Just as this issue was about to be posted to our website — and some days after the Hideaway Report newsletter had been printed — Hurricane Sandy spiraled in from the Atlantic and caused mayhem in Lower Manhattan. The timing of our coverage is hence more than a little unfortunate! Still, New York being the dynamic and resourceful place that it is, I have no doubt that long before the holiday season arrives, much of the damage will have been repaired and most people’s lives will have returned to normal. Meanwhile, I would like to offer my profound sympathy to the citizens of New York and to express the hope that their misery and inconvenience will soon be little more than a receding memory.

As well as an account of my stay in Lower Manhattan, this issue contains contrasting reports on a Lake Tahoe family ski vacation and a seductive new Six Senses property located in the remote Con Dao archipelago off the southern shore of Vietnam. At the end of a tiring Asian journey, the latter provided a blissful place to relax. Indeed, its sybaritic pleasures were so exceptional, they would almost justify a 20-hour flight. However, despite the airlines’ insistence to the contrary, even the front end of a plane is not an especially life-enhancing experience for this duration. So, until Sir Richard Branson’s space plane has shrunk the Pacific to a two-hour hop, I think I’ll revisit the delights of Con Dao at the conclusion of my next extended regional tour.

– Andrew Harper