The Curation: Volume 27
20 additions to The Italy Hotel List, a honeymoon-worthy hidden gem private island in Cambodia, 17 recent book reviews, a very cool hotel in NSW Australia, must-visit places on The Med, and more!
21 new additions to The Italy Hotel List. Reviews of 17 books I’ve read recently. Places I’ve saved (in various places around The Med) and want to share - restaurants, stores, bars. Special, only. A very cool honeymoon-worthy private island hotel in Cambodia. An equally cool hideout on the north coast of New South Wales in Australia. A whole lot of photos. I’m really excited for you to read this.
New Additions to The Italy Hotel List
I was going to only do additions quarterly, but I have no publisher, no advertisers, no editor to answer to and that gives me the freedom and privilege to share what I think you’d like to read, whenever it seems like a good time. So, I think I’m going to start doing an update every month. As long as I have a list, I’ll share. Italy is my sweet spot, the place I know best and love most. I want to share it all. The Third Edition of The Comprehensive Curation of Hotels in Italy will come out early next week. But as my people, you see them first. 21 new hotels. Including 5 new names in Sardinia (a huge request). They’ve already been added to the Google Map, linked at the end of The Comprehensive Curation of Hotels in Italy. So many are truly affordable, even in peak summer. I’ve said it before, but I’m proud of this.
This list is my most valuable asset, in many ways. The 590 most special hotels throughout Italy, with the new hotel friends we’ve made today.
For context, here are some of the ways I’ve procured these places. A main artery of Happy Hoteling gem-scouting is following Italian hoteliers and creatives I admire, and looking at every single hotel they follow on Instagram. It’s time-consuming, but it reaps many rewards. So many passes, too. 90%. Only the special make the cut! Also, when there’s a specific town I have my eye on, that would be particularly charming to stay in, I look at every single hotel on the map, then read reviews, look at tagged photos (which I find to be more telling than what a property posts itself), and go with my gut. Of course, I’m always on top of industry news and read the hospitality trades. With many of these hotels, the reason it made the list is that it made me gasp or say (out loud, so what?) are you fking kidding me? I’ve shared photos of all the places that elicited that reaction. I’ve realized I simply must give you more photos. You can dream and aspire with words, but in a visual age, photos really help.