Alison J. Stein

Artisan Anita Porchet on the detailed art of enamel watches.

The eminent architecture critic on what the affluent are building now. 

Hotel luxury in New York, St. Moritz or Bora-Bora is one thing: a pleasure, to be sure, but not exactly surprising. Excellence off the beaten path, far from top destinations’ celebrated interior designers and architects, well-trained workforces and reliable supply chains for the best food and drink, is another. Here are six hotels offering exceptional luxury in surprising places.

Brazil Trancoso, a small beach village in Bahia, Brazil, is the totally-off-the-radar getaway that everyone knows about—a place for the affuent but not glitzy, the good-looking but also really smart, as best personified by its newest part-time resident, newscaster Anderson Cooper. When he’s not occupying it personally, his three-bedroom Casa Anderson is the latest available […]

The Shangri-La is a marked upgrade for a city where high aesthetic praise includes laudatory comments about “old Soviet charm.”

Nekupe, a new resort in Nandaime, Nicaragua, offers that rarest of amenities: genuine novelty.

Indonesia's Nihiwatu resort takes commitment to get to, but is nothing short of fantasy-fulfilling once there.

The Baltimore, Md. hotel was originally constructed as a private mansion in 1889. Now, it could just turn Baltimore into a luxury destination.

Geopolitical pressures make the journey to some remarkable destinations a balancing act of risks and rewards.

It’s not just where you’re going—it’s how you get there. Here are four incredible destinations and the most exciting, romantic and inspiring ways to get there.

As the country’s third-largest state, California offers a wealth of vacation possibilities. How to choose? We asked some of the finest luxury travel companies to create custom trips to show you California like you’ve never seen it before.