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Why we love it: A historic hotel where Old Florida elegance meets contemporary style

The Highlights:
- Unique amenities like a tennis complex, golf course, and private marina
- A wide range of dining options to suit everyone’s tastes
- A prime location near Tropicana Field and The Dalí Museum

The Review:
A member of Historic Hotels of America, the Vinoy Park Hotel opened in 1923—a Mediterranean Revival property overlooking Tampa Bay, designed for America’s elite. It served as a training facility for the Army Air Corps for a brief time in the early 1940s, but reopened as a hotel in 1945 and continued operations until 1974, when it closed in disrepair. Following a $93 million restoration and expansion in 1992, the hotel reopened once again as the Vinoy Renaissance, complete with a new guest tower and an 18-hole golf course designed by Ron Garl.

Today, the Vinoy also features 360 guest rooms and suites, complete with well-lit workspaces, pillowtop mattresses, and Aveda bath products, as well as two swimming pools (one heated), a spacious tennis complex, a 5,000-square-foot fitness center with complimentary workout classes, and an elegant spa offering massages in poolside cabanas. Thanks to the hotel’s waterfront location and private marina, guests can even charter a boat for the day and explore the bay. Dining options range from sushi on the Veranda Patio to farm-to-table fare at Marchand’s Bar & Grill. The culinary standout, however, is Paul’s Landing, named for a Navy carpenter who once fished, farmed orchards, and cured meats and seafood along the St. Pete waterfront. Don’t miss the citrus-glazed shrimp and grits, or the crispy Brussels sprouts with key lime.

Over the past two centuries, the covered market at Borough, not far from London Bridge, has become one of the country’s most famous foodie spots. From Wednesday to Saturday each week hundreds of traders gather to sell homemade breads, hand-reared pork, artisan chocolate and all manner of ingredients—plus excellent coffee, fresh juices and organic wine. Plentiful samples add to the convivial vibe, and restaurants around the market’s edge provide additional sustenance for longer stops.

A three-day safari in Kruger National Park is a must for anyone visiting South Africa. Entering the gates is like Jurassic Park and you feel transported back in time to the creation of Earth where the wild animals, especially the elephants, are dinosaurs filled with ancient knowledge of the land’s beginning. Although you may not see anything like the infamous “Battle at Kruger” YouTube video, you will certainly witness some interesting animal behavior like hippos bathing, monkeys mating, giraffes snacking or even two elephants flirting in the brush.

Without a doubt Versailles is the most luxurious palace in Europe, built to astound visitors and impress the king’s subjects into awed submission with crystal chandeliers, gilt, and fine art. This opulent monument is also attractive to those with simpler tastes: Visitors with green thumbs will love the king’s kitchen gardens while others may want to rent bicycles to pedal the lavish grounds, and animal lovers will enjoy the sheep, goats, and chickens receiving the royal treatment at the queen’s quaint hamlet. La Petite Venise, an excellent restaurant on the grounds, offers garden seating on sunny days.

The Culinary Institute of America opened in the former Copia building in 2017, and, in doing so, resuscitated a vision of a foodie attraction in downtown Napa that celebrates the valley’s long and colorful epicurean history. The facility, originally built by the Mondavi family as a food and wine center, now operates as a cooking school and gastrohub, complete with classes, tasting experiences, panel discussions, and art collections. There’s also a restaurant where visitors can dine on food prepared by CIA student chefs-in-training, and a store that rivals Sur La Table for its selection of kitchenware. In spring and summer, be sure to stroll the culinary gardens, which are so large they stretch across First Street.

Royal Street is to antiques and fine art what Bourbon Street is to booze. This elegant urban thoroughfare is not only home to some of the best examples of the city’s early-19th-century Creole town houses, but is also loaded with high-end antiques retailers. These feature mostly ornate 18th- and 19th-century European sculptures and paintings, early furniture, chandeliers, and dinnerware used by the upper crust. Most of the inventory has a decidedly Continental air to it. Among the better-known shops are Waldhorn and Adler (343 Royal St.); Ida Manheim Antiques (409 Royal St.), run by the same family since 1919; and haute-upscale M.S. Rau (630 Royal St.), with its warren of hidden back rooms open only to serious customers.

Led by Peter Abbott and his wife Christine, this one-hour cultural tour is held on the couples’ ancestral lands near Kings Canyon. Travelers move between demonstration sites where they learn about the eating, hunting and artistic traditions of the Luritja and Southern Aranda clans. The hour might include the burning of medicinal plants, engraving wooden clap sticks and the preparation of bush tucker, including the witchetty grub, an insect found in the roots of acacia trees that tastes a lot like popcorn when cooked over an open fire.

Christchurch excels at reinvention, whether in creative solutions such as the Cardboard Cathedral, or in the use of shipping containers to house shops and restaurants. So it’s no surprise to find a thriving vintage-and-antiques-shopping scene as well. Among Ferry Road’s secondhand shops, Vintage Wonderland lives up to its name, featuring carefully chosen and displayed retro design and home items and collectibles. Find your treasure here, perhaps an Art Deco travel clock or a New Zealand–made teacup—or someone else’s souvenir postcard from Victorian-era Christchurch.

Colorado National Monument is one of those places that many of us drive by a hundred times (it’s right between Denver and Moab, Utah) before finally entering the protected area and discovering the extent of this national treasure—that is so easily accessed from Interstate-70. It consists of a cluster of high cliffs and red-rock formations stretching high above the valley below. Of course the best way to be there for the sunrise is to camp in Saddlehorn Campground, inside the park, perched high atop one of the principle rock formations (photo above from inside the campground). Or you could stay in a hotel in nearby Fruita or Grand Junction (the Grand Junction KOA has a number of options as well, including renting your own RV by the night). Wherever you stay, be sure to set your alarm clock for zero-butt-thirty and get up to one of the many lookout points in Colorado National Monument before the sun comes up. You won’t be sorry and you’ll be able to check off another iconic Colorado experience.

Because of its unique history and a remarkable number of religious monuments, Caravaca de la Cruz is considered a significant holy city by the Catholic Church. A tour of the city is best begun with a visit to the medieval Castle of Santa Cruz, once a Moorish stronghold and then the site of several convents and a church. Inside the castle’s church, the famous Caravaca Cross is said to have converted a Muslim ruler to Christianity in the 13th century, and is treasured by believers for its healing powers.

In 1986, self-described Connecticut Yankee Will Jackson bought an 850-acre cattle ranch with beachfront property and a tiny inn, a few miles north of Fort Bragg. In September 2015, after six years of securing permits and four years of construction, he and his heirs opened The Inn at Newport Ranch, still a working ranch (cattle, quarry, timber) but now surrounded by over 2,000 acres of coastal headlands and rolling hills. The Inn comprises four rooms and four suites (plus the owner’s four-bedroom vacation home), each uniquely configured and appointed. The use of woods, stone, concrete, steel, glass, and plaster, and the attention to detail (it will take more than a weekend stay to discover all the architectural and design treasures) are as spectacular as the panoramic views of the north coast bluffs, beaches, and Pacific Ocean sunsets. We stayed in the Grove Suite, so named because many of the building’s two-dozen 25-foot-tall redwoods (bark still on) come up through the floor as soaring columns in the living/dining areas. The main inn has a water-tower rooftop hot tub, and each suite has its own. Innkeepers Creighton and Cindi Smith have impeccable and down-home hospitality chops. There’s a breakfast spread every morning, wine and appetizers in the evening, and dinner upon request. With a modest footprint, the Inn is Mendocino County’s new great leap forward in accommodations.

The immense Gothic Cathedral of Seville was built on the site of an ancient Muslim mosque. It was completed in the early 16th century and was designated a Roman Catholic cathedral. Since 1987, this cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is said to be the third largest in Europe. The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Sea is also the final resting place of Christopher Columbus since 1898. His tomb is large and elaborate. The beauty and size of the cathedral is simply amazing. The exterior is ornate with extensive carvings, there are many doors, flying buttresses, and towers. There are several ornate doors to the cathedral. The one in the photo is the Puerta de Palos. The interior is incredible with extensive gilding. The central nave is lavishly decorated and carved. The main altarpiece is a stunning golden work of art. The floors are polished marble, the columns and arches tall and imposing. There are intricate 15th century stained glass windows. There are 80 chapels in Saint Mary of the Sea Cathedral there in Seville. The beauty and the sheer size of this historic, religious site was quite amazing. I could have spent four or five hours in this incredible monument. The history lesson learned was that of the story of Seville from the 12th century until modern times. You might want to tour with the audio guide. Plan at least two hours. For info: www.travelinginspain.com

Kompong Phluk is a floating village located in the middle of Cambodia‘s largest lake, Tonle Sap. The term “floating” is a bit misleading: the houses are actually built on very tall stilts around 8 meters high. During the rainy season, the lake rises and covers the stilts, giving the illusion that the homes are floating in the water. We learned that these types of villages are built in the middle of the lake to make it easier for fishermen and rice farmers to gather during harvest season.

Fushimi Inari Taisha on Inariyama mountain is dedicated to the Shinto gods of rice and sake, but Inari is also the god of merchants and that brings a lot of businesspeople to worship here. Everyone else stops by to see the thousands of vermilion torii, or gates (each of which is funded by a Japanese company). They lead to the main shrine, which was built in 1499. Walking underneath the gates is like passing through a fiery tangerine tunnel, and visitors leave behind tiny torii replicas as part of their prayer.

Crowds may swarm upon it daily from sunrise onwards, but exposure hasn’t dulled the impact of the largest religious monument in the world. Commissioned by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century as the centerpiece of the mighty Khmer empire, the structure is inspired by Hindu sacred design and is estimated to have taken around 30 years to build. The biggest surprise upon visiting might be learning that the vast complex of spires, moats, frescoes, cloisters, and balustrades was constructed in such speedy fashion. You won’t be alone while witnessing it, but sunrise over the iconic temple remains one of the essential experiences in Southeast Asia. A return in the afternoon when the camera-toting hordes have dispersed is also advisable.