Guide to Exploring California’s Coast: Point Lobos

The Point Lobos state reserve is often credited as “the greatest meeting of land and sea in the world” as well as the “crown jewel of the state park system.” With that said, it is unlikely that the park will offer anything less then prime areas for a healthy hike and brilliant wildlife spotting along the backdrop of the Central California’s jagged coast line.  Offering a tale into the whaling industry of the past with a quaint small museum, whale watching is often plentiful (gray whales December-April), in addition to otters and rare species of birds make for a true haven for the nature enthusiast.

Located at the northern end of Big Sur, just five hours north of L.A. and two hours south of San Francisco, Point Lobos is also just a hop, skip, and a jump away from world renowned Pebble Beach and the resort towns of the Monterey Peninsula.  The landscape at Point Lobos offers rocky cliffs, which seamlessly blend into lush forests, wildflower patches, and awe inspiring canyons located along the park’s countless beaches.  For the avid outdoorsman there lay plentiful options whether you enjoy diving to explore coves, swimming in the brisk pacific ocean amongst otters, hike, and or kayak around the reserve to capture the natural beauty by both sea and land.

Wildlife spotting is ideal, the park is home to many unique species including elephant seals, sea lions, orcas, sea otters, coyotes, mountain lions, and gray foxes.  The park is also a garden of eden for birds; which include species ranging from the the darker eyed junco to the massive brown pelican.

With activities for everyone, Point Lobos proves to be a necessary stop when visiting California’s coast.  From sweet smelling flowers to the exotic fauna, the magical destination never offers a dull moment or a more exciting experience for nature enthusiasts, alpinists, and conservationists alike.  In order to enjoy the breathtaking scenery to its utmost potential, visitors should check up on the weather, bring along water and or food if a picnic is part of your day plan, wear comfortable clothing, take a “map” if it is your first time visiting Point Lobos, and a camera to capture your unforgettable experience along with the awe-inspiring emblematic setting.

For more information visit:  PointLobos.org

Photography by: Marli Allard

Montecristo’s 80th Year Commemoration in Napa Valley

The weekend gala for luxury aficionados to come together and revel in gourmet cooking, luxurious Cuban cigars, and vintage California wines for three unforgettable days is scheduled from May 4th to the 6th of 2017, and hosted by Charlie Palmer at Harvest Inn in Napa Valley.

This second annual event pays homage to the 80th anniversary of Montecristo, which to this day accounts for roughly one-quarter of Habanos SA’s worldwide cigar sales, designating it the most popular and best-selling cigar maker in the world.  Those that will be present during all or only part of the celebratory weekend will be able to indulge in some of Napa Valley’s finest wines and be given the opportunity to partake in specifically selected Montecristos with Cuban cigar specialist, collector, and proprietor of London’s renowned Casa del Habano “Ajay Patel”.

On the first day, the celebration begins with a barbecue reception provided by Harvest Table executive chef Spencer Wolff and will also present complimentary One Main hand-rolled cigars.  The next night commemorates the 80th anniversary of Montecristo with a multi-course dinner by Wolff and cigar & wine parings with Ajay Patel, as you look out over the Mayacamas Mountains and the hundreds of acres of vineyards.  The last day features an exclusive tasting at Gargiulo Vineyards followed by an array of cigars and a special winery tour, after which, a private reception and dinner take-place at Oakville’s famed B Cellars cave and includes a world-class menu, incredible wine, and aromatic cigars.

Tickets for this grand gala can be procured for specific events ranging from $70 to $350 per person.  As for the two- and three-night resort packages, they can range from $2,585 to $3,414 and include first-rate accommodations at Harvest Inn.  In addition, dinners and tastings for two are available as well.  The event will take a share of the proceeds to be donated to local charitable directed organizations, which will include the Boys & Girls Club of St. Helena.

Surgeon General Warning: Cigar Smoking Can Cause Cancers of the Mouth And Throat, Even If You Do Not Inhale.

A New Five-Star Kempinski Hotel Opens in Cuba

Cuba has been widely known as one of the finest luxury travel destinations to visit around the world, and because it is such a spectacular place to travel, you can definitely expect the accommodations don’t fall far behind Cuba’s unique allure.  The long-established luxury hotel group Kempinski, which holds the title as Europe’s oldest (120 years old) Swiss hotel company, has just recently announced their plans for opening Cuba’s first ever five-star hotel the “Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana,” later this year.

The hotel is positioned at the core of Old Havana (a part of Cuba’s capital city), and also overlook the Great Theater of Havana as well as the El Floridta—an outstanding fish restaurant & cocktail bar that was frequented by Ernest Hemingway.  Hotel guests can effortlessly take a stroll to Old Havana’s main anastomotic artery Calle Obispo (which is brimming with eye-catching art galleries, wondrous shopping, and music bars), and the acclaimed Castillo del Morro lighthouse that guarded the entrance to Havana Bay for over 400 years, is just an easy ten-minute drive away.

The Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski Manzana La Habana will offer a total of 246 rooms and suites in sizes ranging from 430 to 1,615 square feet.  In addition, each will be offering a smart contemporary white palette along vaulted ceilings, french windows, and a brilliant array of bright colors.  The hotel’s amenities will feature three restaurants, a 10,765 square foot Swiss Resense spa, a spacious lobby bar, an in-house cigar lounge, a rooftop terrace with a swimming pool, and free internet service in all the rooms.  The hotel will be finished later this year, but any specifics on the exact opening date is still yet to be released.

For more information please visit:  Kempinski.com

Purchase a Spectacular Private Island Off The Coast of Belize

When one wants to live a life far from the bustling city, and can’t seem to find that perfect place that allows you to gaze at the sunset or view the waves lightly crash onto the shore with a nice bottle of Macallan 55 and complete serenity.  Luckily  Hatchet Caye (a beautiful seven acre private island positioned 17 miles off the coast of Placencia, Belize) is on the market for $9.9 million, and remains a sublime location on every front.

The island is situated no more than three miles from the Belize Reef Reserve System, which is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia that stands as the largest coral reef system in the world.  The Belize Reef Reserve exhibits coastal lagoons as well as offshore atolls, the area is also a prime snorkeling, scuba and deep-sea diving site.  And with such an oceanic marvel so close by to Hatchet Caye, it’s almost like an easy pathway opened up just for the island’s residence.

This island getaway is fairly expansive and surrounded by all kinds of fascinating aquatic activities to try, such as “the turtle spot,” which allows you to witness tortoises in their habitual environment.  As for activities back at Hatchet Caye, the possibilities are almost endless, from having a relaxing spa massage to an adrenaline pumping swim around the island.

The island’s resort that was opened in 2011 features, seven beachfront cabanas, 12 suites, and a separate facility that can house up to 23 staff members.  The island also includes a main house with five rooms as well as a seafood restaurant called “The Lionfish Grill,” which boasts arched ceilings and stunning ocean views.  Boat shuttles from Placencia even make a round-trip to the island, creating the perfect travel destination for people traveling to and from Belize.

Around fifty perfect of the island has already been developed, giving you plenty of the island left for any plans on future growth.  Construction on more facilities, buildings, and docks alike can be added to the island whenever the owner wishes it.  Hatchet Caye makes for a spectacular place to have that always desired R&R, taking in the great views, seeing the marine life, and enjoying that long awaited bottle of Macallan 55.

For more information visit:  HatchetCaye.com & MiamiEvusa.com

This Luxurious Hotel Makes For An Opulent Retreat

What was once the early 20th century Roman villa that bordered the Tiber River and the home of the Malaspina family (who hosted countless high-class soi rées) is now a luxurious hotel named Palazzo Dama.  Opened this year in January as a 30 room hotel, the luxury resort has become an opulent retreat within it’s own city, a place where historical marble mosaics and original art-nouveau doors beautifully complement the Loro Piana fabrics and spectacular mid-century Italian furnishings.  Even architect Antonio Girardi culled many exotic objects from across the globe to add a little panache or liveliness to the hotel, all the way from antique Persian carpets rolled-out in the restaurant to a shower of crystal chandeliers (derived from New York’s Plaza Hotel) in the lounge.  Enjoy life in the hotel like the Malaspina family, take your time and have a relaxing afternoon by the property’s swimming pool, then take it easy with a light excursion through it’s blossoming flower gardens and finish the day off watching the sun set atop the rooftop terrace.

For more information visit:  PalazzoDama.com

How to Pick Out the Restaurants on Your Travels

People travel for various reasons: business, romance, friendship, and adventure. It doesn’t matter which of these reasons leads you to make your way across the world, they will almost invariably include food.  It can just be fuel that keeps you going, or an adventure on its own. Just as the famous travel writer Deborah Cater said: “You have to taste a culture to understand it”. However, finding a good dining place despite the language barrier, cultural quirks and poor spatial orientation in an unknown city, is much more difficult than it sounds. Here are some tips that will help you to successfully navigate through local restaurants wherever you are.

Check the “Best Of” Guides

Of course, you shouldn’t trust what you read in these guides blindly, but they can serve as a great starting point for your further quests. Most big cities and popular tourist destinations have some sort of dedicated magazine or annual “best off” issues where they choose things to do and see, best restaurants included. The downside of these guides is that the Chamber of Commerce often gives preference to some restaurants.

Follow Local Bloggers

Local food bloggers might be a bit more honest than the people choosing restaurants for “the best off” guides. Start your treasure hunt for food blogs before you even set foot on foreign soil. Also, check if there are any world famous chefs or bloggers (e.g. Anthony Bourdain) who were visiting the same destination and the restaurants they visited.

Talk to Locals

Face to face conversations with the people that are actually living in the place you are visiting is the best way to find out where the best food is made. Asking the concierge in your hotel should only be your first step. Try with employees at popular tourist spots and people you meet on the street or at a bar. It may sound crazy to you now, but you will be able to easily tell when someone has similar taste for food as you on the first glance.

Check All Aspects of the Restaurants

When asking for recommendations, you should ask for more info than “is the food great”. Check for the available cuisines, food procurement policies, ambiance and the staff’s approach to guests (knowledge of English is desirable). If people you’re chatting with can give you even more info, such as the chef’s name, cooking style and whether they have efficient kitchen staff management which can be crucial in things like meals’ quality and the time of waiting per dish.

Avoid Big Tourist Attractions

Restaurants around the biggest tourist attractions gain most of the attention because of their location not the quality of the food. Unfortunately, tourists would buy anything that doesn’t include risk of getting lost in a foreign neighborhood, but sometimes getting lost is worthwhile. Almost every city has a neighborhood that is famous for a certain type of restaurants (in Paris that would be 8^th arrondissement for high-end restaurants, 10^th for having something for everyone and 11^th for new food scene), so prepare your feet for walking.

Use Smartphone Apps

Travel apps such as TripAdvisor, Foursquare and Yelp can help you find restaurants and read useful info about them, as well as the impressions of other visitors. The real value of these apps lies in the specific information you can find: when is the best time to get the table? Do they take reservations? What’s the most delicious and the most popular meal? Another app that you might want to have on your phone is Travelzoo for drink and food deals on the go.

When traveling abroad, you don’t want to be the typical tourist who goes to the nearest McDonald’s and eats on the go. Take your time to savor the local flavors and eat in the most prestigious restaurants you can find. Memorable meals are essential ingredients for a memorable travel.

Porsche New Experience Center Opens In L.A.

The recently launched Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles (also known as PEC LA) has caused major excitement in the West Coast for countless esteemed car enthusiasts, the center (a sixty million dollar complex) vows to bring in over 50,000 visitors from all around.

The experience center was built on top of a former nine-hole golf course located in L.A.’s industrial South Bay, and the cutting-edge 53-acre site features numerous test tracks, event space, a fine-dining restaurant, and a limited but symbolic collection of time-honored Porsche race car classics.  In addition, the new facility will act as the new Porsche Motorsports headquarters in North America, where Porsche’s most skilled engineers and factory technicians will maintain close support for more than 400 racing clientele from the U.S. and Canada with parts, components, and expertise & knowledge from an immaculate workshop enclosed in glass.

Detlev von Platen, former president & CEO of Porsche Cars North America, who just recently became the executive board member for Porsche’s global sales and marketing last fall, says the PEC LA “allows us to showcase everything Porsche stands for.”  Not only the killer racetrack and the ravishing cars, “but also teamwork and, most importantly, people.”  The company unobtrusively estimates the new Porsche Experience Center will bring 50,000 visitors, among a third of the visitors coming from current Porsche owners, another third from special/corporate events, and the remaining third from floor traffic.  Porsche’s first Experience Center in U.S. (neighboring its North American headquarters of Atlanta) has already had 36,000 visitors since it opened last year in May 2015.

The main focal point for most visitors will be the high-performance driving programs, that are taught by professional instructors, many of whom are either current or former race car drivers.  Students are able to drift around a wet skid pad in a Boxster, go off-roading in a Cayenne, test launch control in a 911, or race to your hearts content around the handling circuit in a Cayman.  The prices vary between $385 to $950 for each 90 minute session course.  PEC LA also offers restoration services of classic race cars for both private and corporate customers, but restoration facilities for road cars will stay in Atlanta.  Von Platen puts emphasis that, “this center is all about the race cars.”

For more information visit:  PorscheDriving.com

Tropical Winter Getaway

When people say “winter vacation”, they usually have some snowy mountain on mind, where they can ski or lounge by the fireplace, drink hot chocolate and enjoy the winter magic, but hey, that’s not written in stone. Some people simply don’t like snow let alone cold weather, all they may want to do is get away from winter’s icy grip and catch some tropical sun. And that’s okay. When you think about it, there is something marvelous about tropical winter getaways – they’re like great adventures and an escapade to the surreal. There are plenty of fascinating destinations to visit this winter, but one place stands out as this season’s favorite – Saint Barths.

Heaven on Earth

This might sound as a cliché used to describe all the tropical destinations around the globe, but this time, it is really true. How else would you name a place of isolated stretches of powdery-white sand, turquoise sea, sky-scraping mountains and green hills? With such an alluring setting, this island is, unsurprisingly, a destination of choice for many celebrities; Alessandra Ambrosio, Beyoncé, the Kardashians, just to name a few. This is beyond doubt the most elite island of the Caribbean, often compared to St. Tropez. The French flair shouldn’t be surprising, since St. Barths is an overseas collectivity of France.

What to See?

With the reputation of being an “adults’ sandbox” where the rich and famous go to indulge, this charming island may easily lure you to spend the entirety of your days lying in the sun and drinking cocktails. That would be a bad decision, though, since St. Barths has plenty of interesting places to see. The island is pretty simple to get around, especially with the well-marked roads and tourist offices.

• Gustavia is the likeable capital of Saint Barths. The tiny harbor town is probably the most charming place you’ll ever see, with its red roofs, chic boutiques, gourmet restaurants, luxury duty-free shops and rustic fishing boats anchored just next to luxury yachts. When in this city, visit the Wall House Museum, Musée Territorial and the Vieux Clocher.
• Fort Gustav is perfect if you want to get your daily dose of history. The remains of this 18th century fort include ruins of a sentry box, cannons, stone ramparts, etc.
• Lorient is an adorable village on the north coast with a fantastic beach and historic church and houses.
• Colombier Beach is an unspoiled stretch of sand accessible by boat, or if you prefer the adventure – it’s a half-hour hike down a narrow trail.
• St Jean is the most popular tourist destination outside of Gustavia, with luxury villas, irresistible restaurants and a rapturous beach.
• Nature Reserve of Saint Barthélemy is a marine reserve divided into 5 zones around the island with the goal of preserving the island’s fragile ecosystem.
• Saline Beach is a secluded beach with the most beautiful sand and cobalt blue water.

How to Prepare

If you think that it is enough to pack your bikini and sunglasses, you’re almost right. Sun protection is very important, since the temperatures get quite high. Besides, since your skin is accustomed to cold winter weather, it is prone to changes, such as skin hyperpigmentation. In fact, dermatologists claim that it is exactly this type of travel that poses the most risk for such skin conditions. So, protect yourself not only with sun block, but also with a hat and lightweight clothes.

Where to Stay

Tourists most often stay in Gustavia or St Jean. You can choose from approximately 30 hotels and resorts, or decide on a luxury villa. Cottages and bungalows are also great options, since they’re usually family run and can provide you with that authentic St. Barths style.

What to Do?

Just lay back and enjoy. St Barths is one of those places where you can hire your own battler that works on getting you everything you want during your stay. One thing you have to do is eat, so don’t miss out the chance to try out the gastronomic wonder of this area where every plate is an art and fine dining is a lifestyle.

Start planning your winter vacation today, this delightful island is waiting for you.

St. Kitts Welcomes a New Superyacht Marina

Known far and wide as an incredibly popular port that anchors some of the most captivating superyachts in history, St. Kitts is on the rise for even greater fame.  As the luxury resort Christophe Harbour extends its reach by adding a complex superyacht marina village to its grounds, creating a new location for yachters from around the world to go shopping, socialize and to enjoy the wonderful scenery that has made St. Kitts the desirable locality it is today.

The Customs House, which is an 11,000 square-foot building that bears a resemblance to a wharf-side warehouse from way back when, will function as the nucleus for the entire community.  The Custom House will be designed with arched doorways and handmade bricks, and will also feature a fitness center, customs & immigration center, real estate center, crew lounge, and marina operations post.  Moreover, the village is going to incorporate an extensive array of stores, cafes, boutiques, and even a specially commissioned rum market that would sell local aqua Vitae (which is Latin for “water of life”).  The rooftop terraces will offer spectacular views overlooking the marina as well as the Caribbean Sea, and can be leased for private or special events.  The superyacht marina village is scheduled to be finished in early 2017.

For more information visit:  ChristopheHarbour.com

The First Luxury Adventure Lodge to Arrive in Iceland

The first luxury adventure lodge in Iceland invites guests to experience an atmosphere like no other, as the property’s positioned on Iceland’s northern coast surrounded by an almost endless & secluded land of snow-covered mountains, incredible black-sandy beaches, and high-reaching volcanoes.  This breathtaking Iceland vacation residence, Eleven Experience’s Deplar Farm stands as a 12-room lodge that made it’s debut in April on a 3,000 acre sheep ranch upon the Troll Peninsula.  The outside of the lodge may seem like nothing special with its plain wood appearance, at least it would, if not for the geographical natural surroundings and the Airbus helicopter stationed close by the property.  As for the inside of the lodge, a bright and atmospheric setting takes shape, with enduring floor-to-ceiling windows and fur-covered loungers.  The lodge amenities include a saltwater swimming pool and a restaurant serving wild-caught Atlantic salmon as well as any other local specialties.  But the real adventure begins with the many outdoor excursions that Deplar offers, such as heli-skiing in the surrounding peaks, fly-fishing in the glacial rivers, puffin watching, and immersing oneself in the relaxing, tension-relieving hot-springs.

For more information visit:  ElevenExperience.com