Hello and welcome to the final independent travel podcast of the week with me Simon Calder.

It's Friday the 15th of August and today I'm talking to Susan Farooja, co-founder,

chief operating officer of what I believe to be the most upmarket travel company in the world.

Covey, a company that promises luxury, privacy and adventure in some of the best destinations around the world, Kuvae, a company that promises luxury, privacy and adventure in some of the best

destinations around the world. It includes Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's

Bahra Peninsula, St. Bart's in the Caribbean and Tuscany. But we began by talking about the location

where we met. Mining Town turned celebrity

mountain resort, Aspen, Colorado. The views, the town of Aspen is really, really special

with what it offers. I was just downtown and families at the ice cream shop, getting ice cream

together, the gondola going up to the top of the

mountain, the music festivals, they have music in the parks, so much culture, so much, so much

culture, so many great people and such a beautiful place in the world. You know, you have the

four mountains to ski on or to hike in the summer, and the quality of the homes is exceptional, and we have a

great team here.

Covey's Promise is, once in a lifetime, immersive experiences that go beyond the typical

trappings of travel.

At its heart are more than 100 properties, mainly belonging to high net worth individuals. But how do you build a business like

that? How we started Covey. We started the company back in 2006, and it was really out of a passion

for wonderful places around the world, beautiful homes, great interior design, quality construction. And we actually

started the company from my business partner, Larry Mueller. He owned a small collection of homes.

He wasn't using them on a regular basis. So he, I feel like I went to Hawaii more than he did.

And we started renting just once in a while to friends.

...