[PUEBLO GARZÓN, URUGUAY] — About 14 miles or so miles inland from the surf of Jose Ignacio Uruguay — the world’s best beach town IMO — is a sleepy little town called Garzón. There, in the middle of rolling green hills of gaucho country, Francis Mallmann (my favorite restaurateur in the world) has created a true destination place, El Garzón. In fact, he bought up a whole town around it. Francis Mallmann’s restaurant Garzón is one of the best restaurants in Uruguay. Only a few people realize that it’s also one of the best hotels in Uruguay. I’ve been to Garzón to eat or stay over four different trips to Uruguay. Maybe even another one, too. This is a consolidated post from past visits so
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(West Hollywood) — On a quick business trip to Los Angeles, booked a cool hotel I’d always read about and featured often in Vanity Fair: the Sunset Tower hotel. Always loved this building for years, but have never stayed here. Luckily, I booked it on my favorite go-to hotel booking site, TabletHotels.com which isn’t your typical booking site, each hotel is vetted by the company and its users. Always dependable for the coolest hotels. When I checked in, the delightful front desk attendant casually mentioned a free glass of champagne, free breakfast and a very subtle “and we upgraded you to a penthouse room.” “Thank you very much” I said, not realizing what that really meant. I wheeled my stuff out of the elevator, opened
[ 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. 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 up from Naples for some R&R during World War II. That’s what started Positano off, as returning sailors talked all about this amazing setting,
[ROMA] — 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 choose. (I once had a broom closet of a room once that wasn’t and it looked out onto a blind alley.) But if you can secure a room that overlooks the Pantheon, there is no place better to stay