July 27, 2021

The Places to Travel Now, with Preferred Hotels & Resorts CEO Lindsey Ueberroth

29 minutes

Preferred Hotels & Resorts CEO Lindsey Ueberroth has visited more than 100 countries, and she oversees a company with 700-plus hotels worldwide. So where does she want to go next? Not surprisingly, Ueberroth has a long list of places she’d like to visit—and that she recommends for fellow travelers—as the world reopens.

With her lifelong experience—she grew up with parents in the travel industry—and her leadership position in the luxury space, Ueberroth has a unique perspective on how we might travel differently moving forward. She believes the concept of a bucket list is dead, with people preferring to pull the trigger on big-ticket trips now instead of putting them off for some far-off date in the future.

One big-ticket trip at the top of Ueberroth’s list is Africa, where she believes you need to visit again and again to appreciate the diversity of its destinations and experiences. She’s dreaming of heading back to Botswana in particular, where she cites the new Xigera Safari Lodge in the Okavango Delta not only for its superior wildlife experience but also for its deep commitment to conservation.

Ueberroth also sees us returning to popular destinations like Greece, but with a new perspective on how to experience them. Greece was one of the first countries to reopen its boarders to tourists and has seen significant demand ever since. To avoid the crowds, Ueberroth suggests heading outside of the typical Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos, and exploring less-touristed areas such as the forested mountains and coasts in the country’s northern regions, where Preferred recently added the new Aristi Mountain Resort, Greece.

Closer to home, another popular spot that’s primed for a renaissance is Puerto Vallarta, where new hotels, beach clubs, and restaurants up and down the coast are bringing a fresh energy to a classic Mexican coastal destination. For a more secluded tropical vacation, Ueberroth suggests French Polynesia, specifically the Brando Resort. The private-island resort, set on the atoll long owned by Marlon Brando, is known both for its innovative sustainability practices and its extravagant luxury.

As appealing as far-flung destinations are, however, Ueberroth believes the trend of traveling close to home will continued long after the pandemic. Her top pick? Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which she describes as a more “laid-back version of Aspen.”

Preferred has added an impressive 40 hotels to its portfolio in recent months, including La Esperanza in Grenada, Spain, and the Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei in Taipei, Taiwan. Ueberroth discusses these and other properties in the portfolio, as well as her thoughts on cities reopening and the need to be around a bustling metropolis. Now is the time, she believes, to immerse yourself in communities and embrace the many things we missed about travel.

Additional Links to Hotels Mentioned in this Episode:

Beyond Green:

Bentwood Inn

Xigera Safari Lodge

Three Camel Lodge

The Brando

Aristi Mountain Resort

Preferred Hotels & Resorts:

Casa Di Langa

ModernHaus Soho

Lago Resort Menorca – Suites del Lago 5*

La Esperanza Granada