The Ultimate Gypsy Wonderland Motel

Paradise comes in many shapes and forms for different people, but give us a country ranch with 18th century barns, vintage neon signs, Frida Kahlo-influenced folk art and outdoor porches decorated with salvaged antiques and string lights? Let’s just say, we’d be making ourselves quite comfortable… Behold Rancho Pillow, a 20 acre compound that rests near the…

Elvis Presley’s Abandoned Tiki Paradise

The moment Elvis Presley floated down the lagoon at the Coco Palms Resort with Hawaiian flowers around his neck, serenading his new island bride in 1960s panavision technicolor, the hotel had solidified its place as one of the most desirable couples’ destinations on the planet. It would forever be the setting of the classic mid-century…

The Italian Hotel built inside Abandoned Medieval Grottos

Okay come with me, we’re going to explore every inch of this hotel built inside the deserted grottos of an Italian mountain village from the Middle Ages. The cliffs of the Gravina River Valley in Matera Italy are believed to be the site of the first human settlements in the country. So let’s begin our…

Take a Peek Inside the Original Grand Budapest Hotel

On the busy streets of the Grand Boulevard, the Corinthia Hotel blends in with the decadent architecture of downtown Budapest. Located amidst the bistros and elegant apartment blocks punctuated by traffic and the yellow tram that never sleeps, it’s easy to miss out of the beauty of this old hotel. But if you take a…

For Sale! The Antique Train Hotel

Maybe, just maybe, you might be the person who is perfect for this. I received an email tip from a reader with the subject line “I just discovered this place…”, (my favourite kind of email), pointing me in the direction of the Red Caboose Bed & Breakfast in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, USA. The unusual B&B…

The Neglected Ghost Town of Italy’s Dolce Vita Drinking Water

San Pellegrino is an icon of the Italian lifestyle, the most stylish brand of sparkling water you can order anywhere in the world, synonymous with luxury, fine dining, jet set summers in Europe and “la Dolce Vita”. One of its first admirers was allegedly Leonardo da Vinci, who visited the source in Lombardy to sample the…

Up Close & Personal with Coco Chanel in her Apartment at the Ritz

The most controversial years in Coco Chanel’s life were spent living at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. While most of Paris was being booted out of their homes during the German occupation, Coco lived in luxury throughout most of World War II– thanks to a highly questionable relationship with her lover, a German Aristocrat and Nazi…

Vacation in a Village of Giant Vases

This is a real hotel on the South Korean island of Yeongheung Island in the Yellow Sea that I happened upon, the way I usually do, while clicking through the depths of cyber space. But of course, the back alleys of the internet never just give you anything that easily… It all started by randomly stumbling across a single photograph of these giant…

Stop Everything, Check out these Miniature Mediocre Motels

Among my favourite things are mid-century American kitsch and teeny tiny stuff. Put the two together and you basically send me into overload. I’m not exactly sure why run-down vintage motels fascinate me so; perhaps that seedy glamour of America is much more appealing to a European road-tripper like me who hasn’t stayed in enough of them yet to have encountered bed bugs. But those pastel…

Unfinished Hotel Ruins of the Egyptian Desert

In the heart of the Egyptian Sinai desert, concrete carcasses are rising from the sand. Sultan’s Palace, Pharoah’s Resort, Coral Beach; these are the dreamt up names given to the abandoned hotels by the German duo of photographers that captured them in their unfinished limbo, Stefanie Zoche and the late Sabine Haubitz. I’m new to the…