Tested we did it ourselves, with the date; for a hotel, we stayed the night · Seen we went in, or had a meal or a drink there · Recommended by someone we name and trust, not yet tried by us · Suggested our own research. How we label

Before Winslow & Fioramonti, Thomas planned trips for his own friends: a thirtieth birthday in Marrakech, a weekend in Burgundy for fourteen classmates, a week in a house on Mallorca and a truffle weekend in Piedmont. They taught us what makes a group trip work: one place where everyone can gather, a few long meals booked well ahead, and days with nothing planned.

Marrakech: a thirtieth birthday

Palais Tika, Marrakech. Tested (June 2021) For his thirtieth birthday Thomas booked the whole riad for five nights, from 27 June to 2 July 2021, for twelve people. It is also listed under another name, Palais Noor El Jenna. Our days took one shape: the souk or the Jardin Majorelle, Yves Saint Laurent’s garden, in the morning, then the pool, then dinner at the riad, cooked by the staff, with everyone at one table. The next day we did it all again. The one thing we would change is the guest list: we would invite more people.

Santenay: fourteen classmates, one village

In April 2016 fourteen of Thomas’s classmates from the École hôtelière de Lausanne came to Santenay, in Burgundy, where he lived, from Saturday 9 to Monday 11 April. Thomas spread everyone across the village: a few rooms at the hotel, a small rented house and rooms in other houses, all a short walk apart. The Italians call it an albergo diffuso, a hotel spread across a village.

• Saturday: dinner at Thomas’s house in Santenay.
• Sunday: L’Ouillette, Santenay. Tested (April 2016) Dinner for thirteen.
• Monday: a private tasting at 11:00 with Alex Gambal, an American who made wine in Burgundy, at his domaine in Beaune, then lunch in a private room at L’Hôtel de Beaune, Beaune. Seen Thomas booked the room for the group, and a full meal of poulet de Bresse with all the trimmings.

Mallorca: a week in the Tramuntana

From 1 to 8 August 2020, ten of us shared a house near Biniarroi, in Mancor de la Vall, in the foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana. We spent the days on the island’s west and north coasts: the road down to Sa Calobra and the Torrent de Pareis, then Cala Tuent; Deià, and the path down to Cala Deià; Pollença, and sunset above the Formentor peninsula; and an evening on the seafront at Port de Pollença. It is a week we would repeat.

Piedmont: four friends and the truffles

From 27 to 29 November 2015, the weekend after the Alba truffle fair closed, Thomas and three friends stayed at a small B&B in the Langhe and paid their host to find them truffles.

Oddero, La Morra. Tested (October 2026) On the Friday at 17:30 we tasted with Isabella Oddero, and the four of us ordered about six cases between us. Eleven years later, on 16 October 2026, we went back as her guests. That visit is in our Langhe and Lake Maggiore plan.

How we plan a trip for a group

• One place to gather. A whole house, as in Marrakech, or a village used as one hotel, as in Santenay.
• The long meals first. One table for everyone on the first night, a private room for lunch, or a cook at the house. Leave the other meals free.
• One cellar or one outing a day, with a driver on cellar days so that everyone can taste.
• Days with nothing planned. In Marrakech the pool was the plan.
• One plan for everyone. Every guest receives the same written plan, day by day, and we set up a WhatsApp group for the trip with the two of us in it.
• Book early. Whole houses and private rooms go first. When we planned our own week in the Langhe for October 2026, the hotels around Alba and Barolo were already full on Saturdays from mid October to early December.

Read how we plan a trip on How We Work.

Sources: our own bookings, emails and photographs, 2015 to 2021. Our visit to Oddero, 16 October 2026.

Questions about celebrations and groups

How large a group have you planned for?

The trips on this page were for four, ten, twelve and fourteen people.

Can everyone stay together?

Often the best answer is a whole house, as in Marrakech, or a village used as one hotel, as in Santenay, with rooms in a hotel, a rented house and a few guest rooms a short walk apart.

Do you plan every meal?

We plan the meals that hold the trip together: one table for everyone on the first night, a private room for a long lunch, or a cook at the house. The other meals we leave free.