Smart travel hacks for the well-heeled, from hotel designer Kelly Wearstler

By Mark Ellwood Bloomberg News Top interior designer Kelly Wearstler has been synonymous with a distinctively West Coast glamour s cool shot through with a liberal dose of Old Hollywood ever since she established her namesake firm years ago A member of Architectural Digest s Hall of Fame the South Carolina native has overseen the design of hotels Viceroy Santa Monica Avalon Beverly Hills and restaurants at Bergdorf Goodman in New York as well as partnering with Serax the Rug Company Hummer and other brands She was the first outside designer tapped to create a new palette for the legendary British paint company Farrow Ball Related Articles What to know as US prepares to require REAL ID for a large number of air travelers next month The best new hotel in the world is in Denver says Esquire Worries about flying seem to be taking off Here s how to cope with in-flight anxiety Here s a sustainable journey hack Shop at your local refill store See the grandeur of our nation during National Park Week Wearstler s latest effort is the Substack-based newsletter Wearstlerworld in which she plans to share behind-the-scenes looks at her life as well as tips and tricks for trip and decorating Wearstler logs around air miles annually pinballing back and forth between the West Coast she lives in Beverly Hills and Europe and vacationing with her husband developer Brad Korzen and their three sons Oliver Elliott and Crosby who are and years old Her carrier of choice is Air France but only if she absolutely has to go commercial Flying private is top of my list of curriculum when it works out but I really love Air France she says I just flew La Premi re to Paris I was able to get upgraded from Business You get taken right to the airplane And in the first-class lounge in Paris I in recent days had a six-hour layover and I got a facial and a massage Here are her best excursion hacks besides fly private of program Checking luggage Book two cars For the last years I have had two drivers pick me up when I land at LAX I get off the plane and greet one driver and give him my luggage ticket I leave and he then waits to pick up my luggage at the carousel and drives it home I get right out of there and he shows up minutes later Wherever you go regularly and know a driver you can do that like in Austin where I know my driver too Don t mess with Uber et al when you re on a trip A hired driver is essential to getting around town with no time wasted I perpetually plan out my day so I m super-efficient a gallery a studio visit with an artist stopping in at a bookstore going to museums and maybe a vintage clothing store for fashion I have bags I don t want to lug that stuff around I can just pop it in the car And there s no time f ing around on your phone calling the Uber I don t book one through my hotel because there s usually a surcharge on it There are limo services in every city so you can just look online and call them Avid surfers should book a trip to this far-flung island One of my favorite off-the-beaten-path destinations is Nihi on Sumba Island in Indonesia I ve been going with my family since we ve been about six times We fly to Bali to decompress spend one or two nights then fly to Sumba It s quite extraordinary and the surfing waves are several of the best all left breaks which for me as a goofy-footed surfer is ideal They tow you out so you don t have to paddle out every time you want to catch a wave It s effortless One pillow is for amateurs Real pros expedition with a full set I love to sleep really well when I journey Six or seven years ago I started bringing my three Frette pillows everywhere I go two for my head one to hug I could easily get four or five in my carryon I take out about of the filling because I want them really soft I don t want my face smushed at night A few pillows at hotels are so hard they re like a sausage These pillows can make any bed feel like my own I consider myself a seasoned traveler but I also hold on to my routines especially on vacation Pack your beauty gadgets We expedition with our red lights because I do red light therapy on my face every day at home Consistency consistency I m all about consistency The company Joov makes a expedition size too so I bring that with me and I do that for minutes before I go to sleep It s great in general and great for your body and it really relaxes you I sleep so well And six months ago I started using this red light helmet for your hair from CurrentBody red light for your hair follicles is like exercise This is the the greater part stylish hotel she didn t design herself I just had lunch with a friend at the Hotel Costes in Paris and it s spectacular The two sides are so different and it creates this beautiful tension There s the Jacques Garcia side the old side which is really beautiful Then the restaurant sits in the middle And then Christian Liagre did the other side Chartering a boat is the best family vacation A yacht charter is the best quality family time You eat all your meals together and you re really truly in the moment We play chess backgammon we dive off the boat You wake up together At a hotel you re in your separate rooms but here you re together the entire time We ve done Greece and Turkey that way and we went scuba diving near Komodo Island The best destination for design junkies isn t Copenhagen or Tokyo I have a gallery and several of my artists are in Amsterdam and it s such a great city in terms of design The Frozen Fountain has all these emerging Dutch artists and right outside of Amsterdam is Morentz Gallery in an old shoe factory They are huge dealers in really great vintage furnishings I ve been buying from them for years For restaurants I love Cornerstore because I get to absorb Amsterdam s local music scene Try the tasting menu Bring a second phone Over the last year I ve traveled with a backup iPhone I lost my phone I left it in a car And then I had my phone taken It happened twice and it s a hassle so now I pack a backup one as part of my journey kit It s just a matter of getting it turned on The secondary phone is already set up with my Apple ID and all of my iCloud records so if anything happens to my main phone I am able to log in to my organization provider online and change the number over to the secondary phone All you need is the EIN number which is ascertained in Settings About on the iPhone to transfer amenity over It usually only takes to minutes to activate which is so much faster than having to go to the Apple store to get a new one Bloomberg L P Visit bloomberg com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC