Tour de Tulum

[trip style = beach + sun + glamping + food/wine] 

Juice shacks line the street. Kite boarders dangle over the ocean blue. Yoga retreats occupy every second hotel. Every cab has sand on the floors. This is Tulum. 

Located 1 hour and 40 mins South of the Cancun Airport {CUN}, Tulum is an impossibly cool eco- retreat planted where the Yucatan jungle meets the Caribbean Sea. Stretching from the Tulum Ruins down to the Sian Ka'an arch along a narrow road following the shore, you'll find a wind-swept complexion, nature-infused physique and Swiss Family Robinson-styled abodes soothing you into a slow-going rhythm set by the endless beach's crashing waves. 

Out for dinner one night, I overheard someone say "we love this place so much, we've stopped going to Hawaii." While you won't find me giving up my obsession with aloha, this comment confirmed Tulum is gathering a large clan of converts ranging from European families to fashion bloggers to wellness gurus (and the occasional free-spirited yogi who practices the downward dog topless). The result? A fetching fusion of gorgeous, groovy and granola neatly wrapped into one 10km package.

Stay
Papaya Playa Project: See my Roam+Board review here. While I didn't rest my head at the following boutique hotels, these also come highly recommended by my colleagues: Coqui Coqui and Be Tulum. 

Papaya Playa Project 

Coqui Coqui

Be Tulum

Do
Rent a bike. Go to a juice bar. Visit the Ruins {bring your bathing suit, there's a gorgeous beach onsite}. Shop at the boutiques. 

Tulum Ruins

Beach at the Tulum Ruins

Shopping—make that buying perfume—at Coqui Coqui

Eat
I ate at a number of restaurants in Tulum. These are the most trip- and food-styled choices:
Hartwood: Easily the top recommended restaurant in Tulum, Hartwood wows with every glance, every texture, every bite, every sip. Shaded by palm fronds and lit by the stars, servers carry local food outfitted in jeans, Ts and canvas aprons, making you wonder if you're suspended in a food nirvana somewhere between Brooklyn and Mexico. The white pebble- and canopy-clad environs is enough to make me drool, but it's the cuisine—displayed like a high-end food market and prepared in a two-walled kitchen sans electrical appliances—that made want to return every night. 
Gitano: If I had a backyard, and I built a restaurant—or simply a place to entertain—in said backyard, it would look like Gitano {with a splash of Hartwood}. Strings of lights hung from marine rope light the open-air space setting the secret jungle garden aglow. The hub, an A-frame bar made of reclaimed wood, is inspiring enough to say "I'll have another" more than once. Add in the Mexican minimalist food—tortilla soup served in a clay bowl or fish tacos neatly placed atop a wooden board—and you'll be sticking around for...another round and some dancing under the disco ball. 
Casa Jaguar: High on the romance-meter, Casa Jaguar is an intimate eatery with enough private quadrants to kiss between every course. It's look, hovering somewhere between the pages of DWELL and House Beautiful, creates a country-meets-modern take on jungle dining, serving up fresh Mexican dishes with an Italian disposition.    

Hartwood {make advanced resos, or if you're a walk-in, arrive early or late}

The scene

The menu

Hartwood's open-air kitchen

Heading into Gitano

The scene

The drinks

The food: Tortilla soup

Casa Jaguar

Trip Styler Tips
- Most hotels, restaurants and shops in Tulum sit within 5km of each other on Boca Paila Road. A cab up or down the road costs between 50 and 70 pesos. Don't catch a cab in front of Hartwood, it will set you back a minimum of US$10. Walk a little up the road to avoid the surcharge.
- Ninety-nine percent of Tulum restaurants and cabs only accept cash (Pesos or USD). 
- It's not easy to find a bank machine in Tulum, and they all charge ridic extra fees. This said, we found one in the entrance to the Ahau Hotel which was pretty reliable and didn't charge an insane fee. Bring money, or grab it in the nearby town of El Pueblo at Scotiabank or HSBC.
- If there's been a recent rainfall, the bugs can be bad at night. Bring mosquito repellant. {If you forget, most restaurants have a courtesy bottle.} 
- Getting to Tulum from the airport via cab will cost a minimum of US$100. The way back should be about US$80. 

More Mexico
Hola Huatulco
Exploring Mexican Wine Country --> Hotel  // A Guide
Find your calling {San Felipe, Mexico}
Spotlight: Puerto Vallarta

[photos by @tripstyler except for Be Tulum and Casa Jaguar via each website]

Fresh and Foraged on the Sunshine Coast

[trip style = food & wine + weekend getaway]

On a recent trip style = weekend getaway on BC's Sunshine Coast—one of the most gorgeous stretches of coastline in Canada—I was taken by a food tale I had to tell.

It's not everyday you eat so local that your food is sourced from the nearby forest and ocean floor.

Every year between May and September, THE Restaurant at Painted Boat Resort—a hotel we recently featured in our Roam+Board series—opens its ocean-facing doors to the landlubbing and seafaring public. {While you can reach THE Restaurant by car or foot, you can also paddle or sail upto its deep-water marina and stop in for dinner.} Carved into the water's edge and suspended over a secluded cove, the sunset views rival some of the most sultry skies I've seen in my travels.

Though this savory stunner is more than just a fabulous facade. It has substance too. With deep ties to local suppliers like the butcher five minutes away, a nearby organic produce farm and BC-caught Ocean Wise* seafood, Head Chef Michael Riley doesn't just wax on about sourcing close-by cuisine because it's de rigueur or it looks good in his bio. For him, fresh is best and he has the foraging know-all to prove it.

*Ocean Wise is a designation given to fish caught in local waters via ethical and sustainable practices. 

Mirroring the coast's tradition of "getting out of the city and getting back to the land", Chef is an outdoorsy guy whose regular kayak excursions and hikes pair well with his culinary skills. Curious about foraging—something I've never done though free food is literally in my backyard—I accompanied him on a tranquil mission in search of sea asparagus sprouting from the ocean floor. We not only found it and cut a small bounty with kitchen scissors, we ate a few sea-salted sprigs right off the beach while doing so.

Oyster mushrooms were also in season, so en route home we stopped by a nondescript trail barely visible from the main road. Less than 500 meters into the woods, his eagle eyes spotted the right kind of mushroom. Truth be told: while snipping the foraged fungus off the trees, the urbanite in me had a quick and silent freak out wondering if we were somehow picking the right mushroom. Michael immediately calmed my fears, telling me the exact shape he was looking for, including its color, texture and age characteristics. Freak out averted. 

While you won't spot oyster mushrooms or sea asparagus on the main dish list at THE Restaurant, you will see the latest foraged find as a menu accoutrement. And while basking in the end-of-day glow with a glass of BC wine and spot prawns caught in the surrounding sea, you'll be tempted to stage a sit-in and eat all night long.    

THE Restaurant at Painted Boat Resort 

Greens from Henry Reed Organic Farm on the Sunshine Coast

Seared Ocean Wise halibut in a butternut squash puree with ricotta gnocchi 

Visiting the world's only organic sturgeon caviar facility near THE Restaurant. This world-class product will soon be featured on the menu.

Heading out to find sea asparagus with Pedals and Paddles kayaks

Cutting sea asparagus with kitchen scissors {PS. They're uber-crunchy and taste like a young, briney asparagus}

In search of oyster mushrooms with Chef Michael Riley

Oyster mushrooms in the wild

Foraged oyster mushrooms breaded, pan-fried and served with yuzu sauce and local greens

Our foraged sea asparagus, sautéed and added to Mr. Trip Styler's sablefish 

Do this: Pre-dinner, sunset drinks at THE Restaurant's outside bar
 

[photos by @tripstyler, taken as a guest of the hotel]

Roam+Board :: Painted Boat Resort

[trip style = active + food/wine + luxe]

{Editor's Note: Since I was a kid, I've spent almost every summer on BC's Sunshine Coast, the location of today's R+B property. As a local, I'm excited to show off this iconic stretch, aka. BC's best kept secret!}

What
Tucked into a discreet cove along BC's 180-km Sunshine Coast, Painted Boat sprawls over a five-acre glade of redcedars and Douglas firs. Here, nature's not just a faraway vista, but in your midst.

Built over the shoreline, the one- to two-plus-loft villas come kitted out with gourmet kitchens, large dining rooms, cozy living rooms and ocean views. Saving the best sight line for the master bedroom, each cream-colored space features the dreamiest ocean vantage point in the house. In other words, pack your lingerie AND your stargazing binocs, because you'll want to sleep with the shades open to watch the sky turn from indigo to ink in your feather-topped theatre.

With the oceanfront as the resort's anchor, water beckons at every turn. During my late-May visit I was drawn to both the harbor {read: paddleboards} and the infinity pool as late as 7pm, when the temperature was 22 degrees Celsius/72 Fahrenheit. By 7:30pm, the sun was streaming so intently onto my villa's balcony that the only appropriate activity was sitting with a bottle of wine and watching the sun slather the sky in a cosmic print of pink, purple and orange.  

In an ode to all things seafaring, every night Mr. Trip Styler and I dined on local fish and foraged fare at The RESTAURANT, the Sunshine Coast's premier foodie address. Stay tuned for a special report on foraging with the chef next week. 

Trip Styler approved. 

Trip Styler Tip: Talk to the hotel about the their very instagrammable mason jar-packed breakfast baskets {from $17 per person}.

Where
British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, a 40-minute ride via BC Ferries from Vancouver on the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route. Once in Langdale/Gibsons, Painted Boat is a one-hour drive, or a one-and-a-half-hour bus ride.    

When
Winters are typically west coast; moody, cool and sit-by-the-fire-romantic. Spring and fall provide a gorgeous summer crescendo/decrescendo showing hints of warm weather and stints of sun. During summer high season, the Sunshine Coast more than lives up to its moniker.  

Who/Why
Nature grounds you. So do infinity pools.    

Cost
Rates for the all-villa resort start around $175/night and include WiFi, large patios with a gas BBQ and complimentary parking. Bikes, kayaks and paddleboards can be rented from the resort from $30/$25/$15 respectively. Fido can tag along for $25/night. 

Photos

View over the marina

Infinity pool {find the hot tub and fitness center behind it}

An upper and lower villa, one of 31 at the hotel

Gourmet kitchen, standard in each villa 

Breakfast basket

Mr Nacho King, excited to go paddleboarding

Paddleboarding in Pender Harbor 

Sunset

Indigo night sky

More Roam+Board
Villa Samadhi - Kuala Lumpur
Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle
Four Seasons Chiang Mai
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 first and last, taken while a guest of the hotel]

A Tokyo Coffee Crawl

[trip style = food/wine + urban + steals]

Living on the West Coast of Canada a mere three hours from Seattle {aka: coffee Grand Central}, I'm predisposed—by osmosis—to caring A LOT about coffee. Obsessed with all things coffee, coffee shop and coffee culture, I seek it out every day AND wherever I travel.

To me, a good barista bar is a prime connection to a city's soul; a window into its creative side; a place to wind up or wind down. And, when you find your place and your people: it's a great avenue to ask "what's cool?" in the city you're visiting.

Trip Styler Tip: Many coffee shops in Japan don't open until 10 or 11am. 

Recently I was in Tokyo—one of my favorite cities in the world—and made it my mission to seek out the java-scape. Fortunately, over the past 10 years, Japan has been going through a craft coffee coup, so tapping into the caffeine scene wasn't too difficult. Here are the standouts:

Omotesando Koffee
Tucked into the narrow backstreets of Omotesando, the koffee shop bearing the same name, is minimalist to the max stationed in a 60-year-old house. In this indoor/outdoor space, the wood-adorned and seatless interior is highlighted by two bonsai trees, while the rock- and tree-encased outdoor area is an ode to the traditional Japanese garden. Order the cubes of baked custard. When you taste them, you'll understand why they're the only non-brew on the menu {and my newest epicurean obsession}. 

Café Kitsuné
Benches, bamboo and bonsai set the tone for this international java stop. Doubling as a chic, Paris-based retail store selling sweatshirts and lifestyle wear that redefine casual, plan on spending much more than a few yen on a cappuccino at Café Kitsuné, especially if you fall in love with the J'adore Paris sweatshirt like I did. Fun fact: Baristas are trained by the gent behind Omotesando Koffee. 

Shozo Coffee Store
Just a few blocks from Cafe Kitsuné, we came across another steamy stop for joe. Unlike the others we'd met, Shozo was fully open-air {protected by a canvas roof}, and offered a treasure trove of treats from scones to cookies to shopping totes. It's also part of Tokyo's homage to food trucks and pop-up shops in a space called 246 Common {where we ate dinner the night before but failed to notice this place because it's waaaay in the back}.

Nui Cafe and Bar Lounge
Situated on a side street near the the Kuramae Metro station, Nui is a hostel {a word you don't often read on TS, except here} and local hangout for denim- and fedora-wearing cats looking for a woodsy whereabouts to crunch a croissant and express themselves through espresso. Cafe by day, lounge by night; there's no bad time to stop by, partly because the area is a one-stop-shop for wised-up eateries.

[photos by @TripStyler + @MrTripStyler]

Roam+Board :: Villa Samadhi

[trip style = luxe + urban + sun + food]

What
Tucked between embassies and expat-dwelling mid-rises, Villa Samadhi is a 21-room hideaway that's more guest house than hotel.

Here, service is highly personalized; the upkeep is as if the owner himself is sweeping and scrubbing, while the design harmoniously straddles styles; think: Thatched-roof tropical, lantern-lit estate and modern muse.

Enroute to Bali in April 2014, the flight path Mr. Trip Styler and I took stopped in Kuala Lumpur. Never having touched Malaysian soil, we decided to spend three days acclimatizing to the time zone and exploring the city-in-shift full of ingenue restaurants {that would put the dining scene in many other metropolises to shame}, record-breaking twin towers, copious shopping and greenery-filled parks {avec jogging paths}!   

After exhaustive research, we chose Villa Samadhi—a four-minute cab from downtown—because we wanted a leafy base to sample both urban and villa life without enduring a time- and cash-intensive commute to/from the city.

In keeping with the retreat theme, most rooms come with either a plunge pool or indoor jacuzzi. Our indoor jacuzzi was the size of a lap pool, and every day at 7pm it automatically heated up and the jets lured us in. Just as splashy: The hotel's six-person rooftop Bumbung Bar with views of the Petronas Towers {a much more pleasing perch than Kuala Lumpur's popular SkyBar}.

When you pick a hotel in a foreign country based on photos and the odd review, you NEVER know what you're going to get, but this quickly climbed into the realm of trip styled stay. Trip Styler approved. 

Where
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, about an hour by taxi {$30 usd} from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport {KUL}. Note: Whether you take a cab or the KLIA Ekspres train into town, your journey will be about an hour, especially since reaching most of the city's hotels requires boarding an additional train. For two people, it is about the same price to take a cab or the train. Also note, all cabs charge a nighttime rate {a 50% premium over day rates}.  

When
Only a few degrees north of the equator, the weather in Kuala Lumpur is humid and hot, its heat exaggerated by the traffic and concrete-clad contruction. Expect heavy tropical rainfall in Oct, November and December, and frequent spurts of moisture outside of these months.  

Who/Why
Instead of staying in a bland tower, you're the sultry sanctuary type seeking somewhere small-scale and personalized. Amenities like a lagoon pool with a waterfall, fresh-pressed juices and the resort's watermelon-eating turtle are just bonuses.    

Cost
Rates start around $200/night and include WiFi, glass-bottled water, a drool-worthy breakfast spread, daily canapé delivery and a nightly shuttle to and/from town.

Trip Styler Tip: If you are arriving at the hotel before 8am or after 8pm, make sure to email or call them to ensure someone will be at the front desk when you arrive. 

Photos

Room

The hotel restaurant, Mandi-Mandi

Day beds beside the lagoon pool

The resident turtle {who LOVES watermelon} 

The scene at dusk

Kuala Lumpur's most famous landmark: Patronas Towers, a 25-minute walk from the hotel

More Roam+Board
Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle
Four Seasons Chiang Mai
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 the room and restaurant via the hotel]