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Alpine Switchbacks, Conrad’s Greek Debut, an Aman’s Return & More

A high-performance Alpine driving escape, a Montenegrin island’s long-awaited return, and Diageo cracking open a 55-year-old ghost distillery.
May 08, 2026
Gold world-time wristwatch with a brown leather strap; bezel lists global cities around dial
Collectors chasing the world will find South America rendered in cloisonné enamel on this Patek Philippe Ref. 2523, one of two known yellow gold examples, the only one ever auctioned, and estimated above CHF5 million. Photo: Courtesy of Phillips

Some weeks are slower than others. Fortunately, this wasn’t one of them.

A hotel group hands you the keys to a sports car and sends you through the Alps, Conrad makes its Greek debut in one of Athens’ most storied addresses, Regent Seven Seas proposes 150 nights across seven continents, Louis Vuitton takes over the Moroccan desert for a jewelry collection, a Montenegrin island legend quietly unlocks its gates after five years, Phillips puts a CHF5 million Patek on the block, and Diageo opens a bottle older than most people in the room.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts Takes to the Alps

Photo: Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Preferred Hotels & Resorts is trading lobbies for switchbacks. Launching this July, the Preferred Experience is a five-day Alpine driving escape through Germany and Austria, with just 20 guests, high-performance sports cars, and passes like Hahntennjoch and Gerlos threading through Tyrol, Styria, and Chiemgau. Overnights include stays at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol, Imlauer Hotel Schloss Pichlarn, and Das Achental. Explore Munich to Munich, with fine dining and spa stops in between.

From €10,990 (Php780,000) per person. More information here.

The Ilisian Takes the Place of the Hilton in Athens

Large curved modern hotel building with many balconies and a rooftop garden visible at the top, viewed from the street level outside.
Photo: Conrad

Conrad Hotels & Resorts makes its Greek debut inside one of Athens’ most storied addresses. The Ilisian opens in the former Hilton Athens, featuring 278 rooms and with modernist bones intact, including Yannis Moralis’s sculpted marble façades. The broader complex brings residences, restaurants, wellness, retail, and the House of NYNN private members’ club. New additions include Athens’ largest outdoor pool and the city’s first grande brasserie, with Galaxy Bar reimagined as Galaxy Dispensary and Galaxy Supper Club arriving later this year.

Book via the Hilton Honors app or the hotel website.

150 Nights, Seven Continents, Zero Excuses

Sailboat anchored in bright turquoise lagoon with a lush green island and jagged mountain in the background under a partly cloudy sky
You’ll make a spot in Bora Bora, among other locales. Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises is redefining the long vacation. Its Eras of Exploration 2029 World Cruise carries 700 guests aboard the refurbished, all-suite Seven Seas Mariner across all seven continents in 150 nights, covering 70 ports, 13 overnights, 37,000 nautical miles. The route spans the Amazon, Antarctica, Bora Bora, Bali, Mumbai, Petra, Dubai, Jerusalem, and Rome. All-inclusive fares cover 326 shore excursions and Epicurean Enrichment Studio programming.

From $99,999 (Php6,050,000) per guest, departing Miami. Read more here.

Mythica, Marrakech, Mayhem

Group of people in formal wear standing on a tiered outdoor stage as fireworks light the night sky above them.
Louis Vuitton Mythica Collection debut in Morocco Photo: Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton took over Marrakech for Mythica. Top clients moved through the Royal Mansour and La Mamounia before a finale at Kasbah D’If in the Agafay desert. Picture horseback greeters, Gnawa performers, a sunset runway show, rooftop dinner, torchlit procession, and a lot of fireworks. The jewels matched the spectacle: the 249.31-carat Sirius necklace, emerald-led Mesmerism, sculptural Fortune necklaces, the 821.14-carat zircon Fortitude, and Spell’s UV-fluorescent diamonds.

Read more here.

Five Million Reasons to Be in Geneva

Gold wristwatch with a world-time dial, city names around the bezel, colorful central map, and a brown leather strap.
This rare yellow-gold Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 World Time, with a cloisonné enamel South America dial, is one of two known and estimated above CHF5 million. Photo: Phillips

Phillips gives collectors a reason to clear their Geneva calendars this coming weekend, specifically from May 9 to 10. The headline lot is a 1953 Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 “Polychrome Two-crown World-time” in yellow gold—cloisonné enamel dial, South America map, one of two known examples in that configuration—estimated above CHF5 million. The broader sale covers F.P. Journe, Rolex, Richard Mille, and 200-plus vintage and contemporary pieces.

More information here.

Montenegro’s Most Mythic Address Is Back

Fortified island town with red-tiled roofs atop stone walls overlooking calm blue sea.
Photo: Aman

Aman Sveti Stefan is coming back. The fortified Montenegrin island resort, with its stone cottages, Adriatic drama, decades of celebrity lore, is reportedly reopening July 1 after five years away, with Villa Miločer and Aman Spa on the mainland returning May 22. It sure seems that the Adriatic’s most glamorous holdout is done holding out.

More information here.

Ghosts in the Glass

Six dark bottles with copper bands lined up on a rocky ledge, a scenic mountain landscape in the background, part of a whisky collection.
Diageo’s new Rare Series draws from its 10 million-cask archive for a rotating collection of ultra-rare Scotch, debuting with five distilleries, bottles from $900 to $6,350, and only 122 allocations for the U.S. Photo: Diageo

Diageo has just opened the vaults. Rare Series, its new prestige single-malt collection, spans five bottles aged 34 to 55 years, led by Glenury Royal 1970—the oldest single malt Diageo has ever released, drawn from a distillery that no longer exists. Talisker, Caol Ila, Clynelish, and Blair Athol round out the lineup, all pulled from Diageo’s deep reserves.

More information here.

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