Now that the ball has dropped on yet another new year and you’ve finally parted ways with your holiday decor—which, you must admit, long overstayed its welcome—the winter doldrums have officially set in. Snowy evenings lead to exhausting mornings shoveling out your driveway and cleaning off your ice-covered car, and remote work and school mean that there’s no going back to those magical snow days of yore.
Even if you’ve already blown your New Year’s resolution of tracking your macros and hitting the gym each morning, for most of us, the countdown to summer has begun. If you’re daydreaming about sandcastles instead of snowmen and frozen cocktails instead of hot cocoa, you’re certainly not alone. These tropical Open Doors have got us thinking about longer days tanning by the pool and balmy evenings roasting s’mores by the firepit. If you can’t wait the five months until June, it may be time to cash in your frequent-flier miles and book a trip to one of the sun-kissed locales below—just don’t forget your passport! And if an actual trip isn’t in the cards right now, click on the tropical Open Doors links below to take some virtual journeys—your celeb best friends have invited you for a visit.
Diplo’s Jamaican jungle paradise
Imagine jamming out to some Bob Marley as you soak in an infinity pool overlooking the Jamaican jungle. Well, if you’re Grammy winner Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as DJ Diplo, you don’t have to. A former neighbor who was leaving Jamaica gave him her entire collection of the best unplayed reggae and Afrobeat records he’s “ever found,” he says, so he’s got plenty of tunes to choose from, all stored in the custom-made library of his private Caribbean estate, which is named Pompey, a misspelling of the ruined Italian city, Pompeii. Diplo worked alongside Brooklyn-based firm Freecell Architecture to create his dream open-air poured concrete Brutalist villa across 50 acres of land next to the Caribbean Sea. “If you look on a clear day,” he says, “you can see Cuba.” Between the at-home spa, music studio and lounge (complete with ping-pong table), there are plenty of places to hang out on the secluded property. “It’s beautiful, peaceful, but also electric and crazy all the time,” Diplo says of the vibes. The indoor-outdoor living room, which features floor-to-ceiling windows and a piano for live entertainment, is another ideal spot to host guests—and when it gets too hot, Diplo says, he and his friends and family just backflip off the balcony and into the pool. But please don’t try this at home!
Anitta’s tranquil Rio de Janeiro home
Stepping inside the airy, art-filled home of Brazilian singer and songwriter Anitta, it’s impossible not to feel like you're on a higher spiritual plane. Nods to the Yoruba religion are woven through the property, located in the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro. “I wanted to have zen vibes in my bedroom,” she says of the primary, which features steps leading up to her floor bed, which is dressed in an earthy brown and beige color palette. “I wanted to feel like this is my temple—this is my altar—and I wanted to feel cozy. I wanted to feel like the bedroom was hugging me,” says Anitta. Her pink marble bathroom is equally as relaxing, given the view of her home’s lush surroundings from the shower and bathtub. Brazilian indigenous art is hung throughout the outdoor living areas, where Anitta loves to entertain guests and also practice yoga. With the help of Brazilian firm Studio Ro+Ca, she reduced the size of the pool to increase the size of her parties—and we can’t blame her. “I like to have people here dancing,” she says. “That’s what we do.”
Naomi Campbell’s luxurious Kenyan compound
If you’re looking to take a dip at Naomi Campbell’s sprawling villa in the coastal town of Malindi, Kenya, you have four pools to choose from. The British supermodel notes that none function as a jacuzzi because of the tropical temperatures year-round in East Africa. Instead, if you’re looking to detox upon your arrival to Campbell’s luxury estate, she suggests undergoing hydrotherapy at the spa designed by late wellness pioneer Henri Chenot. “I recommend all my friends when they come here, and all my guests, to do this on the first day, so that they have the best sleep ever the first night,” Campbell explains. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, the home, with its largely open air rooms under makuti thatched roofs, functions as Campbell’s “go-to place for chilling, relaxing, [and] completely shutting down.” Speaking of completely shutting down, when Campbell sleeps in the mosquito-net swathed beds, she doesn't turn on the AC, believing, as she does, that “it gives wrinkles.” The indoor-outdoor living suits the supermodel perfectly. And, in part, she has fellow model Lauren Hutton to thank. Hutton always told Campbell that she’d go to Kenya to revitalize. According to Campbell, “She said to me, ‘Look at your smile when you get back from Kenya—you’re gonna have a real smile.’ And I so understood what she meant.” We’re looking forward to our invite, Naomi!
Maluma’s countryside Colombian mansion
When Maluma wakes up in the morning at his mansion in his native Medellín, Colombia, he takes the elevator (yes, an in-home elevator!) downstairs to pour himself a cup of Colombian coffee and sits outside to admire the beauty of his hometown. Sometimes, he says, fans drive by and blast his music from their cars on a nearby street. “It’s special,” the singer and rapper admits. “It’s a good way to wake up.” The indoor-outdoor feel of Maluma’s home is something he’s always wanted. “The most beautiful thing about Medellín or Colombia is that we have a lot of nature,” he explains. But if it gets too humid during the South American summertime, there’s plenty to do indoors. Maluma has a state-of-the-art in-home gym where he loves to workout, plus a blackjack table, an area to play ping pong, a framed Messi jersey, and a coffee station where he keeps his favorite mugs. When he gave AD a tour in 2020, his at-home theater was perfect for bingeing his favorite streaming series during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s cool staying at home,” Maluma said at the time. With a place like that, we wouldn’t want to leave either.
Alejandro Fernández and Karla Laveaga’s modern Mexican oasis
For singer Alejandro Fernández and his partner, model and influencer Karla Laveaga, dinner and drinks can take place indoors or out. They have two dining areas to choose from at their home in Guadalajara, Mexico. The floral patterns on the intricately designed tableware match the surrounding greenery that encompasses their backyard. Evenings can be spent by the firepit, where Fernández says one of his granddaughters loves to make s’mores. And for those wanting to spend some time in the shade, hammocks, which the pair picked up on a trip to Colombia, are hanging from the trees to create the ultimate outdoor escape. “We lay there, each of us with our own book, in total silence, and it’s to disconnect for a while,” Laveaga explains. As for Fernández, he just takes in the beautiful music all around him. “[I] just listen to these wonderful songs that you can hear from all kinds of birds around here,” he says. “It’s impressive, and I think there’s no better sound than being connected to nature.”
