There’s one request that Lorenzo Maraviglia, the general manager of San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel in Taormina, hears from guests more than any other: How can we re-create Jennifer Coolidge’s fantasy Vespa ride along the Sicilian coast? (Which was itself inspired by the 1960 film L’Avventura.)
Since the October 2022 premiere of the second season of HBO’s wildly popular series The White Lotus, which was filmed at the San Domenico Palace, Maraviglia says that reservation requests have “literally never stopped.” When he saw the picturesque 14th-century convent-turned-resort onscreen, he was struck by how authentically the property was showcased: “The garden, the pool, the piano man in the bar are all just as they are. Even the uniforms are our uniforms—it cannot be more realistic than that,” Maraviglia says. “The guests tell us, ‘It really feels like you’re part of the show, because they haven’t changed anything.’”
A scene from The White Lotus Season 3, featuring (from left) Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola.
That feeling of stepping off a plane and into a scene from your favorite show is an experience travelers are increasingly seeking. While not entirely new—Jurassic Park has drawn visitors to Hawaii for years, as has The Lord of the Rings to New Zealand and Sex and the City and Friends to New York City—so-called “set-jetting” is especially popular right now, according to research by Expedia Group, with two-thirds of trip planners surveyed last fall saying movies and TV shows will influence their travels this year. In addition to Sicily and Koh Samui, Thailand, site of The White Lotus’s third season, other popular entertainment-inspired destinations this year, per Expedia’s research, include Montana and Wyoming (showcased on Yellowstone), Scotland (the setting for The Traitors), and Dubai (inspired by The Real Housewives of Dubai).
What has since been dubbed “the White Lotus effect” began nearly four years ago with the show’s first season, filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. “I don’t think anybody anticipated just what a splash the show was going to make,” says Ben Shank, general manager of the FS Maui, which experienced a 386-percent increase in availability checks during the first season. Tracy Bennett, Maui County’s former film commissioner, recalls that the FS Wailea was shut down due to the COVID pandemic when HBO came looking to film a new series written and directed by Mike White, who has a house on Kauai. Between the HBO production and the nearby filming of USA Network reality show Temptation Island, more than 400 people were put back to work at a precarious time for the island’s tourism industry.
The Four Seasons Koh Samui’s Family Residence Villa, featuring two pools (one a private infinity pool) and deck with a daybed, dining table, and sun loungers.
Today, everyone at the resort, from the bellmen to the waitresses to the beach staff and the pool guys, gets asked about The White Lotus. The most common ask is to see the famed “Pineapple Suite,” a room coveted on the show by an entitled honeymoon guest. In real life, it is the 7,200-square-foot Lokelani Presidential Suite, and Shank says he is happy to give curious guests a tour if it is unoccupied. For his part, Bennett hopes to one day offer visitors tours of filming locations. (He shows me some potential exhibits: a bucket hat worn by Sydney Sweeney, the urn carted around by Jennifer Coolidge.)
There’s some irony in luxury tourists taking cues from a show that takes delight in satirizing the insularity of…luxury tourists. Maraviglia says his team in Sicily has spent time thinking about how to enrich the experience for guests beyond what they saw on TV. “For us, the focus has been, ‘Yes, we have people at the door. Now let’s make sure they see something else,’” he says. “‘Let’s make sure they don’t just have the Vespa ride Jennifer Coolidge had. Let’s make sure they also explore the art, the culture, and the food that we have to offer in this particular region.’”
The Four Seasons Koh Samui’s Koh Thai Kitchen serves up curries, seafood, and killer views.
Jasjit Assi, general manager of Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, was also thinking about this when we spoke ahead of the third season’s premiere. “We want guests to say, ‘I was in Thailand and it touched my heart and soul,’” Assi says. To that end, the resort offers a variety of cultural experiences, like cooking classes and Muay Thai lessons with a champion fighter, and Assi also hopes to arrange Buddhism talks with a local monk. His advice to White Lotus fans? “Book now. Secure your room, or you might miss the window.”
This story appears in the March 2025 issue of ELLE.