The Maison
A small house,
composed slowly.
Founded in 2014 in a small studio above the DIFC. Six travel directors. No more than thirty journeys a year. We accept clients only by introduction, and we never repeat an itinerary.
The atelier · DIFC, Dubai · Founded 2014
The maison began with a single conviction: that the Arab world deserved to be experienced the way its most discerning residents experience it — by introduction, never by brochure.
Aisha al-Mansouri had spent ten years in Geneva, working with a private bank to compose travel for a small circle of clients. The work was beautiful, but constrained by the bank's house style. In 2014, she returned to the Emirates and opened a studio of her own above the DIFC, with three travel directors, a list of forty families, and a single rule: that no journey be repeated.
Ten years on, the maison remains a small house. We accept no more than thirty journeys a year, and we have never published a brochure, a press release, or a social media post about a single traveller. The work, and the word, is what grows us.
We are based in Dubai, with a small atelier in Cairo and a London room by appointment. Our travel directors are recruited from a small set of careers — banking, the foreign service, the heritage world — and they are all, in their own way, experts in the country they work in.
We accept new clients only by introduction, and from the existing families we serve. If you have heard of us by a third party, write to us. We will know the name.
Begin a Conversation →The Travel Directors
Six people. The full maison.
Each journey is composed by a single travel director, end to end. They do not delegate to a junior team, and they do not hand you off to a call centre. Below, the full house.
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01 · Founder & Principal Travel Director
Aisha al-Mansouri
Born in Sharjah, educated at the Sorbonne. Aisha founded the maison in 2014 after a decade with a private bank in Geneva, where she composed travel for a small circle of clients. She is the third generation of her family to work in the trade.
Arabic · French · English · Italian
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02 · Senior Travel Director, The Gulf
Hassan al-Fahim
A former naval officer, Hassan has been with the maison since 2016. He is the reason a number of doors in the Sultanate and the Kingdom open for our travellers. He is also our resident falconer.
Arabic · English
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03 · Travel Director, The Levant & North Africa
Yara Nader
A classical archaeologist by training, Yara leads our Levant and North Africa compositions. She is the author of two monographs on Levantine late antiquity and the only person we know who has dined in every good restaurant in the medina of Fez.
Arabic · French · English · Spanish
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04 · Travel Director, Egypt & the Red Sea
Sofia Rinaldi
A Sicilian Egyptologist, Sofia has lived in Cairo for twenty-two years. She leads our Egypt compositions and is our principal interlocutor with the Ministry of Antiquities. She has read every word ever written on the tomb of Nefertari.
Italian · English · Arabic · German
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05 · Creative Director
Luc Bernard
A former art director for a Paris maison, Luc oversees the visual and editorial work of the maison. He is responsible for the house's quiet, considered style — and for the fact that our dossiers have been mistaken for small art books.
French · English · Portuguese
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06 · Director of Operations
Nadia Reza
A graduate of INSEAD, Nadia runs the maison's small operations team. She is the calm, quiet, and very firm person who ensures that when we say a private aircraft is on the tarmac, it is, in fact, on the tarmac.
English · French · Arabic · Urdu
The Partner Network
The work happens on the ground.
We do not own aircraft, yachts, or residences. We do, however, have direct relationships with the people who do. Our partner network is small, vetted, and — in many cases — two generations deep.
A falconer in the Hajar whose grandfather trained our founder's grandfather. A dhow captain in the Musandam who has sailed the same route for forty years. A chef in Petra who trained at Noma before returning to his village. A driver in Cairo who has worked with us since 2014, and who knows the difference between a good day in the museum and a great one.
We do not name them on this page. You will meet them on your journey.
Press & Editorial
In the Words of Others.
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“The most discreet and exacting private travel house working in the Arab world today.”
— Condé Nast Traveler
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“A maison in the old sense. Composed slowly, by hand, for a small and exacting circle of travellers.”
— Monocle
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“The first call you make when the world's most complicated journeys can no longer be done by anyone else.”
— Robb Report
Begin
When you are ready,
we are ready.
Send us a short note, in confidence. A member of the maison will reply, personally, within twenty-four hours. There is no commitment, and no form for the sake of form.
- Telephone
- +971 4 000 0000
- Electronic
- [email protected]
- In Person
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DIFC Gate Village, Level 7
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - London
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12 Mount Street, Mayfair
By appointment