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Design

The 20 Most Extraordinary Hotel Rooms in the World

By Claire Cottrell on

[Editor's note: In celebration of the holidays, we're counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #5, was originally published February 29.] As much as we love virtual globetrotting, we live for real world travel adventures. If you’re like us and spend weeks obsessively planning every last detail of your trip to ensure that your not-often-enough vacation is maximized to the hilt, consider this our gift to you. We’ve scoured every inch of the great world wide web to create a guide to designed sleeping experiences that are anything but ordinary.

The English writer G.K. Chesterton, notably George Bernard Shaw’s frenemy, said “there are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” From the surrealist creation of our favorite discreet Belgian fashion designer to pillows made of chocolate and ice to a toon shaded room by a German comic book artist that will make you feel like you stepped into the world of Jessica Rabbit, click through to see what strange and wonderful places await the next time you’re trying to maximize your unconscious dreamstate. We want to try them all, but let us know in the comments which one you’re dying to stay in! … Read More

Film

Bizarre Movie Theaters from All Over the World

By Jason Bailey on

Last month, we took a look at some of the oddest-looking libraries from around the world, continuing our fascination with strange places to get our cultural fix. We’ve previously run down the best movie theaters in the world — but what about the strangest? So we scoured the Internet for unexpected yet wonderful locations where owners and programmers have converted, preserved, or augmented the moviegoing experience in unusual ways. Check out what we found after the jump — and if we’ve missed any good ones, make sure to let us know in the comments. … Read More

Architecture

10 of the World’s Most Remote Museums

By Claire Cottrell on

Here at Flavorpill, we have a thing for gorgeous museums and virtual globetrotting, so we thought it was fitting to give you fabulous fodder for adventure daydreaming on one of the last Summer Fridays of the year by taking a look at stunning museums in some of the most remote locations in the world.

As Helen Keller, the eternally inspiring, well-traveled activist and author, once said, “life is either a great adventure or nothing,” and we couldn’t agree more. Whether you’re planning your next extreme vacation or just want to get the mental heck out of dodge, click through to check out some extraordinary museums that will require logging a few extra hours with your online travel agency of choice. Help us discover more awesome isolated cultural destinations by telling us about any you’ve visited in the comments below! … Read More

Photography

Katrin Koenning’s Poignant Photographs of Fellow Travelers

By Emily Temple on

Though it may not always seem that way, travel is one of those daily unifying forces that make us love living in a big city. As German-born photographer Katrin Koenning, whose work we recently spotted over at My Modern Met, puts it, ”By fate, destiny or chance, strangers are thrown together for a short while, forced to share an intimate space. There is a quiet comfort in sitting back and watching the world fly by.” In her series Transit, she photographs ordinary moments of travel — whether her subjects are engaged in long trips or short, watchfulness or sleep — and captures something essential and universal in those planes, trains, and automobiles. Click through for a few shots from Transit, and then be sure to head over to Koenning’s website to check out even more of her work. … Read More

Books

10 of the Coolest Niche Bookstores From Around the World

By Emily Temple on

We all know about the plight of independent and specialty bookstores, so we won’t lament it again here. Suffice it to say, fellow book and bookstore lovers, that all is not lost! We recently found out about Singularity&Co, a new specialist Sci-Fi bookstore opening up in Brooklyn with a specific mission: to rescue and preserve vintage, out of print sci-fi titles. We’re so excited about this shiny new (and also very old) bookstore that we decided to round up a few more awesome bookstores specializing in everything from murder mysteries to the sea, just waiting to fill your every need. Click through to see some of the coolest niche and specialty bookstores in the world, and since no list like this can ever be really complete, be sure to pitch in with your own favorites in the comments. … Read More

Photography

Vintage Postcards vs. Real Life Locations Around the World

By Marina Galperina on

Filmmaker Julien Donada travels a lot. He’s also a postcard aficionado. In this union, a nifty Internet entity is born. Behold as he re-photographs popular spots from Sofia in Bulgaria to New York City, as seen in the postcards that he finds at flea markets and old bookshops around the world. Can you imagine how it feels to match up that corner then to that same corner now, hill to hill, street to street, lake to lake? Ah! Spot on. The best part is when said postcard is vintage and the differences across decades — a more crowded beach, a half-complete Eiffel Tower, the sepia-toned ghosts of electric trams. Well, it’s kind of neat, to say the very least. Spotted by The Morning News, here are a few of those magical moments. … Read More

Architecture

15 Unusual and Amazing Hostels Around the World

By Alison Nastasi on

The word “hostel” doesn’t usually inspire positive thoughts, but not all boarding houses are boxy, dreary, or terrifying to shower in. Traveling cheap doesn’t have to be a regretful experience, which is why we’ve traveled far and wide for you, searching for incredibly designed and unique accommodations around the world. These hostels offer amazing surroundings and experiences, while still catering to the budget conscious and those looking for sociable vacation adventures. From mountains and treetops, to haunted castles and art-friendly communes, check out our list of unconventional hostels past the break, and mention your personal favorites in the comments below. … Read More

Architecture

10 Unusual Hotels for Unconventional Summer Getaways

By Claire Cottrell on

A Backward Glance, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton’s gem of an autobiography is highbrow beach reading at its very best. In the memoir, she recalls time spent with her bff traveling buddy, Henry James, and quotes his arcadian proclamation, “summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Maybe so in the less than industrious heyday of inherited wealth, but in today’s world where most people work all day for a living, those two words just don’t have the same appeal as our two favorite words: summer getaway.

Like everyone else in our overworked and overheated city, rest and relaxation are all we can think about — especially on a hot Friday afternoon like this. In considering options for our celebrated summer respite, we thought we’d take a virtual gander to check out alternatives to the usual Hamptons summer share. From a treehouse where sloths join you for morning coffee to a giant sandcastle, click through to see some of the most unusual summer getaway destinations in the world. … Read More

Travel

Extraordinary Eco Retreats and the Books To Read While You’re There

By Claire Cottrell on

Not that we need another excuse to daydream our digital day away, but thanks to travel writer Francisca Mattéoli’s new book Escape Hotel Stories: Retreat and Refuge in Nature, we have one that’s valid. Combining two of our favorite escapist pleasures — travel and really good books — the stunning tome available this month from the great curator of culture, Assouline, explores environmentally sensitive retreats around the world through the lens of literature and art.

After previewing the stunning travel book, we thought we’d share some of the goodness with you, dear readers, by paying a virtual visit to a few of the author’s top destinations. From a village of fifteen tents on land that shares an ancient history with Bruce Chatwin’s poetic account of the Australian outback’s aboriginal Dreamtime mythology in The Songlines to a converted limestone refinery on the Swedish island of Gotland and The Magic Lantern, the autobiography of its most famous neighbor, Ingmar Bergman, to a luxurious hideaway in Big Sur, California and longtime resident, Henry Miller’s masterpiece, Tropic of Cancer, click through to check out our favorite pairings from Escape Hotel Stories. For more wonderful pairings and an in-depth look at each retreat, head over to Assouline’s online book boutique and order your copy today. Tell us about your favorite holiday reading material in the comments below! … Read More

Architecture

10 Unlikely and Enchanting Guest Houses

By Claire Cottrell on

Scotland has produced some of the most enduring cultural wonders of the last century including Sir Sean Connery, Annie Lennox, David Byrne, the television and a fictional media darling of a monster that was supposedly seen fourteen years ago. To honor our favorite skirt-wearing nation, we thought we’d shed some light on another fabulous Scottish endowment: the quaint and exceedingly cozy guest house.

Not to be confused with it’s wealthier cousin, the country house, the guest house is to Scotland what the Bed & Breakfast is to New England. Much less awkwardly intimate, Scottish guest houses are often separate and self-sufficient. And, exceptionally charming. After spotting a restored 1956 fire truck turned guest house complete with wood-burning stove and fully equipped kitchen, we couldn’t help but wonder what other unlikely and enchanting guest houses sit nestled in the Scottish Highlands and beyond.

From a modern shipping container retreat to a spare room you can hang from a tree to a canvas yurt with a grand Victorian bed and your very own truck wheel barbecue, click through to check out our offbeat roundup of the most beguiling freestanding abodes perfectly suited to receiving nosy house guests and meddlesome in-laws. … Read More