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Hidden behind unassuming doors, this 17th-century palace provides respite from the frenetic bustle of the medina without sacrificing sense of place. The property hits all the right Moroccan style notes: there’s plenty of arabesque-patterned tiling and a lush courtyard complete with tinkling fountain and fragrant citrus trees. But the classic interiors also have contemporary flair—see the chrome lamps, cement-hued tadelakt baths, and leather furnishings in the eight guest rooms, or the panoramic rooftop and on-site restaurant, which not only serves local Fassi fare but also offers free cooking classes that begin with a trip to the market. For an alternate take on tradition, guests head to the hotel’s candlelit Carrara marble hammam, which uses indigenous ingredients like ghassoul clay from the Atlas Mountains, black-olive soap, and argan oil for its soothing pamper sessions.

Due to the heat of Vegas and our limited time, we decided to take the Grand Canyon Celebration 4-hour tour with Papillon Tours. Other tours we looked at consisted of bus and helicopter with a combination of boat rides or rafting—but it would have taken 12 hours of our limited time so when we saw the Grand Canyon Celebration tour with a 45-minute helicopter flight to the canyon (west rim), canyon landing with champagne lunch, followed by 45-minute helicopter flight back to Vegas we jumped at the opportunity. We booked online and got a $100 discount. Mike our pilot was informative and humorous and had us laughing the whole way. He also had a music soundtrack playing over our headphones which was perfect for the flight. The lunch was only 30 minutes which felt rushed but we understand this is by the agreement with the local Indian community, rather than the tour company. We loved it, even though we felt a bit of motion sickness on the way back!

I had one free night in Tokyo—only one chance to connect with a Japanese acquaintance from a dive trip on Midway Atoll 10 years earlier. Our mutual friend, Shintaido master Haruyoshi Fugaku Ito, suggested we meet at the Shinjuku rail station and walk around the corner to Fukuhachi (“Happy Eight”) in the district’s legendary yakitori alley (“Omoide Yokocho,” which apparently translates as something less savory). Operated for decades by Ito’s old friends Kazuko and Hatsumi Muraoka, Fukuhachi is a classic, serving grilled skewers of various meats, organs, and vegetables to mostly locals. Because of the connection through friendship, we were able to slip down a sub-alley and enter through the rear, squeeze ourselves into the back corner, and eat round after round of yakitori, washed down with lots of cold beer, and lots of laughs—a world apart from the supermodern high-rise glitz of the neighborhood beyond the alley.

While staying at the Romantik Hotel Vivenda Miranda overlooking the beach of Praia do Mos in Lagos, I gazed at this stunning beach many times. I don’t know how many photos I took of it. This is a long beach with golden sand, sparkling waters, and a couple of good Portuguese restaurants. During the Summer it is lively but not too overcrowded. At high tide, the beach may be less wide. Your hotel staff at the main desk will give you the low and high tides for your beach. People walk the cliffs and even traverse them down to the beach. I chose to go the long way around especially since lately you hear of rock slides in the area! The tranquil feel of this beach is a reward in itself. The area of Lagos and western Algarve is less developed as far as huge resorts and high rises. It is beautiful and in many spots untamed and one of my favorite areas of Portugal. Look up info on the Lagos area in Portugal guides or on www.portugal.com or www.logosportugal.com

Sometimes called “Milan‘s Sistine Chapel” because of its profusely--and beautifully-- decorated walls and ceilings, San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore is well worth a visit. The Renaissance paintings commissioned by the Sforza family (the primary sponsors of Leonardo da Vinci), adorn the walls of a cloistered convent founded for noble ladies in the early 16th century. Built on an ancient Roman site, the church was built and decorated in stages over several centuries, every interior wall covered in luminous colors befitting the pomp of Lombard aristocratic taste. In particular, frescoes by Bernardino Luini, student of da Vinci, blend the sacred and the profane, using members of the court as models for portraits of saints. Most of the numerous religious and secular works of the Milanese painter have been lost, so San Maurizio is the best place to see his works. To get the most out of a visit to this little gem of art history, go with a knowledgeable guide. My husband and I toured historical Milan with Ludovic Goudin of Walks of Italy, who offer a variety of tours in Milan. San Maurizio was just one of the fascinating places we visited!.

Our guide warned us about the freezing water before we left the warm surround of our tour bus. That was of course after he had also told us that the ‘Fountain of Youth’ so sought after my humanity since time immemorial, was just outside our window in the form of the River Sligachan on the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. Scandinavian blood may run in my bones but freezing cold water is not my “cup of tea”, so I merely exited to take photographs whilst others in my group did in fact dip their hands and faces in the rushing river. How did Sligachan come to be known as the ‘Fountain of Youth’? The story goes that a poor Highland maiden was horribly disfigured by a clan rival to her own but then was saved by a faerie queen. The queen immersed the girl in the Sligachan River and when she emerged, she was beautiful and scarless once more. Whether you believe the stories or not, and the Scottish have many, the area around the river is stunning in its wildness and subtle colour. It’s an incredible place to stop and take photographs but do leave yourself at least 35 - 45 minutes. Hike up and down the river, away from the bridge that is so well known [and where visitors are normally dropped off], and make sure to get a few landscape photographs that don’t have hordes of tourists in them!

In 2016, Ace added another link to its chain of ultracool hotels when it opened an outpost in a renovated 1928 building in the Central Business District of New Orleans. While the Ace employees here are just as edgy as their counterparts elsewhere, they temper that cool with the warm ease of New Orleans’s locals.

Guests enter the hotel through a lobby of mismatched low-slung sofas and vintage coffee tables set in conversation-friendly groupings beside a lovely and ornate wooden bar. Most of the furnishings and artwork complement the hotel’s dominant forest green hue, which itself seems to have been inspired by the color of the streetcars that trundle past on Carondelet Street. Afternoon and evening and late at night, the lobby bar is kept busy by hotel guests as well as a stream of others drawn here by the stylish vibe.

Join throngs of locals on the five-minute ferry ride across Victoria Harbour between the Tsim Sha Tsui cruise pier in Kowloon, on the mainland side, and the Central Pier on Hong Kong Island (a slightly longer ride goes to Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island). This is not just any ferry: The historic green and white Star Ferries have been moving the masses back and forth for decades, with the origins of the company going back to 1880 with the service of a single steamboat, the Morning Star. Today, the classic wooden boats make the trip many times daily, and a ride provides a great view of the city’s famous skyline and a whiff of nostalgia to boot.

A couple of blocks west of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake—meaning Lake of the Restored Sword—is one of Hanoi’s anchors. It contains a number of sites worth visiting, like Ngoc Soc Temple and the picturesque, red-lacquered Huc Bridge. The greatest fun here is people watching, from men and women jogging round the perimeter to retired folks doing tai chi or dancing. Many locals come to socialize or just take a few moments to escape the city’s chaotic roads and traffic. Visit in the morning as the city is waking up and the air remains blissfully cool. Photo by Binder.donedat/Flickr.

There are nearly as many snorkeling options in Los Cabos as there are fish in the Sea of Cortés, and that’s saying a lot. If you’re somebody who prefers going it alone, pick up a snorkeling mask and fins and head to Chileno Bay for some undisturbed fish-seeing. But if you need a little more hands-on guidance, the outfit to dial is Pez Gato. Their twice-daily, four-hour tour includes everything you’ll need—snorkeling gear, drinks, fresh fruit, and sandwiches—plus a friendly and knowledgeable crew who will keep you entertained with facts about the region as you navigate the waters to Santa Maria, a horseshoe-shaped bay that’s home to a marine sanctuary and some of the clearest waters around.

Who hasn’t daydreamed about being an astronaut at least once? Thankfully, Space Center Houston makes it easy to learn about the great beyond. It’s the area’s No. 1 attraction for international visitors and the first Smithsonian Affiliate in the greater Houston area. The center features more than 400 space artifacts and several exhibits related to the past, present, and future of America’s human spaceflight program. It’s also home to the world’s largest collection of moon rocks and lunar samples for public view, and offers guests the opportunity to go behind the scenes to see NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Amanzoe was one of the first ultra-luxury resorts by a global brand in Greece when it opened back in 2012 in pretty Porto Heli, on the east coast of the Peloponnese. Since then, it has become a much-loved retreat with monumental architecture, all soaring columns and vast expanses of marble that call to mind Greece’s ancient heritage sites.


The resort’s beach club has four pools, cabanas, a Japanese restaurant, and a seaside spa, and it’s from here that water sports and island-hopping cruises set sail. Lavish guest rooms are divided into either pavilion accommodations or larger villas, all with private pools. The most lavish of all is the Ed Tuttle- and Marios Angelopoulos-designed Villa 20, which doubled as Miles Bron’s island home in British murder mystery Glass Onion; it includes 9 bedrooms, 11 pools, a private spa, 2 barbecue areas, and its own Greek taverna.

John Gaw Meem is considered one of New Mexico’s most influential architects—and that fact alone makes this ranch, designed in 1932 by the so-called Father of Santa Fe style, worth a visit. But Meem isn’t the only big name associated with the property: Landscape architect Rose Greeley designed the gardens and artist Peter Hurd painted a mural on the property. The hotel is set on 25 acres of lavender fields, first planted in 1999 and now used for a line of in-house spa products. There are organic gardens, too, which provide the kitchen with Chimayo chilies, casaba melons, big cheese squash, and other seasonal produce. The look here tends toward clean lines, neutral hues, and quiet elegance over fussiness, though the historic rooms tend to have a bit more New Mexico flair—kiva fireplaces, exposed ceiling beams, local art—than the newer farm rooms. The latter are located in 1930s-style dairy buildings, carefully constructed to feel both of the era and of the place.

The Hotel St. Francis lays claim to being Santa Fe’s oldest hotel. Rebuilt in its current location in 1924, after a fire left its predecessor completely ravaged (save the brick chimney), the property formerly known as the De Vargas Hotel played host to elegant ladies and gentlemen in top hats, politicos, and other VIPs during its heyday. After World War II, the hotel lost some of its luster, though it was still popular with government types until the 1960s. In 1986, new owners restored the hotel to its previous grandeur, replaced the barber and beauty shops with a restaurant and bar, and gave the property its current name. Most recently, in 2008, the property was purchased by Heritage Hotels and Resorts and underwent yet another makeover. Inspired by St. Francis, the patron saint of Santa Fe and founder of the Franciscan order, the look is best described as haute-monastic. Think Frette linens and flat-screen televisions paired with neutral hues, wood furnishings crafted by local artisans, and dim, candlelit common spaces.

It hardly seems like Hawaii could be a part of the United States without its own brewing company. The most popular brewery is the Kona Brewing Company on the Big Island. With its year-round beers including Longboard Island Lager, Firerock Pale Ale, and Big Wave Golden Ale, the brewery sells mostly within the Islands, though its year-round beers can be found elsewhere. Kona Brewing Company also produces three seasonal “Aloha Series” beers that include Koko Brown Ale, Wailua Wheat, and Pipeline Porter. Along with their selection of five “Island Only” beers, connoisseurs will have plenty to taste and may need an extra visit or two to the Brewery! Tours of the brewery can be booked from 10:30am to 3pm daily.