By Ann Abel Machu Picchu, the Great Wall and the Taj Mahal used to occupy top spots on many people’s bucket lists. But the “bucket list”—a term I’ve always despised—is giving way to a general desire to go big, splurge on an adventure and seek out dream experiences now, because we’ve

  By Everett Potter One of Lake Como’s most dramatic and unique private homes has just opened as a 24-suite hotel. Passalacqua commands seven acres of terraced and manicured gardens in the village of Moltrasio, overlooking the majestic lake. I’ve visited sleepy Moltrasio on many occasions, a village about 15 minutes

  By Brian E. Clark On a Backroads bicycling trip that included Havana, Cuba a few years ago, I rode in a rickety, 100-year-old elevator – complete with a human operator. It clanked and groaned to the top of a crumbling, six-story building to get to its five occupants to

By Everett Potter Coastal Maine has recently seen a spate of older hotels transformed for more sophisticated visitors. Now it’s getting yet another hipster hideaway this summer with the mid-June opening of The Wanderer in Kennebunk. Located near some of Maine’s best beaches, this 17-cottage compound has a lounge pool, a

By Paul Clemence Art in hotels is now as ubiquitous a hospitality design trend as aromatherapy and impossibly high thread count bedding. Not that that there is anything wrong with that, but often times the art feels slightly stale, aiming more to just impress (or “insta-press”) than actually being a

By Maggie Downs It’s dinnertime in Puerto Vallarta. There’s a polished wooden table set in the fragrant herb garden at the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa. The sun is pastel pink and orange as it sinks into the crashing ocean. And there’s a chef pumping smoke into the boxes

By Everett Potter ECCO Biom 2.1 The Danish company ECCO has a reputation for well-made and stylish footwear, from dress shoes and boots to sneakers. In my experience, their shoes tend to be very comfortable right out of the box. Now we have their new ECCO Biom 2.1 Low Tex,

By Everett Potter It’s rare indeed that a new Auberge Resorts property comes along, especially one that’s just 90 minutes from New York City, up in the Catskills. The company has a memorable roster of luxury lairs, including Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, White Barn in Kennebunkport, Malliouhana in