Think you know what a luxury hotel in Costa Rica looks like? Think again. This Central American country, crammed with five star eco lodges and stunning beach resorts, got a game-changing addition with the opening of Kura Design Villas in late 2012.
Four years ago owners and creators Martin Wells and Alejandra Umana, a young couple from Costa Rica, saw the property on a steep, jungle-covered hillside above the town of Uvita on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. Though they’d planned to open a humble surf shack on the beach they immediately saw a much, much grander project unfold along a stately ridge on the site.
It took three years of planning, designing and building but Martin and Alejandra pretty much created that initial vision. Martin is an architect who wanted a project in which he could...
It’s best to think of 
Casco Viejo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the fastest changing neighborhoods in Central America, is experiencing a boom in meticulous and tightly-regulated architectural restoration and gentrification. Happily, many of the elegant buildings in this Panama City neighborhood have become wonderfully atmospheric hotels where feeling “at home” is more than just a sales pitch.
If you wanted to create your own hotel you’d also want to have the skills possessed by Charlene and Sherrill Broudy. The former is a designer and artist. Her husband is an architect. Their creation is 
Ten years ago Gina Cronin fled the weather in Cleveland, Ohio in search of someplace where she’d never be cold again. She found it on a former cattle ranch near the miniscule town of Caldera, less than half an hour from the birding and coffee mecca of Boquete, Panama. Since she was nowhere near ready to retire (and still isn’t) she essentially “bought herself a job” as an hotelier. Seven years ago she opened 
Close your eyes and imagine a picture perfect Miami beach hotel. You’re probably seeing a white washed space with pops of color and plenty of light, which is what most South Beach hotels look like- and also part of the reason that seeing The Setai for the first time can be a bit of a shock. It’s a dark hotel but rather than being gloomy, the hotel feels like a sexy, soothing respite from the sun.
On January 8, 2009 a 6.2 earthquake struck near the town of Vara Blanca in central Costa Rica. The quake essentially leveled the place and severely damaged the 
It could be that Rodrigo Carazo, President of Costa Rica from 1978 to 1982, was thinking of his legacy when he decided to build a hotel using traditional architectural techniques and protect more than 2,000 hectares of cloud forest around it, but that hardly matters. What matters is that the President’s vision became a reality and that vision is now known as 
No one travels to New Hampshire looking to stay at the latest and greatest contemporary hotel. Even if they did, I’m not entirely sure where they’d find it. People travel to New Hampshire largely to enjoy the natural beauty and the outdoors, in all seasons. And if you’re looking to soak up the scenery from an equally beautiful setting, consider the 
Few foods are so closely tied to a destination as lobster is to Maine. I can’t think of too many other single ingredients that would inspire a specific journey (maybe the South for bbq? Southeast Asia for durian? Some interesting thoughts on it 