< Previous40 Previous page: Miraval The Red Sea This page, clockwise from top left: Nujama, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve; Rosewood Red Sea; Jumeirah The Red Sea; Raffl es The Red Sea; Fairmont The Red Sea; Six Senses Southern Dunes; InterContinental The Red Sea Resort Lying between Asia and Africa, the Red Sea is one of the world’s most fabled waters. The name itself paints images of idyllic, crystalline blue waves, where colourful marine life frolic and divers fi nd treasures, of soft shores of untouched white sand and countless stories dating to the antiquity. Travellers will very soon be able to visit this idyllic and fascinating stretch of Saudi Arabia’s coast, with the development of one of the world’s most exciting and pioneering luxury tourism destinations. Surrounded by the world’s fourth-largest barrier reef system and mangrove forests, The Red Sea destination spans over 28,000 kilometres, stretching from the shore to a paradisiacal archipelago of more than 90 untouched islands, dormant volcanoes, sweeping desert dunes, mountain canyons and myriad historical and cultural sites. Its opening will cement Saudi Arabia as a leader in sustainable tourism, ambitiously set to be fully powered using renewable energy day and night, making it the largest off -grid destination in the world. Opening in 2023, the ambitious and wanderlust-inspiring destination is set for completion in 2030, where it will cap visitors at one million a year to preserve its precious ecosystem and landscape. Here, travellers will be able to experience this beautiful stretch of coast for themselves. To snorkel on one of the world’s most spectacular reefs, to venture inland for desert activities on soft dunes, to watch blood-range sunsets and relax on untouched sugar-soft sands and dine in world-class restaurants. But most importantly, travellers will be able to stay in some of the world’s most revered, respected and luxurious hotels and resorts, from private island-inspired ocean villas to luxury wellness desert escapes. Upon completion, the soon-to-be-launched destination will comprise 50 hotels off ering up to 8,000 hotel keys, with guests set to be welcomed from early 2023. Cementing itself as a global tourism destination and key player in the Middle East’s luxury tourism market, 12 out of 16 leading hospitality brands for Phase One are confi rmed to open hotels at the idyllic project, from international resorts to brands championing modern Arabian hospitality. For Phase One, set to be completed by 2023, a new collection of hospitality brands have made history by joining the highly anticipated destination, bringing with them nearly 3,000 hotel keys. 414243 THE RED SEA DESTINATION IS SET TO REDEFINE BAREFOOT LUXURY IN THE REGION, NOT ONLY BOLSTERING SAUDI ARABIA’S BURGEONING TOURISM LANDSCAPE, BUT PROTECTING WHAT MATTERS THE MOST – THIS IDYLLIC STRETCH OF COASTLINE Establishing itself as a leading global lifestyle destination, Ian Schrager and Marriott International’s stylish Edition brand is set to open on the Red Sea, bringing its signature seductive design and elegant dining outlets to the destination with The Red Sea Edition. Also in the Marriott portfolio, the glamorous all-American luxury of St Regis Red Sea Resort, another brand that has signed onto the destination. The same level of luxury will also be found within the Accor portfolio, the global hotel giant set to open three hotels from its and Ennismore’s portfolio. The Red Sea destination will see its own Fairmont The Red Sea rise from the sands, an ode to traditional Canadian luxury set amongst a turquoise bay with mangroves and secluded stretches of private sands. Also in the portfolio, the opulent Raffl es The Red Sea hotel, an oasis of luxury villas and suites set right on the Red Sea coast and the stylish, Miami-inspired SLS The Red Sea – its rooms swathed in beachy neutral tones with design-led touches. Less traditional in its luxury, Grand Hyatt will also open its doors on the Red Sea with Grand Hyatt The Red Sea. Right on the beach, the colourful and playful hotel will see suites and villas with vivid awnings and umbrellas and tiered swimming pools. The beloved UAE-based group, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts will also open the Jumeirah The Red Sea, bringing with it modern Arabian luxury and iconic properties. IHG Hotels & Resorts will also make its mark with accessible InterContinental The Red Sea Resort and luxury wellness brand Six Senses with Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea. The latter will be built to resemble a luxury Bedouin-inspired desert escape in the destination’s terracotta-coloured dunes – boasting luxurious and modern pool villas and world-class wellness facilities. In May this year, the destination once again made history by signing with Miraval hotels – the fi rst to operate in the Middle East – and announcing the opening of Miraval The Red Sea. Joining Miraval is the Ritz Carlton Reserve and Rosewood, both hotel brands known for their outposts in the world’s most sought-after and talked-about locations. Located on the destination’s pristine Ummahat Islands, Nujuma, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve will see an ultra-private and exclusive resort with private villas tucked away from the hubbub of the main hub. For those looking for luxury and excitement, Rosewood Red Sea will be located on Shura Island, the beating heart of the Red Sea destination. “This announcement demonstrates industry confi dence in The Red Sea destination, with a total of 12 hospitality brands now confi rmed, and signifi es a growing appetite from global leaders to participate in the expansion of the Saudi tourism market. With two brands now entering the region for the fi rst time, I believe the future of tourism in the Kingdom is bright,” said John Pagano, CEO at The Red Sea Developing Company, the developer behind The Red Sea destination on the upcoming superlative range of accommodation. “Together with our collection of globally recognised and respected partners, we are excited to play our part in opening up this unique and undiscovered part of the world, setting new benchmarks for sustainable development along the way.” Pagano continued, “Our impressive roster of hospitality brands are united in their commitment to help us create a one-of-a- kind world-class luxury destination. They have all agreed to adhere to our stringent measures when it comes to embedding sustainability, luxury and Saudi heritage in their designs and share best practices in terms of the environment once operational. These additional hotel management agreements mark the signifi cant progress we are making as we work towards welcoming visitors from around the world.” But it’s not just luxury hotels that will open, as the destination is also set to have more than 1,000 residential properties across its coastal and manicured inland destinations, spanning 22 islands and six inland sites. Golfers will delight in well-groomed 18-hole golf courses and yachters in luxury marinas, while travellers will relish in entertainment, leisure facilities and the opening of an international airport. The Red Sea destination is set to redefi ne barefoot luxury in the region, not only bolstering Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning tourism landscape, but protecting what matters the most – this idyllic stretch of coastline. This page: Grand Hyatt The Red Sea Facing page: SLS The Red Sea444444444444444 TURN THE HEAT45 A MIAMI WELCOME I’ve always thought myself extremely lucky to have been born and raised in Miami, and also lucky to have left: It is in the leaving that I learned to see my hometown’s influences on me and on the ways I experience the rest of the world. For one thing, Miami made me a writer, a fan of em dashes — that most Miami of punctuation marks in its attempt to cram a sentence inside another sentence, like the strip of guava peeping out from the city’s famed pastelitos — and a lover of percussive prose. Growing up in Miami also taught me to have very strong opinions about the quality of tropical fruits, about beaches and the acceptable temperature of ocean water (slightly below warm bath, please), and the number of accessories deemed appropriate to wear pretty much anywhere (answer: There is no limit). Thanks to Miami, I’ve never met a heel too high, a teal too bright, or a traffic scenario too terrifying. Miami for me somehow never changes — there’s the neighbourhood bakery with its ventanita , where my family has ordered café con leche on Sunday mornings for decades — and yet every time I’ve come home since moving away, parts of the city look completely different. There’s more newness to see than I have time to explore. I never visit the same Miami twice. That is, unless I go to the actual Miami Twice, a vintage-clothing store on busy Bird Road in South Miami where I bought my prom dress back in the day. That street is also home to Bird Bowl, a gem of a bowling alley, and Playthings, a lingerie shop that took over where the laser-tag joint Ultrazone used to be. Both establishments — the latter in its laser-tag incarnation — defined my teen years, as my friends and I gutter-balled and pew-pew-pew- ed our weekends away before we were old enough to be admitted into the city’s storied nightclubs. Friends I’ve brought home have described it back to me as loud, but as someone born and raised in the county of Dade, I’ll echo the rapper Trick Daddy, a fellow Miami native, in arguing that everywhere else is a notch or five too silent. This is a natural conclusion to draw when you’ve grown up with the ruckus of passing cars blasting stereos so loud the music rattled the windows of your childhood bedroom, the sound easing you into sleep every night: Miami’s own bass-bumped lullaby. I used to attribute my preference for loudness in every aspect of my life to growing up Cuban. Admittedly, my version of Miami is a predominantly Cuban-American creation. But my husband, who is also Cuban, grew up in New Hampshire, and his fondness for grey sweatshirts and quiet mornings (as opposed to my morning alarm set to blast a revolving soundtrack of Miami darlings Otto Von Schirach, Afrobeta, and yes, old-school Gloria Estefan) has revealed my preferences for what they are: relics of a Miami upbringing. I recognise another quality in myself that I trace directly back to growing up in Miami: a propensity for affection. I give out easy hugs, perhaps inspired by the humidity that envelops me in a warm embrace the minute I step off the plane or out of my car, back on home turf — a feeling of the air’s potential for closeness that finds me in my dreams even now. Every greeting in my Miami comes with a kiss on the cheek and a term of endearment. “Mamita” or “mi amor” or “mi cielo,” sweet nicknames bestowed upon me even if the speaker is a stranger. Especially if they are a stranger. Who wouldn’t miss a city where you were consistently called someone’s love, someone’s heaven? Who wouldn’t want to return there again and again? You can stop in for such a greeting at any strip-mall bakery. When you get there, have a mamey shake for me. Savour its creamy, papaya- like sweetness. Pull over to the stand of any random fruit vendor and eat some of the freshest mangoes or guayabas of your life. Introduce yourself to the teenagers throwing reckless balls down the lanes at Bird Bowl. Go kiss them hello for me. Go say goodbye. JENNINE CAPÓ CRUCET SHOP LIKE YOU LIVE HERE You could be forgiven for thinking that Miami’s retail options can be distilled to three things: same-y low-rent strips; slick designer malls like the ones in Aventura and Bal Harbour; and South Beach souvenir stores that hawk bikinis displayed on mannequins with ridiculously small waists and improbably large chests. The truth is, there’s a multitude of authentic only-in-Miami shopping experiences around town; you just need a black-belt local like me to clue you in. Take, for example, Lincoln Road. The quirky stores that once lined South Beach’s mile-long pedestrianised street are long gone, replaced by national and international brands that can afford the soaring cost per square foot . But if you swing by on a Sunday, you’ll happen upon the Lincoln Road Antiques and Collectibles Market, which has been setting up on the street’s western end for more than 30 years. Up to thrice a month between October and May, around 100 vendors create a haven for shoppers in search of estate jewellery, vintage clothing, mid-century furniture, and eclectic bric-a-brac. On my last visit, I scored an African mask, Pepto Bismol-pink lace-up go-go boots and a blue glass vase the exact colour of the surf just blocks away.464748 With weather like ours and a thriving workout culture, Miamians are fully invested in beachwear that shows off the taut bodies we work on year-round. Appropriately skimpy swimsuits are a cinch to find in hotel boutiques. But for a cover-up in sync with the city’s colourful vibe, head to Pitusa in Wynwood, where a rainbow of flowy maxidresses and tunics, some playfully punctuated with pom-poms and braided trim, will take you from beach to bar. December’s Art Basel Miami Beach has become a fixture on our cultural scene, providing plenty of art and artsy ‘shopportunities’ in permanent and pop-up galleries across the city. But discerning and design-minded buyers can always find elevated ‘bring backs ’ at our museum gift shops. I’m a big fan of the one at downtown’s Pérez Art Museum Miami (we call it ‘the PAMM’), where city-themed colouring books work for kids little and large, and Tropicalism- inspired pins by local artist Kenny Jones (a pink-and-green watermelon slice; a bright-yellow banana ) make fabulous gifts for someone back home. But what really makes Miami Miami i s its people, many of whom, like me, hail from the Caribbean. You can taste — and take with you the city’s island flavours with a to-go order of Jamaican patties from Sonia’s Patties , in the west-side suburb of Kendall, or half a dozen guava-filled pastelitos from Enriqueta’s Sandwich Shop, in Edgewater. But for more tangible island-inspired items, I recommend something — anything, really! — from La Tiendecita by Martha of Miami . A celebration of all things Cubano, owner Martha Valdes’ merch includes her signature Cuban Bred clothing and caps. And if you’re looking for something more classic, Little Havana’s Ramón Puig sells precisely pin-tucked guayabera shirts tailored for men and women, guaranteed to add un poquito Miami style to your ensemble. SARAH GREAVES -GABBADON BEYOND ART BASEL When asked about the state of the art-and-design scene in her town, María Elena Ortiz answers without hesitation: “Miami’s hot!” she says. “It’s one of the leaders of the contemporary-art world.” As the curator of the Pérez Art Museum Miami , which explores the work of modern Latin, Caribbean, and Black artists in a striking Herzog & de Meuron building downtown, Ortiz rejects the perception of Miami as a second-tier city looking to emulate Los Angeles or New York. Rather, it is a diverse, dynamic, and authentic cultural hub. The pandemic and the state’s laissez-faire politics have brought in a new crowd, she observes, dominated by tech execs with cash to burn — crypto, especially. The art community’s openness to possibility — combined with affordable real estate — has led to a multitude of new creative ventures. The massive experiential gallery Superblue, which opened last year in the Allapattah district, combines a fun-house vibe with installations by blue-chip artists. It has blue-chip backing; the project is run by the New York mega gallery Pace. The sheer square footage of the space would be impossible to find in New York, but here it’s readily available. After walking through a puff of smoke or gazing in awe at a James Turrell, you can eat at the rainbow-hued café by designer Yinka Ilori, which is itself a permanent installation worthy of a visit. Across the street is the new location of the splashy, contemporary Rubell Museum, which opened in 2019 in a former industrial space that was transformed by architect Annabelle Selldorf. It’s a prime example of what the art world calls the Miami Model — private museums built by high rollers to exhibit their own collections, often at the same level you’d expect from a major public institution. Most of the new money flowing into Miami and Florida more generally is coming from tech, much of it migrating from California. Since the pandemic, it’s estimated that the state has gained around $18 billion in new revenue. This influx is palpable: The Design Miami fair accepted Bitcoin for the first time last December, and the home for the Miami Heat basketball team just renamed itself FTX Arena after a crypto exchange. Another institution with major backing is about to raise its profile in a major way, this time with very local roots. Oolite Arts — which, in addition to mounting exhibitions, provides classes, public programmes, and studio residencies in Miami Beach — is prepping its new home in the Little River neighbourhood. When the space opens in 2024, it will do so with a war chest filled primarily by the $88 million the institution pocketed by selling its old location. The boost will go toward increasing visitor programming, like one-day workshops in printmaking, painting, and photography; putting on more exhibitions that place an extra focus on local talent (like a recent show with photographer Roscoé B. Thickè III); and growing a new permanent collection that will focus solely on Miami artists. In this tourism-driven town, hotels have long been prime showcases for high- level art and pioneering design . Faena has a rotating number of installations and exhibitions in and around the hotel itself, its outdoor areas, and its special-events space, the Faena Forum. The hotel’s Faena Art Center Project Room acts as a venue for exhibitions like photographer Tony Kelly’s seductive, saturated images of Miami Beach. The new Goodtime Hotel , owned in part by Pharrell Williams, is a buzzy, crowd-pleasing 266-room property with a happy-go-lucky aesthetic by the always fantastic designer Ken Previous page: The Pharrell co-owned Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach Facing page: Ocean Drive, Miami Beach49Next >