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Many New York hotels have style, but not all have character—the Marlton is a fine example of a property where the two are powerfully present. Originally built in 1900 as a cheap place to stay (and attracting the likes of writers including Jack Kerouac) this nine-story property was taken under the wing of hotelier Sean MacPherson (the Bowery Hotel, the Jane) and transformed into a downtown hot spot where no one seems to care that the rooms are tight on space, even according to New York standards. What square footage the rooms lack, the common spaces make up for—there’s a fire burning in the lovely lobby, complete with an espresso bar, along with a cocktail bar and French-feeling restaurant, Margaux, at the back, with a gorgeous, sunny solarium (a charming feature that has inspired many return guests). Rooms are thoughtfully designed, with inviting bathrooms. Striking the right balance between hip but not too fancy, the Marlton is a comfortable property that provides much more than just a place to sleep.

Devout foodies flock to the hawker stands in Singapore, one of the world’s cleanest cities. Check out the tasty Hainanese Chicken Rice at the famous Maxwell Food Centre; you’ll want to find the Tian Tian stall. Explore the other stands and salivate over the combination of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and European flavors with such items as barbecue pork, steamed pork buns, fish cakes, and Hokkien mee (seafood pasta infused with special flavors). —Susan Sparks This appeared in the August/September 2013 issue.

Goldeneye, to be clear, is not an easy place to leave. The land—the former home of Ian Fleming, where he wrote each of the 14 James Bond thrillers that would cement his place in literary and cinematic history—sits next to the tiny town of Oracabessa, on the northern coast. A warm, blue-green lagoon curls from the ocean around a small island and then lets out into a bay. You can look one direction and see a jungle, then turn around and see pristine white sand.

Blackwell bought the property in 1976 as a vacation home and a space to entertain family and friends but later he decided to transform it. In 2016, Goldeneye debuted a jumble of new huts, arranged around a small cove, a short walk from Fleming’s house and the resort’s original villas. The huts vary in height, designed to capture cooling breezes and allow guests to forgo air conditioning. And, crucially, they’re much cheaper to book than the Villas. Which is key because, up until this point, if you wanted to plan a visit to Goldeneye, you needed to either know Blackwell personally or have the excess capital to shell out potentially five figures on a vacation. (Part of the resort’s enduring gravitational pull is that many of the celebrity guests check both boxes.) With the beach huts, Blackwell has expanded, once again, the ambition of his famous resort.

Ducking into the Matador in the alphabet district is a great way to tour the Mexican culture through its tequila and mezcal heritage. Touting over 100 tequilas in a variety of vintages, you’re likely to become a bit overwhelmed by the depth and complexity. This anxiety is generally relieved after a couple of shots. Staff are keen on giving solid recommendations based on your preferences. There are “flights” of tequila to introduce you to the subtle characteristics of this oft-misunderstood beverage. Be daring and undaunted by the task at hand, and try to sip, not shoot. Salt & lime optional. The space is anchored by a large fire pit that is cozy in the winter months. Huge windows open during summer to bring the outside, in. The menu is focused and leans toward the California interpretations of Mexican cuisine. The pork dishes are a bit more traditional, while the fish tacos have a NW flair. The carne asada is nicely done, and there are veggie and gluten-free options all over the menu. Happy hour is a big draw with lots of great dishes and featured drinks on the cheap. While being part of a small chain of restaurants might seem one-dimensional, Matador promotes local sourcing on ingredients and lets each store have its own personality. NW Portland is a great neighborhood for exploring, and a tequila flight at the Matador is an entertaining way to get the party started.

The Heladería de Lares, a 45-year-old family business, sells about 50 unusual flavors of ice cream up in the mountains. Salvador Berreto, known to the locals as Yinyo, founded the shop to commemorate the Grito de Lares, a battle for freedom that had taken place exactly one century before. Yinyo started with corn, a flavor at the heart of the Puerto Rican diet and the current bestseller. Other flavors are cod, coquito (the Puerto Rican version of eggnog), and rice and beans. Fortunately, you can taste two flavors before deciding what to buy, and the ice cream is cheap, so you can stock up. Every weekend, people form what locals like to call lines, but are really boisterous blobs extending half a block down from the shop’s entrance. While eating, people skim through newspaper clips about when Denise Quiñones, a girl from Lares, won a Miss Universe pageant, or study photos of the 1945 Fuego de la Candelaria (a fire in Lares). After reading about the history behind Lares’s anthem and running their hands over the guiro (a musical instrument played by scraping its serrated surface), people often wander outside to the Plaza de la Revolucion. Here, on a typical Sunday, artisans sell paintings of the three magi (the Puerto Ricans’ second Santa) and of flamboyanes (the national trees with orange flowers). If you have doubts as to whether it’s worth it, just ask Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea. In 2008, Clinton forced $100 into the hands of Yinyo’s son for a mango ice cream.

Just a few blocks from the hotel, the Surquillo Market bustles with daily life, as locals shop the stands for their fresh groceries. You’ll find stalls selling a bounty of seafood, vegetables, fruits, meat, herbs, and many surprising and unfamiliar indigenous items. For an insider’s look at the market, book the Belmond Miraflores Park’s private Gastronomic Discovery experience, which includes a guided market tour—during which you’ll shop for ingredients—followed by a cooking class back at the hotel and then lunch at Tragaluz. Photo by Carolina Murga Portella/Flickr.

Shanghai tailors are the best in the world, says fashion designer Christy Holzer, whose label, Dowry Designs, was inspired by the city. She suggests visiting the South Bund fabric market to order custom garments. DRESS: STALL 308 “A fun style to wear is the qipao [a centuries-old Chinese dress that got its form-fitting shape in the 1920s]. Traditional silk patterns make the garment look old, so request a solid-color silk.” SUIT: STALL 309 “If you want truly exceptional fabric, ask for 100 percent wool. Most of the wool fabrics they have are blends. Specify that they line your suit with 100 percent silk or cotton.” COTTON SHIRT: STALL 310 “Look at the buttons the tailors are planning to use, as they often choose cheap ones. If you don’t like the buttons, stop by a button stall at the market; it will be worth the extra investment.” Illustration by Michael Hoeweler.

Some find this narrow, neon-lit French Quarter street appealing, others appalling. But it’s worth a stroll either way. It’s as if all the sins of mankind and then some were rounded up and corralled here—tawdry strip shows, cheap and potent drinks, the coveting of neighbors’ wives, petty larceny, big-ass beers, bad cover bands, and so on. (Bad cover bands were not technically mentioned in the Old Testament, but to many they’re the street’s most shameful sin.) The heart of the party zone stretches eight blocks from Iberville Street to St. Philip Street, with the thickest concentration of bars on the Iberville end. New Orleans allows alcoholic drinks outside, as long as they’re in plastic cups, or “go-cups"—meaning you can roam the length of Bourbon Street with your beer or hurricane in hand.

The Viking Village Restaurant is right next to the Viking Hotel in Hafnarfjordur, Reykjavik area, about 11km from the center. We had our last dinner here and really loved it. Some people consider it a tourist trap. That may be, since the prices are not cheap—but the food is unbelievable. We had the Viking menu, which starts with the famous Hákarl - a piece of rotten shark. We were told that the taste varies and that dark meat is usually stronger than the white meat. Anthony Bourdain has described hákarl as “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing” he has ever eaten, but I am here to disagree. We had white meat and if you like strong cheese you will be OK with this too. It comes with a shot of “Black Death” schnapps. Main course was a huge leg of lamb cooked to perfection, the meat was simply falling off the bone and melting in your mouth. There are actors dressed as Vikings, playing different sagas, vocal and instrumental. They are allot of fun to watch as they interact with the people in the restaurant. There was a large German group inside and they put on quite the show for them and us too since we were all in the same room. I would prefer a bit more light inside the restaurant as it is pretty dark - they are trying to recreate the conditions of a Viking longhouse - but apart from that it was a great and delicious experience.

The rooftop restaurant of the Westin Excelsior hotel wins top prize for being the most panoramic spot for a meal in Florence; floor-to-ceiling, wraparound windows permit 360-degree views over the entire city and the hills beyond. Chef Matteo Lorenzini’s superb food lives up to the magnificent setting—so against the romantic backdrop of Brunelleschi’s Duomo and the thousand twinkling lights of the city, you can feast on seared scallops with chestnuts and lime, spaghetti with clams and crab cream, and Barbary duck.

It’s nice to know I don’t need to get on a plane back to India to enjoy a plate of decent dal in PDX. The Bollywood serves the “people’s food” of India, simple, fresh and undeniably delightful. Most Americans think Indian food is all tandoori chicken and curry. Fact is, these are the banquet foods served only in high-end restaurants or wedding parties on the subcontinent. I was in Assam province in the Spring at a street cafe, eating whatever was being served on the banana leaf in front of me; no utensils, no problem. Except for the warm beer, eating in India is nothing like eating Indian food here, until Bollywood.

There is nothing pretentious about the physical plant. Amid the chaotic decor, aromas from the kitchen fill the place making it all the more homey and inviting. Lot’s of vegetarian options, with a focus on the standby beans and potatoes. The spicing is classic. The plates and cups are metal, much like you’d find on a corner eatery in Kolkata. Order at the counter and have a seat. Get a paneer, a chaat and a dal with a side of paratha to soak up the sauces. They have a short selection of beer and wine and the former is cold and cheap. There are always specials and you should just order them. The plates are small, so if you have a big group, order a bunch. Then sit back and enjoy the ride...

The entire north side of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza is taken up by the 1610 Palace of the Governors, the oldest continually occupied public building in the United States. Its front adobe facade is completely shaded, and in this “portal,” the Native American Vendors Program has been operating for over six decades. A daily lottery ensures a rotating selection of artisans from the various pueblos throughout New Mexico. Yes, there might be some “finer” pieces available in the chic boutiques elsewhere in Santa Fe, but here, in the shade of a four-century-old adobe building, you can meet the artists and even haggle a bit. Be respectful, though—these are not cheap trinkets made in a sweatshop abroad: The crafts and the jewelry are usually made by the person with whom you’ll be conversing. (An interesting side note: The Palace was taken over in 1680 and occupied by Native Americans during the Pueblo Revolt until 1692, when the Spaniards returned. This is the only government seat in the U.S. to have ever been taken over by Native Americans. It then served as the residence of the governor during the Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. territorial regimes, until 1907. In 1912, New Mexico became a U.S. state. Today, the Palace serves as a museum.)

Every December 7 at Pearl Harbor, there is a memorial to those who died in the awful attacks that day in 1941. Survivors gather here, though fewer every year remain alive. Oil still rises from where the USS Arizona lies in the harbor. The horrific events of December 7 are still a raw part of the history here. Several months ago, the civil defense sirens went off all over Oahu. It was a glitch in the system, but I remember an elderly woman in downtown Honolulu who said she looked at the sky because she remembers when there really was an air raid, and the sirens bring her back to that time of eminent danger when what seemed impossible unfolded in front of her young eyes. For history buffs, students, and all sorts of tourists, this is a “must visit” National Park on Oahu. Tickets to take the boat to the memorial are cheap (but do require an advanced booking of a couple days), and there are several other activities and museums at Pearl Harbor to explore including a walk through the USS Bowfin.

Visiting the Strip? Save time for its spas. One of my favorites: Qua, at Caesars Palace. The Roman baths make you feel like you’ve left Las Vegas behind, and the snow room is worth a (quick -- it’s cold!) stop. Then the treatments are out of this world. On my most recent visit, I got the Nagomi treatment, on the mini-menu for the new Nobu boutique hotel inside Caesars. It included a therapeutic massage and excellent facial with a new fizz-like layer that worked on my skin. I couldn’t think of a better way to start my day.

It isn’t uncommon to see large tour buses idling in front of Merci, one of the city’s most popular home and design shops, as visitors alight, armed with canvas shopping totes and credit cards at the ready. The store’s philanthropic mission brings in droves of both tourists and locals—profits are donated to a charity in Madagascar that aids women and children. It is a veritable feel-good shopping destination. One caveat: The goods for sale don’t come cheap. While high-end homewares and designer duds don’t match all budgets, Merci’s space itself is undeniably cool. When I’m feeling strapped for cash and want the Merci experience, I head to its Used Book Café. Used books, old and new, decorate this cozy library-inspired café where I can read, write, people-watch (and play the guessing game of “What’s in that Merci bag?”), and rejuvenate with a freshly pressed lemonade. With each sip, a feeling of calm washes over me—a type of Zen harder to reach on the bustling streets of Paris. All beverages, hot or cold, are served with a bite-size piece of cake and a smile. Grab one of the mismatched vintage armchairs, the fresh scones with jam, or the American-sized lattes. But on a warm, sun-drenched Paris day, it’s the citronnade between shop-hopping that sets you right.