New, much-hyped, luxury hotel with 297 rooms in Beverly Hills. Super-slick interior by Philippe Starck. In the attached review, the FT check out the SLS Hotel's buzzy restaurant, The Bazaar, featuring innovative "tapas" dishes under the direction of Spanish chef Jose Andres ("a friend, student and disciple of El Bulli's Ferran Adria.")

Newly-revamped 57-room hotel in Cape Elizabeth, "Maine’s first carbon-neutral hotel and the first to be heated (crisp July air, remember?) by solar panels and biofuel.... Set within Wildlife Habitat-certified gardens,  this eco luxe resort on sleepy Crescent Beach, is a 10-minute drive from artsy Portland and boasts a newly expanded spa as well as a new restaurant."  [Globorati] 

Traditional, 100-year-old restaurant with a beautiful garden in Kyoto, a favorite restaurant of Diane von Furstensburg in the city. (Queen Elizabeth and Princess Di also dined here). "Created in the sukiya style by Isoya Yoshida, it also houses one of the sweetest proprietresses in the city, Kazudo Desaki." [Departures, DVF's Kyoto Musts, May/June 2009, AMEX Platinum Members]

In its July 2009 article, The World's Hippest Hangouts, Harper's Bazaar says Saint Jean de Luxe is France's "most elegant seaside resort", an old-time favourite of chic Parisians in August.  [TIP: "it's a shopper's paradise, full of hideaway boutiques and local finds.']  Zazpi Hotel is a "haven for design junkies behind a classical townhouse facade."  [Bazaar] 

DailyCandy's restaurant pick for the Shenandoah Valley, in Stanton. "Opt for a laid-back dinner at Staunton Grocery, where they use local ingredients from area farms in menu faves like sugar snap pea salad and Southern-fried quail." [DailyCandy]

Traveling down 1-95 through Northern Virginia and need a break for food? If so, "stop off at Allman's Bar-B-Que, a hole in the wall that’s been around since 1954, where Mom (literally — that’s her name) dishes up sandwiches, slaw, and fries." [DailyCandy]

Good dining spot in Key West, according to DailyCandy. "Old Town neighborhood bistro The Good Life charms with ’70s pendant lamps, velvet armchairs, and cozy banquettes. Debate your favorite entrée (sweet potato-shrimp cakes, mahi mahi wontons, goat cheese-topped scallops with wild mushroom risotto) over dessert: banana bread French toast." [Key West] Get shopping and sightseeing tips for Key West in the attached DailyCandy review.

New safari camp in the Olare Orok Conservancy (lots of big cats), boasting one guest room for 700 acres of land. "Mara Plains has just six beautifully furnished rooms, eco sensitive, concrete free, en-suite canvas 'rooms' on raised decks along the banks of the Ntiakatek River." [Financial Times, How to spend it, Travelista, June 2009]

Rocco Forte's new resort in Sicily.  Harper's Bazaar writes about Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, "Not since the Aga Khan put Sardinia on the map in the late 1960s has there been so much excitement surrounding the opening of a resort in Italy.  The main draw is a palatial spa specialising in the type of anti-ageing and dietary treatments that are de rigueur for many discerning Italian women."

Industrial-chic restaurant in Charlottesville, serving Chef Tomas Rahal's authentic tapas ("grilled gambas, killer tortilla") [Departures, May/June 2009, AMEX Platinum Members]