Month: August 2017

Luxury Legends: Do Aman Resorts Live Up to the Hype?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The best luxury hotels and resorts in the world, in the most incredible locations. That’s how people who have visited them describe Aman properties. That is, if you can get someone to talk about them – Aman is still a bit of an insider secret. The hotels do not advertise, they have no loyalty program, and rates average $1,400 per night for a basic room (they can climb to $50,000 per night.) We’d traveled the world extensively for years, but we had never heard the Aman name until we started hanging around truly wealthy people a few years ago. Up until that point, we had fancied ourselves knowledgeable luxury travelers, well-versed in the nuances of the Four Seasons, the Ritz, the St. Regis, and the iconic grand dame hotels in major cities around the world. We thought we were totally in on whatever insider luxury hotel secrets there might be. We were wrong.

For a Rustic Luxury Escape, Head to the Snake River

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The best way to understand a new destination is to head for the nearest river. I learned this on my first trip to Europe, when a friend and I were freshly out of graduate school and in the midst of a classic Grand Tour on an unemployed student’s budget. London, Paris, Vienna, Florence – the first stop we always made in every new city was the river. Thames, Seine, Danube, Arno – we’d jump on the cheapest tourist boat and use it as our crash course in the geography and topography of our latest port of call. From the water you can see the oldest part of the city: its tallest structures, its iconic domes. It doesn’t have to be a river, of course – any major waterway will do. The technique works equally well in Istanbul on the Bosphorus Strait, in Hong Kong on Victoria Harbor, and on the Grand Canal in Venice. If you want to feel grounded, head for the water. Turns out that’s a pretty fine way to get acclimated in …

TWIST: What You Need to Know to Talk Sports This Week

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

You don’t love professional sports, but your livelihood and/or personal happiness depends upon your being able to converse intelligently about it. Now what? Fear not. The TWIST is our weekly Dandelion Chandelier guide to what’s happened on the field, on the court and on the ice — read this and you’ll know how to talk about sports this week like a champion. Every Sunday we’re listing the three (and only three) things that you need to know this coming week to speak cogently about professional sports with your boss, your colleagues at work, the car pool gang, that guy at the gym, the chatty cashier at the gas station snack shop or your cousins.

Jackson Hole Wyoming is the Perfect Summer Luxury Escape

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Sometimes you just need to get out of town. Denizens of the glittering cities of the world are occasionally overcome by occupational and residential hazards – including stress, fatigue, disappointment, overstimulation, ennui, excessive heat, or some combination of all of these, leading to an undeniable longing for fresh air, natural beauty and wide-open spaces. It happens to everyone, whether they’ll admit it or not, especially in the summer. The countryside starts calling. And the only cure is to just pack your bags and go.