[WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA] — Here’s my review of the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, one of the best boutique hotels in Los Angeles. And my nomination for the best luxury hotel in Los Angeles. __________________________________ Sunset Tower–The Best Boutique Hotel in Los Angeles On a quick business trip to Los Angeles way back in 2013, I booked a cool hotel I’d always read about and featured often in Vanity Fair: the Sunset Tower Hotel. Famed for its rockstar clientele and celebrities in the Tower Bar restaurant and the amazing skills of Jeff Klein, a legendary hotelier, everyone always raves about the amazing star treatment everyone gets. Luckily, I booked it on my favorite go-to hotel booking site, TabletHotels.com which isn’t your typical booking site, each
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[CHICAGO]– I’ve stayed now a half-dozen times at this hotel, originally designed by famous hotelier Ian Schrager and opened as the PUBLIC hotel, it’s now called The Ambassador “Chicago’s original boutique hotel”. It still ranks as one of my favorite places to stay in Chicago and certainly my favorite Ian Schrager hotel. It’s now run This is one of my favorite lobby designs I’ve seen — that great combination of classic architecture and modern design — and everything was white-on-white, with good looking people dressed in black as props. It still feels as fresh as when it opened more than a decade ago. It’s now a Hyatt boutique brand and they’ve added a little more color, but still retained a lot of the same core
[ROME, ITALY] — I’ve stayed at Hotel de Russie three times over the years, more if you count stopping in for a splendid martini. Here’s my review of the Hotel de Russie in Rome. Hotel de Russie is one of the best hotels in Rome and certainly one of the best luxury hotels in Rome. Walking by the skinny crowded sidewalks and fancy shopping around Piazza del Popolo, you’d never know this magical garden hides behind the understated entrance. A private Eden all to itself, 3,000 square metres of palm tree gardens climb up the steep hillside. (The same hill that leads up to Villa Borghese Gardens in my previous post) Rome is known for having small, cramped hotel rooms, but the Hotel de Russie doesn’t
[SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL] — On a long trip to the island of Fernando do Noronha off the coast of Brazil , I had a quick overnight in São Paulo. It was a very quick trip stopover coming and going, both on Sunday nights when many things are closed so I didn’t get to see a lot in a short amount of time, but there are my favorite things I found. Here’s my take on spending a quick 36 Hours in São Paulo. What to do in São Paulo. Where to stay in São Paulo. Where to eat in São Paulo. ___________________________ I remember my first trip to Brazil in the mid-90s, working for a Swedish printing press manufacturer as a freelance marketing consultant. At the
[BARCELONA, SPAIN] — There are lots and lots of Barcelona guides, so I won’t go into much detail here, just think of this post like an old postcard rack at the train station, look for places that look good, then go find them. These are all my favorite places in Barcelona. The Best Things to Do in Barcelona, at least the best things to do over a winter weekend in Barcelona. I won’t go into much detail here, others have already done it. Just think of this post like a cluttered old postcard rack at the train station. Look for places that look good to you, then go find them. I’ve been in and out of Barcelona a half dozen times. Sometimes just as an
[RAVELLO, ITALY] –– A review of Palazzo Avino in Ravello Italy. One of the best hotels on the Amalfi Coast. And the best hotel in Ravello. ____________________ Years ago I finally realized what I really like: cliffs, overlooking a distant ocean, preferably with a pool clinging to a steep hillside. From then on, it’s been my focus on choosing where I go on vacation. (You’ll see this as a common theme throughout this site!) Palazzo Avino fits all of those criteria. Plus, small, quiet and really expensive. After a recent remodel, it is on almost every Top Ten list of all hotels in the world. They have some rock star-great rooms and terraces, with prices to match. Years ago I finally realized what I really like: cliffs, overlooking a
[RAVELLO, ITALY] — An overview of Ravello Amalfi Coast. What to see in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. Where to stay in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. _______________________ A few thousand feet up the mountains over Positano and the sea is the town of Ravello. Often voted one of the prettiest villages in Italy, it shows it. They’ve done a great job at preserving this little mountaintop town. No modern stores or chains. Just a quant little piazza, with hotels and restaurants spanning out to the edges of the cliffs. The views are stunning of the distant water thousands of feet below, the shimmer of the sun. Extremely relaxing place with just a few hotels and restaurants. A couple days is all you need unless
[POSITANO, ITALY] — If you’ve never been to Le Sirenuse in Positano, put it on your list. Le Sirenuse is the best hotel on the Amalfi Coast and one of the best hotels in Italy. It’s also one of World’s 50 Best Hotels. Nothing compares to sitting in the grandstands (the pool) overlooking one of the prettiest views in the world. A cascade of villas, hotels and restaurants tumbling down to the sea. Le Sirenuse — The Best Hotel in Positano One of the most pristine, elegantly designed and not-over-the-top luxury hotels. Spotless and shiny Vietri tile all over in a mint-condition building that was a private summer house until it was turned into a hotel in 1951. Now stuffed with all the Sersale family’s antiques and
[BAHIA, BRAZIL] — Here’s my overview of Trancoso, the former fishing village, then turned international hippie community in the 70s, then Trancoso turned into an international bohemian beach town on the coast of Bahia in Northeast Brazil. Trancoso sits above some of the best beaches in Bahia and all of Brazil. ____________________________ Trancoso–a Former Fishing Village, Now an International Destination I’d read about Trancoso for some time, it just kept popping up in the right places. But when I was in a small Uruguayan hotel and met a photographer from Wallpaper who had just come from a week-long shoot there, he said it was one of the coolest places he’d been, I knew I had to go. So I did. A once-isolated fishing village in
[COPENHAGEN, DENMARK] — I was in Copenhagen with some of my family a long time ago for just a couple of nights before moving on to Stockholm, so I didn’t get to see a ton. But here are the best things I found to do in Copenhagen. Cool things I found to do in Copenhagen over a winter weekend. Walk Around Copenhagen Centrum We got in late and it was raining a lot, so we didn’t get to see as much as we’d hope during our short stay. But Copenhagen is one of the prettiest, cleanest, friendliest, most beautifully designed cities in the world. Here’s a great guide to the best things to do in Copenhagen Centrum from the official city tourist website. Copenhagen has
[AMSTERDAM] — I’d never been to Amsterdam before – was never that interested in the coffeeshops and sex shops and drunken British lads. But after working like a fiend all year, I decided to make a Mileage Run over a Thanksgiving, booking two weeks before and doing very little research. I jumped on a plane and just decided to wing it, knowing I just needed to get out of the country, fast. I came for five days, but I was kinda done after three. It’s a small city. Best here are the best things I found to do in Amsterdam. Cool things to do in Amsterdam November is, I discovered, the absolute rainiest month in the year. No big deal, I was expecting that, I like going places when hoards of
[ POSITANO, ITALY] — This is my second favorite place in Positano. Hotel Miramare, one of the best boutique hotels in Positano. It’s a great hotel with super sweet family that runs it and that combination is why even all the barking dogs on TripAdvisor rank this puppy 5 out of 5 stars. You know you’re doing something right when you have a four star hotel pulling down five stars. This is my review of Hotel Miramare Positano. One of the best boutique hotels in Positano. The views from the rooms and more info. The hotel started out as rented houses in the 1930s, before Positano was an international tourist destination. Then the family turned it into a hotel that became a favorite of military coming
[ROMA] — Here’s my review of Albergo del Senato boutique hotel overlooking The Pantheon in Rome. Albergo del Senato has the best views in Rome and a fantastic rooftop bar. With one of the best hotel room views in Rome. _____________________________ There are fancier places to stay in Rome, but one of my favorites is the Albergo del Senato, directly across from my favorite building in the world, The Pantheon. It is small, Old School, but delightful. You can’t beat the location, smack in the heart of everything good. And right around the corner from the best gelato in Rome, Giolitti. If you can’t get a guarantee from the hotel for a Pantheon view or don’t want to by extra, then there are other hotels I’d
[BAGNOLS, FRANCE] — I booked a Christmas trip to Paris many years ago and had a couple of extra days of exploring before flying back on my NYE flight — the best times for an upgrade BTW. I booked a quick TGV to Lyon and then rented a car to go to this cool castle hotel outside of town that I’d read all about. Chateau de Bagnols. A fortress of a castle, turned into a luxe hotel and destination-dining Michelin-rated restaurant. What a perfect place to spend a cold couple of days between holidays. At the time I was there in 2004, it was managed by the lovely Rocco Forte hotels, my favorite, which is how I got to know about the hotel. It has
[JALISCO, MEXICO] — Here’s an overview of a weekend spent at Careyes one of the coolest, most exclusive and eccentric resorts in Mexico. High above a nearly deserted Costaalegre coastline, Costa Careyes is a remarkable compound of a several dozen villas (each with their own architectural theme), a cluster of casitas and small hotel and other layers of habitation. And information on Casa Altiplano and Sol de Oriente private villas at Careyes. Careyes is Unlike Any Other Resort It was created and owned by a one-eyed Italian count and designed by a several out-there Italian and Mexican architects, this place looks like a bizarre movie set — think Planet of the Apes (in a good Italian way) a little MadMax combined in five star luxury
[BUZIOS, BRAZIL] — Buzios is the perfect Brazilian beach town. It was a small fishing village until Bridget Bardo put it on the map in the 60s. Since then it has become a world-wide destination, mostly because of its perfect bay and surrounded by 23 amazing, pristine beaches. Here’s a quick overview of what to do in Buzios and where to stay in Buzios. Only 173km from Rio, only about 2.5 hours drive, it has become a favorite resort for the fashionable, with a quaint little cafe-line downtown village, villas dotting the coastline. I was there for a few nights way back in 2004, before digital cameras, so I only have bad scans from old print film, so forgive the photo quality. I was just
NOTE: THESE ARE LOUSY SCANS OF LOUSY PICTURES FROM A LONG TIME AGO, CLICK HERE TO SEE PRETTY PICTURES FROM THEIR SITE IT’S NOW ON AIRBNB — ALL THE TREES HAVE GROWN AND EVERYTHING IS EVEN BETTER. I’VE INFILLED A FEW PHOTOS FROM THEIR AIRBNB SITE. [MONTAIONE, TUSCANY] — Let the hoards of English, Germans and Americans crowd the overly popular Under The Tuscan Sun areas south of Florence and the tourist-choked villages of Montepulciano. “Chiantishire”. To me, I loved staying on the western edges of Tuscany centered around the cool and undiscovered town of Montaione — which Architectural Digest called “one of the prettiest towns in Italy you’ve never heard of“. The geography of this area is more farmland than grapes and a prime hunting