Kiwi Curated
Extraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
by Joy PecknoldAfter so many months of quieter living, we’re craving the awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, show-stopping, all-round extraordinary and no one serves that up on a silver platter quite like luxury hotels. With no shortage of experiences, we honed in on 10 of the most unique to make your heart skip a beat in the best way, whether from adrenaline rush or sheer wonder.
Extraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
For a deserted island experience that’s decadent and not at all terrifying, book the Private Sandbank Overnight Experience at Soneva Fushi. Guests arrive to a Bedouin-style tent outfitted with a big, luxurious bed and its very own bathroom. Before departing, your attendants set up a candlelit dinner, then return the next morning with breakfast. In between, it’s just you, your loved one and the quiet lapping waves.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
When your location is the Adventure Capital of the World (aka Queenstown), you’re somewhat contractually obligated to have a few adrenaline rush experiences on the menu. Along with heli skiing and mountain biking, Matakauri Lodge will set you up to take a leap at the original A.J. Hackett Kawarau Bridge jump site. There’s also the world’s highest canyon swing which includes a 230-foot free fall reaching speeds of 200km an hour. Be sure to book a massage back at the lodge’s spa after.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
Best Adventure Getaway winner in the 2021 Kiwi Collection Hotel Awards, Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild boasts a smorgasbord of cool adventures, and perhaps the most unique is anti-poaching patrol. With an on-site ranger station for Wildlife Alliance, the Cambodian resort lets guest tag along with rangers on motorbike for two to six hours as they search out and stop poaching and illegal logging. If that sounds too intense, there’s always forest foraging.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
You’ll feel like James Bond paragliding into your stay at Six Senses Zighy Bay. After handing over your bags, you strap in with your pilot who will take you off the launch pad 960 feet above sea level, as you take in the Al Hajar Mountains and Gulf of Oman, and then softly land you right on the white sandy beach of your resort.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
There’s no need to block off 40 days for Mt. Everest to make a high mountain ascent dream into a reality. In the heart of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, explora Patagonia will put you up in the lap of luxury and whisk you to one of the nearby mountains for that hard-earned summit without the thin air. The highest is Cerro Tenerife, an 8.6 mile full-day hike that reaches 5,000 feet and serves up views of the Southern Ice Fields and the Chacabuco mountain range. Their Atacama property offers even higher ascents up to 19,600 feet.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
Ever dreamt of building your own boat? Known for its fishing industry and punts, Newfoundland is a prime place to pick up tips, and Fogo Island Inn can help with that. Among the many boat experiences the stunning, oceanside inn offers is an Introduction to Boat Building wherein guests visit a local builder who will spill some secrets of both the building and life of a seafarer kinds.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
On 4,000 acres in the Uruguayan countryside, Estancia Vik José Ignacio offers more than the typical horseback experience. Those already comfortable riding can try their hand at a private polo lesson lead by some of South America’s top polo experts.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
Built with 10,000 red cedar logs cut and placed by hand, Fairmont Le Château Montebello is the largest “log cabin” in the world. Once the snow has fallen, it creates the dreamiest scene, one made complete with a dogsledding experience. Kept warm under blanket on the sled, guests get a guided 4km ride around the property picturesquely perched on the Ottawa River in Quebec. Yes, you can play with the dogs after.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
Nestled right at the foot of Mont-Tremblant, Fairmont Tremblant sets you up for skiing, naturally, but those looking for a different kind of wintry experience can sign up for a full Day with a Woodsman which includes ice-fishing and snowshoeing in search of animal tracks (wolves and lynx!), along with visiting a wood bison reserve, sled dog kennel and sacred Indigenous ancestral site.
VIEW HOTELExtraordinary Hotel Experiences To Add To The Bucket List
Big city hotels have their adventures too. The Peninsula Hong Kong has its own helicopter for taking guests on “flight-seeing tours” over Victoria Harbour. There’s also the option to tack on tea or dinner to the sky-high experience to make it that much more refined.
VIEW HOTELFor a deserted island experience that’s decadent and not at all terrifying, book the Private Sandbank Overnight Experience at Soneva Fushi. Guests arrive to a Bedouin-style tent outfitted with a big, luxurious bed and its very own bathroom. Before departing, your attendants set up a candlelit dinner, then return the next morning with breakfast. In between, it’s just you, your loved one and the quiet lapping waves.
VIEW HOTELWhen your location is the Adventure Capital of the World (aka Queenstown), you’re somewhat contractually obligated to have a few adrenaline rush experiences on the menu. Along with heli skiing and mountain biking, Matakauri Lodge will set you up to take a leap at the original A.J. Hackett Kawarau Bridge jump site. There’s also the world’s highest canyon swing which includes a 230-foot free fall reaching speeds of 200km an hour. Be sure to book a massage back at the lodge’s spa after.
VIEW HOTELBest Adventure Getaway winner in the 2021 Kiwi Collection Hotel Awards, Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild boasts a smorgasbord of cool adventures, and perhaps the most unique is anti-poaching patrol. With an on-site ranger station for Wildlife Alliance, the Cambodian resort lets guest tag along with rangers on motorbike for two to six hours as they search out and stop poaching and illegal logging. If that sounds too intense, there’s always forest foraging.
VIEW HOTELYou’ll feel like James Bond paragliding into your stay at Six Senses Zighy Bay. After handing over your bags, you strap in with your pilot who will take you off the launch pad 960 feet above sea level, as you take in the Al Hajar Mountains and Gulf of Oman, and then softly land you right on the white sandy beach of your resort.
VIEW HOTELThere’s no need to block off 40 days for Mt. Everest to make a high mountain ascent dream into a reality. In the heart of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, explora Patagonia will put you up in the lap of luxury and whisk you to one of the nearby mountains for that hard-earned summit without the thin air. The highest is Cerro Tenerife, an 8.6 mile full-day hike that reaches 5,000 feet and serves up views of the Southern Ice Fields and the Chacabuco mountain range. Their Atacama property offers even higher ascents up to 19,600 feet.
VIEW HOTELEver dreamt of building your own boat? Known for its fishing industry and punts, Newfoundland is a prime place to pick up tips, and Fogo Island Inn can help with that. Among the many boat experiences the stunning, oceanside inn offers is an Introduction to Boat Building wherein guests visit a local builder who will spill some secrets of both the building and life of a seafarer kinds.
VIEW HOTELOn 4,000 acres in the Uruguayan countryside, Estancia Vik José Ignacio offers more than the typical horseback experience. Those already comfortable riding can try their hand at a private polo lesson lead by some of South America’s top polo experts.
VIEW HOTELBuilt with 10,000 red cedar logs cut and placed by hand, Fairmont Le Château Montebello is the largest “log cabin” in the world. Once the snow has fallen, it creates the dreamiest scene, one made complete with a dogsledding experience. Kept warm under blanket on the sled, guests get a guided 4km ride around the property picturesquely perched on the Ottawa River in Quebec. Yes, you can play with the dogs after.
VIEW HOTELNestled right at the foot of Mont-Tremblant, Fairmont Tremblant sets you up for skiing, naturally, but those looking for a different kind of wintry experience can sign up for a full Day with a Woodsman which includes ice-fishing and snowshoeing in search of animal tracks (wolves and lynx!), along with visiting a wood bison reserve, sled dog kennel and sacred Indigenous ancestral site.
VIEW HOTELBig city hotels have their adventures too. The Peninsula Hong Kong has its own helicopter for taking guests on “flight-seeing tours” over Victoria Harbour. There’s also the option to tack on tea or dinner to the sky-high experience to make it that much more refined.
VIEW HOTEL