Displaying posts labeled "Hotel"

My house is in uproar. Dust and paint drips, kitchen contents in the dining room, clothes racks in the living room. I’m in the throes of a major renovation and all I want to do is escape. Alas I can only take a virtual getaway but what a destination! The stunning stone masseria in Sicily called Dimora delle Balze has eleven hotel rooms in total. I can’t make up my mind which one I like the most but seeing this is a daydream I can linger long enough to try them all. Meet you in the gardens for a long lunch extending into the warm evening.

Mary, a very sweet blog reader, emailed us about her Airbnb “beach shack” in a coastal village of Tuross Head, New South Wales. I had to share this beauty with you. What I would do to be able to spend a vacation here!

I know that there are a lot of great looking rooms out there that are far more fancy and luxe than my abode.  However, you may be curious to view my newly renovated 70s beach shack.  It sits by, what I believe, is one of the most beautiful and untouched coasts lines in the world – The Far South Coast of NSW. The interior styling of the house could be described as slow design.  The house includes art and furniture collections accumulated over many years of living in Asia and Australia.  To me the most important and inspiring pieces are from family: my dad’s old carpenter’s workbench and my parents’ Parker lounge chairs from my childhood.  These pieces inspired the look, feel and soul of my renovation, completed in December 2018. Mary Louise is a 1978 modified beach house. After being rented out for most of its life, it had become the eyesore of the neighbourhood. Despite its dilapidated condition, it had good bones and design integrity that needed saving. So, in 2017 the restoration of this 70’s original beach home began in earnest. After a year of work, Mary Louise was finally transformed. It now stands proudly getting the admiration it deserves. The living and dining area is open plan and seamlessly connected to a beautiful outside deck offering ocean, mountain and hidden garden vistas. 

It’s Monday and I’m on strike. The work week doesn’t have to start until I say so. No not going to happen. Instead I think we should all take a virtual getaway to California’s Sonoma Valley in the heart of wine country. How about a little Mediterranean vibe? Cool, shaded interiors, a pared back traditional style, smooth plaster and twisted ironwork, fountains murmuring gently. I’ll meet you at Kenwood Inn & Spa designed by Salt + Bones . Wine then a massage? Massage then wine? Both at the same time?

Photography by Laure Joliet

Is the weekend really over? Time for a little Monday virtual getaway. We’re off to the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst, the perfect base for shopping, coffee sipping and people watching. Where are we staying? The Naked Fox, the latest offering from boutique luxury holiday accommodation purveyor Contemporary Hotels. It’s a stylish art deco apartment perfect for dropping your bags and heading out or bringing back old friends and new for a drink. Fabulous art, dark wood furniture with immaculate white covers and a clever mirrored wall.

Prince Edward County is an island on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Here you will find a quirky, campy inn called the Drake Devonshire. Multi-disciplinary design studio +tongtong had the task of turning a tired bed and breakfast and original c. 1880 foundry into an 11-room and two-suite contemporary inn. Something a bit more “hip” as all things Drake are (it’s the rural version of Toronto’s Drake Hotel). How sweet would this suite up in the peak of the A frame be?! (Photos: Nikolas Koenig)