Tag Archives: Travel & Leisure

New Travel Books: “Capri – Dolce Vita” (Assouline)

Capri Dolce Vita - Assouline - July 2020Capri, a resort island dating back to the height of the Roman Empire, has long been an extraordinary destination full of ancient charm. Cherished by everyone from physician Axel Munthe, who recommended its clean air to his patients as a cure for bronchitis; to film director Jean-Luc Godard as the setting for his 1963 film Contempt; to literary icons, celebrities, poets, and the jet set, Capri boasts a rich Mediterranean spirit and style that encompasses a wealth of beauty, from gardens to villas to caves to the people walking in the lively Piazzetta, where cars are prohibited and the island’s playful attitude runs rampant. Capri Dolce Vita is a look at this fabled corner of the world through the ages and a celebration of paradise on earth.

Capri Dolce Vita - Assouline - Cesare Cunaccia - July 2020

Cesare Cunaccia is a writer, lecturer, curator, and journalist. He was editor at large for Vogue Italia and L’Uomo Vogue and the antiques consultant for Architectural Digest Italy. He has also contributed to the divisions of Architectural Digest in Germany, China, and Russia, as well as Connaissance des ArtsOpera magazine, and L’Oeil. Cunaccia has published a variety of books, particularly on the Italian artistic heritage, which have been translated into twelve languages.

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World’s Best Small Hotels: “Villa Franca Positano” On Italy’s Amalfi Coast (Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yorJIVElU7k

Perfectly situated on a hill between the craggy cliff tops and the glinting Mediterranean Sea, HVF Villa Franca Positano is romantic Italy at its most ravishing. With the picturesque cobbled piazzas of Positano and two blissful beaches just steps away, this stylish hilltop retreat offers the chance to check out from reality and absorb the glamour and gorgeousness of the ever-enchanting Amalfi Coast. A cool calm envelops this Italian idyll where bewitching coastal beauty dominates the window views and pines and citrus scent the air.

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Top Motorhomes: “2021 Wonder Rear Lounge” By Leisure Travel Vans

Introducing the all-new 2021 Wonder Rear Lounge, built on the 2020 Ford Transit Chassis featuring 2 living spaces, modern design, advanced technology, a spacious three-piece dry bathroom, and expansive galley. https://leisurevans.com/wonder-rl/

Inside the compact Wonder, an innovative dual-zone floorplan features a spacious rear living area that emulates the comforts of home while being surrounded by nature.

Travel: RV Vacations Just Might Be The Safest Option This Summer (WSJ)

From a Wall Street Journal article (May 16, 2020):

Wall Street JournalOriginally, we were going to make it a six-day trip,” said Mr. Goble, “but we were honestly having such a good time we extended it four times into an 11-day trip.” Normally, rental companies’ full calendars preclude such spontaneity. Thanks to the motorhome’s self-sustainable features, they stayed overnight at a campground just twice on the trip. Most of the time they’d “boondock”—that is, stop at places without water or electrical hookups, or nightly fees. Say, creekside clearings off fire roads deep in the forest.

RV Vacations - Wall Street Journal - Steve Scott Illustration - May 16 2020

“We have been flooded with new inquiries, and an unusually high number of longer rentals (lasting from one to three months in duration),” said Mr. Ward. “I think this is going to be the trend for the remainder of 2020 and 2021, at a minimum.” One couple, he said, just booked their RV for a three-month loop around the deep South on short notice. “Neither have work to do right now due to the virus, so they’re like, ‘There’s no better time. We’ve always wanted to travel in an Airstream. This works for us now.’”

In a season when the urge to escape home will only be matched by the need to be flexible, getting lost in America in an RV works for a lot of people right now. Mr. Rybak and Ms. O’Hara are still hoping to tick at least one national park off their list in the next few months. They even have a campsite reserved. If you see them, say “Hi.” From a safe distance.

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Future Of Mobile Living: “Trakka – Jabiru” From Australia – “Ingenious”

Trakka logo

Trakka Jabiru Motorhome Van Australia interiorWith 3.0L V6 turbo diesel and 7-speed automatic transmission, our Mercedes-Benz Sprinter based Jabiru motorhome is a next generation range that features upgraded infotainment, updated safety technology and a host of revolutionary TRAKKA features that are unrivaled in the motorhome industry. 

Measuring 7.1m in length these motorhomes are available in 2WD and selectable All Wheel Drive (with high and low range gearing), while each model comes standard with swivel front seats, single fuel source Remote Pack, and advanced electrical system including Lithium batteries, compatible charging systems and striking LED dimmable lighting.

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New Hospitality Books: “Amerifine – Hotels: Icons Of American Luxury (2020)

The fifty independently owned and operated hotels in this book make up the best of Amerifine Icons of American Luxury - Hotels - Assouline April 2020what the United States can offer: extraordinary locations, exquisite design, fantastic food, and boundless comfort. These first-class establishments are run by American hoteliers with a passion for proper American hospitality.

Over the course of the last two centuries, the American hotel has become a fixture of the modern lifestyle and a concept that has revolutionized travel, created subcultures, and given new meaning to locales both urban and remote. A superior hotel is much more than a place to spend the night: it is an institution, a cultural center, an icon of luxury. Since the 19th-century opening of the Tremont House—America’s very first five-star hotel—the great American hotels have come to symbolized style, opulence and social distinction to well-heeled travelers from around the globe.

Amerifine Icons of American Luxury - Hotels - Assouline April 2020

Amerifine, a discerning voice of American luxury, has endeavored to curate the finest, most iconic expressions of American hospitality currently in operation. Without exception, each hotel pictured here fulfills and transcends the great responsibility of the modern hotel: to turn each visitor’s experience of their destination into something truly memorable.

Faye Mythen was born in London but lives between the USA and Europe. She is a passionate Ameriphile and founded Amerifine to promote the most ambitious and well-loved American luxury brands and hotels and experiences. Mythen’s career spans 25 years as a entrepreneur, uncovering new businesses, several of which embody America’s proud history of excellence, craftsmanship and great design.

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Travel: The “Sweets Hotel” – 28 Bridge House Suites On Canals In Amsterdam

Sweets Hotel AmsterdamSWEETS hotel is an initiative and co-creation of the Amsterdam based architecture office Space&Matter (known for De Ceuvel in Amsterdam), project development partner Grayfield and Seven New Things (Suzanne Oxenaar, Otto Nan and Gerrit Groen, founders of Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy (world’s first 1- to 5-star hotel in Amsterdam – sold in 2018), Llove Hotel (pop-up hotel in Tokyo) and Hotel The Exchange (fashion hotel in Amsterdam)).

First initiated in 2012 as an urban space project, SWEETS hotel is now 8 years in the making. 20 bridge houses are currently available for reservations, with more coming soon.

HISTORY

For 100 years Amsterdam’s bridge houses accommodated the city’s many bridge keepers who were responsible for opening these impressive structures for passing boat traffic. However, with the introduction of a centralised bridge control system the bridge houses became redundant.

SWEETS HOTEL PROJECT

In 2012 the initiators of SWEETS hotel presented a plan to the city of Amsterdam to transform the city’s bridge houses into tiny hotel suites. The vision: to introduce travellers to new neighbourhoods and unexpected experiences in the city.

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Travel & Culture Books: “Mykonos Muse” In The Greek Islands (Assouline)

Mykonos Muse Assouline May 4 2020With such names as ‘Paradise’ and ‘Super Paradise,’ the sands of these shores have captured the imaginations and hearts of industry titans, artists, and party-goers alike from all around the globe, marking it as a stable cosmopolitan destination and as a paramount it haven on the jet-set circuit.

Located in the Cyclades and surrounded by the blue-green water of the Aegean sits whitewashed, windmill-strewn Mykonos, the island of the winds. This ancient island and those surrounding it, mythologized as the bodies of gods felled by Hercules in the time of antiquity, are older than legend and have played host to countless cultures for more than millennia. At forty-square-miles and boasting a population of only ten-thousand, the ‘Ibiza of Greece’ has become prized for gorgeous architecture, welcoming and open-minded locals, and fantastic beaches.

Mykonos Muse Assouline May 4 2020

This book chronicles the culture and society that has defined Mykonos over the past century—from its days as a hideout for such luminaries and elites as Le Corbusier and Antonis Benakis, to its moment as a sanctuary for the gay community,to its predominant party scene—all the while indulging the reader with the ruins and myths hidden there.

Lizy Manola is a Greek photographer. A freelancer, her focus is on documentary photography. For more than fifteen years, she has traveled and shot in distant places, where culture and everyday life preserve their natural authenticity. She has published two books with Assouline, Certain Realities and Ethiopian Highlands. Her work has featured in solo and group exhibitions in Greece and worldwide. She lives and works in Athens and New York. Thirty years ago, she bought a house on Mykonos; she has spent endless summers holidays on the island ever since.

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New Travel Books: “Athens Riviera”, Stéphanie Artarit (Assouline, May 2020)

Athens Riviera Assouline May 25 2020Overlooking the Aegean Sea, a charming string of coastal neighborhoods form the Athens Riviera, a serene escape from the constant activity in the city’s center. A selection of high-end hotels lines the pristine stretch of beaches down to the southernmost point of the Attica Peninsula.

The revamped Four Seasons Astir Palace, with a history of housing foreign dignitaries and film stars of the 1960s, is the most luxurious hotel in Athens, perhaps even in all of Greece. The night club, Island, is bringing back the glamour and excitement of the twentieth century bouzouki clubs reminiscent of names such as Melina Mercouri and Stavros Niarchos.

Athens Riviera Assouline May 25 2020

Athens is experiencing a revival—in art, night life and design. For a metropolis constantly associated with the past, the modern strides in development and culture are sometimes overlooked in favor of the ruins and artifacts from antiquity. When in fact, the juxtaposition only enhances the beauty of both. Athens Riviera puts the old-world beside the new-world and a deeper understanding of this ancient capital emerges. With one foot in the past and one foot in the future; access to both the electricity of city life and the tranquility of a beach side resort, Athens cannot be defined in simple terms. One just has to experience it for themselves.

Stéphanie Artarit began her career as a journalist, and worked as a psychoanalyst for many years in Tokyo. She then went on to write the novel Variations of the Devil in 2013. Today, she divides her time between homes in Athens and the Cycladic island of Antiparos, where she also operates her boutique, Petit Tipota, and represents several French fashion labels in Greece. In 2018, she began her company, The Gang of Style, which specializes in designing in-house boutiques for luxury hotels all over the world.

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Top New Camper Trailers: “Carapate” From France – “Innovation, Design And Detailed Woodwork”

Whether called “teardrop” or “mini-caravan”, the Carapate is distinguished by its design, technical innovations and careful finishes.

The Carapate offers a maximum of possibilities in a minimum of space. Ingenious and comfortable, it accompanies you during your weekends and trips

canape-mini-caravane-interieur-400x267Its optimal weight, around 450kg depending on the options, allows it to be towed by most cars with just its B license in its pocket. Its optimized dimensions (3.20m / 1.90m) make it a handy vehicle, easy to move and winter. It will pass all the parking gantries and tolls at no additional cost. Its studied height (1.70m) ensures good handling and low consumption during your getaways.

The insulating qualities of its wooden structure (marine plywood) promise you great nights, summer and winter. Its carefully studied bedding is delivered with the compliments of the sandman.

Solar panel, shore socket, 220 volt sockets, USB ports, cigarette lighter; so many possibilities to enjoy the “Carapate” while traveling or at the campsite. Freedom is yours!

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