Destinations To Discover Before Anyone Else Does

Every year, a few places get ruined by being loved too loudly. Suddenly, everyone’s been there, everyone has a recommendation, and somehow the magic is gone.

This isn’t about those places.

These are destinations that still feel like a secret; mentioned casually, never tagged properly, and gatekept (politely) by the people who know better. The kind of places you don’t plan a trip around but end up thinking about long after you’re home. If you know, you know. If you don’t, that’s okay too.

Folegandros, Greece

Finding a Greek island that hasn’t already been overexposed is… ambitious. Finding one that still feels untouched and has somewhere worth staying? Even rarer. 

Folegandros manages both. Quiet, rugged, and refreshingly uninterested in competing with its louder neighbours, it sits just far enough from Santorini to avoid the crowds (and the clichés). A handful of villages, dramatic cliffs, and very little else demanding your attention. Gundari, a new all-suite retreat set on wild clifftops, understands the assignment. Everything faces the Aegean, the pool blurs into the horizon (cocktail in hand, obviously), and the food comes straight from its own organic farm, with the wine bar quietly curated by Line Athens. Every suite has its own infinity pool, because why wouldn’t it?

It’s the kind of place people mention casually, then change the subject. Which tells you everything you need to know.

Book your stay at Gundari here. 

Miyako Island, Japan

Everyone does Tokyo. Kyoto follows. And then there’s the part of Japan you hear about only if the conversation goes on long enough. Miyako sits in the subtropical edges of Okinawa, where the pace softens and the colour palette shifts. Think turquoise water, white sand, coral reefs, busy with sea turtles and no one trying to rush you anywhere. It feels less like a destination and more like a pause. The Rosewood’s first Japanese outpost lands here, naturally understated. Villas melt into the landscape, each with its own pool, garden and uninterrupted ocean views. Days revolve around the water, unhurried meals, and the kind of barefoot luxury that doesn’t announce itself.

This is Japan, just… exhaling.

Book your Japanese Island getaway with the Rosewood here. 

Grenada

Grenada doesn’t really compete. It just exists, confidently, quietly, and very comfortably out of the spotlight. It’s the Caribbean without the gloss: green mountains instead of manicured views, reefs that feel discovered rather than staged, beaches that don’t need adjectives. Life here moves to its own internal timing, best measured in swims, walks, and how long you meant to stay but didn’t. And, the Six Senses La Sagesse fits right in. Tucked between two beaches that couldn’t be more different, it’s a base for days that begin in the rainforest and end in the sea. Everything is open, expansive, and unhurried, with the backdrop of terraces for doing nothing or pools for losing track of time. Grenada doesn’t try to win you over. Somehow, it still does.

Book your Caribbean holiday with the Six Senses La Sagesse here.

Oman

Oman wears its history lightly. Nothing here feels preserved for display, yet everything carries weight. Whether it’s in their architecture, the materials or the way things are made and kept. Craft isn’t referenced; it’s lived in. From coastal towns to the Al Hajar Mountains and deep into the Sharqiyah Sands, the landscape unfolds slowly, revealing layers of tradition rather than spectacle. Doors are carved, stone is placed with intention, and hospitality follows a rhythm that predates itineraries. What’s the perfect stay that does justice to the place you ask? We’d say the Malkai. The property moves through three distinct settings: sea, stone and sand, mirroring the country itself. Tented pavilions, infinity pools and spa spaces draw from their surroundings, letting local textures and techniques do all the talking.

Book Arabian Nights with the Malkai here.

Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp rewards wandering. Streets narrow without warning, doors open into quiet courtyards, and interiors feel designed for staying longer than planned. The city moves inward rather than outward. It’s less about landmarks, more about atmosphere. There’s an indulgence here that’s subtle and a little knowing. Afternoons blur into evenings over long tables and unhurried conversations. The Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp, set within a former monastery beside the city’s gardens, captures this perfectly. Thick walls hold warmth, cloisters open onto green, and time seems to fold in on itself. Pools glow softly under glass, spaces invite pause, and the outside world feels politely distant.

If we know one thing about Antwerp, it doesn’t ask to be explored. It lets you drift, and quietly keeps you there.

Book your stay at the Botanic Sanctuary here.