We're obsessed right now with Santorini, that beautiful little Greek island (actually, multiple islands) with exquisite sunset views, perfect whitewashed houses and lapis lazuli waters surrounding volcanic formations that compose the islands. ​

So once-upon-a-time, many volcanic eruptions occurred over and over again, creating, destroying, building back up again and forcing more collapse until out of it all, finally, came Santorini; a group of islands in Greece comprising of a still-active volcano, in the southernmost part of Cyclades (the full circle of Greek islands in the Aegean). The caldera is the big, sea-filled crater left by volcanic activity throughout the ages and creates the backdrop for many the beautiful views you'll see from towns, cliffs and overlooks on Santorini.

The best time to visit these islands is from June through September with the edge months being the best in my opinion to catch the heat of the sun but sometimes beat the crowds of the true high season. And September has the bonus of having heated up the sea sufficiently so you barely notice the temperature difference between air and sky! (Sorry, dad, I know you love a bit of shocking cold water!)

Firá is the capital of Santorini - the place to find your grocery stores, a myriad of cafés and restaurants and the spot to party into the wee hours. Surrounded by vineyards and filled with whitewashed cubic dwellings, it overlooks the azure Aegean sea, allowing many a luxurious hotel to build infinity pools seemingly stretching out into the sea, balconies on the edge of cliffs and the most picturesque dining views.
Firostefani and Imerovigli are nearby Firá but maintain their seclusive and relaxing vibe. Just hop over to Firá when you need to inject a bit of nightlife into your holiday!
Oia seems like the perfect spot to stay if you are looking for the best sunset views, relaxing atmosphere (although touristy) and amazing restaurants. Not many shops here but oh! the luxury in these high-end hotels is impressive!
The towns of Perissa, Perivolos and Kamari don't have vistas toward the scenic volcano but instead contain the best beaches you'll find on Santorini. 

So you have your choices laid out for you of where to stay when you get to Santorini according to what's most important to you on your holidays: Will it be scenery, buzz or beach? 

The Karoo in South Africa is a semi-desert natural region perfect for a road trip. To quote SouthAfrica.net: 
"Spanning nearly 400,000km squared in the geographic midriff of South Africa, the Great Karoo must be one of the quietest places on Earth.

It is a place of immense spaces, wide-angle horizons, craggy mountain ranges, conical hills, an ancient inland seabed, and a sky so big that at night it feels like you can touch the stars.

The Great Karoo stands proudly with other desert tourism regions like the Australian Outback and Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and makes for a memorable road-trip.

It seems you could travel for months in and about the towns of the Great Karoo and have a different experience in each one."

This week on #luxtravelchat, we were talking about luxury beach hotels:  what's fabulous now and what might be fabulous in the future.  The topic was brought to us by @luxresorts, who have some truly amazing places to visit but more on that later (OK, you can skip to the end for a few photos as long as you promise to come back here right after).  

Close your eyes and think. What was the most fabulous thing a hotel ever did for you?  

This was slightly tamer than I anticipated - all very sensible answers.  I was hoping the word fabulous would bring out some real surprises, but alas, I guess we are all easily pleased. That must mean there's room to shine for a superstar hotel!  

@carmensluxtrvl kicked us off by saying "Hard to pick (1st world problems) but I'd say pickup service from the airport in a luxury car w/ champagne!"  Not bad at all.  @JetsettingBen may have topped that with "Make me a personalised dessert with my name on it!"  What would the dessert be? 

I personally liked my own addition:  "Upgrade to a room with a terrace and its own pool. Thanks @ViceroyAI" Not sure what I did to deserve that, the gods must have been looking on me favourably that day.