Affordable Istanbul Find: Hotel Ada information

In 2006, retired chemistry professor Dr. Dogan Sumengen and his wife opened up Hotel Ada in the heart of Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s old city. My fiancé Josh and I stayed there on our most recent trip. Even in June, the peak of the high season, room rates were very affordable (starting at $83 a night), and the hotel couldn’t have had a better location—a five minute walk to the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia, and a ten minute walk to Topkapi Palace.

Room interiors were sparse—the highlight being a large Jacuzzi, curiously placed alongside a desk in the bedroom—but any lack of décor was made up by the incredible view. Colorful row houses and cobblestone streets zigzagged down a slope to the Sea of Marmara, where ships spread out over the endless blue. We were right next to a Mosque, so the call to prayer was a part of our daily experience, as it is all over Istanbul.

Best of all, the inn owners were incredibly gracious. Not only did they get out maps and help us plan our daily city schedule, but they also served a scrumptious complimentary breakfast—fresh fruit and dried apricots and figs, yogurt, granola, and honey, cheeses and meats, simit, or sesame bread rings, and French press coffee, Turkish tea, and more.

There was complimentary Wi-Fi, and Dr. Sumengen was very enthusiastic about a Skype line he had recently set up, and encouraged us to use it free of charge whenever we needed to. When we left Hotel Ada for another, high-end hotel, Dr. Sumengen and his wife gave us parting gifts and invited us back for breakfast the next day. We would have taken them up on their offer, if our travel schedule had allowed it. It’s one of those lovely places where you get so much more out of the experience than you expected to, you feel like you’re leaving a family you’ll see again in the near future.

A Street Food Upgrade in LA

This summer, I've been on the lookout for exotic and far-flung experiences within the U.S. And I have another find for you, dear reader: the casual new Los Angeles restaurant Street, where chef Susan Feniger serves up dishes inspired by the food at casual stalls and markets around the globe. (You may know her cooking from LA restaurants Ciudad and Border Grill, but this is her first solo venture.)

When I first visited Street in July, just three months after it opened, I tried the kaya toast (a Singaporean variation on grilled cheese, topped with a soft-boiled egg), paani puri (spiced potato and beans in a puff of dough), Thai bites (baby collared greens with toasted coconut and dried shrimp), and the delectable mung bean pancake (a Korean-style dish with anise-glazed pork belly, scallions, and kimchi). Next time: Catalonian pan-seared striped bass and Turkish doughnuts! And you can't miss the transportation-themed wall murals by London-based design duo Huntley Muir.

But of course, don't stop at dinner. The perfect complement to Street is a late-night movie at the ArcLight Hollywood theater, inside the iconic 1963 Cinerama Dome building just a few blocks away. And for more fun ideas in the City of Angels, go to T+L's Los Angeles destination guide, co-written by yours truly.

Retro-Cool Motel in Dallas

Our photographers are so terrific. They often give us great ideas, because they are inveterate travelers themselves. Recently we sent a new contributor, Peter Frank Edwards, to Dallas to shoot a story for us. His partner, Sandy Lang, accompanied him. Not only did they produce a beautiful shoot (which you will see in our November '09 issue), they also gave me a great tip on a cool affordable motel they found:

Whenever we're in Austin we get to the Hotel San Jose (to stay or for drinks), so wanted to try the Belmont, which is managed by the same company. The Belmont is also a revamped 1940s-50s motor court, with the same kind of retro coolness. Instead of cars parked in front of rooms, there are walking paths and gardens, and the former carports are arranged with patio chairs.

The paint is fresh, the furniture spare and modern, with an airy check-in counter for guests. The exterior is bright white stucco and there's a pool, health club, bar and café... the adjacent Cliff restaurant is being remodeled (it will re-open this fall). One night, there was a good crowd for an opening art reception in the café; and the day we left, there was to be a pool party with Texas barbecue and a rockabilly band.

Trip for Luxe Caribbean Resorts

When you want the perfect view, the best golf course, the gaggle of nannies to take care of the kids, and luxurious touches everywhere you look, including plasma tv's, plunge pools and indoor/outdoor living spaces, look no further than these resorts and villas. If it's good enough for the creator of James Bond, it'll probably do.

What is Boutique hotel?

Boutique hotel is a term popularised in North America and the United Kingdom to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain/branded hotels and motels by providing personalized accommodation and services / facilities.
Despite this definition, the popularity of the boutique term and concept has led to some confusion about the term. Boutique hotels have typically been unique properties operated by individuals or companies with a small collection. However, their successes have prompted multi-national hotel companies to try to establish their own brands in order to capture a market share.^[2] The most notable example is Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide's W Hotels, ranging from large boutique hotels, such as the W Union Square NY, to the W 'boutique resorts' in the Maldives, to true luxury boutique hotel collections, such as the Bulgari collection, SLS Hotels, Thompson Hotels, Joie De Vie hotels,The Keating Hotel, and O Hotel, among many others.