Jeninne Lee-St. John

Bangkok

Editor-in-Chief at Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia

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Articles

This Is the Winner of the 1st Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia Icon Award

19 hours ago | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

RONALD AKILICo-founder, Potato HeadWho’d have thought a colosseum made of old shutters and flip-flops could become a globally recognized icon of top-tier hospitality? Ronald Akili has grown his Seminyak-based Potato Head Beach Club from a party place with a sustainable ethos to an entire village, Desa Potato Head, where everything is locavore, regenerative, upcycled, arty and feel-good.
T+L Luxury Awards 2025: The Results Are In!

20 hours ago | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

WHAT CONSTITUTES THE BEST in travel? The answer is highly personal, but there’s no question that some places and experiences resonate more deeply, more universally, than others. To identify the luxury stars that shone brightest through the last year, we asked our readers, you on-the-ground travel experts, to weigh in on the ̒best’ in hospitality. The results are an aspirational mix of trusty stalwarts and fresh faces.
Here's the Skinny on Korean Air's New Look, Vibe and Luxury Offerings

2 months ago | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

EARLIER THIS MONTH, in a hangar in Seoul’s Gimpo Airport, Korean Air dropped the curtain on a shimmering sky-blue 787-10, emblazoned with a dark-blue “KOREAN” in a bold new typeface featuring letters that end in brushstrokes to echo calligraphy. The belly boasted a modernized update of their logo, the Teageuk, representing yin and yang polarity in Korea, also in dark blue.
Turns Out, Shanghai’s Grande Dame Is a Surprisingly Kid-Friendly Stay

Mar 14, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

Give us the skinnyIf you know of no other hotel in Shanghai, it’s likely you’ve heard of (or seen) this one. Founded in 1929 as The Cathay Hotel by Sir Victor Sassoon, and renamed the Peace Hotel in 1956, Fairmont Peace Hotel is an Art Deco icon on Shanghai’s Bund. It’s an obvious draw for history-buffs and luxury travelers seduced by bygone-era trappings and experiences—as well as those who simply want prime position in the heart of the city. The vibe Old-world grace.
Turns Out, Shanghai’s Grande Dame Is a Surprisingly Kid-Friendly Stay

Mar 14, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

Give us the skinnyIf you know of no other hotel in Shanghai, it’s likely you’ve heard of (or seen) this one. Founded in 1929 as The Cathay Hotel by Sir Victor Sassoon, and renamed the Peace Hotel in 1956, Fairmont Peace Hotel is an Art Deco icon on Shanghai’s Bund. It’s an obvious draw for history-buffs and luxury travelers seduced by bygone-era trappings and experiences—as well as those who simply want prime position in the heart of the city. The vibe Old-world grace.
These Lesser-Known Thai Islands Offer Paradise Without the Crowds

Mar 13, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John |Bek Van Vliet

Home Destinations Asia These Lesser-Known Thai Islands Offer Paradise Without the Crowds Koh Samui and Phuket may get the most attention, but the beaches on these lesser-known island havens in Thailand are perhaps even dreamier—and you might have them all to yourself.
This Kyoto Luxury Hotel Takes "Immersive Travel" to the Next Level

Mar 10, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

IN JAPAN, you are allowed to touch monks. Perhaps you already knew this. But I, who have for a dozen years lived in Thailand, where monks can’t have physical contact with women in case they have any lingering desires left unpurified, was extremely excited to learn this on my recent trip to Kyoto. Because there I met a monk—a top-level monk, the head of all the monks of the Nichiren sect—who I really wanted to hug.
Riding Wild in Mongolia. A Dream Trip to Big Sky Country

Mar 7, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

Once upon a time in the early 1990s, a multi-talented young German filmmaker met an arrestingly beautiful young Mongolian woman during dinner at a luxury resort in a national park north of Ulaanbaatar. They wound up working on the same movie set, she as a translator to help finance her education. One day he, having scouted much of the country for the film, took her for a drive—far and wide across the steppe they drove, til he pulled over and turned to her, beaming.
Feeding the Spirit: This New Hotel Is Putting Bhutan on the Culinary Map

Feb 18, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

Home T+L Tastemakers Feeding the Spirit: This New Hotel Is Putting Bhutan on the Culinary Map EVERYONE WARNED ME about the food. “You will love Bhutan, but the food…” they’d trail off and make a face. Well, the polite ones. Less judicious (or perhaps pickier?) friends told me they were worried I’d starve. Heading to the land of Gross National Happiness, this was not something I, who have been known to fly to another country just for dinner, had anticipated having to worry about.
Congratulations to the T+L Tastemakers 2024/25!

Jan 21, 2025 | travelandleisureasia.com | Jeninne Lee-St. John

OUR SECOND-ANNUAL food and drinks awards are finally here!Everyone comes to Asia to eat. Something we within Southeast Asia know full well, since we ourselves are known round the world as food obsessives, lovers of layered flavor explosions, families who get to the heart through the stomach.