Roam+Board :: Rolling Huts

[trip style = weekend getaway + camping & glamping]

{Editor's Note: As we mentioned on Monday, in addition to Travel Beauty, Roam+Board is now publishing every other Wednesday! Your mid-week just got a little more dreamy, we *hope.* Re: this property, I've never stayed here, but I hope to in the next year.}

What If quiet was a sound, you'd find it at Rolling Huts. Tucked into the Methow Valley between the North Cascades mountains, a herd of six warming huts stake a claim on the farmland below. Boxy bungalows with basic kitchenettes, wood-burning fireplaces and platform beds host your trip style = glamping + weekend getaway.

Replace your morning commute with a 6km cross-country ski to the nearest espresso bar and TV watching with stargazing. This is a place to mentally unplug and surround yourself with nature.

I first came across Rolling Huts in Sunset Magazine {<---Love} in an article about "The West's best romantic getaways", and though getting far, far away from it all at a property bathed in minimalism won't be everyone's version of a sultry weekend, you'd have no choice but to cozy-up in your cabin with hot cocoa!

Where Methow Valley, Washington; six hours from Vancouver, four hours from Seattle. During winter the WA-20 Washington Pass connector is closed, so you take a slight roundabout route to arrive. In the summer take 2.5 hours off the above-mentioned travel times.

When Year-round. Cross-country ski in winter, explore nearby towns in shoulder season, and hike and bike in summer.

Who/Why Modern, sparse architecture is your thing, or want to clear your head. You like to get away from it all, and don't mind a communal potty/shower barn that's a few steps from your pad.

Cost Cottages from $125. During holidays add a $10/night. Huts comfortably sleep two, and can be configured to sleep four. $25 pet fee per stay. Includes wifi.

More Roam+Board Golden Rock Inn - Nevis The Ace NYC – New York The Viceroy – Palm Springs The Parker – Palm Springs Sorobon Beach Resort – Bonaire Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA

[photos via Rolling Huts]

Fashion Friday :: Santa, Style Icon

[trip style = weekend getaway + ski]

{Editor’s Note: It’s been a busy fall at Trip Styler HQ, gallivanting to SF, LA, Palm Springs, NYC, Dallas, Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. Now we need a rest—believe it or not, we work just as much on the road as we do at home! On December 24th we’ll be taking some time off and be back with regular posts Monday, January 9th. Merry Christmas and see you in 2012!}

Santa's got the travel thing down: he's quick and efficient, he bypasses customs and security, and he always travels in style. I'm not talking about his sleigh; I'm talking about his outfit. Red suit, white fur, black boots and a big black belt - St. Nick knows fashion. Here are a few cozy winter items inspired by you know who. Happy travels this ho-ho-holiday season!

Trip Styler Tip: Texting and iPhone-friendly gloves are it and a bit and easy to find this winter. They're especially handy for winter travel when you want to whip out your phone to take a picture in a flash. Bonus: they work with fancy cameras too - like this fashionable one I'm currently coveting!

Now what to wear? Women (clockwise from top left) Anthropologie sporadic stitchery pullover, Marc by Marc Jacobs rhiannon lace top, Rag & Bone stretch corduroys, Topshop fur pom pom knitted hat, No.6 lace-up blanket boot, Echo basic touch screen gloves

Men (clockwise from top centre) Moncler V knitted round neck jumper, Gitman Brothers Vintage christmas 1983 shirt, Penfield stapleton jacket, Wings + Horns straight fit jean, Fluevog banker soros boot

More Fashion Friday November in New York Global Style Cozy in the City Après Ski

{Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month and written by fashion blogger Heather.}

[graphic by @heatherlovesit]

Spotlight :: A Palm Springs Holidette

[trip style = sun + weekend getaway + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: This month we've featured two of Palm Springs' swanky resorts for Roam+Board, as well as explored the history and mystery of the Palm Springs Pull in our four-part Spotlight series. Today is the icing on the cake: our must-eat, -sleep and -do suggestions for the savvy traveler seeking trip style = sun + (extended) weekend getaway or holidette (aka three- to four-day getaway, usually occurring over a weekend).}

Both starlets and snowbirds have been drawn to the desert for the better part of 60 years. But after its heyday, just when it looked like Palm Springs was losing its pull, something happened: retro became rad, crooners became cool and mid-century design became divine. Hot hotels popped up in tired old motor lodges, stylish restaurants took over bygone corner bistros and entire city districts devoted themselves to design or artisan rebirth.

With this shift came a younger visitor enamoured with the iconic desert lifestyle. Tacking an extra couple days onto the weekend was justified by bike riding in the morning, eating a snow cone by the pool in the afternoon, browsing boutiques at dusk and dining out at stylish restaurants in the evening.

I think Audrey Hepburn would approve, though she may swap the spiked snow cone for wine. So let's get into it. A Palm Springs holidette:

Do

• Tour the city's mid-century modern masterpieces on your own {nab a $5 Map Of Modern Palm Springs at the Visitors Centre} or in style with Robert Imber for $75/person {e-mail psmoderntours@aol.com or call 1 (760) 318-6118 to book}.
• View Warhol, Wyeth and other celebrated artists at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
• Hike the Indian Canyons {$9 adults, $7 children & students] and ask if Raven is available to be your guide {$3 extra for tours at 10am & 1pm daily}.
• Bike towards the Palm Springs Visitors Center {built in an old gas station} and then up the long and winding road to the Palm Springs Tramway...and back.
• Browse the Uptown Design District on North Palm Canyon Drive for mid-century finds and cool boutiques.

Eat

• Breakfast: Norma's in the Parker. Brunch in a high-end diner on Bertoia-inspired chairs and Saarinen-esque tables under orange, white and yellow shades and pearly globes. With a strong French-pressed coffee, a shot glass of a heavenly smoothie and a breakfast quesadilla big enough for two, you'll be satisfied until five!
• Lunch: Jake's. The perfect petite lunch spot serving brightly coloured salads and inventive sandwiches in an open-air, Paris-meets-Palm Springs courtyard. For the record, if I was a snowbird, I'd be a regular.
• Dinner: Citron in the Viceroy. Refined without stuffiness; where food, beverages and design experts have worked in tandem to create a warm desert dining experience.

Sleep

• The Viceroy: A strikingly pulled-together retreat that's fancy without being frou frou and whimsical without being overdone.
• The Parker: A Hollywood hideaway where towering palm trees guide the way through curvy trails to pools and posh pads.

Getting There Getting there is a cinch. Here's a full list of direct flights to the Palm Springs Airport {PSP} from both Canadian and US destinations. From Vancouver, there's direct and daily WestJet service. Or fly from Bellingham with Allegiant or Seattle with Alaska.

Related Content Spotlight :: The Palm Springs Pull Winter Heat Palm Springs Cool Roam+Board :: The Viceroy Roam+Board :: The Parker

[photos by @tripstyler taken while exploring PS with its CVB]

Spotlight :: The Palm Springs Pull

[trip style = sun + weekend getaway + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: Today is the LAST DAY to enter to win a $200 credit for zozi, an online hub for local experiences in 63 cities in Canada and the US. Perfect as a Christmas gift for the person who has everything.}

{Don't miss next Thursday's Spotlight :: A Palm Springs Holidette}

It's sundown in 1950, and you're waiting for the signal. As the day fades into the night, an invitation is delivered. Not by mail or messenger pigeon, but by the raising of a Jack Daniels flag in the distance. Cocktail hour has arrived, and so have you. You're headed to Frank's---Sinatra that is---for his almost nightly happy hour. With a Jack on the rocks in hand, you chinwag with the Rat Pack crooner at his Twin Palms Estate in the Movie Colony neighborhood.

That was then. But who says you can't carry on Frank's tradition now? Trip style = sun + weekend getaway anyone?

Palm Springs is full of crooners, characters and community. Its pull spans generations, movements and time, with the first inhabitants being the Native Americans followed by an influx of Hollywood's elite. Audrey, Cary and Marilyn first flocked to the desert oasis to lounge and let their hair down. It was the perfect location outside of Hollywood's limelight, and fell within their 100-mile clause set by the studios, meaning they had to be within two hours of LA while filming.

A few of these 50s and 60s-era Hollywood actors still call Palm Springs home, as does a brood of artsy types who color the landscape. Robert's one of them, and so is Raven. Dressed in a fedora and retro-cool outfit, Robert leads modern architectural tours around Palm Springs neighbourhoods. His knowledge is encyclopedic, but he's the real attraction; a celeb unto himself with stories that are as entertaining as his tours. {More info on this next week}.

Raven was my Native American Ranger/guide in Palm Canyon, the world's largest fan palm oasis with m-i-l-e-s of easy to rugged hiking terrain. What I thought was going to be a one-hour nature walk turned into an hour of power as Raven dished out sage advice like "A man either leads, follows or serves. Serving is the greatest honor." He's obviously a man of wisdom, but when he told me what he does in his "free" time, the deal was sealed; he's a medicine man, raiser of scorpions for arthritic relief, flutist with a few CDs, speaker {at the same events as Deepak Chopra}, counselor to kids in prison and youth ranger leader. For all I know he also walks on tightropes, but I'll have to return to confirm this...

These individuals and 49,998 others make up the desert retreat's fun-loving, modern-thinking and art-collecting community. Include the winter and weekend swell and these numbers heat up like the hot-to-trot town's 354 days of sunshine per year. This impressive average---which makes my Vancouver soul cry/rain a little inside---is part of what pulls people to this oasis of relaxation and activity. The other reason is the community; the locals, young weekenders {aka "the margarita crowd"} and greying snowbirds mix like a cool gin and tonic with a twist.

The Palm Springs pull is as relevant today as it was in the mid-century mod boom. Sinatra's nightly cocktail hour invite nailed it. Don't wait for an invitation to come in the mail---the Jack Daniels flag is always flying in Palm Springs.

PS - Walk in Frank Sinatra's shoes at his former home---complete with living room recording studio, piano-shaped pool and twin palms---now a vacation rental. While many of the original fixtures are included, the Jack Daniels flag pole is not. Rent it for $2,500/night.

Related Winter Heat Palm Springs Cool Roam+Board :: The Viceroy Roam+Board :: The Parker

[photos by @tripstyler, taken when I was invited to explore Palm Spring with their CVB in November]

Roam+Board :: The Ace NYC

[trip style = urban + weekend getaway]

{Editor’s Note: I just stayed at the Ace NYC and it's Trip Styler approved. Have you entered to win a $200 credit to zozi, an online hub for local experiences in 63 cities in Canada and the US? Perfect as a gift for the person who has everything!}

What With walls papered in old book pages, low lighting, communal tables and minimalist flower arrangements, the Ace delivers all the service and amenities you’d expect from a legacy hotel brand, with a different flavour. Let’s call it bourbon cilantro swirl. Vanilla has no place at the Ace NYC.

Make no mistake, the Ace isn’t just a restored building bathed in unexpected street-style art, recycled material and dressed-down staff. It’s a well thought out, purposeful place that’s as much a hangout as it is a hotel. Everything from the decor and the people to the transitional location ooze the Ace’s low-key-meets-approachable vibe in a way that leaves guests feeling like they’re staying at both a hot spot and home away from home. Thank the hotel's NY-based designers Roman and Williams for this; the design duo have done several famous hotels, as well as the homes of Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Some rooms are petite, literally just a bed and a shared bath. The next category is almost as small with a double bed, highly efficient bathroom and old pipe with hangers in place of a closet. From here, rooms categories soar from queens to kings to party-worthy suites outfitted with Pendleton blankets and record players, among other amenities.

Where In Manhattan's NoMad district, on the corner of Broadway and 29th. Located one block from a subway station for uptown and downtown access, and a 5-10 minute walk from Penn Station if you're taking a shuttle or the LIRR train to/from JFK. Getting there from Vancouver is pleasant {think full meals with wine, helpful flight attendants and hand lotion in the lavatories}, direct and nightly with Cathay Pacific.

When Year-round, particularly fall and spring. Yes, Manhattan can get a little muggy in the summer and frosty in the winter, but it's still New York. Same city, different outfit.

Who/Why You have a Mac, read Dwell or Nylon, dress in high-waisted pants, fedoras and booties and consider the Olive Garden your culinary enemy. Wrapping yourself in the Ace's boxer-style, sweatpant-material robes, taking photos with your in-room Polaroid and bathing with a bevy of the best hotel toiletries around makes you clean, cozy and cool.

Cost Rates typically start at $99 during promotions. Includes wifi, a gym and the hippest lobby scene I've ever seen. Fido is welcome if you want to chill with your furry friend.

{Trip Styler Tip :: Start your morning with a coffee and apple cinnamon croissant or cheese and pecan scone at Stumptown Coffee---an uber-popular Portland transplant---connected to the hotel's lobby.}

More Roam+Board The Viceroy - Palm Springs The Parker – Palm Springs Sorobon Beach Resort – Bonaire Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA

[photos by @tripstyler & @heatherlovesit, lobby & staircase photos sourced online]