Ann Abel, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

At Copenhagen’s New Epicurus, Fine Dining Meets Subterranean Jazz

2 weeks ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

A rendering of the jazz clubCourtesy of EpicurusIt wasn’t the legendary jazz clubs of New York, Chicago or New Orleans that inspired Epicurus—an audacious new fine dining and subterranean jazz club hybrid in Copenhagen—so much as those in Tokyo. The Japanese version, says Niels Lan Doky, a partner in the Danish venture, combines the improvisational music with a rigorous attention to aesthetic detail. Doky knows what he’s talking about.
This Uniquely Catalan Luxury Hotel Puts Priorat On The Wine Travel Map

2 weeks ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

Gran Hotel Mas d'en Bruno at duskMichellle ChaplowDeep in Catalonia, in the wine-soaked heart of Priorat, there’s an ambitious fine dining restaurant inside a luxury hotel that’s cooking without tomatoes, without potatoes and without peppers or chilis of any kind. Obviously, this poses a challenge for any kitchen in Spain. But it’s a challenge that makes sense for Gran Hotel Mas d’en Bruno, which just celebrated its second birthday.
This Maverick British Chef Is Rewriting The Rules Of Fine Dining

3 weeks ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

Chef Gareth Ward (left) and a colleague at YnyshirEleonora BoscarelliGareth Ward believes fine dining should be fun. “You’re on a night out, for f*ck’s sake,” says the iconoclastic British chef. “Stop taking yourself so seriously. Let your hair down, kick your shoes off, enjoy the music. Eat some food, drink some wine, and just take 12 hours of your life out…. “Loosen your shoulders, do some breathing. Don’t be so angry. You know what I mean? It’s just like, What’s the point? Don’t come.
Hermitage Bay Antigua Hotel Review – Travel Curator

3 weeks ago | travelcurator.com | Ann Abel

Ever since it opened almost two decades ago, Hermitage Bay was a breath of fresh air in Antigua: simple, intimate, and lovely. It didn’t have the over-the-top opulence of Jumby Bay, nor the extensive program and fun-for-the-whole-family vibe of Carlisle Bay. (Both of which are outstanding hotels, by the way.) Rather, it was a come-as-you-are collection of just about two dozen rooms with a perfect little white sand beach.
These Tech-Forward Art Stars Have Mastered Hospitality In Provence

1 month ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

For decades, the Leroy Brothers have been known for their conceptual, tech-forward and boundary-pushing art. One of their early projects jumped off from Myspace; now they’re working with AI entities like Midjourney, ChatGPT and Grok. But Toile Blanche, the Leroy Brothers’ longtime hotel in Provence, is the opposite of all that. It’s devoted to everything that is pleasurable to see, to touch, to taste, to breathe in. It’s delightfully analog.
Inside Portugal’s New Michelin Key Hotels: 55 Excellent Places To Stay

1 month ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

Portugal’s growing number of high-luxury hotels got a new shimmer of recognition with the arrival last week of the first Michelin Keys to be awarded in the country. Although the relatively new keys don’t have the same cachet as the long-established stars, they’re still a pretty big deal. The keys work the same way the tire-brand-turned-lifestyle-arbiter’s stars do.
This Chic Hotel In Itacaré Puts A Nordic Accent On Brazilian Style

1 month ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

Friluftsliv is one of those wonderfully Scandinavian words for the art of living. It denotes having a simple life in nature without destroying or disturbing anything. It’s not the sort of word you’d expect to find on T-shirts in the boutique of a small beach hotel in Brazil. But then, Barracuda is not the sort of hotel you’d expect to find on a small beach in Brazil.
How A Moroccan Entrepreneur Built A Luxury Hotel Oasis At The Sahara’s Edge

1 month ago | hotel.report | Ann Abel

M’Hamid El Ghizlane is the end of the road. Not in a figurative or literary way. It’s simply the end: no more pavement, no more pathway, just the vast shifting seas of Sahara Desert’s sands. In this last stop in Morocco’s southern Zagora Province, old hand-painted signs still point the way to Timbuktu. It’s 50 days away by camel caravan. Now, of course, one can get to Mali a bit faster with a 4x4.
How A Moroccan Entrepreneur Built A Luxury Hotel Oasis At The Sahara’s Edge

1 month ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

M’Hamid El Ghizlane is the end of the road. Not in a figurative or literary way. It’s simply the end: no more pavement, no more pathway, just the vast shifting seas of Sahara Desert’s sands. In this last stop in Morocco’s southern Zagora Province, old hand-painted signs still point the way to Timbuktu. It’s 50 days away by camel caravan. Now, of course, one can get to Mali a bit faster with a 4x4.
Portugal’s Costa Vicentina: 11 Top Hotels And Restaurants To Know

1 month ago | forbes.com | Ann Abel

Let the others have the big resorts and crowded beaches of the central Algarve. Portugal’s most magical coastline is its southwest. Purists will argue that it’s two regions: the Costa Vicentina in the far south, from Odeceixe down around Cabo de São Vicente (the southwestern-most point on the continent) to Lagos, and the Costa Alentejana from Odeceixe north to Sines. But that distinction is more governmental than psychological, and visitors to both can find one of the last wild places in Europe.