Art tips

Private clubs such as Soho House, Zero Bond and Casa Cipriani cemented a long-held Manhattan tradition of the city’s elite clamoring for exclusive spaces. Of course, there will always be the old vanguard — like the Yale Club, Harvard Club and New York Yacht Club — but freshly unwrapped Centurion New York towers over many high-end hideaways from its lavish perch on the 55th floor of the One Vanderbilt building.

A majority of American adults (82%) plan to take at least one vacation this summer, according to The Vacationer’s recent travel survey. With that in mind, here’s a sampling of unique and unexpected summer escapes at you can find at centers and lodgings from the Pacific to Provence: creative and luxurious experiences to help you beat the heat and lean into the season. These may inspire you to find others to suit your summer interests—and go.

In October 2023, as the races at the Mexico City Grand Prix electrified track-side spectators, a quieter but no less meaningful moment unfolded at the city's Gota de Leche School. Associates of The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City and members of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team came together to create a bright, cheery, and well-stocked arts and crafts room for its students, with a view to improving the quality of arts programming as well as creating capacity for creative enrichment. As another gift to the students, the volunteers also packed school bags filled with new art supplies, including a handwritten letter from each of them.

Marrakesh is a magical place—and it’s easy to get lost in the sights and sounds of the city without much of an itinerary at all. You could spend your time lounging by the pool in your riad or exploring the nooks and crannies of the Medina—but you’ll want to pencil in enough time to visit some of the city’s museums and galleries while you’re in town.

The popularity of zero-alcohol cocktails has significantly increased in recent years in Dubai, even as the city’s dining and nightlife scene shows no signs of slowing down. Whether it’s a result of most of the local population’s culture or shifting lifestyle preferences, there’s never been a better time to browse the non-alcoholic drinks sections of menus around town.

Savannah-based company expands its footprint into South Carolina.

OTIS Harbor Springs is the inaugural σhotel project for Israel Hernandez and Ty Humpert, with Daniel Caudill, former Creative Director of Shinola, tapped to lead brand design.

The Four Seasons Hotel, The Westcliff in Johannesburg, South Africa may have a problem. The hotel has so much to offer that you may never want to step so much as a toe off the property to explore Johannesburg (despite the hotel’s incredible Curated Experiences designed to showcase the city’s assets — but more on that later).

For millennia, Salerno, Italy has been overshadowed by the nearby Amalfi Coast and big sister Naples—home to world-famous pizza, sea views, and art. Because the two cities enjoy the same tempered climate and rich traditions, Salerno is often affectionately referred to as “little Naples.” The main difference is that, despite recently becoming a tourist attraction once again, Salerno is blessed with less traffic.

Marc is just back from Cabo Verde where he researched and wrote the upcoming Pocket Cabo Verde (out October 2024). Here he breaks down which island is best for your favorite type of vacation.

Even for someone who loves getting lost in museums — especially “everything museums” like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York — London’s Victoria and Albert Museum might have been my Waterloo. The statistics are daunting: 5,000 years of artistic production with more than 60,000 works on view (from a collection of some 2.8 million) in about 150 galleries beneath 21 acres of roof.

It is early morning on the edge of Essaouira’s medina and the famous Atlantic winds are picking up. The sea looks tawny and wild, the sky is darkening by the minute. It begins to rain, heavily. Even the windsurfers who flock here all year round seem to have vanished. Market traders huddle and the place seems deserted. What better time to stay inside and learn about the ancient and warming Moroccan art of making tea?

The director of a newly refurbished boutique hotel in the old town of Nîmes tells me he has gained and lost a star recently. The hotel’s restaurant, Rouge, run by Benin-born chef Georgiana Viou, recently won its first Michelin star. But the hotel itself, the Margaret Chouleur, has been downgraded from a five-star to just four.

“Royal families used to support artists. Now it’s tourism that keeps art and tradition alive,” says Avijit Singh, the director of India’s House of Rohet group of small luxury hotels. He’s speaking about his family’s ancestral home, Rohet Garh, their city hotel in Jodhpur and their most magical tourism endeavor so far, Mihir Garh.

Plotting your first trip to Las Vegas probably looks something like eating, drinking, beach club, casino, and repeat, right? Las Vegas isn’t called Sin City for nothing; it really is one of the best places in the country to let your hair down and have fun.

Ålesund is a picturesque Norwegian city renowned for its striking art nouveau architecture—unique in Norway—and its stunning natural setting. Situated on Norway's west coast, the city serves as a prime port, one that welcomes ever-increasing numbers of people on cruise ships touring the fjords and the Norwegian coastline.

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If you're the sort of music fan who is happier watching the Coachella livestream on your couch than navigating the crowds, then you may be wondering how to enjoy the magic of live music without quite so many people.

Perhaps no destination on Earth packs as much punch into its relatively small surface area as Menorca. The second largest of the Balearic Islands, at one-fifth the size of Mallorca–its high-profile neighbor to the southwest in the Mediterranean Sea–the isle’s mere 270 square miles belies its almost innumerable gifts, which span the natural to the cultural, and virtually everything in between.

At the southwest corner of Ishikawa, a verdant prefecture hugging the Sea of Japan, traditional craftsmanship thrives alongside contemporary art and architecture in the small towns that make up Kaga City.

Anna is the author of the Lyon chapter for our latest France guidebook. Here she shares the best experiences you can find in Lyon.