Search results for

Updated in 2017, the rooms and public areas in this attractive, airy resort have an island-themed decor. Rooms now come equipped with marble bathroom vanities, Smart LED Samsung televisions, and Starbucks Coffee. But the star attraction remains a prime, crowd-free position on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach, famous for clear water and powder-fine white sand. Resort sun loungers are spread far apart to give guests a sense of privacy. A day camp with fun activities and a healthy meals program for kids (ages 4-to-12) means parents get guiltless downtime (or scuba diving and other water sports). Shopping and alternative dining are within walking distance.

Hotel Bo is a so-called design concept hotel, and its particular concept is the unification of contemporary and traditional Chiapaneco architecture and design. (Chiapaneco means indigenous to the state of Chiapas, where San Cristobal de las Casas is located.) The four elements—wind, water, fire, and earth—are central to the hotel’s aesthetic, with different design details, such as fireplaces and candles, alluding to these elements. Rooms are decorated with some local crafts, and beds are dressed with colorful spreads. The hotel really is in the heart of San Cristobal, within easy walking distance of markets, restaurants, and the city’s main sights, many of which are architectural gems dating back to the colonial era.

Mole Creek Karst National Park, along with the surrounding Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, offers subterranean streams and pools, plus at least 300 caves. At Marakoopa Cave, you’ll feel as though you’re in mother nature’s planetarium—the walls are lit up by Australia’s largest colony of glowworms. Caves like Honeycomb and Westmorland are best explored during a half- or full-day trip with Deb from Wild Cave Tours. Unlike most guides, she holds a PhD in speleology. But if one day is not enough, make it a wild caving weekend to progress from walking and wading to scrambling and squeezing through tight crevices. Local beer and wine await you at Mole Creek Guesthouse.

Sometimes it’s nice to get off the beaten path. You can take the normal pathways around Cinque Terre (and they are spectacular in their own right) but you can also veer a bit off the normal journey and take the ‘high road’ to catch a glimpse of some breathtaking vistas. Leaving Riomaggiore through the back road on foot, keep walking up hill until you see a small set of stairs under the main road that lead down to a grass path. Follow this path under the stone bridge, and begin your ascent up through the vineyards and terraced gardens. When you reach the top, soak up the unrivaled sea views. From some out-perches, you can see four of the five villages at one time.

Dining at one of Negril’s excellent cliffside restaurants is highly recommended, and the gorgeous setting of Ivan’s Bar & Restaurant at Catcha Falling Star makes it a very nice option. The longtime favorite has one of the best views along the coast and serves lobster dinners and classic Jamaican cuisine with a bit of a modern twist. Guests are seated under an open-sided thatched roof or out under the stars at private tables on a patio near the cliff’s edge. Another favorite choice for romantic cliffside dining is the restaurant at Rockhouse Hotel. (If you want more cocktails post-dinner, walk down to LTU Pub and mingle with the locals. Casual eateries and cliff bars along West End Road include 3 Dives and Sips & Bites.)

The Black Forest, Schwardzwald in German, is a gorgeous pine-wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg with a number of historic towns. If the numerous Michelin star restaurants in this area (think black forest ham and black forest cake) aren’t enough to get you there, the numerous long footpaths will. The region includes part of the E1 European long-distance footpath, which passes through neighboring countries and always has plans for expansion. Its highest peak is the Feldberg, at 4,898 ft. But this area is not just for long trekkers, a variety of short walks are possible too. Stop in towns like Freiburg and Calw, and Gengenbach. Don’t miss the All Saints and Triberg waterfalls.

Whistler Blackcomb doesn’t do anything small, so it was no surprise that Whistler Bike Park quickly emerged as the global go-to, lift-access, downhill-biking destination. The park even has its own massive festival, Crankworx, a 10-day rock-hopping frenzy every August. Walking among the armored throngs rolling their studded-tired bikes toward the lifts, you could forget that it snows here at all. Any thoughts of summer being the off-season have vanished. You don’t have to be a millennial—though it helps—to get dirty here; there are more than enough green and blue runs to provide a serious rush for youngsters and boomers. Sign up for the park’s outdoor clinics for critical insights into your technique.

Although everyone heads to France to see its chateaux, there are more than 3000 castles in Belgium and many are open to the public. A good place to start is the Chateau de Beloeil near Hainaut, in Wallonia. It has been in the hands of the same noble family since 1394. The rooms are filled with period furniture and artworks and the beautiful library contains over 20,000 titles. Sadly, the grounds seem a bit faded in their glory, but it’s still worth a walk to the far ends of the property for this stunning view of the chateau.

All along the Eastern Seashore of Australia you will encounter spheres of sand in patterns, lines, and random assortments on the beach. At first, it looks a bit like sand circles after an alien beach landing, but if you wait around long enough, you will observe the a sand bubbler crab hard at work on a natural masterpiece. On this particular evening, the tide was low and the entire beach was covered with little balls of sand. Cape Hillsborough National Park is a stunning bit of land with plenty of curiosities, including friendly beach-minded kangaroos and several walks including a long stretch of beach to amble along at the end of the day. If you are camping, this park is not to be missed!

Petaling Street is renowned for selling fake goods, everything from designer watches and bags to football jerseys and video games. Originally, the street was open to traffic, but it has since become an enclosed area, complete with transparent roof for protection against rain. Bargaining is the norm when buying, but nowadays stall owners have become so used to this ‘game’ that they’re reluctant to reduce their prices too low (like in the old days). Still, it’s a must visit if you’re in K.L. Even though it’s more crowded, it’s best to go at night when it’s cooler and there are more stalls. The top photo shows the main entrance to the street, and the bottom photo shows the view as you walk in.

Stand on the the quais beneath the Pont Neuf bridge—the city’s oldest crossing of the Seine—and look up. Staring down at you are mascarons, stone faces that resemble gargoyles, but without bodies. No two of these grotesque visages are the same. Enjoy their individuality as you ponder the decades it took to build this stone structure: begun in 1578 by Henri III and inaugurated by Henri IV in 1607. From 1588 to 1599, construction was interrupted by the French Wars of Religion, which lasted 36 years. Then head up the stairs to walk across its two spans, which connect the Ile de la Cité to the Right and Left banks. Great views of the Louvre can be had from the longer, seven-arch span that stretches to the Right Bank.

The Jungfrau is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the southern canton of Bern and the northern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. It’s the perfect place for the quintessential Swiss experience. The cows are actually moving their heads just to hear the bells ring. So many people take pictures of them, they must feel like movie stars. :)

A city as ancient as Istanbul has many layers of history, and you’ll have to go below the surface to see the Basilica Cistern, the largest of the underground cisterns. Built in the sixth century for the Byzantine emperor Justinian, the atmospheric reservoir is supported by 336 columns, many of which have been repurposed from other ruins over the centuries. The Medusa-head column bases are a favorite to photograph, along with the carp that swim silently in the dimly lit waters. The cistern is located between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and the best time to visit is simply whenever the line looks short, especially on a hot summer day—it’s always cooler underground.

When it comes to safari experiences, South Africa is filled with luxury lodge selections. But what sets Jaci’s Safari Lodge, and the adjacent Jaci’s Tree Lodge, apart is their location in off the radar Madikwe Game Reserve (Big Five territory), their amazing hospitality and their perfectly on-point style. Magnificent Madikwe is located in the North West Province, on the border with Botswana, and the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert’s famed red sands. It’s a stunning landscape for a safari that looks quite different than what you find in the reserves like the luxe Sabi Sands around Kruger National Park and is just as accessible. Arrive via car on paved roads from Johannesburg in just about 4 hours or hop on a quick hour long scenic flight with the excellent Federal Airlines that will take you to an airstrip about 15- minutes drive through the park from the lodge — you’ll be greeted by a safari vehicle and on the way may just encounter a herd or elephant or pride of lions as we did.

Upon arrival at Jaci’s Safari Lodge you’ll be greeted by the beyond friendly and professional staff and offered a welcome drink in the gorgeous, vibrantly colored lounge and dining room area while your luggage is whisked away to your tent or suite. Jaci’s Safari Lodge offers six vintage posh Tented Suites, two privat eFamily Suites and two ultra luxe Starbed Suites, which have the option of sleeping al fresco under the stars listening to the sounds of nature — a rhino was just below us against the fence when we stayed making noise as he stomped and munched. But if sleeping al fresco isn’t for you, don’t worry as the Starbed Suites are in proper glass, steel and concrete structures with interior bedrooms completely closed off from the outside. There are more options at the adjacent Jaci’s Tree Lodge, which offers eight Treehosue Suites on custom wooden stilts connected by raised walkways that appear to float above the ground.

The food here is delicious and Madikwe Game Reserve is a hidden secret among South African parks and filled with dozens upon dozens of big cats (so many they had to remove a number of lions over the years) as well as two packs of rare wild dogs and a healthy rhino and elephant population. The guides are amazing and the bush dinners truly special. They even have a program that allows you to rent high end Canon DSLR cameras for your safaris that will bring out your inner wildlife photographer — we used these and the experience was a highlight of the trip.

The cornerstone of the Kensington Street Precinct, at the heart of the funky Chippendale neighborhood, the Old Clare is the storied pub she used to be and so much more. Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects built a glass-and-steel walkway between the former Clare Hotel and the neighboring Carlton United Brewery building, both dating to the early 20th century, to create a 62-room boutique hotel that simultaneously feels historic and edgy. Original wood panels and brick walls blend seamlessly into spotted gum floors and nude-colored walls, exemplifying the creative reuse that pervades the Chippendale suburb, an inner-city district of galleries and cafés situated at the crossroads of Glebe, Redfern, Surry Hills, Chinatown, and the Central Business District. The design echoes other landmark Sydney restorations by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer such as the Paddington Reservoir Gardens and Carriageworks, an arts complex located just down the road. The Old Clare also brings two more standout restaurants to Chippendale, including the first Australian venture by Michelin-starred British chef Jason Atherton. Whether guests soak in the egg-shaped tub in their loft room, take a sunrise yoga class on the rooftop pool deck, or sip a “Ginny Hendricks,” a watermelon-dill concoction with bitters and Hendrick’s gin, at the midcentury-modern bar, they’ll have a story to tell. The Old Clare is a tale that keeps getting better.