DestinAsian Magazine - March - May 2023

In this issue

I was recently in Sydney, where I relished the chance to soak up the city’s laid-back lifestyle and the long, sunny days of the Australian summer. On the agenda were walks by the harbor and visits to exciting new restaurants and places to stay. I even got to check out the soon-to-open Capella hotel, which is welcoming its first guests on March 15. Without revealing too much, I can tell you it’s going to be absolutely gorgeous. In fact, I would not be surprised to see it crack the top 10 list for Best Hotel in Australia in a future edition of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. That, of course, is our cover story this issue, with rankings based on the results of a three-month poll conducted late last year, when subscribers from around the Asia-Pacific region chimed in to nominate their all-time favorites in categories spanning not just hotels but also airlines and destinations. Elsewhere in the magazine, our editor-in-chief Christopher P. Hill recounts his recent stay at Bawah Reserve in Indonesia’s far-flung Anambas Archipel- ago. The kind of mindful, eco-conscious barefoot luxury it offers makes for a welcome breather from our hectic urban routines. If you’re reading this in Singapore, you’re in luck: all it takes to get there is a high-speed ferry across the strait to Batam, followed by a scenic seaplane flight.