demo

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Generator’s boutique

hostels feature private

rooms, industrial-chic

decor and more

Setting records at sea

SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS

Reinventing

the hostel

GENERATOR MADRID,MADRID

As the world’s largest cruise ship

(twice as high as the Washington

Monument), Royal Caribbean’s

Symphony of the Seas certainly has

room to pack in the superlatives, including the

world’s tallest at-sea slide (the 10-story Ultimate

Abyss) and the largest at-sea spa and itness

center. Designing those elements so they could

be enjoyed by the 6,680 passengers on board—

without creating crowds—was no small feat.

Royal Caribbean built on lessons learned from

its other megaships, like carving out distinct

“neighborhoods”—like the Boardwalk, with its

full-size, hand-painted carousel—and putting

Central Park, the bigger-than-a-football-ield

open-air garden, smack in the center of the ship.

It creates the illusion of being surrounded by

fauna, even when guests are hundreds of miles

from the nearest sliver of land.—K.R.

Forget what you think you
know about hostels. In a bid
to appeal to today’s young
travelers, more companies
are designing them to resemble
high-end coworking spaces. Think
private rooms, industrial-chic decor,
walkability to the city’s hippest
hot spots, and live events like beer
tastings and DJs. Leading the charge
is U.K.-based Generator, which has
13 outposts across Europe (and recently
openedits irst U.S. location, in Miami).
Its latest European edition, Generator
Madrid, which opened in June, sits
on the edge of the trendy Malasaña
district and boasts a bar, a rooftop
lounge with whirlpool baths and even
a quirky origin story: the building
itself, which was built in the 1930s, has
also been a parking garage and a gas
station. As with all hostels, though, the
most attractive feature is price: beds
in shared rooms at Generator Madrid
start at $11, far less than traditional
hotels.—Kate Rockwood

AN OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD THRILL
ORIENTAL SCIENCE FICTION VALLEY,
GUIZHOU, CHINA

GLAMPING MADE GREATER
ECOCAMP PATAGONIA,
TORRES DEL PAINE, CHILE
China’s first virtual-reality
theme park, which opened
in April, is an extraterrestrial
enclave whose centerpiece is
a 174-ft.-high Transformer-like robot. But
the real magic happens inside: the park
will eventually feature 35 virtual- and
augmented-reality attractions, enabling
guests to battle aliens on distant
planets, ly through Guizhou and more.
It’s all part of founder Shi Xiangdong’s
mission “to inspire dreams in science
and technology.”—Casey Quackenbush

EcoCamp Patagonia has

won raves since its 2001

opening for offering guests

the ultimate glamping

experience: by night, they sleep in luxe

domes based on ancient nomadic

designs; by day, they go on guided treks.

More recently, the hotel—which is fully

powered by renewable energy—has

focused on inclusivity, adding hikes

for visually impaired guests and an all-

terrain wheelchair that can traverse the

Patagonia landscape.—J.Z.

STAY LIKE

A CHEF

CASA TEO,

MEXICO CITY

DINNER IN 4-D

ULTRAVIOLET,

SHANGHAI

When chef Enrique

Olvera moved his

famous restaurant,

Pujol, to a larger

location, he couldn’t

bear to part with the

building where he

made his name. So

he turned the original

space into Casa Teo,

a boutique bed-and-

breakfast designed to

house visiting chefs.

But nonchefs are wel-

come to book stays

too; perks include

sightseeing recom-

mendations from

Olvera’s team and the

option to organize a

tasting dinner in Casa

Teo’s private dining

room, cooked by a

chef from his team.

—Abigail Abrams

Four-dimensional

dining? That’s the

aim of Ultraviolet’s

20-course dinners,

set in a windowless

room outitted with

visual and audio

systems to create

an experience in

which every dish is

paired with different

sounds, images and

scents—“psycho

tasting,” as French

chef and founder

Paul Pairet calls it.

Opened in 2012, the

restaurant was just

upgraded from two

to three stars in the

2018 Michelin guide

to Shanghai.—C.Q.