Sweating through another hot day longing for a cold drink in your favorite giant unicorn floatie, you may not have given much thought to your travel plans for the holiday season. There’s plenty of time for that, right? WRONG! Make no mistake, winter is coming. Before you know it, the leaves will be changing colors. Soon after, you’ll be looking back wistfully at those long summer days. If you start trying to plan a trip then, you could be frozen out.

Luxury vacation rentals are a hot trend in travel. It seems everyone I know wants to rent a villa for their vacation instead of staying in a hotel. And it makes sense. Villas offer more privacy, the option to cook and make coffee in your own kitchen (although I personally prefer room service, LOL), and more space, especially when traveling with family.

The theme was “Travel Unites,” and that ethos was exemplified in the variety of religious symbols and cultural dress on display. While “Travel Unites” certainly means supporting the people in some of our favorite places when tragedy befalls them, it’s also about making personal connections with those you might on the surface have nothing in common with.

Your experience could be exploring Jerusalem and sites holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims. It could be spending a day in a Maasai village and realizing that for all your differences, you and your hosts have the same basic needs and desires. Or it could be making a landing in Antarctica with a group of strangers you are now forever bonded to because you have done. For one week every August, what happens in Vegas goes worldwide. It’s Virtuoso Travel Week, when travel advisors and preferred partners from across the globe converge. This year, 5,693 from 103 countries gathered to learn and share the latest innovations in travel in order to make your next vacation the best yet.

I’d like to introduce you to Virtuoso’s Hotel of the Year – Palazzo Seneca in Norcia, Italy, in the region of Umbria.

Why is this hotel special?

Who doesn’t love a wedding? Friends and family come together to celebrate love, have a feast and dance late into the night. But if you’re the bride or groom, just making it to your big day involves a lot of planning and stress. You have to pare down that guest list and make sure you’re having the right people sit together for dinner. All those little touches throughout the night that wow your guests don’t just happen. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.