Luxury travel by land, sea and air

published 3 March 2017

834-Quintessentially-634 — Quintessentially One: one of the most exclusive and luxurious cruise ships ever to sail

A members' club on the high seas

From 2019, members of Quintessentially, the private members' club that provides concierge services from £15,000 a year, will also gain access to Quintessentially One "a new cruise ship that is set to be one of the most exclusive and luxurious" ever to sail, says John O'Ceallaigh on The Telegraph Luxury website. It will cost £250m to build and the 12-deck vessel will dock at the likes of the Monaco Yacht Show and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to serve as a "waterborne base for big-spending travellers".

There willbe a rooftop beach club, a restaurant run by The Wolseley, a shopping emporium, and 112 "boutique-style" cabins from £2,000 a night. A number of "private residences" will also be for sale on a leasehold basis from between €8m and €12m, which come with membership of Club One "an elite club within a club" with benefits including a private restaurant, private bar and complimentary beauty treatments.

A spa on rails

The newest luxury spa from Bamford Haybarn, a wellness retreat in the Cotswolds, is to be found on the Belmond Royal Scotsman a train that will be making its inaugural voyage from Edinburgh through the Highlands to Inverness and Aberdeen in April. The journey will cost £4,428 per person for a twin cabin on the five-day "Classic Journey" round-trip.

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It will be the first spa carriage in Europe, says Jordi Lippe-McGraw in Cond Nast Traveller. The usual spa fare will be on offer, but more upmarket treatments will also be on the menu, such as the Bamford Bespoke Facial, which starts with facial reflexology, lymphatic drainage and yogic breathing and ends with a deep tissue hot stone back massage. The spa carriage itself uses sustainable wood sourced from Scotland and the Cotswolds, and features two single-treatment rooms with views of the passing countryside.

An £11m globe-trotting adventure

Luxury travel boutique Dream Maker has put together a globe-trotting holiday costing a "bank-busting" £11m, says Sophie Roberts in The Sun. Departing from Koh Samui in Thailand, the private Boeing 767 will take around 50 people on a tour of 20 destinations in 20 days, calling in on Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, the Balearic island of Ibiza, Las Vegas for a night of gambling, and a "secret island".A three Michelin-starred meal in Spain, a private film screening in Cannes, and fashion events in Florence are among the highlights of the trip, which will see guests attended to by a small army of staff, including personal chefs and a hypnotherapist. But the holiday's "most opulent amenity" is a set of 50 18-carat gold swizzle sticks with blue andwhite diamonds for each guestat a cost of £800,000. Some of the profits from the trip go to good causes.

A stay at Camelot

Eight "gorgeous" temporary cabinswill be popping up this summer inthe Llyn Peninsula, Snowdonia andCarmarthenshire in Wales, says KarenPrice on WalesOnline. Fewer than 200bookings will be taken for the staysbetween early June andmid-September as part of thecelebrations for Wales' Year ofLegends.

Starting with Carmarthenshirein June, guests will be ableto "delve into" the historyof Wales, hunt for gold, and"tread in the footsteps of theheroes of Camelot, pursuingthe elusive Lady of the Lakeand the heroic wizard Merlin",according to the organisers,Epic Retreats. A week's stay in thecabins costs £1,995.

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.