“As seen on TV” may have lowbrow connotations, but the recent glut of award-winning shows and films set in alluring, far-flung locations is causing an unprecedented run on the world’s best hotels. Call it set-jetting: planning your vacation around a destination featured in a popular series or movie. And while romantic suites and beloved characters have gotten people on planes since the golden age of film, what has changed is how central beautiful venues have become to plots.

“The way that The White Lotus used the destination to tell the story was really unique,” says Misty Belles, an executive at the global travel-adviser network Virtuoso. It also made its settings—the Four Seasons resorts in Maui and Taormina, Sicily—nigh un-bookable. And it’s hardly the only example: “Paris wasn’t hurting for eyes, but Emily in Paris showed the city in a more playful way,” Belles notes. “And people weren’t exactly flocking to Richmond before Ted Lasso.” 

The trend is so strong that a property doesn’t even need to be connected to a show to benefit from its boom. Henley Vazquez, cofounder of the New York–based travel agency Fora, points to Bridgerton’s impact on English estate hotels.

“Heckfield Place [used to be] a hard sell,” she says of the five-star Georgian mansion in Hampshire. “Now, people are dying to go there. It wasn’t featured in Bridgerton, but it’s just that kind of place.”

Others insist on the real deal. Jennifer Schwartz, managing director of Authentic Explorations, works with one family to build trips based on the Game of Thrones universe.

“They went out of their way in Portugal” to visit Monsanto, the setting for Dragonstone in House of the Dragon, she notes. “It’s definitely a criterion on which they choose where they want to vacation.”

For travelers who want more than simply to follow in their favorite character’s footsteps, London’s Black Tomato takes things several steps further. Since 2023, it has planned high-octane itineraries based on the James Bond franchise and works with the films’ producers, Eon Productions, to make you feel like an MI6 agent. (Some trips even offer lessons with Daniel Craig’s stunt double, Lee Morrison.)

The 007 success has inspired more such trips. “We’ve just recently launched itineraries inspired by Yellowstone and Ripley, focusing on Montana and Wyoming and Italy, respectively,” says cofounder Tom Marchant.

Still, it’s important to remember that sharp camerawork—and editing—accounts for a lot of the on-screen magic. Schwartz, of Authentic Explorations, notes that “the White Lotus hotel” in Sicily is “not super accessible, but it’s filmed as if the beach is right there.” In reality, the shore club from the show’s second season is 133 miles away. “People go to the place and they’re like, ‘You have to get in a car to go to the beach? What do you mean?’ ”

So where shouldn’t you go? Netflix’s The Perfect Couple will likely send hordes to Nantucket next summer, and The White Lotus’s third season, set on the Thai island Koh Samui, has already caused a local spike—and it’s not even on the air yet.

Bookings of Virtuoso’s properties in the region are up 38 percent since the show was announced. Luckily, Belles says, the effect doesn’t linger. “We typically see a good two-year impact on a set-jetting destination.”

The trend toward dress watches, and smaller ones in particular, has been so powerful that even Rolex sports watches are dropping in valueas prices for the dressy 36 mm Day-Date skyrocket. It’s not as if the solid-gold dress watch ever really fell off the horological map, of course, but there’s no denying that today’s watch enthusiast is more interested in a classic dress watch than in the past decade.

Part of the explanation could be that crypto-bros and pandemic collectors have left the scene, but there has also been a surge of interest in quiet luxury in the past couple of years. The sartorial zeitgeist, it seems, is in transition.

For those of us who prefer simple, time-only dress watches, the moment feels like a needed correction. I personally own and wear a bevy of small vintage Vacheron Constnatin time-only watches from what many call the golden era of Swiss watchmaking—the 1940s through the 1960s—and they serve me well every day. If I, and many of my aspiring sartorial cohorts, have a complaint about modern dress watches, it is that they’re too big. Even the modern Patek Philippe Calatrava reference 5227 at 37 mm—though among the most gorgeous solid-gold dress watches currently produced—is borderline indiscrete. One watch dealer told me that he advised his client to stop wearing his 5227 in Manhattan, for hear he’d get mugged.

One lesson that a watch journalist eventually learns is that you can’t meaningfully judge a watch until you’ve seen it in person. But it’s even better to wear it for days on end, and better still to wear it in a special context that will draw out the subtleties of a design. With that in mind, we asked Piaget and Vacheron Constantin to lend us two modern solid-gold, time-only dress watches, both in solid pink gold, for a few weeks. We took in the 35 mm Piaget Altaplano Origin($20,300) and the 38 mm Vacheron Constantin Tradionelle ($23,700).  The next step was to find an occasion to put them through their paces.

That occasion arose when we were invited to hang out with the renown Manhattan-based Italian tailor Max Girombelli at his swanky studio Duca Sartoria on the upper East Side.

Max is dashing, his tailoring second-to-none, his client list elite, and his own watch collection filled with vintage Rolexes, many small, time-only models. Max told Robb Report that he enjoys wearing time-only watches with tradionally tailored suits and jackets, as they offer a quiet accent. We couldn’t agree more.

Max lit up when he saw the Arturo Fuente cigars I brought him (his favorite non-Cubans), but he smiled even more widely when I unveiled the Piaget Altiplano. The bright red alligator strap picked up the tri-coloré stitching on the tunnel cuff of his tailored white shirt, and his warm smile accompanied his nostalgia for the Piaget dress watches that dominated Italy’s mid-century heyday.

As the watch made the rounds, everyone was impressed with its simple, confident, traditional design, and the women in the room were especially happy about the 35 mm size. If there’s a naturally unisex watch being made today, it’s the Piaget Altiplano Origin.

We all lit up over the Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle, as well. Granted, the brown strap was quite a divergence from the flashy red strap on the Piaget, but the Vacheron spoke with even greater confidence from behind its reserved, perfectly executed visage. The dauphine handset and sub-seconds dial emit quiet confidence and precision, while the highly decorated hand-wound movement, visible from behind the clear caseback, is a surefire conversation starter.

At 38 mm, the Vacheron does wear a little large, but not annoyingly so. The pink-gold is not ruddy red, and the silvered dial is subtly luminescent. When compared to the Piaget’s radially brushed dial that dances in the ambient light, the Vacheron, despite its larger size, may be the quieter watch of the two—this a testiment to both watches exhibiting their respective brand’s house-style to a tee.

Quick and easy yacht access. Arrival by seaplane. A touch of caviar and vintage Champagne to kick things off? Catalina has in spades what the Emerald City is truly famous for.  Even after three decades of service, this Rose Bay address remains a desirable address with fussy easter suburbs elite.

Afternoons and evenings here always manage to etch themselves on the memory for years to come. Balancing a dramatic outlook with a peaceful interior,  you can watch the sea planes taking off with a whiff of jet fuel on the breeze by day and let the shadow play of seagulls mesmerise you on the curving terrace by night. Whatever the scene, Sydney Harbour makes a stunning guest.

And this year, like no other, as Catalina marks 30, it’s appropriate to raise a glass to this institution’s winning formula.

In a world gone mad and a hospitality scene that’s been through the ringer, Catalina’s calm stable existence is made even sweeter by how little it’s really changed.

Executive Chef Mark Axisa and Head Chef Alan O’Keeffe have a great reputation for bright clean flavours and healthy-ish fare. Produce and textures on the menu are fairly simple but never staid and unlike so many chefs who get way too tricky in the kitchen Catalina writes a menu that is full of dishes you really want to eat.

It includes dishes like Glacier 51 toothfish served with a cigar of sweet and salty spanner crab roulade, and juicy Spanish mackerel cooked to perfection in red curry sauce with crunchy, sugar snap peas. To up the ante this summer you can also indulge in their delicious Rock lobster risotto, order Catalina’s signature suckling pig or hail down their new roaming dessert cocktail trolley (created by designer du jour David Caon) with a limoncello to finish. 

“We’re about to celebrate 30 years, which is an achievement we’re very proud of,” said owner and founder Judy McMahon at Veuve Clicquot’s 2015 La Grande Dame launch in August. 

Dressed in her immaculate white head-to-toe outfit McMahon was quick to acknowledge the commitment and support of her children James and Kate who’ve stepped up to the plate since the sorrowful passing of Monsieur McMahon in early 2020.

Now the new guard is very much flying the flag for fine dining in his honour, serving plenty freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters , pouring energetic wines from all over the world and building out an elegant continuum that it is so very loved.

And because everything tastes better with a view, we can safely say there’s really no better place to unwind that here, with a fine glass of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame rosé Champagne and a trout and herring roe churro.

Catalina

Robb Report ANZ hosted hosted a glittering event last night, feting Neil Perry as the standout chef of the year, at his new Double Bay restaurant, Song Bird.

Editor-in-Chief Horacio Silva fronted a packed room of titans of industry, influencers and gourmands for a gastronomic extravaganza staged over three floors.

Esteemed guests included C-Suiters Michael Saadie (NAB Private Wealth), Maria Lykouras (JB Were), Nick Hooper (Jacob & Co.) and Gretchen (Aware Super), as well as ASX Refinitiv Foundation’s Gerard Doyle, dashing adventurer/philanthropist Luke Hepworth and Atomic 212 founder Barry O’Brien. They savoured an exotic menu crafted by Perry, while enjoying exquisite Petaluma Yellow Label wines. They also got to admire stunning Jacob & Co timepieces and sample chocolates graciously provided by Gaggenau.

The menu featured produce-driven Cantonese specialties, such as delectable Wollemi Peking duck paired with Hoisin sauce, various condiments and homemade pancakes, as well as Abrolhos Island sea scallops elegantly presented on the half shell with vermicelli noodles and a dressing of black bean, garlic, and ginger.

The chicsters in attendance were among the first to experience the buzzworthy new restaurant, with the evening made possible by our fantastic partners Gaggenau, Jacob & Co., Petaluma Wines, NAB Private and Codigo 1530 (with support from Kanebridge Media, The Royal Automobile Club of Australia, Citizen K and ASX Refinitiv).

To be a part of next year’s 2025 Culinary Masters and other coming events, sign up to our weekly newsletter or visit https://robbreport.com.au/events/

Every sunrise is a party in Ibiza. Indeed, often it seems like unadulterated hedonism is actively encouraged on the most infamous of the four Balearic Islands, a sun-draped paradise where dusk-to-dawn dance parties segway into swanky beach-club afternoons (often involving more dancing), enjoyed by a melting pot of wealthy international pleasure seekers whose sole aim is to party, and party hard. 

While everything you’ve heard about this Mediterranean Bacchanalia by night is likely true, during sunlight hours, the isle tends to move to a slower, more tranquil beat. The laneways around the main hub of Ibiza Town (or Eivissa in Catalan) are populated with pink-skinned tourists who drift from A to B in large, meandering groups. Some are boozing their hangovers away; some are on the deep-fried tapas road to recovery. When they’re not lizard-lounging beside hotel pools, the remainder appear to spend daytimes overindulging their credit cards, either in the endless strips of shops or waiting in queues at the ubiquitous beauty salons, ready to glam-up for the big night ahead.

Streetside, market stalls selling mostly Asia Pacific-sourced “spiritual” paraphernalia are juxtaposed by edgy clubwear stores and high-end fashion boutiques. It may have surface-level notoriety, but Ibiza also enjoys a rich dichotomy; a place where travellers cosplay billionaires, and the billionaires live like bohemians.

This is far from big news to locals and those in-the-know. Since the 1950s, when the island became a haven for avant-garde artists and free-thinkers—notably during the Spanish Civil War—Ibiza has lured a certain type of one-percenter who’s keen to live by the codes of modern luxury but doesn’t want to do so in a flashy, gauche way.

It’s exactly the kind of niche customer that Rolls-Royce claims to intimately know as it launches its new, second-generation Cullinan here during a two-day media jamboree, aiming to not only evolve alongside its clientele but set the tone of affluence itself. Since its 2018 launch, the SUV has remained the crown jewel of the Rolls-Royce stable, a global bestseller that has become a go-to daily driver for many, largely because the promise that came with the vehicle was simple: effortless everywhere. It presents a different profile to the marque’s more formal town cars and coupes—such as the Ghost and Phantom—and offers a Rolls-Royce package that is more social, spacious and adaptable for all of life’s needs and all the roads one may want to travel—including the ones we’ll drive over the next 48 hours.

Our adventure begins around 30 minutes’ drive north of Ibiza Town’s party district on the quieter side of the island, the preferred base of many HNWIs who now call Ibiza home. We’re staying at the secluded Six Senses Resort, situated on the northern tip of the peninsula at Cala Xarraca. The immediate area is surrounded by nature trails, sleepy villages and expansive views of the Mediterranean Sea, while the resort itself has a private, pueblo-like feel, its terracotta buildings engulfed by beds of charming wildflowers. In this corner of the isle, for the right price, world-class DJs who spin at iconic island clubs like Pacha and Amnesia are available for house calls and famed chefs create intimate culinary moments behind closed doors. Enrichment can also be found through spirituality and emerging wellness experiences, such as grounding cacao rituals, sobriety coaching, sustainability education sessions and longevity-focused health clubs.

If you’re currently wondering what place a Rolls-Royce has here, remember that privacy and serenity are hallmarks of this storied brand. And in terms of high-level bespoke offerings, craftsmanship and a real-world view of sustainability focused on things made to last, few automotive brands on the planet can match the expectations of those who inhabit this island.

The next morning, we hit the road. Our initial drive takes us towards the west coast, passing charming white-washed villages, pine forests and olive groves that grow out of red dirt. Cullinan’s torquey, 6.75-litre, V12 engine leaps into action when called upon, and combined with the instinctive feel of the steering, manages to hide its somewhat behemoth size. Though the scenery is divine, the tarmac is undulating, but on the cliff-lined curves and uneven surfaces, the plush underpinning of the Rolls-Royce’s signature “magic carpet ride” ensures we barely feel a bump. 

Arriving at our first destination, the marina of Santa Eulària des Riu (where a local informs us that the yacht flying a Dutch flag belongs to F1 driver Max Verstappen), the Cullinan cuts a commanding presence. And here, as our steed’s vibrant paint glistens under the Spanish sun, and its lines nod to those found in the mid-size yachts and chic speedboats in the harbour, it starts to make sense why this car would feel so at home in Ibiza.

Cullinan’s new exterior design has a fresh and sharper sense of verticality, evidenced in the more upright lines, crisp edges, and a more powerful-appearing illuminated Pantheon Grille. As someone who wasn’t that much of a fan of Series I’s appearance, these additions give the car more attitude, making for a pleasant surprise. Some dazzling new paint options are on offer too, such as Emperador Truffle. This minimalist, solid grey-brown was inspired by richly veined brown marble, and when combined with the bespoke “Crystal Over” finish, a lacquer infused with glass particles, elicits a mesmerising sunlight-like shimmer.

Before long, we embark on the next leg of our journey, towards Cala Jondal on the far south of Ibiza, best known for its buzzy, upscale chiringuito (the Spanish word for beach bar), helmed by Sevillian chef Rafa Zafra, formerly of the celebrated El Bulli restaurant. This time, we take an inland route, passing bewildered locals not used to seeing a Spirit of Ecstasy statue close up.

As fun as it is to drive, being a passenger in the Cullinan is an experience in itself. The deep-pile carpet is particularly transcendent, likewise the 18-speaker Bespoke Audio system with its 18-channel, 1400-watt amplifier. Who needs Pacha and Amnesia.

Relaxing on the back pews also gives us a chance to run our eyes over the car’s other interior highlights, not least the cityscape-inspired illuminated facia panel, made using a technique which involves 7,000 dots being laser-etched at different angles and depths onto darkened security glass, leading to a striking, multidimensional effect. Naturally, there’s the option to create your own motif in collaboration with the marque’s bespoke design team.

Speaking to customers’ desires for more boldness, there’s a range of new interior textile options, including an artistic leatherwork technique for the seats, dubbed Placed Perforation, whereby tiny perforations are made in the material to create a custom artwork design; plus, an alluring embroidered rayon fabric textile made from bamboo, a modern reimagining of the type found in historic Rolls-Royce cars. Its development was inspired by the bamboo grove of the Côte d’Azur’s Le Jardin des Méditerranées, a beloved spot of the marque’s co-founder Sir Henry Royce.

Rolls-Royce’s pleasingly pedantic approach to sweating the small stuff can also be seen in its use of an open-pore veneer called Grey Stained Ash, which took four years and six specially trained craftsmen to develop and is individually stained and arranged in a pattern to best suit each car. 

This hands-on, artisanal ethos, however, doesn’t come at the expense of contemporary digital elements. The relatively small footprint of Rolls-Royce means it’s able to stay more closely connected with its clientele, and in the Cullinan, via a customer-only app called Whispers, the brand can stay in contact with customers and share new bespoke offerings, relevant lifestyle content and events. 

After a dazzling lunch at Rafa Zafra’s beachfront Cala Jondal—which certainly should be first on Whispers’ list of hot dining spots—it’s time to make our way back to the airport and say a regret-tinged adios to the Cullinan. 

Details play a role in the meaningfulness of a personalised car, and the stories they allow an object to tell. This is a particularly true at Rolls-Royce, where every car model is handmade to order; where one can select a moment in time and have it mapped out in stars on the roof; where you can bring a box of crystal champagne flutes and have them crushed and mixed into paint; or where you can request a veneer made from your favourite backyard tree as a child. The possibilities are infinite. 

As we’ve seen over the past two days, embodying the spirit of an Ibiza-based billionaire might just come down to the unwavering pursuit of personal optimisation. Maybe that’s the bigger ideology at play here under the Balearic sun: that the Cullinan represents a unique kind of private hedonism, a euphoric moment between driver and machine. For now, though, the exhaustion from all the driving is taking its toll. Or maybe, just maybe, we’re tired from dancing into the night to the DJ who came to our private villa the night before. In one way or another, this island always captures you.

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan will be available in Australia in late 2024, price on application; rolls-roycemotorcars.com