Chasing Hemingway in Madrid: Dinner at Botín
It seems everywhere you go in Spain, you're chasing Ernest Hemingway's shadow. Plenty of restaurants and bars, in Madrid especially, lay claim to the fact that the ever-traveling writer once ate or drank there. But Botín has written proof to back up their claims: in the last scene of Hemingway's famous novel "The Sun Also Rises," the main character, Jake, dines at none other than Botín.
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La Sultana Marrakech: A Luxury Hotel Fit for Sultans
I've never set foot in a more beautiful hotel. La Sultana is a shrine to Moroccan design and craftsmanship. From the minute you step into this hotel, filled with glimmering gold accents, you can feel the outside world of endless streets, honking mopeds, open-air butcher shops, donkey traffic, aggressive hawkers, and snake charmers melt away to nothing but a distant whisper.
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Seattle Weekend Design Guide
Your insider's companion to Seattle's art and design scene. Explore Seattle's hottest cultural highlights while eating, sleeping, and shopping in style.
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Boutique Luxury: Seville's Stylish Sacristía de Santa Ana Hotel
This hotel is simply beautiful. The interior design fuses traditional and contemporary design elements perfectly, creating a stylish interior space inside a former 18th century church vestry. The fashionable interiors combine the best of classic Andalusian design, including decorative painted tilework and rooms surrounding a multi-story courtyard accented by a Moorish fountain.
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Spa Report: The Moroccan Hammam
When in Morocco, you can't miss the traditional Moroccan hammam, or Turkish-style steam bath. There are a variety of public and private hammams ranging from uber-luxurious spa experiences to simple public bathhouses. So how does it work?
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Essential Macau Highlights for the Non-Gambler
Macau is China's challenge to Las Vegas—a city filled with casinos and an exciting mix of Portuguese and Chinese culture. While most travelers to Macau flock here to gamble, there is plenty to see outside the casinos. No trip to Macau is complete without a visit to the following top sights that feature the best of both old and new Macau.
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At Home in Madrid: Casa de Madrid
For those seeking a unique place to sleep in Spain's capital, look no further. This boutique retreat in an upscale 18th century building is located in the heart of the city, just steps from both Madrid's iconic Puerta del Sol square and the Royal Palace, as well as some of the city's top dining spots. Staying here is like rooming at a friend's house, that is a friend with impeccable design taste.
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Seattle Trendsetter: Hotel Andra
Iconic fish tanks filled with neon tetras and guest rooms accented in cobalt blues. A contemporary lobby outfitted in sleek, minimalist furniture and natural wood tables. Add to the mix alpaca headboards, retro clocks, and FACE Stockholm bath products in all the guest rooms, then top it all off with an avant-garde celebrity chef restaurant that's turning heads—and you know you've arrived at Hotel Andra.
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Eagle Creek Switchback Max 25: Rugged and Multi-Functional
There just isn't much travel gear out there that can double as rolling luggage and a backpack. For a recent trip to Spain and Morocco that involved 5 flights, 6 train rides, and a long-distance bus journey, I was searching for that perfect combination: luggage that rolls in airports and lobbies, and can also be strapped on when traversing the unpaved alleys of Morocco's labyrinth medinas.
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Toilet Talk: One Fancy John
Okay, I'm not usually one to talk about time spent in the bathroom. However, I just have to make an exception for the über-luxe guest bathrooms at the St. Regis hotel in Beijing. Alright, I'm not actually just talking about the bathrooms, although the designer bath and body products, fresh flowers, and flat screen television in the mirror are certainly nice. What I'm really dying to tell you about is the toilet!
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Free Things to Do in Los Angeles: Griffith Observatory
Perched on a hilltop just past the Greek Theater in Griffith Park, visitors can stroll through the arches of this classic art deco building, admiring the endless grid of streets below, stretching clear to the Pacific Ocean and broken up only by clusters of skyscrapers and familiar Hollywood landmarks. The copper-clad domes of the observatory’s telescopes sit upon white walls that soak up pure California sunshine.
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Riad Central: Marrakech’s Luxury Retreats
Marrakech is a city of pink buildings drowning in a sea of satellite dishes. Imagine narrow winding streets filled with mopeds. Snake charmers. French-style pâtisseries. Open air butcher shops. Tea shops, full to the brim even in the sweltering heat of the day. Donkey traffic. The never-ending song of aggressive hawkers echoing from every souk.
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