Travel in state Hawaii

Few places capture the platonic ideal of vacation quite like Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, Maui. To kick off 2024, the resort has given its 794 rooms and suites an upgrade—gentle touches like teak lanai furniture and frangipani-flower prints—while the 50,000-square-foot spa, the largest in Hawaii, is midway through a top-to-toe revamp rooted in the island's traditional healing practices. The 40 acres of pikake-filled tropical gardens and Pacific views remain, of course: Let the golden hour, during which guests gather to watch the sky turn every shade of sherbet, then ochre, determine the palette for your visit. Below, we gathered the Grand Wailea–inspired pieces to pack on your next beach vacation, from printed maxi dresses and colorful swimwear to chic, raffia handbags.

This year the shortest month was a day longer, meaning 24 more hours of hotel news you might have missed in February.

The Hawaii-born artist Toshiko Takaezu was known for her ceramic works that redefined the genre with their “closed forms,” as she called them — sealed vessels whose hidden interior spaces were meant to activate the imagination. Next month, Takaezu’s life and work will be the focus of a major retrospective at the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens. “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” will present over 150 pieces from private and public collections around the country, co-curated by the art historian Glenn Adamson, the museum curator Kate Wiener and the composer and sound artist Leilehua Lanzilotti. (A 368-page monograph, published in collaboration with Yale University Press, will accompany the exhibition.) Visitors will be able to see a collection that spans seven decades of Takaezu’s career, from her early student work in Hawaii in the 1940s to immersive, monumental ceramic forms she produced in the late 1990s to early 2000s. “Takaezu was also a weaver and painter, and often constructed multimedia installations where her ceramics, textiles and paintings operated together,” says Wiener. To play off this idea, the curators organized the show chronologically, incorporating each of these media into various sections, inspired by Takaezu’s own installations. Sound will also play a role. In her ceramic pieces, Takaezu would often place a dried fragment of clay within her closed form vessels, creating a musical rattle. For this exhibit, Lanzilotti (a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in music) has developed a series of videos offering insight into the sonic elements of Takaezu’s work — and visitors can hear those rattles firsthand via an interactive display. .

The United States has more than 95,000 miles of shoreline, but where can you find the perfect patch of sand for a vacation? By analyzing its reviews, Tripadvisor ranked the top 10 beaches in the United States.

The best time to cruise Alaska isn't obvious—until you're quietly sailing along its calm waters under a cloudless, late-spring sky. It was on one such day that someone on board spotted a whale breaching. And then again. And again. Within minutes it seemed everyone on board had gathered at the railings on deck to watch. The captain of the ship nimbly repositioned us, giving both the port and starboard sides prime viewing, at a safe and respectful distance from the animals. With binoculars, cameras, and phones at the ready, the passengers and crew aboard UnCruise Adventures' 86-guest S.S. Legacy settled in for what turned out to be an hour-long private show by a juvenile humpback who had migrated from Hawaii to spend the summer in the nutrient-rich Alaskan waters.

From an airport garden in Singapore to a perfumer’s paradise, a sea of bamboo to a local neighborhood gem in Sydney, these gardens hail from all corners of the world and have one thing in common: deep meaning to those who established them and those who visit them.

If you’re not familiar with the famous Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, let me tell you about “House Befitting Heaven.” The luxurious Hawaii resort has won prestigious awards too numerous to mention – and is iconic for a lot of things – but let me tell you about the popovers. I stayed at the famous hotel more than 25 years ago – and I’m still thinking about the yummy breakfast popovers, which have been served there to guests for more than 100 years. They are simply made with flour, eggs, salt, milk, and served with poha berry jam (a type of orange gooseberry). And let me tell you – they are super delicious.

Hot on the heels of the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program, Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways has announced a Mileage Club devaluation by increasing redemption rates for bookings made starting April 18.

When you first look through the airplane window and down at the Azores, you’ll be left speechless. From this very first glimpse, you’ll understand why many call this Portuguese archipelago the “Hawaii of Europe” and the “Islands of Colors.”

Calling 2023 a landmark year for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, CEO Harry Sommer said the company had its first full-year profit since 2019.

KAANAPALI, Hawaii -- It was more than I was expecting.

As the geologically oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai has had quite a lot of time to refine its natural beauty. From the deep crevices of the Na Pali Coast to the eroded layers of the Waimea Canyon to the hidden underwater tunnels, Kauai is a gem like no other place on Earth. 

Checking in a bag is becoming an increasingly expensive endeavor. 

Though her work on Saturday Night Live keeps her tethered to New York City, comedian Chloe Fineman can most often be found criss-crossing the country to film in Los Angeles or back to the Bay Area, where she grew up. Recently, for her campaign with Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, she got to see a new place: Mexico City. “First of all, my brain still can’t understand how it’s a three-hour flight from LA [and five hours from New York], so I could meet all my friends in the middle,” she says. “And it was the most beautiful city. We saw luchadores wrestling, and the food was unbelievable. Some of the best meals in my life were in Mexico City!”

More than 44,000 lives were lost in traffic crashes in the United States in 2023. The number marks a 4% decline from 2022, but compared to pre-pandemic 2019, it’s a 13.6% spike, demonstrating “the seriousness of this public health crisis.”

If you've got one of the five Southwest Airlines credit cards from Chase, chances are you might not know about a little-known promo code that can save cardholders 20% off a last-minute flight redemption.

Shoulder season is often considered the best time to travel, but what and when is it?

Hotel guests in Las Vegas during Super Bowl 2024 paid the highest room rates in continental U.S. history, according to an analysis by CoStar’s STR.

When thinking of national parks, many people imagine vast tracts of land and scenic drives through awe-inspiring mountain, forest, or desert scenery.

As a born-and-raised Oahu local, I've spent a lot of time getting to know the ins and outs of the beautiful Hawaiian island.

We hope you love Romer Waikīkī! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay. Listed prices are accurate as of the time of publication.