John Oseid

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...

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...

Your 65th birthday has arrived. In many places and in many careers, you get to call it quits. Or you must. It all depends on how you view retirement, of course, but you’ve certainly earned kudos either way.
But not everyone slows down. And that holds just as true for hotels and resorts as humans. Outside of Montego Bay, the historic Half Moon resort just celebrated its 65th birthday and there's no sign of the property, nor its long-time human handlers, even thinking of slowing down.
In fact, ...

More than 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where the North Atlantic Current keeps things warmer than you'd image, lies Kvaløya. Dominated by 3,300-foot-high mountains, the island is Norway's fifth largest.
Behind that huge island and tucked between two straits lies the modest-sized island of Tromsøya. Inhabited back in the Ice Age, today it is home to the small city of Tromsø. In other words, when you visit alluring Tromsø you're nestled inside a geographic matryoshka doll up here in Nor...

If ever a name perfectly fit a hotel, it is that of the Singular Patagonia. As it approaches its first decade, the property that serves as a gateway to the wild lands of southern Chile remains unlike any other in the world.
What a surprise it can be then to discover that there are actually now in recent years two hotels going under the Singular name. With Santiago’s newer Singular Santiago making for a prime locale for exploring Chile's capital city, that's a paradox you can happily live with...

The largest of Spain's Canary Islands, Tenerife with its massive Teide volcanic peak is a nature lover's utopia. It's also famously one of the top resort destinations for Europeans who flock to its big beach properties lining the southern coast.
However, those looking for alternatives, specifically a discreet luxury experience or a small historic hotel, have plenty of choices around the island. The same holds true for sampling Canarian cuisine such as the signature papas arrugadas, or wrinkle...

It rises 12,200 feet high and its caldera measures ten miles in diameter. The UNESCO World Heritage volcano of Teide which dominants the Canary Island of Tenerife is, after those on Hawaii, the Earth’s highest volcano as measured from the sea bed.
Yet, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Teide, unless perhaps you recognize it as the backdrop to "One Million Years B.C.," starring Raquel Welch’s fur bikini.
A mere 62 miles from the coast of Morocco, Spain’s seven Canary Islands—thought ...

From John Singleton Copley and John Singer Sargent to Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, it's a stunning collection. No, you are not in New York’s Met, but rather in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Were the Alabama capital’s excellent arts museum located in a small country, it might well be the prime attraction.
That Montgomery's cultural affairs are a rich offering is no surprise to many. And certainly, the opening to great acclaim last year of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice h...