John Oseid

The "Empty Quarter" pistachio delight delivered to your VIP room resembles desert sand dunes. It's not just sweet and creamy—rather, the cakey financier pastry made with a Valrhona almond Jivara mousse, almond milk chocolate ganache and cinnamon crumble serves as a reminder of where you are.
An accompanying descriptive note tells the story of the Empty Quarter—the Rub' Al Khali as the desert is known in Arabic—and the celebrated 1940s and '50s journeys that explorer Wilfred Thesiger made with...

Just what are those huge cubes sitting under the dome of the Great Hall, you wonder, with their skewed mirror surfaces creating all kinds of funky optical illusions in this vast and glittering space? And what are visitors doing entering them?
Here you are in what is one of the most formal and opulent spaces that you’ve surely ever been in, and you wonder further if these cubes are some sort of contemporary experimental art work where you’d least expect to find them—that is, in the heart of Ab...

It’s not often that you see a simple jar of black oil displayed on a shelf in a heritage center or museum. Unless you’re in the United Arab Emirates, of course. You’ll find such a jar, as well as items of great beauty, as you tour Qasr al Hosn, a stone fort that long doubled as an emir's palace and which is the oldest structure in Abu Dhabi.
Following ten years of work, the newly-restored Qasr al Hosn, the "palace fort," dates to 1760 in its foundation, while its signature watchtower was erec...

While massive economic and societal shifts were taking place up and down the Italian peninsula in the postwar era, rural folks headed to town—as any fan of Italian cinema knows from groundbreaking depictions by acclaimed directors of the displaced leading rough lives in crowded cities. And, while it’s hard to believe that tenant farming was still a practice then, countless farmers had no choice but to up and abandon their homes for the city.
Today, in a cloistered corner of Umbria, the Castel...

While massive economic and societal shifts were taking place up and down the Italian peninsula in the postwar era, rural folks headed to town—as any fan of Italian cinema knows from groundbreaking depictions by acclaimed directors of the displaced leading rough lives in crowded cities. And, while it’s hard to believe that tenant farming was still a practice then, countless farmers had no choice but to up and abandon their homes for the city.
Today, in a cloistered corner of Umbria, the Castel...

Skyscraper cognoscenti know where to look in the United States for one of the last century’s most important early superstructures, one that outside of its home city doesn’t get today nearly the kudos it merits. They admire downtown Cincinnati’s 1930 Art Deco Carew Tower for the National Historic Landmark that it deservedly is. And so will you.
Carew Tower is also home to the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza which is rightfully an Historic Hotels of America member for its rich past and stunn...

America’s newest Instagram hottie is a drooling, chubby and hairy young fellow. His name isn’t exactly that of a hunk either. But, Kitty is an undeniable doll who enjoys forty thousand Instagram followers.
Just one-year-old, the 155-pound Bernese mountain dog holds court at the St. Regis Aspen Resort. If you wish, you can call him by his full name of Kitty Jacob Astor IV, given in honor of St. Regis New York founder John Jacob who more than a century ago had a Kitty of his own.
Since last win...

With street after street of fine Italianate buildings, Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is getting its due these days as one of the nation's premier historic districts. For decades in deep decline, OTR is now a grand tale of urban revival, booming as it is with some 150 new restaurants, bars, and shops and businesses that have opened in the last few years.
Supported by a 19th-century cast- and wrought-iron frame, which deservedly earns it a spot on the National Register of Historic Pl...

As the 75th anniversary of D-Day approaches on June 6, the number of America's surviving WWII veterans is dwindling quickly. With nearly 400 veterans passing away daily, fewer than half a million of the more than sixteen million men and women who served are alive today.
At this watershed in the post-war era, and as it does annually in ceremonies at battle sites, cemeteries and museums, France will honor those who fought on the beaches of Normandy over the D-Day landings.
Stateside, The Nation...

Sometimes you arrive at a property whose grounds are so lush, colorful and quiet that you wish you weren't a guest, but rather living there in your own condo complex. I could totally live here, you think. And that’s before you’ve even seen your room.
The new and improved Parrot Key Hotel & Villas in Key West is just that place, with its five acres of interior garden space continually getting re-landscaped and spruced up since September, 2017 when Hurricane Irma barreled through the 125-mile-l...

When you want quiet in your room at the 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati, you hang a sign on your door that depicts a fellow in garter socks and white underwear sitting on a stool. He's also wearing a high crown derby hat and bow tie as he looks straight at you with his arms crossed. Oh, and there’s a cat at his feet for good measure.
If you can judge a hotel by its Do Not Disturb sign—and you really can—then the 21c Cincinnati should win an award for this cleverest and coolest of notices. The ...

Neon lights are a vanishing treasure of the American urban landscape. Thankfully, some glorious vintage pieces still hang on out there. As you travel on the Charles Avenue streetcar in New Orleans, look up shortly after you leave the French Quarter and enter the Garden District. There, a fantastic sign on the side of a fourteen-story building will jump out at you.
From the side of the building, the name Pontchartrain runs across an upper floor, while the word Hotel runs down many floors. At n...

On June 6, New Orleans’ top attraction, the National WWII Museum, will honor the 75th anniversary of D-Day (Forbes museum story here). Right now as it happens, visitors also have the opportunity to discover several major cultural expansions that were just launched in the Crescent City.
Last month, the French Quarter's historic Seignouret-Brulatour Building on Royal Street was inaugurated as the flagship museum space of the extensive Historic New Orleans Collection. (Free admission.)
There is ...

Run, don’t walk. Well, the directors of the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) might not appreciate you bolting through their expansive galleries, but if you hustle you can still catch the wonderful blockbuster show Paris 1900: City of Entertainment that through May 12 runs (sorry) in the museum.
For those not inclined to hoof it out to the Nevada desert, the show No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man with some huge fabulous and funky art installations is currently mounted at CAM as well. More on th...

The soaring lobby of Manila’s Shangri-La at the Fort is crowned by a stunning chandelier created by the Czech glassmaking company Lasvit. The chandelier's opulence, coupled with a statuary marble floor and gold-toned interior, befits the ornate and traditional mode of design that the hotel brand is known for.
Credit: Shangri-La
Vast and open like bank interiors of old, and with slight hints of Mid-century Modern and Art Deco, the Shangri-La at the Fort's lobby is actually rather minimalist in...