Great escapes

Abhay Deol, Actor
Goa has an amazing quality of life. I don&rsquot get that in Mumbai, which is unfor&shytunate as we all work hard and deserve to live in a healthy atmosphere. I&rsquom lucky as I can afford a house in Goa and I&rsquom now taking that love for the outdoors to another level by shifting there. While most people go to Goa on a vacation, I&rsquom doing the opposite &mdash I&rsquom in the process of building an eco-friendly home in Goa and living there permanently. I don&rsquot dislike Mumbai for its people, but for the potholes, the noise, the traffic and the pollution.

In terms of luxury defined by currency, nothing beats New York The music, the en&shyergy, the food &mdash it&rsquos incredible. Hotels like the Sixty Soho and the Soho Grand are fantastic. I always meet fascinating people there. I like NY&rsquos music scene &mdash we don&rsquot have much of a scene in Mumbai.

Neha Dhupia, Actor
It&rsquos difficult to put my finger on any one luxury destination that I like. Philosophically speaking, the entire world is a destination. I could go to any place where there is sun, sand and surf on any day. If you still insist, I would always choose Goa and Australia.

The Gold Coast in Australia tops my list of favourite getaways. I first visited it in 2002. It&rsquos my idea of what heaven must look like &mdash pristine beaches and lush rainfor&shyest. Being a surfing buff, I had a great time on the beaches there. The people are warm the seafood is great (I am a seafood fanatic).

I went to Cartagena in Colombia recently and it&rsquos dancing to its own beat all the time It&rsquos energetic, colourful, bright, adventur&shyous, spiritual and saucy &mdash all at the same time. I could not believe I was feeling all these emotions at one place.

Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Actor

To be able to holiday like most people do, in anonymity &mdash that would be a real luxury for me It may sound rude but it sometimes gets to be a bit much when I am holidaying with my family and fans ask me to pose for pictures. Recently, my husband, sons and I dared a trip to the Taj Mahal and I roamed Agra dressed like I was going to mug somebody, with huge dark glasses and a scarf around my face.

I love the sea and the Maldives was a particularly exciting getaway because I snorkelled and scuba dived with my children there. It was really breathtaking &mdash hours of lazing around on the beach, the amazing mocktails, and the pristine white sand.

Macau is also very colourful, and good for shopping. So if I have to take a quick break for just a couple of days, that&rsquos where I would like to go.

Brett Lee, Cricketer

As a cricketer I get to travel around the world with my team. I&rsquom from Sydney, but whenever I want a short escape from there, I head to Melbourne. It has so much to offer &mdash it ticks every box and you can do so many things in the city. For longer holidays, I have loved travelling to India &mdash the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, the Ganga...these are some of my favourite destinations in the country. South Africa is another of my favourites &mdash you&rsquove got to do the safaris and the night drives to see the animals up close.
As told to Parvati M. Krishnan

Shazahn Padamsee, Actor

France defines luxury for me. Cannes is an excellent place to go for a holiday and I had a fantastic time there. Sipping on wine, having caviar &mdash I was a queen in Cannes. Cannes is so different in its vibe and character &mdash there are beaches, the sun, music, and the luxury of exploring on your feet. When I am travelling, I like sightseeing and checking out a place&rsquos culture and history. So from Cannes, I took a yacht to St Tropez and Monte Carlo &mdash and I was completely surrounded by luxury.

Sridevi, Actor
London has always been my favourite place for the way it&rsquos organised and laid out. It&rsquos the best place for everything luxurious &mdash food, shopping, places to stay. It&rsquos like a melting pot of everything that&rsquos grand and royal &mdash you step out of Heathrow and you can literally smell class, royalty and luxury. Next to London is, of course, my home in Chennai though it&rsquos a different sort of luxury &mdash of being at home and doing nothing, of putting your feet up and watching time pass. It&rsquos about the luxury of being able to grind rice in a stone grinder [instead of the electric-operated one] for the perfect steamed idlis, the luxury of fresh coconuts from your backyard. It&rsquos a culinary heaven for me. Chennai is the best option for a quick getaway and it always brings back memories of the time I spent there as a child.