Unplugged Luxury: High-End Travel

In a tech backlash, food, wine, travel and design are going back to basics.

While many hotels treat Wi-Fi as a must-have amenity, a growing number of properties are going low-tech for guests who want to escape the 21st century. On St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Caneel Bay recently removed TVs and telephones from its 166 rooms.

Luxuriously refurbished homesteader cabins at the new Lodge at Sun Ranch in Montana evoke life in the early 1900s.

And at Malawi’s new Pumulani resort, guests can avoid motorized transport by exploring Lake Malawi on a wooden dhow, a traditional African sailboat handcrafted by local builders.

Published September 2008