Strange Closets

I just returned from 11 days in California, four of which were spent in a very smart, super comfortable, uber-cool two room suite at the Ace Hotel, which is my new favorite place to stay in Palm Springs, which is one of my all-time favorite places. Although it’s hotter than hell in the California desert [...]

The first time I visited Europe in 2000, I took an overnight train from Copenhagen to Paris. My tiny, beautiful, old-fashioned cabin had wood paneling and bunk beds, and it was the first thing that came to mind when the uniformed bellhop opened the door to my itty bitty room last week at The Jane [...]

Work took precedent on this rainy day, but after slogging through a few rough drafts, my brain was fried, so I took a walk around San Francisco’s Union Square, surprised to observe the large number of hotels where I’ve stayed on past trips. In fact, thanks to Priceline, I’ve stayed at several different hotels on [...]

Have you ever dreamed of spending the night at Caribou Coffee?

I first posted this in early April but I’ve been traveling a bit lately (visit next week for a report on my latest trip to Dallas and the . . . interesting hotel I stayed in – not exactly a design lover’s dream), and I find myself comparing every hotel to the Soho Hotel in [...]

I have seen the future, and I didn’t need a Flux Capacitor, just a plane ticket and a (very affordable) reservation at Portland’s Ace Hotel. Ace is a game changer, a new category in American hotels, a place where style and utility and sustainability and art coexist peacefully because in the future, it has to. [...]

In most cases, I like the concept of Bed and Breakfasts a whole lot more than the reality. Sure, it sounds cozy and “real”, the idea of staying in an actual home instead of a sterile hotel, the informal shared breakfasts, meeting new people, helping a real person make their living. But my, admittedly anecdotal, [...]