Honolulu Hints

[trip style = beach + sun + foodie + urban]

When you need a dose of sun, Oahu delivers. As one of the destinations to welcome early jetsetters in the golden age of travel, Hawaii's hottest city knows a little something about aloha-infused hospitality. Locals have been perfecting the art since mai tai mavens started flocking to its shores post WWII.

Over the past week, I've been buzzing around town on a treasure hunt for trip styled spots all over the island. Sadly, I did not find Dog The Bounty Hunter, but I did glean these Honolulu hints---both vintage and mod---beyond Waikiki's packed and palm tree-lined beach. Stay tuned for my outer island picks {coming soon}.

Stay: The Modern Honolulu. The most au courant address on the shore. See my full write-up here.

Stay: Vive Hotel Waikiki. A new boutique hotel, opened summer 2013, featuring complimentary WiFi and continental breakfast. I stayed for three nights and every staff member I encountered was standout, and the location is bang-on, sitting pretty between Waikiki Beach and the Ala Wai canal.

Do: Join the locals walking their dogs or jogging along Ala Wai canal {a few blocks inland from Waikiki Beach}. For me, it's become a tradition to run the near two-mile promenade every time I'm in town.

Do: Go to the beach {obviously, you're in HI} for sunning, splashing and swimming at Ala Moana Beach Park. PS. I love the swimming lane that's been dredged along the shore for suuuuuuuuuper long lengths. BYO goggles.

Do: Stroll along the historic South King Street to study structures from Hawaii's yesteryear like the King Kamehameha I statue, Iolani Palace and other landmarks in the Capitol District.

Do: Stop and savor the sunset; it's a Hawaiian tradition.

Eat: Morning Glass Coffee + Cafe. Run by Stumptown Coffee-brewing hipsters who serve simple breakfast selections al fresco, like scones with earl grey-soaked raisins.

Eat: Leonard's Bakery. A Honolulu institution since it opened in 1952. Bite into one of their famed malasadas---a Hawaiian take on the Portuguese doughnut---and you'll be hooked for life {or your entire trip}.

Eat: Rainbow Drive-In . Another Honolulu institution that's been dishing up plate lunches since 1961. Back then, a BBQ steak plate was $1. Today, a similar dish is $7.50---still a steal---and includes two scoops of rice and a macaroni salad.

Eat: Lucky Belly. A corner eatery in Honolulu's Chinatown serving punch bowl-sized ramen for $8 in a spartan space wrapped in wood and lit with Edison bulbs.

Eat: Chef Mavro. If he wanted to, I'm sure Chef Mavro could have his own show on the Food Network. His kitchen know-how is that good, and every dish from his flexible prix-fixe menu is a piece of Picasso-worthy art. Literally, I took photos of every one of my nine plates like I was the paparazzi snapping a star. Expect a traditional restaurant physique and modern dishes.

Trip Styler Tip :: Check out more of my aloha aces from my trip to Honolulu in early 2012. I still dig the selections.

Do you have any Honolulu faves?

[photos by @tripstyler taken while as partial guest of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau]

Roam+Board :: The Sou'Wester

[trip style = budget + weekend getaway + glamping + beach]

Editor’s Note: When I told my friends I was spending my summer vacay at a trailer park, they thought I'd lost my trip styling marbles. In all fairness, my stay-by-the-sea is only part trailer park; it's mostly a collection of vintage travel trailers. Throw in an 1892-built manor and cabin quartette, and you've got the The Sow'Wester.

What As I lined up to check into The Sou'Wester, the Portlandia resident checking out mused to the front desk gal "The Sou'Wester is Portland's Hamptons." As my week away progressed, I discovered her description could not have have been more apt.

Overnighting in the one of 10 vintage travel trailers at The Sou'Wester recalls a time when motor hotels and Spartan Manors---a retro version of today's mobile mansions---topped travel. I feel like I should have packed pearls, a power blue suit and pumps as a sat in my stationary time capsule sipping a tumbler of whiskey listening to eras of records from Johnny Cash to The Beatles to Willie Nelson.

A retro expo seasoned in boho and purist midcentury finds, the Sou'Wester is miles away from a hotel-cation. Indie bands play in the lodge. Artists-in-resident work on projects. Hip families roast marshmallows at fire pits in aluminum alley. Hipsters read classic American literature.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

A 28-mile long Hampton's-style beach decorated in massive waves and low-bank dunes covered in wispy sea grass is a five minute walk away. Portland's Hamptons indeed. Trip Styler approved.

Where Seaview, WA, three hours South of Seattle by car, or 1.5hrs Northwest of Portland. Don't miss the paved, multi-mile biking/walking/jogging path winding through the dunes. Oh, and you can drive on the beach.

When The summer is your prime opportunity to sun-seek. The rest of the year is famously stormy and foggy---there's 100+ days of fog---but the inclement weather is part of its misty, wind-swept charm.

Who/Why Because you can't resist telling your friends you're vacationing at a trailer park. Think of it this way: it's as if you're rolling with the 'Stones in their tour trailers.

Cost Rates start at $58 for trailers and $68 for cabins and include WiFi and parking. Everything from linens to kitchen utensils to space heaters is provided. BYO shampoo and conditioner, or end up washing your hair with dish soap...

Trip Styler Tip :: No need to knock on the next trailer for a cup of sugar, there's an honor system shoppe where you can pick up flowers, butter, beer, thrift finds and local crafts.

Photos {Aluminum alley.}

{Us, trailering.}

{Inside our Spartan Manor trailer.}

{The living room.}

{The record playa.}

{The music selection.}

{The bedroom.}

{Flowers for sale.}

{Sou'Wester's resident dog.}

{Beach near Sou'Wester.}

{In case you want to shower off after the beach. Note that most of the stationary trailers have showers too.}

More Roam+Board Cama Beach Cabins – near Seattle The Pearl Hotel – San Diego The Templar – Toronto Encuentro Guadalupe – Mexico Hotel Havana – San Antonio The Ampersand Hotel – London Mount Engadine Lodge – Canadian Rockies Lava Lava Beach Club – Hawaii Island Ace Hotel – Seattle The Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino The Burrard – Vancouver  Hotel de Glace – Quebec Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler]

Roam+Board :: Cama Beach Cabins

[trip style = budget + weekend getaway + glamping]

Editor's Note: While we normally cover styled stays and plays, summer calls for a more relaxed, chilled out approach to vacation time. Just you, the basics and the beach. With a few weeks remaining in the Pacific Northwest's sunny season, I feel compelled to tell you about a set of 32 seaside cabins I met up with when I was weekending between Seattle and Vancouver. The best part? They start at $52 a night, so bring your Trader Joe's two buck chuck, or go BIG with a bottle of Opus One {I mean, you're saving a bundle on your accoms}.

What Glamping in the cabins at Cama Beach feels like camp, sans counselor. There's a cafe-slash-gathering space that's like a mess hall, central heads {aka washrooms}, wooden boat center to paddle or crab, volunteer-run tuck shop, and grassy field for wide games. All that's missing is a group of guys streaking to the flag pole at 4am. {If you went to camp as a kid, you'll pick up what I'm putting down.}

This woody cabin collective is sunset-situated along Cama Beach State Park's pebble and shell-topped beach, and in true beachfront form, each cabin has a front porch.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

A living room, kitchenette including fridge, microwave, sink AND coffeemaker, and bedroom round out the most basic space. In case you thought I was kidding about glamping, this cabin type has no bathroom - a central set is a stroll away. Lavatory lovers, don't despair, there are seven deluxe waterfront cabins and two bungalows each including a toilet, shower and sink {plus all the other stuff}. Trip Styler approved.

Friends: if you are reading this, shall we book a bevy of Cama cabins and roast marshmallows by the seaside?

Where Cama Beach on Camano Island, about two hours from Vancouver and an hour from Seattle by car - no ferry required. Once you arrive, a shuttle takes you and your glamping stuff from the parking lot to the cabins.

When The cabins are open year-round and can only be booked---gasp---by phone up to nine months prior to your arrival date: 1 - 360 - 387 - 1550.

Who/Why What's camping? A cabin by the sea is as basic as you'll go.

Cost Rates start at $52 in winter and $69 in summer. Find free WiFi at the cafe perched on treed bluff above the cabins. Dogs are allowed for $15 extra per night. BYO linens, pillows, kitchen utensils and hibachi {or charcoal for the on-site BBQs}.

Photos

More Roam+Board The Pearl Hotel – San Diego The Templar – Toronto Encuentro Guadalupe – Mexico Hotel Havana – San Antonio The Ampersand Hotel – London Mount Engadine Lodge – Canadian Rockies Lava Lava Beach Club – Hawaii Island Ace Hotel – Seattle The Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino The Burrard – Vancouver  Hotel de Glace – Quebec Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler, except top photo flickr/larrymyhre]

Spotlight :: San Diego

[trip style = weekend away + beach + urban]

San Diego's sea breeze and surf life has been calling my name since high school, the last time I visited. I remember very few details from the trip other than one vivid moment: seeing A.C. Slater {of Saved by the Bell fame} walking down the street. I was so embarrassed---for who I'm not sure---I looked the other way.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW.

Prior to my brush with Mr. Mullet, my only interaction with this Southern Cali city was a quintessential kid-trip to Sea World. My sister and I sat in the splash zone for Shamu's show. We left with soggy bums and ice creams to forget the wet.

Mr. Trip Styler and I have been talking about strutting down to Ron Burgundy's stomping grounds forever, so this June we finally flew to the coastal cosmo and tried the adult version on for size. It fit just right. Because people surf before work. Because there's 100+ kms of coastline. Because everyone rides cruiser bikes. Because the temperature is just right---not too hot, not too cold. Because there's a brood of restaurants and shops and neighborhoods outside of tourist areas with a laser-focus on their food, their craft, their brew, their goods, and differentiating from the crowd.

Trip Styler Tip :: Find more San Diego deets in two articles I wrote for Expedia in the Expedia Viewfinder Blog: 48 Hours in San Diego and Beach 101.

Like modern explorers we sailed {read: drove} around town in search of a motley crew of cool; this makeshift map documents our tried, tested and trip styled recommendations. If I take the winter off, you'll know where to find me.

{To make things clear as ice, I've loaded each hotel, restaurant and lounge mentioned above into Google Maps, as well as tagged my San Diego snaps on Instagram as #TSsanDiego so you can search them easily.}

Photos {Tower 23 Hotel. San Diego's it shore-front sleepover.}

{Pacific Beach.}

{Sessions Public. Pictured here: part of our happy hour feast!}

{Lifeguard station. I had to.}

{Coronado Beach.}

{Monello Italian restaurant. Cool trivia: they serve Cicchetti at happy hour, aka you order a drink and the chef prepares you a petite appy.}

{Pigment. A shop. My muse avec air plants, beach wood furniture, handmade leather goods, etc... }

{Great Maple, a gorgeous diner-turned-restau dishing out chic comfort food.}

Related Roam+Board :: The Pearl Hotel {Where to stay in San Diego}

[photos by @tripstyler]

Roam+Board :: The Pearl Hotel

[trip style = budget conscious + sun]

What The Pearl Hotel is a compact throwback recalling its groovy 1959 beginnings. Fashioned around a vintage, oyster-shaped pool, the 23-room hotel is misted in mid-century, whimsy and San Diego's quintessential beach life. It's a place where shag carpets hobnob with driftwood and in-room 'pet' Siamese fighting fish.

I shacked up at The Pearl for a few nights in June, and wish I could have stayed longer. By morn, Mr. Trip Styler and I would take out the complimentary cruiser bikes for a spin around nearby Shelter Island; by aft, we'd lounge at the pool sipping lemon water under a living wall of succulents; by eve, we'd explore our sand and city surroundings. We were in our element.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Rooms are efficiently designed with all the amenities you'd expect from a swell stay---wifi, cushy bed, flat-screen TV, etc... The decor is the modern side of mid-century mod, mingling clean lines, whitewashed tile bathrooms and a beach-hued color wheel. I viewed the room as a place to sleep, the rest of the hotel's splashy scene was that inviting.

Sadly, our pearly pause in Ron Burgundy's stomping grounds did not coincide with a Wednesday, the night when summer dive-in movies play. Next time I visit I will coordinate my overnight with a movie night, so I can watch Top Gun or Point Break poolside.

Trip Styler approved.

Where Parked between marinas and a residential neighborhood along a busy street in the Point Loma neighborhood near San Diego Bay, The Pearl is two blocks from the ocean, and an 8-minute drive from the San Diego Airport {SAN}.

When San Diego's surf and sun abounds year-round. Winter temperatures hover around 18 degrees Celsius with a touch of rain, and summer clocks in at a breezy 26C. May and 'June gloom' can be a little grey when morning clouds linger.

Who/Why Vintage updos are your thing, both the hairstyles and the hotel facelifts. It's no surprise, then, you feel at home while on the road in a 1950s motor hotel that's been retro- and reno-fitted to its original glory---with a few mod amenities for good measure.

Cost Rates start around $100 per night and include WiFi, morning coffee from local roaster Cafe Moto, use of the hotel's cruiser bikes, and a fish in your room. Bring earplugs to this adult-only hotel to guard your beauty sleep from street noise or outside  chatter.

Trip Styler Tip: Parking at the hotel is $10, yet there's plenty of free spots in the residential neighborhood surrounding the hotel.

Photos

More Roam+Board The Templar – Toronto Encuentro Guadalupe – Mexico Hotel Havana – San Antonio The Amersand Hotel – London Mount Engadine Lodge – Canadian Rockies Lava Lava Beach Club – Hawaii Island Ace Hotel – Seattle The Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino The Burrard – Vancouver  Hotel de Glace – Quebec Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler]