On September 1, the historic Pera Palace Hotel reopens after an extensive two-year restoration project. Originally built in 1895, it was the first luxury hotel in the Ottoman Empire, and the last destination stop in the East for passengers onboard the Orient Express. With expansive views of the Golden Horn, …

After a year-long renovation, the Matakauri Lodge on New Zealand’s South Island reopens on August 27. The Robertson family, the lodge’s owners, also run the award-winning resorts Kauri Cliffs and the Farm at Cape Kidnappers on the North Island. Each of the lodge’s ten suites boasts its own private balcony …

For most of the 20th century, Switzerland’s Hôtel du Parc was an exclusive retreat for European nobles and other distinguished guests. The Belle Epoque property—set high above Lake Geneva in the Alpine village of Mont Pèlerin—closed as a hotel in 2000, but the landmark is readying to reemerge as a …

The Chatwal Hotel opened August 8 in a 1905 landmark building at 130 West 44th Street in New York’s Theater District. The famed architect and designer Thierry Despont transformed the Art Deco building, formerly occupied by the Lambs, America’s first theatrical society, into a hotel with 88 rooms (5 to …

Every year, Gail Nissly and her husband, Everett, take an adventurous journey far from their Cincinnati home. The couple—ages 60 and 70, respectively—have white-water rafted from Alaska into the Arctic Ocean, hiked the Mont Blanc circuit, dogsledded above the Arctic Circle, and scaled Kilimanjaro. But it was in Antarctica, on …

Most of Europe’s elite golf courses are clustered in the British Isles and, to a lesser extent, the Iberian Peninsula. Like its joie-de-vivre-centric counterpart Italy, France has always been an underachiever when it comes to this particular leisure pursuit. But the Gallic golfing landscape is not without its gems, most …

While Solio Lodge may have just opened last week, Kenya’s enormous Solio Game Reserve, where it is located, was established back in 1970. The ranch, which encompasses 45,000 acres with a 17,000-acre game conservancy, is home to more than 74 black rhinos and 155 white rhinos in addition to buffalo, …

Like the surrounding desert, Armani Hotel Dubai derives much of its appeal from its general absence of things. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani, known for his minimalist style, has all but eschewed color, ornamentation, and natural light for his inaugural hotel, creating a low-lit oasis within a metropolis of dazzling abundance. …

When the Staples Center opened in downtown Los Angeles in 1999, ticket holders for the venue’s sporting and entertainment extravaganzas had to venture far afield for a good pre- or post-event meal. Just over a decade later, the area near the arena abounds with eateries, movie theaters, and more as …

In 1911, Crans-Montana distinguished itself as a ski destination by hosting the first major downhill racing event in the sport’s history. But it was sun, rather than snow, that first attracted visitors to this resort town in the Swiss Alps.
At the turn of the 20th century, health-conscious tourists and …