They managed it. Thanks to the determination and thoughtfulness of the Ueberroth family, the long-awaited Global Conference of Preferred Hotels & Resorts took place in Boston, 16-18 November 2021. About 250 delegates took part: I must be unusually vague as at least one in-person attendee had to pull out, for isolation, and there were throughout an unstated number of virtual partipants.

For an authentic and truly unique experience, think Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle, about 40 minutes from Paris. You can even, at times, dress up. This New Year’s Eve promises to be extra-special. Hosted by hotel GM Julién Revah, a traditional costume Ball – wigs, breeches, lace-decorated gowns, if you want – will be preceded by an elaborate multi-course dinner minutely planned by Alain Ducasse, who has, in fact, always been closely involved, as have UNESCO and every French heritage group imaginable.

What IS French style? In Paris, the palace that is Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel, gives a clue. The recipe requires history, design, at least a pinch of fun and a boss who has above-par flair.

From next Monday, 1 November 2021, Australians can once again travel overseas. Like travel enthusiasts elsewhere, some may dust off their passports and invest in a trip of a lifetime. They will find even old and much-loved favourites have added new, exciting experiences.

This is not a hotel but a lifestyle stage, says Charles Oak firmly. He’s the perennially-youthful creative GM of The Londoner, the two months’ old theatre of a hotel at the south-west corner of Leicester Square. From many of the 350 rooms, look out at the buzz – the square currently hosts wood masts imagining mythical animals. Look around, at live theatres, audiences permanently coming and going.

Marco Den Ouden, GM of Patina Maldives Fari Islands, does not believe in Googling people, and this undoubtedly helps attract real top-flight celebs. “Look, privacy is an important reason why knowledgable travellers choose to stay here rather than elsewhere in the Maldives,” says the charismatic Dutchman, a would-be artist who was diverted to hospitality.

This must be the most intimate working chapel in Greece – St George’s, at stunning Santa Marina Mykonos, high above Ornos Bay, in the south-west of this Cyclades island. As you would expect on a Greek island in the Mediterranean, the chapel is pristine white outside, like all the buildings on the eight-hectare estate. And as you would also expect in an Orthodox chapel, of course it is a kaleidoscope of colour inside, with every square centimetre hosting an ancient icon.

New York’s icon, The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel, is so called because when it was being built, in 1930, Diana Ginsberg Jaffe, daughter of the developer, Moses Ginsberg, was reading all-round British brain, Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881. (Interestingly, Carlyle’s best-known work, On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History, is just as relevant today – and, inter alia, he inspired the mathematical term ‘Carlyle Circle’, which surely would make a great name for a loyalty following.)

If influencers attract others of that breed, The Beaumont is key in London. Last week it seemed every one of the six front-of-hotel tables now permanently serving food, drink – and faultless fastest-speed free connectivity – was taken.

Next time in London, take at least an overnight out-of-that-city to experience the more relaxed uniqueness of Bath. Do not even think of driving. Much of Bath centre is one-way traffic and, anyway, trains run direct, at least every half hour from London Paddington, 80 minutes due west to the centre of Bath.

The key to consistent, highly-rated service is a dream team, says Mario Egger, GM of Augustine, Prague. The 101-key hotel has, consistently for the last four months, topped customer service ratings for Marriott’s Luxury Collection brand, Europe-wide. Egger has 65 on his full-time staff, of whom 15 are supervisors or managers level.

Many niche hobbyists already know The Peninsula’s Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel, California. Car enthusiasts, for instance, have on their annual diaries The Quail Motorsports, and The Quail Best of the Best, when prominent classic car collectors Laurence Graff and Jay Leno join former Formula 1’s McLaren designer Gordon Murray, and others, to select the winner (current titleholder is Tom and Jill Peck’s 1954 Ferrari 750 Monza, coachwork by Scaglietti, authenticated by Piero Ferrari at Ferrari Classiche in Maranello, Italy).