But this year's Hot List, our 28th edition, might really be the best one ever. It's certainly our most diverse, featuring not only a hotel with a suite that was once Winston Churchill's office but also the world's largest cruise ship and a Peruvian Japanese restaurant in Cape Town. We were surprised and inspired by this year's honorees, and we know you will be too.
stay » KENYA
Angama Amboseli
At Amboseli, size is everything. Some of Kenya's few remaining "super tuskers" (bull elephants with tusks so long they almost reach the ground) make an epic journey along an ancient migratory path in the shadow of Africa's highest peak. It's an environment where big ideas are not only welcome but also needed-and Angama has risen to the challenge with its third lodge. Located within the Kimana Sanctuary, the 10-suite canvas-roofed Angama Amboseli is part of a wildlife corridor connecting Amboseli with protected areas in the Chyulu Hills and Tsavo West. Built in partnership with the NGO the Big Life Foundation, it's the company's first foray into hands-on conservation. From the Mnara, a Wi-Fi-equipped watchtower, guests can spot herds parade across marshland into neighboring fields at sunset as lights from the villages twinkle on the horizon. The messaging is positive rather than preachy, allowing the beauty of this patch of paradise to shine through. Elephants have inspired every element of the interior design from columnar pillars resembling their legs to place mats mimicking the pattern and texture of their skin. All tents-set several pachyderm spaced strides apart-have superb views, a signature for Angama, which has the best spot along the Oloololow. Lying back and watching the wild world go by is the biggest treat of all. From $1,650 per person, per night; angama.com
stay >> SANTA MONICA
The Georgian
Denne historien er fra May - June 2024-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May - June 2024-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Sands of Time - Sculpted by millennia, Chad is a place of ancient geology and epic grandeur. Aminatta Forna finds her place in it all
The 15,000-square-mile Ennedi Massif, in north-eastern Chad, is a plateau the size of Switzerland. Between 350 million and 500 million years ago, this part of the globe was an ocean. Then the ocean disappeared, leaving the sandstone floor exposed. The climate shifted from rain-soaked to arid. Sun, wind, and water sculpted the sandstone into a dramatic, desolate, unearthly landscape of gorges and valleys, inselbergs and stacks, towering tassili and natural arches. In the desert the delicate threads of life become apparent in trails of tiny footprints scattered across the sands: here, the tear-shaped tracks of a lizard; there, the dimpled prints of a gerbil.
Antiques Road Show - After buying a second home, in France, the designer Claire Vivier called up fellow designer Kate Berry to go on the ultimate shopping spree
When Los Angeles-based designer Clare Vivier began decorating the 19th-century house she'd bought in her husband's hometown of Saint-Calais, in France's Loire Valley, she had a particular aesthetic in mind. I love color and patterns but wanted something peaceful, so the intention was to create a dialogue between those two things, she says. She wanted the house to have a blend of contemporary pieces, antiques, and textiles from heritage maisons to create a space that, much like her namesake handbag and fashion label, channeled both California fun and French sophistication. She also knew that she wanted her longtime friend Kate Berry, a designer and creative director, to help her make it happen.
The Slow Road - Rather than rush from Tokyo to Kyoto by train, as most visitors to Japan do, Tom Vanderbilt chose to bike - coasting down country roads, spying snow monkeys, and refueling with hearty bowls of soba
Rather than rush from Tokyo to Kyoto by train, as most visitors to Japan do, Tom Vanderbilt chose to bike - coasting down country roads, spying snow monkeys, and refueling with hearty bowls of soba. At the peak of the day's heat, I pulled into the tiny hamlet of Hirase, in Japan's Gifu Prefecture. I'd just climbed a twisting, waterfall-lined road several thousand feet through Hakusan National Park before descending into the shimmering fantasy landscape of Shirakawa-go, an almost Tolkien-esque village (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) comprising centuries-old farmhouses with peaked thatch roofs.
SHAILENE WOODLEY on FIJI
I was in Suva, the capital of Fiji, making a film, and our crew took over half of the Grand Pacific Hotel.
easy does it
Beyond the bubble of Queenstown, New Zealand's majestic Otago region offers the kinds of adventures you can truly appreciate only by slowing down
gather round
The secret ingredient in Philadelphia's lauded food scene? The empathy of the locals behind it
THE PAST IS PRESENT
Beguilingly complex Istanbul has done a lot of soul-searching in recent years. Lale Arikoglu digs into the city's modern identity - while tracing the roots of her own
Creation Story
Modern-day craftspeople are bringing back traditional Arabian arts in Jeddah's Old Town of Al-Balad
Continental Drift
For her first trip to Africa, aboard an HX Hurtigruten cruise ship, Sarah Greaves Gabbadon confronts her assumptions about what a homeland means
On the Rise
With new hotels, climbing routes, and biking trails, Colorado's low-key, high-elevation Western Slope is ripe for adventure
