HIDDEN

DOCK HOUSE, SOUTH AFRICA

Elegant boutique hotel, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
This month, the grand old harbour engineer’s house at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, opened its gracious doors to guests after a ten-month restoration and refurbishment. With only six luxurious rooms, this new boutique hotel’s prime location should remain a best-kept secret ... read more

BAY LODGE, SOUTH AFRICA

New boutique hotel, Plettenberg Bay, jewel of the Garden Route
South African interior designer Marius van der Merwe, fell in love with Plett when he was a child visiting his grandmother’s beach house for his annual holidays. Years later, he had the opportunity to give the house he loved so dearly a makeover. Now a seriously glam boutique hotel with just six well-appointed suites, he’s created a world-class haven of understated luxury... read more

JUMEIRAH BAB AL SHAMS DESERT RESORT & SPA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Desert retreat, just one hour from Dubai
I didn’t really set out to like Dubai. Coming from Cape Town, a city where the sea and mountain are always within sight, I prefer my landscapes lush and engaging, not flat and sandy. That, and my virtuous, green tourist persona (like most travellers I have multiple personalities including the hedonistic tourist, the intellectual tourist, the materialistic, shopaholic tourist, the cultural tourist…) was quite disturbed by the level of development witnessed on our drive from the airport, through the centre of town and on into the desert. From the second we landed, my brain, which was switched to eco-conscious gear, couldn’t help but guesstimate just how much pollution and environmental damage was resulting from the unrelenting urban expansion of one of the Middle East’s most important hubs... read more

BIRKENHEAD HOUSE, SOUTH AFRICA

Private clifftop hotel on the Whale Coast, Hermanus
I’m having an affair with Birkenhead House. I think it may be real love. Like the sea air that drifts slowly along the patio, over the sparkling pool, through the wide-open doors, across the cool tiles and into each crevasse… then wafts over the luxurious interior of each beautiful room, keeping an eye on friends and lovers toasting their happiness – I dream of spiriting my way back and living there forever... read more

IKIES, GREECE

Ikies, Santorini, romantic Greek island destination
It's true that when reviewing the most romantic place on earth, it is better visited with your husband or significant other, than with your children. However, timing is everything and the opinion I tender is shared by the sophisticated judgment of my sons Matthew and Alex, (ages 12 and 10) who, at this point in their careers as Junior Hotel Reviewers, said it all when they labelled Santorini and our beautiful hotel, Ikies, the most romantic place on earth... read more

MOLLIES, NEW ZEALAND

Elegant manor house hidden away in Auckland
Rarely does one enter a property and feel immediately that fatigue or ill-humor evaporates on crossing the threshold. Such was my first impression of Mollies, an impression that turned from delight to profound appreciation as one day melted into the next. I entered after dusk, the entrance lavishly decorated with a combination of hydrangea and palm, up the limestone stairs and into the parlor. Hundreds of blue votives were glowing in the dining room, on the terrace and in the gracious parlor. Sights of old, greeting new: a steel and glass table, Perspex Philippe Starck Ghost chairs, revealing the limestone and oriental carpets below, period accents from an 18th century Swedish settee to a 19th century French portrait in pastel, a 17th century Swedish farm clock and the odd Tibetan or Chinese antique. Owner, Frances Wilson was poised at the Steinway baby grand; her husband, co-owner, Stephen Fitzgerald, nearby offering a crystal glass of Dom Perignon to a guest... read more

HUKA LODGE, NEW ZEALAND

Huka Lodge, trout fishing paradise
What Kauri Cliffs is to golf, Huka is to trout fishing. One enters this converted 1937 New Zealand fishing lodge and if you are not a fisherman by fact, you will be by heart. One has only to pass the huge timbered Great Room, past the massive fireplace, aglow from morning to evening, to be taken in by the Waikato River, tree branches heavy with foliage dripping from the riverbank as if trying to drink from its waters. The sun’s rays burn through the morning mist, lifting the fog from the water's surface like slow motion steam from a kettle, the water swirling in odd currents as if trying to decide which way to go. Nearby Huka Falls beckons to be recognized in the distance a ten minute hike from the terrace... read more

Dubai to New Zealand

Just the Planet reveals some of the world’s best-kept secrets. Romantic hideaways, luxury retreats, the dream hotels where you can relax and be pampered, places that you only usually find out about by word of mouth. Here our writers also find the the spots that the average tourist would never discover, sights that are off the beaten track, little known festivals in historic cities. Our writers have been there and felt passionately enough about their experience to share it with you.

Every month new articles will be added and the current gems will be archived, but will still be available for you to peruse in our Hidden Gems archive. Read now, dream and come back for the details when you are ready to live that dream.

Should you have suggestions for our research or ideas that you feel may be relevant to other travellers, please send us a note to ideas@justtheplanet.com.

We'd really like to hear from you.

KAURI CLIFFS, NEW ZEALAND

Kauri Cliffs, world-acclaimed golf course
A long driveway is often an auspicious portent of things to come. When that driveway is the entrance to a 6,000-acre property of mandarine orange, kiwi, lemon and persimmon and acres of rolling hills, disturbed only by cattle and grazing sheep, the anticipation is heightened. One is hardly prepared, however, for the sight of the Lodge at Kauri Cliffs: the vista of an emerald sea, waves crashing on the white sand in the background, one hundred shades of green rolling hills of the world-acclaimed golf course making up the mid-ground and the gracious Manor House, with Georgian style wrap-around porch, the foreground. All this, just a one-hour flight from Auckland to nearby Keri Keri in the Bay of Islands... read more

HOTEL FERRARA, ITALY

Perfect base for hot-air balloon festival in Emilia Romagna
A vast portion of the town survives from the middle ages and in the off-season, before the arrival of eager tourists, a quiet morning walk in the pedestrian center, along the cobble-stoned streets, lined with brick and stone palazzos, will take you back hundreds of years to a less complicated existence. Now picture a crisp cool day in September and try to imagine the sky above that beautiful city filled with the dancing colors of hot air balloons. First one, then five, twenty, then thirty... read more