Buying for a well-traveled friend can be difficult, since many of them already own the souvenirs. A holiday gift guide from The Points Guy [1] takes a different approach, focusing on products tied to particular cities and luxury hotels. The selections range from Kyoto lacquerware to Paris skincare and Buenos Aires leather goods, and each is meant to bring a sense of place into a gift box. ([1])
Hotel signatures that recall a stay
Few gifts recall a hotel stay as directly as the hotel’s own merchandise. 1 Hotels offers a hooded bathrobe with a gray jersey-knit lining, designed for guests who want to relax with a warm drink while adjusting to jet lag. Carlton Cannes sells a yellow-and-white striped beach bag that draws on the Côte d’Azur of earlier decades, when the hotel, described as the first luxury property to open in Cannes, was a fixture of the resort scene.
Raffles Singapore takes a more liquid approach. Its online boutique sells a keepsake glass for the Singapore Sling, a cocktail first mixed in 1915 that combines gin, grenadine, cherry liqueur, Benedictine, Curaçao, pineapple juice and lime. Four Seasons, meanwhile, sells the pillowtop mattress that guests often praise. Several hotel chains now sell the beds they use, which makes the bedroom an unexpected place to bring a hotel home, though the price puts it firmly in the splurge category.
Crafts rooted in local workshops
Several picks come from makers with long histories or strong community ties. Zohiko, a boutique in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward, traces its origins to the 17th century. Its kirikane lacquerware features patterns cut from gold or silver leaf and pressed into place, and its small boxes and trays suit travelers who pack light.
In Bogotá, Artesanías de Colombia stocks fair-trade work from small communities across the country. Woven baskets start at $18, and the shop also carries carved Tamo bowls from the Nariño region, along with hammocks, jewelry and furniture. Prices are fixed, so bargaining is best saved for street vendors. In Luang Prabang, Laos, Ock Pop Tok operates as an art school, store and restaurant that works to preserve traditional Lao techniques. Visitors can sign up for classes in silk-weaving, batik-dyeing and embroidery, which turns a shopping stop into a hands-on lesson.
Scents, accessories and everyday luxuries
Other choices reflect the habits of a particular city. Officine Universelle Buly, in Paris’s 6th arrondissement, sells body products with notes such as Madagascar amber and Maltese iris, and it offers tortoiseshell combs that can be monogrammed. Santa Maria Novella, whose original Florence flagship dates to 1221, is known for all-natural formulas that were first developed by Dominican friars. The guide notes that bottles can sometimes cost less at the Florence store than elsewhere.
Arandu, a leather goods boutique in Buenos Aires’ Recoleta district, draws on the gaucho culture of the pampas. Its woven belts start at $45 and can cost considerably more depending on detail and craftsmanship. The store ships to the United States, which makes it a practical option for gift buyers who cannot travel to Argentina.
Gifts for young travelers and aviation fans
For families, Little Passports delivers a monthly box built around countries, animals, crafts and simple science experiments. The contents vary by subscription and age level. For aviation enthusiasts, KLM’s tile Delft houses, replicas of historic Dutch buildings, are handed out to long-haul business-class passengers and have become collectibles. Historian Mark Zegeling’s book “Little Kingdom by the Sea” covers the history of all 107 houses, making it a natural companion gift.
Buying tips from the guide
- Shopping at a 1 Hotels boutique can earn more points per dollar with a card that offers a travel or hotel category bonus.
- Japan offers tax-free purchases for visitors, which can make Zohiko pieces less expensive.
- A card without foreign transaction fees avoids surcharges of roughly 1 to 3 percent on overseas purchases.
- Liquid products must follow carry-on limits if they are not packed in checked luggage.
- Little Passports subscriptions should be set to the desired length from the start to avoid unwanted charges.
Gifts that carry a destination’s character tend to last longer than a generic present, and they often spark conversation about the trip behind them. For buyers planning ahead this holiday season, the most useful step may be checking the shop’s policies, prices and shipping options before a purchase, so the gift arrives on time and fits the recipient’s taste.
