Raffles

British-born, New York-based Mark Ellwood has lived out of a suitcase for most of his life. He is editor at large for luxury bible Robb Report, and writes regularly about travel and luxury for the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal; he also appears frequently on TV. His favorite room-service order is a club sandwich (the quickest way to test any hotel’s mettle), and he’ll never pass up the chance to road test a bath (more inflatable pillows as amenities, please). The best souvenir from any place is a branded hotel pen, and the best way to gauge a hotel’s vibe is always a couple hours in its bar. You can reach him at www.mark-ellwood.com.

Derek C. Blasberg is a fashion editor, curator, and best-selling author. Born and raised in St Louis, Missouri, Derek attended New York University. His first job was as an assistant at Vogue. In his career, he was the first ever head of fashion & beauty at YouTube and the youngest ever editor-at-large of Harper’s Bazaar. He was also the host of a revamped CNN Style on CNN International and Vanity Fair’s Man on the Street. His writing has appeared in Vogue, Elle, Interview, W, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The London Sunday Times. Derek is the author of three books, including Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady, Very Classy: Even More Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady, and Bazaar: Models. Derek has been a senior staffer of the Gagosian Gallery since 2014 and is currently the executive editor of Gagosian Quarterly. He was the media and culture consultant on all four seasons of HBO’s Succession. In 2023, he collaborated with the Richard Avedon Foundation as a curator on a record-breaking exhibition called “Avedon 100.” He lives on New York’s Upper East Side with his partner, Nick, and two children, Grace and Noah.