What's the word on the designer street this June? This month the shout outs come from Shanghai where the luxury clans recently gathered at ILTM (International Luxury Travel market) Asia. www.iltm.com

 

The Peninsula Paris. And why wouldn't they? With other Asian hotel groups (Shangri-La and Raffles spring to mind ) already bringing a new eastern edge to the Parisian hotels scene, The Peninsula looks set to take it to a whole new level. This beautiful historic building on the Avenue Kleber has been lovingly and painstakingly restored over six long years.  In past incarnations the hotel hosted George Gershwin who wrote 'An American in Paris' while staying here and word is the famous and fabulous are already queuing up to book in to some of the new hotel's 34 suites (there are 200 rooms in total). TLTB especially loves the ballroom and the Versailles-like corridors.  And who could go past the impressive 900-piece chandelier, hand-blown in the shape of the leaves that graces the elegant lobby.  We predict the chandelier and the hotel will have a glittering debut when the designer doors open in August. www.peninsula.com

The Peninsula Paris.

Cool Adventure. Much awarded since it opened only a year ago ION adventure hotel in Iceland.  The ice-cool elegance if its owner, Sigurlaug Sverrisdóttir, is reflected in the clean lines of the interiors and the fact that the purity of the air and the landscape is echoed in the organic produce on offer.  Less than an hour's drive from Reykjavík and set against a backdrop of majestic mountainous lava fields, the setting is nevertheless so pristine that the hotel's catch phrase is,'where everything meets nothing'. Inside there is indeed, everything your heart could desire in a hotel. Outside?  Experience fly-fishing in icy rivers, a trek across an ancient glacier or the magic of the Northern lights.  Why ION? Because the air here is full of the positive ions we are all starved of in our busy tech'ed- up lives.
Pure bliss. www.designhotels.com, www.ioniceland.is

ION adventure hotel in Iceland

Jet-setting, Four Seasons style. We first highlighted the FS private jet when the news streaked across the luxury sky earlier this year and the concept still has luxury-lovers on Cloud Nine.   With other hotel groups struggling in its slip stream the FS jet is set for take-off in early 2015.  With all the luxury of a flying five star hotel the Four Seasons Jet (s link to story again) becomes the industry's first fully hotel-branded private jet experience.  The iconic Four Seasons logo will be emblazoned on the plane's tail and the fuselage. Inside the re- fitted Boeing 757 interior will be customized with custom leather seats that convert into flat beds, a dedicated on-board concierge, who will coordinate with local Four Seasons concierges in each destination travel and Four Seasons in-flight staff. Tickets are in high demand with all 52 luxury leather seats on the inaugural Around the World tour (taking off in February 2015) already snapped up ... www.fourseasons.com

Four Season Private Jet

Tea and luxury.  Ceylon Tea Trails, Sri Lanka's first Relais & Chateaux resort, a collection of luxurious colonial era tea planters' bungalows, is run by the dynasty behind Dilmah tea.  The bungalows offer a heady brew of beautiful tea plantation scenery, luxurious surroundings and Butler service. Now the debonair Malik Fernando (his father Merrill and brother Dilhan still concentrate on the tea) has plans for hill to coast domination it seems.  Next on the agenda, opening later this year, is Cape Weligama a resort which will have 40 cliff-top villas and suites overlooking the Indian Ocean east of Galle on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. The plan is to offer transfers between the offerings by seaplane to make moving between luxury lodgings perfectly painless. 
Just our cup of tea. www.teatrails.com, www.capeweligama.com

Ceylon Tea Trails

Design destination. We're suckers for innovative design when it really works (Iniala we still love you). So the next Phuket offering has us very excited; if you are a little tired of the cement cubes that make up many modern resorts, this one's for you. Keemala, due to open in August 2015 in Kamala, Phuket, pays homage to local tribes with design which is part organic part space age. Natural materials are bent and teased into fluid shapes inspired by everything from opium pods (the main lobby) to bird's nests.  The designs have been described as 'something out of the original Star Wars'  but we see it more as a fantastical Thai fairyland with giant pods and bamboo flowers opening to reveal the chic secrets within. Either way we love the innovation and imagination. .We're definitely checking into this one in as soon as it opens.
www.keemala.com

Keemala

Amazing Aman. Just opened is the newest Aman resort a bijoux (24 suites) offering on the Grand Canal in Venice. Condé Nast Traveler's hot list dubbed Aman Canal Grande one of the Best New Over-the-Top Hotels and it is easy to see why. Think fabulous frescoed ceilings, gold leaf and cherubs. man is housed, Palazzo Papadopoli, was built in the 16th century by the architect Gian Giacomo dé Grigi, as commissioned by the Coccina family of Bergamo.  TLTB readers will love the five signature suites, particularly the Sansovino Stanza, originally called 'The Hall of the Four Doors' and the Canal Grande Suite directly above the front door of the palazzo, with amazing views over the Grand Canal. Our Eds have a standing invitation to check-in when there is room, but those suites just keep filling up, dammit. www.amanresorts.com 

Aman Canal Grande

Spa sensation. Over the last couple of years, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden - the flagship property of the Oetker Collection- has embarked on an ambitious project to create Europe's most elegant and innovative new spa.  Now the wait is over and Villa Stéphanie is due to open in August in the grounds of Brenners. The entire villa - stretching over 5 floors and 5000 square metres - is devoted to all things 'spa'.  Treatment rooms overlook the gardens and there are also two saunas, a plunge pool, private gym and hamam. If you can't stand to leave the spa you can book into one of the villa's twelve double rooms and three impressive corner suites. Directly connected to the new destination spa is 'Haus Julius', a mansion designed to offer exclusive medical care to Brenners' guests. www.oetker.com, www.villastephanie.com

Villa Stéphanie