Rupert Mellor

1 week ago | outthere.travel | Rupert Mellor

With its art-filled interiors and a rich history, the Wish Hotel da Bahia remains one of the most beguiling places to stay in Salvador. And beyond all that’s given the hotel its reputation as the city’s original grande dame lies a newfound focus on fine dining. Salvador’s sultry tropical climate and coastal location aren’t kind to the built environment. And Wish Hotel da Bahia’s humidity-stained painted render façade quickly lets you know that a good refresh of this 1950s behemoth is overdue.

2 weeks ago | outthere.travel | Rupert Mellor

Local culture and community are the secret sauce at Sophy Hyde Park, a boutique stay in the rapidly regenerating South Side neighbourhood of Hyde Park, just minutes from the dazzling new Obama Presidential Center. A 20-minute cab or Metro ride south of Chicago’s downtown bustle, this stylish, 98-room modern red-brick introduced a new kind of guest experience to the city when it opened in 2018.

1 month ago | outthere.travel | Rupert Mellor

Villa Ardore fuses high contemporary luxury with authentic Tuscan aesthetics and offers privileged access to everything its storied location affords. From yoga retreats and culinary odysseys to road touring in a Ferrari, this sublime retreat puts it all at your fingertips. Both of Italian descent, LA-based husbands Stephen Lewis and Christian Scali took their first trip to their ancestral homeland in 2013.

2 months ago | outthere.travel | Rupert Mellor

A key player in the recent transformation of Viennese nightlife and dining, Bernd Schlacher has brought his Midas touch to the hotel scene with Hotel MOTTO, a high-concept boutique beauty in the Austrian capital’s swinging 6th district. It’s a big risk, styling a hotel around a highly contrived central conceit. Vienna-meets-1920s-Paris is the big idea here, and Hotel MOTTO commits to every detail.

2 months ago | outthere.travel | Rupert Mellor

If ‘high heals’, then a visit to Hempstock Pharms should be on the agenda of any visitor to Woodstock, Illinois. But aside from producing the finest-quality cannabis products, the farm also benefits the environment and the local community, as founder Stacy McCaskill tells us. Set in commercial farmland 80 km/50 miles northwest of Chicago, Woodstock, population circa 25,000, might not seem a likely haven for progressive culture.