BEST OF VICTORIA MATHER

THE BEST Romantic Possibility

Will it be Vienna, or Basel, or Munich, or lunch in Champagne, or drinking champagne in Epernay? Or will it be the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express? Let’s go to Prague and Budapest and Istanbul, accompanied by the shadow of Hercule Poirot. Anything seems possible when looking at the destination board in the Gare de l’Est, T in Paris. Remember that it was at a * Paris station that the divine Linda in Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love sat on her suitcase, burst into tears, and was rescued by a duke.

THE BEST Wave

The pororoca, a seasonal tidal bore of the Amazon's Araguari River. Stay in a sensational villa in Rio. be collected from the pp rooftop by helicopter and zipped to a private jet. then land in the jungle and surf, dude. One of the world's longest waves, it can be surfed for 30 minutes, with a chopper overhead to pull you out of the water and away from the piranhas and drop you back in front of another ride. (DEHOUCHE.COM)

THE BEST Library

Library as disco at Carlisle Bay, Antigua. Gordon Campbell Gray’s resort has brought the island 21st-century zing. Seethrough glass walls pulsate with violet, rose, and lime lighting in the evening. The books are pristine new publications and frequently replaced—not dog-eared, suntan-oiled paperbacks left behind by previous guests, (CARLISLE-BAY.COM)

THE BEST Tepee

A bohemian hideaway, stitched with jewels by Alice Temperley. And that’s just on the outside. Temperley has tepees for her summer parties in Somerset, England, and now she’s translated the idea to the One&Only Le Saint Geran, on Mauritius. It’s draped in gold-dotted fabric which wafts in the sea breeze, and the interior is illuminated with a Parisian glass chandelier. Be massaged, drink rose, party, play charades, and sleep under the stars. (ONEANDONLYRESORTS.COM)

THE BEST Pizza

The crust is transparently thin and crisp, slathered with mozzarella and fresh tomato, then topped with a handful of peppery arugula. Da Giorgio is an old-fashioned trattoria in Capri— no nonsense, no pretension, just glorious views of the Bay of Naples. Giorgio Desiderio opened it 60 years ago. Now his son, Sergio, is our man with the pizza magic, and his daughter, Annamaria, cooks grilled fish and lobster spaghetti to die for. (DAGIORGIOCAPRI.COM)

THE BEST Retro Swimming Pool

Forget black slate pools and hot-red pools, think cool blue and classic French Riviera. The swimming pool at the Eden-Roc was carved out of the blue-pink rock below the Hotel du Cap, Antibes, and filled with seawater in 1914. Fred Astaire danced by it: Barry Diller moors his gorgeous acht Eac dead center in front of it, and Leo. the Coen ibrothers. and Johnny Depp have partied by it as the illusion line flows into the Mediterranean. (HOTELDUCAP.COM)

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THE BEST Underwater Restaurant

It s a scene from The Little Mermaid. Just 14 can dine at the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Six meters out to sea and five meters below the water, the restaurant, surrounded by coral reefs, offers gourmet plates and features views of stingrays floating above. (CONRADHOTELS.COM)

THE BEST Oysters

A whole new oyster experience at the Five Islands restaurant, on Koh Samui, Thailand. Someone goes and nips fat, juicy ones out of the sea. The custom is as follows: cut in half, place in a spoon, add a dab of homemade seafood sauce, a slice of raw garlic, a sprinkle of chili. some crispy fried onion, a squeeze of lime juice, and mimosa leaves picked from a nearby tree. Chew. Sublime. (THEFIVEISLANDS.Com)

THE BEST Champagne Bar

Going to Paris by Eurostar is all the more glam with a glass of Krug on the platform. London’s St. Pancras Station has had magnificent cosmetic surgery to the point of now resembling grande dame meets bling vamp. Its champagne bar is the longest in Europe; there are 70 varieties to sample—go on, blow $5,000 on a vintage bottle, though there are 11 marques by the glass. Have a champagne breakfast (caviar and quail eggs) or champagne afternoon tea. Brief Encounter was never like this.

THE BEST Sky Bar

L.A.’s Standard Downtown is old hat compared with the Sky Bar at the Leela, on Kovalam Beach in Kerala, India. Just when you thought southwest India would never have a decent hotel, you’re suddenly lying on soft cushions overlooking the Arabian Sea, drinking a coconut caipiroska or a green-apple martini. Ditto mai tais, daiquiris, every whiskey under the beating sun, sours, and margaritas. Can you resist Honey Bee Indian brandy? It’s too wonderful. Cheers! (THELEELA.COM)

THE BEST Bed

In a tent, with elephants chomping in the jungle below. At the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, in Thailand, all the beds have feather toppers. It’s like sleeping on a cloud. The tents are suspended by wires and architectural-steel magic above the elephant walk and accessed by a suspension bridge. There’s a wooden deck and a view of the Ruak River, Myanmar, Laos, and the mighty Mekong. The path to the bed is lit by 100 torches. (FOURSEASONS.COM/GOLDENTRIANGLE)

THE BEST Barbecue

High in the hills on the Croatian island of Vis, under the cave from which Tito ran his resistance, is Konoba Pol Murvu. This 500-year-old homestead is now a tavern where fish, organic vegetables, and racks of lamb are grilled over red-hot embers.