Guest User

May 29, 2014

Weekend Getaway, Beach & Sun, Fash-Packing, Jetset Style

Top 10 Travel Essentials :: Summer Weekend Edition

Guest User

May 29, 2014

Weekend Getaway, Beach & Sun, Fash-Packing, Jetset Style

[trip style = weekend getaway + sun]

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

If Buzzfeed, David Letterman and magazine culture have taught us anything, it's that we love lists. 21 Animal Photos That Will Make You Go Awwwww? Click! 52 Places to Go in 2014? Click! Summer Packing Essentials? Click! {*See our mention in Buzzfeed here!}

With summer unofficially underway after the recent long weekends and officially underway in 22 days, my mind has turned to weekend getaways. And, by extension, what to wear on said getaways. I may be a classic morning-of packer, but I dream about what to pack weeks ahead.

With all this in mind, I present my summer packing list, filled with on-trend, internationally inspired, versatile items that "double in the program". Between Chief Trip Stylist Trish and myself, every one of these essentials is either in our closets or on our summer wishlists {I'm looking at you, handmade Mexican sandals!}.

Top 10 Travel Essentials :: Summer Weekend Edition
#1 - Mexican-inspired top {note the bathing suit tuck-in}
#2 - Summer-weight scarf
#3 - Sensational swimsuit
#4 - Easy-breezy beach-to-night dress
#5 - Japanese-inspired Kimono
#6 - Denim shirt
#7 - Tank top
#8 - Mexican-inspired sandals
#9 - Jean shorts
#10 - Cropped sweater

Clockwise from top left: 1/ JM Dry Goods embroidered blouse, 2/ Heather Taylor Home scarf, 3/ Marc by Marc Jacobs bikini top & high waisted bottom, 4/ Black Crane long strap dress, 5/ Nicole Bridger kimono featuring artist Zoe Pawlak print, 6/ Gap denim shirt, 7/ NSF scout tank, 8/ Beatrice Valenzuela sandals, 9/ Madewell denim cutoffs, 10/ Topshop fisherman crop sweater

***Guys: Your summer weekend essentials should include a pair of 3/4-length shorts {7-9" inseam}, a white v- or crew-neck tee, a classic short- or long-sleeve oxford shirt and a pair of lace-up Vans.

[photo collage by @heatherlovesit]

Trish McCloy

April 14, 2014

Beach & Sun, Beach & Sun, Food & Wine, Luxury, Roam+Board, Spa

Roam+Board :: Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai

Trish McCloy

April 14, 2014

Beach & Sun, Beach & Sun, Food & Wine, Luxury, Roam+Board, Spa

[trip style = luxe + foodie + sun + spa]

Editor's Note: This R+B is part of a series on my luxury jaunt to Asia. Earlier posts include: flying Cathay Pacific's business class, exploring Hong Kong and checking into the Four Seasons Hong Kong. Look for a wrap-up in a few weeks, when I take you on an elephant trek in the Golden Triangle {where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet}.

What
Staying in hotels as my passion project and my living means resorts are much more than a stay I've sought out, or an assignment I've been given; they are my second home, my source of inspiration and my global community {from the room attendants to the other guests}. And sometimes, I can't shake certain stays.

The Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai is one of them. Sprawling 20 acres over botanical gardens and a working rice farm in Northern Thailand, the resort's tall curvy roofs, open-air living and stepping-stone pathways, designed in an ode to the area's Lanna Kingdom heritage, are only part of its je ne sais quoi. Looking back, the reason I can't {and will never} shake this stay, is the property's personality. In a word, it's got soul.

Built around gently cascading rice terraces, 64 pavilions accompanied by a private outdoor living room {aka: sala} beg you to be. Three hours later, you realize you drifted away. While I'm normally a go-go-go gal, the surrounding quietness and beauty lulled me into a never-never land. Beyond the pavilions, a collection of 34 pool villas and private residences round out the wild and with-it accommodations.

Aside from a sightseeing and shopping visit to the 700-year-old city—Chiang Mai is the cultural capital of Thailand—a trip to the Spa and a few sun sessions by the infinity pool, I spent most of my time consuming Northern Thailand's famous fare like kaow soi gai {the area's signature yellow curry noodles with chicken} in the hotel's four restaurants.

My culinary crescendo came on the last night in the hotel's Cooking School when under the tutelage of Chef and local restaurant owner Nuttaluck Roswan, I prepared green papaya salad and noodle-wrapped fried chicken in an exotic dining pavilion sporting exposed-beam ceilings, timber floors and a symphony of copper pots.

You find the soul of a place through its food. Combine this with the Four Seasons' trip styled setting, it's no wonder I fell so hard. Trip Styler approved.

Trip Styler Tip: Leave your Jimmy Choos at home; the cobblestone and teak pathways are better tailored to flat soles over spikes.

Where
In Chiang Mai, Thailand's Mae Rim Valley, 30 minutes from the Chiang Mai Airport {CNX} and 20 minutes from the city.

When
Chiang Mai's weather ranges from warm to hot year round. August and September accumulate the most rainfall, so while there's no bad time to visit, most stay between October and May.

Who/Why
Garden variety resorts aren't for you. You want something savvy with soul. A place to be pampered, yet go rice planting; to eat well, yet sharpen your kitchen skills in a cooking school.

Cost
Rates start around $487 a night and include use of mountain bikes, an area resort shuttle, a sauna and herbal steam room. Note: The Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai skews towards adults, though small ones are welcome and will gush about their own pint-sized resort experience due to the kids club with daily activities.

Photos

The dining scene at Sala Mae Rim, one of four resort restaurants

Dessert: sweet coconut soup with taro pearls

Mixing my own green papaya salad in cooking class

A server offering Monsoon Valley, Thailand's only locally made, beautifully flavored sparkling wine

My outdoor sala, attached to every pavilion

Floating flower arrangements, a familiar sight in every corner of the 20-acre property

Two workers--part of a staff of 50 full-time gardeners--tending to the rice fields

The rice paddy parade, an end-of-day procession happening every night at 4.50pm

More Roam+Board
Four Seasons Hong Kong
Korakia Pensione - Palm Springs
La Gazelle d'Or – Morocco
Mandarin Oriental – Las Vegas
Hotel Lone – Croatia
Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay - Lanai

[photos by @tripstyler, except top photo and cooking school via Four Seasons Chiang Mai, taken as a guest of the hotel]

Editor

March 20, 2014

Active & Adventure, Beach & Sun, Food & Wine, Luxury, Spa

Weekend in Palm Springs

Editor

March 20, 2014

Active & Adventure, Beach & Sun, Food & Wine, Luxury, Spa

[trip style = sun + food + luxe + spa + active]

When I’m in need of a major dose of Vitamin D, I retreat into Palm Springs’ sunny embrace. Steeped in enough swagger and style to outlast the coolest cats in town—just about every big-name celeb has had a brush with Hollywood's first love, including the newest recruit, Leonardo Dicaprio—its effortless cool delivers from dawn till dusk. Here's where to lounge like an A-lister in the desert sun.

Trip Styler Tip: For full details, check out my styled suggestions in 48 hours in Palm Springs for the Expedia Viewfinder.

Day One

Breakfast

Norma's for alfresco dining fuelled by complimentary smoothie shooters
King's Highway order an iconic date shake with vanilla bean gelato in the former and upstyled Denny’s
Cheeky's for the bacon flight alone {and the owner’s fave: crispy buttermilk waffles doused in salted butter and syrup}

Mid-morn
Stroll along North Palm Canyon Drive into the Uptown Design District to browse furniture stores akin to midcentury museums, and while you're in the place that popularized poolside cocktail parties, play the part in a scene-stealing dress or striped seersucker suit from desert-based designer Trina Turk---a shop so legit, you're offered a chilled mimosa upon entering.

Noon
Check into Korakia Pensione, and if your room isn't prepped—check-in is technically in the later afternoon—cool off under the shade of an umbrella beside one of two saltwater pools at the Mediterranean-inspired retreat.

Mid-aft
Replenish your sun-scorched electrolytes at the Lemonade Stand deep in the citrus grove at The Parker Palm Springs. Sit and sip a muddled lemon bev of your choosing at the chic white marble bar, or under the shade of a tangerine and yellow umbrella. And since you’re on vacation, head a few steps leeward to PSYC {Palm Springs Yacht Club}, a nautical-themed spa offering a co-ed dipping pool and boozy pre-treatment shots.

Drinks
Since you’re already at The Parker, saddle up to the six-seat Mini Bar for a tipple.

Dinner
Satisfy your stomach at Birba, an alfresco pizza and pasta place warmed by the wood-burning pizza oven and a bevy of outdoor fireplaces. Birba is my first dinner stop every single time I lollygag in Palm Springs.

Day Two

Breakfast
Korakia Pensione includes breakfast in one of the most gorgeous settings in the Coachella Valley: a spot next to a fountain under the shade of orange trees. Bite into a rotating menu of dishes like rustic potatoes paired with eggs and multigrain toast.

Mid-morn
Since Palm Springs and modernism mingle in the same circles---it's home to the country's largest concentration of the throwback structures and style---check out some of the homes that have helped to make the city famous. Look up Robert Imber at Palm Springs Modern Tours or stop by the Palm Springs Visitors Center for a $5 map of Modern Palm Springs. Both the DIY and hosted tours are excellent; choose one based on how much time you want to spend drooling over design.

Early-aft
The San Jacinto Mountains, visible from nearly every sun-scorched vantage point, beg to be conquered. Rev your heartbeat and score a killer view of the Coachella Valley hiking one of the many trails that start along the edge of town. Talk to your hotel concierge for a list of nearby trailheads.

Mid-aft
You're in Palm Springs, so spending time by your hotel pool is not only encouraged, but expected.

Dinner
Toast your last night of desert decadence at one of Palm Springs’ most iconic addresses, the ever-hip Purple Palm Restaurant and Bar. Named in a nod to the hotel’s original owner—a mob boss and member of the Purple Gang—the elegant eatery is perched next to the Colony Palms Hotel pool.

[photos by @tripstyler, except mini bar via Parker Palm]

Editor

March 13, 2014

Beach & Sun, Luxury, Roam+Board

Roam+Board :: Korakia Pensione

Editor

March 13, 2014

Beach & Sun, Luxury, Roam+Board

[trip style = luxe + sun]

What
Hitting the Palm Springs hotel scene in the late ‘80s, Korakia Pensione is the darling of design bloggers who can’t help but snap its eye-catching vignettes. Two restored villas—next door neighbors in the 1930s—dressed in a Morocco and Mediterranean cues host 29 guest rooms at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains.

Korakia is more haven than hotel. Moroccan daybeds and fuchsia bougainvillea accessorize property, palms pop up in clusters and narrow pathways beg you to explore every corner of the 1.5-acre grounds. Knowing the original hoteliers were a model-photog duo, I understand why every glance looks like a magazine spread.

Rooms vary in size from petite perch to patio suite, each dressed in timeless touches such as stone floors, white walls, rustic antiques and exposed wood-beam ceilings. True to its retreat physique, board games replace in-room TVs and fireside chats sit in for a thumping hotel bar.

At breakfast—Korakia is a bed and breakfast—I sit beside a three-tiered fountain at a wooden table decorated with rustic place settings and a bowl of oranges. Completely taken by the scene, including the palate-cleansing scent, I look up and realize I’m in a citrus grove.

As the day progresses, I roam the grounds eating oranges and photographing every desert detail. While the property is a few blocks from downtown Palm Springs, I can’t tear myself away from the living magazine pages, and hold out for the sunset when the sky turns 50 shades of pink, the lanterns are lit and vintage movies play under a starry sky. At Korakia, staying in is the new going out. Trip Styler approved.

Trip Styler Tip: Ready for more boutique hotel bliss in Palm Springs? Check out my top five picks in an article I penned for the Expedia Viewfinder.

Where
Ten minutes from the Palm Springs Airport or two hours---three in traffic---from LAX.

When
Palm Springs receives 360 days of sun per year; there's no bad time to go. The winter months are a desert dichotomy of warm days and frosty nights, spring and fall are perfection and summer is desert-hot.

Who/Why
Palm Springs' health retreat beginnings bring out your inner vitamin D-loving bohemian {and desire to direct a DIY photoshoot}.

Cost
Winter rates start at $289/night and include breakfast, parking, nightly outdoor movie nights and WiFi. Summer rates hover around $180/night.

Photos