Singular sanctuaries
Vila Joya, Jackson Hole real estate, Abbaye de la Bussière in Burgundy, Cove in NYC, best Portugal wine bars, MORE
GETAWAYS • Portugal
Pure joy
Vila Joya in the Algarve is the quietest of luxury hotels. Perched just west of Albufeira on Portugal’s southern coast, it was built in 1979 by the Jung family as a private Moorish-style villa. In 1982, the family transformed it into a 15-room boutique hotel. Today, it remains very much a family-run affair, run by second-generation owner Joy Jung.
Vila Joya isn’t especially large, but it’s spacious enough to offer a handful of stunning, whitewashed multi-bedroom suites, and compact enough that you’d feel comfortable walking around shoeless.
Rooms are appointed with subtle luxuries — giant fresh flower displays, thick rugs as soft as cashmere, actual cashmere blankets, Aesop skincare, Japanese Toto toilets, expansive walk-in closets, star-lit showers, private terraces and gardens, and heated plunge pools — and designed in a soft white palette with muted tones and accented with antique details. But the real luxury lies in the tactile details, in the feel of ultra-premium fabrics and natural materials.
The resort sits on nearly eight acres among palm-tree-studded gardens and dunes, with direct access to a secluded beach. There are also two pools (which even at full capacity feel private) and assorted food and beverage options, which operate at the very highest level of all the hotels I’ve visited around the world.
Mornings begin with bespoke breakfasts — eggs with freshly shaved black truffles or heightened with caviar, or delicately folded crêpes, sometimes accompanied by still-warm egg tarts sourced from the famed Manteigaria bakery. Poolside, guests can order dishes like zingy gazpacho accented with flower petals, ultra juicy piri piri chicken, or local olive oil-laced freshly-caught sardines, while evenings unfold with an extraordinary and elaborate French tasting menu that weaves in seasonal ingredients from the property’s tropical locale. (The resort’s eponymous main restaurant has maintained two Michelin stars for an incredible run of 26 straight years.)
Our dinner began with a cloud-like puff made from deep-fried potato and tapioca, filled with crème fraîche and crowned with an outrageously generous quenelle of Kaviari Kristal caviar. Poached lobster followed, accompanied by cubes of pineapple and mango in a Thai lobster curry sauce, and succulent imperial pigeon arrived in a velvety crimson sauce made from beet juice, fermented raspberries, and sherry vinegar.
I was shocked when the team brought my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter markers and a T-shirt designed to be colored-in so she had an activity during our three-hour meal. And if you need another example of the property’s thoughtfulness: one night after we returned late from dinner at Austa nearby, she was hungry. Though Vila Joya’s kitchen was already closed, it reopened just to prepare the most elegant bowl of buttered spaghetti presented with a silver cloche, delivered to our room with perfectly starched linen and a vase of fresh flowers.
For guests who want a shorter meal, the team happily creates bespoke alternatives of one to three courses. There’s also Sea, the property’s tiny beachside restaurant. During our visit, it hosted a Mexican pop-up called The Flying Chefs, led by Enrique Olvera-trained chef Hiram Gonzalez and featuring sophisticated, minimalist Mexican plates, à la carte or as a tasting menu. Bartender Nathan Otten prepared tiki-ish, beautifully balanced fresh-fruit cocktails.
Every team member knows every guest by name, and many guests have been visiting Vila Joya for 20 years or more. It’s a testament to just how special and singular this small sanctuary truly is. –Kat Odell
→ Vila Joya (Praia da Galé, Portugal) • Estrada da Galé • Rates from 720 €/wknd night.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in Jackson Hole, WY that came to market in the last 30 days.
→ 3950 W Red Top Ln (Jackson, above) • 3BR/2BA, 1748 SF house on 4.15 acres • Ask: $2.1M • Swedish cope log cabin bordered by national forest • Days on market: 12 • Annual tax: $5704 • Agent: Sally L Yocum, BHHS.
→ 1325 Munger Mountain Rd (Jackson) • 4BR/4.1BA, 3432 SF house + 816 SF guest house on 17.29 acres • Ask: $9.75M • ranchette on the Snake River, remodeled in ‘23 • Days on market: 28 • Annual tax: NA • Agent: Audrey Williams, Sotheby’s.
→ 725 N Bar Y Rd (Jackson) • 4BR/4.1BA, 4400 SF house + guest house on 2.81 acres • Ask: $12.995M • Teton views, custom outdoor sauna, renovated in ‘22 • Days on market: 17 • Annual tax: $38,228 • Agents: Meagan Murtagh & Brett McPeak, Sotheby’s.
HOTELS • Burgundy, France
Abbey road
I only had one night at Abbaye de la Bussière (a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Paris), but it was enough to feel the thrill of being somewhere extraordinary. Founded in the 12th century by the Cistercians, the abbey’s stone cloisters, still ponds, and quiet gardens set a serene, unhurried rhythm, reinforced by the attentive and thoughtful staff.
The rooms themselves balance history and comfort with quiet elegance and details like exposed beams, soft linens, and antique touches. Walking the cloisters and gardens felt like a meditation in motion, each corner offering a small, deliberate pleasure. Even in a brief visit, the abbey encourages slow observation and the kind of lingering attention that makes a short stay feel surprisingly worth the trip. –Marie Sadron
RESTAURANTS • New York
Rare gem
New from chef Flynn McGarry, Cove brings California aesthetics and sophisticated treatments of local produce to a sterile 1990s office building just north of Tribeca. Compounding the challenge is that very little of the food appears as expected (or described). Golden beets with turmeric and yogurt arrived as tiny almost-raviolis made of thinly sliced beets with the yogurt tucked inside. The homemade sourdough comes with Marmite butter, an umami flavor that’s unfamiliar but addictive.
Still, Cove excels in these subtle sensory surprises. In the expansive and airy setting, Cove’s most impressive moments are the smallest, like the gummy texture of a fluke cured with cherry leaves, presented in the shape of an octopus with Half Moon Bay-grown wasabi. Cheese pumpkin schnitzel was made meaty with hazelnuts and porcini mushrooms, topped with a sauce that mimicked the gravy one might typically serve with a traditional pork version of this dish. Challenge accepted. –Sylvie Florman
AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Recs
→ LONDON: Just-opened Motorino is a bold, fun follow-up to the six-month-old restaurant Town with reliably tasty food, just in time for party season. Its glossy interior wouldn’t look out of place in an Austin Powers film.
→ SAN FRANCISCO: Charming, Japanese-style bathhouse Onsen reopened this spring after a five-year hiatus, but its restaurant remained shuttered until July, when it also finally reopened — this time, as a weekend venue for a rotating roster of some of the region’s buzziest chefs.
ROUTINES • Getaways
Select answers to the FOUND ROUTINE query, What was your last great vacation?
→ SHIZU OKUSA, founder & CEO, Apothékary (NY, above): I just got back from a retreat at Six Senses in Ibiza. The setting was magical, with cliffs, ocean, and sunrises that made you pause, and the energy of the place was so aligned with the kind of restoration I had been craving. Mornings were filled with movement and meditation, while evenings were devoted to nourishing food and deep conversations. I left feeling so grounded, creatively recharged, and ready for whatever’s next.
→ EMILY ROUX, chef & owner, Caractère (LDN): The Maldives, last Christmas. We stayed at the resort Kuramathi, which is where Diego and I got married. We hadn’t been since, so it was very special to take our kids there. The resort has everything you need — snorkelling, windsurfing, even a little submarine for exploring the waters with the kids. In terms of restaurants, we really like Tandoor Mahal. It’s delicious and the local fish is just incredible.
→ ERHAN KOSTEPEN, chef-partner, Doya (Miami): Every year in the first two weeks of September, I’m going to Thailand, Japan, and the Far East. I’ve been doing it the last dozen years; it’s my two weeks I’m away from everything. I have a lot of chef friends over there and we do a lot of cooking together and have a lot of street food, especially in Bangkok. Then we’ll go to bars, a bunch of the 50 Best Bars like BKK Social and Bar Us.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Starwood Hotels’ 2026 pipeline includes 1Hotel Tokyo and 1Hotel Austin • London lodgings: Soho House founder Nick Jones opening new London property next year… in wake of fire, Chiltern Firehouse sets 04/2027 reopening • The carry-on club.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Wine bars, Portugal
Familjen (Madragoa), inspired, big flavor Nordic-ish cooking (like carabineros with steamed buns, above) in tiniest of tiny spaces
SEM (Alfama), fermentation-rich, zero-waste tasting menus w/ Portuguese ingredients and Portuguese/European wines
Prado Wine Bar (Baixa), small plates plus biodynamic Portuguese wines in compact, bottle-lined space
Prado Restaurante (Baixa), ironically more wine bar than its sibling, feat. clean, produce-driven dishes and deep collection of global unicorn bottles
Pigmeu (Campo de Ourique), buzzy, nose-to-tail pork cooking in tight, nondescript space
Canalha (Belém), minimalist, seafood-focused small plates spot with killer take on squid in sheep’s milk butter
O Velho Eurico (Alfama), tough-to-book, cult-favorite tavern dishing rustic Portuguese classics, perpetual line
Parra Wine Bistro (Madragoa), seasonal-ingredient-driven cooking in a marble-clad space paired with low-intervention wines
O Pif (Anjos), all Portuguese wines in feminine pink and white space with cheese and charcuterie-related snacks
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