The Edit: Volume 8
In Residence with Yolanda Edwards, a hotel spotlight on Sri Lanka, Hotel Books, Belmond's artistic endeavors, and link lusts of the week
In Residence with Yolanda Edwards
Cliché, yes, but this is a pinch me moment. Something I crossed off the 2024 list taped beside my bathroom mirror.
Yolanda Edwards is someone who I admire the way I idolized Anna dello Russo in 2009. In my opinion, she is the foremost voice of authentic, special travel. No “niche,” because no need – her eye is a filter for the musts within a sea of maybes.
The words aspirational, relatable, and taste do not easily coexist in positive form, but Yolanda makes it seem effortless. She’s also one of the only people who still treats Instagram the way we all liked it – a daily exhibit of photojournalism.
A creative director, writer and, traveler with a soft spot for hotels. The mind behind the endlessly valuable
. A career Condé Nast Traveler editor turned namesake of her own tome, Yolo Journal – this is the human who’s word and taste I trust most on the internet. I could not be more grateful for Yolanda’s presence today.
Before we talk hotels, double check you’re already following Yolanda on Instagram, as well as Yolo Journal on Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and in print. Likely, this due diligence is unneeded, as you already follow on all the platforms.
Yolanda, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I’m thrilled to have you. Because this is all about Happy Hoteling, and I've admired your hotel stays throughout the years from afar, I have to know - do you have a favorite hotel? You can most definitely pick two.
Two favorites from two of my favorite women in my favorite country—the Pellicano and Passalacqua. I’m sorry—I know they are hard to get into and so expensive!
Pellicano is my favorite, too. It’s a feeling!
I know you've spent your whole career in the travel space, but is there any hotel that's on your "bucket list" that you've yet to cross off?
Hotel du Cap!
I can’t wait to see and read when you do! I love that you, like myself, prefer a hotel over a rental. Are there certain things you look for in a hotel?
I prefer staying in a hotel because I am very sensitive to things—and if I’m renting someone else’s space, I can’t be in the moment—I’m probably fixating on redecorating. (One summer we rented a house in Connecticut and spent a couple of days putting excess chairs/pillows/ tchotchkes into the owner’s attic. At the end of the summer we were afraid we wouldn’t get our deposit back, the owner was actually grateful for the edit!) I love a hotel room that has no art on the walls, and ideally no television overtaking half of the wall I’m looking at from my bed (but this is a fantasy that doesn’t really exist since most hotels think that they must provide a giant tv). A coffee maker in the room with more than 2 caffeinated pods is a dream (how about a canister filled with them?!), no single use plastics in the bathroom, and large glass bottles of water bedside. That’s just a start.
The pods, and lack thereof is something I think of often and yearn for always. Note to all Italians reading: please put the Nespresso pods in the room, we will still come to breakfast we just prefer want caffeination in confinement first.
Now, I always ask, because I'm always curious, is there one hotel bed that stands out to you as the most comfortable you've ever slept in?
We recently we lucky to be invited to stay at the Cheval Blanc Paris, which had a bed/pillow situation that was incredible.
Lastly, is there a hotel that may not be your "favorite" per se, but that you find yourself going back to over and over again. Your happy place, you could say.
Les Sources des Caudalie is just outside Bordeaux, and we go there at least once a year when we have an early morning flight the next day. Situated in the middle of the Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard, the hotel was built with reclaimed ancient structures, and feels like it has always been there. I love their Lavoir restaurant, which is very farm-to-table, and they have an excellent barman. And the spa is incredible—with a powerful source just underneath it, which gives the hotel its name. Besides the hotel being so thoughtfully done, because we feel so at home here, it really is our happy place.
This has been on my list for years, and now it has been moved drastically up! Again, thank you so much, Yolanda. I absolutely loved hearing you share about hotels.
Spotlight on Sri Lanka
My first spotlight on Sri Lanka was on the first post of the year, but it’s been steadily on the mind in the meantime. It’s time for round two.
Let’s start with the top hotel on my Sri Lanka must-stay list, Geoffrey Bawa’s estate in Betola, Lunuganga. 15 minutes to the beach, too.
For a city stay, in Colombo, Maniumpathy Boutique Hotel is a historic boutique property that oozes what I can only imagine to be beautiful authenticity.
Trebartha East The Round House intrigues me entirely because of it’s round, nature-integrated design. This is exactly how I like to experience the wild. It’s not my typical architectural style, but I love to experience the variety of visions that architects from one country create.
Recently on TikTok, I shared about Wild Coast Tented Lodge, also on my bucket list.
When there’s a spotlight, that means there’s a full hotel list in the worlds. That’s on the horizon, but this upcoming week’s paid post will share my full hotel list for The Netherlands.
Belmond x Daniel Buren
Yes, art imitates life, but there’s power in life inspired by art. That’s what Belmond is inviting in their third year of their artistic partnership with artist Daniel Buren. Titled MITICO, in collaboration with Galleria Continua, it’s a series of commissioned works with their hotels as the canvas.
Blending centuries of history with a modern luxury art experience is no small feat. To me, a hotel stay is an opportunity to change your perspective, perhaps to see more clearly or feel more fully. By highlighting these historic hotels through living, breathing contemporary art Belmond proves that they really are much more than a luxury hospitality group. Brava!
Hotel Books
I love books, I love hotels – I really love a book set at a hotel.
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. I must admit that I started this last June in Capri and have yet to finish it, despite completing 89 books in the interim. But, that’s because this is my Hotel Book. The one I bring on vacation, to hotels, to exclusively read there. It’s a paperback, thin, has a lovely cover, and is about an old world hotel at the turn of the 20th century. From what I have read, I love it. I’d love to stay at the real Grand Hôtel du Lac on Lake Geneva, which is now a Relais & Chateau property.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. This was a lockdown read, devoured during the days that I “should have been in Capri.” It’s set in a fictional town of the Cinque Terre, set at an old seaside pensione. The book was a smash hit when it first came out, and I can’t believe I missed it then. I wish there were a real life hotel in the area that compares with my vision of it in my mind.
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. To be clear, this is the type of book I’m reading 90% of the time. A mystery that’s all about plot and I don’t care how low brow or poorly written it is. This is no masterpiece, but I did enjoy it, largely because of its setting at a b&b in Orvieto, Umbria. While not similar to the one in the book, Palazzo Petrvs is the place to stay in Orvieto.
Link Loves
I have the type of feet that easily fall out of flats. But, I’ve always been a mary jane girl (footwear and flower) far before the fad, and equally so a rattan fan. The solution is this gilded Dolce Vita pair.
I prefer my outerwear vintage, but I do enjoy when a current designer knows how to create a truly timeless coat. This sheer striped one by Taller Marmo is 75% off on Matches. Consider it final sale, as they are going out of business. But in my mind, worth the risk for the potential lifetime wardrobe investment.
I love an A-lined dress in the summer. And I’ll take terry whenever I can. Same goes for primary colors. The three combine in this $54 dress.
While velvet is typically relegated to colder climes, I love the idea of a velvet choker with a linen button down in the summer. This is just the right amount of Kristin Cavallari on Laguna Beach reminiscent, while being timelessly elegant. Those two sentiments can potentially only coexist in the form of this necklace!
While I am about the farthest you can possibly be from being a bride, this JW Anderson dress is so cool for a casual pre- or post- nupial.
These $20 rattan fish-shaped placemats from the 70s must be owned by someone I “know.”
The one thing I allow myself to buy guilt-free in Capri each year is a scarf from Pucci. As it’s the original location, it’s special. They’re what I’d splurge on over an Hermes scarf - they’re unique and they’re happy. This and this are the two contenders I have my eye on this year.
Happy Hoteling!
xx Your Penpal,
Marissa
🔥🔥
Wow major moment! Congrats on having YOLO herself on HH. I’ve met Yolanda a few times over the years and am always truly in awe of how kind and gracious she is. Since moving to Lisbon a few years ago it was a major bucket list moment for me when she and her team had me contribute to YOLO Intel’s Lisbon Black Book and Portugal Travel Planner last year. Keep up the great work MK!