Olé The Best of Mexico City & Oaxaca!

After 20 years of curating Luxury Travel for our select clients, when we receive Grateful Notes of Thanks, it’s a reminder of how much time and determination we’ve devoted into sourcing the best and brightest teams in each pocket of the world. And our teams evolve as we continue to discover the Best of the Best!

Mexico City and Oaxaca are two complimentary cities to combine for extensive art, OTT dining, history and exceptional local experiences. Just a short flight from the United States, Mexico is an often-overlooked destination for rich cultural offerings, a land seemingly familiar but with many unknown secrets simply waiting to be discovered. For many people images of margaritas, maracas, and tacos may be the first to come to mind. Our hope is to show you something more – to connect you with incredible local guides who truly love their country and want to show you the rich layers of its culture and who will bring you to the lesser known, but equally spectacular locations. Mexico City offers excellent contrasts in epic street food tastings to five-star chef driven dining palaces! Cutting edge art museums from folk to dynamic contemporary collections.

The experiences awaiting you in Mexico are plentiful and can be hand-picked to match your interests. With an average of 20 ingredients, you could spend a day in Oaxaca learning how to make mole. Or there is an unbelievable art scene in Mexico – with Mexico City offering more museums than any other city in the world, not to mention the renowned home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

A recent client note to Benjamin: We had a wonderful memorable vacation and enjoyed Celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary in Oaxaca and Mexico City —both destinations were everything we were hoping they would be and more!

Casa Polanco in Mexico City, again you recommended the best hotel! Fantastic hotel— great service, very comfortable room, good fitness facility, good location. You recommended staying in town in Oaxaca and we unfortunately resisted and stayed outside town, which meant we encountered traffic every time we went into town- next time we listen to you and stay in town as you suggested!

Guides in Oaxaca and Mexico City – all very good, particularly our guide in Mexico City.

Visits Archeological visits— all excellent and very much worth our time. After hours, private tour of Anthropology Museum— so glad we took you up on this, very special to see it in the evening without crowds. Would like more time in there! Xochimilco experience— fantastic. Even though there is a more commercial way to visit here, the personal visit we experienced gave us an insider’s view of the floating farms. Our guide and the lunch they served us were fantastic.

Dining Criollo restaurant— EXCELLENT— one of our favorites. Levadura restaurant— also excellent! Pujol— very good— food was fantastic, the setting was a bit more commercial and filled with American tourists— but still wouldn’t miss dining here! Taco Tour— very well done— Lydia the guide is excellent Em restaurant— another excellent choice. Their food is spectacular, fine Mexican with a good deal of Asian influence.

That’s it! Again, thank you very much for all your help in making this a memorable 40th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, your teams are amazing and they gave us lovely Anniversary gifts as well!

Mexico City A sprawling city simply bursting with energy, a true melting pot of international talent. Known for its incredible range of fine dining options as well as some of the city’s best street food. There are countless ways to spend your days – from visiting nearby ruins, to touring the home of Frida Kahlo, to participating in a cooking class, to catching a local wresting match (lucha libre). Mexico City is an urban jungle with something to offer anyone.

Oaxaca One of Mexico’s most beautiful cities meets its most robust and unique culinary destination. Oaxaca is an excellent destination for anyone interested in gastronomy, from cooking classes to market tours to some of the country’s best restaurants. Oaxaca is also known for its artisan communities that dot the surrounding area – from textiles to pottery there are plenty of reasons to visit.

Gracias to our fine teams and to our gracious clients!

Highly Recommend Mexico City and Oaxaca Journey!

On My List Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan – Bali High

Usually, a business lunch with our Four Seasons Hotel peeps involves champagne and a scrumptious lunch; it’s been awhile since this lunch with one of my VV Favorite Four Seasons GM’s, Randy Shimabuku, but I’m obsessed with the arrival at Four Seasons Resort, Bali, where he is now the General Manager. He has hosted me in the Maldives, filled my daily schedule with activities from dawn to dusk and a dinner date with an activity director or he & his lovely wife every night. Although my days of resort activities were exhausting, I became an expert on the resort, smart guy, Randy! Stand by for personal photos!

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

Many travelers balk at beach travel that includes a flight over eight hours. My first vast flight time beach holiday was to The Brando and to the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. Both are worth the journey; Hawaii is not Tahiti! Mexico is not Tahiti!

In Bora Bora, a beautiful beach with an endless horizon, nothing but palm trees or a massive Mountain. Imagine gazing at Mount Otemanu from a bubbling jacuzzi at the Four Seasons Bora Bora, a vista is a thousand times more beautiful than a beach amid humanity. The long flights are truly worth the destination. Bora Bora is in the middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. And then there are the brilliantly black skies dripping with stars, the Souther Cross comes to mind!

Four Seasons Spa Bora Bora

Maldives invitation seemed so far…longer flight time, initially I was skeptical. Nothing prepared me for the beauty of the Maldives – I stayed two weeks and could have stayed longer. So many activities, endless beauty.

Bali is closer than the Maldives, will you now consider it?! Combine a tropical island getaway with ancient rainforests, enchanting temples and rice fields  With three unique river rafting experiences, there’s something for everyone to do on Bali’s longest river.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan offers the world’s first arrival by River Raft. I’ve been offered a resort landing with a kite surfer, luckily the wind was up and when the GM took me to the cliff side restaurant where I would have jumped – I said I could never have jumped from there! A river raft arrival, how cool is this? Just say Yes, or Suksema.

For a unique check-in experience, arrive at the Resort by river raft – exclusively available to guests transferring from sister property, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay. Duration: 2.5-3 hours.

Famed for its dramatic treetop arrival via a suspension bridge, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan  offers guests a 180-degree change of perspective, with Bali’s first hotel arrival by river raft.

Submerged in a river valley close to the artistic center of Ubud, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan has launched the innovative rafting check-in as an option for guests transferring from its sister Resort, the beach front Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay on Bali’s south-west coast.

Avoid the usual 90-minute road transfer, travelers combining a stay at both Resorts can instead be taken by private car (60 minutes’ drive) to the departure point for a two-hour rafting adventure down Bali’s longest river, the Ayung.

While you enjoy a leisurely guided adventure through Class III rapids with views of lush jungle, rice terraces and majestic gorges, your luggage continues by car and precedes your arrival at Four Seasons Resort Sayan.

After discovering secluded sites – including a natural holy spring and an historic dam belonging to Bali’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed subak irrigation system – rafters land directly at the Resort’s Riverside Restaurant.

Waiting staff ensure a seamless check-in and within minutes guests are relaxing in their room, delivering a hotel arrival unlike any other.

This new arrival by river offers the opposite view with a slow reveal from under the canopy of trees, making it perfect for repeat guests who have experienced the bridge arrival before.

My mantra – the arrival sets the stage for the Journey, certainly applies to this magical adventure! It does not feel like a check-in experience, but rather a transition to another world, welcomed by the friendliest people on Earth, what could be better?!

Located amid two acres of rice fields and groves of fruit trees, vegetable, and herb gardens, 42 private pool villas and 18 suites enable guests to retreat from the world and embrace the valley’s healing energy. Float above treetops on a dramatic suspension bridge and cross into a different world. With locally inspired experiences and rice bowl-shaped architecture set against the lush Ayung River Valley, the Resort takes you closer to the heart and soul of Bali.

Unpacking List: It’s not the things you take with you that define your journey; it’s the experiences you have and the memories you bring home.