virtuoso family travel

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Where are you heading next? Let us inspire and help you plan your luxury family vacations. Learn more of the ways we help families, from VIP hotel amenities to turn-key itineraries anywhere in the world.

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The Top Family Travel Trends for 2020

From Michelin-starred restaurants to custom safaris, Virtuoso’s expert advisors share the top family travel trends for 2020

It’s no secret that travellers are increasingly seeking out  culturally immersive experiences,  but what what is new is that the kids in the family are often the ones suggesting these experiences – and influencing their family’s holidays. Virtuoso’s travel advisors that specialise in family travel  have revealed that authenticity tops the list of emergent trends, with children driving travel decisions in second place. The influence of the younger generation on family travel is reflected across the board—from destinations and trends to experiences and travel choices.

Below are the findings from the 2020 Virtuoso Family Travel Community survey:

While classic European destinations such as Italy , England and France remain popular with families, other less traditional places are on the rise. Generation Z is involving itself in planning trips, and they want to explore places such as Croatia, Morocco and Antarctica.

Top Family Travel Destinations:

Top family travel destinations on the rise:.

Multigenerational travel remains the most popular family trend and multiple generations are the second most frequent travel companions behind the immediate family. Virtuoso advisors said they typically design custom itineraries that encompass other key trends like experiential travel and adventure trips, such as a last-minute safari for 10 people including grandparents, children and grandchildren. Celebration travel is also growing, too, with one Virtuoso advisor even designing an Alaska trip for a grandfather who helicoptered his triplet grandchildren to a glacier for their 13th birthday – complete with cake.

Top Family Travel Trends:

• Multigenerational trips
• Beach resort stays
• Active-adventure trips
• Celebration trips
• Experiential trips

Top Emerging Family Travel Trends

• Authenticity
• Children driving travel decisions
• Wow amenities for children
• Visiting less touristed places
• Skip gen (grandparents and grandchildren)

Children today are also travelling at younger ages to more distant destinations. Virtuoso advisors report arranging family adventures with infants in tow, including a baby who stayed in Japanese monasteries while accompanying its parents hiking and cycling and a one year old who tagged along for a camel ride and dinner in the Moroccan mountains . The leading family travel experiences include:

• Active experiences
• Relaxing on beach/poolside
• Classes or lessons
• Animal viewing/interactions
• Exploring local culture via food

Young globetrotters expect active immersion in local cultures, but still want downtime. Virtuoso advisors say junior foodies have asked for Michelin-starred restaurants . Another advisor created a 10-city, 10-day family tour of European car museums. Other rare family experiences advisors have arranged include front row viewing at Siena’s Palio and closing a New York City pizzeria for family fun. One advisor reserved a seaplane to pick up a young woman from a yacht in the middle of the ocean so she would be home in time for a college interview.

The potential appeal of a destination to social media followers is also a frequent driver of young travellers’ decisions. Aiming to maintain and increase their online influence, young travellers want picturesque destinations that they can showcase to their followers.  Generation Z is now:

• Involving themselves in planning trips
• Requesting culturally immersive experiences
• Looking for visual trips for social media
• Looking to influence others online
• Wanting trips that are personalised to their interests

While the immediate family remains the most popular group for family travel, the addition of other generations, friends or a combination of family relations are highly ranked companion choices. In order they are:

• Immediate family
• Multigenerational family
• Family and friends
• Multiple families
• Mother/daughter or father/son

Virtuoso specialists have also shared that family travel sales are strong for 2020. 57 per cent expect sales to increase from 2019, while 42 per cent envision sales will remain steady from last year. Just one percent foresee a minor dip for the coming year.

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• Room upgrades, subject to availability 
• Daily breakfast for two
• Food & beverage credit or Hotel/Resort credit or Spa credit 
• Early check-in/late checkout, subject to availability 
• Special Virtuoso Promotions or Experiences

Travelex International is part of the Virtuoso network, which gives us access to unique and luxurious travel opportunities around the globe, as well as exclusive VIP perks and amenities for our clients.

Within virtuoso, there are  virtuoso travel communities  which are built around niche groups in the travel industry including adventure, culinary, family, celebration, cruise, wellness, and ultraluxe travel.  we encourage you to use these communities as inspiration for future travel..

Virtuoso Celebration Travel is for travelers who want to commemorate a milestone. Destination weddings, family reunions, milestone birthdays, and more – our portfolio of Virtuoso hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, on-site tour connections, service providers, and destinations excel at celebration travel.

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Virtuoso – How It Works, Travel Advisors, Upgrades & Benefits

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What Is Virtuoso?

Virtuoso benefits, fees to use virtuoso, virtuoso hotel properties, earning points on a virtuoso rate, virtuoso travel advisors, other programs like virtuoso, virtuoso vs. amex fine hotels & resorts, final thoughts.

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If you routinely focus on luxury travel, you might have heard of Virtuoso , an incredible network of travel agencies that deliver huge added value to your hotel stay.

With tens of thousands of travel advisors worldwide capable of delivering extra perks to thousands of luxury hotels in the world, you’ll want to keep this company in your back pocket.

Sure, we pride ourselves on being able to use points for luxury hotel stays, but what if you want to save your points for a different trip? What if you don’t have enough points? Or what if wherever you’re traveling to doesn’t have points hotels?

That’s where Virtuoso can come in. In this guide, we’ll show you how Virtuoso can fit into your travel plans. We’ll walk you through the A to Z of what Virtuoso is, what benefits you can get, and how you can book Virtuoso rates.

Let’s get started!

Everything You Need To Know About Virtuoso

So what exactly is Virtuoso? Virtuoso is a worldwide network of travel agencies with specializations in luxury and experiential travel.

Virtuoso’s network consists of more than 20,000 travel advisors, each of which falls under a larger member agency.

Its travel advisors bring personalized travel recommendations and bookings to the table, whether you’re looking for hotels, cruises, or tours.

Importantly, though, bookings made through Virtuoso come with value-added perks for no additional cost to the traveler.

In almost all cases, hotel stays booked through Virtuoso come with the following benefits:

• Daily breakfast for 2 guests per room
• Room upgrade (subject to availability)
• Early check-in (subject to availability)
• Late checkout (subject to availability)
• A special Virtuoso amenity (typically a $100 property credit or other amenity valued at a minimum of $100, like a free massage or round-trip car transfer)

Virtuoso rates almost always cost the same exact price as the best available flexible rate .

This isn’t the same as a prepaid, advance purchase, non-refundable rate, corporate rate, or member-only rate.

However, if you usually book the best available flexible rates, you’ll literally get hundreds of dollars in added value just by going through a Virtuoso advisor .

In addition, Virtuoso advisors generally don’t charge you any commissions for hotel bookings — they get a commission on the back-end, but that cost won’t be passed on to you most of the time.

This isn’t the same as a planning fee — if you’re booking a complicated trip, you might be quoted for this extra fee depending on the travel advisor.

Hot Tip: Get in touch with Leigh, a next-level Virtuoso agent. UP’s very own Leigh Rowan has deep connections with some of the best hotels and hoteliers in the world. Reach out to him about your upcoming luxury hotel trip, and watch how he’ll upgrade your next stay. Submit your Virtuoso booking request to [email protected] .

The complete catalog of Virtuoso hotels includes name-brand luxury chains like:

• Aman Resorts
• Conrad Hotels & Resorts
• Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts
• Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
• Mandarin Oriental
• Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
• The Peninsula Hotels
• The Ritz-Carlton
• Rocco Forte Hotels
• Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
• St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
• Viceroy Hotels & Resorts
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts

As you can see, this more or less encompasses all luxury hotel chains . In addition, you can book luxury boutique properties that may not have multiple locations. These properties are incredibly helpful if you’re looking to book a more exotic vacation where there aren’t many luxury hotel options.

Booking Virtuoso rates is a lot like stacking benefits! Because a Virtuoso hotel rate still goes through the hotel’s internal system, you can earn hotel points, elite night credits/stays, and even enjoy hotel elite benefits when booking through a Virtuoso travel advisor.

For example, if you’re a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium member and you’re booking a Virtuoso hotel stay at an eligible Marriott property, you will earn Marriott Bonvoy points and enjoy Titanium benefits on your hotel stay.

The reason this works is that your travel advisor will also enter your loyalty number when booking your stays.

The first thing you’ll need to do is have a stay in mind. You can view the rates for hotels by visiting the hotel search catalog , but you will need to contact a Virtuoso travel advisor (such as Leigh Rowan from our team)  to enjoy these benefits.

Hot Tip: You can even browse Virtuoso travel advisors by their destination specialties or travel interests!

Virtuoso is the largest consortium with thousands of luxury hotels and resorts within its purview.

However, other programs offer similar benefits, including Four Seasons Preferred Partner , Belmond Bellini, Dorchester Diamond Club, Hilton Impresario , Rosewood Elite, Marriott STARS, Marriott Luminous , and Mandarin Oriental Fan Club.

Virtuoso actually includes all of the brands above and offers similar benefits — as a result, Virtuoso offers a “one-stop-shop” for booking luxury hotel stays and getting benefits regardless of which exact chain you stay at.

Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts is similar to Virtuoso in the sense that it offers perks like free breakfast and room upgrades. However, Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts offers a guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout .

Virtuoso is bookable without a specific credit card, while Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts requires a premium Amex card like The Platinum Card ® from American Express .

However, you need to have a Virtuoso travel advisor to help make your booking for you ( online or over the phone). On the flip side, you’ll also get a human who can offer recommendations and advice based on your destination and travel style.

Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and Virtuoso both have overlapping hotels — that’s not terribly surprising when you consider that these luxury hotels are worldwide chains.

One thing you might notice is a significant markup on Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts rates . For example, if you look at The Ritz-Carlton Osaka stay searched through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and compare it to a Virtuoso search, you’ll see a big difference in rates:

Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts is charging $568 per night before taxes and fees, while Virtuoso’s rates are $511 per night. In this case, booking through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts would cost 11% more than booking through Virtuoso.

Sometimes, the 2 programs have the same rates — however, in many cases, Virtuoso’s prices will beat out Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts.

On the other hand, Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts may have special offers such as a fifth-night free benefit, so you’ll need to evaluate the economics on a case-by-case basis.

Virtuoso is the secret tool that luxury travelers use to get hundreds of dollars worth of extra value on their bookings, especially hotel stays.

Some of the world’s most prestigious hotel brands like Four Seasons, Aman, Rosewood, and The Peninsula are available to book through Virtuoso. It also includes small luxury boutique hotels that aren’t a part of a larger hotel brand, so you can enjoy a boutique experience as desired.

With this program, you’ll enjoy benefits like free breakfast, room upgrades, early check-in, late checkout, and so much more — all for the same price as the best available flexible rate. Virtuoso rates are also often cheaper than Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts rates, so it’s definitely a no-brainer to consider Virtuoso!

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

How does virtuoso travel work.

Virtuoso is essentially a travel agency network focused on luxury accommodations. With tens of thousands of approved travel advisors worldwide, Virtuoso allows you to enjoy extra elite-like benefits and perks when staying at thousands of luxury hotels and resorts around the world… but the real gem is you won’t need to pay extra to enjoy these benefits.

How much does it cost to join Virtuoso?

Virtuoso doesn’t hire travel advisors, but they recruit advisors for its member agencies. You can join Virtuoso as a travel advisor via a member agency or  join Virtuoso as a member agency .

What are Virtuoso amenities?

Virtuoso amenities may vary by hotel and property, but they usually include preferred rates at hotels, room upgrades upon arrival subject to availability, property credits like spa and shopping credits, daily breakfast for 2, and early check-in/late checkout subject to availability.

How do I join Virtuoso?

Travel agents can join Virtuoso via its website, but if you’re looking to book a stay with Virtuoso, you’ll want to book directly with a Virtuoso travel advisor.

Who owns Virtuoso Travel?

Virtuoso was founded by Jesse Upchurch in 1986, but it’s currently helmed by his son Matthew D. Upchurch. Virtuoso is a private company and has hundreds of employees.

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Family Travel

Virtuoso Family Travel

Our guide to memorable vacations around the world that are fit for the entire gang. Family travel has consistently grown in popularity during the past decade. Many clients increasingly request trips that include grandparents, parents, and kids.

It’s all about the family at these Virtuoso hotels, tour operators, on-site tour connections, cruise lines, and destinations. Accommodations, amenities, and experiences are created with kids and families of all ages in mind.

Worldwide & Cruise s

• Austin Adventures 
• Big Five Tours & Expeditions
• Context Travel
• Gogo Vacations
• Lindblad Expeditions
• Norwegian Cruise Line *
• Princess Cruises *
• Royal Caribbean*
• Tauck Bridges
• Villas of Distinction – Villa guests can use their US$200 concierge services credit on a car rental, chef services, grocery pre-stocking, and much more. Available throughout 2023.
• Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel
• Micato Safaris
• Wilderness Safaris

Australia & Pacific Islands

• Abercrombie & Kent New Zealand
• Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort Fiji
• Seasonz – New Zealand
• Tahiti Legends
• Trails of Indochina
• Treetops Lodge & Estate
• Vomo Island
• Belmond La Residencia 
• CIE Tours International, Inc.  
• Cristallo, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa
• Dècouvertes Inc & Sarl – France
• Dream Escape
• Essence of Sicily
• Family Twist
• Forte Village Hotel Castello
• Gleneagles, Scotland
• Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes
• Kulm Hotel St. Moritz
• Made for Spain & Portugal  
• Mountain Voyage Morocco
• Porto Zante Villas and Spa
• Pulitzer Amsterdam 
• Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa, Retreat & Cultural Hideaway
• Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort 
• Travel2Greece by Travelive 
• V illa La Massa  

Latin America & Caribbean  

• Abercrombie & Kent Brazil
• Eden Roc at Cap Cana
• Grand Velas Riviera Maya
• Half Moon, Jamaica
• One&Only Palmilla
• Park Hyatt St. Kitts
• Peru Empire Co.  
• Round Hill Hotel and Villas
• The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board
• The Reef at Atlantis
• The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman

United States & Canada

• American Excursionist / Canadian Excursionist
• Fairmont Grand Del Mar, San Diego
• Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa
• Monarch Beach Resort
• Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
• Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort 
• Sea Island – The Cloister
• Sonnenalp Hotel
• The Brush Creek Luxury Ranch Collection
• The Kahala Hotel & Resort
• The Lodge at Blue Sky 
• The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua
• Tourism Whistler  
• Universal’s Loews Portofino Bay Hotel  

6 Great Tips for Family Travel

Multigenerational travel is this year’s top vacation trend, according to the 2019 Virtuoso Luxe Report. The annual survey of more than 1,000 Virtuoso travel advisors reaffirms the cultural move away from materialism to experientialism, particularly more quality time spent with loved ones. Here, six tips on how to travel with a family like a pro.  READ ON …

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Virtuoso Communities

As many of you know, our Avant Team is part of the Virtuoso network, which gives us access to unique and luxurious travel opportunities around the globe, as well as exclusive VIP perks and amenities for our clients.

This weekend kicks off Virtuoso’s annual Travel Week symposium, August 10 – 16, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Several of our management staff and professional travel advisors are in attendance again this year. Travel Week provides a forum for our staff to connect with representatives from Virtuoso properties and preferred travel suppliers around the world. This is the type of professional development we love to invest in because it helps keep our team on the cutting edge of providing the most unique and one-of-a-kind travel opportunities for our clients. This is where we make connections, attend seminars and “shop” on your behalf.  Avant is committed to making your travel experience the best it can be.

Within Virtuoso, there are now Virtuoso Travel Communities which are are built around niche groups in the travel industry including adventure, culinary, family, cruise, wellness, and ultraluxe travel.  These groups offer advisors the opportunity to connect with each other as well as preferred partners to build relationships, share experiences, learn about new travel offerings, and become more engaged with specific types of travel.  Avant team members have participated in these communities to learn and grow as advisors and to help you, our clients, create more individually tailored travel experiences. 

The Virtuoso Adventure Travel Community brings together advisors and partners with a shared passion for adventure and active travel experiences, including those focused on nature, exploration of unique cultures, and physical activities. 

The Virtuoso Culinary Community offers the perfect pairing of advisors and partners who have a shared passion for epicurean travel, featuring experiences that go beyond traditional dining with well-rounded culinary experiences that are immersive, interactive and educational. 

The Virtuoso Family Travel Community brings together advisors and partners with a shared passion for family travel. The partners in this community offer well-rounded family experiences designed to foster deeper connections and lasting memories for the whole family. 

The Virtuoso Voyages Community brings together advisors and partners with a shared passion for cruising. The partners in this community offer Virtuoso Voyages added-value benefits, and this is your opportunity to work closer with them and grow through advanced training and marketing. 

The Virtuoso Wellness Travel Community brings together advisors with a shared passion for health-minded, experiential travel that restores a traveler’s mind, body, and spirit. This portfolio integrates nutrition, healing, mind/body balance, fitness, and educational components. 

The Virtuoso Ultraluxe Community is the newest travel community. This exclusive portfolio is comprised of the most elevated, one-of-a kind travel destinations and experiences including primarily private travel services – jets, yachts, islands, villas, and more — all with superior exclusivity. Virtuoso will curate participants based on strict, by-invitation-only criteria.

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2023 Virtuoso Awards & Events

Presented during virtuoso travel week .

    Community Globetrotting - Nominees   |    Cruise Night Out - Nominees

Under One Sky - Nominees   |  Gala: Legends, Luminaries, and Leaders - Nominees    

Click here to learn about the Nomination Process   -

Click here to learn about the Winner Selection Process   -

Community Globetrotting - Nominees

Adventure Community

To be presented Saturday, August 12, at the Community Globetrotting Lunch

Held in the Aria – Juniper Ballroom, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM

TOP ADVENTURE COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Cristina Buaas | CSB Travel

Becky Craft | Travel Crafter, an independent affiliate of Travel Experts

Michael Kempinski | Northstar Cruises — WINNER

Gina Morovati | Northstar Cruises

Dana Welch | The Travel Society LLC

BEST ADVENTURE COMMUNITY PARTNER

Abercombie & Kent 

Aqua Expeditions 

Big Five Tours & Expeditions 

Lindblad Expeditions — WINNER

Swain Destinations

Cruise Community

TOP CRUISE COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Sue Bradley | The Pampered Cruiser, an independent affiliate of SmartFlyer

Michael Kempinski | Northstar Cruises

Jonathan Phillips | Cassis Travel Services

David Porter | Roaming Boomers Travel Services, an independent affiliate with CADENCE — WINNER

BEST CRUISE COMMUNITY PARTNER

AmaWaterways 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises 

Seabourn 

Silversea Cruises — WINNER

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises

Culinary Community

TOP CULINARY COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Sandy Grodsky | Brownell Travel

David Porter | Roaming Boomers Travel Services, an independent affiliate of CADENCE

Jennifer Royster | Jennifer Royster Travel, an independent affiliate of Brownell Travel

Laney Sachs | Ortensia Blu Travel Adventures, an independent affiliate of Gifted Travel Network

John Skelton | John Skelton Travels, an independent affiliate of Departure Lounge — WINNER

BEST CULINARY COMMUNITY PARTNER

Conrad Punta de Mita 

IC Bellagio — WINNER

Oceania Cruises 

Il Falconiere 

We Travel France

Family + Celebration Community

TOP FAMILY + CELEBRATION COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Cristina Buaas | CSB Travel — WINNER

Cindy Mayhorn | Susan’s Travel Services

Jean Paugh | All About You Travel Unlimited, an independent affiliate of Uniglobe Travel Center

Jamie Paul | Elite Travel Designs, an independent affiliate of Gifted Travel Network

Sabrina Pilant | Travel Experts

BEST FAMILY + CELEBRATION COMMUNITY PARTNER

Family Twist 

Micato Safaris — WINNER

One&Only Palmilla 

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes 

Royal Caribbean International

Ultraluxe Community

TOP ULTRALUXE COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Sue Kasmar | Sue Kasmar Travel — WINNER

Peggy Purtell | Travel Experts

Laura Wallace | Herff Travel

BEST ULTRALUXE COMMUNITY PARTNER

Cheval Blanc Paris — WINNER

Micato Safaris 

Remote Lands

Dream Escape 

White Desert

Wellness Community

TOP WELLNESS COMMUNITY ADVISOR

Leslie Bulluck | Direct Travel Luxe

Josephine DeMuth | Bayview Travel — WINNER

Kristie England | Universal Travel

Patti Olshen | Unique Travel of Palm Beach

Joan Smith | Coastline Travel Advisors, an independent affiliate of Travelwizard.com  

BEST WELLNESS COMMUNITY PARTNER

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise 

Galeries Lafayette Paris 

JOALI BEING — WINNER

Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda 

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas

Cruise Night Out - Nominees

Best Ocean Cruise Line

To be presented Monday, August 14, at Cruise Night Out

Held in the Cosmopolitan - Chelsea Theater, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM PT

PARTNER NOMINEES

Celebrity Cruises 

Best River Cruise Line

AmaWaterways

Aqua Expeditions

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises — WINNER

Best Expedition Cruise Line

Lindblad Expeditions 

PONANT 

Quark Expeditions — WINNER

Silversea Cruises

Under One Sky - Nominees

Member Sustainable Ambassador Award

To be presented Monday, August 14, at the Under One Sky

Held in the Bellagio - Da Vinci Ballroom, 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM PT

Avenue Two Travel

PrimeTour Viagens & Experiências — WINNER

The Travel Society LLC

Wondergolander

Member Sustainable Practice Award

Avenue Two Travel — WINNER

Woodside Travel

Y Travel PTY LTD

Sustainable Leadership - Celebrating Culture

Cultural Cuba

Hawai’i Visitors and Convention Bureau on behalf of The Hawai’i Tourism Authority — WINNER

Sustainable Leadership - Protecting the Planet

To be presented Monday, August 14, at Under One Sky

Jade Mountain

Matetsi Victoria Falls

Singita — WINNER

Sustainable Leadership - Supporting Local Economies

Fogo Island Inn

- Gala: Legends, Luminaries, and Leaders Nominees -

*Winners from Community Globetrotting, Cruise Night Out, and Under One Sky will be mentioned at the Gala.

Ruby of Siam

To be presented Thursday, August 17, at the Gala: Luminaries, Leaders, and Legends

Held in the Bellagio - Grand Ballroom, 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM PT

Jaime Leon and Laura Asilis | Travelwise — WINNER

Rising Star

Held in the Bellagio Grand Ballroom, 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM PT

MEMBER NOMINEES

Gemma Glynn | Almont Travel

Fernanda Graf | NUBA

Rachel Lin | One Style Tour

Karen Marquardt Wyers | Mainbrace Travel Concierge, an independent affiliate of TTI Travel

Christy Menzies | Menzies Luxe Retreats, an independent affiliate of Brownell Travel — WINNER

Yossi Nussbacher | FBI Travel

Most Engaged Global Agency

To be presented Thursday, August 17, at the Gala: Lumniaries, Leaders, and Legends

 ALDILA

Ocean & River Cruises

Q Cruise + Travel — WINNER

Wentworth Travel

Luminary Award

Tourism Australia — WINNER

To be presented Thursday, August 17, at the Gala: Luminaries, Leaders, and Legends  

Kokomo Private Island 

Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid, an affiliate of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

The Newbury Boston

One&Only Mandarina

San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel — WINNER

Best New or Re-Imagined Hotel

Held in the Bellagio - Grand Ballroom, 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM PT

Atlantis The Royal Dubai 

Passalacqua 

The Peninsula Istanbul — WINNER

Rosewood Vienna, an affiliate of Rosewood Hotel Group

Turtle Bay Resort

Hotelier of the Year

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Critic’s Pick

‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus’: A Parting Gift From a Master Musician

The final concert of the Japanese virtuoso is captured in an aching meditation on mortality and legacy.

By Alissa Wilkinson

The twin themes of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” are art and mortality, and they’re twisted so tightly together that they become inextricable. Shot in black and white to match the keys of the piano, the film entirely consists of the influential Japanese musician’s final concert. One might say it was a performance for nobody — Sakamoto filmed alone in a studio, with only the crew there as audience. But it’s more correct to say it’s for us, a gift from a master.

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Sakamoto’s long career covered techno-pop, scores for movies like “The Last Emperor” and “The Revenant,” and experimental and instrumental albums that stretch and play with the full range of sound. The songs he plays in “Opus” — 20 in all — span his career. For the fan, it’s an intensely moving experience.

But even for the viewer without much knowledge of Sakamoto’s work, “Opus” holds its own as the rare cinematic space for contemplation. There’s no context given, no attempt to create a narrative. Instead, the visual space is carefully filmed and the lighting manipulated to subtly shift the mood. Light and shadow are equally important. Everything from the panels on the studio wall to the inside of the piano to the leg of the stool on which the musician is perched becomes significant, all part of the performance. Sakamoto plays like a dancer, or a conductor; his hands shape the sound on the keys, but also take flight at times, as if he’s coaxing a tone out of the instrument, or himself.

Sakamoto filmed the concert over a week in September 2022. He and the film’s director, his son, Neo Sora, meticulously designed the look of the movie, including storyboards to show how the lighting would change. It is a kind of monochromatic take on the shifting of light as morning turns to afternoon, then evening. By the end, Sakamoto appears to be playing in inky blackness, with one light standing in for the moon shining over his left shoulder.

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The reason for this interest in invoking the passage of time is simple: Sakamoto knew his days were numbered. In 2014, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. His recovery was documented in the 2018 film “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” but in 2021 he was diagnosed with rectal cancer. He died in March 2023 , about six months after filming “Opus,” at age 71.

Sakamoto is, for the most part, not visibly affected in the film. Piano performance is more demanding than it might appear, but Sakamoto’s face shows, for the most part, sheer joy — an invigorated happiness at the privilege of having put these notes together, of being able to enjoy them anew. Yet at one moment about halfway into the film, he struggles to recall a certain passage, and murmurs about being exhausted. It’s briefly surprising, a sudden note of fallibility injected into what was appearing to be a perfect performance. This, we realize, is difficult, and draining — a life’s work packed into a week.

Included in the musical selections are some numbers that Sakamoto hadn’t previously performed as solo piano arrangements, like “The Wuthering Heights” (composed as the theme for the 1992 film ). There are new arrangements of old songs, such as “Tong Poo,” which was first released as a single from the 1978 synth-pop debut album of Sakamoto’s band, Yellow Magic Orchestra. And there are familiar favorites, especially “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,” composed for the 1983 film , in which Sakamoto also starred alongside David Bowie.

But for me, the songs aren’t the point of “Opus.” The camerawork, performance, lighting and music all add up to something larger than their individual parts. One audible element is Sakamoto’s use of the pedals, which on a grand piano have different purposes, all designed to alter the life and timbre of the note.

You can hear Sakamoto’s quiet pedaling throughout, and that made me start thinking about the relationship of time to the music itself. A piano is two kinds of instrument in one, a percussive and a stringed instrument. Small hammers strike the steel strings, causing them to reverberate, and the sound is amplified by the body of the piano. (At one point, Sakamoto manipulates some strings with small pins, causing an entirely different sound to come out of the instrument.) The length of a note is determined by how long the string is permitted to vibrate — but every note will, eventually, die off, a natural process of physics taking its course.

In a movie like “Opus,” that takes on a new meaning. Sakamoto’s career stretched nearly 45 years, and its resonance is broad, echoing across genres and generations. Musicians inspired by Sakamoto’s work now make their own music. In a sense, his mind and his ear will vibrate for a long time.

Some people say that after death, you lurk around earth as a ghost until the last person to know you dies, and your memory disappears completely. That seems related to the way a piano works: Even after the finger moves off the piano key, the string thrums with fading sound until it’s stilled and forgotten. At the very end of “Opus,” the piano plays, the keys depressing in turn, but Sakamoto himself is gone. His music, it suggests, is what lives on.

The final words to appear on the screen in the film are “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.” Art is long; life is short. For those with generational talent, one outlives the other. And art — like “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,” and the performance in it — is what ultimately preserves the memory of the artist.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus Not rated. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time 1 hour 43 minutes. In theaters.

Audio produced by Jack D’Isidoro .

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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Until August by Gabriel García Márquez: musical coda to a virtuoso mind

Posthumous novel is constructed as a fugue, with a heroine named after the wife of composer johann sebastian bach.

A sculpture of a book made as a tribute to Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez in Aracataca, Colombia. Photograph: Nathalia Angarita/The New York Times

Gabriel “Gabo” García Márquez was a rare thing, a literary giant (One Hundred Years of Solitude has been compared to Genesis) who despite his flaws had a magnificent heart, one without a whiff of pettiness. In his novel Until August, released a decade after his death in 2014, the middle-aged Ana Magdalena Bach visits her dead mother. “She had repeated this trip every August 16 at the same time, with the same taxi and the same florist, under the fiery sun of that destitute cemetery, to place a bouquet of fresh gladioli on her mother’s grave.” She also, on each trip, takes a lover.

Márquez’s writing is often musical. For example, the fictional town of Macondo is a recurring motif; a prostitute who appears in Hundred Years and Love in the Time of Cholera, gets her own cadenza in the story, The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira. Given that the heroine of Until August is named after the wife of composer Johann Sebastian Bach, it is unsurprising that the book is constructed as a fugue.

In a fugue a melody recurs but tonal changes enable the tune to ascend and finish. With every Ana Magdalena voyage, she reads a book and listens to a piece of music. About Ana’s first amorous encounter, Márquez writes: “She talked about the audacity of turning a Debussy piece into a bolero ... She told him she was reading Stoker’s Dracula. He had read it in school and was still struck by the episode of the count disembarking in London transformed into a dog. She agreed, and did not understand why Francis Ford Coppola had changed it in his unforgettable film.”

The Coppola reference is jarring. Márquez was verbally precise, having been a journalist, but much of his work dwelt in an old-fashioned, timeless world, inhabited by Paramaribo parrots, Parisian perfumes and animal-shaped sugar candies.

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Márquez had requested that Until August not be published. That he struggled with dementia at the end of his life is melancholy if one considers his obsession with memory and madness. In Hundred Years a plague of forgetfulness descends. The town’s aged founder, Jose Arcadio Buendia, is tied to a chestnut tree, playing chess with the ghost of the man he killed. It is as if, in Hundred Years, the 40-year-old Márquez was predicting his own conclusion.

By the time Until August made it to publication, several legendary figures entwined with Márquez had passed away, including Márquez’s cigarillo-smoking agent, Carmen Balcells, and Fidel Castro. (As an aside, in August, 1996, Márquez celebrated Castro’s 70th birthday by accompanying the revolutionary to lay flowers on his mother’s tomb.) Also deceased are Marquez’s translators Edith Grossman and Gregory Rabassa.

While Anne McClean – the translator of Until August – is excellent, Rabassa and Grossman were titans. Márquez preferred reading the English versions of Hundred Years and Love in the Time of Cholera; Rabassa and Grossman were notoriously finicky in their word choices. In 1999 Grossman translated Márquez’s story, Meeting in August, which became Until August’s first chapter, for the New Yorker. In McClean’s rendering Ana’s marriage is “well-matched” whereas in the Grossman’s, it is “harmonious”, appropriate to her Bach surname.

Broth features prominently in the Grossman and Rabassa translations. In Cholera, a character “would not waste the rest of her years simmering in the maggot broth of memory”. In Grossman, lovers sink into a “sweaty broth” and in McClean, they disassemble into a “soup of sweat”. Márquez, a compassionate recorder of femininity, falls flat with sex in Until August. “(She) devoured him for her own pleasure not even thinking of his.” This is from an author renowned for his toe-curling prose.

One must consider the ethics about posthumous publishing. Take Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman and Franz Kafka who, when dying, entreated his agent to burn his manuscripts. However, we are enriched by the decision to print their works. Should you read Until August? If you love Márquez, absolutely. It is a testament to a genius striving in the winter of his powers. It is also decent, occasionally reminiscent of author Haruki Murakami, who positions magic in a mundane world. That Until August does not measure up to Márquez’s masterpieces is irrelevant.

There are musical fugues, and there are fugue states. Ana Magdalena, in her repetitive experiences, embarks upon a fugue, but her subsequent forgetfulness is a fugue state. Márquez, one surmises, uses the looping structure to combat his own memory lack. The final image of Until August contains an echo that will tickle fans. His editor, Cristobal Pera thanks Márquez “for his humanity, simplicity, and the affection he always served to everyone who approached thinking he was a god, demonstrating with a smile that he was a man”. Ultimately, the novel is a coda to a virtuoso mind and a wonderful life.

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The Guardian view on Aya Nakamura: gifted, black and French

A racist backlash to rumours that the pop star may sing at the Paris Olympics should be resisted

O pening ceremonies to Olympic Games are an opportunity for nations to tell a positive story to the world and to themselves. In 2012, Danny Boyle’s virtuoso portrait of a vibrant, multicultural Britain did just that. Sadly, a far less uplifting narrative has been taking shape across the channel, ahead of this summer’s Olympics in Paris .

A vicious outpouring of bile from far-right politicians has followed unconfirmed rumours that Aya Nakamura, a black French-Malian pop star, may be chosen to sing at the Paris Games. On the banks of the Seine, a racist banner was unfurled by far-right activists that read: “No way Aya; this is Paris, not the Bamako market.” Last week, Marine Le Pen weighed in , denying Ms Nakamura’s fitness for the Olympics role and ridiculing her lyrics, which deploy the argot typical of the working-class Parisian suburb where she grew up. “I’m going to talk to you about her outfit, her vulgarity, the fact that she doesn’t sing French,” Ms Le Pen said on national radio. “She doesn’t sing foreign either. She sings we don’t know what.”

Ms Nakamura, whose parents moved to France when she was a baby, is a global phenomenon at the age of 28. Her songs have been streamed more than 7bn times, she is the face of one of the country’s most famous perfume brands, and last year she sold out three Paris gigs in the space of 15 minutes. She should be celebrated as a multicultural success story. That, one imagines, was the thinking of Emmanuel Macron, who has reportedly suggested that she sing an Edith Piaf song at the Games’ opening. Instead Ms Nakamura finds herself a target for politicians determined to police the boundaries of “ Frenchness ” according to blatantly racist assumptions about who can represent France.

This is not the first time that the far right has cast its malign shadow over significant cultural events. Before the Euro 2020 football tournament held in 2021, the choice of a rapper of Congolese descent to write the French squad’s anthem provoked a furore. In 2016, a performer whose Senegalese grandfather fought for the French army was prevented from appearing at a commemoration event of the battle of Verdun. Notoriously, in the 2000s, Ms Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, criticised the number of black footballers in one of the most successful national sides in French history.

These were grubby and shameful episodes. But it is particularly troubling that in the case of Ms Nakamura, ethocentric prejudice appears to be embedded in the mainstream. In a survey conducted in the wake of Mr Macron’s reported invitation, 73% of respondents said she did not represent “French” music and 63% were against her headlining the opening ceremony. France has one of the largest and longest-standing minority ethnic populations in Europe. But after years of attrition in the culture wars, its public square is too often a hostile environment for people of colour.

This summer’s Olympic Games in Paris will follow European elections that increasingly look like a fork in the road for French politics and society. Polls point , depressingly, to a victory in June for Ms Le Pen’s radical-right Rassemblement National, ahead of a presidential election in 2027, which polls suggest she has a good chance of winning. The mockery and abuse of Ms Nakamura offers an unsavoury glimpse of what that dystopian future in France might look like.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

• Paris Olympic Games 2024
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