Photography provided by INKATERRA

No sooner had I hopped off into the wilderness than four beaming Quechua women, our porters for the trip and part of the Indigenous community that many consider the closest descendants of the Incas, greeted our small tour group. They quickly distribute water and the weight in their bags. They wear no-nonsense hiking boots complemented by embroidered azure blouses and the tall, jaunty felt hats that are ubiquitous in this region. Decked out in head-to-toe REI, I can’t help feeling simultaneously underdressed and underprepared. It’s a relief to have these experienced, confident women by my side as we brace ourselves to ascend nearly 2,000 feet to the legendary “Lost City of the Incas,” rediscovered by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham and native farmers in 1911.

Hiking the Inca Trail isn’t a trek you want to — or even can — do alone. Since 2001, the Peruvian government has required that anyone on the historic path, a route of pilgrimage to Machu Picchu used by the Inca (or Emperor) in the 15th century, be accompanied by a licensed guide to protect the heritage site from the unsafe and destructive effects of overcrowding.

Peru, Llama Trek, Local Woman with Llama

Only 500 permits are available per day. Among those, 300 go to the diligent porters and guides who haul heavy loads packed with water, oxygen tanks and other necessary supplies, helping travelers like me make our way along the winding, rocky path. Because of this, it’s not unusual for the coveted passes to sell out months in advance.

Until recently, only men were hired for the job; women traditionally weren’t considered fit for such brawny, masculine work in Peru’s patriarchal society. Now, that’s gradually changing thanks to initiatives like Abercrombie & Kent’s Inca Trail Women’s Project, which launched in 2021. This program provides professional training and jobs to Quechua women who often face limited economic opportunities in remote Andean villages. Other companies, such as Evolution Treks Peru and Mother Earth Treks, also offer adventures geared specifically toward female tourists.

Marisol Velasco Espinoza, an accomplished Abercrombie & Kent tour guide who led the first group for the Inca Trail Women’s Project, has broken barriers all her life. Guiding since 2011, she has completed the four-day Inca Trail 500 times and can speed through the one-day route in a mere two hours. For Espinoza, who celebrates the progress Peru is making in gender equality, the Inca Trail project feels personal.

“I finished my studies very young and thought that no one would trust me because of my appearance — young, small and female,” she says. “That’s why I tripled my effort; I wanted to prove to myself I could make it. I never liked the idea of someone being faster than me in my mountains. Guiding the women from the Village of the Flowers on their first trip to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu was very important to me because I identify with them. This program helps reduce the machismo idea that only men have the right to work. It teaches everyone to raise awareness that there should be mutual respect between men and women.”

When I ask the Quechua porters — Cintia Amalia Chaucca Ramos, Elizabeth Ttito, Sonia Quispe Quispe and Emilda Ramos Sallo — what they most want travelers to take away from this experience, the answer is clear: that women are every bit as strong as men. But they also wish to share their community’s customs. “[I hope people will] learn about our traditional clothing, our Quechua language [and] our dances,” says Ramos.

Before the big climb, we do just that while exploring their homeland in the Sacred Valley’s Ccor Ccor District. Once the center of the Inca Empire, this fertile farmland remains a stronghold of Quechua culture.

Masterful weavers, the women demonstrate how their ancestors have used textiles like alpaca and vicuña wool (a rare and impossibly soft raw fiber far exceeding the price of cashmere) to create fine yet hardy clothing for centuries. Together, we enjoy a joyous warm-up hike accompanied by local musicians along the terraced hills, stopping for a surprise picnic of fruit and coca tea — an herbal remedy that’s popularly used for altitude sickness. Later, a local shaman reads our fortunes in the drink’s soggy leaves.

The next day, as I stumble up 200 steps at nearly 9,000 feet above sea level to reach Wiñayhuayna, a stunning archaeological site that’s only accessible for those who take the Inca Trail on the way to Machu Picchu, a porter grabs my hand, willing me to the top. We pause to admire the stone architecture, intact and hugging the mountain slopes after hundreds of years. Below, the Urubamba River ripples past, partially obscured by the cloud forest that settles over us at this high altitude. Along the way, the women tell me about medicinal plants and native birds. We peer intently at the sky for a glimpse of the Andean condor, a rare species and the largest bird of prey in the world.

I learn so much from the women leading us, and the long journey to Machu Picchu is definitely worth it. Peering at the citadel through the Sun Gate, or Inti Punku, at sunset is a privilege earned by those who walk in the footsteps of the Incas. Suddenly, I understand why Espinoza has embarked on this journey countless times.

“After so many years, I still enjoy walking,” she says. “I am happy believing that time has not passed. I know that it is not me who will decide to stop trekking the Inca Trail, but life will tell me when it’s time. In the meantime, if I can return, I will continue to take the opportunity and won’t let it go.”

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Photography provided by John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

When Hemingway arrived in 1939, Ketchum was merely a crossroads, a mining town anchored by a handful of saloons moonlighting as casinos. He came with Martha Gellhorn while still married to his second wife, Pauline. They stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge, a mile north, where the owners of the country’s first destination ski resort offered celebrities like Hemingway free lodging in exchange for the publicity they brought. He worked on For Whom the Bell Tolls in the mornings, hunted in the afternoons with friends he quickly made among the locals and fell in love with the countryside, which reminded him of Spain.

He returned twice with Martha, whom he had eventually married, and after World War II with Mary Welsh Hemingway, his fourth wife. In 1959, Ernest and Mary bought a house in Ketchum on a hillside above the Big Wood River from Bob Topping, a playboy who, the story goes, built the concrete structure painted to look like a log cabin in the style of Sun Valley Lodge to spite its management for kicking him out. The house had very modern amenities for the times, such as a movie projector with a screen that dropped out of the living room ceiling, a television with a remote control, air conditioning and double Thermador ovens. Huge picture windows provided stunning views of the surrounding mountain ranges on three sides.

It was there, in the front foyer, that Hemingway shot himself on July 2, 1961.

Photography provided by Mary and Ernest Hemingway House and Preserve Collection. Photos used with permission from Hemingway, Ltd.

My first stop was the Casino, a windowless, working man’s bar with low wooden beam ceilings. Hemingway played the slots and drank at the Casino. “He used to sit in the corner there,” the bartender told me, confirmed by photos on the walls. The Casino’s antithesis across Main Street, Whiskey on Main (formerly Whiskey Jacques), is a cheerful bar and eatery with high ceilings and large windows. They used to say, “You go to Whiskey Jacques for a cocktail and a show; you go to the Casino for a shot and a fight.” Hemingway visited Whiskey on Main when it was the Alpine Restaurant for the “sizzlin’ steak” (inch-thick sirloins served with potatoes and coleslaw for $1.25).

Nowadays, Hemingway likely wouldn’t recognize Ketchum, which has grown to eight square blocks and become a collection of boutique shops, yoga studios, ski rental outlets and real estate offices. The building where Pete Lane’s General Store anchored the crossroads of Main Street and Sun Valley Road for decades now houses Enoteca, an upscale restaurant that serves duck confit with risotto and wood-fired pizzas in a long, narrow brick-walled space. Since Lane’s catered to the Basque shepherds who had populated the area after World War II — a sign painted on the back of the building still reads “Eat More Lamb – It’s Delicious.” — I ordered the lamb chops, which were, indeed, delicious: tender and cooked to perfection.

Though chic, brick sidewalks have replaced the town’s former wooden planks, Ketchum retains its casual Western roots. When I called the Sawtooth Club to ask if it had a dress code (I had only packed two pairs of jeans), the host laughed. The place is rustic, with wooden tables and a moose head above the entry, but it serves decent food (I tried the jambalaya). The Sawtooth trades on its Hemingway connection, marketing a Hunter Thompson quote (“He could sit in the Sawtooth Club and talk with men who felt the same way he did about life . . .”), yet when I asked the young waitress about Hemingway, all she knew about him was the photo hanging by the fireplace (depicting the author in Key West, not Ketchum).

Photography provided by The Community Library Center for Regional History Donald Snoddy and Ralph Burrell Collection Photos used with permission from Hemingway Ltd

Three of the Basque restaurants Hemingway frequented — the Rio Club, the Idaho Club and the Tram — are long gone, but his favorite restaurant in town, Christiania, remains, now called Michel’s Christiania. The stone A-frame with booth-to-ceiling windows looks up Bald Mountain, known to locals as “Baldy.” (When I skied it one morning, I was pleased to find a run named “Hemingway,” though he did not ski in Idaho.) An enormous chandelier hangs above tables draped in white cloth and lit with oil lamps. Here, Hemingway ate his last meal, a rare New York steak and, most likely, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I sat at the same table, a corner booth in the back. In memory of Hemingway as a trout fisherman and because the waiter told me that the nearby Buhl River supplies 75% of the country’s trout, I ordered the trout à la meunière with couscous, green beans and baked tomato. It was excellent. So were the crêpes with locally foraged morel mushrooms in a sherry cream sauce. Over dinner, I pondered how Hemingway — sitting in that same booth — felt about what he planned to do the following day.

Sun Valley Lodge was overhauled a mile down the road in 2015. Hemingway’s room, No. 206 — he nicknamed it “Glamour House” — has moved to No. 228 and now features a bronze statue of the writer at his typewriter. The Ram restaurant, which Hemingway mentions in his short story “The Shot,” has retained its Austrian ambiance and recently featured a Hemingway Hasenpfeffer on its heritage menu. (Ironic because Hemingway shot hundreds of rabbits to relieve farmers of the pests but did not like to eat them.) Up the road, Trail Creek Cabin looks very much like it did when Hemingway partied there, tossing an olive into the mouth of his friend Gary Cooper on one occasion and passing New Year’s Eve with Ingrid Bergman on another.

Mary Hemingway willed the hillside house in Ketchum to the Nature Conservancy, and it is now managed by the Community Library, which has a vast Hemingway collection of books, letters and photos in its regional history center. The house has been restored to the way it was when Hemingway lived — and died — there. It is closed to the public but open to private tours. I spent more than two hours inside, reconstructing in my mind scenes of Hemingway watching the Friday night boxing matches with friends and the days he struggled with the manuscript published posthumously as A Moveable Feast.

Photo by Lloyd Arnold/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

It seems everyone in Ketchum has a story to tell about Hemingway. The retired gentleman eating lunch next to me at the Bigwood Bread Bakery & Cafe who had given tours of the Hemingway house told me with mischievous delight about the Playboy magazines he imagined Hemingway perused. (Doubtful. The magazines in the home have been added as props.) A librarian who grew up with Hemingway’s granddaughters told me in a conspiratorial whisper that the gun Hemingway used to shoot himself had been buried about 30 miles south of town. (Possible. I heard competing theories about the gun’s fate.)

The best stories came from a 70-year-old realtor named Jed Gray, whose parents had befriended the author. Hemingway often made his rounds of the town in the afternoon, stopping at the post office and drugstore before driving out to the Gray house, not far from the Sun Valley Lodge, for his daily walk. Jed often accompanied him along the remote dirt road by Ruud Mountain, where Sun Valley installed the nation’s first chair lift, and Hemingway went to watch the annual ski races in the spring before his death. Today, the chairlift no longer runs, and the paved road resembles a subdivision lined with houses.

One evening at the Gray house, when Jed was sick, the author read to him from The Old Man and the Sea. Another evening, they watched the television debut of A Farewell to Arms. During a commercial break, Hemingway decided it was time to teach the two Gray boys and another youth how to drink red wine from a bota. He encouraged them to hold the wineskin at arm’s length. “We all got wet,” Jed says.

Photography by Bettmann

At the Ketchum cemetery on the edge of town, Hemingway’s grave is marked by a flat granite slab beneath two large pine trees. Pilgrims leave bottles of whiskey, cans of beer and coins scattered across his gravestone. The day I visited, there was also a letter written by a fan along with a framed 5-by-7-inch shot of the view from Hemingway’s Cuba home.

On my way out of town, I wanted to see the Hemingway Memorial beside Trail Creek about a mile and a half up Sun Valley Road from the resort. I had trouble finding it so I stopped to ask directions from a woman walking three dogs. Celebrity sightings are not unusual in the area, where you might spot Clint Eastwood driving his battered pickup or Reese Witherspoon on a chairlift. Serendipitously, the woman turned out to be Mariel Hemingway, the author’s granddaughter. She pleasantly directed me to the site.

The memorial features a bronze bust of Hemingway; his gaze permanently fixed across the valley (now the seventh fairway of the Sun Valley Golf Course) toward the hills. It is inscribed with words he wrote for a Ketchum friend killed in a hunting accident that he may as well have written about himself: “Best of all he loved the fall/The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods/Leaves floating on the trout streams/And above the hills the high blue windless sky/Now he will be part of them forever.”

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Photography provided by Ayana Villas Bali

Exercise makes me feel better physically, but nothing I try calms my brain, which pinballs from morning to night, catastrophizing the littlest indignities and making lists of all the ways I’m failing as a mother, wife, daughter and career woman. Some days, the self-reproach is so paralyzing that I can barely crawl out of bed. This explains how I ended up taking a vow of silence for 24 hours at Ayana Estate in Bali, Indonesia, some 10,000 miles from home.

I wasn’t trying to “find” myself at an Eat, Pray, Love retreat, per se, but I did time my visit to Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence. The holiday commemorating Isakawarsa, or the Hindu-Balinese New Year, fell on March 11 and 12 last year. Its solemnity is guided by four principles: Amati Geni (no fire or light), Amati Karya (no working), Amati Lelunganan (no traveling), and Amati Lelanguan (no revelry).

Photography provided by Ayana Komodo Waecicu Beach

Balinese Hindus take Nyepi seriously. The airport closes, bars and restaurants shutter and lights dim across the island. For 24 hours, locals reflect, meditate and reset — like a Ctrl-Alt-Del for the soul. It’s also a contrast in extremes. Nyepi is preceded by Pengerupukan Day, which sees locals parading through the streets with elaborate ogoh-ogoh, demonic effigies depicting mythological spirits, hoisted onto their shoulders. There are ritualistic cleansing ceremonies, hypnotic dance performances and a whole lot of drum banging. It culminates with celebrations in public squares across the island. Some Balinese walk for miles just to join the festivities, clanging pots and pans along the way. It’s the storm before the calm.

Getting from Minnesota to Bali takes two grueling days. Still, my landing at Ayana Estate is soft: My night butler, Fidi, has a dazzling smile, which he flashes like Vanna White as he shows off the bath he drew in anticipation of my late-night arrival. (The water is cold now, but I am nevertheless charmed by the frangipani petals floating on the surface.)

Photography provided by Saka Museum at Ayana Bali

I was drawn to Ayana for the unveiling of the Saka Museum, a new cultural center on site that offers an immersive introduction to Nyepi and other pillars of Balinese faith and heritage. The collection includes rare books, Tika calendars and 10 masterfully rendered ogoh-ogoh, including a 36-footer — the tallest in Bali.

The property has arranged an opening ceremony for the museum followed by an ogoh-ogoh parade on Pengerupukan Day. To prepare visitors for the experience, cultural archivist Marlowe Bandem reminds everyone what Nyepi forbids: fire, lights, entertainment, ogling ourselves in the mirror or leaving home (in this case, the resort grounds). Talking with friends and family is OK, but no gossip. Some priests and pilgrims also fast for the holiday, but that’s where I draw the line.

Photography provided by Saka Museum at Ayana Bali

“You must abandon your gadgets and Zoom and Google and resist the urge to work,” he says. “The best practice is to make time for yourself and listen to what the universe has to say. Silence is the mirror of the soul. Think about how the past year has been and how you want the coming year to be. Enjoy the serenity. For one day, one hour or 10 minutes — whatever you can do.”

The hotel’s Pengerupukan parade is not as chaotic as Denpasar’s packed streets but still exhilarating. By evening, however, I’m feeling anxious. Crushed with work and worried that tomorrow’s break from technology would put me even further behind, I dreaded being alone with my thoughts.

Nyepi starts promptly at 6 a.m. I set an alarm for 5:45 and check my email one last time before locking my laptop in the villa safe and putting my phone in airplane mode. Usually, I’d listen to music while getting ready, but Bandem’s words were still coursing through my head. I try to focus on the melodic chirping of the birds outside of my villa instead. They’re awfully loud; apparently, they didn’t get the memo about Nyepi.

Photography provided by Ayana Komodo Waecicu Beach

My first pursuit on this tech-free day is a sunrise yoga class. The instructor tells us to imagine we’re rocks in a stream, with water flowing all around us. “Don’t push against it — let it wash over you,” he says. This feels like a metaphor I’m meant to hear: We can’t control what happens to us, only how we react to it. Play the hand you’re dealt as best as you can.

I’m feeling so grounded after yoga that I reconsider fasting for a hot second, but one glance at the resort’s array of international breakfast options scuttles that impulse. As I tuck into a South Indian dosa and snake fruit, I think about my body’s relationship with food — how I want to indulge in it but mindfully. I also listen closely to the conversations unfolding around me in Chinese, Korean and Australian-accented English; they’re things I might not have noticed when I was absorbed in my phone.

After breakfast, I wrestle a pool noodle in an Aqua Pilates class, join an hour-long thalassotherapy session, wade from one bone-pummeling jet to the next in a series of seawater pools heated to varying temperatures and eat lunch with new friends from Jakarta and Sydney, discussing everything from politics to motherhood. The hardest part of the tech-free experiment is Zenning out during a sound bath meditation. Holding space for my thoughts without the distraction of holding a tree pose feels torturous. I try to focus on my breathing, but a woman near me is panting like a dog. How is she so … intentional? I wonder and listen to her breathing instead. Baby steps.

Photography provided by Ayana Villas Bali

Stargazing on the lanai of my villa that night, hours after Bali had gone black, my head felt more clear, and my heart felt less heavy than it had in months.

The following day, I switch my phone on at 6:01 a.m. and it quickly blows up with 284 unread emails. I text my husband: “I survived!” He replies with a laughing-crying emoji: “Don’t waste a minute getting back online.”

Did Nyepi solve my problems? Of course not. But turning off my phone, even for a trifling 24 hours, helped me power down enough to recharge.

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Delvey, whose legal name is Anna Sorokin (and who told me to call her either, but that Delvey was better known), was arrested in a sting operation planned by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in October 2017. Delvey was soon transferred to Rikers Island, where she was held without bail. Three weeks later, she was indicted for stealing approximately $275,000 through multiple scams. Delvey was released from prison on good behavior in 2021 after serving nearly four years. In March 2021, she was taken back into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying her visa, and she remained in ICE custody in upstate New York for a year. All of this explains her sparkly ankle monitor and her casting on Dancing With the Stars, where she was one among many chosen from a pool of controversial contestants.

Photography by Oliver Halfin

For Delvey, it was a second chance. She says, “I’ve grown up as a person. I was 26 when I was arrested. I’m 33 now; I think everyone changes between those ages. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been to jail or prison. You go through life experiences and hopefully learn something.”

But did her appearance on the show actually equate with acceptance? She says, “If it were up to me, I would love for people to give me the chance to move on from, whatever, my past. It feels like it’s impossible to shed this wild moniker that the tabloids gave me. So many people were upset about me being cast on the show, even though I’m by far not the worst person they’ve had,” Delvey says, referring to former contestants like Mark Wahlberg, who had a history of racist hate crimes and Adrian Peterson, who was charged with felony child abuse. She says, “It seems like they deserve to have a chance to move on more than I do.”

And she has a point. While unforgivable crimes and social justice movements bring about real change, America is generally a forgiving place to be a celebrity. Think along the lines of Martha Stewart, Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, Prince Harry, Will Smith, Michael Richards and Lance Armstrong … the list goes on and on. “If you look at my crime, I never had any plans to defraud anyone,” says Delvey. “It’s not like I was an addict or a pathological liar or a pickpocketer. And now I turned my life around. I think my intentions were never bad to begin with, even though people refuse to accept that.”

Delvey says she paid her restitution before going to prison and that she’s done the time for her crime. Dancing With the Stars was just a stepping stone. The show approached her while she was on house arrest (perhaps they could envision the ankle monitor cascading light into the mirror ball trophy). She said she was hesitant; she’s self-admittedly not an entertainer. She then agreed and said, “What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll get a workout.” That, and some negative media attention, apparently.

Delvey was kicked off on the second episode, and by that time, she was so famous that my best friend’s 9-year-old daughter had an impersonation of her coyly quoting, “You’re so basic.” People dressed up as Delvey for Halloween; the costume couldn’t be more, well, basic: simply don an ankle monitor and a sign that says, “Nothing.” The idea stemmed from when DWTS co-host Julianne Hough asked Delvey what she learned from the competition, and Delvey now-notoriously replied, “Nothing.” And the internet went wild. That one word left pop culture devotees wanting another bite of the no-nonsense Anna Delvey, who is frank to a fault. When I ask if she’s an unabashedly honest person, Delvey tells me, “I don’t like to lie as much as people think I do.”

So what’s next for America’s next not-so-sweetheart? It certainly won’t be another televised dancing competition. “I don’t want to be in the entertainment business,” says Delvey. “I don’t have the personality for that. I hate reality TV. It’s just stupid and exhausting.”

These days, Delvey is diving into the fashion world. She put on three shows with publicist Kelly Cutrone during NYFW and capped off the event by walking the runway herself in a custom Shao Yang design featuring a sleek leather slit skirt and blazer. Her debut went better than, say, her performance on DWTS. Delvey says, “I think it went well? The comments I saw were mostly positive, and I didn’t fall down … not sure how else to judge things like that.”

Delvey isn’t new to the fashion industry. She explains, “I’ve been involved in the fashion world one way or another since my teens; I interned for a fashion PR company in Berlin, then for Purple magazine in Paris, and I’m now working with Kelly Cutrone.” She says that since Inventing Anna came out, she’s been asked about translating her aesthetic into a business. “I’m constantly being asked about starting my own line, and it seemed like a natural progression, but that’s only one of the reasons.” Delvey says she is working on something different from anything else on the market.

The name of her new line? Naturally, it’s “Nothing.” Now, who’s smiling?

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When Lindsay Silberman first visited Aspen’s Hotel Jerome, she vividly recalls the smell of the hotel’s vintage leather armchairs, its roaring fireplace in the lobby and the occasional gust of crisp mountain air sneaking in from the outside. “Whenever I would stay at a five-star hotel, I’d think, ‘I need my house to smell like this,’” said Silberman, who’d spent a decade writing about luxury travel for magazines before launching Hotel Lobby Candle, a brand inspired by the idea that it’s entirely possible to bring the luxury hotel experience into your home in the form of a candle.

Photography by Lindsay Silberman

Her experience at Hotel Jerome translated to a custom candle, ‘Aspen,’ created in collaboration with the property, with notes of vintage cedar wood, tooled leather and golden embers alongside cooling notes of snow-capped pine. Hotel Lobby Candle’s latest launch, ‘Napa Valley,’ created in partnership with Solage Auberge in Calistoga, California, pairs notes of ripe black currant, aged French oak, mulberry trees and sweet soil in homage to Napa Valley and the romance of its harvest.

“The inspiration for the scent came not only from the warm, inviting energy of the hotel but also the land itself and the process of making its famous wine: minerality of dirt, crisp air, ripe fruit, winding vines and oak barrels,” said Silberman. “One of the most memorable aspects of Solage, to me, are the teeming mulberry trees found throughout — so we knew that mulberry notes would also be integral to the fragrance.”

Photography by Ruben Ortiz

She’s one of the latest to take advantage of a new trend toward olfactive branding, with luxury hotels capitalizing on the idea that scent has the power to transport and create a sense of place. “From a marketing perspective, it’s an incredibly effective way of creating a lasting impression,” said Silberman.

When Valentina De Santis’ family bought what is now the famed Lake Como, Italy, hotel Passalacqua in 2018 — crowned the number one hotel in the world on the inaugural 50 Best Hotels list last year — she also welcomed her daughter Maria. To celebrate the baby’s arrival, a loved one gifted De Santis with a beautiful fragrance that reminded her of Maria. De Santis says that served as the impetus for creating ‘Aqua Como 1787,’ Passalacqua’s first custom fragrance, which is diffused throughout the hotel and sold in its retail shop.

Photography by Sense of Lake

The scent takes inspiration from the gardens throughout the property, featuring English roses, olives, heirloom apples and pears, oranges and lemons, sweet grapes, hydrangeas, and cypress and cedar trees. “There are many ways to engage the guests when they arrive at the hotel — the design, the architecture of the spaces, the background music. But there is another essential sense, often underestimated, the sense of smell, which is an essential part of the guest experience,” said De Santis. “For our guests, ‘Aqua Como’ is a great way to bring them back to Passalacqua, to sweet memories of days spent on Lake Como, increasing the desire to return to Passalacqua.”

At Alma, a cafe, hotel and restaurant in Minneapolis, co-proprietor Margo Roberts introduced a “signature aromatic experience” to evoke “the notion of the four seasons,” she says. From crisp and clean summers and spicy falls to the austere scents of winter, Alma offers aromatherapy reed diffusers, candles, and natural bath and body products in every room to infuse the property with seasonal scents.

Photography by Jon Kreye

In November, The Hoxton Hotel in Chicago introduced its first-ever fragrance, ‘Bloommer,’ created in collaboration with Windy City perfumery Clue. “The hotel is meant to feel like a cozy home-away-from-home, almost like you’re crashing with an old friend,” said The Hoxton Chicago General Manager Amos Kelsey. “It’s so special to have a fragrance tied to that homey Chicago feeling.”

Inspired by the history of the hotel’s neighborhood in the Fulton Market district of the city — an area that was once the heart of Chicago’s manufacturing industry, perfumed by meatpacking plants, leatherworking factories and eventually the cocoa-scented clouds wafting from Bloommer Chocolate Factory — the scent collapses 130 years of Fulton Market into one distinctive smell. Imagine the richness of tanned leather combined with a hot burst of chocolate air, bitters shaken into a cocktail and the freshness of hotel linens.

Clue used several fragrance notes that feel adventurous for a hotel scent, like gourmands, which smell like food, such as cocoa, and animalics, like leather, which add a warm, sensual feel. Both are much more daring than the florals, teas, citruses and fresh scents one typically encounters in hotel lobbies. That was purposeful, says perfumer and Clue Perfumery co-founder Laura Oberwetter.

Photography provided by Clue Perfumery

“The olfactory bulb, the neural structure responsible for your sense of smell, shares a very intimate relationship with the limbic system, the network that regulates memory and emotion,” she explained. “It’s a fun neurological connection to lean into while traveling. Introducing a unique scent while away from home gives you the ability to establish a bond between that scent and the memories of your travels. It’s a tool that can be used for more vivid recall later.”

The brain first processes memory in the hippocampus, a small, horseshoe-shaped area in the temporal lobe, which has a special connection with olfaction in humans. And there’s a neurological basis for this privileged access between olfaction and memory: A new paper from Northwestern Medicine has suggested that smell — more so than other sensory stimuli like sight, sound or touch — has the most robust connectivity to the brain’s seat of memory, with researchers describing it as a “superhighway from smell to the hippocampus.”

Photography by Douglas Friedman

Not only are scents directly tethered to memories, but a study in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that odor-evoked memories were always more emotional than others. “Every time you encounter a new smell, you have an emotional reaction to the context the new smell was introduced in, and you store it in your memory,” explained Dawn Goldworm, co-founder and chief creative officer at the olfactive branding company 12.29. “Thus, your olfactive or smell memory becomes the largest and most acute part of your memory for life.”

When The Newbury Boston reopened in 2021 as a reimagined luxury hotel in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, they turned to Goldworm and her team to help create a custom scent identity, one I encountered myself at the property in 2022. I loved it so much that I begged the concierge to let me buy the fragrance in some form, but it’s only available to take home as a memory.

Distributed throughout the property via a scent diffuser connected to the hotel’s ventilation system, the scent mixes notes of vetiver (earthy, human, addictive), cedarwood (smoky, dry, very much reminiscent of the fall season), sandalwood (offers a creamy softness), and tonka (vanilla, slightly sweet and sensual to make it feel warmer), along with marine notes that are “metallic and cool with a little bit of salicylate as a nod to the saltiness” that is ever-present in a hotel by the sea, says Carlos Bueno, The Newbury Boston’s managing director.

Photography by Nikolas Koenig

“We feel this scent gives our guests the sense of coming home,” said Bueno. “Like your logo, font in collateral or a playlist, hotel scents continue to be part of the overall hotel brand.”

Added Goldworm, “The original wood-burning fireplaces, Boston public park nearby and heritage address all add to the sophisticated, timeless and authentic scent that combines intimacy as the key emotion with a residential aesthetic.”

At J.K. Place in Paris, esteemed Italian perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi created a custom fragrance, ‘Alamut,’ that blends the hotel’s Italian heritage with its Parisian setting. The warm and sensual scent — a combination of rose, tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood, patchouli, musk and ambergris — is strategically diffused throughout the hotel via elegant fragrance vases.

“Having a signature scent enhances our brand identity and deepens our guest experience,” said Riccardo Ortogni, J.K. Place Paris general manager. “It creates an emotional connection that lives on well beyond a stay.”

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

The post Inside the Flourishing World of Luxury Hotel Bespoke Fragrances appeared first on Artful Living Magazine.

Photography by Brian Ferry

Precisely why last fall, Christie’s in New York City devoted an entire sale to Lalanne’s works, creating a global event where some 70 pieces were on offer, all culled from the personal collection of the sculptor’s daughter Dorothée Lalanne. The idea was to build on the massive appeal of Lalanne’s creations, which, for decades, have been beloved by art connoisseurs and famed fashion designers alike.

“A pivotal moment in their market trajectory came in 2009 when Christie’s auctioned the personal collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, setting a record at the time with a total of €373.9 million,” says Christie’s Senior Vice President, Head of Design, Americas Daphné Riou. “This historic sale cemented the artist’s market presence, and demand has only surged since.”

Photo Courtesy Jean-Philippe Lalanne © Archive Dorothée Lalanne_ Les Lalanne © 2024 Artist Rights Society (ARS)

To celebrate this Lalanne love, Christie’s sought out French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus to create a six-day immersive display for these tortoises, bears and owls — all set into a series of galleries at Christie’s in New York City. Here, a wheat field formed the backdrop for deer, which served as benches, and turtles turned into topiaries. Nearby, a worn wooden farm table provided a note of organic texture for “Âne de Nathalie,” an iconic donkey sculpture whose side opens into a desk.

Photography by Brian Ferry

“François-Xavier worked in a way that appeared casual but was, in fact, very rigorous, thoughtful and elegant,” Dorothée Lalanne told Christie’s in a presale statement, adding: “It seemed very natural that Simon Porte Jacquemus would create the exhibition for this auction; his work is so playful, so full of light and joy and as unexpected as François-Xavier’s work.”

All this presale pizazz paid off as the landmark auction took in nearly $59 million — more than doubling the high estimates. The live sale went on for four hours as savvy bidders competed on the phone, online and in person — all from the storied Rockefeller Center salesroom. Four pieces set world records, while every single sculpture up for sale found a buyer.

Photography provided by Christie’s

The star lot was the massive “Très Grand Centaure,” which Christie’s deftly displayed at the entryway to the auction. It went for $7.5 million amid fierce back-and-forth bidding, more than nine times its low estimate. Towering up 11 feet tall, the stately sculpture became the auction’s elegant showstopper.

Photography by Brian Ferry

“One of my favorite pieces from the sale is ‘Très Grand Ours,’ a sleek, upright bear with a nearly human posture. It sold for $6.1 million, doubling its high estimate and setting a new record for the model,” Riou points out. “Another remarkable lot is ‘Chouette de Jardin,’ which was a delightful discovery. As Madame Lalanne recounted, it had been forgotten in the artist’s garden at Ury and only rediscovered when it was brought out for cleaning — her first time seeing it.”

Photography by Brian Ferry

Indeed, from tiny birds to life-sized sheep, these endearing sculptures have found new homes across the globe — where they will no doubt continue to enchant. “There’s this archetypal quality of humor, menace and fantasy that is highly reflective of antiquity,” Alex Heminway, Christie’s international head of design, sums up. “The excitement in the build-up to the sale was mirrored by our clients’ enthusiasm, and the results were everything we hoped for and more.”

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

The post At Auction: Christie’s Sells a Menagerie of Iconic Lalanne Sculptures appeared first on Artful Living Magazine.

Photography provided by the Minnesota Orchestra

Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall

Minneapolis

Looking for side of culture with your bubbly this year? Head over to Nicollet Mall where conductor William Eddins will lead pianist Jon Kimora Parker and the Minnesota Orchestra in a performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Parker has spent four years studying this iconic musical composition, resulting in an interpretation that is freer and more improvisatory. Post-concert? Enjoy jazz from Belle Amour, plus some Champers on the house. Sunday’s performance starts at 8:30 p.m. and lasts two hours, including intermission. Get your tickets now.

Photography provided by the Peninsula Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago

Chicago

Imagine a New Year’s Eve gala dinner and dancing so festive it practically sings “Auld Lang Syne.” The Peninsula Hotel Chicago festivities begin in The Lobby restaurant with a welcome glass of Champagne, followed by a five-course prix-fixe dinner. As you dine on king crab, foie gras, lobster and Wagyu beef (among other savory and sweet courses), enjoy a live piano soloist followed by a classical trio until it’s time to dance your lobster dinner off to BeatMix, a seven-piece band fires off party tunes until 1:00 a.m. Reserve your spot now.

The Ritz-Carlton

Naples, Florida

At the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, New Year’s Eve is not so much celebrated as it is curated. Executive Chef Satish Yerramilli presents a sumptuous five-course dinner paired with bubbly and bespoke wines, followed by a performance by jazz luminary Stella Cole. Enjoy a ‘Meet the Artist’ reception and premium cocktails — all wrapped in Ritz-level glamour. Bonus? An autographed album from Stella herself. Secure your tickets now.

Photography provided by BondST Hudson Yards

BondST Hudson Yards’ Omakase Tasting

New York City

The celebration here unfolds with precision, like a perfect nigiri. The multi-course Omakase menu features a parade of BondST signatures, including tuna tart with truffles, broiled king crab with uni and Japanese A5 Wagyu so tender it feels like you’re slicing into butter. Add a glittering Hudson Yards skyline that needs no Instagram filter, and voilà — 2025 arrives not with a bang, but a sublime bite. Snag your reservation.

Photography provided by the Newbury Hotel Boston

The Newbury

Boston

The Newbury Hotel offers a masterclass in champagne-soaked aspirations. Upon arriving, you’ll be greeted in your room with a Winston‘s flower arrangement and a bottle of Moët Chandon. After summoning your fireplace butler to fine tune your suite’s cozy ambiance (choose from warming birch, long-burning and fragrant cherry, lightly scented oak or quintessentially New England–maple embers), head down to the hotel’s stunning glass-walled rooftop restaurant, Contessa, to enjoy a pre-fix dinner for two. Finally, dust off your Louboutins for The Street Bar‘s exclusive New Year’s Eve celebration, where a live DJ will be spinning hope into the new year. Morning arrives with monogrammed robes and breakfast in bed. Secure your spot now.

Photography provided by Buck Hill Resort

Buck Hill Resort

Burnsville

For those looking for a more adventurous New Year’s Eve, the slopes at this Minnesota ski resort will stay open for nighttime skiing until 11:30 p.m. Après ski, enjoy a prime rib dinner followed by live music by Nick Rod and a set by DJ Aventi in the Buck ’54 Bar & Grill. Kids can warm up at the cocoa bar and make s’mores and crafts in front of a cozy fireplace of the Hutch building. And the pièce de résistance? A midnight fireworks performance will ensure sparks fly as you glide into 2025. Book the experience today.

Feature image photography provided by Hotel Crescent Court.

The post The Best Places to Go for New Year’s Eve appeared first on Artful Living Magazine.

Design Icon Ralph Lauren Takes Us Inside His Stylish Homes

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How to Channel the Magic of Blue Zones Living at Home

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Chef Ann Ahmed’s Culinary Journey to Self-Discovery 

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David Coggins Styles Autumn’s Top Menswear Trends

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The Top 12 New Twin Cities Dining Experiences of 2024

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10 Local Twin Cities Artists We’re Loving Right Now

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An Exclusive Look at Architect Peter Marino’s Private Residential Designs 

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Laura Schara Finds Western Adventure at Wyoming’s Brush Creek Ranch

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The post Artful Living’s Top Stories of 2024 appeared first on Artful Living Magazine.

Photography provided by Westin Edina Galleria

Winter Village, created by the Westin Edina Galleria, is back for its fifth consecutive year. The Veuve Clicquot Chalet debuts a stunning new build with expanded space, offering guests an elevated winter retreat experience. With floor-to-ceiling windows, visitors are immersed in the beauty of the season while enjoying a warm, stylish atmosphere perfect for gathering. This season promises more of everything: more dining, more events and more memorable moments. Indulge in daily chalet dining featuring classic alpine fare, exclusive multi-course dinners, weekly live music and holiday-themed experiences, all elevated by our partnership with Moët Hennessy.

Winter Village at the Westin Edina Galleria

December 5–February 16

Westin Edina Galleria, 3201 Galleria, Edina

Clicquot Chalet Dining

It wouldn’t be a true Swiss ski village experience without the fully-heated Veuve Clicquot Chalet featuring classic alpine fare. Guests are invited to Westin’s unmatched chalet dining experience, which celebrates the charming après lifestyle with your choice of Swiss cheese fondue, raclette or chocolate fondue, all served with the classic accoutrements. This unique alpine affair pairs perfectly with a glass of bubbly to keep your holiday bright and cheery. Book now.

The Shoppe at Winter Village 

The Shoppe at Winter Village is a charming holiday haven nestled within the Westin Edina Galleria, offering an enchanting selection of Swiss and ski-inspired gifts. Thoughtfully curated for both travelers and locals, The Shoppe brings the spirit of alpine adventure and cozy winter warmth to Minnesota. Discover an array of unique finds, from artisanal decor and luxe winter apparel to handcrafted accessories and delightful stocking stuffers that capture the magic of the season. Embrace the charm of a European winter market as you browse for gifts that celebrate the beauty of snow-dusted mountains and fireside coziness, perfect for those who cherish the season’s spirit of giving.

Winter Village Gift Cards

This holiday season, treat yourself and your loved ones with the ultimate Winter Village experience. Give the gift of unforgettable moments this season with gift cards that can be used to enjoy:

• Chalet Dining Experiences: Cozy up in Westin Winter Village’s charming chalets with delectable seasonal menus.
• Specialty Dinners: Elevate your epicurean explorations with curated culinary events.
• Prelude: Indulge in exceptional dining, a curated wine list and seasonal craft cocktails at the Westin Edina Galleria.
• Guest Rooms: Escape to luxury and unwind in Westin Edina Galleria’s elegant accommodations.

Limited time only! Don’t miss this opportunity to share the magic.

• Buy a $100 gift card and receive an extra $20 free to enjoy more festive moments.
• Buy a $300 gift card and receive a gift of Veuve Clicquot.

WhistlePig Dinner

Set in Westin Winter Village’s cozy chalet, warm up your season with this bold affair. This dinner features a four-course meal paired with rye whiskeys aged from 10 to 18 years. Each guest will also receive a special edition WhistlePig Trapper Hat. Book now.

Winter Village Staycation

This season’s Winter Village Staycation Package offers a luxurious blend of wintertime cheer and elegant comfort. Nestle into Westin Edina Galleria’s luxurious accommodations, surrounded by the seasonal charm of the Winter Village. Guests can unwind and recharge in thoughtfully designed spaces that offer the perfect balance of comfort and sophistication.

Begin your winter retreat with a Winter Welcome amenity and bottle of Veuve Clicquot, adding a sparkling touch to your stay. Perfectly suited for a toast by the fire or in your cozy room, this premium Champagne celebrates the magic of the season. Savor more with a $100 credit toward food and beverage experiences on property including expanded chalet dining or exclusive, multi-course dinners. From cozy moments by floor-to-ceiling windows in the Clicquot Chalet to holiday-themed events and weekly live music, this staycation package provides a magical winter escape. Book now.

Festive Afternoon Tea

Drop your pinky finger and relax with small sips during afternoon tea, offered with traditional snacks paired with a glass of Veuve Clicquot. Book now.

Valentine’s Day from Provence

Celebrate your special love with an evening straight from Provence. Featuring a five-course menu and pairing with the best rosés in the world, including Château d’Esclans, Les Clans and Garrus — the most exclusive rosé made from a single vineyard of nearly 100-year-old vines. Book now.

The post Experience Après Ski Magic at Westin Edina Galleria’s Winter Village appeared first on Artful Living Magazine.