Boutique Hotels

“I am an African, not because I was born in Africa, but because Africa is born in me” – Kwame An African Safari has been at the top of my travel bucket list for as long as I can remember. When I was 6 or 7, a relative presented me with a book about Elephants,…

“This Cape is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape we saw in the whole circumference of the Earth” – Sir Francis Drake I haven’t circumnavigated the globe, but I have seen much of it, and I can’t quibble with Drake’s observation. In fact, there’s not a place in the world I’ve seen that…

“I cannot imagine being happy anywhere else in the world but in Cape Town – South Africa in general, but Cape Town in particular” – Christoffel Wiese Cape Town, South Africa pushes out gracefully and adventurously from the country’s southwestern-most point; just north of the exceedingly verdant Cape Peninsula and the False Bay that soaks its…

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have” – Eckhart Tolle Humans are drawn to the sea. Precious few of us reside in its powerful proximity, and we are therefore taken to daydream about future visits, and reminisce about those days where the tide reached out to meet our feet, and the…

“Beauty appears when something is completely and absolutely and openly itself.” – Deena Metzger One of the most rewarding parts of writing about luxury travel is that I learn about properties that I most likely would never have discovered without my blog, and then having the ability to share these properties with my readers and…

“The desert is a natural extension of the inner silence of the body.” – Jean Baudrillard   Set in the heart of the southwest’s wondrous Grand Circle, Amangiri reveals a spellbinding confluence of light and inspired architecture – a grand amphitheater of angled concrete conferring upon the observer a luxurious composition of windswept stone and…

“Only the one who walks his own way can’t be overtaken” – Marlon Brando In April 1789, Fletcher Christian, Acting Lieutenant of the HMS Bounty, led a mutiny and seized control of the ship from Captain William Bligh. Christian and his mutineers – risking death for treason – returned to the warmth and tropical comfort…

“I love New York, even though it isn’t mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.” – Truman Capote   There is no place like New York City, especially for a lover of luxury hotels. I had…

“In the middle of it, there’s joy” – Unknown I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, and while I absolutely love to travel, there’s nothing quite like coming home. And every once in a great while, I am extremely fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit and write about a hotel in my part of the…

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust   This is a most special post, and something I never thought possible. When I first started writing about luxury traveling a few years ago, I wanted simply to show other people the places I visited,…

“There’s a vastness here and I believe that the people who are born here breathe that vastness into their soul. They dream big dreams and think big thoughts, because there is nothing to hem them in.” ― Conrad Hilton   There’s no place like Texas. And Houston is one of those special American cities where…

“In the middle of it, there’s joy” – Unknown   There’s something quite special about life’s unpredictability. A couple of months ago, a trip to Geneva, Switzerland and a stay at one of its finest finest hotels was about as likely as a trip to the moon. But that all changed in the blink of…

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –Mark Twain   One of the questions I’m asked the most is:…

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson   I believe strongly in the power of gratitude, which includes being in awe of…

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you live, To roam the roads of land remote, To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen   There’s something special about travel that I’ve learned over the years – the traveler doesn’t need to travel far. Sometimes the most spectacular places…

“Luxury is attention to detail, originality, exclusivity and above all quality” – Angelo Bonati There are precious few places lovelier than Arizona in the Springtime, and one of the many reasons I adore this part of the year is that I take the opportunity to visit a number of luxury properties located near my home…

“I cannot write about Venice; I can only write about me, and the sleeping parts of myself that Venice has shocked into wakefulness.” – Jessica Zafra, Twisted Travels   If you’ve had the fortune to visit Venice, Italy, then this quote likely strikes you in the way it did me.  Venice is the most visually, spiritually,…

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery   I’m often asked a variation of the same question – what I refer to as “The Best” question – where someone asks for example: “What’s the best hotel you’ve ever stayed…

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta This quote perfectly captures how I inadvertently became a travel writer – the sheer astonishment of experiencing new and beautiful places, followed by the compulsion to give voice to those experiences so that others may see a part of the…

“It’s the Call of the Canyon – Bell Rock, Cathedral, Mitten Ridge – It’s Sedona, Sedona – Where the lovin’ people live” – Excerpt from Sedona, by Donna Loren Sedona, Arizona is one of my most favorite places on the planet – magical, mysterious, and its beauty is impossible to describe. So when a business trip…

“Natural elegance inspires the mind.” – Kristian Goldmund Aumann, From Poet’s Hand Truly superlative resorts cast magic powers over guests, creating a peaceful, rejuvenative, and memorable experience.  The Royal Palms Resort and Spa and it’s natural elegance infused me with a luxurious and serene sense of relaxation. Why the Royal Palms? When I decided to…