DestinAsian

Ever since the inception of this magazine in the early aughts, we’ve always set out to curate compelling travel stories and firsthand reportage with savvy Asia-based readers in mind. That goes hand in hand with celebrating excellence in our home region, not just within the realm of luxury hospitality but also airlines, destinations, and more. Hence the latest poll for the annual DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards, which are now in their 18th year. The full rankings of the 2025 winners and finalists have been published in these pages and online at DestinAsian.com. I hope our editorial lineup this issue will have you weighing up di!erent possibilities for that next break. More than a decade since his last road trip in New Zealand’s South Island, editor-in-chief Christopher P. Hill revisits the…

LAOS Sacred caves. Elephants. Wild jungle scenery. It’s hard to find a more compelling stretch of the Mekong than in Laos, where the river known as the “Mother of Water” has shaped the traditions and customs of the various ethnic groups along its banks. And now, with the launch of Bohème (mekongkingdoms.com), it’s just as easy to cruise these currents in unmatched style. The newest addition to the Mekong Kingdoms fleet, the three-deck Bohème is the largest and arguably best-appointed boat of its kind on the upper Mekong. Its 13 cabins feature daybeds and Laotian textiles alongside floor-to-ceiling French doors that open onto private balconies. Book the Royal Suite at the stern for the ultimate indulgence: done up in a contemporary Indochine style, the 60-square-meter stateroom comes with a freestanding…

BANGKOK After dazzling Seoul with the debut of a lavish if temporary concept store in the Seongsu area in 2022, Dior now brings its haute couture sensibility to Bangkok’s bustling Ploenchit Road. Like its Korean counterpart, Dior Gold House (dior.com) is styled as a gleaming homage to the French fashion brand’s Paris headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne, its Haussmannian facade embellished with a million handlaid gold mosaic tiles and hundreds of faux windows under a mansard-like roofline. Throw in walls crafted from Carrara marble castoffs and a mirrored rooftop that reflects the Thai capital’s changeable skies, and you have the kind of grand gesture that could easily tip into excess. But here in a city that embraces gilt and ornate craftsmanship, it feels surprisingly at home. Inside the 800-square-meter space,…

SHANGHAI There are other hotels in Shanghai where you can gaze in contemporary comfort at century-old relics from the city’s early heyday, but none offer quite the same pizzazz or proximity as this one. From my seat on the terrace of Alila Shanghai’s crimson-tinged Secret Roof bar, cocktail in hand, I could look right over the rooftops of Zhangyuan, an adjacent complex of restored 1920s shikumen townhouses that has been recently recast as a luxury retail precinct. Though the views for now also include a huge construction site where another chunk of the old neighborhood is being redeveloped, it’s still a beguiling sight. Taking over a 37-story tower formerly occupied by an aging Four Seasons hotel, the Alila brand’s first big-city property in China is a much different beast than…

AUSTRALIA Curious travelers heading to the Land Down Under shouldn’t miss the chance to see the country’s cities and awe-inspiring landscapes from the perspective of its traditional custodians. Australia can lay claim to the oldest living cultures on the planet: Aboriginal peoples have inhabited their continentsized homeland for the past 65,000-odd years, and their diverse traditions endure to the present day. They’re also more accessible than you might think, thanks in part to Discover Aboriginal Experiences, a Tourism Australia–endorsed collective that gathers leading Aboriginal-owned or -operated businesses under a single umbrella. Each prospective member goes through a rigorous selection process to ensure authenticity, and the initiative has now grown to include 55 local outfitters — with seven of those added as recently as December. Among the new entrants is In…

HONG KONG Famed for its hair-raising landings over tightly packed residential neighborhoods, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport was an exhilarating introduction to the city before its closure in 1998. Thrills of another kind will await visitors when they arrive at Kai Tak Sports Park (kaitaksportspark.com.hk), the roughly 28-hectare showpiece of the new urban district taking shape in its place. Envisaged by U.S.-based architecture firm Populous, the complex marks the realization of grand plans that first hit the drawing board more than two decades ago. The site’s features include a public sports ground, the city’s tallest climbing wall, and an indoor arena for high-level competitions in basketball, badminton, table tennis, and the like. This being Hong Kong, there is of course a retail element, with a mall scattered across three buildings…