John Oseid

When you see the waterfront Casetta restaurant with its wonderful views over Lake Maggiore, expect your first thought to be: Why is that cute little thing not my house? Wonderfully placed as it is, the rustic Casetta is just a tiny bit of all that you’ll discover and enjoy at Hotel Eden Roc in the Italian-speaking Ticino canton of Switzerland.
For newcomers to the Eden Roc: Yes, those are real palm trees that you see on the lakefront of this Tschuggen Hotel Group property that is also a membe...

In recent years, Houston has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s top and most diverse culinary cities. With the addition of the new Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston to the ranks of city’s top hotels (see recent Forbes story), guests at the property can easily Uber it to various districts in this huge metropolis in order to sample some innovative newcomers. Here’s part two of a rundown on prime culinary experiences that you can enjoy in the nation's fourth-largest city.
Burly, bearded C...

In case you missed the news, Houston in recent years has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s top and most diverse culinary cities. With the addition of the new Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston to the ranks of city’s top hotels (see recent Forbes story), guests at the property can easily Uber it to various districts in this enormous metropolis in order to sample some innovative newcomers, as well as visit some quirky and clever retail establishments. Here’s part one of a rundown on some...

How many hotels have you ever stayed in with their own two-story Rolls-Royce showroom, and an in-house Bentley and Bugatti dealership? Ever since it opened in the spring of last year in Houston’s upscale Uptown/Galleria neighborhood, the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown has made a big splash with dramatic elements such as those Instagram-popular cars and a lobby chandelier draped in Swarovski crystal.
However, for all that bling, the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Legends Collection member also happens t...

Lord Norman Foster and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Two giants of their respective métiers. With the new Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center, the British architect and Alsatian chef together have produced a new landmark hotel and dining scene in downtown Philly.
Last year on its debut, the Foster + Partners-designed Comcast Technology Center changed Philadelphia’s skyline dramatically in one fell swoop. Sitting atop this tallest structure in the city, the Four Seasons early last w...

It’s not called the Glasshouse for nothing. Located on the sloped Leith Walk at Picardy Place, the curving Glasshouse Hotel and its three stories of floor-to-ceiling windows face Edinburgh’s New Town, while in the back the property’s rooftop garden looks up to the lush Calton Hill. In sharp contrast to the surrounding historic buildings, such as the landmark Playhouse Theatre next door, the Glasshouse positively shines.
Things weren’t always so architecturally eclectic at this prime spot in t...

On July 20th, the entire world observed the fiftieth anniversary of the success of NASA’s 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing. Now the nation’s fourth largest city, Houston has come a long way since its early days when it was dubbed Space City for its role in helping fulfill President Kennedy’s desire to reach the lunar surface by the end of that decade. Two months ago, the city rightly pulled out all the stops in celebrating the drama behind Neil Armstrong’s and Buzz Aldrin’s Moon walk.
All these ye...

Think you can throw a spear far and accurate? Just borrow this trusted tool of life on the savanna from one of your Maasai trekking escorts and see how well you do. Not so great, huh. It’s all in fun for sure, but on your morning hike starting from the Basecamp Explorer company’s Dorobo Mobile Camp in Kenya’s southwest Mara Naboisho Conservancy, your respect for the traditional Maasai cattle herding people only grows stronger when you see your hosts easily nail their targets in the distance.
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Think you can throw a spear far and accurate? Just borrow this trusted tool of life on the savanna from one of your Maasai trekking escorts and see how well you do. Not so great, huh. It’s all in fun for sure, but on your morning hike starting from the Basecamp Explorer company’s Dorobo Mobile Camp in Kenya’s southwest Mara Naboisho Conservancy, your respect for the traditional Maasai cattle herding people only grows stronger when you see your hosts easily nail their targets in the distance.
...

If you’re a big city dweller from a place such as NYC, you’re clearly used to crazy sounds in the wee hours outside of your house or apartment. But, as you wake around 4 or 5 a.m. from a deep jet lag-induced sleep in your Eagle View tent, it takes awhile to realize that the racket you hear outside emanates from a few elephants having a snack.
The nighttime serenade outside might even elevate to some trumpeting from the ellies. And then, there were the earlier myriad and sometimes spooky vocal...

It’s no surprise that the night sky in Kenya’s vast southwest Masai Marai region is spectacular. Let’s say you’re not exactly the most rugged of campers, though. You’re in luck at Leopard Hill in the 77-square-mile Mara Naboisho Conservancy where your luxury tent has a retractable skyroof, a cool feature that is said to be the only one among the conservancy’s camps.
Opened in spring of last year, Leopard Hill is the newest in the Basecamp Explorer company’s small family of luxury and quasi-ru...

Woodward Avenue. Detroit’s major thoroughfare is one of those great American place names that instantly conjures nostalgia for a lost grandeur. Once buzzing with a vibrant theater scene, the avenue was also home to giants of commerce that were housed in architectural gems, from the late Hudson’s department store to the still-standing Art Deco Guardian Building. In a narrative that everyone knows too well, Detroit and its main street had been in steep decline for decades.
But sometimes all it ...

As the summer and fall sun sets over PNC Park, home stadium of the Pittsburgh Pirates, you can clearly see runners rounding the bases and distinctly hear the seventh-inning stretch all the way across the Allegheny River. If it happens to be one of the season's fireworks nights you get treated to a huge display over the river. And you don't have to pay for anything; it’s all just a fun perk that you enjoy from your King/River/Corner Room at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel.
Right near the inno...

How quaint the notion now seems of going to pay your utility bills in person. That’s indeed just what folks did for generations with their electric bill at the handsome New Orleans Public Service, Inc. building. Today, the nine-story 1927 gem in NOLA’s Central Business District is a shrine of sorts to those days, with the original terrazzo floor and teller counters still in place in the lobby.
Since mid-2017, the former utility administrative office has also been home to the NOPSI Hotel. With...

You’d think it might be hard to stand out on an island that is essentially the glitzy Riviera of the Caribbean. On St Barths, however, Le Sereno St. Barth in its own understated way does just that. Or, should we say the new Le Sereno to be exact?
A mere ten-square-mile volcanic island in the French West Indies, St. Barths was gutted by the most fearsome hurricane in recent times when Irma plowed through the Leeward Islands in September, 2017. Neither being in the shadow of Morne du Vitet peak...