Summer Tribes

Per UNFOLD Magazine

maig 14, 2026

From Bodrum to Paris, there’s a Mandarin Oriental hotel that best matches how you love to travel – whether you plan everything or nothing at all.

Aerial view of Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum.

Many people like to think they become someone else on holiday. More spontaneous. More cultured. Or even more purposeful. The sort of person who wakes early for a swim and has an ambitious holiday reading list. In reality? Most folk don’t change when they travel. You’re still yourself – just with better light, fewer emails and a strong opinion about lunch. Travel is about embracing who you really are – and finding the best place to be your best self.

Installation view of the Rafel Bestard exhibition Still Painting at La Bibi.

For long lunches and no plans:

Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum

You start with a plan. A good one. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But first, something quick for lunch. A salad, perhaps.

Three hours later, there’s another bottle on the table, and everyone’s ordering dessert. At Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, set above Paradise Bay on Turkey’s Aegean coast, this becomes a way of life – long tables, Aegean views, something grilled, something chilled, and the afternoon has disappeared. The plans for the mausoleum feel negotiable. After all, it’s been there for more than two millennia. It can wait another day. Dinner at Hakkasan beckons.

For travel with a dog:

Mandarin Oriental, Paris

The bond between a man and his pedigree chum runs deep, with tribes within tribes: dachshund devotees, the Pomeranian posse and unapologetic pug huggers. But whatever the tribe, when this tribe travels, they take their passport, their wallet, their dog. Their destination? Paris, one of the most dog-friendly cities in Europe.

The French cherish dogs. And with a canine in tow, the dog squad is seen as almost indigenous. Every dog checking in to Mandarin Oriental, Paris will have its day. Their bed and bowls are already in the room on arrival, while dinner for humans and dogs comes courtesy of Michelin-starred chef Thierry Marx, who – in between whipping up his miso-glazed lobster – has found time to perfect a dog menu.

A tortoise in the grounds of Mandarin Oriental, Canouan.

For lake swimming:

Mandarin Oriental, Lake Como

Italy’s most iconic lake destination, Como is at its best early – glassy, still and faintly smug. Its fans are in the water before breakfast, drawn in by that first icy moment. A sharp breath, a quick reset and the sense of achievement before the day has properly begun.

At Mandarin Oriental, Lake Como, a bracing swim off the floating pool, the lake stretching out in that particular shade of blue, makes the rest of the day feel like a bonus. By the time everyone else appears, early birds are dry, warm and onto their first matcha or something equally well-intentioned.

It starts well. It always does. By late afternoon, the tone has shifted. The virtue is a distant memory, and yes, they would like a look at the wine menu. Which is when it becomes clear: this is the green juice, but also Champagne crowd – the people who start well and end better.

For active travel:

Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino

There may be easier ways to do things, but this traveller is not interested. ‘Friction maxxing’ – known to previous generations as character building – is the idea that life has become too smooth, and that meaning lies in making it just a little harder again. It means finding your way instead of following the blue dot. Remembering instead of reaching for your phone. Reading the book, not listening to it. Doing things properly.

Even on holiday, this tribe leans into that instinct. At Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino, on Greece’s Peloponnese coast, the long way round is usually the better one. Visitors don’t just eat the food – they learn how to make it, in village kitchens where recipes have been passed down for generations. They don’t just order the fish – they learn how to catch it, out on the lagoon with someone who has been doing this for years. They walk instead of driving, even in the heat, into Kalamata’s old town, or out to the lagoon at Gialova, where flamingos gather and the day takes on its own rhythm.

And by the end of the day, they’ve earned a rest. A sunbed, a drink and a book. The actual book.

For culture with comfort:

Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona

This traveller wants to see things. Properly. Galleries, architecture, the sense of having understood somewhere. They just don’t see why this should involve discomfort.

At Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, culture and luxury are not opposing forces, which removes the need to pretend otherwise. Mornings begin with a curated Gaudí tour – the shifting light of the Sagrada Família, the quiet order of the Passeig de Gràcia – taken seriously, at the right pace.

By early afternoon, these guests are back at the hotel. Shoes off. They sit. A glass of cold Pinot Noir follows. Notes are compared, plans made. There’s always something else to see – another gallery, another façade, a stretch of coast just beyond the city. But not all at once. That would be exhausting.

For stargazing:

Mandarin Oriental Palace, Lucerne

Dark-sky tourism is a compelling shift – the chance to gaze at the deep, ancient light of the universe. Mandarin Oriental Palace, Lucerne, in central Switzerland, is known for its dark-sky conditions. Starlight reigns supreme and low light, open skies and the hush of the lake make looking up feel like the only plan worth keeping.

Each August, the Perseids arrive as Earth passes through the debris trail of Comet Swift–Tuttle. This year, the peak coincides with the particularly dark skies of a new moon, creating a more cinematic version, as tiny fragments hit the atmosphere and burn bright, streaking across the sky in the form of up to 100 shooting stars an hour, including the occasional bright fireball.

For addictive sports:

Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech

These guests sign up with admirable restraint. Just one session. Something sociable. One lesson of padel, perhaps. Nothing too serious.

By day three, they have a preferred court, a go-to playing partner, and a sense they’re not rushing back to tennis. At Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech (just outside the city’s Medina), morning matches are played in rising heat. A quick drink turns into another game and the slow realisation that the day now seems to revolve around a new pattern.

It’s happened before – reformer Pilates, HIIT, that brief but intense relationship with trail running. They didn’t plan for this. They’re already booking tomorrow. And researching padel rackets for when they get home.

Sobre l’autor

UNFOLD Magazine

Brought to you by the editorial team behind UNFOLD by Mandarin Oriental.