Search results for

Being in nature is being in my happy place. The US’ National Parks provide plenty of unspoiled nature. The Rocky Mountain National Park is huge, beautiful and abundant with wild life. It’s a pleasure to go and make all your senses happy. If you have kids, it’s even better. Running in fresh air, checking out the wildlife is bliss for them. This particular shot was on the Trail Ridge Road. A portion of it was closed and this is as far as we could go by car.

The Miami outpost of a hotel brand well known for its Los Angeles and New York properties, The Standard Spa, Miami Beach is less a hotel in the traditional sense, and more a spa with guest rooms set amid tropical gardens. The concept extends to the hotel’s atmosphere, which is downright staid compared to the party scene of so many Miami Beach hotels. A nearly all-white color scheme and extra-comfortable linens, pillows, and robes give rooms—small by local standards—a calm, comfortable air. Extra attention has been invested in the hotel’s common areas, with lots of Danish and 1950s-inspired furniture and spaces arranged in such a way that some spots offer solitude while others focus on bringing people together. There’s a reason many guests have called The Standard a playground for adults: a co-ed hamam, gardens with hammocks and swing chairs, and a hydrotherapy circuit (including bayside infinity and icy plunge pools) are just a few of the on-site attractions.

As obvious as it may sound, what sets Sanctuary apart from any other Scottsdale resort is location. Sitting on the north side of Camelback Mountain yet minutes from downtown Scottsdale, it has a balance of desert mountain isolation and easy access that no other Scottsdale resort can match. Since Sanctuary opened in 2002, the combination has especially appealed to publicity-shy celebs (Beyoncé and Jay-Z even stayed here while on their honeymoon). The views from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the adobe casitas look out at the mountain and across Paradise Valley. The casitas have wood-block floors, glass-tiled showers, and, in many of them, oversize tubs with romantic votive candles.

Gonçalo Alves and his wife, Marta Fonseca, spent eight years turning an abandoned chicken farm on Portugal’s wild Costa de Prata into their dream retreat. “We wanted a big house to share with people,” says Alves. Their hotel, located a 45-minute drive north of Lisbon, is a whimsical escape with a hippie vibe. Each night Alves and Fonseca invite guests to join them for wine and traditional folk music around a bonfire. The architecture is modern, but the interiors have a fashionable flea-market feel. Inside the 10 rooms and four villas you’ll find bedding, rugs, and light fixtures from Morocco and India, driftwood-frame beds, and fireplaces that hang from the ceiling. Doubles from $345. 351/2-6193- 6340. This appeared in the October 2013 issue.

Orlando’s centerpiece lake sits right in the middle of downtown, close to the pretty neighborhood and dining district of Thornton Park. A pedestrian-only path fringing the water stretches for nearly a mile, offering visitors a great place to stroll or jog. Along the lake you’ll also find an amphitheater for concerts and festivals, a picturesque pagoda overlook, and a kiosk where you can rent pedal boats shaped like swans. Bring the kids to feed the ducks and swans, or visit the farmers’ market, which takes place on the lake’s southeast corner every Saturday morning.

For the time it takes most Angelenos to commute to work, you can be ferried into the alternate reality of Catalina Island, a romantic escape far from the daily traffic jams and urban sprawl. The evergreen-shrubbed hills spotted with an artists palette of summer homes and surrounded by bright hues of blue waters, coves and marinas feels more like the islands off the coast of Spain than the United States. It is rejuvenating to arrive at a place so close to the city yet feel so completely removed.

A true desert outpost, the Peruvian town of Mancora enjoys the most sunshine hours of anywhere in the country. Unlike the rest of Peru the water is warm enough to surf without a wetsuit, a welcome complement to an area already featuring some of the best waves in South America. Hemingway knew what he was doing when he set up shop in nearby Cabo Blanco, an authentic fishing village where the ceviche is some of the freshest on the planet and the days pass with a simple peacefulness unique to many coastal escapes. While outdoor activities abound around Mancora, from kitesurfing to fishing to morning yoga sessions, on this particular morning the to-do list consists of nothing more than a good book, a cold drink, and watching whales splash on the endless horizon.

Walk, cycle or people-watch along the shores of Elliott Bay, a downtown stretch known for its circusy flair and spectacular vistas. You can ride the Great Wheel or visit the beloved Seattle Aquarium, home to wolf eels, sea otters, and the world’s largest octopuses. Refuel with chowder from local favorite Ivar’s Acres of Clams, then hit the market’s 200 owner-operated shops, ranging from a radical book collection to the Northwest’s oldest magic store. Just don’t turn your back on the famous salmon-slinging fishmongers: They’ve been known to wallop selfie-photographers with a plastic decoy for yucks!

Fusion, one of Playa del Carmen’s oldest and best-loved beach bars, has an indoor restaurant area, but it’s most famous for its outdoor lounge, right on the sand, under palm trees, and hard by the Caribbean. Fusion’s central location in the busiest part of the downtown area makes it ideal for enjoying a day under a palapa’s shade, or a night out on the town with live music and fire shows. The menu offers a variety of international cuisine, so you can find almost anything you’re craving, whether it’s tacos, Argentine empanadas, or classic pub grub à la burgers and wings.

Opened in 2011, Reykjavík’s Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre is not only the most significant classical music venue in Iceland (home to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera), but also one of the country’s most striking examples of modern architecture. Located close to the old harbor, the building was part of a larger development meant to breathe life into the downtown district (the plan was abandoned due to the subsequent economic crash, but funds to complete Harpa were found). The coruscating, eye-catching facade was designed by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, and the spacious interior has four handsome halls, the largest of which can accommodate up to 1,800 seated guests. There are also smaller conference rooms dotted throughout the building, and the ground floor hosts a record shop, café and restaurant, and other public areas. In addition to classical concerts, the venue holds music festivals, pop shows, art exhibitions, and more.

Named for the champion Austrian skier, the ultra-luxe Fairmont Heritage Place, Franz Klammer Lodge pulls out all the stops for its spa, offering an oxygen bar in a mountain-view suite and an adults-only hot tub on a rooftop overlooking the surrounding peaks. Nearly every popular form of massage is available, from reiki to Himalayan salt to Swedish deep-tissue—a godsend après ski (or hike). Book a bespoke scrub (sugar or salt, with your choice of warm oil) to emerge feeling brand spanking new.

Out of the tragedy of the plague arose the Karlskirche, perhaps the most magnificent of Vienna’s baroque churches. One of the final designs by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the genius behind the Schönbrunn Palace, Karlskirche commemorates the outbreak of 1713. The Karl who gave the church its name was the Counter-Reformation’s Saint Charles Borromeo, who cared for plague victims in 16th-century Milan. The church dome, rising above two columns inspired by Trajan’s Column, is illuminated at night and is a prominent Vienna landmark which be seen from many points in the city. A vibrant fresco in the cupola by Johann Michael Rottmayr glorifies Saint Charles. On Karlsplatz, in front of the church, two of the legendary architect Otto Wagner’s finest art nouveau metro stations remain; one of them now houses a café.

Those who just stumble upon the Hundertwasserhaus apartments in the Third District will likely be wowed by the buildings. Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s funky, mid-1980s organic housing complex is weird and gorgeous with a wavy, eclectically painted facade that looks like something out of a cartoon. With trees growing on its terraces and roof, it’s the antithesis of staid imperial Vienna. A freethinker if there ever was one, the artist, architect, and environmentalist Hundertwasser could be called Austria’s Gaudí. Visitors can learn more about him in the ground-floor café. Nearby, Hundertwasser designed the Kunst Haus Wien art museum out of an old Thonet furniture factory, while up the Danube Canal an incineration plant’s chimney got the Hundertwasser treatment with trippy colors and a funky golden ball on top.

Housed across a 1940s mansion and modernist tower, Casa Fayette is a stylish boutique lodging inspired by Guadalajara hometown hero Luis Barragán. With the architect in mind, Milanese interiors firm Dimore Studio designed the hotel’s 37 rooms in a Mexican palette of artichoke, salmon, and burgundy, adding a mix of custom and European furnishings by the likes of Pierre Frey and Michael Thonet. Downstairs, public spaces take on a global-chic aesthetic informed by the surrounding Lafayette neighborhood. Graphic cement tiles line the pool and spa area, while a glam brass-and-wood bar complements tropical-palm-patterned seating in the restaurant.

This spacious North Shore eatery and watering hole riffs on the beloved Honolulu original. It makes a strong showing in the “pupu” (appetizer) department with nibbles like poke, pot stickers, kālua-pig fried rice, Korean-style chicken wings, and nut wraps in buttercup lettuce. Cool down with a light, refreshing cocktail unique to this location, such as the Hokulani (citrus, Three Olives vodka, and elderflower liqueur, splashed with soda) or the Hawaii Five-Bo (strawberry daiquiri with Bacardi rum, habañero syrup, and piña colada foam). As with many O‘ahu eateries, the prices can seem a bit more Manhattan-stiletto than “flip-flop surfer bar.” But the flavors and charming service tend to carry the day! (Note: it’s a short stroll to the public restrooms, involving some unlit steps at night. Plan ahead.)