Mr. & Mrs. Connoisseur

Mr. & Mrs. Connoisseur | #1

We listen to a hotel legend. Book a dinner for EUR 1200. Wondering about the great leap forward, as the Chinese would call Ibiza 2021. And (pass on) the decisive book tip of the summer. The travel blog of Simone and Andreas Dressler. New every 14 days from now on.

Listened to
A quick trip to the Baur Savoy in Zurich before the almost anachronistically timeless hotel on Paradeplatz closes for two years and undergoes an all-round facelift called a complete refurbishment. It then reopens as the Mandarin Oriental: with significantly more suites and a new interior. We meet Hotel Director Rolf Brönnimann, who was brought from Budersand on Sylt to Zurich's cobbled beach in 2019, for breakfast. "Rolf" is an idea machine, has won every conceivable host award (including from Connoisseur Circle), has an affinity for art and is a family man through and through. He also has the right nose for trends. What Brönnimann is now saying heralds a broad paradigm shift for the entire travel industry.
The trendsetter takes a critical view of Switzerland's path of growth at any price. Sure, quality costs money. But that's not the problem, because "not everyone can afford a Swiss watch". Switzerland, says Brönnimann, will never be a low-cost tourism country for decades to come. Corresponding growth efforts for ever new, ever larger mountain railroads are fundamentally wrong: "There are also beautiful mountains in Turkey - but not with our attributes: safety, healthy structures that have grown over the years, absolute and stable quality standards." The best example of this is how the Swiss have taken up the cause of health tourism. "An absolutely fantastic niche market: our medical care is one of the best in the world anyway. It's clear that the world's rich prefer to travel to Geneva or Zurich for surgery."

However, Brönnimann sees the ideal way to move past the limits of growth - into simplicity. "We have to get out of decadence: Always just more, more, more can't be the way forward. It was always the wealthy who set the zeitgeist. Today's trendsetters are climate protectors. It is the elites who will champion the "new luxury of sustainability" - and the masses will follow suit." The most important attribute, says Brönnimann: "authenticity". Regional products, own gardens, greenery in urban spaces: "Not everyone is aware of this yet". A few lighthouse projects are needed. Says Brönnimann, before he dashes off. We can expect something new from the man with the beacon.

Rolf Brönnimann: redefining luxury.

Popular.
On December 3 at 9 p.m., only very few guests will have the opportunity to experience the "world's most exclusive dining experience". We learned this in the newsletter of First Class & More, the central organ of all frequent travelers at first-class flight altitude. Alexander König, "Milestone King" and luxury travel professional, and his Managing Director Johann-Caspar Bertheau are inviting guests to the Mandarin Oriental Dubai on this evening, where "a unique and extraordinary culinary experience will be celebrated, combining state-of-the-art technology with the most innovative delicacies from Chef Paco". The event is sponsored by Sublimotion, the well-known dinner concept from Ibiza by celebrity chef Paco Roncero. Don't despair: If the event is sold out, you will have saved 1200.- EUR dinner fee. But you can be sure that the ingenious people from First Class & More already have the next super party in the pipeline.

Photo by Timo Volz from Pexels. Dubai dinner: A price as high as the skyscrapers.

See.
Yes, we confess. Although we neither want to buy the Austrian Kronenzeitung nor wave a Glock in front of an oligarch's nose - Ibiza remains Ibiza. Despite damage to its image - "scorched earth" - because of an Austrian vice-chancellor, the Balearic island is the most beautiful hotspot for a summer farewell or spring kick-off.

We have just returned (after numerous rebookings) from the October island with SWISS. Connoisseurs certainly won't find scorched earth here in the early and late season. But: the sun is still gentle at midday, the sea continues to caress all the senses, and hiking to the bays around the Port de Sant Miquel or a relaxed stroll around the marina of Santa Eulalia with its chilled, dreamy Café Sydney doesn't make us miss the Lio.
The tables at 'Amante', 'Elements' and 'Nobu' are full, but without the hustle and bustle of the summer months. We also had a great meal at the new 'Olivia's Ibiza Kitchen', which will put Santa Getrudis on the map for gourmets. The popular 'La Brasa de Ibiza' in Eivissa, on the other hand, is increasingly becoming a tourist trap. We don't want to know where seafood and fish really come from with an undemanding clientele. Instead, the symbiosis of a Peruvian-inspired menu and a rooftop bar at its very best, which has been open since April, is fantastic: Maymanta is the name of the new culinary addition (chef: Omar Malpartida), and perhaps the nicest staff on the island is also worth mentioning. Where do these people get their energy from after a gruelingly successful season?

Speaking of which, the 'Aguas de Ibiza' has taken on the challenge of numerous newly opened luxury hotels and revamped its somewhat outdated service. We remember: With the word combination
luxury
and
Ibiza
have rightly raised many a tourist's eyebrow in recent years. Sometimes they wondered what kind of service they were paying very high prices for here - only to go back again and again. The "Aguas" at the end of the season, however, was lively and charming, with no sign of summer fatigue. It's great that "Ibiza's (relatively) new", the 'Bless', the 'Nobu', the '7Pines', the Siau in the far north, the Six Senses, the Sir Joan and all the others are providing a real boost. All relevant hotels in Ibiza that opened in 2019 can be found here in the detailed test. All new openings will follow in 2022.

Farewell to post-summer: Aguas de Ibiza at top level.

Read more.
We have Oliver Graue, Editorial Director Business Travel at fvw/Travel Talk, to thank for last summer's best book. To be more precise: it was he who recommended it to us. Graue, a connoisseur who has probably passed many a boring waiting hour at airports with really beautiful (travel) literature, wrote the following about the novel "Nur hier sind wir einzigartig" (Christine Avel, Mare-Verlag): Full of longing and melancholy, this novel is poetically written, a book about growing up. One that raises many questions....
"Run to read it."