Bill Fischer flashes a Cheshire grin when asked if he's the world's most exclusive travel agent, then lets loose his merry laugh. "Who could be more exclusive?" Just so. The fellow with the famously unlisted phone number travels some thirty times a year to encounter "the newest and the best," as he puts it. His 500-some clients, who each pay a $10,000 initiation fee plus a $5,000 annual retainer, include Calvin Klein, Sanford I. Weill and Bruce Wasserstein. Après-trip, they pay what they are billed, thank you very much. (Those who question the fine print — and some have — are unceremoniously banished from the Fischer universe, condemned to an existence devoid of cosseting by his staff of twenty in midtown Manhattan.) Clad habitually in Brioni, the sixty-nine-year-old travel counselor resembles a less-weathered Robert Duvall. During an interview at the Fischerian equivalent of the Cheers bar — his beloved Le Cirque 2000 — friends and clients keep popping over to pay court at his power banquette. And, naturally, to tease a bit. Fischer, dimpling, has every reason to tease right back. His table is so much better than theirs.
Here are just a couple of the things on Bill Fischer's mind, and a few of his greatest hits.
Favorite country inn within driving distance of New York City: "Twin Farms in Barnard, Vermont, but it's a five-hour drive. Wheatleigh in Lenox, Massachusetts, is only three hours from the city."
Favorite country inn within driving distance of San Francisco: "The Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, California — an hour-and-a-half drive."
Favorite spas for both men and women: "The Golden Door in Escondido, California, has four coed weeks a year. And the Miraval Resort in Catalina, Arizona, is always coed."
Favorite dude ranches: "The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang, California, and Hidden Creek Ranch in Harrison, Idaho."
Best house to rent in Italy: "Il Borro, a villa in San Giustino Val darno in Tuscany, which has ten bedrooms and is owned by the Ferragamo family."
Favorite charter yacht: "The 246-foot Leander, the most impressive motor yacht on the charter market."
Favorite charter plane: "The Gulfstream V or, if you have more people, the Boeing Business Jet."
Most romantic table in the south of France for honeymooners: "Château de la Chèvre d'Or in the village of Èze."
Favorite shopping street: "The Rue du Faubourg St.-Honoré in Paris."
Favorite ski instructor: "One of the best I know is Jean-Luc Parrour in Courchevel, France."
Favorite concierge: "There are so many. One of the best is Norman Hastings, now head concierge at the Berkeley in London."
Favorite tour guide: "Tony Guerrieri from Rome Elite Limo. He's able to access things no other guide can."
The next great travel destinations: "The Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo will be something when it opens next year. Also, South Africa has come up; it's becoming hot. You would not believe the luxuriousness available outside the cities — perfect private swimming pools in the middle of the jungle!"
Top European hotels: "I'd mention Venice's Hotel Cipriani and the Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda in Italy; and in France, the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes."
Top hotels in the rest of the world: "I'd say the Royal Malewane in the Thornybush Game Reserve, next to Kruger National Park in South Africa; the Amanjena resort in Marrakech; Blanket Bay in New Zealand; Hayman Island Resort in Australia; and the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii."
Top European restaurants: "I like Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's in London, Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Restaurant Boyer at Boyer Les Crayères in Reims and Gualtiero Marchesi at L'Albereta, near Brescia."
Top American restaurants: "There are so many, but I'd mention the French Laundry in Yountville, California, and Nobu in New York City."
Top Far Eastern restaurant: "Tetsuya's in Sydney."
Top European hotel suites: "The Imperial Suite at the Hotel Imperial in Vienna, the Belle Étoile at the Hôtel Meurice in Paris and the two-bedroom Palladio Suite at the Cipriani in Venice."
Top beach-towel suites: "The Pool Suite at Malliouhana Hotel & Spa in Anguilla; and on Hawaii's Kohala Coast, the bungalows at Mauna Lani Resort and the Hapuna Suite at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel."
Travel heaven: "The Wakaya Club in Fiji. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's Fantasy Island. Nine thatch-roofed cottages and a three-bedroom house. Twenty-four guests. And 140 staff."
Travel hell: "With so many horrendous properties, the only advice I could give would be to tear them down and start all over. But sometimes hell can become heaven. When I was first invited down to Parrot Cay in Turks and Caicos, people were being bitten from head to toe by mosquitoes, the food was inedible and the help was from Mars. So I didn't send a single client there for two and a half years. But then management spent a huge amount of money and turned it around. It's vastly improved now, and I'm sending clients there."
Off the map: "Bali, but it will come back. Baghdad, of course, but someone should think about building a luxury property there. Iraq is an incredible country with thousands of years of history."
Favorite anti-jet-lag strategy: "On the plane I drink plenty of water. I don't drink alcohol — it's dehydrating. And I set my watch to the time zone of my destination."
Favorite packing tips: "I use plastic and tissue paper to keep my clothes from wrinkling too much. And I always carry my medications and other personal items, in case my luggage is delayed or lost."
Clients' favorite packing tips: "Never forget that you can send things ahead to your destination and send purchases back home as well. That simplifies things. Since 90 percent of my clients are taking private jets, they don't worry about baggage limits; even so, it's not a good idea to empty out your entire closet into your suitcases."
Big new trend: "The takeover. Instead of taking rooms, you rent the whole castle, hotel or yacht. We did a party for fifty at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands, where Madonna was married. And we arranged a five-day Arabian Nights birthday party for 100 guests at the Amanjena in Marrakech. There were camel rides! Our guests wouldn't stand for smelly camels, though, so we washed them down in Johnson's Baby Shampoo and brushed their teeth."
Most unusual request: "After we installed one of our clients in a house in the Bahamas, he told us that it was soon to be his birthday and he wanted to celebrate by swimming with dolphins. So we found a guy with twelve trained dolphins, but all of them had been hired for a scene in a movie. Eventually we got him to release four so our client could have his swim."
How travelers can cope in the age of SARS, terror and laser-guided war: "Become more flexible. For example, for some clients on four-month around-the-world trips this year, we had to adjust their itineraries three or four times. With each turn of the news, we steered them away from war zones and other dangers, and after sars emerged we diverted them from China and Hong Kong. Our travelers adapt to the news. They won't let anyone take their travel away."
Newest trend in luxury travel: "Large families—parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles. Everyone wants to travel together. Why? Since September 11, people don't want to leave anyone at home."
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