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When Fairmont Century Plaza first opened in 1966, this luxury hotel on a former backlot of 20th Century Fox Studios became the first hotel in the U.S. to have color televisions. The hotel was also of the site of President Nixon’s Dinner of the Century honoring the return of the Apollo 11 astronauts, and it hosted the 10th Grammy Awards when the Beatles won Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Today, it sits in the epicenter of Hollywood biggest talent agency offices and a chic shopping destination.

The building itself is a midcentury work from Minoru Yamaski (designer of the original World Trade Center). A $2.5 billion dollar reimagination in 2021 by studio Yabu Pushelberg brought an updated elegance that redued the number of guest rooms from 720 to 400 larger accommodations. The cool-toned rooms and 85 terrace-studded suites are adorned with digital paintings and landscape photographs and outfitted with Le Labo amenities. The outdoor pool is an oasis between office towers. The expansive 14,000 square foot spa, one of LA’s largest, offers a range of futuristic treatments including biohacking (which involves infrared technology, neuroscience, and meditation) and an “anti-gravity chair.” Celebrity trainers work with the hotel and Techno gym bags with weights and equipment can be delivered to rooms.

Lumière is the hotel’s modern brasserie serving a California spin on French cuisine that leans on seasonal ingredients. And in keeping with the hotel’s star-spangled entertainment legacy, in the soaring, sandy-hued lobby, The Bar doubles as a drinking den for meticulously crafted cocktails and live music venue. Elton John and Mariah Carey have played here, and now a next-gen lineup of artists play neo soul, jazz and other styles five evenings a week.

Madrid’s Prado Museum, home to Goya, Velazquez, Murillo, El Greco, and numerous other greats, has so much to see that just one visit isn’t enough! If you have a few days in Madrid, drop into the museum in the afternoons (after 5pm) when there is no charge, rather than attempting to see the entire collection in one visit. If you only have time for one trip to the museum, stop by the gift shop to pick up a mini guide, which serves as cheat cheat to the museum’s highlights. Photo by vanOrt/Flickr.

Apparently, you don’t need a rockin’ house or an haute hotel to throw a massive pool party. The only thing missing from the poolside shindigs at these downtown Scottsdale bars are the floaties. First, there’s Spanish Fly Mexican Beach Club with its private cabanas and day beds. Then just down the street is Maya Day and Nightclub, which not only has private plunge pools but also a taco bar, LED video screen and floating stage that hosts DJs and live music. Rounding out the trio is El Santo, a cantina and patio bar with a 15,000-square-foot Mexican resort-style pool.

Sunny days should be cherished, and Puerto Rico offers plenty of them. Beaches are wonderful when you’re seeking to escape the heat, but Old San Juan will have you embracing the rays and feeling just as wild and free. The whole family will have a blast running around the fields of El Morro, tirelessly trying to keep a cat- or airplane-shaped kite soaring through the air. At the Plaza del Quinto Centenario, where water shoots up from the ground in foamy jets, join the locals as they gather around to frolic and cool off.

Why we love it: Atelier Ace’s first luxury property in New Orleans, with antiques and other unique design details to lust after

The Highlights:
- The guests-only library bar, hidden behind a bookcase at Bar Marilou
- Colorful marble floors in the bathrooms
- High-end service, but plenty of privacy when you want it

The Review:
Atelier Ace partnered with Pamela Shamshiri of L.A.-based Studio Shamshiri to design this 67-room property, which opened in April 2019 in an old City Hall annex in the Central Business District. Shamshiri decorated the distinctive guest house with a mix of antiques she collected from around the world, plus custom art and design elements like colorful marble floors, French wallpaper, and vintage-inspired glass light fixtures. Keep an eye out for a reoccurring snake motif throughout the hotel, from sculptural snake shower-door handles in the bathrooms to cobra lamps in the hallways and slithering ceramic elements in the fireplace of the lobby lounge. It’s a little bit Garden of Eden with a hint of the occult, making you feel as if you’ve checked into the private home of an elderly socialite—maybe Iris Apfel—that’s filled to the brim with fabulous souvenirs from her worldly travels over the years.

Maison de Luz is located just across the street from the Ace Hotel New Orleans and guests are encouraged to pop over to the sister property to enjoy the rooftop pool or grab a crawfish roll at Seaworthy. Back at Maison, however, the common areas—including a hidden library bar—are just for overnight guests, creating the feeling of a calm refuge within the city.

On the non-descript, busy corner of Bucareli and Morelos streets in Mexico City is a café with a famous history: Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra met here at Café La Habana several times, chain smoking and drinking strong coffee, to plan the Cuban Revolution. Nowadays, you can still get excellent coffee—and pretty good food—while you plan something a little less dramatic (but more enjoyable), like your vacation itinerary. Old journalists and businessmen congregate here for hours on end while salt-of-the-earth, slightly surly waitresses take your order and bring you your food and drink. Come for breakfast and order their chilaquiles, motuleños, or molletes, and wash it down with an espresso or café americano.

Designed by Oscar de la Renta, who was also a guiding force in the original vision for Puntacana Resort, Tortuga Bay Hotel has 13 freestanding villas comprising 30 suites, each with Frette linens, a kitchenette, and a balcony or terrace with views of the Caribbean or La Cana Golf Club. Hotel guests landing at Punta Cana International receive fast-track passage through customs, pickup by a private driver, personal concierge check-in, and keys to a golf cart for getting to the resort’s Oscar de la Renta Tennis Club, two golf courses, and Six Senses Spa.

Cirque du Soleil’s newest show in Las Vegas, Michael Jackson ONE, is part tribute, part acrobatic performance, part dance show and all around outstanding. The show features a number of Michael Jackson’s best known songs, and together they tell the story of his legacy while also doing justice to the Cirque du Soleil component. Highlights of the show include a hologram of the King of Pop sharing the stage with other dancers, a slack line routine and several performers dancing on the walls in lit-up outfits. Though people who are not fans of Michael Jackson have been hesitant to see the show, fans and non-fans alike seem to be impressed with it.

Tucked away in the Belgian province of West Flanders is the small town (about 20,000 residents) of Poperinge, almost touching the French border. I went there to visit the Hop Museum and the area produces around 80% of Belgium’s hop crop. If you’re a beer lover, then you know this is a fact: no hops = no beer. Every September the town holds the annual Hop Festival to celebrate the harvest, just has they have done (celebrating hops, that is) for centuries. An interesting fact: Poperinge also the home to Belgium’s very first astronaut - Dirk Frimout.

To say that the drive from Nice to Monaco is scenic, is an understatement. After driving around a bend on the mountain, everyone on our tour bus suddenly rushed to one side and pressed up against the windows trying to get a snap of this GORGEOUS view. Pity about the fence at the bottom! ...Guess I’ll have to go back to get a better photo... I couldn’t remember the exact spot this photo was taken, but it was on this drive that we passed the site of Grace Kelly’s fatal car crash, so I have listed it as on that road.

Walk into the past as you climb the hill of this small village to La Iglesia de San Pancho, a restored 16th century Franciscan church that appeared in the classic John Huston-Humphrey Bogart film Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Stay the night at the Rancho San Cayetano on the highway at the base of town. This village is 2 km from Zitácuaro, Michoacán. Take a taxi and tell the driver you want to go to La Iglesia de San Pancho.

Despite the moniker, fries are 100% Belgian. At least that’s what locals and expats alike believe. Having lived in Brussels for six years, I ate my fair share of frites. Mayonnaise is the sauce of choice for most, but me? Oh la la. I prefer the Sauce Andalouse ---Mayonnaise mixed with tomato purée and pimento. In a word---yum! The best way to eat them is from the numerous frite stands that dot the city scape of Brussels. Hot out of the oil, wrapped in a paper cone, there is nothing better.

Due to its prime location and sophisticated design, one thing you’re guaranteed to get when you stay at The Cosmopolitan is a stellar view. Every room has a balcony — a wonderful vantage point for viewing the city’s lights. Though the views are certainly a selling point for The Cosmopolitan, you don’t just check into the average hotel room when you stay here. Rooms are spacious with casual seating, a desk, and an incredibly comfortable bed. Every bathroom has a roomy tiled shower and deep sunken tub — also with a stunning view. To complement the resort’s edgy, avant-garde feel, a number of visually stunning and thought-provoking coffee table books are scattered throughout the room as well. Open since December 2010, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has quickly become a favorite for those visiting from out of town and locals looking to spice up a few hours of their day. In true to Las Vegas fashion, the property has everything you need and those checking into The Cosmopolitan don’t have to leave the property during their stay given the many dining, entertainment, and shopping options on site. But once they walk into their rooms and settle in, they might be tempted just to hunker down in their private oasis.

If you love antiquing or if you’re just searching for a Mexico City souvenir with a bit of history behind it, it’s hard to imagine a more pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning in the capital than visiting Plaza del Angel, a giant antique market with dozens of galleries, located in the Zona Rosa. You can visit during the week, too, but on Saturdays, temporary vendors join those who have permanent spaces here to sell all sorts of wares, from postcards and pictures to religious relics, furniture, books, magazines, and handcrafts.

I was in the Ribeira district of Oporto. I wanted to see the Gothic and Baroque Church of Sao Francisco. So I wandered into the church that was listed as one of the most important and beautiful churches of Oporto. It was said to be very ornate. I was mesmerized by the beauty of this huge edifice with the elaborately decorated interior said to have more than 300 kilos of gold dust covering altars and other decorative surfaces. I stood there and tried to think of the work involved in completing this church. It must have been a huge undertaking ( as were so many of the monuments the world over). The church was built originally as a small building in 1245 by the Franciscan friars in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1383, a much larger church was built.It was finished about 1425. The structure is a basic Gothic church with the large rose window. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Baroque architecture was added. The Franciscan friars were buried in the catacombs which you can visit. There is also an ossuary with thousands of human bones. The interior is very large and you need at least an hour to peruse this monument. This is an attraction that you should not miss while in Oporto.