Pick Your Passion, Girls Getaways to Oceanside Americana

Wanderlust with Us Issue XVII - July 17, 2020

Pick Your Passion! - Part Two

Have you added to your travel wish list after reading last week's Pick Your Passion - Part One? If not, this week's will for sure spark your inspiration. Interactive homemade pasta cooking classes for couples, a hopping rooftop bar for a girls getaway, or a five bedroom private residence for the entire family...we have something for everyone's passion. Let us feed your Wanderlust...

Your Romantic Retreat

Just what the doctor ordered...

Miraval Austin

Ventana Big Sur

Miraval Austin - Austin Texas

• Seeking some adventure together? Miraval Austin offers a complimentary challenge course that couples can conquer together. The course includes a climbing wall, quantum leap, a swing and prayer and more!

• Miraval Austin's new Life in Balance Culinary Kitchen that was created in partnership with Williams Sonoma offers couples cooking, wine pairing, and mixology classes. If you have never made homemade pasta, the Pasta a Mano class is the perfect interactive yet romantic experience.

Ventana Big Sur - Big Sur, California

• Connect with each other while connecting with nature. Ventana Big Sur's luxury glamping tents have premium sleeping accommodations, canyon views, fire pits, and s'mores. Nothing is more romantic than sleeping under the star

• The Ventana Glass House, perched 1,100 feet above the Pacific Ocean and encased in glass, is perfect for a romantic private dinner. Imagine proposing to your significant other with breathtaking, endless ocean views - this is a once in a life time experience.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

For those looking for a girls trip getaway with food, fun, and friendship.

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain

Noelle Nashville

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain - Scottsdale, Arizona

• Grab your best friend and head to this desert escape for a girl’s spa retreat! Enjoy a HydraFacial or Royal Pedicure (why not both – you deserve it!) together while you sip on bubbly and soak the day away.

• Get your workout in early with a morning hike or stand-up paddleboard yoga in the infinity edge pool. Then cool off after with your own private cabana while you snack on homemade guacamole and prickly pear margaritas.

Noelle, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel - Nashville, Tennessee

• Dust off those cowgirl boots and get ready to explore all that Downtown Nashville has to offer. Looking for a backstage pass to Nashville? Ask us about our behind the curtain Grand Ole Opry experience.

• You can always expect the unexpected at Noelle’s Hidden Bar, their best kept secret. This is for the adventurous and experiential cocktail consumers who are sure to be kept on their toes. Prefer to sit outside? Check out their trendy Rare Bird Rooftop Bar with views overlooking downtown Nashville.

Home Away from Home

For those looking for their own home for more privacy and space all while enjoying resort amenities right outside their doorstep.

Ocean House

Casa Elar at Ojai Valley Inn

Cottages at Ocean House - Watch Hill, Rhode Island

• From 2 bedroom bungalows to 7 bedroom homes, you have a wide variety of options to fit everyone in the family. An oceanfront residence private to your family with all the resort amenities you would get at a hotel unlike an AirBnb. The Up, Up, & Away home is a dream that you may never want to check-out of!

• Take a three minute walk to the beach and meet Ocean House’s fleet of classic motor and sailing yachts. Who wouldn’t love setting sail on a private charter as the ocean breeze sweeps through your hair – sign me up!

Casa Elar at Ojai Valley Inn - Ojai, California

• While in residence at Casa Elar (10,407 sq/ft), you'll enjoy the comfort of a stately home fully serviced and staffed in accordance with your expectations. Your individual pool, spa, and living spaces afford you with the opportunity to entertain or celebrate life at your own pace.

• While Casa Elar is located on property at Ojai Valley Inn, and is convenient to all resort facilities, it features separate gated street and resort entrances. Its location is discretely positioned to ensure minimal visibility and plenty of privacy.

Partner Profile: Andrea Filippi, Belmond

Vice President, Global Sales

A few of Camelback's favorite North America Belmond properties include Belmond El Encanto, Belmond Charleston Place, and Belmond Maroma.

Andrea, tell us what you've been doing...

"Whenever I meet someone from outside the travel and hospitality industry and I am asked “what do you do?”, my first answer is always: “I probably have the best job in the world!”

As Vice President of Global Sales at BELMOND, I am fortunate enough to travel all over the world, with the added privilege of visiting the most beautiful destinations - experiencing deep and authentic immersions in local cultures.

What makes my job even more exciting and rewarding is the countless number of inspiring people I meet through my travels: knowledgeable travel advisors, true characters and great storytellers – spanning from local fishermen to opera singers! Add to the recipe the bonus of leading a team of 170 passionate sales professionals, who collaborate relentlessly with expert travel consultants at crafting bespoke lifetime memories for their clients who become our Guests – and invest some of their time to celebrate life in “BELMOND style”.

As a positive thinker by nature, I always look at my glass being half-full vs. half-empty. This helped me going through the pandemic crisis with a renewed sense of responsibility, providing me with an appetite to collaborate with my team and our peers in the industry, rethinking how we can enhance the customer experience in the next future. I refer to the future as the era of a “New BETTER Normal”, past this “temporary abnormal” phase. There are lots of exciting news and innovations in store, stay tuned!

From a personal standpoint, I used to take an average of 250 flights a year, a few months ago I was concerned at the perspective of being grounded in lockdown, unable to fly anywhere. After 118 days of consecutive “no-fly period”, I actually feel grateful for the opportunity of slowing down and spending more time with my wife Stefania and my daughter Greta – a treat I certainly was not accustomed to until now!

I am normally based in Milano but as the city was the one being hit the hardest in Italy with Covid-19, we decided to move to our summer house and happy place in Puglia, where we plan to stay throughout the season, rejoicing with the simplest pleasures of life.

In all honesty, I do miss travelling and I will jump on the first opportunity to catch a plane and keep doing what I love most: traveling and exploring.

#travelbecause: exploring is an enriching experience. Always!"