Annabelle Kajbaf bi lahko poletje preživela kjerkoli. Izbrala je dva odseka floridske obale, kjer se ob mraku luči obarvajo jantarno in kjer korale ponovno zasajajo ročno. Pogovor o tem, kaj luksuz dolguje vodi. Obstaja posebna vrsta popotnika, ki rezervira apartma in vprašanje, kaj se dogaja za stenami hotela, prepusti nekomu drugemu. Annabelle Kajbaf sprašuje. Novinarka in ustanoviteljica iz Los Angelesa, katere članke najdemo od Vogua do Harper’s Bazarja, je letošnji avgust preživela na dveh lokacijah ob floridski obali: v Ocean Key Resort & Spa in Pelican Grand Beach Resort.
Pulover in krilo: Sette @settecourts, ogrlica: Lyoness Bespoke Jewels @lyonessjewels, zapestnica: Chofa @chofajewelry, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
Na naslovu Zero Duval Street v Key Westu, kjer Mehiški zaliv vsak večer pred množico požre sonce, in na zasebnem odseku peščene plaže v Fort Lauderdaleu, kamor med marcem in oktobrom prihajajo morske želve odlagat jajca.
Bazeni so čudoviti. Toda bazeni so tukaj drugotnega pomena. Ena od obeh nastanitev je bila leta 2025 po izboru U.S. News & World Report razglašena za najboljši resort v Key Westu, uvrstila se je tudi na seznam 500 najboljših hotelov na svetu revije Travel + Leisure, bralci Condé Nast Traveler pa so jo štirikrat izglasovali med deset najboljših resortov na Florida Keys. Njena pralnica pa deluje na akvaponskem sistemu. Prav slednje je pritegnilo njeno pozornost.
Obe nastanitvi je izbrala, ker sta imeli odgovore, ko je postavila neprijetna vprašanja. Kaj počnete z vodo? Kaj počnete s svetlobo? Kaj se na vaši plaži dogaja ob dveh zjutraj sredi sezone gnezdenja?
Sledi pogovor o koralah, izleglih želvah, pralnih sistemih, lokalnem ulovu in o tem, kako dobro lahko živite v hotelu, ki pozorno spremlja svojo porabo vode.
Začniva z očitnim vprašanjem. Zakaj Florida in zakaj prav zdaj?
Ker je Florida avgusta najbolj živa in želela sem jo doživeti prav takšno. Florida Keys in Fort Lauderdale sta med najlepšimi obalami v državi, avgusta pa sta videti najbolj filmsko. Voda je topla kot kopel. Zlata svetloba vztraja skoraj do devetih zvečer. Pol sveta se avgusta odpravi v Sredozemlje in se vrne z enako fotografijo, medtem ko je ta obala sredi sezone izleganja želv – spektakla, ki ga lahko zapustite hotel in ga opazujete celo opolnoči.
Želela sem, da bi poletna zgodba sledila ritmu, ki pripada živalim, ne koledarju tedna mode. Izkazalo se je, da je to tudi čas, ko sta ti dve lokaciji v svoji najboljši različici.
V Florida Keys bi lahko bivali kjerkoli. Zakaj prav Ocean Key?
Preden sem vprašala po kategorijah sob, sem prosila za njihovo stran o trajnostnem delovanju, kar je, priznam, precej nenavaden način načrtovanja poletja. Odgovor, ki sem ga dobila, je bil konkreten – in konkretnost je pravi preizkus.
Dolgoletno sodelujejo z Mote Marine Laboratory v Summerland Keyu, ki financira obnovo koralnih grebenov, del prihodkov od koncertnega cikla Sunset Pier Concert Series pa namenjajo prav temu projektu. Njihova pralnica deluje na akvaponskem sistemu, ki zmanjšuje uporabo kemičnih detergentov in količino odpadne vode. Namesto električnih uporabljajo solarne grelnike vode. Na celotnem posestvu uporabljajo izključno biorazgradljive slamice. Njihova ekipa sodeluje tudi pri čistilnih akcijah organizacije Keep Key West Beautiful.
Zato sem jim zaupala. Akvaponski sistem za pranje perila je nekaj, kar namestite zato, ker vam je zares pomembno. Na fotografijah je videti precej slabo.
In rekla bom nekaj očitnega: ta hotel se ima že zdaj s čim pohvaliti. Uvrščen je bil na prvo mesto v Key Westu, je na svetovnem seznamu revije Travel + Leisure, njegova restavracija pa že leta prejema priznanje Award of Excellence revije Wine Spectator. Hotel na takšni ravni bi se lahko preprosto zanašal na razgled. Vredno je pisati o tistih, ki se ukvarjajo tudi z napeljavami in vodovodom, medtem ko gostje opazujejo sončni zahod.
In bivali ste na naslovu Zero Duval Street, kar je bolj v središču Key Westa skoraj nemogoče.
Prav v tem protislovju sem želela ostati. To je popolno nasprotje skritega zatočišča v mangrovah s kompostnim straniščem in čudovitim esejem o počasnosti. Gre za resort na najbolj glasnem in fotografiranem kotičku otoka, ob Mallory Square, sredi praznovanja sončnega zahoda, ki se ga udeležuje na tisoče ljudi.
Pravo vprašanje je, ali se lahko hotel, ki deluje sredi vsega tega hrupa, s 100 sobami in celotnim restavracijskim programom, še vedno vede odgovorno. To je težja, a tudi veliko bolj uporabna zgodba.
Koralni greben je razlog, zaradi katerega je vse to na Florida Keys sploh pomembno.
Floridski greben je edini živi koralni pregradni greben v celinskem delu Združenih držav in že desetletja resno propada. Ko se tam potapljate z masko, ne gledate razglednice, ampak bolnika, ki potrebuje zdravljenje. Mote in druge institucije gojijo koščke koral v drevesnicah in jih nato sadijo nazaj na greben. Ko torej hotel prispeva sredstva za takšno delo, financira zdravljenje in ne zgolj pomirja svoje vesti.
Nato ste se odpravili proti severu, v Fort Lauderdale. Pelican Grand je povsem drugačna zgodba.
Povsem drugačno razpoloženje. Viktorijanska arhitektura, široka veranda z gugalniki, staromoden sladoledni salon in počasna reka. Vse skupaj deluje kot čista nostalgija.
In vendar je eden redkih hotelov v Fort Lauderdaleu z zasebnim dostopom do plaže, ta plaža pa je tudi gnezdišče morskih želv. Sodelujejo z univerzo Nova Southeastern University pri spremljanju in zaščiti gnezd na svojem delu plaže. Lokalno organizacijo S.T.O.P. Foundation – Sea Turtle Oversight Protection – podpirajo tudi s programom plišastih mladičev: od vsakega prodanega plišastega izdelka namenijo dva dolarja.
Všeč mi je bilo to protislovje. Starinski sladoledni salon zgoraj, protokol za zaščito ogroženih živalskih vrst na plaži.
Povejte več o želvah. Od kod ta obsedenost?
Iz razumevanja, kaj svetloba naredi. Mladiči želv se orientirajo proti najsvetlejšemu obzorju, kar je bil milijone let lunin odsev na vodni gladini. Danes pa je tam mesto. V okrožju Broward pridejo na plano, se obrnejo v napačno smer in začnejo hoditi proti parkiriščem in cesti.
S.T.O.P. so leta 2007 ustanovili prostovoljci, ki ponoči odhajajo na teren, dokumentirajo dezorientacijo in mladiče fizično odnesejo do morja.
Od takrat so jih rešili več sto tisoč. Objavljeni podatki, ki sem jih videla, govorijo o več kot 300.000 želvah, programu pa pripisujejo tudi več kot polovično zmanjšanje smrtnosti mladičev v okrožju. Vsakogar bi spodbudila, naj aktualne številke preveri neposredno pri organizaciji, saj se podatki vsako sezono posodabljajo.
Mestni standard je preprost: nizke in dolge svetilke. Nizko nameščene luči z daljšo valovno dolžino, v rdečih in jantarnih odtenkih. Ko to enkrat veste, jih začnete opažati povsod. Obmorski hotel, osvetljen s hladno modro svetlobo, nenadoma ne deluje več glamurozno, ampak kot napaka.
Ali to spreminja vaš pogled na to, kaj je v hotelu lepo?
Da. Zdaj se mi zdi jantarna svetloba na plaži ponoči lepša od katerega koli neskončnega bazena, v katerem sem se kdaj kopala, ker pomeni, da se je nekdo v tisti stavbi odločil za nekaj, kar ga je z vidika videza nekaj stalo – in se kljub temu odločil za žival.
To je okus. Okus je tisto, čemur smo se pripravljeni odpovedati.
Varčevanje z vodo je precej manj fotogenična tema. Kljub temu jo vedno znova omenjate.
Ker je to prava tema. Resort je v bistvu stroj za premikanje vode. Brisače, rjuhe, prhe, bazeni, kuhinje, pralnica, spa.
V Pelican Grandu imajo kartico za ponovno uporabo brisač, rjuhe na zahtevo menjajo vsake tri dni, namesto plastenk uporabljajo steklo in aluminij, na voljo so polnilne postaje, spa pa je prešel na embalažo, ki je bolj organska in biorazgradljiva.
V Ocean Keyu imajo akvaponski sistem pralnice in solarne grelnike vode. Posamezno se vse to zdi majhno. Toda pomnožite s številom gostov, s 365 dnevi in z mrežo 28 nastanitev – in dobite ogromne učinke.
Hotelska industrija rada govori o ogljiku, ker je abstrakten. Voda je nekaj, kar lahko vidite. In prav proti njej plavajo želve.
Pogovoriva se o hrani, saj prav tukaj številne zgodbe o trajnostnih potovanjih postanejo precej tihe.
Pravzaprav bi začela prav tukaj. Obe kuhinji temeljita na tem, kar prihaja iz vode pred njima.
V restavraciji Hot Tin Roof v Ocean Keyu temu pravijo »conch fusion« oziroma kuhinja Key Westa – Florida in Karibi na enem krožniku. Temelji na svežih lokalnih morskih sadežih in sezonskih pridelkih: mango, paradižnik, karkoli tisti mesec raste na otoku.
V OCEAN2000, restavraciji Pelican Granda, kuhinja deluje po podobnem načelu z Atlantikom pred vrati: lokalne sestavine, lokalni ulov in kuharski mojster, ki na jedilnik uvršča tudi manj znane vrste, namesto štirih rib, ki jih naročajo vsi.
Ta zadnji del ima večjo težo, kot se morda zdi. Francozi pravijo circuit court – kratka dobavna veriga – in ta prinaša dve koristi hkrati. Ribe prepotujejo nekaj kilometrov namesto nekaj tisoč, zato se zmanjšajo transport, potreba po ledu in ogljični odtis. Ko resna restavracija promovira manj uporabljano vrsto rib, se zmanjša pritisk na prelovljene vrste.
Jeste hlastača pred vodo, iz katere je prišel. Enaka logika velja za zelenjavo. Floridski paradižnik, ki avgusta zraste le kakšno uro vožnje stran, ima okus, kot ga mora imeti.
In prav to je najbolj prijeten del argumenta. Vsi rečemo da boljši ribi.
Na to potovanje ste se odpravili z družino. Je to spremenilo vaš pogled na nalogo?
Naredilo jo je bolj iskreno. Trajnostna potovanja je preprosto »igrati«, ko ste sami, oblečeni v laneno srajco, z beležnico v roki. Z družino pa je stvar povsem drugačna – tu so resnična logistika in trenutki, ko vas vleče k najhitrejši rešitvi.
Ugotovila sem, da otroci pravila usvojijo takoj. Enkrat jim razložite, zakaj po temi na pesku ne uporabljamo svetilk, in za ves teden je stvar rešena. Odrasli smo tisti, ki se pogajamo.
Kombinezon KINNAMON @kinnamon.official , zapestnice: Chofa @chofajewelry, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
In kaj ste spakirali?
Vsak kos, ki sem ga nosila na tem potovanju, je bil delo trajnostnega oblikovalca. To pravilo sem si postavila, še preden sem odprla kovček, in prav njegovo upoštevanje skozi celotno potovanje se je izkazalo za najbolj zanimiv del. Pakirati začneš tako, kot načrtuješ fotografiranje. Izbereš kose, ki se med seboj povezujejo, in se jih držiš, namesto da bi v kovček zložil deset možnosti in se odločal šele pozneje.
So Obsessed Swim
Nekateri kopalke so ustvarjene za eno sezono, druge pa za občutek, ki ga želite v njih doživeti. So Obsessed Swim, ki jo je ustanovila Sophia Olea, zagotovo sodijo v drugo kategorijo: vrhunske kopalke s krojem in izdelavo, zaradi katerih oblačenje za na plažo postane dogodek in ne zgolj postranska misel. Na fotografiranju, zgrajenem okoli sonca, soli in dolgih popoldnevov ob oceanu, se je znamka popolnoma naravno vključila v zgodbo.
Kinnamon
Kinnamon ustvarja prilagodljivo modo, ki ne pristaja na kompromise pri lepoti – in to je veliko redkejše, kot bi moralo biti. Zelena obleka z motivom lanterne, ki smo jo fotografirali, se giblje z umirjeno dramatičnostjo in je na fotografijah videti čudovito. Hkrati poudarja bistvo, ki ga znamka nenehno zagovarja: premišljen dizajn in resnična nosljivost nikoli nista bila mišljena kot nasprotji. To je delo, ki širi krog ljudi, ki se lahko počutijo opažene in upoštevane.
Akelo
Akelo dokazuje, da lahko torbica nosi zgodbo prav tako kot vaše ključe. Znamka s sedežem v Oaklandu, ki črpa navdih iz vzhodnoafriških oblik, je svojo debitantsko kolekcijo zgradila okoli modela AGWATA, torbice, oblikovane po tradicionalni luoški buči calabash, ki so jo uporabljali za shranjevanje in deljenje hrane ter vode. Pretvoriti posodo vsakodnevne oskrbe v oblikovalski predmet je čudovita ideja, rezultat pa je skulpturalen, topel in povsem samosvoj. Kot pravi znamka sama: usmerjen v prihodnost, vendar nedvoumno ukoreninjen v tradiciji.
Sol Sister
Sol Sister Sport ustvarja kose za resnično gibanje na resničnem soncu – natanko torej za preizkus, skozi katerega mora oblačilo na fotografiranju na Floridi. Najbolj izstopa, kako malo vas znamka sili k izbiri med funkcionalnostjo in urejenim videzom. To so športna oblačila z lahkotnostjo, namenjena ženskam, ki so zunaj zato, ker si tega želijo.
Elbi Swimwear
Kolekcija La Dolce Vita si svoje ime vsekakor zasluži. Elbi Swimwear oblikuje z nostalgijo po počasnih sredozemskih poletjih, njihovi kosi pa imajo mehkobo in samozavest, ki se pred objektivom pokažeta takoj. Sodelovanje z ustanoviteljico je bilo prijetno že od prvega pogovora, oba videza, ki smo ju vključili, pa sta uredništvu dodala toplino, ki je delovala, kot da pripada prav temu kraju.
Sacred Rituel
Sacred Rituel sem odkrila v Radio Loungeu in od takrat nenehno posegam po njihovem olju za sijaj kože – kar je najbolj iskren preizkus vsakega lepotnega izdelka. Znamka temelji na ideji, da je lahko nega kože majhen obred in ne le še ena obveznost, kar se odraža tako v formulah kot v končnem učinku. Na fotografiranju, ki se je zavleklo in potekalo v vročini, je olje tiho in zanesljivo opravilo svojo nalogo.
Sette
FOURA
FOURA razume moč popolnega osnovnega kosa. Puli z visokim ovratnikom, ki smo ga vključili v fotografiranje, je eden tistih kosov, ki zasidrajo celoten videz, ne da bi kadar koli zahtevali pozornost. Lepo se plastijo z drugimi oblačili in ves dan ohranjajo svojo obliko. Je opomnik, da je najpogosteje nošen kos v garderobi običajno tudi najpreprostejši – in da je preprostost veliko težje dobro izvesti, kot se zdi.
Heiress Gems
Heiress Gems pristopa h kamnom tako, kot si zaslužijo – s potrpežljivostjo in občutkom za poseben trenutek. Kosi, ki smo jih fotografirali, so uredništvu dodali pravi lesk in ujeli pozno popoldansko svetlobo na način, ki je deloval praznično, ne pa bahavo. Naina je bila ves čas izjemno velikodušna in prijetna za sodelovanje, ta duh pa se je odražal tudi v kosih, ki jih je poslala.
Aja Swimline
Aja Swimline je na fotografiranje prišla z jasno vizijo – in prav to je vedno najbolj zanimiva stvar, ki jo lahko znamka kopalk prinese na snemanje. Kosi udobno lovijo ravnotežje med sproščenostjo resort mode in bolj premišljenim pristopom, kar je bilo za okolje Key Westa popolno. V dizajnu je samozavest, ki se pokaže takoj, ko kosi pridejo v stik z vodo.
Amano
Amano Handcrafted je delo Valerije Munoz, pri čemer beseda handcrafted oziroma ročno izdelano v imenu znamke resnično nekaj pomeni. Izbrali smo tri ogrlice – ROSARIO, INDIGO in BESITOS –, vsako s svojim značajem in vsako izdelano z natančnostjo, ki jo lahko opazite od blizu. Na fotografiranju so se čudovito plastile ena čez drugo in imele tisto osebno težo, zaradi katere je nakit vreden tega, da ga obdržite.
Lyoness Bespoke Jewels
Rachel Lyons je svoje kolekcije poimenovala po krajih, ki so jo navdihnili – Amalfi, Santorini, Kyoto, Pariz – in že ta odločitev pove veliko o pristopu znamke Lyoness Bespoke Jewels k oblikovanju. Kosi imajo izrazite silhuete in natančno izdelane detajle; namenjeni so vsakodnevnemu nošenju, a zasnovani z občutkom za predmete, ki jih boste nekoč morda predali naslednji generaciji. Del njihovega dela so tudi izdelki po meri, kar je pri znamkah te velikosti vse redkejše. Elegantno, premišljeno in ustvarjeno tako, da lahko nosi spomin.
Kako bi v enem iskrenem stavku, brez marketinških fraz, opredelili trajnostni luksuz?
Biti na izjemnem kraju in ga zapustiti takšnega, da bo lahko ostal izjemen tudi za naslednjega človeka – in naslednjo živalsko vrsto.
In kaj vam je ostalo od tega poletja?
Spoznanje, da luksuz in odgovornost potujeta skupaj – in domov sem se vrnila popolnoma prepričana o tem. To so bile po vseh merilih čudovite počitnice: sončni zahod s pomola, spa, soba ob oceanu, dolge večerje, med katerimi je Atlantik igral vlogo zvočne kulise.
Vse to se je dogajalo na dveh krajih, ki financirata obnovo koralnih grebenov, varujeta gnezda na svojih plažah ter skrbita za svojo vodo in svetlobo. Nekje na poti sem začela verjeti, da skrb za okolje pomeni, da se moramo nečemu odpovedati. V resnici od nas zahteva, da izberemo bolje – in to je nekaj povsem drugega. Nagrada pa so lahko še boljše počitnice.
Annabelle Kajbaf je novinarka in ustanoviteljica platforme Wear the Future. Potovala je v Ocean Key Resort & Spa v Key Westu in Pelican Grand Beach Resort v Fort Lauderdaleu. Oba sta del skupine Noble House Hotels & Resorts, ki je bila na podelitvi Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2025 uvrščena med 15 najboljših hotelskih znamk na svetu. Njeni nastanitvi na Florida Keys, Little Palm Island Resort & Spa in Marquesa Hotel, sta bili v prvem izboru Michelinovega vodnika za hotele v Severni Ameriki nagrajeni s tremi oziroma dvema ključema.
Zgornji in spodnji del kopalk in pareo: So Obsessed Swim @soobsessedswim, ogrlica: Lyoness Bespoke Jewels @lyonessjewels, serum: Sacred Rituel @sacredrituel
Zgornji in spodnji del kopalk in pareo: Elbi Swimwear @elbiswimwear, ogrlica: Amano @amanohandcrafted, torbica: Akelo @weareakelo, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Destination Florida: A Sustainable Summer with Annabelle Kajbaf
Annabelle Kajbaf could have summered anywhere. She chose two stretches of Florida coastline where the lights go amber at dusk and the coral is being replanted by hand. A conversation about what luxury the water owes. There is a particular kind of traveller who books the suite and leaves the question of what happens behind the wall to somebody else. Annabelle Kajbaf asks. The Los Angeles based journalist and founder, whose bylines run from Vogue to Harper’s Bazaar, spent this August at two addresses on the Florida coast: Ocean Key Resort & Spa (www.oceankey.com) and Pelican Grand Beach Resort (www.pelicanbeach.com). Zero Duval Street in Key West, where the Gulf swallows the sun every evening in front of a crowd, and a private stretch of sand in Fort Lauderdale where, between March and October, sea turtles come ashore to bury their eggs.
Pulover in krilo: Sette @settecourts, ogrlica: Lyoness Bespoke Jewels @lyonessjewels, zapestnica: Chofa @chofajewelry, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
The pools are beautiful. The pools are beside the point. One of the two properties was named the number one resort in Key West by U.S. News & World Report in 2025, has appeared on Travel + Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels in the World, and has been voted a top ten resort in the Florida Keys by Condé Nast Traveler readers four times. Its laundry also runs on an aquaponic system. It is the second fact that interested her.
She chose both properties because they had answers when she asked the uncomfortable questions. What do you do with your water? What do you do with your light? What happens on your beach at two in the morning in the middle of nesting season.
What follows is a conversation about coral, hatchlings, laundry systems, local catch, and how well you can live at a hotel that watches its water.
Let’s start with the obvious one. Why Florida, and why now?
Because Florida in August is at its most alive, and I wanted to be there for it. The Keys and Fort Lauderdale are two of the most beautiful coastlines in the country, and this is the month when they are at their most cinematic. The water is warm as a bath. The light holds gold until almost nine in the evening. Half the world goes to the Mediterranean in August and comes home with the same photograph, while this coast is in the middle of hatching season, a spectacle you can walk out and witness at midnight. I wanted the summer story to run on timing that belongs to the animals rather than to the calendar of a fashion week. It turns out that is also the season when these two places are at their best.
You could have stayed anywhere in the Keys. Why Ocean Key specifically?
I asked for their sustainability page before I asked for their room categories, which I recognise is an unusual way to plan a summer. What came back was specific, and specificity is the test. They have a long standing partnership with Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key, which funds coral reef restoration, and they direct a portion of the proceeds from the Sunset Pier Concert Series toward that work. Their laundry runs on an aquaponic system that cuts chemical detergent and water waste. They use solar hot water heaters in place of electricity. Only biodegradable straws on the property. Their team does clean ups through Keep Key West Beautiful.
That is why I trusted it. An aquaponic laundry system is the kind of thing you install because you mean it. It photographs terribly.
And I will say the obvious thing, which is that this property already has plenty to boast about. It has been ranked number one in Key West, it sits on Travel + Leisure’s world list, and its restaurant has held a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for years. A hotel operating at that level could coast on the view. The ones that bother with the plumbing while the guests are watching the sunset are the ones worth writing about.
And you were staying at zero Duval Street, which is about as central as Key West gets.
Which is the tension I wanted to sit inside. This is the opposite of a hideaway in the mangroves with a composting toilet and a beautiful essay about slowness. It is a resort at the loudest, most photographed corner of the island, next to Mallory Square, in the middle of a sunset celebration that thousands of people attend. The real question is whether a property operating inside that noise, with 100 rooms and a full restaurant programme, can still behave well. That is the harder and more useful story.
The reef is the reason any of this matters in the Keys.
The Florida reef is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, and it has been in serious decline for decades. When you snorkel there you are looking at a patient rather than a postcard. Mote and other institutions are growing coral fragments in nurseries and outplanting them onto the reef. So when a hotel writes a cheque to that work, it is funding a surgery rather than offsetting a conscience.
Then you went north to Fort Lauderdale. Pelican Grand is a different proposition.
A different mood altogether. Victorian bones, a wraparound veranda with rocking chairs, an old fashioned ice cream parlour, a lazy river. It reads as pure nostalgia.
And yet it is one of very few hotels in Fort Lauderdale with private beach access, and that beach is a nesting site. They work with Nova Southeastern University to monitor and protect the nests on their sand. They support the local S.T.O.P. Foundation, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, through a hatchling plush programme, two dollars from every one.
I loved the contradiction of it. Vintage ice cream parlour upstairs, endangered species protocol on the beach.
Explain the turtles. Where did the obsession come from?
From understanding what light does. Hatchlings orient toward the brightest horizon, which for millions of years was moonlight on water. Now it is a city. In Broward County they emerge, they turn the wrong way, and they walk toward the parking lots and the road. S.T.O.P. was founded in 2007 by volunteers who go out at night, document the disorientations, and physically carry hatchlings to the sea.
Since then they have recovered hundreds of thousands of them. The published figures I have seen put it above 300,000, and they credit the programme with cutting hatchling mortality in the county by more than half. I would encourage anyone to verify the current numbers directly with the organisation, because the season updates every year.
The city standard is low and long. Low fixtures, long wavelength light, red and amber. Once you know that, you see it everywhere. A beachfront property lit up in cold blue stops looking like glamour and starts looking like a mistake.
Does that change what you consider beautiful in a hotel?
It does. I now find amber lighting on a beach at night more beautiful than any infinity pool I have ever swum in, because it means somebody in that building made a decision that cost them something visually and chose the animal anyway.
That is the taste. Taste is what you are willing to give up.
Water conservation is a less photogenic subject. You keep bringing it up anyway.
Because it is the real one. A resort is essentially a machine for moving water. Towels, sheets, showers, pools, kitchens, laundry, spa.
At Pelican Grand there is the towel reuse card, sheets changed every three days on request, glass and aluminium in place of plastic bottles, refill stations, and a spa that has moved toward organic and biodegradable packaging.
At Ocean Key, the aquaponic laundry and the solar heaters. Individually these read as small. Multiply them by occupancy, by 365 days, by a group of 28 properties, and they are enormous.
The industry loves to talk about carbon because it is abstract. Water is the thing you can see, and it is the thing the turtles are swimming toward.
Let’s talk about the food, because that is where a lot of sustainable travel stories go quiet.
It is where I would start, actually. Both kitchens are built on what comes out of the water in front of them. At Hot Tin Roof, Ocean Key’s restaurant, they call it conch fusion, or Key West cuisine, Florida and the Caribbean on one plate. It runs on fresh local seafood and seasonal produce, mangoes and tomatoes, whatever the island is growing that month.
At OCEAN2000, the restaurant at Pelican Grand, the kitchen works the same way with the Atlantic in front of it: local produce, local catch, and a chef who puts the lesser known species on the menu rather than the four fish everybody already orders.
That last part carries more weight than it sounds. In French we say circuit court, the short supply chain, and it does two good things at once. The fish travels a few miles rather than a few thousand, so the freight and the ice and the carbon all shrink. And when a serious restaurant champions an underused species, the pressure lifts off the overfished ones. You eat the snapper in front of the water it came out of. The vegetables follow the same logic. A Florida tomato in August grew an hour up the road, and it tastes like it.
This is also the most pleasurable part of the argument. Everybody says yes to better fish.
You travelled with your family for this. Did that shift the assignment?
It made it honest. Sustainable travel is easy to perform when you are alone with a linen shirt and a notebook. It is a different exercise with a family, with real logistics, with the pull toward whatever is fastest.
What I learned is that children absorb the rules instantly. Explain once why we keep the torches off on the sand after dark, and it is settled for the week. Adults are the ones who negotiate.
Kimono obleka, ogrlica in zapestnica: Heiress Gems @heiress_gems. sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
And what did you pack?
Every piece I wore on this trip came from a sustainable designer. I set that rule before I opened a suitcase, and holding it for the length of the trip turned out to be the interesting part, because it makes you pack the way you plan a shoot. You bring pieces that talk to each other and you commit to them, rather than throwing in options and deciding later.
So Obsessed Swim
Some swimwear is made for a season, and some is made for the way you actually want to feel in it. So Obsessed Swim, founded by Sophia Olea, falls firmly in the second category: premium suits with the kind of fit and finish that make getting dressed for the water feel like an occasion rather than an afterthought. On a shoot built around sun, salt and long afternoons by the ocean, the brand slipped in effortlessly.
Kinnamon
Kinnamon builds adaptive fashion that refuses to compromise on beauty, and that is a rarer thing than it should be. The green lantern dress we shot moves with a quiet drama that photographs beautifully, and it makes the point the brand keeps making: thoughtful design and genuine wearability were never meant to be opposing goals. It is the kind of work that widens who gets to feel considered.
Akelo
Akelo makes the case that a bag can carry a story as well as your keys. Based in Oakland and drawing on East African forms, the label built its debut collection around the AGWATA, a purse shaped after the traditional Luo calabash used to hold and share food and water. Turning a vessel of everyday sustenance into an object of design is a lovely piece of thinking, and the result is sculptural, warm and completely its own. Future-forward, as the brand puts it, and unmistakably rooted.
Sol Sister
Sol Sister Sport makes pieces designed for real movement in real sunlight, which is exactly the test a Florida shoot puts a garment through. What comes across is how little the brand asks you to choose between performing and looking put together. It is active wear with an ease to it, made for women who are outside because they want to be.
Elbi Swimwear
The La Dolce Vita collection earns its name. Elbi Swimwear designs with a nostalgia for slow Mediterranean summers, and the pieces carry a softness and a confidence that reads immediately on camera. Working with the founder was a pleasure from the first conversation, and the two looks we featured brought a warmth to the editorial that felt entirely of the place.
Sacred Rituel
I found Sacred Rituel at the Radio Lounge and have been reaching for their glow oil ever since, which is the honest test of any beauty product. It is a brand built on the idea that skincare can be a small ceremony rather than another task, and that philosophy shows up in the formulas and in the finish. On a shoot that ran long and hot, it did quiet, reliable work.
Sette
Sette Courts & Co is a tennis-inspired womenswear label built on the idea that elegance meets joy and tradition gets a playful twist. Founded by Luiza and rooted in her grandfather’s history as a professional tennis player in Brazil, the brand translates the world surrounding the court into elevated ready-to-wear.
FOURA
FOURA understands the power of a perfect essential. The mockneck we featured is the sort of piece that anchors an entire outfit without ever asking for attention, layering cleanly and holding its line all day. It is a reminder that the most-worn thing in a wardrobe is usually the simplest, and that simplicity is much harder to execute well than it looks.
Heiress Gems
Heiress Gems approaches stones the way they deserve to be approached, with patience and a sense of occasion. The pieces we shot brought a real glimmer to the editorial, catching the late light in a way that felt celebratory rather than showy. Naina was generous and easy to work with throughout, and that spirit came through in what she sent.
Aja Swimline
Aja Swimline arrived with a point of view, and that is always the most interesting thing a swim brand can bring to a shoot. The pieces sit comfortably between resort ease and something more considered, which suited the Key West setting exactly. There is a confidence in the design that translates the moment it hits the water.
Amano
Amano Handcrafted is the work of Valeria Munoz, and the word handcrafted is doing real labor in that name. We featured three necklaces, ROSARIO, INDIGO and BESITOS, each with its own character and each finished with a care you can see up close. They layered beautifully across the shoot, and they carried the kind of personal weight that makes jewelry worth keeping.
Lyoness Bespoke Jewels
Rachel Lyons named her collections after the places that inspired them, Amalfi, Santorini, Kyoto, Paris, and that instinct tells you everything about how Lyoness Bespoke Jewels approaches design. The pieces are bold in silhouette and precise in finish, made to be worn every day but built with the weight of something you would pass down. Bespoke commissions are part of the practice too, which is increasingly rare at this scale. Elegant, considered, and made to hold a memory.
What is your definition of luxury sustainable, in one honest sentence, stripped of marketing?
Being somewhere extraordinary and leaving it as capable of being extraordinary for the next person, and the next species.
And what stays with you from this summer?
That luxury and responsibility travel together, and I came home certain of it. This was a splendid holiday by any measure: the sunset from the pier, the spa, the oceanfront room, long dinners with the Atlantic providing the soundtrack.
All of it happened in two places that fund coral restoration, protect the nests on their own sand, and pay attention to their water and their light. Somewhere along the way I had assumed that caring about the environment asked you to give something up. It asks you to choose better, which is a different thing, and the reward is a better holiday.
Annabelle Kajbaf is a journalist and the founder of Wear the Future. She travelled to Ocean Key Resort & Spa, Key West, and Pelican Grand Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale. Both are part of Noble House Hotels & Resorts, named among the Top 15 Hotel Brands in the World in the 2025 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, and whose Florida Keys properties Little Palm Island Resort & Spa and the Marquesa Hotel were honoured with Three Keys and Two Keys respectively in the Michelin Guide’s first Key selection for North American hotels.
Pajkice in top: Sol Sister Sport @solsistersport , torbica: Akelo @weareakelo, ogrlica: Amano @amanohandcrafted
Obleka: Aja Swimline @aja_swimline, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
Hlače in mikica: Foura @foura.official, sandali: Franco Sarto @francosarto
Model: Annabelle Kajbaf @annabellekajbaf Besedilo: Annabelle Kajbaf @annabellekajbaf Fotografije: Wesley Wade Nega kože in las: Sacred Rituel @sacredrituel Produkcija: Olga Ivanova @olgaivvanovva Lokacija: Ocean Key Resort & Spa and Pelican Grand Beach Resort, Florida, USA Zahvala: Zimmerman Agency
