Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2025 i Town & Country

GLORIA GUINNESS IN ACAPULCO “While protocol in other winter retreats for the rich may designate designer dress and Lloyd’s of London–insured jewels, in Mexico’s premier resort, status means stripping down to the bare essentials,” T&C wrote of Acapulco, the ne plus ultra of jetsetter havens in the 1960s and ’70s. No one embodied this better than Gloria Guinness, who took over as the destination’s chief arbiter of taste after former titleholder Merle Oberon moved back to L.A. in the early ’70s. We sent Slim Aarons down to capture the grande dame in her hilltop villa, which she had filled with handwoven grass carpets and made-to-order wicker from Mexico City and which was surrounded by acres of exotic flora. “Only in Acapulco can you live like this,” she said.…

As a middle-seat passenger on a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York, I thought I had hit the jackpot: The aisle seat next to me appeared to be empty. But then, as the last passengers trickled onto the plane, I discovered that the seat would be filled by not only a passenger but also her dog. And I hate dogs. Yes, you read that correctly. But before you decide I’m a psychopath—and I very well may be, but mostly for other reasons—I had a traumatic experience with a dog when I was a kid. Consequently, for most of my childhood I would cross to the other side of the street when I saw one. Playdates? It was like the Secret Service sweeping a restaurant ahead of a presidential…

Washington, DC While sitting by the entrance of Ned’s Club, just steps from the White House, is never preferred, here it can mean dinner and a show. Earlier this year Kari Lake, a Trump appointee to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, shared harsh words with Senator Ruben Gallego near the elevator. It’s unclear if the two were reprimanded by the club’s manager. Not many people visit the Founders Dining Room (it’s reserved for members who shell out $100,000 to join; membership starts at $5,000), but if a member brings you, make sure to order the steak. It comes from Four Sixes Ranch, which is reportedly co-owned by the Ned’s billionaire owner Ron Burkle. After dinner head upstairs to the rooftop terrace, which has incredible views of the White House. If…

Southampton, NY Of all the city dwellers making their way to the Hamptons this summer, few are as highly anticipated as Charlie Fox. The sybarite stoner’s dispensary—its Midtown headquarters offers private appointments with cannabis sommeliers—is expanding to Southampton, with delivery launching after Memorial Day and a shop designed by Home Studios opening next. The Montauk Highway outpost will offer exclusive products, work by local artisans, a bar, and retail in a space inspired by old-school rowing clubs. Pop by for a hostess gift—we’re fond of giving the gummies—or before a trip to the newly reopened Southampton Playhouse, home to the only IMAX screen on the East End, and see what’s sure to become one of the Hamptons’ headiest new hotspots.…

East Quogue, NY If we were ever to find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic scenario like the one in Paradise, the hit Hulu show that takes place in a sprawling and seemingly idyllic bunker community populated by billionaires and their chosen few, Mike Meldman would be a good guy to know. The founder of Discovery Land Company (and also the co-founder, with George Clooney and Rande Gerber, of Casamigos) is the mastermind behind such exclusive enclaves as Big Sky’s Yellowstone Club and the Hudson Valley’s Silo Ridge, which counted Tom Brady and his then-wife Gisele Bundchen as its first residents. This summer Meldman is bringing the model to East Quogue with the Hills, which will be the Hamptons’ first gated residential development. A purchase of one of the 110 properties or…

Just last year, a 12-year-old English boy discovered an ancient Roman bracelet while walking his dog in West Sussex. Not long after that, a buried Roman settlement was unearthed that had graves piled with jewelry. And then there were the two newly discovered bodies near Pompeii, lying on a bed of gold and silver coins and pearl earrings. The Romans wore jewelry often, and well. Torque necklaces and bracelets and earrings expressed status, of course, and reflected the primal need to adorn. They took the gold the Greeks had celebrated and added to it the colored stones and materials that arrived via the Silk Road trade routes and made them rich. So while you can hope to stumble on a piece during a routine perambulation, doesn’t traveling to Sicily to…

Facial plastic surgeon Amir Karam’s facelift before-and-afters on Instagram are all the rage, but he routinely reminds followers that his skills are best enhanced by top-notch skincare, which includes retinol. But what kind, and how often? And again: Can we use it in the summer? I’m a firm believer in year-round use of retinol or retinoid, as well as daily use. However, the reality is very few people can tolerate the irritation, inflammation, and adjustment that needs to go on during the so-called purging phase, which can last two to three weeks. So most people quit or modify their routine, and as a result they never acclimate. A common misconception is that you can get the same benefits if you use retinol two or three times a week, and that’s…

“ The sea is high again today, with a thrilling flush of wind.” With these words, Lawrence Durrell, who loved the Mediterranean, opens Justine, the first of four novels known as the Alexandria Quartet. I grew up in Alexandria, and I know the sea and its manifold moods, from rough and somber and ferocious to downright silent and tame, almost timid, especially by mid-September, after everyone has left the homes they’ve rented by the sea. Then the beaches were ever so quiet, with just a few stragglers and bathers whose voices didn’t carry, while the occasional vendor of hard candied biscuits would let his voice ring out for a second, only to spell the silence more when he stopped. All I wanted to do on those translucent mornings was to…

LAKE ANNECY, France SCENE In the 1890s, Paul Cézanne thought it a bit too lovely for his taste. These days it hosts endurance events and attracts a sporty French and Swiss crowd. ACTIVITIES Extreme pursuits aside, there are sightseeing cruises, cycling along a 20-mile greenway, or just taking in the snowy alpine peaks and aquamarine water from more than a dozen beaches. BASE Abbaye de Talloires, a 17th-century monastery turned boutique hotel with a 1,000-bottle wine cellar; or the family-run Auberge du Père Bise, a Relais & Châteaux property with a two-Michelin-star restaurant. TEGERNSEE LAKE, Germany SCENE Designer lederhosen, artisanal schnapps, Audi-lined streets—a Hamptons-meets-Oktoberfest vibe less than an hour south of Munich and still under the radar of Americans and most Europeans. ACTIVITIES The water temperature hovers around 70 in…

I knew I was in trouble the moment I boarded Explora II, Explora Journeys’ newest ship, in Bridgetown, Barbados, last March for my onboard reconnaissance. We were setting off that evening on a seven-night, six-day, five-island cruise in the Caribbean. Except on our final day, which would be spent at sea, we would wake every morning in a new port, to a new landscape. The lineup was stellar: Saint Lucia, Martinique, Bequia in the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada, with final disembarkation in San Juan. On two islands our arrival would coincide with Carnival. In the Caribbean I’m usually a dolce far niente kind of traveler—I decide on an island and let my days there unfold. But here was my chance to go places I hadn’t been, and to explore. So…

1929 Pierre Quentin, of Paris’s Hotel Ambassador, organized the first meeting of Les Clefs d’Or, an association of hotel concierges that brought wider awareness to the job. The group is still active today. 1974 Ritz London veteran Tom Wolfe—no, not that one—was named the chief concierge at San Francisco’s Fairmont, making him the first in the U.S. More than 50 years later, he’s still there. 1983 Aaron Spelling’s TV series Hotel premieres, dramatizing life in a Fairmont-inspired property, starring Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca. The take on high-end hospitality ran for five years. 2011 NYC concierge Michael Fazio, formerly of the InterContinental Hotel, publishes Concierge Confiden tial, blowing the lid off the secrets of the profession—and just how demanding the top clients can be. 2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel…

It usually happens the Friday of Memorial Day weekend: my first lunch at Duryea’s Orient Point, at the far end of Long Island’s North Fork, where my family has had a house for decades (once you pass local favorite Hellenic you’ll probably figure out what drew us here). We sometimes order the infamous lobster Cobb, but I actually prefer the lobster pasta, and inevitably we decide that the only way to mark the turn of the season is with a 1 p.m. glass of rosé. Ordering that first summer wine with lunch feels defiant, a stake in the ground in pursuit of the increasingly elusive carefree summer. The feeling generally lasts only until Tuesday morning. Summer is busy at T&C. We have an excellent digital issue launching in late June…

Forte dei Marmi, Italy Talk to people who spend their summers in Forte dei Marmi, the seaside Tuscan town popular with the Italian aristo crowd and (so far) free of the tourist hordes crowding the Amalfi Coast, and you’ll hear sooner than later about the beach clubs—and what yours says about you. Regulars agree that Bagno Piero, which is said to have been the Agnelli family’s preferred spot, is among the best in town, though getting in without a membership (or a well-connected host) is next to impossible. The recently renovated but still retro Bagno Santa Maria is similarly stylish, and perhaps easier to crack: Your concierge at the Augustus or Hotel Byron can get you in. And Alpemare, owned by Andrea Bocelli’s family, offers summerlong memberships. The fivestar Grand…

Central Park, NYC I dare you not to love New York when the moon rises above Belvedere Castle and you see it from a seat at the Delacorte watching Lupita Nyong’o and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Twelfth Night. And it will happen, for the first time in two years, when this treasure in the middle of Central Park returns after a major restoration. The Delacorte, constructed in 1962 through the sheer force of Joseph Papp, needed love. It hadn’t received any updates to its original construction since 1999. There were issues of accessibility, of weatherproofing, of lighting. And, of course, there were the raccoons. You may still spot one when Twelfth Night restarts the Public Theater’s tradition of free Shakespeare in the Park in August, but the critters won’t be…

FOR THE SCENE FOR THE SURF GO! Book Les Bords du Lac, a 7-bedroom villa run by luxury rental company Iconic House. A concierge will procure whatever you need, including surf lessons at top spots like La Gravière. Kelly Slater was a recent guest. ICONIC.HOUSE/LES-BORDS-DU-LAC FOR THE HANGOVER CURE FOR THE DIGITAL DETOX GO! The lack of an airport and swaths of protected forest have helped Folegandros retain a sense of untouched authenticity. Experience it yourself at the new Gundari, the island’s first luxury boutique hotel, which is tucked away in a wildlife reserve. GUNDARI.COM FOR THE ART GO! Designer Lorenzo Castillo lent his signature brand of sumptuously textured maximalism to the restoration of Son Net, a 17th-century palacio 20 minutes from Palma. Those frescoes and mosaic floors are original.…

IN THEORY & PRACTICE TIP 1: LEARN THE LANGUAGE Ancient cultures prized shells as both currency and adornment. Later, the Age of Discovery fueled a rise in jewels crafted with, and inspired by, treasures of the sea. TIP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR IDOLS In the 1940s Fulco di Verdura transformed shells into exquisite brooches of gold and precious gems. Millicent Rogers got first dibs. They remain a holy grail. TIP 3: EXERCISE GRAND GESTURES Should you wear jewels in the water? Maria Callas did. So did Sara Murphy (see page 96). And of course Liz Taylor, who took a plunge in her Cartier rubies. Enough said.…

There are a handful of items that, in the first warm days of spring, had already proved to be the accessories of the summer. Among them: Prada crochet bags, Chloé jelly sandals, and…glucose monitors. The sticky oblong devices are far less chic than their counterparts, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming ubiquitous. One New Yorker reports she’s seen them everywhere from her personal trainer’s studio to black tie affairs. Another wore one—briefly—at the urging of a “health obsessed” friend. Momfluencers are hosting glucose challenges (complete with click-to-buy links for the devices), gyms are advertising them, and you can’t walk four blocks up Park Avenue without spotting the telltale patch on at least one sinewy triceps. Until recently, tracking blood sugar using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) was just for…

I magine this: dramatic cliffs rising from the ocean, yachts dotting sapphire bays, quaint villages precariously carved into sheer rock faces, and chic beach clubs fringing stretches of sand. Where is all this? Along Tuscany’s 250-mile coastline. Is it new? Not exactly. Hamptons-like towns such as Forte dei Marmi and Porto Ercole have drawn in-the-know Italian and British travelers for decades. “The 1960s was the golden period of Forte dei Marmi,” says Fulvio De Bonis, founder and CEO of Rome-based tour operator Imago Artis. “There was an economic boom, with many VIPs and artists spending their holidays here.” But some non-Italians, Americans especially, thought it rustic or underdeveloped. We’re letting you in on a secret: With a ripple of recent openings, there’s a new wave coming. First thing to know…

NO CENTRAL POOL Who wants to relax poolside in a mosh pit of lounge chairs? Pas moi. Explora I and II have four pools—all but one at either the ship’s bow or stern. There is no through traffic, all feel private, and none was ever crowded. (Five pools if you count the hydrotherapy one in the spa.) NO CIRCULAR SOAKING POOLS The problem with round public whirlpools is that you’ll likely end up looking across at strangers in their bathing suits. Which may be fine—or not. Explora’s four roomy rectangular “infinity whirlpools” have you looking straight out to sea. Genius. (There’s a round one at the SkyBar.) NO PEOPLE PILE-UPS Explora I and II each has 461 suites. On my sailing, which was not quite full, the vibe was everywhere elegant—pools, restaurants, lounges, bars,…

On the face of it, “the puddle,” as it’s known, is an elongated scar of muddy water closer in size to a small pond than to something a child might skip over in rain boots. But at the Peninsula School the puddle is something more significant: It’s a mode of learning. Kids stomp through it in their bare feet. They swing over it like monkeys on an old-school climbing rope. And every year the sixth graders stage a re-enactment on its murky waters of the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada. There are sword fights and a beheading, and for the grand finale dozens of paper boats crafted by the kids are set ablaze, their ashes slowly disintegrating into the murk as the entire school cheers, Wild Rumpus–style, from the…

It’s unclear whether famed New York City art dealer and gallerist Brent Sikkema was asleep in the early morning hours of January 14, 2024, when the intruder first plunged the knife into his chest. He may have been lying in bed, initially unaware of what was happening to him—and why. He may have, instead, as a crime scene expert working with the Brazilian police suggested, stood up, approached the man in his bedroom doorway, and fought for his life. What is clear is that Sikkema’s body was discovered one day later riddled with stab wounds—18 in total, according to the authorities. Sikkema’s home, an upscale townhouse in Rio de Janeiro’s tony Jardim Botânico neighborhood, was supposed to be his sanctuary, a world away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan,…

Before it was home to an arts camp spread over 118 bucolic acres, New Milford, Connecticut, was a center for trade crisscrossed with freight train tracks. So when Buck’s Rock Camp—a free-for-all of a summer program where campers engage in activities like weaving and glassblowing—needed to figure out how to get the attention of the entire camp at once, someone came up with the gong. Salvaged from a scrap pile, an abandoned railroad tire was put to work. It has since become an institutional icon. When struck, it sounds across the entire grounds. There isn’t a camper—former or current—who doesn’t recognize its pitch. It’s a clock, signaling wakeup and bedtime. It’s a fixture of the storied summer camp, which counts among its alumni the novelist Erica Jong, her daughter the…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis are among the greats who have headlined the Montreux Jazz Festival, the music extravaganza that takes place on the shore of Lake Geneva every summer. (Since the ’70s it has welcomed icons of all genres; Prince and Bob Dylan were regulars.) This year Chaka Khan is opening the festival with a tribute to the late Quincy Jones. JULY 4–19, MONTREUXJAZZFESTIVAL.COM WHAT ARE WE WEARING? In jazz, perfect harmony is a seventh chord. In watchmaking, it’s the Royal Oak. Introduced in 1972, Audemars Piguet’s crown jewel has repeatedly evolved with the times. More than 500 iterations have been born since, including designs in navy ceramic and rainbow gemstones. The first yellow gold Royal Oak was made in 1977. This is…

Yountville, California It’s open for lunch just three days a week, and only between Memorial and Labor days. A collection of picnic tables set up behind Ad Hoc, the temporary-turned-permanent restaurant opened by Thomas Keller in 2006, Addendum serves three mains: buttermilk fried chicken, fried chicken sandwiches, and pulled pork sandwiches, along with wine and beer. But it’s one of Napa Valley’s favorite spots for a weekend meal. Wine world luminaries settle in next to contractors cooling down after work next to line chefs from nearby restaurants. “It was just kind of leftover space,” Keller said about its inception. “We had an old garden shack out back and turned it into a place where you could order food and get your beverages. ”People wander around, some with dogs and kids…

Zanzibar I have traveled to more than 40 countries in the past 17 years, both for pleasure and for book research. I’ve visited some of Europe’s, Asia’s, and Africa’s liveliest cafés, but I have never encountered a place quite like the Box by Ashley Maybe. I walked into the Stone Town, Zanzibar, restaurant last summer expecting to have a quiet brunch and ended up staying through the afternoon, then for dinner, and then late into the evening. “Hey, welcome in!” yelled Ashley-Marie “Ashley Maybe” Weston, the fortysomething owner, from behind the bar. She reminded me of home, with her gorgeous floor-length braids and stylish hoop earrings. She got me seated, and almost immediately I fell into conversation with a young businesswoman from Oman; an interracial couple who grew up in…

London The Groucho Club (named for Groucho Marx’s famous declaration that he wouldn’t “want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members”) has been at it since 1985, and it serves as a cozy, classy, chummy, boozy spot for the creative set—like the cast of this summer’s West End hit My Master Builder—to gather in the midst of Soho. Nestled in Dean Street, it was conceived as a rebuke to the starchy gentlemen’s clubs of the day, as a place where Soho’s artists, publishers, filmmakers, actors, writers, and other cultural titans could gather. Today it still stands in opposition, now to this era’s proliferation of style-oversubstance members clubs. In the afternoon it provides a sanguine refuge, and in the evening it roars to life…

London For years the Wolseley, Jeremy King’s Piccadilly eatery, was London’s power broker canteen. Politicians, media bigwigs, and all manner of lords and ladies would swarm what was said to be Britain’s most profitable dining room for breakfast. Nowadays, however, even King—whose 2022 split from his empire “triggered a small earthquake in London’s social circles,” according to the New York Times—starts his day at Maison François. Opened in 2020 by François O’Neill (whose father brought Paris-style dining to London in the 1980s with Brasserie St. Quentin), chef Matthew Ryle, and chief operating partner Ed Wyand, this discreet brasserie on Duke Street in St. James’s has usurped the Wolseley as the place to breakfast and be seen breakfasting. Maison François ticks all the boxes: There’s excellent coffee, perfectly poached eggs, fluffy…

It’s hot and humid. You’re sticky. You’re sweaty. Your face feels like melted butter. Would you like to slather some oil on it? Summer skincare, according to received wisdom, should be as minimal as possible. Even the essential one-two-three of serum, light moisturizer, and sunscreen can seem like overload when your skin feels like stew meat. But there’s new thinking—and clever formulations—that may convince you to get oiled up. First, some assumptions to cast aside. If you are among those blessed with a perpetual sheen, fear not: Adding an oil to your regimen will not make your complexion oilier. In fact, using the right oil can rebalance your skin’s natural sebum production, so that it becomes less prone to slick spots over time. Also, it’s important not to mistake oil…

GEMINI MAY 22–JUNE 21 Choices confront you as June begins, and your focus is drawn toward matters involving home and security. With Venus entering your birth sign in July, your charm will be peaking; it’s time to expand your horizons and explore new options. In August more clarity will dawn after Mercury turns direct on the 11th. Venus in Leo urges you to speak up and reach out to those who count. RENATO CIPULLO ($3,500), RENATOCIPULLO.COM CANCER JUNE 22–JULY 22 June holds many ups and downs, but once the Sun enters your sign on the 21st, you’ll receive a long-awaited go signal. Make an effort to strengthen important alliances in July. Financial issues will demand a shift of perspective, and it may be hard to know what path to follow…

PRESENTED BY Be one of the first to embark on Seven Seas Prestige,™ the newest ship in the ultra-luxe Regent Seven Seas Cruises® fleet, debuting in 2026.HERE, REGENT’S VP OF BRAND STRATEGY & CREATIVE JANICE DAVIDSON REVEALS WHICH SUITE, AND ALL THAT COMES WITH IT, YOU SHOULD SPLURGE ON. WHAT IS THE BEST SUITE ON THE SHIP, AND WHY? Our suites blend the residential comforts of home with exquisite luxury that rivals any five-star hotel. The over 8,000-square-foot Skyview Regent Suite, our most exclusive address at sea, offers a wraparound balcony with breathtaking views of each destination. The palatial Regent Suite spans two floors and comes with in-suite dining, a personal butler, a car and driver in every port, and thoughtful details like afternoon canapés, an in-suite sauna, and heated…

There is no better way to end a trip to Japan (is anyone not going there these days?) than with the centuries-old tradition of the hot water cure (touji). While onsen are now ubiquitous in urban luxury hotels, to truly experience Japan’s bathing culture you should visit one of its onsen-gai, or onsen towns, developed in areas with large concentrations of hot springs. They differ by number of pools and their location (indoors or out), the mineral content of their water (sulfurous? chlorinated? alkaline?), and the style of their ryokan, the traditional Japanese guesthouses that typically feature an adjoining bathhouse or even a private in-room onsen. Here are three easy-to-reach onsen-gai that are as culturally enriching as they are restorative. The recommended length of stay is at least two nights…

NUJUMA, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE Saudi Arabia In the Red Sea and surrounded by one of the world’s most unvisited archipelagos, the Middle East’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve—shell-shaped villas set on sand or elevated above water—is a diver’s paradise. But every imaginable water activity can by arranged by your personal host. This might be a new Maldives in the making. ELEVEN RIO PALENA LODGE Chile Fly-fishing is one of the most meditative and cerebral of watery pursuits. The experience at this remote seven-room Patagonian lodge from the luxury adventure company Eleven is nonpareil. When you tire of trying to outsmart the fish, you can kayak or raft. NIMMO BAY Canada Originally catering to fishingobsessed billionaires, Nimmo, on a remote inlet on British Columbia’s Pacific coast, is now a premier spot for experiences in…

YOGA STUDIO Yoga master Dheeraj has twice daily classes, 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. You hold your poses before a floor-to-ceiling window looking out to sea. CHEF’S KITCHEN Every day, twice a day, Chef Lee, assisted by Chef Peter, holds two-hour hands-on cooking classes for small groups. You then eat what you make. I took one and wished I’d done more. OPEN AIR FITNESS There is nothing, I discovered, quite like rowing, biking, or lifting on a high deck, water all around you, catching the ocean breeze. An “infinity gym.” IN-SUITE BREAKFAST My private terrace, the early sun glinting on the sea, good food, and the day ahead. SKY BAR AT SUNSET The best place to end the day: convivial mood, good seating, views from the ship’s highest point as it…