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5x indulging the senses
From a Michelin-starred meal in the stratosphere to a gastronomic stargazing night in New Zealand, these worldly experiences elevate entertainment to a celestial level.
From a stellar meal in the stratosphere to a gastronomic stargazing night in New Zealand, these worldly experiences elevate entertainment to a celestial level.
Michelin stars in the sky
New York-based space tourism company SpaceVIP is hosting a star-studded dinner at an altitude of 30,000 meters in 2025. The chef will be Rasmus Munk of The Alchemist** in Copenhagen. The setting for this extraterrestrial dinner, with seating for six guests, will be a Space Perspective space balloon named Spaceship Neptune. To mark the occasion, guests will wear stylish, custom-made spacesuits designed by La Miason Ogier. The six-hour journey will depart from Florida. The meal will be served as the sun rises over the curvature of the Earth. Guests will pay €450.000 for this experience, making it the most expensive meal in history.
Spacevip.com | Spaceperspective.com
Full house
With a total investment of $3,7 billion, Fontainebleau Las Vegas is aiming high on the gambling capital's playing field. After nearly two decades of construction, this 67-story hotel-casino-convention center opened in December 2023 at the north end of the Strip. The dice roll amidst a backdrop of columns, a golden chandelier, and art installations by Urs Fischer and Gonzalo Lebrija, among others. Some 36 bars, restaurants, and nightclubs border the atrium. From the mind of Hakkasan and Wagamama founder Alan Yau comes Chyna Club, featuring innovative Cantonese cuisine. At Mother Wolf, Evan Funke, the "Pasta King of Los Angeles," serves his celebrated carbohydrates. ITO is an omakase-style restaurant (an offshoot of ITO Tribeca, from celebrity chef Masa Ito), serving top-quality sushi at an intimate 12-seat bar. Club LIV, based on the concept of the Miami Beach nightclub of the same name, promises an electrifying nightlife filled with A-list entertainment and VIP services. Lapis Spa & Wellness offers innovative treatments such as snow showers and sonic therapies. Above that, the Oasis pool deck extends across 2,5 hectares of outdoor space. Along with Sphere, the $2,3 billion music venue boasting the world's largest and highest-resolution LED screen, Fontainebleau is pushing the city's center of gravity further north, away from its traditional epicenter.
Star meal
Situated on a high plateau on New Zealand's South Island, the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is among the world's best places for stargazing. And the ultimate destination for experiencing the starry splendor is the Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat. This luxurious lodge on the edge of Lake Pukaki serves a mouthwatering menu, including manuka honey-glazed salmon and finely marbled beef, served alongside raspberry purée and rose petals. As night falls, head to a nearby wine cellar adjacent to the region's only observatory, where amateur astronomer Luke Paardekooper uses his cutting-edge equipment to share with you the details of Saturn's rings, star clusters, and distant nebulas. You might even catch a glimpse of the elusive Southern Lights. A glass of whisky or wine, to sip while contemplating the universe, is guaranteed.
Bathing in the past
As visitors settle onto the polished marble in the Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, ready to be thoroughly scrubbed beneath the soaring dome with star-shaped skylights, they bathe in not only a luxurious setting but also a historic one. This grand Turkish bathhouse reopened in May 2024 after decades of disrepair. It was originally built in the early 16th century over one of Istanbul's Byzantine cisterns by Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman Empire's greatest architect. A meticulous 13-year restoration revealed fragments of the blue-and-white tiled patterns that once adorned the bathhouse's interior and gave the building its name (cinili is "tiled" in Turkish). These finds are displayed in an adjacent new museum that digitally reconstructs the original tile layout and traces the paths where some of the missing pieces ended up (including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). Also on display are Byzantine-period stone carvings and pottery discovered during the restoration process, as well as a collection of bath bowls, mother-of-pearl combs, and other accessories that bring Ottoman hammam culture to life. Inside the bath, contemporary versions of traditional pestemal (towels) and nalin (clogs) by fashion designer Hussein Chalayan stylishly bring the past into the present.
Sporty meets sacred
At Holy Padel in Arnhem, the serene beauty of a traditional church has been transformed into a vibrant arena for the world's fastest-growing racquet sport. While playing padel, you're surrounded by centuries-old architecture that tells a story from past to present. Sacred history meets modern passion.
