Search results for

The mountainous northeastern tip of Corfu lies smack in front of Sarandë. These days, more high-speed hydrofoils than ever are heading from Sarandë to Corfu Town, which is called Kérkyra in Greek, named after a beautiful nymph brought to the island by Poseidon, the god of the sea. The old town, with several fortresses, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; it’s filled with Venetian villas and magnificent British residences like the early-19th-century Palace of St. Michael and St. George.

In the shadow of El Yunque, The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is situated on 486 acres of former coconut plantation and native maritime forest. There are still plenty of palms here, but now the flora also includes all manner of tropical flowers and trees, positioned around numerous trails for walking, running, and biking. Families love the resort for its many amenities, from four tennis courts and a Robert Trent Jones Jr.-branded golf course to a luxurious spa and state-of-the-art fitness center. A new partnership with Aquavento Water Sports provides equipment for everything from kayaking and paddle-boarding to fishing and sailing on nearby lakes, while the Soul of Bahia program gives guests the opportunity to volunteer with a rescue organization for local cats and dogs or help maintain a turtle sanctuary during hatching season. Still, the most popular activity might just be lounging at the pool or on the two-mile-long golden beach.

Part of a $60 million renovation following Hurricane Maria, the hotel now features a design by celebrated Puerto Rican designer Nono Maldonado and San Francisco-based firm Hirsch Bedner Associates. The plantation-style dark woods and warm browns have been swapped out for more modern, sea-inspired colors, and the 139 rooms have a chic, residential feel, with sprawling bathrooms, private terraces, and glass bar cabinets that can be stocked to your personal tastes by a 24-hour butler. Occupying a two-story building overlooking the ocean, the Casa Grande lobby is the place to go to experience the hotel’s daily Champagne sabering ritual, enjoy live music from a Steinway piano, admire the mural over the St. Regis Bar, or enjoy Greek-inspired fare at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Paros. The poolside restaurant and beach shack have also been redone to ensure uninterrupted views over the water.

Kabana serves up Dubai’s best Afghani food—piping-hot bread, juicy meats, and deeply seasoned rice plates—in the Jumeirah neighborhood. Especially recommended are the muhammara (a spread made from roasted red peppers and ground walnuts, served topped with walnuts), and fried kibbeh (spiced ground lamb mixed with bulgur and onions). Kabana’s live music nights and shisha, or waterpipe, selections bring out an interesting cross-section of the city’s diverse culture.

While some Great Barrier Reef resorts require private plane charter, this 57-room boutique resort is located on Hamilton Island—the only one in the Whitsundays with a commercial airport—meaning it’s easily reached by a direct flight from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Cairns. Each room, situated on the tranquil, white-sand Catseye Beach, has a bright Aussie vibe, with lots of natural wood, Aesop toiletries, and private terraces or balconies offering palm-fringed ocean views. The resort’s adults-only policy ensures bliss awaits at the infinity pool overlooking the beach, or below on the portion of Catseye reserved for Beach Club guests. Also on offer is complimentary watersports gear, from snorkeling equipment to catamarans. The resort can even arrange for helicopter and seaplane rides, or diving excursions to secluded sections of the Great Barrier Reef.

Smack in the center of Willemstad, the Renaissance Curaçao is adjacent to the historic Rif Fort shopping and entertainment complex and within walking distance to everything downtown. It solves for not having beach access with two infinity pools overlooking the ocean and cruise pier, each edged in a man-made, sandy beach that can pass for the real thing at first dip. The colorful lobby is connected to a casino, mall, and the island’s only Starbucks. Be sure to check the local cruise schedule before booking an ocean-view room, as you may have your vistas blocked by a ship. You may also want to rent a car to explore the island’s natural beaches but, come nightfall, it’s easier to walk to the Punda and Pietermaai districts for dinner.

Northern China has some of the most amazing tasting yogurts. Since we don’t have any decent yogurt in Shenzhen, I pig out every time I go north. Stalls and shops around Xi’an sell really cool drinking yogurts. This stall was on the west side of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The yogurt was perfectly tasty, though the best bit about it was the glass jars.

Home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, this curved glass building is also a premiere venue for the Toronto International Film Festival. During the year, this iconic building in Toronto serves as concert showcase and special event venue. National Geographic’s Live Series, for example, is great for travel buffs. Tours are available by appointment.

One of the city’s top restaurants, Cicciolina offers Italian-style dishes with a Peruvian flair, such as quinoa-encrusted prawns and osso buco with pumpkin ravioli topped by local cheese and a touch of Andean mint. There’s plenty to choose from, including seafood, duck, beef, alpaca, chicken, and even a few vegetarian dishes, as well as perfectly done handmade pasta. You can pick from either the tapas or the full-restaurant menu in the bar area, but not the other way around, so you may want to go twice, as the tapas are fabulous, too. A great wine list and yummy desserts finish out options in a small, lovely venue. Reservations are a must.

If Mandapa, “temple” in Sanskrit, feels more like a community than a hotel, that’s because it is. The resort occupies 24 green acres on a property previously owned by a group of neighboring families, who retain access to the land and its on-site temple. As a result, it maintains three acres of rice paddies and a traditional rice barn on stilts, and the villagers bring daily offerings to the temple, giving Mandapa a strong connection to local culture.




The hotel’s open-air lobby sits 300 feet above the Ayung River valley, overlooking 35 hillside suites with views of the jungle and rice paddies and 25 villas along the flowing river. The suites are furnished with traditional Balinese pieces and artwork and stand-alone soaking tubs, while the high-ceilinged villas, decorated with vividly colored botanical panels, have large pools and separate master suites.





Everywhere, local materials and design elements feature prominently, from the thatched roofs to the fringed umbrellas that shade the lounge chairs by the pool. The riverside spa is another place to discover Balinese products through deeply relaxing treatments and spiritual ones with a local healer, too. Five dining and drinking outlets include fine-dining restaurant Kubu, a spot for high tea, a cocktail and dinner venue called Ambar, and Sawah Terrace, where Sundays feature a Royal Brunch. Ubud’s center is only 10 minutes by car, but the guided vintage VW convertible tours on offer are arguably the best way to get around. From $1,250

Pick up any glass in Turkey and chances are there’s a letter P on the bottom of it, standing for Paşabahçe, Turkey’s top manufacturer of glassware and housewares. Blue-glass eye amulets (nazar in Turkish) that ward off the evil eye are sold everywhere in Turkey, but the items here are actually locally made. They range from simple, silver-dollar-size keychains to hefty, gilded wall hangings. Other souvenirs include the tulip-shaped glasses seen in every teahouse in town and ornate Ottoman-inspired vases that look like they could have been lifted from Topkapı Palace. Another contender for your collection: a piece of twisted blue-striped çeşm-i bülbül (nightingale’s eye) glass, a Venetian glassblowing technique made distinctively Turkish.

It’s fun to imagine that Xcalak, a sleepy coastal village south of Mahahual on Mexico’s Costa Maya, is what the entire Caribbean coast of Mexico looked like before the creation of the Cancún megaresort in the 70s. No Spring breakers, no cruise ships, no thumping beachside clubs, no big hotels. Just white sand and palapas, palm trees and pelicans, hammocks and fishing boats. Just you in secluded relaxation away from it all. Several clean and basic hotels are located on the old coast road and fresh, cheap seafood is abundant at local favorite Toby’s. Dive and snorkel trips can be arranged at XTC Dive Center (www.xtcdivecenter.com), located about 300m north of town.

Head chef Matt Clarke has created a rare gem in this southerly city. With a recently refurbished contemporary dining room and bar overlooking Stanley Harbour, the Restaurant at the Malvina House Hotel champions high-quality local ingredients. Clarke specializes in fresh fish and chargrilled meats, though the menu extends to such interesting options as upland goose pâté and reindeer. The fish & chips, fried local squid and duck confit are among the most popular dishes at this casual eatery.

New Orleans’ cemeteries are part of the city’s culture as well as its landscape—and St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest and most famous. Opened in 1789 on the edge of the French Quarter, the cemetery is home to the tomb of Marie Laveau, a free woman of color who earned a reputation as the city’s most powerful voodoo queen in the 1800s. Her tomb is littered with tributes (money, alcohol, candy, trinkets) left by those who hope the queen will grant their desires from beyond the grave. In the Garden District, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 made a cameo in several movies, including Interview with a Vampire and Double Jeopardy. Save Our Cemeteries, a non-profit dedicated to cemetery restoration and preservation, runs tours of both St. Louis No. 1 and Lafayette No. 1.

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.

The San Francisco Proper Hotel is the hottest new hotel in town. The reason why? International grande dame of maximalism, designer Kelly Wearstler, revamped a down-and-out tourist hotel deep in the heart of the city, and established the Proper as a magnet for trendsetting visitors and locals. When guests arrive at the 131-room hotel and step inside the flatiron building, they’re treated to Wearstler’s signature pattern-on-pattern aesthetic. In the ground floor lobby, Wearstler sets the mood with salon-style seating areas using richly reupholstered vintage furnishings and Cubism-inspired paintings. Michael Adams, formerly of Central Kitchen, oversees the hotel’s main restaurant, Villon. And while the Proper isn’t the place for those looking for a Zen retreat, it is the place to order a Fifi the Flea cocktail (Tequila Ocho Plata, Ancho Reyes, Ancho Reyes Verde, grapefruit, honey, vanilla, lime, smoked salt) at Charmaine’s, the stylish rooftop bar. Between the fire pits and the bird’s-eye view of Market Street all the way to the bay, it’s no wonder the Proper has become the destination to see and be seen.