My Life In Travel: Tom Cahalan, Dorsia Travel
Tom Cahalan has spent years reviewing the world’s best hotels with an honesty and precision that has set him apart. What began as a straight‑talking blog is now Dorsia Travel, the agency he runs with his wife, specialising in high‑end beach holidays and safaris. Here, he shares his go‑to destinations, hotels and more.
The last place I travelled to was Botswana. I was touring all of Natural Selection’s premier camps, including their newest opening, Tawana, which is easily one of the top luxury camps in the country. Baboons were constantly wandering around the place, elephants strolled past my room at night, and most mornings we’d find leopard tracks right near my room. Other highlights included lions hunting buffalo in broad daylight (less a highlight if you’re a buffalo) and a group of very confident, habituated meerkats using my head as a lookout post.
The most memorable place I’ve been to in Ol Jogi in Kenya – an 11-bedroom estate on a private 58,000-acre conservancy. Imagine owning your own national park, but with a private zoo. The lodge is absolutely bonkers. There are hidden doors, secret tunnels and even a real bank vault on site – all of which sound like a Bond villain’s lair, but the owners here do genuine good. Among other measures, they fund a veterinary clinic, finance sustainability initiatives at neighbouring conservancies and fund local schools. They offer some incredible experiences here, including camel rides, encounters with baboons, goat milking, elephant feeding and even petting their resident rhino. Helicopter tours over Mount Kenya and nearby lakes are just a few of the extra activities.
My favourite countries to travel to are anywhere in Africa – and Japan. The people are wonderful, their cultures are very strong and unique, and, in the case of Africa, the wildlife is incredible. Even better, if you’re going to Africa and staying somewhere that gives a damn, you’re helping wildlife conservation. Even if you do nothing but empty their wine cellar and take blurry lion photos, your presence funds jobs, protection and long-term sustainability. And if you want to do more than that? Even better. Because you can do some very cool things which conservationists actually need to be done, but they can be expensive to do. Think rhino notching, elephant collaring, lion darting, and generally hanging around with wild dogs.
My favourite hotels abroad include Velaa, Laucala and Arijiju – that’s Maldives, Fiji and Kenya. Velaa is my home away from home, and my praise remains as high as the architect must have been when he designed the rooms. Laucala is completely over the top and, perhaps my favourite part, all inclusive. Yep, no extra charge for that. I won’t call it free – we were paying thousands a night – but the whole thing starts to feel like such outrageous value for money that I no longer resent the fact I can’t afford lifesaving medicine for my children because I blew it all here. Arijiju is hands down one of the most spectacular properties on the planet. It’s easily our most requested property, and I have yet to hear a single complaint from anyone about it. It’s as close to a sure thing as you can get.
For a beach holiday, the Seychelles wins for beaches and the Maldives wins for resorts. Despite the endless churn of new luxury resorts in the Maldives, Cheval Blanc Randheli and Velaa Private Island have risen above the competition for over a decade. They opened around the same time, sit just 20 minutes apart by speedboat, and despite many attempts, no one has come close to taking their crown. There are plenty of reasons why they remain the best, but one factor is the right room count – Velaa has 47 villas, Cheval Blanc has 46. That’s the sweet spot: small enough for the kind of service where the staff actually know who you are, yet large enough to justify multiple dining options and top-tier facilities. It also helps that both owners have poured a boatload of cash into them.
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The most romantic place I’ve ever been to is Park Hotel Vitznau, as that’s where my wife and I got married. You are on the lake. Then you have the mountains… On arrival you approach a stunning window that has views across the entire region. From the moment you enter the lobby, you are in paradise. I could have spent the entire stay looking at the view.
For family holidays, we stick to a general rule of beach and safari. Which, coincidentally, is what we focus on as a travel agency. Our children are incredibly fortunate to have been all around the world: Mexico, Caribbean, Seychelles, Japan, Fiji, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa. My daughter went on her first safari aged two. We actually find it easier than going to city hotels as they’re so well looked after and engaged. The top lodges tend to include babysitting and really engage with the children, and the guides make the experience really exciting.
My most memorable holiday meal started when the hotel concierge in Aman Tokyo sent us down a back alley that, in London, would’ve guaranteed you left without your clothes or your phone. We knocked on an unmarked metal door, were let into what looked like a bunker, no one spoke English, and we somehow left hundreds of pounds lighter and completely in love. I’d go back.
My favourite hotels in the UK start with The Connaught – my wife used to work there. It is one of my first luxury hotel loves. Its spa introduced me to Aman, which has had a massive impact on my travelling experience. My blog would not exist without it. I’ve been a customer for over ten years with over 200 stays.
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Cities are amazing; cities with a two‑year‑old, not so much. If I had to go on a city break, London, Paris and Rome are my favourites. Tokyo for its five‑star hotels – Bulgari Tokyo is one of my favourites. And if I had just two nights abroad, it would have to be Paris. Amazing city, but more importantly: very accessible via train. I’d check into Cheval Blanc Paris.
My childhood travel memories are mostly Butlin’s and Pontins. Regrettably, my parents did not own a travel company, which I still hold against them, so my travels were almost entirely to those two destinations. Perhaps a singing crocodile is where my love of nature all started…
A place I didn’t love is Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. It’s a terrible hotel, but one with a unique offering. Imagine if Instagram had a baby with a bloodsucking influencer. The property was created for the social media age and is as soulless as it comes.
My upcoming travel plans always involve new lodges, reopened resorts, and occasionally something that looks like a car crash, which I feel obliged to see. But my bucket list is less about places and more about nature: polar bears in Canada, orcas in Norway, and travelling to Antarctica. And preferably all of them without other tourists in sight.
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