What is luxury?

A few days ago we read this article in the Spanish edition of Conde Nast Traveller. It talks about the new trends in luxury travel. And it all goes down to subtle exclusivity. And we can’t agree more. Even though most of the hotels, destinations and experiences featured on the article were quite expensive, we believe that in order to have a truly luxurious experience you don’t need that much. It’s the location, the detail, the adventure, the feelings … not the price tag. Well, we are not going to lie: when travelling we look for the finest hotels, restaurants and experiences we can afford, but most of the time you don’t need an exclusive resort to feel something truly special.

For us luxury is a freshly squeezed orange juice overlooking the Amalfi Coast. During our honeymoon we stayed at a tiny family owned hotel that had no swimming pool, no room service and no amenities. But we had a very private dock to sunbathe and we could jump into the see whenever we wanted. And the waiter knew how we liked our orange juice. And that P. loves a very cold glass of White wine during dinner. This little secret hotel of ours was located in a tiny village and had the best restaurant we’ve ever been to, even though they didn’t have a proper menu. Everything in this hotel was simply charming and authentic. One afternoon we decided to dress up and go for a cocktail at the swimming pool bar of Le Sirenuse hotel, in the nearby town of Positano. I used to dream about this hotel! We had a very lovely time but we came back to our tiny hotel happy to have chosen privacy, quiet and a more relaxed atmosphere over the explicit luxury that Le Sirenuse offers.

For luxury comes sometimes disguised as a simple orange juice.

Picture via

Filed under: Been there, done that