National Hawaii Day is today, July 5. To mark the occasion, yours truly, a 35-time visitor to the islands, is offering up some thoughts on special hotels and resorts you should consider for your next trip. Remember to visit responsibly and respectfully. Side note: Travel + Leisure came out with their list of the top 20 resorts of Hawaii on Tuesday, July 9. I believe eight of their top picks are on my list below. O’AHU Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina: Resting alongside the Aulani Disney resort outside of Honolulu, this is a chill spot overlooking a pretty Read more
luxury hotels
White Lotus is spurring Canadian searches for hotels in Thailand, the price of a NEXUS travel pass is going WAY up, and Canada Jetlines Announces flights between Toronto and Miami. WHITE LOTUS FILMING SPURS SEARCHES FOR THAILAND HOTELS Queue the White Lotus theme song—KAYAK data shows Canadian searches for five-star hotels in Thailand are up 62 per cent year-over-year since the show’s season three location was released on Instagram, along with an eight per cent drop in hotel prices year-over-year. The most popular resort destinations for Canadians include Bangkok (avg. $113/night), Pattaya (avg. $80/night), Phuket City (avg. $123/night), Read more
Canadian national parks, luxury hotels in Florida, top resorts in the Caribbean, and great islands in Hawaii. U.S. News and World Report has come (LINK) out with its annual list of top destinations and hotels around the world, and there are a few surprises and famous names in the group. Here are some of the top 10 lists they published today (Feb. 6, 2024). TOP WORLD DESTINATIONS Paris (hosting the Summer Olympics this year) Bora Bora (who hasn’t dreamed of an overwater bungalow in Tahitii?) Glacier National Park, Montana Rome (heading there in three weeks; such an amazing city) Swiss Read more
Air Canada will begin non-stop flights from Vancouver to Singapore on April 3, with four flights a week. They will be the only direct flights between Canada and Singapore. Here’s a story from a visit I made to this fascinating nation in 2013. SINGAPORE – Funny thing about travel. Some places you build up and build up in your mind, and then when you go you feel like Norm walking into Cheers and finding the taps have run dry. Other times, you’re not quite sure what to expect and end up getting bowled over by a place. The latter was how Read more
Dominica is garnering tons of headlines these days. Conde Nast Travel recently named it one of the 16 best islands in the world. Travel + Leisure just this week named Dominica the top island in the Caribbean and 8th best in the world, and named the island’s Secret Bay Resort as the top hotel in the Caribbean (and 25th best in the world). I first visited five or six years ago, and got to return for a five-day visit in January. It’s a tremendous, relatively undiscovered island with tremendous hiking and diving. Big resorts are popping up, including a Marriott Read more
