Ben Sands Travel

Ben Sands Travel From relaxing to adventurous,
always luxurious.

My most-requested new property this year isn't in Europe or the Maldives. It's on a clifftop in Costa Rica.Nekajui opene...
09/04/2026

My most-requested new property this year isn't in Europe or the Maldives. It's on a clifftop in Costa Rica.

Nekajui opened last year on a clifftop in Peninsula Papagayo, and it already holds two Michelin Keys. Some villas are reached by a wooden suspension bridge across a ravine. A funicular glides down through the trees to the beach club. The spa alone covers 27,000 square feet in the canopy, and dinner at Puna, from Peruvian chef Diego Muñoz, is reason enough to visit.

My favorite part: every stay comes with a personal host who handles everything over a simple text. Sunset table, surf lesson, a monkey sighting you want repeated tomorrow, one message.

Liberia's airport is about 40 minutes away, with nonstops from many U.S. cities, which makes this one of the easiest world-class resorts to reach from anywhere.

The newest member of one of travel's most exclusive clubs. Reach out to learn more!

What happens when you cross a classic safari with the Australian Outback?You get Bamurru Plains, a ten-bungalow camp on ...
09/03/2026

What happens when you cross a classic safari with the Australian Outback?

You get Bamurru Plains, a ten-bungalow camp on a private station in Australia's Top End. The early wake-ups and the sundowners made the trip from Africa. Everything else is pure Australia.

Game drives by airboat, flying over floodplains at speed with your guide spotting wildlife the whole way. Wild buffalo on the banks and saltwater crocs in the shallows, sometimes close enough to count their teeth. And serious birdlife, over 230 species on this one station, including sunrise takeoffs of magpie geese by the thousands.

Back at camp, the bungalows are raised above the wetlands with mesh walls in place of glass, so you fall asleep to the sounds of the floodplain and wake up to wallabies grazing below your deck.

The season runs roughly May through October, and I like to pair it with Kakadu's ancient rock art and a night or two in Darwin. Message me to start planning.

Chileno Bay is one of the few resorts I book twice for the same clients: once for the honeymoon, and again a few years l...
09/01/2026

Chileno Bay is one of the few resorts I book twice for the same clients: once for the honeymoon, and again a few years later when the kids come along.

It works both times for the same reasons. The resort fronts a protected cove with calm, clear water and coral just off the sand, with paddleboards and snorkel gear waiting at the beach. Glass-walled rooms and villas keep the view everywhere you look, and a three-tier pool spills down toward the water.

Guests rave about Comal, where Baja-Mediterranean dinners arrive with the sunset, but it's TnT, the casual taco-and-tequila spot, that you shouldn't leave without trying.

Advisor tip: if you visit in winter, watch the horizon at breakfast for gray whales passing through.

This is the Cabo resort my clients grow up with. Reach out to start planning.

08/31/2026

Give me 24 hours in Paris and here’s exactly how I’d spend them:

Morning: coffee and a croissant at a neighborhood café, then the Musée d’Orsay right at opening, before the crowds fill the impressionist galleries.

Midday: lunch in Saint-Germain, then wander the Marais. Boutiques, galleries, and the prettiest squares in the city.

Golden hour: a private boat on the Seine as the light turns and the Eiffel Tower begins to sparkle.

Evening: dinner at a bistro where the menu is handwritten and the waiter argues with you about the wine. In the best way.

Twenty-four hours or a full week, I’ll make every one count. Get in touch to plan Paris.

Want the Tuscany you’ve seen in the movies, without a single tour bus in sight? I know exactly where to send you.Borgo S...
08/30/2026

Want the Tuscany you’ve seen in the movies, without a single tour bus in sight? I know exactly where to send you.

Borgo Santo Pietro is a restored 13th-century villa in the Val di Merse, south of Siena, surrounded by 300 acres of organic farmland, gardens, and vineyards. Nearly everything on your plate comes off that land, and the estate even produces its own skincare line, Seed to Skin, used throughout the spa.

My favorite afternoon here: a short drive to the Abbey of San Galgano, where a real sword in the stone has been embedded in rock for 800 years.

Twelve guest rooms, one working farm, zero crowds. This is the Tuscany clients ask me to find. Reach out, and I’ll plan it.

Dreaming of Kyoto but dreading the crowds? Same. This is my answer.Aman Kyoto occupies a hidden forest garden in the hil...
08/28/2026

Dreaming of Kyoto but dreading the crowds? Same. This is my answer.

Aman Kyoto occupies a hidden forest garden in the hills of northern Kyoto, assembled decades ago by a textile collector and closed to the public ever since. It's the rarest kind of real estate in this city: total privacy, minutes from the icons.

Why I book it:
• Location without the chaos. The Golden Pavilion is minutes away, yet the property feels like a private national park. No lines, no tour groups, no noise.
• A true onsen. The bathhouse is fed by natural hot springs, something almost impossible to find within Kyoto itself.
• Space, finally. Kyoto hotel rooms are famously tight. These pavilions are among the largest in the city, with forest views from every window.
• The Aman guides. Private access and after-hours temple experiences that guests can't arrange on their own.

Advisor tip: November here is astonishing. The maples turn, and the whole garden glows red and gold.

Kyoto is the trip everyone wants right now. Reach out to start planning!

08/27/2026

Want three trips for the price of one flight? That’s Thailand.

Bangkok first: rooftop dinners, riverside hotels, street food that outperforms restaurants triple the price.

Then north to Chiang Mai for temples, artisan villages, and ethical elephant encounters in the hills.

Then the islands. Powder beaches, limestone cliffs rising out of green water, and some of the best beach resorts in Asia.

The routing between regions is where a trip gets made or broken. That’s my job. If Thailand is on your list, message me.

Did you know one of Africa's greatest safaris happens almost entirely on water?Eagle Island Lodge, a Belmond property, o...
08/25/2026

Did you know one of Africa's greatest safaris happens almost entirely on water?

Eagle Island Lodge, a Belmond property, occupies a private island deep in the Okavango Delta, one of the most remarkable ecosystems on Earth: a desert that floods every year into a maze of channels, lagoons, and islands teeming with wildlife.

The safari itself is unlike anywhere else in Africa. Gliding through the reeds in a mokoro, the traditional dugout canoe. Boat safaris through papyrus channels. And the lodge's signature: helicopter flights over the Delta with the doors off, which clients consistently call the highlight of their entire trip.

Water, wildlife, and almost no one else around. Reach out to start planning.

The whole family, one roof, zero hotel hallways. Private villas are how my favorite families do the festive season, and ...
08/23/2026

The whole family, one roof, zero hotel hallways. Private villas are how my favorite families do the festive season, and the best ones are booking right now.

A villa solves what hotels can't for multi-generational trips: everyone together under one roof, a private chef instead of restaurant reservations for twelve, space for the grandparents to nap and the kids to run.

Where I'm sending families this year: jungle villas in Costa Rica with monkeys in the trees, catered chalets in the Alps with ski-in access, staffed oceanfront estates in Cabo, villa compounds in Hawaii where three generations can spread out, and private safari villas in South Africa with their own guide and vehicle.

Festive villas require the longest lead time of anything I book. The question worth asking at the dinner table this month: where does the whole family want to wake up this holiday season?

Of everything I book, this is the trip I get the most questions about. Fair, because fewer people have stayed here than ...
08/23/2026

Of everything I book, this is the trip I get the most questions about. Fair, because fewer people have stayed here than climb Everest in a season.

White Desert operates the only luxury camps on the Antarctic continent. You board a private jet in Cape Town, land on a blue-ice runway about five hours later, and check into a camp of just a handful of heated pods with a private chef.

The days are unlike anything else I plan. Ice tunnels, gentle summits, champagne picnics on the ice, and the option to visit a colony of thousands of emperor penguins. Some guests even continue on to the South Pole itself.

The season runs November through January, and with so few beds on the entire continent, this books out far ahead. If Antarctica is the trip, this is the way to do it. Message me to learn more!

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