Discovering the Maldives Soneva Fushi

A Sanctuary of Barefoot Luxury in the Maldives.

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, adrift in the blue vastness of the Baa Atoll, lies a whisper of land, Kunfunadhoo Island. It is a place where time has no dominion, the jungle hums its ancient songs, and the footprints in the sand disappear with the tide as if to remind us that nothing, not even our presence, is permanent. This is Soneva Fushi, though to call it a resort would be to diminish it. It is something else entirely, a mirage of luxury, castaway simplicity, and a reverence for the natural world.

Arrivals to this floating Eden are made by seaplane, a journey that feels less like transit and more like an initiation. The lounge in Malé serves as the first portal, where waiting is softened by the quiet indulgences of spiced watermelon juice, handmade chocolates, and the gentle, almost ceremonial process of easing into island life. By the time the seaplane takes off, tracing lazy arcs over atolls in impossible hues of turquoise, the world beyond ceases to matter. The first sight of the island, a dense tangle of green fringed by a strip of blinding white sand, is an apparition, too perfect to be real. 

There is no check-in desk, only the warm press of sand beneath bare feet and the feeling that one has finally arrived in paradise.

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Il Ristorante Niko Romito

A Journey Across Italy in the Heart of Tokyo

Metropolitan Tokyo is, of course, gastronomic heaven, home to more MICHELIN-starred restaurants than anywhere else on the planet. On our recent return, we had the pleasure of experiencing just one of these, a piccola enclave of Italian design and gastronomy in the heart of Japan’s capital on the forty-second floor of the sleek Tokyo Midtown Yaesu tower. At the top of the building’s 45 stories is the Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo and its signature dining outlet, IL RISTORANTE - NIKO ROMITO, which garnered a Michelin star for two consecutive years mere months after its 2023 opening. Il Ristorante follows its sister establishments in destinations as diverse as Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, Milan, and Rome, serving contemporary interpretations of authentic Italian cuisine. Simple dishes crafted from the freshest ingredients, flavorful reminders of why Italian cooking is beloved worldwide.

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Reinventing Dubai Atlantis The Royal

A prevailing over-the-top status clings to Dubai, a destination we like to think of as “home” at least annually for the Dubai International Boat Show. With its bright lights, luxury shopping, ultramodern architecture, including impossibly high towers accompanied by incredibly fast elevators, the city is famous for its thriving energy and nightlife, captivating all the senses and inspiring awe unlike any other city on earth. Admittedly, our perception was slightly skewed as, just prior to our arrival, we had been basking in unabashed splendor and serenity on a sandy atoll in the Maldives, where everything is intimate, small-scale, and private.

In Dubai, everything is grand, opulent, and overwhelming. Positioned majestically on the outer Crescent Road along Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, Atlantis The Royal Dubai is an ultra-luxury experiential resort representing not merely an accommodation option in the city, but a definitive statement in contemporary hospitality design. So definitive, in fact, that it has achieved a rare goal: the pure distillation of Dubai’s many qualities. Our four-night stay left us simultaneously overwhelmed by its scope and wealth of features, as well as captivated by its meticulous attention to detail.

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The Maldives and M/Y Galileo

Sailing Into a Dream You’ll Never Want to Wake From

Author’s Note

Life, in its fleeting brevity, grants us only a handful of moments that are truly extraordinary the kind that awaken every sense that imprint themselves onto the soul like salt upon the skin. These moments do not arrive with fanfare, they appear unannounced, slipping into the quiet spaces of our days, often disguised as something ordinary.

This one began with a call.

Steve’s voice carried the certainty of a man who knew things others did not. One of the most knowledgeable figures in the yachting world and the Global Marketing Director at IYC, Steve was someone I trusted, a man whose advice always led to something extraordinary. “Pablo, you need to visit M/Y Galileo.”

I started to protest. I knew Galileo, had followed her since the moment she first touched the water, but Steve was insistent. His words, though simple, carried the weight of something inevitable.

“Trust me,” he said. “Just go.”

And so, without knowing it, I had already agreed. The next thing he told me was almost an afterthought, a small detail spoken lightly, though it would come to mean everything.

“Pack well. You’ll have to travel a bit.”

And just like that, one of the greatest journeys of my life had begun.

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