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Just inland from Ensenada, Baja California exists a wonderland of fine wine, haciendas and Provencal restaurants. There is an energy here that is worth dawning the bullet proof vest and heading a couple hours south of the Mexican boarder to check out the excitement and culinary innovation. In the Valle de Guadalupe wineries and restaurants are redefining where fine wine comes from and what Mexican cuisine can be. The Valle de Guadalupe sits in a valley that warms through the day and is cooled every evening by the onshore flow off the ocean, allowing perfect conditions for grape growing; which has been going on here for over a hundred years. Additionally, the valley is a source of fine olive oil, locally grown herbs and produce, local farms and seafood from the nearby ocean. The best way to experience this culinary movement is to stay at a winery like Adobe Guadalupe or Vinedos Malagon in the heart of the valley. These wineries offer more than just wine tasting and luxury, they offer activities, ranging from horseback riding to cooking classes, deep sea fishing or dirt biking. The best part of it all is you can still fill up on classic Mexican tacos and mariscos when the fine dining and wine becomes too much.

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.

Why we love it: A soulful getaway with access to the best of Todos Santos

The Highlights:
- Guest rooms stocked with luxury linens, alpaca throws, and locally made bath products
- The farm-fresh breakfast served on the palapa-shaded patio
- On-site hosts who will arrange everything from paddle-boarding trips to art walks

The Review:
With their otomi print–clad headboards, colorful talavera tiles, and eclectic hanging lanterns, the eight adobe-and-thatch guest rooms at La Bohemia may inspire you to quit your day job and make Todos Santos your permanent home. The boutique hotel’s husband-and-wife owners fell in love with the place five years ago when they stumbled upon it during a South American road trip and are happy to ensure you enjoy the property as much as they do, whether you use it as an adventure base lodge (they can arrange surfing lessons, fishing trips, and swimming with sea lions) or an escape from the bustle of downtown Todos Santos.

A palapa-shaded patio hosts regular yoga classes, mezcal tastings, and fish taco nights, while a lush tropical garden dotted with loungers and hammocks encourages late-afternoon siestas. There’s also a lovely outdoor pool, plus a beach just a short walk from the hotel (guests also have access to nearby El Faro Beach Club, with a spa and saltwater pool). While there’s no on-site restaurant, there is daily farm-fresh breakfast and on-site bar La Panga Rosa for house mojitos and margaritas. And there are plenty more dining options within strolling distance, nestled among the shops and galleries of hip Todos Santos.

Why we love it: A family-friendly resort with a dizzying array of accommodations and activities

The Highlights:
- A range of accommodations, from cozy cabins to boutique hotel rooms
- More than 65 year-round activities to entertain the kids
- A water-themed spa and two championship golf courses for when you need a break from the family

The Review:
Situated on the shores of Gull Lake, the historic Grand View Lodge has been hosting family vacations since 1916. With everything from a kids’ club and indoor water park to a game room and fire pit for s’mores, the resort caters to children of all ages but offers plenty for adults as well, including a water-themed spa and two championship golf courses. Guests here can take advantage of more than 65 year-round activities, including a range of water sports, or venture a short distance to local zip lines, riding stables, and ski resorts. There’s even a newly constructed recreation facility on-site, featuring a 3,779-square-foot pool area, state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga studio, tennis court, ice-skating rink, and more.

Accommodations are equally varied, ranging from lodge rooms and lakeside cabins to garden cottages and entire homes. Come July 2019, a 60-room boutique hotel that’s perfect for company meetings will also be available. When hunger strikes, there are eight dining venues on the property, including a steak house, beachside cantina, and wine bar with a 2,000-bottle cellar. Whether you visit in the summer for the lake or the winter for the nearby mountains, expect cozy accommodations, a high standard of service, and a family trip that will long be remembered.

Partly owned by part-time Charleston resident Bill Murray, Harold’s Cabin is a nutty combination of Murray’s sweetest comedic roles and Wes Anderson’s cockeyed art direction. This former neighborhood corner grocery store (opened by the namesake Harold Jacobs in 1929) keeps up the bodega tradition by offering some local goods on shelves and in refrigerated cases in the front, like pizza dough and milk, as well as fancier artisanal stuff. The rest of the place is more Wes Anderson—plaid-upholstered furniture, stenciled murals, vintage porch gliders, knotty pine panelling—the look is definitely not haphazard, though, it’s more balanced and a deliberate design. Entrust your cocktail or beer wishes to the affable veteran bartender, Drew Childers, who will draw from the extensive variety of local brews on tap or mix you a cocktail that draws inspiration not just from the bottles behind the bar but from the vegetables grown in the extensive roof garden as well. In addition to dinner entrees like a bison burger and a popular three-cheese ravioli in mushroom sauce, a ‘Graze ‘n Nosh’ menu section includes boards: a snack board is served with a sleeve of Ritz crackers teetering on a plank beside with cheese curds, slices of pepperoni, ham salad, pickles, and savoure cheeese; another board has a generous serving of cured salmon, latkes, pickles, and beet horseradish. The crowd is full of locals (the mournful face of a dog tied up outside implies that her evening constitutional was waylaid) and much of the conversation at the bar concerns surf reports and the merits of the beers on tap. There is frequently live music, as well as goofy regular events like a monthly Johnny Cash day on which customers dressed in black get a discount. Head out to Hampton Park Terrace and join Harold’s Cabin’s low-keyed party.

Following the success of its first hotel in the vibrant Shoreditch neighborhood, The Hoxton group opened this second outpost in 2014 in the less “happening”—but super-central—Holborn area, just a short walk from the British Museum, Covent Garden, and The Strand. Set in a former telephone exchange building (part of which is historic Victorian, the other part mid-century concrete), the hotel encourages socializing and working in its open-plan lobby, which is outfitted with library-style wooden tables, book-lined shelves, retro couches, and a couple of guest-use computers, plus plenty of places to plug in. You can order drinks and coffee all day in the lobby, three meals of large-portioned favorites (from fish and chips and burgers to banana splits) in the industrial-chic Hubbard and Bell restaurant, and rotisserie chicken and sides in the speakeasy-feeling basement Chicken Shop.

These communal spaces come in particularly handy if you’ve checked in to one of the smaller rooms—the 174 accommodations come in sizes from Shoebox and Snug to Cosy and Roomy (which is not all that much bigger). The spaces are cleverly designed to feel larger than they are, though, with large, circular mirrors, bespoke wallpaper printed with Charles Dickens scenes, comfy beds, and artwork by students of the prestigious Central St. Martins university. There are also useful perks like free Wi-Fi and one hour of international calling, a light breakfast delivered to your door daily, complimentary water and milk in the mini-fridge, and beer and wine available at the front desk for regular grocery store (not hotel) prices. If you want to linger, late checkout is available for an additional £5 per hour.

There was some trepidation among locals when Rosewood first announced its plans for this 13 plus–acre resort—the largest in the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s cobblestone historic center. But it didn’t take long for both residents and repeat guests to embrace it. The property evokes an authentic sense of place, with buildings made with the limestone used to build parts of the old town, decor crafted by local artists and artisans, and the same beloved ladies making fresh tortillas and sopes at breakfast since the hotel was under construction. Designed to feel like a hacienda, the 67 rooms and seven multibedroom townhouse residences—some of which are available to rent—are scattered around intimate courtyards and gardens, many featuring art and sculptures; a large outdoor pool, rotating indoor art gallery, and spa featuring treatments inspired by indigenous healing traditions are also on-site, while programs such as the Art Concierge help engage guests with the destination. The cuisine is also a big draw: Savor reimagined Mexican flavors and learn about regional wine at the gourmet restaurant; try a tequila tasting at the bar, which turns into a sushi-and-craft-beer spot on the weekends, or join locals for the popular Sunday brunch.

Sitting at the tip of the peninsula of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which juts out into the Mediterranean, the iconic Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, is now under the management of the Four Seasons brand. Located halfway between Nice and Monaco in the striking Antibes cape, the beyond-glamorous property first opened in 1908, and remains the epitome of the bonne vie, Jazz-era French Riviera. A destination resort, it has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin to Pablo Picasso, and is set on multiple lushly landscaped acres full of gardens, pools, and tennis courts that tumble down to the Mediterranean. Rooms are in three buildings. Try for one in the hotel’s original core, as these have soaring ceilings and floor-to-ceiling, sliding-glass-door windows looking out to the sea. The suites are also enormous, but ask for a higher floor for the best ocean views.

The Hotel Ritz is closed for renovations and set to reopen in late 2019.

The thing about Madrid’s Hotel Ritz is that, despite the name, it’s not technically a Ritz. In 1910, King Alfonso XIII toured Europe and decided that the Spanish capital lacked the kind of grand hotel worthy of visiting royalty that Paris and London had in their Ritz Hotels. And so he hired legendary hotelier César Ritz to create one for him in Madrid, with the same luxury ideals and a Spanish twist.

What he got was a grand belle epoque landmark on the Paseo del Prado, Madrid’s central promenade, next to the stock exchange and the Museo del Prado, just a couple blocks from the Parque del Retiro. Opulent suites have hosted dignitaries and celebrities for over a century, while the elegant lobby bar—with its live piano or Spanish guitar music, and antique furnishings—has been a fixture of Madrid society since its opening. The current Goya Restaurant is still considered one of the city’s best, despite its somewhat more Old World style than contemporary Spain is used to, and its leafy garden terrace hosts a parade of international glitterati. Recently acquired by Mandarin Oriental, the hotel is undergoing some updates, guaranteed to maintain its standards of decadence, just as Alfonso himself would have imagined.

One could argue that the Pulitzer Amsterdam isn’t actually one hotel. Before 1960, each of its 25 buildings was an individual, 17th- or 18th-century merchant canal house. Painstaking renovations over the years have guaranteed that each room feels distinct, maintaining original architectural details from each house, such as arched windows, exposed beams, and friezes. And, from the outside, each house still looks separate, so that the glamorous, art-filled hotel blends right into its surroundings, seeming to be just another of the neighborhood’s picturesque historic buildings.

The recently restored hotel has entrances on and views over two of the city’s main canals—Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht—with a tranquil garden in the middle. The 225 guest rooms blend traditional and modern Dutch craftsmanship and service, while the authentic restaurant and bar showcase local flavors. Located in the heart of Amsterdam’s historic city center, the hotel is within easy reach of the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank House. It’s also a quick walk, bike, or boat ride to the fashionable Nine Streets, the quaint shops of Jordaan, the flower market, and the Royal Palace.

Ka’ana is described as a “boutique resort,” and it appeals to guests who want a sense of being in the Belizean rain forest while also enjoying the comforts and amenities of a full-service resort. Rooms and villas here seem to blend into the jungle, but it’s clear that all is carefully tamed to ensure that guests don’t feel overwhelmed by the wildness. Rooms are decorated in earth tones, with textiles and design accents all locally crafted. Furniture is sturdy local hardwood. Master suites have outdoor showers, and there are two spacious, private villas, each with its own plunge pool, garden, and outdoor terrace, among other luxuries. Staff can arrange land and sea excursions to the country’s most popular cultural, historic, and natural sites.

This novel walking tour combines a power work-out with sightseeing. You’ll climb a steep hill to reach a look-out spot with sweeping views of Vallarta and Banderas Bay, then descend to see Elizabeth Taylor’s and Richard Burton’s former homes (and the bridge that connected them), a tortilla factory, Cuale gardens, and a chocolate shop. Lots of samples and healthy snacks are included, as are plenty of photo ops.

Far and away Seattle‘s most iconic structure, this U.F.O saucer on a stick is an Atomic Age baby—it only dates back to the 1962 World’s Fair. A 41-second elevator still whisks guests to the observation deck, which really ladles on the natural beauty when the clouds lift and “the mountains are out.” The Needle underwent a glorious $100-million “space-lift” in 2018. Innovations include floor-to-ceiling glass walls with benches that angle backwards (designed for great selfie angles—seriously!). The landmark also added the world’s first and only revolving glass floor, spinning under the Atmos Wine Bar. A café still serves quick bites, but the full-service restaurant has yet to reopen in early 2019. Below sprawls the Seattle Center’s carnival rides, science exhibits, world-famous glass art garden and the MoPop, a superb rock and sci-fi museum that resembles Jimi Hendrix’s smashed guitar when viewed from above

No matter what the season, it’s worthwhile to wander through the exquisite Retiro Park when you’re in Madrid. Here you can find a tranquil escape from crowded streets and museums. The unrivaled architecture of Madrid is echoed here in the wonderful monuments, statues, and buildings. Be sure to visit the gorgeous Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal), originally a greenhouse and now used for art exhibitions. Look for the beautiful black swans in the lake.

This isn’t technically a Bigfoot museum, but it is dedicated to the history of the area, namely eastern Humboldt County and western Trinity County. It just so happens that the region is known as “Bigfoot Country,” so it’s understandable the Sasquatch exhibition has become the main attraction at this roadside stop. The display has casts, photos, maps, and other research pertaining to tracking down the mysterious creature. There’s so much research it’s actually contained in a separate study center building. It’s also updated regularly—as new materials come in.... We’re not saying he’s out there, but if he is anywhere, it would be here.