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Why we love it: A five-star resort unlike anything else on the Jersey Shore

The Highlights:
- Private terraces in every room with views of the ocean or sand dunes
- Top-notch service from pool attendants and the staff at large
- A rooftop pool that feels more like Miami than New Jersey

The Review:
From real estate developer iStar, designer Anda Andrei, and hotelier David Bowd of Salt Hotels comes this five-star resort—the first of its kind on the Jersey Shore. Located on the fourth floor of a mixed-use luxury development, the 54-room property sits right off the boardwalk, offering endless views of the Atlantic Ocean. Rooms take advantage of the vistas with floor-to-ceiling windows, a muted palette, and private terraces that look out onto either the water or the hotel’s sand-dune garden, while spacious bathrooms feature glass-enclosed showers and handpicked amenities like conditioner from MiN and soaps from Palermo Body.

As inviting as the guestrooms may be, however, it’s the hotel’s common spaces that truly impress. The pool deck and garden terrace blend seamlessly into the ocean beyond, creating a serene oasis just four stories above the beach. Here, guests sunbathe on loungers and daybeds or relax in tree-shaded seating areas while pool attendants mill about, offering to clean their sunglasses, spritz them with cool water, or bring them a drink from the pergola-covered bar in the corner. Should they wish to hit the sand, a personal “Beach Bellperson” will set up their towels, chairs, and umbrellas and deliver lunch whenever they get hungry.

When the weather gets too hot—or too cold, as AOC is a year-round hotel—guests can repair to the Drawing Room, which sits at the heart of the property. A glass house that floats on a tranquil reflecting pool, the space is designed to feel like a living room, with eclectic furniture, a green-tiled fireplace, an open kitchen that doubles as a bar, and live piano music several nights a week. Come 2020, there will also be a fine-dining restaurant on site, where guests can indulge before sweating it out at the Technogym-equipped fitness center or a morning yoga session on the pool deck.

Why we love it: A wilderness retreat full of natural beauty and rustic luxury

The Highlights:
- A wide range of accommodations, including luxurious glamping tents
- More than enough activities to keep the entire family entertained
- A spectacular spa with fireplaces in each treatment room

The Review:
Nestled deep in the Ozark Mountains, Big Cedar Lodge was built in the early 1920s as a lavish country retreat for two prominent Missourians. It was purchased in 1987 by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, who turned it into a fishing camp, then converted it to a high-end wilderness resort spread over 4,600 acres of wooded hollows. Today, it’s a popular place to connect with the great outdoors—amid some serious luxury. Overlooking the blue-green Table Rock Lake, the resort is focused on water recreation, offering activities like fishing, water-skiing, tubing, and rides on just about any boat you could imagine. A favorite choice is the Goin’ Jessi, an exact replica of a 1934 Chris-Craft named after Waylon Jennings’s wife, on which guests can take hour-long tours with champagne. Also on-site are two full-service marinas, four golf courses, and a 50,000-square-foot entertainment center with everything from go-karts, bumper cars, and laser tag to a ropes course, bowling alley, arcade, and climbing wall.

When visitors aren’t busy having fun, they’re spending quality time in Big Cedar Lodge’s plentiful accommodations, which range from lodge rooms to cottages to private log cabins with stone fireplaces, private decks, and jetted tubs. For something really unique, however, book an overnight experience at Camp Long Creek, an area just minutes from Big Cedar with camp huts, cabins, and glamping units right on the lake. (Outfitted with king canopy beds, chandeliers, and outdoor living spaces with a fire pit, shower, and galvanized tub for alfresco bathing, the tents are particularly exceptional.) Dining options are equally varied, from a casual café to a fine-dining restaurant to a wine-and-whiskey cellar. Still, the Cedar Creek Spa & Salon is alone worth a visit, thanks to its beautiful stained glass windows, hand-hewn timber ceiling, and stone floors crowned by chandeliers. There’s even an ice room and a candlelit grotto with body jets, plus 12 treatment rooms equipped with fireplaces and robes that are warmed up for post-treatment relaxation.

Why we love it: A historic building turned stylish hotel with a buzzy restaurant and lavish spa

The Highlights:
- Chic decor that mixes historic preservation with contemporary style
- A rooftop cocktail bar with citrus-inspired drinks
- Amenities like an on-site boutique, open-air yoga, and house car service

The Review:
Much has been written about Charleston’s antebellum charms, but modernists seeking respite need look no further than The Dewberry, a 1960s federal building on Marion Square that’s now one of the city’s coolest hotels. Here, a wood-paneled lobby gives way to a cozy living room straight out of Mad Men, complete with mid-century furnishings, antiqued mirrors, live music, and a brass bar serving up deviled eggs and classic cocktails. Up a flight of stairs, the second-floor spa features tufted-velvet recliners and treatments that incorporate Lowcountry flora, plus a full-service fitness center and open-air yoga classes on the hotel rooftop.

The 155 light-filled guest rooms are equally stylish, with luxurious Irish linens, marble baths, and armoires clad in custom-printed linen by local illustrator Becca Barnet. Barnet’s work is also on display in the by-reservation-only Citrus Club, a rooftop lounge with craft cocktails and light bites overlooking the Holy City’s famed steeples. For a heartier meal, guests can head to on-site restaurant Henrietta’s, where traditional French brasserie fare meets local ingredients. Rounding things out are unique amenities like house car service in luxury Volvos, complimentary Papillionaire bicycles, and a boutique curated by Garden & Gun, with fashion, barware, jewelry, and more from Southern artisans and craftsmen.

Sydney’s 158-acre botanic garden, which hugs the harbor between Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and the Sydney Opera House, is home to nearly 9,000 plant species. Depending on the season of your visit, you might seek out spring peaches and wisteria or tropical orchids and summer lotus flowers. On any occasion, don’t miss descendants of the 200-million-year-old Wollemi pine, a dinosaur of a conifer only discovered in 1994. The gardens are also studded with sculptures from historical statues to modern works by Bronwyn Oliver, Paul Selwood, and Keld Moseholm. The quartz-and-sandstone Wurrungwuri depicts an Aboriginal shield once used by the traditional owners of this land. Tours are offered throughout the year, including a 1.5-hour Aboriginal history tour on the food and medicinal properties of native Australian plants.

While Dresden and Denver may boast of museums by Daniel Libeskind, Las Vegas has a 500,000 square-foot retail space designed by the star architect. The shimmering multi-faceted jewel on the Strip draws in shoppers — as well as anyone who appreciates contemporary architecture and art. There are more than 100 sculptures by Richard MacDonald and a gallery of works by Dale Chihuly. Few malls can boast a treehouse, the three-story hub of the Shops made of mahogany and sapele wood or that they have achieved Gold certification from LEED thanks to its environmentally conscious practices and materials. Nearly every luxury brand is represented at the Shops at Crystals, but sometimes the most fascinating things are the ones most people don’t see. If you’re a convincingly serious shopper, you just might find yourself in the luxuriously appointed back room of Van Cleef & Arpels, where millions of dollars of giant diamonds and glowing green emeralds never make it to the front counter. Free-spending customers are invited inside to sip Champagne, admire the fabric-wrapped walls and velvet drapes, and gaze upon mind blowing jewels.

In the center of the Founder’s Chapel of the Batalha monastery of Santa Maria da Vitoria, you will find the tombs of King John I and his wife Queen Philippa of Lancaster. Their sons’ tombs are also there.

One of their sons was Prince Henry the Navigator. Henry was born in Oporto in 1394 and I visited his birthplace while in that grand city which is Portugal’s second largest.


Henry was always interested in the sea and navigation. His father appointed him governor of the province of the Algarve and he founded a school of navigation and an observatory in Sagres. Sagres is located at the south western tip of the Algarve. It is a wild and beautiful rocky outcrop. There are remains of Henry’s school there.

I stood on the grounds as the wind whipped the area on a sunny day. You could almost see the caravels coming into the near-by ports their sails snapping in the wind.

The maritime trade started by Prince Henry the Navigator enabled Portugal to become a wealthy world power (14th to 16th centuries). The ship he designed called the caravel was lighter and faster than vessels of the time. Because of Henry’s work, other navigators explored the seas and discovered many new sea routes.

The Prince died in 1460 and left a very impressive legacy. Henry’s tomb is a large marble structure and is marked. I went up to the tomb that is beautifully preserved in Batalha’s chapel.

There is a lot of history in that chapel. When in the monastery, don’t miss the Founder’s Chapel.

This cultural center with studios and offices for musicians is also a restaurant that focuses on hot dogs (yes, and they are very good!) and a music venue for alternative and world music. Totally relaxed with a nice little garden outside.

One of the Dominican Republic’s finest museums can be found in its second-largest city, Santiago de los Caballeros. Centro León, a philanthropic project run by the Grupo León Jimenes tobacco company, focuses on Dominican culture, showcasing everything from historical displays to contemporary art. Learn about the island’s ecosystem, history, and people, then browse work by noted Dominican artists. In a separate building is an exhibition about the founder of Grupo León Jimenes and his family business. For a souvenir, be sure to stop by the excellent gift shop, which features a wide selection of books on Dominican history, art, culture, and food.

On Liberdade Avenue, amid famous designer stores, sits this five-star hotel. Each room is decorated in white and black with Victorian-inspired details. Enjoy one of the many sunny days in Lisbon, sitting outside in the terrace.

Originally laid out during Spanish rule, the Alameda Central was Mexico City’s first municipal park, at one time reserved for the elite. Today it’s a well-manicured garden for all, especially popular with working-class crowds on Sundays. Its willow-lined lanes lead to old-fashioned statuary, fountains, and a gazebo (where something’s always going on), as well as a rotating calendar of contemporary sculpture exhibitions. On the park’s western edge and occupying a beautifully restored art deco structure, the shopping and design center known as Barrio Alameda houses edgy boutiques, a chic guesthouse, and trendy restaurants whose outdoor seating is a people-watcher’s delight. Duck in for a glimpse of how the city center continues along its gentrifying course.

Servers, somms, and chef-owner Nancy Silverton all swirl around Osteria Mozza’s centerpiece Mozzarella Bar, where small dishes of freshly imported mozzarella, ricotta, and burrata are plated with pairings like bacon or braised leeks. With eyes closed, white-tablecloth diners attempt to fully savor each bite of cool, moist cheese before it melts in their mouths. These flavors are a tough act to follow, but the restaurant certainly steps up to the plate with signature meals like the Squid Ink Chittara Freddi with crab, sea urchin, and jalapeño. Just be sure to leave room for a rosemary olive oil cake for dessert: The eatery’s Dahlia Narvaez was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2016. Reservations at least one month out are recommended unless you have the flexibility to take a chance with a walk-in seat at the Mozzarella Bar itself—a one-of-a-kind experience.

Rockefeller Center was one of the great construction projects of the Great Depression, a complex of 14 buildings between Fifth and Sixth avenues and 48th and 51st streets built over the 1930s. It’s also one of America’s grandest examples of Art Deco design, from the Indiana-limestone-clad buildings themselves to its interior murals and allegorical figures in panels above the entries to the various buildings. (Daniel Okrent recounts the fascinating history of the complex in detail in his acclaimed Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center.) For many travelers to New York, the center is a favorite destination even if they aren’t students of architecture or urban planning. It’s the home of Radio City Music Hall, where the Rockettes perform; its 70th-floor observation deck offers sweeping views of the city; and every morning tourists gather outside the windows of the NBC studios during the broadcast of The Today Show.

The center also hosts temporary large-scale art installations, like Jeff Koons’s enormous dancer and flower puppy in recent years, and the lighting of its Christmas tree marks the unofficial start of the holiday season. Another bucket-list experience here is taking a turn on the small sunken ice rink under the golden statue of Prometheus. Just across Fifth Avenue from Rockefeller Center is another New York landmark, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, looking better than ever after a multiyear renovation that included a thorough cleaning of the Gothic building’s facade.

Mission Dolores Park, aka “Dolo”, is one of the most popular parks in San Francisco, especially when the sun is out, since this neighborhood is known for being one of the sunniest in the city.

On a sunny weekend, you’ll be hard pressed to find a patch of green to plant yourself on, but that’s what makes Dolores Park so much fun. Yes there is a playground for kids, and basketball and tennis courts, too. But the real sport here is people watching.

You’ll hear music booming between dog barks; people toss footballs, tightrope walk, and fling their Frisbees. Bodies slathered in oil glisten in the sun; ice cream melts down the arms of laughing children; the whiff of cut grass (and other questionable varieties) linger in the air. Vendors will also come around to sell a variety of snacks and drinks, and you’ll also encounter people collecting your cans after they’re empty.

The abundant restaurants and markets in the area (Bi-Rite and Tartine are two popular ones on 18th street, just a block from the downhill portion of the park) make make it easy to pack a picnic and fuel your day out. All you need to do is bring a blanket, plop down on a hill where the views reach to downtown, and chill out San Francisco-style.

Dolores Park is named for Miguel Hidalgo, a priest in Dolores, Mexico who urged his countrymen to overthrow their Spanish rulers in 1810, sparking Mexico’s battle for independence. A statue in his tribute stands in the center of the park.

Why we love it: A sprawling retreat offering high design and a beachfront location

The Highlights:

• Guest rooms with private plunge pools or whirlpools
• The only Thalasso therapy wellness spa in Baja
• Five separate pools, plus 4,000 square feet of beachfront

The Review
Though the Baja Peninsula has welcomed a slew of luxury properties over the past few years, it seems the 128-room Solaz is only in competition with itself. First, there are the sophisticated stone-and-wood interiors, which balance high-tech details (remote controlled lighting) and luxe amenities (outdoor showers, private plunge pools) with locally sourced decor and wall sculptures by Mexican artist César López Negrete.

Guests even have the option to add personal butler service, which can arrange everything from swimming with whale sharks to ordering a bottle of local wine from the property’s wine cellar. Outdoors, the landscaping features endemic desert plants like agave and cacti, with a hardly a palm tree in sight.

Then there’s the spa, a 10,000-square-foot refuge that features the region’s only Thalasso therapy seawater treatments and a Himalayan salt igloo. Five pools (including two sleek infinity ones that overlook the Sea of Cortez), four dining outlets (a Mexican breakfast spot, a seafood restaurant, a poolside cafe, and a coffee lounge), a beachfront fitness center, and 4,000 square feet of white-sand shoreline complete the desert dream.

Panamanians love Chinese brunch. The Chinese community here, one of the largest and most prosperous in the Western Hemisphere, is the result of a wave of immigration that began 160 years ago for railroad construction. One happy result of this long relationship between Panama and the Chinese? Dim sum options abound in the capital city. Many tout Lung Fung (on Avenida de los Periodistas in the Los Ángeles quarter), considered the oldest of such restaurants; the Golden Unicorn (in the San Francisco quarter behind the Atlapa Convention Center) has been gaining adherents due to its more contemporary vibe and decor. Palacio Dorado (at Plaza Mirage on Avenida Ricardo J. Alfaro) is another highly attractive setup, well-decorated and spacious. Finally there’s Sunly (Los Tucanes shopping center in El Dorado), where Cantonese delights are the specialty.