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Life With Drawl

I’m a sucker for an accent—it’s like a lens through which everything is filtered. And on a recent trip to America’s Lowcountry, while literally basking in the expansive local drawl, I fell head over heels for the Inn at Palmetto Bluff. First off, the sheer scale of the property is astounding. A 22,000 acre private […]

Mara Done Right

Although there are many things that make the internet great, one of its shortcomings is the way safari companies often exercise their right to poetic licence. A small amount of embellishment is fine, outright fabrications are not. To help you see what I am on about, I need to get a little dull for a […]

Tassia

I’m torn—a big part of my job is to convey to you the amazing places that I go, so that you can go there too, and see just how amazing it was. Sometimes, however, I find a place so special that I’d really rather keep it to myself. So if I tell you about my […]

The Comforts of Creatures

If trekking in the tropics with weird and wonderful wildlife is your thing, pack your hardcore hiking-boots for Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. This 43,000-hectare park preserves the largest tract of Pacific coastal rainforest in Central America. The stats are impressive: over 500 species of trees, 400 species of birds (including most […]

The Great Escape

December has hit (along with the snow), and suddenly everyone is in a planning panic for Christmas vacation. We know, we warn you to come to us far in advance for the good stuff. But in the eleventh hour, we can still toss a few truffles in your stocking. Huvafen Fushi, Maldives Huvafen Fushi is […]

The Royal Treatment

It has ‘royal’ in its name and it’s a palace—but Le Royal Monceau is anything but stuffy and uptight. I visited the hotel last week and was delighted with all that I saw. This is going to be an easy hotel to recommend. I’m generally wary of new hotels. Nothing works, the showers leak and […]

Ride ‘Em Cowboy

In my mind, I am Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator; charging into battle, meting out death and destruction with all manner of things sharp and pointy from the saddle of an expertly ridden horse. Or, I’m Wyatt Earp, dealing justice in the wild west on horseback… in my mind. The reality of me on […]

Milfordicus Maximus

Some say that if we were meant to fly we’d have been born with wings. Perhaps. But I doubt those naysayers have been to Milford Sound. And I’d bet a golden grouse they’ve never seen it by helicopter. The truth is New Zealand’s epic fjord land can only be appreciated fully if seen from the […]

Big Brother Luxury

Imagine an all-seeing, all-knowing force, constantly watching over you. It knows what you like, what you don’t like, where you’re from and where you’re going, and precisely where you are at all times. Sounds rather perfect to us. It’s a surprisingly large leap between four and five star service at a luxury hotel. There are […]

A Queen as Quiet as a Mouse

Paris hotels range from stately palaces like giant wedding cakes, to space-station-esque design disasters, to dives and dumps and dungeons. Quietly minding her business, tucked away on the Place des Vosges, is the true queen of the castle, the Pavillon de la Reine. We love the Pavillon de la Reine. You couldn’t claim it had […]

The Mother of All Baby Grands

Even in a country as small as New Zealand, a three room hotel (for lack of a better word) is considered tiny. And yet, somehow there’s something about Edenhouse, in the Nelson/Abel Tasman area of the South Island, that isn’t little at all. Like any masterpiece Edenhouse plays the scales beautifully, twisting large and small […]

Namibia Unplugged

It’s a tricky thing, being off the grid. How disconnected can you be, really? I think that’s why I like Africa so much. Most of the countries that you can travel to have modern cell phone networks and broadband internet connectivity, but you can still find places that don’t. There are remote regions all over […]

Gilligan’s Got Deep Pockets

No place has ever made me so happy as Soneva Fushi. This truly is a fantasy island, where everything you are and know is left behind once you get off that seaplane. It is not a hotel, or even a retreat. It’s a world unto itself, where the Great Gatsbys of our age wander about […]

The Parador Paradigm

If like me you groan at the mere thought of another Philippe Stark-designed hipster bar, or über-minimalist white-carpeted trend hotel where you can’t figure out how to turn the bathroom lights off, I bet you’ll love the un-hip un-cool not-at-all-with-it Parador hotels of Spain. King Alfonso XIII may have been the proud owner of the […]

The Royal Treatment

My experiences in the wilds of Africa have equipped me with a specific set of skills to deal with things like charging elephants and angry lions. These skills tell me when to stand my ground, and when running is the more prudent choice. Having said that, there are certain things I’m just not ready for, […]

The Old Souks and the Sea

Close your eyes (enough to allow for some mental visualization, but not so much that you can’t read this). Now, imagine that you’re standing on an 18th century rampart overlooking the sea. The air is humid and heavy, the sun warm like a pancake on your forehead. Seagulls are swooping around, making noise, in their […]