Travel Confidential: The Top 10 Luxury Cities, According To Architectural Digest

29.12.2023 - 02:47 / forbes.com / Art

Architectural Digest released its top 10 “emerging luxury cities” in October. Its criteria — activities, properties, dining, annual income, diversity, and safety — are all geared toward residents. But what do these cities hold for visitors seeking an exceptional vacation?

Plenty, it turns out. From hotels and spas to wineries and distilleries, here are 10 cities vying to put themselves on the luxury map of America, and one reason to plan a visit.

Tourists often skip straight past Irvine, long reputed as a staid bedroom community sprawling between Orange County’s beaches and theme parks, for the pristine Newport coast nearby. Locals know the Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art is Irvine’s own hidden gem. Every ultra-wealthy city needs a great art gallery, and the Langson Institute and Museum is like none other: a tribute to the art of historic California, by Californians for Californians. It’s a visually and culturally diverse experience, one that allows a rare glimpse at the California experience across its history. Past exhibitions have focused on the Spanish mission period and works of “California Impressionism” spanning three centuries.

Nestled into this quiet, coastal bedroom community between Los Angeles and San Diego, the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara brings a glint of luxury to Carlsbad. Designed with long-term guests in mind, rooms range in size from 425 to 1,670 square feet. Its spa features three treatment rooms, a fitness room, and a yoga/pilates studio. In addition to the property’s indoor and poolside dining options, guests can request to have their personal kitchen stocked with selected items prior to arrival. Carlsbad’s popular Legoland theme park is perfect for travelers with children, while its beaches are popular with surfers.

Located across the border from Tijuana, Chula Vista’s dining scene is unsurprisingly the best source of Mexican food this side of, well, Mexico. Aqui es Texcoco is so authentic, one of its two sister locations is in Tijuana itself. The restaurant sits in an unassuming corner of a mini-mall near the Chula Vista marina, where you’ll find a surprising variety of meats. Barbequed lamb, grilled quail, and rabbit go beyond your typical casual Mexican fare, while the plate of grasshoppers (served with avocado, either as a main dish or as a side) are an adventurous twist. The name is a bit deceiving — the Texcoco region is closer to Mexico City, far south of Tijuana — but the culinary experience is unforgettable.

Whoever said shopping malls are dying needs to visit Victoria Gardens, the ultimate expression of the 21st-century suburban shopping center. Built in 2004, Victoria Gardens bills itself as “an open-air regional lifestyle