The Parisian neighbourhood is well known for its literary ties and was once a hub of bookshops, publishers, intellectuals, poets and writers. Cravan channels some of this history through its interiors, designed by Ramy Fischler to evoke the feeling of an intimate, literary gathering.

Herringbone wooden flooring, fireplaces, and sofas tucked into nooks feel closer to being a home than a bar – although counters for ordering drinks are located on each level of the building and designed using eye-catching green and white marble and striped mirror panelling.

Fischler’s studio also designed Cravan’s furniture and cocktail glasses, making use of salvaged materials wherever possible, including leftover fabric from LVMH’s various fashion sub-brands.

And if there’s any chance of guests forgetting Saint-Germain-des-Prés’ long connection with the literary world, they can remind themselves in Cravan’s second-floor bookstore – which allows visitors to browse the collection, cocktail in hand.

165 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris, France

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The Joshua Tree bolthole opened in early 2023 and takes over a 1962 pueblo-style roadside building imaginatively restored by siblings Brit Epperson of Studio Plow and Barrett Karber of Grain Construction.

The pair worked on a tight budget, re-staining the exterior facade and pulling materials from salvage yards for Mas O Menos’ white-washed interiors. Rafters are exposed overhead and complemented by clay, tiles and textures. Terracotta floor tiles are used in the lounge, while the bar front features pale clay brick tiles. Colour bursts can be found in the bathroom, where glossy, pink-hued tiles backdrop wiggly mirrors.

Epperson has continued Más O Menos’s light and breezy vibe via lemon and gold-coloured candy-stripe fabrics for seating, plus natural wicker stools with angular steel legs. Custom furniture is designed by Karber, including a ‘Jenga’ esque coffee table, timber bench ends, and terrazzo-topped tables with Douglas fir bases.

In addition to its menu of coffee, cocktails and natural wines, the tavern is hosting a series of bi-monthly pop-up restaurant collaborations and community events.

66031 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree, CA 92252, United States

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Long-held craft methods and materials have been used to create the textured backdrop of this Antiparos restaurant, a contemporary interpretation of Greek design.

Antiparos is the sister of Paros and is smaller, quieter and more relaxed in comparison. This understated, slow vibe influenced Manhattan Projects’ cofounder Andreas Kostopoulos, who led Bardót’s interiors, described as ‘a seamless convergence of techniques, eras, styles, and cultures – artisanal and engineered, historic and modern, minimalist and ornamental, foreign and domestic.’

The building was originally the home of a shipbuilding family, and several prior renovations had to be stripped back to reveal the original masonry work. Much of the space feels quintessentially Greek, particularly its grotto-like, limestone-washed dining spaces and terracotta-coloured tiles.

Antiques, including oil jars and a butter churn repurposed as a stool, also speak to the island’s history. In contrast, Manhattan Projects has installed mid-century loungers, seats and dining chairs, and low-slung lighting pendants illuminating the space.

Guests can choose the more cave-like rooms inside, or head for Bardót’s sunny courtyard, with its captive olive tree and high, textured stucco walls. Dishes are served tapas style alongside signature cocktails made with local ingredients.

Antiparos Town 840 07 Greece

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The structure is part of the VEEN|HUIS|HOTEL initiative – a series of seven experimental cabin hotel rooms designed to encourage people to visit the 200-year-old village of Veenhuizen in Drenthe.

There’s plenty of history associated with the site, which, in the 1800s, became a penal housing colony for vagrants who were set to work on the surrounding farmland. Veenhuizen is now home to several natural sites of interest and a community of farmers exploring more restorative forms of agriculture.

The VEEN|HUIS|HOTEL cabins are similarly focused on sustainability. Overtreders W specialises in temporary and recyclable architecture and took a strict approach to materials for Stable Shack, which occupies a peaceful spot in the middle of a peat meadow. Everything is sourced from the immediate area, with absolutely ‘no flashy new components’ added into the mix.

It lends the shack a distinctive, piecemeal appearance, with wood borrowed from a local carpenter and roof tiles sourced from a nearby farmyard – tied together using fabric straps and balanced on a concrete base.

Stable Shack (and six other cabins) are available to rent until the end of October, starting at €125 per night.

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The Costa Rican firm has created a series of elevated pods for the Guanacaste hotel. These stilted cabins resemble trees, with living spaces within their canopy. Expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and airy terraces offer stunning panoramic views of the surrounding rural landscape from their elevated positions. Accessible via a central staircase in their ‘trunks’, the cabins boast a timber-clad design that captures the nostalgic charm of rustic childhood treehouses.

The hotel’s owners explain, ‘During our childhood, the treehouse symbolized a realm of enchantment and wonder. It was a hideaway for our deepest secrets and fondest memories – a sanctuary providing solace from worldly concerns. Today, Suitree [Suite + Tree] presents a contemporary interpretation of this enduring concept, providing a tranquil and serene space to detach from the demands of life and rediscover inner peace.’

Situated near the town of Sardinal, a mere 10 km from Playas del Coco, Suitree enjoys a prime location in Guanacaste – affectionately known as the ‘Golden Coast’ due to its balmy climate and picturesque landscapes, ranging from arid tropical jungles to some of Costa Rica‘s most popular beaches, including Playa Tamarindo, Playa Flamingo, and Playa Concha.

The region is also celebrated for its commitment to eco-tourism, and Suitree seamlessly aligns with this ethos. Each cabin – priced at approximately $450 US per night – features an autonomous water harvesting and management system.

The prefab ‘treehouse’ pods are lightweight, portable and four robust supports add seismic stability. But nature is able to grow beneath the cabins uninhibited, and the pods are dotted between existing trees.

Studio Saxe shares their design ethos, stating, ‘Our architectural philosophy centres around the concept of ‘floating architecture,’ wherein structures coexist harmoniously with the existing ecosystem, fostering a symbiotic relationship.’

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Melbourne’s not short of beautiful cocktail bars and restaurants, but Dion Hall raises the bar with Her, a mid-century-inspired bar and eatery that oozes golden charm.

The designer was tapped by the HQ Group to design the drinking spot inside the revamped Pacific House in the city’s downtown business district, now known as Her. The heritage-listed former cigar factory dates from 1903 and houses four individual venues celebrating food, drink, art and music, dubbed Her Bar, Thai restaurant BKK, the Music Room and Her Rooftop.

Hall drew on the ambience and vibe of French boulevard bistros to inspire Her Bar’s glowing interiors – winning a commendation from the Eat Drink Design Awards for his ambient interiors. Honey-coloured wooden wall panels are dotted with artworks by local creatives and glowing orb lights that cast a golden glow across the space. Meanwhile, buttery leather couches, banquettes, terrazzo floor tiles, marble table tops, and brass elements heighten the golden vibes.

Artist Eleanor Louise Butt created a custom 10-metre-long artwork behind the zinc-topped bar – nodding to the graffiti on the surrounding laneways.

Up a level is the Music Room – a bespoke sound space inspired by Japanese listening bars. Hall has wrapped the entire soundproof area in rich American walnut, including its floors, walls, ceiling, bar, and DJ booth. The space is engineered to perfection by Mickey Levis, who developed its sound system and acoustic resolution, while L’Observatoire International developed its sophisticated lighting design. Plush velvety seating and hard-to-find vinyl complete the offering.

And not to be outdone, Music Room scooped the ‘Best Bar’ design award for 2022.

270 Lonsdale Street, Ground Floor, Melbourne, VIC

[Via Yellowtrace; h/t Broadsheet]

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The majority of Palazzo Borghese is still owned by the fabled family, whose ancestors constructed most of the harpsichord-shaped building in 1613. However, smaller portions have been sold over the years, including its eastern wing annexe, which opened in 2019 as Hotel Vilòn by the Shedir Collection.

The newly christened Palazzo Vilón is a sprawling 1,000 sq m apartment inside Palazzo Borghese’s 17th-century wing, owned by film producer Pietro Valsecchi and operated by Shedir. The three-bedroom residence is an astounding piece of architecture whose roots trace back to a rivalry in 1671 between the Borgheses and the Colonnas, which saw the apartment decadently decorated over seven years by a whose-who of leading artists and artisans to show off the Borgheses’ superior wealth and tastes. Its exquisite highlight is the Galleria degli Specchi or Mirror Room – decorated with stucco-framed mirrors, inlaid-marble floors and a dazzling ceiling.

The interiors have been sensitively decorated by Milanese architect Giampiero Panepinto, leaving the building or ‘box’ unaltered but curating its contents with finesse. Vintage, midcentury modern and contemporary furniture and objects rub shoulders in a playful dialogue with the 17th-century surroundings while windows peer onto the private garden of Palazzo Borghese.

Of course, a stay in such a space comes at a premium: €15,000 a night, to be specific. The Hotel Vilón staff services the apartment, including a butler, who can arrange private visits to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel before they open to the public, and guests have access to all of the hotel’s amenities, including its spa, bar and restaurants. Perhaps most intriguing, dinner is served in the Galleria, which seats up to 40 people with views of the spectacular ceiling overhead.

And while centrally located (a short walk from the Spanish Steps and Eternal City), the property enjoys ample privacy afforded by Palazzo Borghese’s grounds.

Via dell’Arancio, 69, Rome, Rome 00186 Roma RM Italy.

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The new, eponymous panoramas will appear in the form of ever-changing giant artworks projected onto the 100-metre circumference. But the name also refers to the sweeping views provided from three steel platforms at various levels up the 34-metre rotunda. The building will open officially in autumn, but it’s already serving as an event venue. Pre-sale tickets are available to book online.

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The journalist and author documents her nomadic ocean adventures aboard her 34-ft-long monohull sailboat via her Instagram, ‘Endless Sunshine Sailors’. Her new book, Boatlife, published by Gestalten, draws on her personal experiences and interviews a cache of sailors across the globe about their remarkable experiences living on the open water, from daring solo adventurers to entire families circumnavigating the world by boat.

Says Charpian: ‘On a visual level, I would like my readers to (re)discover the beauty of our blue planet and the freedom of life on the water through the book. Each of the 27 stories in Boatlife is about people who dare to live their dreams, leave their comfort zones, and free themselves from the ideas of others – from a sailing family in Greenland to digital nomads in the Mediterranean and a solo sailor in the Pacific.’

Rich photographs and insightful interviews vividly paint the rhythm of life on the sea, as well as its inherent challenges, with top-level advice and tips to be gleaned within its pages. But for Charpian, the most profound experience of boat living is in its simplicity.

‘When you live aboard, you quickly realise how little you need and that it’s not things that make you happy, but the small moments of everyday life.’

Boatlife: Exploring the Freedom of Maritime Living by Katharina Charpian is published by Gestalten, priced at €50

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The three-bedroom Greek villa was built in 2022 by architect Bernard Delacoste of Swiss firm MCBD, and takes its name from its terrain. It comprises two long buildings constructed with stone walls and bedded into a sunny slope overlooking the entire island. Its hand-formed exterior mimics the island’s traditional architecture, giving the impression that the house has always existed. However, its minimalist interiors are modern, with white-washed rooms and clay-plastered walls contrasted by brightly coloured furniture and natural materials.

Mavro Vouni is available for rent via Holiday Architecture and is surrounded by terraces, including shaded dining and seating areas built into the rock. There’s also a private swimming pool bordered by olive trees.

While Sifnos is less bustling than some of the more popular Cycladic islands like Mykonos or Santorini, it strikes a balance between tourism and preserving traditional ways of life. Travellers seeking a more authentic Greek island experience will find it on this smaller island, dotted with white-washed villages, blue-domed churches, and narrow winding streets.

Apollonia, the capital, is a short drive away (offering shops, bars, and restaurants), as is the medieval settlement of Kastro. Sifnos is nicknamed ‘the island of flavours’ and has a rich culinary heritage of regional cuisines – as well as pottery used to serve and cook the dishes.

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