The Curation: Volume 1

The Bali hotel list, a spotlight on Sri Lanka, 3 Italian itineraries for May, my picks for the SLH and Mr & Mrs Smith hotel sales, a Royal-loved off-the-grid hotel in Canada, and a cool Italian villa

New year, new names. Five Frivolities and Eight Indulgences were fine, but too wordy. Plus, some weeks I have 10 small indulgences to share and others I have 4 large indulgences to share. I want the newsletter titles to better reflect the ethos of Happy Hoteling: a tight curation of the most special hotels and places around the world, for good people with good taste. Going forward, the weekly paid edition will be called The Curation. This will be where I’ll continue to share master hotel lists for destinations, unique itineraries, the hotels I gatekeep from the masses, and all of the other good stuff it had before. From now on, the free edition will be The Edit, and released every other Sunday. It will have all the goods it always had, including the new In Residence feature with tastemakers. I’m excited! This is lining up to be a big year for Happy Hoteling and I’m immensely grateful for all of you.

Ok - housekeeping is done! Ready to check in? Thank you for being here, and happy new year!

On The Curation today: my Bali hotel list of 23 hotels; 3 distinct Italian itineraries designed for the weather uncertainty of May; my selects from the Small Luxury Hotels and Mr & Mrs Smith hotel sales; a lowkey, off-grid Canadian hideaway hotel frequented by Royals and celebs; a spotlight on Sri Lanka featuring four hotels and one luxury rental; one of the coolest villa rentals in Italy

My Bali hotel list

This is another of my most requested lists. I get a DM or comment about it multiple times a week, and it’s finally here. Curated, as always. Only the most special hotels on an island that has so many beds seeking heads. In line with all my master hotel lists, this offers something for everyone - it spans price, aesthetic preferences, beach and jungle. 23 hotels, and largely non-chain names. And to make it easier to plan a trip, I plotted them all on a Google Map, listed at the end. To the Indonesian idyll we go!