Caitlin White

It’s the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, and Dale Ott is laughing into half a glass of red wine, posing as she gazes out across the vineyards of Quinta da Confeiteira in Central Alentejo, one of Portugal’s largest—and still underrated—winemaking regions.

While location scouts and producers are always on the hunt for desirable settings for their next projects, it takes more than just beautiful aesthetics for a prospective property to translate to a great filming site. With the U.K. gaining popularity as an ideal backdrop for Hollywood productions, after the success of “The Crown,” “Downton Abbey” and “Bridgerton,” more location scouts are shooting across the pond — with the help of the logistically minded hotel industry.

Navigating air travel can be tricky for any trip. It’s even more imperative that things go smoothly when it comes to business travel. More specifically for production studios, coordinating travel plans effectively is crucial for sending crew, talent, studio personnel and expensive equipment all over the world. Not every airline understands the challenges that executives and productions face when managing travel for a film or TV project.

Plenty of critics consider Bob Dylan’s 1975 album, "Blood On The Tracks," to be his greatest work, but even the most fervent biographers might not know the legend of the Malibu motel where he reportedly began writing the record.

Though cities like Chicago and New York tend to get more credit for their centuries-old drinking cultures, Los Angeles has been going strong for decades. While LA is better known for the party atmosphere of the Sunset Strip and its robust club scene, speakeasies and classic cocktails recalling that history have recently come to the fore.

Whether you’re visiting Los Angeles or a local looking for a luxurious staycation, West Hollywood is the place to be. It’s in the heart of the city and also host to some of the very best hotels, whether you crave a historic property, incredible views or unparalleled food and drink (or all three, tbh). Though it’s hard to narrow it down with such an abundance of excellent options, these are our picks for the best hotels in this highly-coveted neighborhood.

Inevitably, the most eye-catching item on the menu at Bar Cecil is the $50 Martini. Served on a silver tray, next to a deviled egg topped with a heaping portion of caviar and a side of sunchoke chips, this show-stealing drink ends up in front of most bar patrons and graces nearly every table in the 75-seat restaurant.

In the decade since Soho House came to California, the elite members-only club has practically become a Hollywood institution. The initial, flagship location in West Hollywood is one of the U.K.-based hospitality company’s most prestigious outposts, and a second more remote Malibu site has rounded out the club’s presence on L.A.’s more remote west side.

Location, location, location — it’s the cardinal rule of travel, real estate and event planning. What defines a coveted location, though, shifts: these days location is less about a packed “it” spot and more about covering new ground. If it’s remote, that’s better. And if it’s outdoors, that’s ideal.

It’s our third day in Costa Rica, and I’m in the middle of the jungle about to make a rash decision. Roland, our guide, hands me a helmet, a rubber inner tube, and what looks like a leather diaper, something Princess Leia would wear during her stint with Jabba The Hutt. For protection, he assures me. The waterslide our group is about to embark upon — the longest waterslide in Costa Rica, no less — is made of painted concrete.

New Zealand was one of those countries that shut down its borders tight during the pandemic, a strategy that turned out to be effective not just for dealing with a highly contagious sickness, but also in making it a coveted destination for travelers once the lockdown was lifted.