Starwood Hotels owns or operates more than 1,000 hotels in more than 100 countries. Fewer than 80 of those are part of the hotel giant’s elite Luxury Collection and only five of those are part of The Haciendas group in southern Mexico. These hotels are housed in what were once the grand homes of the owners of sisal (and sugar and cattle) farms and factories who made fortunes supplying natural plant fibers to the rope and twine making industry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries—not unlike Mexican versions of the southern plantations in the United States.
When sisal was pushed aside in favor of cheaper and stronger synthetic materials most of Mexico’s haciendas were abandoned and fell into ruin and the clutches of...
Now that the weather has turned unexpectedly and shockingly cold (ok, I'm a wimp), I'm dreaming about warmer locales - ideally someplace steamy and tropical. I loved the time I spent in Singapore, and the hotel scene there is hotter than ever. One of the newest, shiniest places to stay is the 
The other day while shopping in my local Whole Foods, I got suckered into buying a chilled drink near the check out area. I grabbed a bottle that said "lemonade ginger" and didn't think too much about it until I chugged it in the car- and nearly choked. My eyes watered. My nose burned. It felt like I had accidently inhaled a pile of chili powder. It hurt, but oddly enough, I sort of liked the burn. 
The excitement has finally settled down following Mexico’s nationwide mega-fiestas marking the country’s 200th anniversary of independence from Spain which culminated on September 16, Mexico’s Independence Day. Now it’s time to start gearing up for the country’s 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution being marked on November 20 and the place to be is the cosmopolitan city of Santiago de Querétaro. 
I’d just returned from a week in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I’d checked-in and out of three different hotels (well, OK, I did that to myself). As a non-native, I spent a lot of time getting lost. I was inadequately dressed for the fickle weather. Plus, I felt winded walking up and down San Francisco’s famous hills. The queues at the museums stretched around the block, and waits for a table at popular restaurants were an hour or more. I hit standstill traffic on the way to the Napa, and parking everywhere was a hot mess. 
You want the beauty and peace of a deserted island but the comfort of good food, good company and good accommodations? Welcome to 
If you love classic with a twist design, and want to drag your husband out shopping with you while avoiding having him stab his eyeballs out of boredom, check out the new 
The latest and greatest place to stay in magical Istanbul is the newly restored 
2010 marks the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence which means the country’s Independence Day, September 16, will be even more festive than usual. You can be part of the Independence Day action in Mexico City at substantial savings thanks to rolling specials from the city’s hippest hotel group—
Our plane landed nearly an hour early, but I was groggy. My husband, Kai, and I were on the last flight to LAX out of JFK, and I had dozed off after my second glass of wine, just after the credits began rolling for the in-flight movie, 'My Life in Ruins'. By the time our Prius left the rental car lot, and we’d navigated our way to Beverly Hills using the GPS on my iPhone, it was half-past midnight. 