Notes from the desk
How charter pricing really works, what a villa contract must say, which month suits which coast, and the other things members ask us most.
From the houses: Belmond
On 3 November 2026 Belmond reopens the Pool Wing of the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro with a Wellness Club over five floors and the first Dior Spa in Latin America.
From the houses: The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has opened reservations for Summer 2028: 52 voyages aboard Evrima and Ilma, from the Mediterranean to the fjords of Norway and the coast of Iceland.
From the houses: Orient Express
Orient Express and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have named Orient Express Corinthian in Saint-Nazaire: 220 metres, three rigid sails, 54 suites and cuisine under the direction of Yannick Alléno.
Yachts
The rate in the brochure is the beginning of the sum, not the end of it. What the APA is, why VAT depends on the itinerary, and what a €100,000 week actually costs.
Villas
The photographs are the sales pitch. The contract is the house. Twelve things it has to state clearly before a deposit is paid, and what to do when it does not.
Destinations
The best place is a function of the calendar. A month-by-month reading of the sixteen destinations, with the honest weeks and the ones the brochures leave out.
Travel
Sometimes the jet is the sensible choice and sometimes it is the expensive one. The four cases where the arithmetic favours it, and the honest comparison with the best seat on a scheduled flight.
Lifestyle
A week in the life of the person who runs a member’s year: the calendar, the houses, the staff, the boat, the school run, and the collisions nobody else saw coming.
Concierge
The part of every trip nobody explains. What is customary on a yacht, in a villa, in a restaurant in eleven countries, and how it is handed over without awkwardness.
Concierge
A table tonight, a boat tomorrow, a villa this weekend in August. What the desk can do at short notice, what it cannot, and why the honest answer arrives within the hour.
Yachts
Soft bags, no black soles, one good outfit and less of everything else. What the crew wish every guest knew before they came aboard.
The Sunday note
What has just come onto the market, which coast is in season, one tool worth trying. No offers, no forwarding, unsubscribe in one click.