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Hands down the best place to stay in Mexico City’s Centro Histórico is the aptly named Downtown. Located inside a restored 17th-century casona (mansion), the hotel shares its property with a select group of Mexican businesses, including a chocolate boutique and a mezcal bar, as well as restaurants, cafes, and fashion and jewelry ateliers. Appropriately, rooms evoke a bygone era, with low lighting, brick ceilings, and tile floors somewhat reminiscent of a monastery. Amenities are spare but select (C.O. Bigelow toiletries, for starters), and service is unobtrusive but attentive. After a day spent exploring the city, head to the rooftop pool and bar, where you can sunbathe on a bright yellow chaise lounge or sit under an oversized umbrella while waiting for your cocktail to arrive.

We all have a mental image of upscale European alpine villages from countless spy movies and Vogue fashion shoots. There’s the little café with etched glass and women sipping Alsace with perfect hair and puffy parkas. The men are capable sorts, usually lean and well-traveled. Jet-setters, rich ski bums, and other dubious types mill around low-slung Citroëns with skis on the back, while the air feels charged with intrigue and adventure simmering under the laissez-faire insouciance. Sorta like the Arrabelle at Vail Square. “There’s no other place like this in North America that captures the iconic ambience of classic Old World European cities like Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Prague,” says John Dawsey, director of sales. “During the design phase, we really wanted to capture a feeling aligned with a cultured European central plaza.” The Arrabelle consists of 86 suites overlooking the town square, which converts into a skating rink in winter at the gondola base of Vail Mountain. The charm is in the details: working wood shutters, copper drainspouts, and subtle fairy-tale stenciling around the Bavarian Biedemeier-style architecture. The lobby’s windows are Czech, no less. Off the lobby, the Tavern is always buzzing with locals and visitors in the shadows sipping hot chocolate and Grand Marnier. The menu is meat-friendly. Try the Bone-in Veal Schnitzel with saffron risotto because that’s what spies and dangerous women eat.

Why we love it: A beloved all-inclusive where colonial charm meets classic Caribbean warmth

The Highlights:
- Several suites with direct beach access from their back terraces
- A frequently changing menu to keep meals interesting
- A friendly, helpful staff that lends the hotel a familial atmosphere

The Review:
Located on Grenada’s main beach of Grand Anse, Spice Island Beach Resort is right in the middle of it all. This can mean a little less privacy, but also allows for suites with direct beach access and close proximity to the best of the island. Owned by the Hopkins family and staffed by an attentive team, the property is known for taking good care of its guests. All meals, drinks, non-motorized watersports, tennis reservations, bicycle rentals, and golf fees are included in your stay, as is the kids’ club, which offers supervised play in a brightly colored activity center. For adults, there’s also Janissa’s Spa, where the treatment menu includes such options as a Grenadian chocolate wrap, reiki sessions, and reflexology.

When it comes to accommodations, there are several options, from rooms with private plunge pools to spacious beachfront suites with four-poster beds looking out at the ocean. Whichever you choose, you can look forward to ample outdoor space as well as classic Caribbean design, complete with dark wood, neutral tones, and pops of bright teal, coral, and green.

Formerly the 1888 Hotel.
What used to be a wool shed in the middle of a sheep farming area is now a youthful hotel that celebrates the Pyrmont district’s heritage while featuring the full suite of modern amenities. Opened in 2013, the hotel is an extravaganza of wool, which is found in the felted black lampshades attached to old pulleys in the lobby, in the lower wall panels in the hallways, and as carpeting throughout the building. The old Wool Brokers Arms is visible across the street from the heritage rooms on the west side of the hotel. Modern and cheeky touches also abound at this boutique property, known as the world’s first Instagram hotel. There’s an empty “Selfie Frame” hanging amid mismatched furniture in the lobby, and guests with at least 10,000 Instagram followers are offered a free night’s stay. (Mere Instagram mortals have a chance to win, too, by using the hashtag #1888hotel to be entered into a monthly photo contest.) 1888 is also a leader in sustainability; the hotel preserved the building’s original ironbark beams and built desks from recycled floorboards. The minibar is more conscious than usual, too, stocked with Alter Eco chocolates, Charlie’s juices, coconut water, and fresh milk. The best things about 1888 are the little surprises. Even the hotel’s name has a double meaning: 1888 was the year the building was constructed but was also the year that the Kodak camera debuted.

One part tourist trap, one part beloved café, Les Deux Magots is a legendary spot that everyone should visit at least once when in Paris. Most famous as the place where the likes of Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernest Hemingway spent their days writing at its tables, the café serves decent coffee and hot chocolate—but skip the spendy menu unless you’re really hungry. The best seats are on the terrace, under that iconic green awning, where you can just sit back and people-watch on this busy corner of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Chef Jorge Vallejo spent time in the kitchen at Pujol before he and wife Alejandra Flores opened Quintonil, giving the former boss a run for his money. Their place, too, has become a fixture on best-restaurants lists, and is changing how people understand Mexican food. Taking its name from a weed that not long ago “decent” Mexicans wouldn’t dream of eating, Quintonil seeks to rescue and preserve discarded Mexican ingredients—particularly heirloom vegetable and herbal varieties—as part of the progressive and sustainable eating program it so elegantly advocates. Menus change seasonally, but a recent bill of fare included an avocado tartare with ant eggs and quelite-herb chips; chilacayote squash in mole with basil; and a rich chocolate-and-pinole-flour parfait. A tasting menu of Neronian proportions is also available.

Oporto is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the oldest European cities dating back to the 4th c. “Oporto " means the port. Oporto is famous for among other things Port wine. Port wine is fortified wine. These wines are world renowned. They are produced in the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal. At harvest time, the grapes are picked from the vines on the steep steps of the Douro Valley and taken to the various cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. Until the late 1960’s the wines were carried down the river in flat bottomed boats called barcos rebelos. In the 1700’s, there were several hundred of these vessels carrying the Port. In the 1930’s there were about 300 plying the river. Today Port is sent by rail and road. You can still see the barcos with their sails with barrels on board in the river on the shores of Vila Nova de Gaia. They are there to show the history of the vessels and Port wine. You can sign up for tours of the various wine cellars. There are many such as Taylor, Graham, Croft, and Ramos Pinto. The tours are fun and offer different samples of Port and sometimes biscuits and chocolate. Your hotel desk clerk will help you or check out an information center. I crossed the D.Luis I Bridge on foot and descended to Vila Nova de Gaia. I checked out the history of Port wine. Great experience! There are several restaurants that serve traditional Portuguese food. After dinner enjoy an expresso and a glass or two of Port.

From the luxury Oetker Collection, Le Bristol is one of the first hotels in France to obtain Palace distinction. Occupying nearly an entire block on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré near the Élysée presidential palace, this soulful property has been a gathering place for Parisians since 1925. The 190 guest rooms, which feel like private apartments, are decorated with precious fabrics, paintings, and 18th-century antiques. The on-site attractions include a spa by Le Prairie, a teak-lined pool resembling a yacht, and a courtyard garden fragrant with jasmine. For more than a decade, chef Eric Frechon has held three Michelin stars at Epicure, where menu fixtures include the macaroni stuffed with black truffle and foie gras. Frechon’s culinary dominions are a portal into French gastronomy itself: The hotel has its own chocolate factory, cheese cellar, flour mill, and boulangerie.

Did you know that only 25% of French people buy their cheese from a fromagerie? And of that 25, only 3-4% go to an affineur (cheese refiner). Both are the sad realities of a dying tradition in France of sourcing provisions from neighborhood artisans. Young affineur Baptiste Yapar doesn’t let the disheartening takeover of corporate food business dull his passion. The firebrand cheese master focuses his energy on running his shops Au Coeur du Marché (at the Marché d’Aligre) and educating the public. At La Cuisine Paris cooking school, he takes a small group through a complete background of cheese (it didn’t begin in France!), methods of production and the various designations and families of cheeses available. A copious tasting of 7-10 different cheeses (with wine) follows the contextual debut and is, as my friend and I agreed by the end, the closest thing approximating cheese heaven on earth. It is a fascinating two-hour experience that will not only inform how you consider the nuances of cheese in the future but will have you excited to seek out your nearest independent cheese shop for more.

“First stop in Barcelona is Bar Mut. Great vibes, wine, and this house classic of egg yolk, prawns, and crispy potatoes. Hot damn, it’s good to be here."—Matt Duckor

Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel is a city icon. And who better to preside over the entrance than another icon? Mahatma Gandhi, who had a strong connection to South Africa (he worked in the country as a young man, and developed his political views and thoughts on social injustice and civil rights here), is immortalized in a statue at the hotel. Say hello as you visit the Mount Nelson — affectionately known as the Pink Lady, for its rosy hue — for its celebrated high tea.

The apéritif of choice in the Dordogne (and in many parts of France) is this sweet dark liquor called walnut wine, but there’s nary a grape in site. The vin de noix is made from young green walnuts harvested between La Fete de St. Jean (June 24) and Bastille Day (July 14), when the shells are still soft and green. Walnut wine is a typically home-brewed concoction. Think moonshine, with a sophisticated French flair. Though I have found it commercially, the best accompanies a good meal with friends around a kitchen table or at the region’s numerous Fermes Auberges (Farmhouse Inns), where all products are made on site. Walk in to any home and you’ll likely be offered a sip. There are hundreds of family recipes for this elixir, each claiming to be the best, bien sur! But most agree, the longer it sits in the cupboard, the better (6 months to years). But it’s worth the wait. Recipe: green walnuts, dry red wine, sugar, and some patience. Et Voila! I’ve often been asked what it tastes like, and my description usually results in a nose wrinkle. A blend of port and prune juice---and it’s delicious. My friend Roland, knowing my love of the apéritif and the memories it summons, sent me these two glasses he’d found in an antique shop in Perigueux, along with a small bottle of his homemade walnut wine. I set the glasses out on my terrace, poured in the chocolate-hued liquor, and toasted to the memory of my beloved Dordogne, and the people from there who have flavored my life.

The Ferry Building is open every day of the week, but Saturdays are the most fun to visit thanks to the expansive, weekly farmers’ market (a smaller version happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Come here for stalls full of fresh produce, locally made cheeses, meat, fish, and plenty of ready-made food. Roli Roti almost always has the the longest line—and for good reason. Its porchetta sandwiches are crispy, decadent perfection. But be sure to save room for all the delightful eateries inside the building too: Hog Island Oyster Company, Fort Point Beer, Dandelion Chocolate, Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, and Reem’s Arab bakery are several highlights.

This was on our list of The Best Things to Do in San Francisco.

There are few places where you can better learn about the beauty and complexity of desert ecology than the Desert Botanical Garden, not far from downtown Phoenix. Check out the Desert Discovery Loop Trail for a look at local flora, go for a flashlight tour or cooking class (using plants found in the region, of course), or catch one of the musical performances that are part of the garden’s concert series. Make a point to visit the Desert Terrace Garden for the best views of the surrounding buttes and desert.

Why we love it: A landmark-turned-hotel with elegant decor and top-notch dining

The Highlights:
- Five-star hospitality from one of Europe’s first luxury hotel groups
- Three-Michelin-starred cuisine at 15 Stamford
- An outdoor saltwater relaxation pool

The Review:
Located in Singapore’s civic and cultural district, the Capitol Kempinski Hotel is a modern-day union of two historical landmarks: The Capitol Building and Stamford House. Reimagined by late interior designer Jaya Ibrahim and his team (now part of BLINK Design Group), the property stays true to its roots with a colonial-meets-Art-Deco design, including high corniced ceilings, dramatic archways, and grand windows that reveal sweeping city views. Equally elegant are the 157 guestrooms, which boast Chengal wood flooring, custom lacquered Indian rosewood furniture, and cornices resembled fish scales—a reference to the Merlion, Singapore’s official mascot.

The hotel takes pride in its culinary programming, placing a heavy emphasis on high-quality ingredients and a carefully curated wine selection (reflecting the Kempinski brand’s origins as a 19th-century wine merchant). Nowhere is this more evident than at signature restaurant 15 Stamford, where three-Michelin-starred chef Alvin Leung serves reinterpreted Asian classics like Assam suckling pig with fresh fig and Hokkaido scallops with shiso and soy jelly. For something more casual, sample the specialty rums and chocolates at The Bar at 15 Stamford; take your afternoon tea at The Lobby Lounge; indulge in German breads and pastries at Berthold Delikatessen; or fill up on German-Austrian fare at Frieda. When you need a break from all that eating, pay a visit to the outdoor saltwater pool or spa, where the team performs calming treatments with award-winning products from Gaylia Kristensen.