I’ve visited Brighton many times over the years, often as a quick day out from London but plenty of times for longer, including stays with friends who have lived in the city for ages. Those repeat visits are the reason I can tell you which of its museums actually repay an hour of your weekend,…
In other words, my dream come true.
I’ve seen a few videos for this method, and I felt like I needed to give it a try, and I WAS CORRECT. What a genius little dinner invention for people who love chicken caesar salad and want to eat it in every available form (it’s me)!
These are crispy taco-like handhelds, golden and crispy outsides that kind of shatter when you bite into them, with seasoned ground chicken and shreddy Caesar salad + pepperoncini smashed inside?!
Dunked in a Caesar sauce?!?!
Holy smokes! They are so yummy. And so easy.
These fall in the same family as the black bean crispies or the pizza burgers – quick little hitters that require very little from you but actually end up being some of the meals you look forward to most.
Hope you love them!
Super fun easy dinner – chicken caesar smash tacos! A crispy golden handheld with seasoned ground chicken and shredded caesar salad. It’s so good!
Caesar Sauce:
Caesar Salad:
Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos:
Prep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 15 minutes
Category: Dinner
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: AmericanKeywords: caesar tacos, smash tacos, caesar salad, easy dinner
The post Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos appeared first on Pinch of Yum.
Here’s a fun fact: my first cruise as an adult was a spring break sailing with friends back in 2002 on the then-called Carnival Triumph. So when we were invited to sail on Carnival Sunrise for a press event to RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, it felt like a reunion of sorts for me. Of course, a lot has changed on the ship and with me over the course of the last 24 years.
With regard to the ship, Carnival Cruise Line invested nearly $200 million into a complete transformation of the vessel. New name, new venues, but still lots of FUN. And for me, well, a few extra pounds, some gray hairs, and a wife.
Boarding this 5-day cruise on Carnival Sunrise, this time with Heidi, we set out to explore the ship and two of Carnival’s newest private destinations. Does a multi-million dollar makeover actually make an older ship feel like a newer one again?
If there’s one area where Carnival Sunrise surprised us, it’s the food.
The casual dining lineup on Carnival Sunrise is impressive, with the same variety you find on Carnival’s largest ships and even some completely new-to-us options. On a 5-day cruise with only one sea day, we honestly ran out of time before we ran out of options. In fact, there were a few things we wanted to try and never got the chance.
Trying to think back to my first cruise on this ship, the only daytime eateries I can recall are the buffet and a pizzeria (maybe there was a poolside grill, too?).
Now, there is Guy’s Burger Joint, which remains one of the best complimentary burger joints at sea. Carnival Sunrise is even testing out breakfast burgers at Guy’s. BlueIguana Cantina serves Mexican food, and I am not sure which is better, the shrimp burritos for lunch or the hearty breakfast burritos. Both of these eateries are found on the lido deck.
When it comes to the Lido Marketplace, it’s your typical cruise ship buffet serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is also home to Carnival Deli (portside) that makes sandwiches to order, like a buffalo chicken sandwich. Unique to Carnival Sunrise is Lucky Bowl located on the starboard side of the buffet. Serving Asian takeout flavors like orange chicken and noodle dishes, this reminded us of the noodle bar at JiJi Asian Kitchen on select Carnival ships.
Like other vessels in the fleet, Cucina del Capitano is open every day and offers a complimentary pasta bar at lunch.
Pizza is available throughout the day near the Tides pool. In the morning, Pizzeria del Capitano serves as a bagel bar. This new offering, Bagels @ Sea, is set to debut fleetwide. It features a variety of bagels with different spreads, as well as breakfast sandwiches. It was a great alternative to the often busy buffet for breakfast.
Finally, there is also a Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse, which is only open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days.
Were there lines everywhere during peak times? Yes. But we never waited long enough for it to be a real issue with so many options spread across the ship.
I honestly can’t remember what the pool deck on Carnival Triumph looked like 24 years ago. Although, I do remember there was one little waterslide that I actually got stuck on and had to scoot myself the rest of the way down.
That isn’t an issue anymore, as Carnival Sunrise has a complete WaterWorks park for the kids. With multiple slides, a kiddie area, and a drench bucket, it is certainly an upgrade.
This June cruise had many families on board, including large parties of graduates. So the two main family pools were often rather busy.
The main pool in the middle of the ship on Deck 9, as well as the Tides Pool aft on the same deck, were adequate for a ship of this size. With sun loungers on multiple decks near the pools, you could find a spot to relax with a little planning.
During the day, the main pool hosted typical Fun Squad events, a DJ, and movies on the big screen. Carnival also offers Dive-In Movies at night, in between the deck parties.
Traveling with just the two of us, Heidi and I prefer the Serenity Adult-Only Retreat, which is forward on Deck 12. While it only featured one whirlpool, it did offer plenty of loungers and daybeds to escape the rest of the crowds (and kids) a few decks below.
While we didn’t have time this sailing, the Serenity Retreat is conveniently located near the Cloud9 Spa thermal suite.
Aft on Decks 11 and 12 are the Sports Deck facilities. This includes a sports court, a small ropes course, a jogging track, and some tabletop games. There is also a mini golf course.
This area feels pretty compact, but for families with little kids or those looking for some more active onboard fun, it gets the job done. I had plans to test out some of the activities, but with the 90-degree heat, I never did.
Carnival Sunrise has a complete lineup of nightlife and entertainment.
All I can remember from my last trip was the packed piano bar and the multi-deck nightclub. According to John Heald, who was apparently the cruise director when I sailed in 2002, those venues have been completely reconfigured.
Aft on Deck 5 is Piano Bar 88, a tight venue hosting live piano music that features karaoke sets along with sing-along classics. Adjacent is the RedFrog Pub, with live music and the cruise line’s signature brews.
These venues are located nearby to our favorite spot, the Alchemy Bar. This Carnival staple shakes up signature cocktails, like Heidi’s favorites: Forty is the New Twenty or Cucumber Sunrise. Vlad and the rest of the expert mixologists always had a remedy to cure our ailments. We even took part in an up-charge mixology class here.
The Heroes Tribute Bar next to the casino is the sports bar, serving signature cocktails. There’s also the Sunrise Bar serving as the central hub in the atrium.
On the outdoor decks, you can use your Cheers beverage package for signature drinks at BlueIguana Tequila Bar or sip a Caribbean-inspired cocktail from the RedFrog Rum Bar. There’s also a bar near the Tides Pool and one in the adults-only Serenity.
But perhaps our favorite spot to grab a drink on Carnival Sunrise was the Java Blue Cafe on Deck 5. We made twice-daily stops for our favorite espresso-based beverages. If you’re a java lover like us, make sure to ask for a punch card and you will get a free coffee after purchasing 6 drinks.
Comedy shows for all ages were held essentially every day at the Limelight Lounge. It does take a little work to find this venue. You need to use the mid-ship (or aft) stairwell to find it. At night, this venue often turned into the nightclub.
The Liquid Lounge is the ship’s main theater. The setup is less than stellar, as the sightlines are not ideal when compared to more traditional theater layouts on newer ships. We did not make it to all the performances in the main theater, but we did manage to catch most of them.
Soulbound is Carnival’s Motown-infused musical. This Playlist Productions show brings supernatural themes to life with a digital backdrop, costumes, and stage props. We’ve seen this production before and think it’s better than your typical cruise revue show.
The main theater was also home to a personal favorite, Deal or No Deal, as well as the always comical Love and Marriage Game Show and a few late-night comedy shows.
Most nights, the pool deck came alive with a themed party. From the White Hot Night Party to the 80s Rock-N-Glow Party, Cruise Director Dean and the rest of the FUN Squad donned their themed attire and got everyone involved in the line dancing. Well, everyone but Heidi and I who watched from the sidelines.
Given we had a few specialty restaurant reservations, we only ate in the main dining room twice during our 5-day sailing. And the experience was exactly what we expected.
The Radiance Restaurant is the two-story main dining room midship on Decks 3 and 4. If you opt for traditional dining, with a set dining time and table assignment, this is your spot each evening. During our sailing, the early seating was 5:30 PM and the late seating was 7:45 PM.
We had Your Time Dining in the Sunshine Restaurant, which is located aft on Decks 3 and 4. Using the Carnival Hub app, we checked in and never waited long for a table.
There’s also an Express Dining option with a more limited menu that’s designed to get guests in and out of dinner in under an hour.
Even though we had two different service teams during our meals, they were both friendly and attentive.
Interestingly enough, I could have sworn that one night we sat at the exact same table in the Sunshine Restaurant on Deck 4, where I dined with my college buddies 20+ years ago.
Some of our dining highlights included the Night 1 menu’s Szechuan shrimp, which was crispy fried shrimp in a tangy sauce with white rice. Heidi enjoyed her spaghetti carbonara and Girod Street salad from the Night 3 menu as well.
Some of our other selections were not as memorable. But there is one constant on every Carnival ship and that’s the chocolate melting cake. It always delivers!
For a ship that features so many casual options, the main dining room holds its own. It is a solid choice for those who want a slower, more personalized dining experience in the evening.
Before you ask, yes, Carnival is rolling out new fleetwide MDR menus. However, Carnival Sunrise does not have the new menus yet, nor has the cruise line indicated when they will make their way to this ship.
During this sailing, we dined at three of the up-charge restaurants on Carnival Sunrise: Cucina del Capitano, The Chef’s Table, and Fahrenheit 555. There’s also the more casual Seafood Shack serving classic favorites like fried shrimp, lobster rolls, fish & chips, and steamed lobster, as well as Bonsai Sushi featuring several sushi and sashimi selections, as well as noodle bowls and Japanese small plates.
Cucina del Capitano is Carnival Cruise Line’s traditional Italian restaurant. The price to dine here is $24 per person (+20% gratuity) or $11 for kids under 11 years old. The menu features favorites like Nonna’s meatball, burrata, calamari, various pasta dishes, chicken parm, and mile-high gelato pie in a rustic-themed venue. While still a solid dining option, the entire experience wasn’t as memorable as our sailing on Carnival Vista last year.
The Chef’s Table is an exclusive dinner hosted by the executive chef. This experience includes an elegant, multi-course meal with selections not found anywhere else on the ship, and exquisite service. This intimate meal is priced at $124 per person +20% gratuity. The meal starts with four small plates from the Chef’s Reception then progresses with seven additional courses including lobster, sole, venison, and wagyu. While it’s a very filling meal, be sure to save some room for the Chocolate Forest dessert.
Fahrenheit 555 is Carnival Cruise Line’s signature steakhouse. The cover charge at this venue is $52 per person (+20% gratuity) or $15 for kids 11 and under. The menu at Fahrenheit 555 features upscale offerings like shrimp cocktail, oysters, and premium cuts of beef. I’m glad I ordered the filet mignon; it was a generous portion and perfectly seared to my requested medium-rare temperature. For those who don’t eat beef, other entree selections include chicken, lobster tail, and dover sole. And you can’t skip the dessert here either!
I would be lying if I said I remember the oceanview cabin I had on Carnival Triumph 24 years ago. But, it probably wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the stateroom was pretty similar to the balcony cabin Heidi and I had during our recent sailing on Carnival Sunrise.
We stayed in cabin 6281. This starboard side stateroom was right next to the forward elevators, which was one of the biggest flaws (but more on this in a minute). This category 8B balcony room has a typical setup. Immediately entering the room, the bathroom was on the midship wall (to the right), and the closet on the forward-facing wall (to the left).
Stepping further into the room, the sleeper sofa was immediately following the bathroom, across from the desk. The queen bed was positioned closest to the balcony. Similar to other classes of Carnival cruise ships, there was a hinged door out to the balcony, not a slider.
The closet had three doors, one with a full clothes bar; one with an overhead shelf, the safe, and a lower clothes bar; and the third with shelves (also housing the life jackets). While not an ideal setup, there was adequate storage for our clothing.
The sofa wasn’t the most comfortable and didn’t feature any toss pillows. The desk was pretty typical with two storage shelves off to one side and some lower drawers and cabinets off to the other side where we stored some of our packing cubes.
For a cruise ship stateroom, the bathroom was a typical size. However, it was pretty dated and still had a dreaded shower curtain.
For a 5-night Bahamas cruise, the stateroom was functional. It was clean and pretty well maintained, but it lacked the modern amenities we appreciate on newer cruise ships — like outlets. There were only two USB and two 120V outlets on the desk. Halfway through the cruise, we actually discovered a USB outlet tucked behind the pillows on the bed.
Overall, the biggest issue we had with the stateroom was the noise. Given it’s location right off the atrium, it often sounded like we were in the middle of the atrium party. Perhaps this would have been fine for my college-aged self but it certainly wasn’t ideal this trip when I was trying to sleep at 11 PM.
While it was fun to get back on the ship I first sailed 24 years ago and reminisce, this trip was all about Carnival’s Paradise Collection of exclusive destinations. It included three stops in the Bahamas: Nassau, Relax Away Half Moon Cay, and Celebration Key.
The highlight of this trip was the cruise line’s first stop at the updated RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay. This private island is home to 2.5 miles of beautiful beach. Both Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line call at this destination. Although, Holland America Line won’t return to the island until October. By then, renovations to the south side should be complete.
Now, Carnival ships will call at the north side of the island, offering a new dedicated experience. This expansion is beyond the former Half Moon Cay and includes a new pier, over 4,700 umbrellas (now free), and close to 10,000 sun loungers. Having been to every cruise line’s private island, RelaxAway Half Moon Cay has always been one of the best. And it still is! The destination boasts crystal clear water and white powdery sand. Plus, the crescent-shaped cove means the waters are reasonably calm year-round.
The new pier offers two berths and can accommodate Carnival’s largest ships. But for the first few months, the cruise line is limiting calls to one ship per day.
We spent the entire day exploring the new updates. The tram system offers two routes with six different stops. This made getting around a breeze. Of course, guests can also take the Payapa Pathway and walk from the Welcome Plaza to the different stops along the beach.
The Hibiscus Beach Grill & Bar is a massive buffet with an open layout and ample covered, shaded seating. It has a pretty typical island barbecue; although, we did like the addition of a nacho bar. There is a second buffet, Orchid Beach Grill & Bar, but it wasn’t open during our visit.
Each of the island’s six sections (Avocado, Guava, Pineapple, Lime, Mango, and Arrival Plaza) also offers a bar. Each bar features a similar menu, with at least one signature drink. Unfortunately, the Cheers drink package does not work on Half Moon Cay.
As with any cruise line private island, there are beach rentals and upgrades, too, like clam shells, day beds, and cabanas. There are shore excursions available to book as well, like snorkeling and horseback riding. And Carnival even added additional horses to ensure more guests can trot along the beach during this bucket list adventure.
This new stretch of Relax Away, Half Moon Cay is just that — the perfect relaxing beach day! This is in contrast to Carnival’s other exclusive destination, Celebration Key, which offers a more fun and lively atmosphere.
Celebration Key, on Grand Bahama Island, opened just under a year ago. We were also on the first cruise to stop at that brand-new destination. So, we were happy to get back and see what had changed since that visit.
While we had a bright, sunny day at Half Moon Cay, the weather did not cooperate at Celebration Key. Battling the elements, we debarked shortly after the ship was cleared.
Since our last visit, the cruise line has added additional berths. Now, up to 4 ships can call at this massive resort. During this stop, we shared Celebration Key with only Carnival Freedom.
We love the destination’s easy-to-navigate layout. The largest freshwater lagoon pool in the Caribbean is surrounded by loungers, cabanas, and a variety of bars and restaurants. If you prefer the beach, there’s plenty of sand too at both the family-friendly Starfish Beach and the more adult-focused Calypso Beach.
The Island Eats meal credit system is still in effect as well. This means each guest gets one complimentary meal throughout the day. We did notice a couple new food trucks in both Starfish Lagoon and Calypso Lagoon and a new dining stall in the Captain’s Galley Food Hall serving Chicken & More. Plus, Island Eats was upgraded to offer guests a 40% discount off an entree at sit-down restaurants vs. the previous 25% off. There’s also new zero-proof slushies at Lagoon Bar East, near Guppy Grotto.
Another noticeable change is the quiet re-zoning of the adults-only section of Calypso Lagoon. The space now claims to be 13+ instead of 18+. But, much like our first visit, we saw no enforcement of the posted age restriction.
The up-charge Pearl Cove Beach Club still remains 18+ though. This adults-only area offers an infinity pool with a swim-up bar and great views. Plus, there are different access packages, some that include a drink package and food credit.
While cloudy and rainy most of the day, the weather didn’t stop everyone from enjoying the destination’s amenities. Junkanoo parades, water slides, the Lokono Cove shopping area, and the various swim-up bars saw more patrons as the weather improved later in the day.
Having visited both, we can confidently say that Celebration Key and RelaxAway Half Moon Cay are distinctly different experiences. So, finding an itinerary that stops at both is a great option!
This takes us back to the original question: does a multi-million-dollar makeover actually make an older ship feel like a newer one? After five days onboard, our answer is mostly yes.
The casual dining lineup surprised us the most. Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Lucky Bowl, and the new Bagels @ Sea gave us more options than we could finish in five days. For food alone, Carnival Sunrise punches well above its age. The main dining room and specialty restaurants held their own, too.
Even if the hardware showed its age in some places, the outdoor decks delivered. WaterWorks, Serenity Retreat, the Sports Deck, and the two pool areas gave families, couples, and everyone in between a space to enjoy.
Unlike newer ships in the fleet, there were fewer signature bars which did mean more lines and crowds at the more popular ones like Alchemy Bar and RedFrog Rum Bar. The Liquid Lounge main theater design also fell short when compared to newer ships. Not to mention, our balcony stateroom lacked the modern touches and upgrades we now expect at sea.
Additionally, the ship’s layout was a bit confusing, which is typical of older ships, and many of the venues felt small and crowded. But that didn’t stop Cruise Director Dean and the rest of the FUN Squad from delivering all the energy and activities that Carnival guests have come to know and love.
So, who is Carnival Sunrise for?
If you want a fun, food-forward cruise at a great price, this transformed ship delivers. If you are chasing the newest bars, latest staterooms, onboard thrills, and elaborate production shows, you will notice the gaps on this 27-year-old ship.
Carnival Sunrise is not the Triumph I remember from 2002, and that is a very good thing!
Have you sailed on Carnival Sunrise? Are you a fan of cruise line private islands? Drop us an anchor below with your latest cruise reviews!
The post I Sailed the Same Ship 24 Years Apart – Here’s My Honest Carnival Sunrise Review appeared first on EatSleepCruise.com.
Featured image: Get ready to slow down with the latest new releases for summer reading | Photo by Igor_Kardasov on Envato
by Tina Hartas, TripFiction
Summer somehow invites people to pick up a novel; the evenings are longer for many of us in the UK and holidays beckon, a wonderful time to catch up with some of the top titles that may (or may not) have caught your eye.
Here are 10 of this year’s most highly anticipated books to look out for this summer, a selection to suit every woman’s taste in reading. Most of these novels are mainstream choices, but we’ve included a few under-the-radar books that have proved to be delightful reads. We hope these books take readers on a journey around the world within the pages of beautifully crafted storylines.
Please note: We always try to support independent bookstores, however, bookshop.org is only available in the US and UK and not all books are offered, so we have included Amazon links as well. Please support our writers by buying or downloading books using our links. Thank you!
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“A heart-bursting story of resilience and love” – Louise Kennedy
On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.
The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home?
Land is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away.
“..a moving story of love and family…”
When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she doesn’t expect it to be Eddie – her former stepfather. Married to her mother for a short time when Daphne was nine, she hasn’t seen Eddie for many years; not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives.
Meeting again now, Daphne and Eddie feel that time has fallen away. Their earlier relationship was brief but had a profound impact on both of them. Together, they consider not only their past, but the joys of the present and their commitment to face the future together.
A moving, luminous story about how family, memory and love endures, Whistler paints an intimate portrait of how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.
It was the night she almost died.
Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn’t know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She’s offered a drink, goes in, and then – a scream and the sound of something falling upstairs – Jane senses she’s in a bad place. She runs.
Twenty-five years later, Jane finds herself outside the same house, this time to return a small white dog who’s been found near her home in the country; a dog whose owner has just been reported missing.
A fleeting glimpse of a haunted-looking woman through the window sends Jane on a mission to uncover the house’s secrets – secrets more terrifying than she could have ever imagined, especially when she realizes it could have been her. . .
“..inventive and a beautifully drawn story…”
In an Italian monastery, an infamous sculptor lies on his deathbed.
During Mimo’s final hours, he reveals his life story: his impoverished childhood, his unlikely rise to fame and most importantly, his meeting with Viola, the daughter of a powerful aristocratic family.
Mimo and Viola are instantly drawn to one another. Together, they traverse the unrest of the twentieth century. While Mimo becomes a celebrated artist, Viola fights to claim her education and independence.
Over the decades, they will lose and find each other, but never will they give up on the love they share.
“A poignant hidden gem that deserves a wide readership”
When Clara meets Elias, she isn’t looking for love. Widowed and wary of being hurt again, she has built a careful life of work and quiet independence. Elias, an actor in his thirties, is trapped in a relationship that no longer feels real, more at ease slipping into a role than being himself. Yet from the moment they meet, something genuine sparks between them – something neither has felt in years.
They fall into step easily, sharing secrets, laughter and the sense of being seen. But there is the age difference, the miles between their worlds, and the lingering guilt that ties Clara to her past. When a new job takes her to another part of the country, she ends the relationship before he can – certain that love like theirs cannot last. And then Elias falls ill, forcing them both to confront what truly matters.
Told with warmth, gentle humour and quiet insight, Love, After All is a luminous portrait of two people finding the courage to open their hearts again – proof that love, at any age, can still take us by surprise.
“..wonderful storytelling..”
“You give a girl a taste of fresh air and then you take it away—she’ll grow fierce and wild to get it back.”
Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.
Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home last Christmas Eve, she’s been one of the ‘unadoptable’ girls at the town’s orphanage, where she fights each day to keep her wits sharp and her spirit unbowed.
When she meets Birdie, a young woman who has come to Oxford determined to remind her socialite sister of the impoverished family she left behind, for the first time in a long while it seems someone else might care about Meg’s future.
But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie begins to suspect her sister’s charmed life may be founded on a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman haunted by loss who has been pushed to the brink with nothing left to lose.
Drawn together by circumstance, they find unexpected kinship among a disreputable, determined band of women. But in a town steeped in hypocrisy, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences …
Bold, heartwarming, and riotously funny, The Calamity Club is an unforgettable story of resilience and friendship, and a sisterhood of underestimated women who risk everything to take back control of their fates.
“.. life-affirming and magical..”
When your life flashes before your eyes, what will matter most?
For Wilbur it was his time with Maggie, the love of his life. Their honeymoon in Venice. Before he threw it all away.
Years later, on the brink of his own death, a train arrives. It can take Wilbur back in time. To relive his most important moments. Soon he realizes just how much he would have changed.
An adventure through time, The Midnight Train is a story of love and second chances, from the world of The Midnight Library.
“.. a contemporary thriller for our times…”
When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, mother and daughter Vivien and Alice Li are called to the White House in hopes Madame Li can decode the Chinese intentions.
Alice is a first-generation Chinese-American food blogger. A Chinese dissident who escaped China after Tiananmen Square, Vivien is now a globally recognized human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China. While it makes some sense that the President would turn to Vivien, what isn’t clear is why they’d want to talk to Alice.
Caught up in the chaos, Vivien and Alice are uniquely placed to stop the next, cataclysmic attack. But there are forces deep within both the American and Chinese governments intent on stopping mother and daughter. The estranged pair, who excels at misunderstanding each other, must figure out how to work together.
The increasingly frantic search for answers takes the women from the Oval Office to an office building in Akron, Ohio, from the noodle shops of Hong Kong to the necropolis of the first emperor. Along the way they must decode an old legend, and an old language invented by women, for women.
The Last Mandarin is the story of a mother and daughter, as well as a compelling international thriller about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.
“..Venice is a terrific backdrop for this Will they? Won’t they? story…”
He’s the old flame she’s tried to put out. But should they rekindle their love—one more time?
When bestselling romance novelist Olivia Sackville arrives at Venice’s prestigious winter literary festival, she’s prepared for everything except seeing Leo Greene—Britain’s number-one crime author and the man who’s forever turning her life upside down. The festival’s demanding schedule keeps throwing them together, and in a city like Venice, there’s no escaping the past—or each other.
While Leo seems determined to prove he’s changed, Olivia battles against the magnetic pull between them—twenty years of almost-love have taught her that falling for Leo Greene only leads to heartbreak.
Between champagne receptions and foggy canal walks, their undeniable chemistry resurfaces. But with both harbouring devastating secrets and the scars of old betrayals still fresh, they must decide if their story deserves a second draft—or if some loves are better left unfinished. As the festival’s five days draw to a close, will they finally find the courage to write their own ending?
“A dual timeline story that is perfect for literally getting under the skin of Paris”
Skylark is a spellbinding story about defiance and love that beautifully uncovers the hidden history of the City of Light.
1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at Paris’ famed Gobelins Tapestry Works. With a gift for her craft and a drive to prove she is as good as the male dyers controlling the industry, Alouette dreams of creating her own masterpiece. But her boldness will put everyone she loves at risk.
1939: Kristof Larson is starting his medical residency in the same Parisian neighbourhood once dominated by the tapestry works. The shadows of his past have left him determined to improve conditions for the patients of the infamous Salpetrière asylum. But as war breaks out across Europe and Nazi forces descend on Paris, he could lose his career – and his life.
Alouette and Kristof are both ambitious, idealistic and brave. But faced with authorities who will do anything to silence them, the secret web of tunnels lying beneath the shimmering streets of Paris might be their only hope of survival.
The post The Best New Books of 2026: Ten Great Summer Reads for Curious Women appeared first on JourneyWoman.
This post was originally published on this site.
Open this season of the video game “Battlefield 6,” and you might find yourself dropping into a firefight as one of the Strix Raiders, the special operations team at the center of the shooter’s “Nightfall” update.
What most players sprinting across the map won’t know is that three of those characters are built from real Marines, and that the men behind the motion capture have spent the years since their service trying to keep other veterans alive.
Prime Hall, Don Tran and Rick Briere served together in the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. In the game, they appear as Rob Brooke, Douglas Pham and Atticus Moore. Out of it, they are business partners, nonprofit founders and, by their own account, brothers who have buried too many friends.
For Hall, the throughline from combat to civilian life is simple to name. “It takes a village,” he said. He frames it the way a Raider would. In a fight, you want 360-degree security. After service, he said, that security becomes “your perimeter of the relationships and the people that you have in your life.”
That perimeter matters because the landing is rough.
Hall enlisted in 2005 and was medically retired in 2017 after an insider attack years earlier left damage that finally surfaced.
Stacked with prescriptions, he said he began to feel like he was “in the passenger seat of life.” A holistic-healing retreat in late 2019 turned things around, and the lesson stuck. “You can only do so much on your own,” he said. “At a certain point, you know, you gotta tap into something bigger than yourself.”
The three built that something. Deep End Fitness, their underwater training program, started the year the trio got out and now coaches athletes and civilians nationwide.
Hall ran a nonprofit, Marine Raider Challenge, until the unit relocated to North Carolina. Tran helped start another, Operation Resilience. The mission Hall keeps returning to, though, is grimmer. He has lost roughly 10 friends to suicide — part of a toll that still claims an average of about 17 veterans a day. The work, he said, is about turning each loss into a chance “to create a positive shift somehow in the community.”
His guiding phrase: “Be what’s missing.”
Tran describes the transition trap in operational terms. In the military, the stakes were high but the problem was simple. “Now it’s like, when you’re out [the problem] became extremely complex.”
Money, school, family and a young business all competed at once. What got them through was dropping the act they had all learned to wear.
“In the Raiders you’re this super tough guy,” Tran said. Out of uniform, that facade has a short shelf life. He and his teammates learned to say the thing operators rarely say: “I need some help, dude. Like, this is not working.”
That honesty, he added, is also what reaches the veterans they mentor. “That humanizes you.”
Briere, who admits he still questions whether he belongs in a mentor’s chair, landed on the same point. “It’s okay to drop the armor,” he said.
He describes a bond that no longer requires performance. “There’s no animosity, there’s only transparency.” Months can pass without the three talking, he said, and they pick back up like no time has passed.
None of them set out to be in a video game. The opportunity came through their Deep End Fitness work, and the developers’ focus on authenticity meant the men actually played the parts in motion-capture suits.
Briere, a lifelong gamer, still can’t quite believe it. Seeing the characters come to life, he said, “it’s surreal to me.”
Tran’s reaction was more practical. “My character doesn’t die,” he said.
The three are clear about what they hope the game does beyond entertain. Hall sees the characters as a doorway, “an access point for people to look into what we’re up to” and the work they have done since getting out, he says. For Tran, it is also a chance to put the Raider legacy alongside the units that already have their movies and books.
Asked what they would tell a struggling veteran, the answers came easily.
“Find your next North Star, dude, and navigate towards that,” Tran said. “You’ve done it before, probably in a way harder world.”
Hall offered a message of hope, the kind he says he is living proof of.
“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” he said. “Give yourself some grace.” Even a broken clock, he likes to remind himself, is right twice a day.
Veterans and service members in crisis can reach the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988 and pressing 1, or by texting 838255.
This post was originally published on this site.
For decades, military spouse employment policy has revolved around a single, stubborn statistic: unemployment.
It’s the standard that leaders cite, programs are built around and progress is measured against. But a recently published report reveals that the Department of Defense has been calculating unemployment differently from typical benchmarks, overstating unemployment rates and obscuring how many military spouses may have stopped looking for work entirely.
A March 2026 report revealed that the DoD calculates unemployment differently than the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, counting some spouses as unemployed who would typically be seen as out of the workforce.
The Pentagon attributes these differences to unique military lifestyle factors. However, according to economist and professor Amy Burnett Cross, this difference in calculation “makes these measures not comparable.”
In fact, if the Pentagon mirrored federal standards, the military spouse unemployment rate would drop from roughly 20% to 14% — still significantly higher than the national average, but lower than the figure cited for years in congressional testimony, policy discussions and news coverage.
Cross believes this “structurally inflates” military spouse unemployment while simultaneously reducing the number of spouses categorized as no longer participating in the workforce, a group rarely highlighted in DoD programming efforts and reports.
“I remember penny pinching so, so much in those days,” recalled Army spouse Elizabeth Mays of her husband’s first duty station in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. “I ended up taking a job making minimum wage at Sears in the shoe department, just to help us make ends meet.”
This was the first of many times Mays worked outside her field to remain employed. Subsequent duty stations yielded similar employment choices.
“Between commuting and then the workday, you’re spending 13 hours a day away from your newborn baby, and your husband is deployed and not even there at all. It’s just me,” said Mays.
She did the math and realized that after child care and transportation costs, her income wouldn’t cover her expenses. In fact, remaining in the workforce would “cost” her family $50 a week. “Those decisions did not make sense, and that was the point where I chose family.”
Mays’ experience is familiar to many military spouses, but it is an experience that is not well understood. Mays is not part of the roughly 20% of military spouses who are unemployed, those who are looking for work but not finding it. She is part of the roughly 36% of spouses who are not in the workforce at all.
“Anecdotally, I would say that we have a pretty large percentage of spouses that have removed themselves from the workforce,” said Eddy Mentzer, who oversaw child care family programs and spouse employment for the DoD. “They’re not captured in any way whatsoever.”
The lack of information on military spouses who have stopped looking for work may undercut the programs designed to help them.
Patricia Barron served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Military Community and Family Policy under President Biden from 2021 to 2025. Her office oversaw military spouse employment programming and collaborated with the Pentagon’s Office of People Analytics to survey military spouses.
“A question that I have always had to our researchers at DoD … ‘Are we asking the right questions?’” said Barron.
The answer she often received was that changing survey questions would hamper the department’s ability to track trends over time.
“There’s always, I would say, good reasoning for the pushback [to update surveys], but it keeps us stuck where we are,” she said. “There’s got to be a new way to think about the [spouse survey], and maybe it’s time to blow it up.”
For many military spouses, cycling in and out of the workforce is expected, even if it isn’t clearly documented or understood.
Upon discovering she was pregnant with their first child, Navy spouse Melinda Estrada made a plan to navigate her budding career in tech. She would work on her graduate degree while staying home with her new baby.
“And then once that’s done, then I’ll jump from my graduate degree, hopefully, to a full-time position,” said Estrada.
Because her husband’s assignment to attend school in Monterey, California, was only supposed to last 18 months, she didn’t see a point in looking for a job only to have to step away without the accrued work time required to be entitled to maternity leave.
A second child and increasing demands from her husband’s job delayed her graduate degree further, extending her time out of the workforce.
Mays, too, struggled to reenter the workforce.
“In Germany, I tried to go back to work,” said Mays, whose husband received overseas orders in 2014, moving her and her two children, ages two and four, far from family and friends.
Because there were limited jobs available overseas, she applied for a job outside her field, at a bank on the installation.
“They told me that they chose another candidate because they were going to be there longer than me,” she said.
Undeterred, she applied to work in merchandising at the Army Exchange and was hired after having to wait 15 months for her daughter to be old enough to be eligible for a spot in daycare.
“I came back from my first day on the job with training, and my husband said, ‘So, I have news.’ Our favorite phrase,” Mays recalled. “‘I have been selected for a job in D.C., and we have to move in 90 days.’”
Mays wanted to work, but resigned the following day, exiting the workforce.
Historically, DoD surveys have asked spouses if they “wanted to work.” As of 2019, the vast majority of those spouses, 85%, responded yes, but only 43% were employed.
This question was not included in the 2021 or 2024 surveys. However, recent DoD surveys have asked why spouses are not looking for work, allowing them to select only one answer. The Number 1 answer (30%) cited child care responsibilities.
Child care scarcity is a reality for all Americans, and military child care is no different.
According to a 2025 report by RAND, military child care programs are not keeping up with demand, leaving tens of thousands of military families without care.
The availability of affordable child care has a significant impact on military spouses’ participation in the workforce. According to a 2016 Health and Human Services report, a 10% reduction in the price of child care could increase maternal employment as high as 11%.
Despite the documented need for improved child care access, most military spouse employment solutions have focused on reducing unemployment through personal development and employment partnerships.
“The DoD has thrown money at trying to find employers who are willing to hire military spouses because people don’t want to hire people who are moving all the time,” said Maria Donnelly, the co-founder of the Military Family Foundation, a nonprofit that has helped military spouses navigate federal employment policies.
Donnelly was referring to one of the DoD’s employment solutions, the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, or MSEP, a membership-based program that encourages civilian employers to hire military spouses.
Since MSEP was launched in 2011, “more than 220,000 military spouses” have been hired. While the initiative requires its partners to document those they hire and retain, this data has not yet been publicly reported.
Both Estrada and Mays reported taking advantage of DoD-sponsored career development programs and internships. Neither walked away with jobs as a direct result of participating, but both formed networking connections that ultimately led to employment. For Estrada, another workforce departure followed.
In January 2026, the DoD announced an effort to reduce military spouse unemployment by 5%, increase Military Spouse Employment Partnership retention to 100% and establish a new military spouse unemployment office.
If experts are correct that the military is measuring unemployment differently than the rest of the country, it raises questions about whether current policies are targeting the right problem.
“I try not to should myself,” said Mays, who is currently employed by a military spouse-owned business that offers flexible remote work, a job she is thankful to have. “But I have this feeling and that I could and should be like at a director level or a management level, given my level of experience.”
Estrada is still looking for work.
This post was originally published on this site.
On June 10, 2026, VA announced it had processed more than 2 million disability benefits claims in fiscal year 2026 as of June 1. That’s a record, and to be fair, it’s a big deal. Or is it?
VA also reported that it has already awarded more than $124 billion in compensation and pension benefits to veterans and survivors this fiscal year. The average time to complete a claim decision is now 78.6 days, down from 141.5 days on January 20, 2025. That’s almost 2X faster.
I’ll give credit where credit is due: veterans deserve faster VA rating decisions. Nobody should have to wait months or years for benefits they earned through honorable service to our country. Faster claims processing is a good thing.
But faster doesn’t always mean better.
A fast approval with the correct rating and effective date is great. But a fast denial is still a denial. A fast lowball rating is still a lowball rating. A fast decision based on a bad C&P exam is still a bad decision. And a fast VA mistake can still cost a veteran and their family thousands of dollars in tax-free compensation and potentially years of struggle.
That’s the part that gets lost in the headline.
VA is celebrating speed, and I get it. Speed matters. But veterans don’t just need fast decisions. Veterans need accurate decisions. They need the correct rating percentage, the correct effective date, and the correct monthly compensation. That’s the real scoreboard.
VA says claims processing accuracy are currently above 94%. That would mean 94/100 VA rating decision were accurate. In my experience, there’s no way that’s correct. I’d love to see more context behind that number and what it actually means. Data can be fudged to tell the story one wants to tell.
So when VA says, “We processed 2 million claims,” my response is simple: Great. Now show us how many were correct. Not just your bumper sticker number.
I’d love to see VA publish more data on denial rates, lowball ratings, effective date errors, bad C&P exams that ruin a claim, and how many veterans win later on Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claim, Board appeal, or Court appeal. I’d also love to know how many “completed” claims are really just the beginning of another fight. Tell us how many veterans are losing or getting lowballed.
While speed matters, accuracy matters more.
Here’s what every veteran needs to understand: a faster VA system can help you if your claim is strong, but it can hurt you if your claim is weak.
Sadly, in my experience, even if your claim is strong, human error or a bad C&P exam can blow it all up.
And if your claim is missing medical evidence, VA can deny it faster. If your symptoms aren’t documented, VA can lowball you faster. If you walk into your C&P exam unprepared, VA can make a bad decision faster. If you file the wrong condition the wrong way, VA can close your claim and move on faster.
Most veterans know exactly what happened to them in the military. They know what they went through, what hurts, what changed after service, and how bad their symptoms really are. They know how their disabilities affect their marriage, family, work, sleep, mood, body, and daily life.
But VA does not rate what you know or say. VA rates what the evidence shows.
Just like in the military, if it’s not written down on paper, it might as well not exist. That’s not fair, but it is reality. And once you understand that you can do something about it.
One of the biggest mistakes veterans make is filing a claim and hoping VA figures it out.
Hope is not a strategy.
VA raters are not mind readers. C&P examiners are not your friend. Nobody should care more about your claim than you do.
You need to build your claim before you file it, and that starts with what we call the VA Claims Insider Golden Circle.
Every strong VA disability claim needs four things: (1) a current diagnosis, (2) an in-service event, injury, disease, or aggravation, (3) a clear nexus for service connection, and (4) documented severity of symptoms.
At VA Claims Insider, we teach veterans the SEM Method:
Strategy + Education + Medical Evidence = VA Rating You Deserve
That’s it. Simple, but not always easy.
VA processing 2 million claims in record time is good news, and I’m glad claims are moving faster. But veterans need more than fast. Veterans need accurate.
They need the correct rating, correct effective date, correct monthly compensation, and correct benefits for themselves and their families.
So my message to VA is simple: keep getting faster, but don’t sacrifice accuracy.
Be transparent and publish the bad along with the good because veterans deserve to know what’s really going on.
And my message to veterans is even simpler: don’t file a weak claim into a faster system because you’ll likely get crushed.
Build and file your own VA claim online the right way. Get a current diagnosis. Document the in-service event, injury, disease, or aggravation. Prove a clear nexus. Document the true severity of your symptoms. Use strategy, get educated, gather medical evidence, and prepare to crush your VA C&P exam.
And if VA gets it wrong, don’t quit.
A denial is not the end. A lowball rating is not the end. A bad C&P exam is not the end.
You Served. You Deserve.
The Quality Assurance (QA) team at VA Claims Insider has extensive experience researching, fact-checking, and ensuring accuracy in all produced content. The QA team consists of individuals with specialized knowledge in the VA disability claims adjudication processes, laws and regulations, and they understand the needs of our target audience. Any changes or suggestions the QA team makes are thoroughly reviewed and incorporated into the content by our writers and creators.
Brian Reese is a world-renowned VA disability benefits expert and the #1 bestselling author of VA Claim Secrets and You Deserve It. Motivated by his own frustration with the VA claim process, Brian founded VA Claims Insider to help disabled veterans secure their VA disability compensation faster, regardless of their past struggles with the VA. Since 2013, he has positively impacted the lives of over 10 million military, veterans, and their families.
A former active-duty Air Force officer, Brian has extensive experience leading diverse teams in challenging international environments, including a combat tour in Afghanistan in 2011 supporting Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.
Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from the United States Air Force Academy and earned his MBA from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, where he was a National Honor Scholar, ranking in the top 1% of his class.
Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.
According to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water, renewable electricity generation on the continent has more than doubled over the last decade.
In the Clean Energy Council’s 2026 Clean Energy Report, they claim that over over 40% of all of Australia’s electricity now comes from renewable sources, including biomass, solar, wind, and hydro generation technologies.
One of the key factors behind the rapid growth of the clean energy industry is the fact that switching to renewable energy has gone from a feel-good idea to a practical, money-saving decision for millions of households around the world.
Whether you’re driven by core environmentally conscious values, soaring power bills, or the appeal of energy independence, choose the right providers and products can make the whole process far more straightforward.
Thankfully for Australian residents, there are an extensive array of clean energy brands making renewable power more accessible and affordable for homeowners and eco-conscious businesses alike.
Read on to discover 5 standout companies in the clean energy space that offer home energy storage and solar solutions, making it easier than ever for Australians to take control of how they power their homes.
READ MORE: How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Carbon Offsets & More
VoltX Energy has built a strong reputation for reliable, high-performance home battery systems designed specifically for the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Their range covers everything from entry-level solar batteries to advanced home energy management systems, with a focus on making clean energy storage practical rather than complicated.
Their batteries integrate seamlessly with most solar panel setups, which means you can add storage to an existing system without a full overhaul.
For households that want locally backed support alongside a quality product, VoltX is hard to overlook.
READ MORE: 5 Eco-Friendly Initiatives That Will Change the World
Tesla’s Powerwall remains one of the most recognized home battery products in the world, and for good reason.
It offers a sleek design, solid energy capacity, and compatibility with Tesla’s broader ecosystem, including solar roof tiles and the Tesla app.
The Powerwall 3 combines a solar inverter and a battery in a single unit, simplifying installation and maximizing efficiency.
While it sits at a premium price point, the build quality and software integration make it a compelling long-term investment for households ready to go all in on home energy management.
READ MORE: Going Green: 60 Earth Day Tips You Can Use Every Day
When it comes to solar panels, SunPower consistently ranks among the best for efficiency and durability.
Their Maxeon cell technology delivers higher energy output per square meter than most conventional solar panels, which makes them ideal for homes with limited roof space.
SunPower panels are backed by some of the longest warranties in the industry, giving homeowners confidence that their investment will hold up over decades.
While not the cheapest option on the market, the long-term performance gains often justify the upfront cost for buyers focused on maximizing returns.
READ MORE: How to Audit (& Improve) Your Green Home
Austrian manufacturer Fronius is widely respected for producing some of the most reliable and technically advanced solar inverters available.
An inverter is the unsung hero of any solar setup, converting the direct current from your panels into usable alternating current for your home.
Fronius inverters are known for their efficiency, smart monitoring capabilities, and long operational life.
They’re a popular choice among installers who want to pair a quality inverter with a premium battery system, and they work well alongside most leading battery brands.
READ MORE: Interview w/Ted Turner on Saving the World with Renewable Energy
BYD produces a range of home battery storage solutions that have gained serious traction globally.
Their Battery Box range is modular, meaning you can start with a smaller capacity and scale up as your energy needs grow.
BYD batteries use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, known for safety and long cycle life.
They’re often positioned as a cost-effective alternative to premium brands without sacrificing reliability, making them a solid option for budget-conscious households getting into energy storage for the first time.
READ MORE: Interview with CEO David Crane on California’s Ivanpah Solar Plant
Choosing the right clean energy brand comes down to a few key factors: your current solar setup, your daily energy usage, your budget, and how much grid independence you want to achieve.
According to the International Energy Agency, the global shift to renewable energy is accelerating faster than any previous energy transition in history, meaning the technology is mature, prices are falling, and the time to act is now.
Pairing quality solar panels with a reliable battery system gives you the ability to store excess energy generated during the day and use it at night or during peak tariff periods, which is where the real financial benefit lies.
For anyone researching their options, EnergySage is a useful resource for comparing solar products and getting a clearer picture of what different systems cost in practice.
The landscape has changed significantly in recent years, and what once seemed like a luxury is now within reach for a much broader range of households.
READ MORE: What is Ecotourism? The History & Principles of Responsible Travel
The clean energy market is competitive, well supplied, and increasingly accessible.
Whether you opt for a local Australian brand like VoltX Energy or a globally recognized name like Tesla or SunPower, the most important thing is choosing a solution that matches your specific needs.
Get a few quotes, check the warranties, and don’t underestimate the value of local support.
A brand that is easy to reach when something goes wrong can be worth just as much as one with a polished product catalogue! –by Alex S. Morrison; lead image via Canva Pro
The post 5 Clean Energy Brands in Australia Worth Watching appeared first on Green Global Travel.
Last updated on June 26th, 2026
Featured image: Finding the right place to stay makes our travels more memorable and meaningful | Photo by Farknot on Envato
Curated by Carolyn Ray
Nothing ruins a vacation faster than choosing the wrong hotel — or getting a room that doesn’t meet your expectations. We’ve all experienced that moment when, after hours of searching for the perfect hotel stay, you arrive only to discover your view is of a wall, or worse, level with the parking lot (yes, that happened to me at a seaside resort in Croatia).
The truth is that with thousands of properties, fluctuating rates, and unreliable reviews, it’s hard to know what you’re actually getting until you arrive. Additionally, crowdsourced reviews on many sites can be manipulated, and using a search engine or AI to find a hotel? Forget it. We know how important customer reviews are to making travel decisions – in fact, our latest survey showed that reviews from women are THE most important criteria when booking travel.
At JourneyWoman, we believe that the best advice comes from women who actually travel, so we asked our well-travelled writers to share their unbiased favourites with you. But there’s more — we also invite YOU to share your favourite places to stay in our expanded Women’s Travel Directory, which also includes hotels. Let’s use our voices to help other women travel safely and well. You can do that here.
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Recommended by Juliet Kinsman
I have a handful of all-time favourite hotels, but when it comes to an utterly perfect boutique experience, Ett Hem at Sköldungagatan 2, Stockholm 114 27 — tucked into the upmarket Lärkstaden neighbourhood of Östermalm — is my favourite for aesthetically-pleasing mysig — meaning cosiness, the Swedish take on hygge. The name means simply “a home” in Swedish — but believe me, it’s a home of your wildest dreams. Owner Jeanette Mix is not one to boast; fitting for a place of such understated elegance. Across 25 rooms and suites — spread across two interconnected houses — she has also curated an extraordinary modern art collection and filled every corner with furniture and objects hand-picked with the kind of taste that stands out in a world of cut-and-paste, could-be-anywhere chain-hotel blah.
As founding editor of Mr & Mrs Smith, I spent years obsessing over which boutique hotels were truly special. Ett Hem always ranked top after initially opening with only 12 rooms in 2012, a charming Arts and Crafts residence given extra texture through Ilse Crawford’s sensitive interior design. When I finally got to stay, I shared it on Instagram and the response was instant — it was clear many have longed to sleep here for years. The kitchens in each house run in a way that feels like an upscale private household: they offer a daily menu of classic Swedish flavours, built on locally sourced, organic and fair-trade produce and a dinner-party vibe. Breakfast at what feels like a family kitchen table, and coffee in the glasshouse conservatory is a context which reminds us why spending time in design-hotel contexts is such a treat. And since Ett Hem is set in Stockholm, you know the ethics and green creds will show a respect for the environment from a team that is rigorously professional yet genuinely down-to-earth and human.
Interior of Ett Hem, Stockholm / Photo by Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Recommended by Diana Eden
Riad Villa Garance lies in the heart of Essaouira medina, steps from the Atlantic ramparts, souks, the beach, and a top restaurant, Dar Baba. A huge bouquet of multi-colored roses greets visitors in the entrance court. My room, located on the third floor (no elevator, but there was plenty of help with luggage), opened onto a rooftop terrace with ocean views. There we enjoyed a delicious, freshly cooked breakfast while watching seagulls, who, as we learned, loved a pat of butter!
Although the room was small, it had an additional cozy sitting area, was very clean, and beautifully decorated in traditional Moroccan and Berber style. Like all riads, Riad Garance is built around a central courtyard. The front door was always locked and opened only by the host, providing a sense of safety and protection for women. It is a family-run riad owned and managed on-site by Marie and Pierre, and rooms run between $80 and $110 per night. I stayed at this delightful riad two years ago and would happily return.
Recommended by Jules Torti
Upon arrival at Casa Doñano, I was ready to stay forever and prune the roses, do dishes or learn how to dry-stack stone walls for the lovely Brazilian expat innkeeper, Maria. After a particularly tiring stretch of bunk beds along the Camino del Norte, it was easy to fall into the boutique hotel’s hug of history, thoughtful curation and Maria’s natural-born generosity. There were shirt-shined apples and foil-wrapped truffles at the bedside and the library was stocked with books that would keep me satiated for a lifetime. This serenity-soaked rural property in Vilela is an easy seven-kilometre walk from Ribadeo (and the cappuccinos were pure velvet). Distilling in the overwhelming peace of Casa Doñano makes for a perfect reset.
Walking into Casa Doñano near Ribadeo, Spain/ Photo by Jules Torti
Recommended by Carolyn Ray
If you’ve ever wanted to sleep next to a volcano, this is your chance. The Arenal Observatory Lodge at Arenal Volcano National Park is one of those places I often dream of returning to.
My room faced the volcano, and as I sat watching tufts of smoke emerge from the top of the volcano, it was hard to believe I wasn’t in a movie. Arenal is an active stratovolcano in northwestern Costa Rica, around 90 km northwest of San José, just outside the town of La Fortuna, well known for its thermal pools. Fortunately, there hasn’t been much activity since 2010, but the explosion in 1968 decimated the town.
The lodge offers free walking tours, and my guide pointed out various species of birds, frogs and yes, howler monkeys, and snakes, reminding us not to touch trees as the snakes camouflage perfectly with the moss. I also ventured onto the trails and swam under waterfalls, enjoyed some birdwatching and thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Costa Rica rainforest.
The view from my observatory room/ Photo by Carolyn Ray
Recommended by Jennifer Bain
Just 90 minutes northeast of Edmonton, the Lodge at Métis Crossing is a 40-room boutique hotel set on historic Métis river lots on the North Saskatchewan River. It anchors a cultural interpretive centre owned and operated by the Otipemisiwak Métis Government that celebrates the post-contact Indigenous people born from First Nations women and European fur traders. During fall and winter stays, I’ve paddled a voyageur canoe while singing, beaded, polished archery skills, marvelled at rare white bison on a wildlife tour and learned from Indigenous knowledge holders.
Artist Danielle LaRose sings a Voyageur song in front of the Metis Crossing / Photo by Jennifer Bain
Recommended by Pat Lee
Set in a quiet but historic neighbourhood within easy walking distance of Plaza de Armas and the traditional San Blas barrio, the boutique Hotel Rumi Punku offers clean and comfortable accommodations as you are most likely, as I was, acclimatizing for further explorations in the Andes, such as Machu Picchu.
Each day when you head out the traditional Inca doorway of the hotel, you can easily explore the city, formerly the head of the Inca Empire and a World UNESCO Heritage site, on foot after a hearty breakfast shared with other guests. Later, find solitude in the hotel’s peaceful colonial-style courtyard. Staff were particularly friendly and accommodating, helping with errant transfer services and ensuring the stay was seamless.
Hotel Rumi Punku in Peru / Photo by Pat Lee
Recommended by Carolyn Beasley
Phuket, Thailand, is famous for its beaches, but the nightlife can sometimes be seedy. The original settlement, Phuket Old Town, with its historic Sino-Portuguese shophouses, is a pretty and quieter alternative. The Memory at On On Hotel was the first hotel in Phuket, opening in 1929 to serve the tin mining industry. The now modernized hotel retains many original features, like a tiled courtyard open to the sky, and sitting rooms with quirky collectibles, including a stuffed peacock. The staff are friendly, and from around CA$77 per night, it’s great value.
Recommended by Claudia Laroye
The Remota Patagonia Lodge exists a calm refuge from the windy vastness of the epic landscape of Chilean Patagonia, complete with panoramic views of the spectacular Adean Alps and the Ultima Esperanza Fjord north of Puerto Natales. Crafted from local wood and clay around a central courtyard in homage of the historic barns that dot this region, Remota reflects its surroundings while sheltering guests in the warmth of well-appointed, comfortable rooms, a large communal dining space and a hydrotherapy area with indoor pool and sauna, ideal for relaxing sore muscles after a day’s trek in Torres del Paine National Park. Staff are friendly and hospitable, and the complimentary buffet breakfast is varied and substantial to fuel a day’s worth of active adventures in this signature region.
Remota Patagonia Lodge / Photo by Claudia Laroye
Recommended by Maureen Littlejohn
The Oban Inn & Spa is my go-to place when I want to relax in a property made for warm friendships. Located in Southern Ontario’s Niagara-on-the-Lake, the historic inn (rebuilt to the original plan after a fire in 1992) features a restaurant with local dishes and wines, plus there’s the plaid-carpeted Shaw’s Corner bar area that is perfect for a tipple after a Shaw Festival theatre performance. Another reason I love it is the spa, which has a steam room you can relax in after a treatment. I can’t forget the library where you can curl up in a comfy chair and read for an hour. Plus, there’s plenty to do in this safe, walkable town full of boutiques, restaurants, theatres, and horse-drawn carriage rides.
You can tuck into Shaw’s Corner for a quiet tipple after catching a show at the Oban Inn / Photo by Maureen Littlejohn
Recommended by Tanzila Khan
This Riad turned hotel in Fes is in the heart of the old town, Medina. In this Riad, you wake up not feeling as a tourist in some hotel but as part of a large family who are having breakfast in the courtyard and you can’t wait to join them. For just USD 40 per night, I enjoyed the traditional Moroccan room and breakfast. There are spacious rooms on two floors and while I couldn’t go up to see the tiled courtyard below, I did enjoy the whole arrangement of the place. What I loved most was that despite being in the middle of the chaos of Fès, the riad felt calm, safe, and deeply personal, with staff who genuinely cared for your special needs and one step outside would take you to most major landmarks of the beautiful Fes.
The post What Makes a Hotel Special? Our Well-Travelled Writers Share Their Most Memorable Hotel Stays appeared first on JourneyWoman.
