Inside A $400 Million Maldives Resort, A New French Riviera Villa And More Travel News

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The Maldives is renowned for its quiet luxuries—overwater villas with plunge pools, candlelight dinners on the beach, and of course private butlers. But hospitality entrepreneur Ahmed Siyam Mohamed understood that some guests actually want to turn up the volume on vacation. For those travelers he took a big risk, spending an estimated $400 million to build Siyam World, an all-inclusive resort in the Noonu Atoll. Among the activities at the property are a horse ranch, a go-kart track, hydrofoil e-bikes and a jet car—for those who like to make waves when they drive.
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Billionaires can basically afford any indulgence they want—private concerts by pop stars, personal submarines, trips to space—but which of those perks wouldn't they give up? In an exclusive new survey, Forbes asked billionaires: What's the one luxury you can't live without? The overwhelming answer was a real time saver.
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By the time F. Scott Fitzgerald immortalized the Hôtel du Cap-Eden Roc as Hôtel des Étrangers in Tender is the Night, the French Riviera resort had already been a chic destination for nearly 50 years. It was so posh that until 2006, the property didn't accept credit cards—only cash. But the Hôtel du Cap is always innovating. And it recently opened its second luxury villa: The Provencal-inspired Villa La Guittière was originally built in the 1970s and underwent a years-long renovation to bring it up to 21st century standards, including a spa, a wine cellar and a private screening room. Rates for the nine-bedroom compound start at around $73,000 a night
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Flight attendants may be on board to assist passengers, but sometimes they don't want to be understood. And among the crew lingo you may not want to overhear are Code 300, Squawk 7500 and Pan-Pan. Oh, and you sure don't want to be a VIP in their eyes. Here's a handy decoder for the code words used by flight attendants.
'The Riviera isn't only a sunny place for shady people.'
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Every year since 2022, some 12 million travelers have gone on an overnight vacation that included at least one round of golf. While most courses have a regional appeal, there are an increasing number of national brands that are embracing a modern approach to golf tourism. From Florida to Oregon, here are 10 extraordinary golf resorts offering play-and-stay experiences.

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‘It's inhumane': The airports making passengers queue for up to five hours

Will you be thanking Sir Keir Starmer this summer? The beleaguered prime minister has made much of his diplomatic deal with EU bureaucrats to allow British travellers to use e-gates when travelling to the Continent, thus avoiding unnecessary queues when heading off on holiday. While it's true that some of the more doom-laden predictions of travel chaos after Brexit haven't come to pass, regular travellers can attest to the fact that winding passport queues aren't exactly unknown at European airports. Just look at the recent scenes in Portugal, where British travellers have been left waiting in line for up to three hours in order to show their documents. Faced with a backlash from frustrated travellers, Portuguese authorities have been quick to blame the situation on temporary problems with their security systems. Though Algarve regulars may have noticed that the situation in Faro seems to be a carbon copy of what happened last year, when some travellers reported that only a handful of passport booths were open. So does Portugal bag the dubious honour of having Europe's worst airports when it comes to passport queues? The data on delays isn't fully comprehensive, but there are indicators that suggest that the Iberian nation has some stiff competition on that particular front. A special mention here must go to Brussels Airport, which surely has to take the prize for queuing time – with reports of a staggering five-hour slog earlier this year. 'After a long flight, it's inhumane to expect us to stand for that long,' one frustrated passenger told the Brussels Times earlier this year, in what may have been a deliberate appeal to the EU capital's tradition of protecting human rights. It's true that, as with other European airports, the long lines aren't a permanent feature. 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For an insight into how regularly things can go wrong when it comes to passport queues, just look at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. The granddaddy of European airports might not have it worse than other major hubs on the continent, but it does publish detailed briefings on waiting times and delays. When you look at the most recent incident reports, you can see that the most common cause of passport delays is the most predictable one: a shortage of border guards. Combine that with heavy traffic during busy periods like school holidays and it's not uncommon to see two or three days per month where waiting times spike to around an hour. The data also shows how major sporting events contribute to airport chaos. Last summer, there were queues of up to 80 minutes during the days before the Paris Olympics, as the airport was forced to divert resources to service the arriving VIP delegations. 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Back in May, there were reports of British passengers waiting for up to two hours in the sweltering heat as families jostled for bottles of water to keep them cool. In response, Spanish authorities have pledged to increase the number of border guards so they can process travellers more quickly. With the school holidays just around the corner, we should see if the plan has worked. In the meantime, will Sir Keir's e-gates deal come riding to the rescue? Not quite. For all the fanfare around the announcement, ministers have confirmed that the current arrangements will not change until later this autumn, when the EU is finally set to unveil its long-awaited digital border system (known as the EES, or Entry Exit System). Even then, it will depend on the discretion of individual countries whether British nationals will qualify for the e-gates. And that's assuming that the system doesn't succumb to technological gremlins on the particular day you arrive. 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Holland America Has 3 New 14-day Voyages to the Arctic—With Stops at Quaint Fishing Villages, Waterfalls, and High Odds for Northern Lights

If you've always dreamed of seeing the northern lights in the Arctic from a cruise ship, get ready for three new options to make that a reality. Holland America is launching three new arctic journeys that span 14 days and allow cruisers to spot the northern lights, with ship-wide aurora alerts that let everyone know when the lights are visible. The cruises leave from Rotterdam, Netherlands, with one offering the option to depart a day earlier from Dover, England. The initial cruise departs from Rotterdam, and cruisers can take time before departure to explore the historical city with its idiosyncratic modern architecture and impressive art museums. After two days at sea, the cruise ship will stop in Ålesund, a quaint fishing village in western Norway. Known for its colorful, ornate buildings and stunning fjords, this stop will have opportunities for both cultural exploration and hiking. Tours organized by the cruise ship are available. The ship continues on to Trondheim, Norway, with its easy-to-explore city center and sites that include Nidaros Cathedral and the Trondelag Open-Air Folk Museum. After this stop, the ship will cross over into the Arctic Circle, where the many hours of winter darkness are most conducive to spotting the northern lights. The next stop is Tromso, Norway, the 'Gateway to the Arctic,' followed by two days at Alta on the Alta Fjord in the north of Norway. This is one of the best places to spot the aurora, and there will be shuttles and taxis to take visitors into town to experience the culture of this arctic village. As the trip comes into the home stretch, travelers will go to Leknes on the Norwegian Lofoten archipelago, which serves as a gateway to a series of sheltered fishing hamlets with traditional houses. Next are the waterfalls and natural wonders of Åndalsnes, followed by a stop in Bergen, Norway's second largest city. Then, the cruise detours to Lerwick on the Shetland Islands in the United Kingdom to explore its Norse heritage, before spending a day at sea en route back to Rotterdam. Later cruises also stop at Kristiansund, a charming town on the Norwegian coast. The three itineraries depart in autumn 2027. Fares start at €2,599 (about $3,000) for the voyage from Oct. 3 to Oct. 17, 2027. The second trip, which spans Oct. 16 to Oct. 30, 2027, starts at €2,499 ($2,884), while the option with an earlier departure day in Dover starts at €2,719 ($3,138). The final cruise from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20, 2027, starts at €2,349 ($2,711). All cruises can be booked at