About Us
The Luxe Destination
A decade of staying, photographing and writing about the world’s finest hotels — so you book the right one.
We believe a great hotel can make a journey — and that finding it shouldn’t be a gamble. So we go, in person, and tell you exactly what we found.
Our Story
The Luxe Destination began in 2016 with a simple frustration: too many hotel reviews read like brochures. Glossy photographs, breathless adjectives, and no sense of what it’s actually like to wake up there on the third morning.
We set out to do the opposite — to stay long enough to see a property properly, to photograph every space ourselves, and to write with the honesty of a friend who’s just got back. What started as one writer’s notebook has grown into a trusted guide read by travellers in more than forty countries.
Today we cover the great hotels and groups across Asia, Europe and the Indian Ocean — the famous names and the quiet discoveries — with the same unhurried, exacting eye we started with.
Hotels reviewed
Countries
Reviewing hotels
Readers a year
What We Stand For
How we work.
Three principles have guided every review since the beginning — and they’re not for sale.
We stay in person
Every review comes from a real stay — not a press release, not a virtual tour. We sleep in the bed, eat at the table, and test the service after dark.
Every photo is ours
The images you see are shot by us, on site — never supplied by the hotel. What you see is what you’ll get when you arrive.
The verdict is honest
We work with hotels, but our opinion is never for sale. If something falls short, we say so — that’s the whole point of a review you can trust.
The People
Who’s behind it.
Founding Editor & Senior Reviewer
Agnes Lina Gianto
Founder of The Luxe Destination, based between Bali and London. Resorts and island retreats are her territory.
Read her reviewsContributing Editor
Oliver Grant
A former hotelier turned critic, based in Singapore. He leads our city-hotel and new-opening coverage.
Read his reviewsGet In Touch
Work with us, or just say hello.
Whether you’re a hotelier who’d like to be considered, a brand exploring a partnership, or a reader with a question — we’d love to hear from you.