sets the service tone for everything after.

3 min · Oct 5, 2025

London — Copenhagen, Stockholm, and the Asian Traveler’s Relationship to Clean Design
Hotels & Design

Copenhagen, Stockholm, and the Asian Traveler’s Relationship to Clean Design

Scandinavia sells a mood more than a checklist.

3 min · Sep 10, 2025

Aspen — Aspen, Vail, and the Strange Social Codes of American Ski Towns
Luxury Travel

Aspen, Vail, and the Strange Social Codes of American Ski Towns

Ski towns have dress codes nobody wrote down.

4 min · Sep 5, 2025

Singapore — Service, Privacy, Status: What Luxury Means Across Cultures
Luxury Travel

Service, Privacy, Status: What Luxury Means Across Cultures

Luxury is not universal. It is negotiated.

3 min · Jul 28, 2025

Kyoto — The Best Luxury Trip Is Sometimes the Least Instagrammable One
Luxury Travel

The Best Luxury Trip Is Sometimes the Least Instagrammable One

The phone makes luxury performative. Some trips resist that.

3 min · Jul 5, 2025

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