Here and There #17
Four beautiful new books on our table; the perfect summer “shorts-suit;” new hotels we’ve bookmarked, from San Francisco to Florence; and come meet us in St. Tropez on June 13!
May Moodboard
So many good books are coming out this month that I want for my bookshelf, and/or to order in multiples for host gifts this summer. From this celebrity passport photo book to this homage to Fire Island art, to our former Martha Stewart and Traveler colleague Steve Orr’s new gardening book, and our dear friend Jenny Walton’s book Jenny Sais Quoi: Adventures in Vintage & Personal Style—a visual diary that includes her amazing illustrations and paintings, as well as essays on how she sources and styles vintage and other inspirations.
This summer “suit”—meant to be wrinkly—is perfect as separates, too. I’m also dreaming about this more formal version.
Maybe this will be the summer I finally make it to see Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden, Il Giardino dei Tarocchi, in Capalbio. Starting in 1978, she spent over two decades creating 22 giant, mosaic-encrusted sculptures inspired by the tarot deck, and it’s supposed to be incredible.
This bag from The Armoury is made of stiff canvas—it stands up so well—and it comes with a shoulder strap. Finally available again in the States.
Of course, I have to plug the Wm Brown prebottled Negroni! Matt’s only been working on it for years, and market researching every hotel minibar to confirm that there isn’t a good one yet. This one is great, and you can order it here.
I love clever pop-ups and programming where unlikely bedfellows come together. I was sad to have missed this kintsugi workshop at our friends’ winery, Hudson Ranch, last weekend, but am lobbying for a repeat. And if you find yourself in St. Tropez this summer, our friends at Alessi, Connolly, Fornasetti, Globe-Trotter and Smythson are joining together for a pop-up called The Shop on the Corner—and I’m hosting a cocktail party to celebrate both the launch and our summer issue on June 13.
Speaking of St. Tropez, I can’t wait to get back to Rondini to restock on these sandals that I got on my last trip there (had literally no wear-in issues!)—in either navy or red… or both!
Next time I’m in London, I want to try to see this 15th-century English noble home with a surprise 1930’s Art Deco interior—Eltham Palace was built in Greenwich in 1936 by “eccentric millionaires” Stephen and Virginia Courtauld and is only 40 minutes by train.
Our Roman friend Roberto came over the other day wearing this grassy/sweet scent called Ichnusa that was so good I couldn’t stop talking about it. Turns out it’s from a family-owned Roman perfumer called Profumum (which turns 30 this year), with scents inspired by Italian terroir—Ichnusa is Sardinia in a bottle.
ICYMI
Last week we launched our first family newsletter, Yolo Junior! And the new home of all things family travel on our site, from Black Books of world cities at a child’s scale to packing tips, travel advice, and dispatches with the whole family in tow.
We just updated our coveted Costa Meno Italy list, so if you weren’t sure Italy was within reach this year, this is your bible, with over 200 hotels, B&B’s, resorts, and albergos spanning the vast Italian coast.
Our Nashville List made us want to join everyone who is moving to this incredibly fun city.
Our latest Travel Uniform updates our most popular post ever: the most comfortable pants for the airplane.
The most brilliant “Sudoku packing method”—a grid-based system that turns nine pieces into 27 outfits—explained!
And finally, we just published our Antwerp List—a love letter to one of the most interesting cities in Europe… all from the coolest locals, of course.
Arrivals & Departures
We’re huge fans of Pali Hotels—we’ve stayed at their Santa Monica and Seattle properties many times—so couldn’t be happier that they’ve opened Hôtel Lili, in a 1939 former residence in the heart of Beverly Hills. It reads Old Hollywood in all the right ways, with a bijou bar, herringbone floors, and touches of velvet. (For local recs, see our LA Black Book)
May is your last chance to catch (Yolo favorite) photographer Martin Parr at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. The remarkable Matisse show at the Grand Palais—over 300 pieces sourced from public and private collections around the world—is on through late July.
SF finally gets a new (and great) hotel! The Huntington Hotel has just re-opened in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood, with 143 rooms reimagined by Ken Fulk. Our friends who stayed last week say it’s so good!
One of Rome’s most anticipated arrivals, Casa J.K Place, is finally open. A stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps, the apartment-style extension of one of our favorite hotels in the city has 12 suites of 1 to 3 bedrooms, a gym, Biologique Recherche spa, and the second location of Drink Kong, an award-winning Japanese-inspired bar.
Wheely is probably the chicest rideshare app on the market—the drivers are expertly trained, the cars are immaculate, and you can choose between business, first, and XL. Until now only active in London, Paris and Dubai, they launched in NY in March. More consistently premium than Uber but at $100-150 from JFK into the city, the pricing is similar.
Belmond Villa San Michele in Florence has officially dropped the curtain after an 18-month reno, and (phew) it’s even better than before. The 15th-century convent in the Fiesole Hills encompasses 39 redesigned rooms and suites, a Guerlain spa, new restaurant Antesi, and high vibes in the former chapel, now a yoga space with an “Energy Raising Program” by La DoubleJ founder, JJ Martin.
Maison Senato, around the corner from Milan’s major shopping streets, Via della Spiga and Via Montenapoleone, sounds cool: the six new private residences (all 200+ sq meters) are odes to Italian craftsmanship wrapped in an elegant modernist design. And not crazy expensive if you have a group.
You can still catch “The Adventure of Domenico Gnoli”—the largest exhibit of the Italian artist’s amusingly stylized paintings of everyday objects—at Levy Gorvy Dayan in NYC until May 23.
Calling all Hemingway fans! Black Tomato has just announced their new itinerary inspired by The Sun Also Rises, titled In Search of the Lost Generation. Curated in part by friend-of-Yolo David Coggins, the trip spans France and Spain, starting in Paris and ending in Madrid, with stops in Biarritz, San Sebastian and Rioja.
Burgundy finally has a hotel as divine as its wine. Château de Cîteaux, the latest in the Fontenille Collection, is an immaculately restored 19th-century chateau which sits above 12th-century Cistercian cellars, in the Meursault appellation and five minutes from Beaune.
The Marcel Duchamp show at MoMa is on until August 22nd—with over 300 artworks, the exhibition is the artist’s first retrospective in the states since 1973. Also at MoMA, “Frida and Diego, The Last Dream,” in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera, highlights work from both trailblazing Mexican artists’ oeuvres in a theatrical setting.
Jakes Treasure Beach—which recently completed a huge overhaul in the wake of Hurricane Melissa—just opened six new oceanfront bungalows that are “so close that you can fish off the deck.” (Read our Guest Book here.)
Last-minute reset: From May 28-June 1, Cap Juluca in Anguilla is hosting cult brand Sanctum (think kundalini meets HIIT), a 5-day wellness residency designed around mindfulness and dynamic movement.
We’ve been big fans of JSX ever since it started—it’s ideal for SoCal to NorCal hops and flies out of private airports (meaning you don’t have to get to the airport so early). It just added a Napa route, perfect for a weekend of wine tasting. It’s relatively inexpensive ($249 from Burbank to Napa) considering its great perks: pet friendly with a generous 2 x 50lb checked baggage allowance. See our Napa/Sonoma Black Book.
The Thinking Traveller launched a collection of rental villas in Sardinia—with exclusive-use villas from tony playground Costa Smeralda, if that’s your vibe, to the country’s ruggedly gorgeous southern coast.
We can’t wait to visit the Museum of the City of New York to see Joe Macken’s model of NYC. Spanning 50 x 27 feet, it took Macken 21+ years to complete—perfect for a spring NY afternoon with kids (or without!).
OKU Bodrum opened this month on the peninsula’s northern coast—an airy bohemian oasis amidst the big luxury chains. (For more intel see our Turkey Travel Planner).
We love drinking our “moon water,” and 2026 marks the rare occurrence of 13 full moons (vs. the usual 12—there’s a blue moon at the end of May). To mark it, Cape Sounio in the Athenian Riviera is staging The 13 Full Moons of 2026, a year-long program inspired by the region’s connection to lunar mythology, at which guests will be able to spectate the full moon rising behind the Temple of Poseidon. Chills.
Londoners: be sure to sign up to Dinner for 100’s Newsletter, the brainchild of a pizza chef and a London tour-bus guide who quit their jobs and began hosting monthly dinners for (yes) 100 people. Launched during Covid, they built their following through garden pop-ups and have finally expanded to their own restaurant/pub. Each month’s Dinner for 100 offers an exclusive interpretation by a cool global restaurant or chef, like this month’s dinner with the hip Roman wine bar, Alimentari.
The David Geffen Galleries are finally opening this week at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art—20 years in the making. Peter Zumthor designed the building, a 347,500-square-foot amoeba that soars over Wilshire Boulevard, and will soon have its own subway stop.
Now through June 1st, Adam Lippes has a pop-up at Le Bristol Paris, where visitors can shop the designer’s collection of quiet-luxury cashmere, womenswear, and newly launched (made in France) handbag collection in a space filled with antiques that Lippes personally sourced and are all available for purchase.
Starting in June, Wilderness—known for its eye-catchingly designed conservation-focused lodges in Botswana, South Africa and Rwanda—finally makes its debut in Kenya with Wilderness Mara, a 12 room tented camp alongside the Mara River set in a private conservancy.
Am beyond happy to have found Yolo:) reading all I can!!!
Loved the Antwerp List! Will visit alongside Brussels in the summer. Is a Brussels list in the books for the near future by any chance? Looking forward to reading it for sure.