Journal

Hotels worth knowing, places we'd go and stories from Egypt and beyond. Consider this your well-travelled friend's shortlist.
Travel destination editorial illustration for Egypt Is Not a Summer Destination. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Egypt Is Not a Summer Destination
Egypt isn't a summer destination. Well, not only a summer destination. And that's exactly the point. Every year, we act as if Egyptian travel begins with the first North Coast... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The Nile Cruise We Would Book Again. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The Nile Cruise We Would Book Again
There are trips where the hotel is simply where you sleep. A Nile cruise is not one of them. The whole point is that the journey becomes part of the... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The Siwa Hotel That Redefined Luxury Before “Quiet Luxury” Had a Name. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The Siwa Hotel That Redefined Luxury Before “Quiet Luxury” Had a Name
Long before every hotel was calling itself a retreat, there was Adrère Amellal. The Siwa eco-lodge has become shorthand for a particular kind of Egyptian hospitality: one where desert, architecture,... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Summer Is Over. Go to El Gouna.. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Summer Is Over. Go to El Gouna.
Someone needs to tell the Red Sea that summer is over. Because El Gouna didn't get the memo. When the North Coast begins winding down, Gouna is exactly where we'd... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The World Is About to Learn the Name Ras El Hekma. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The World Is About to Learn the Name Ras El Hekma
For years, Egyptians have known what sits along this stretch of the Mediterranean. That colour of water. The long beaches. The kind of coastline that turns a quick weekend into... Read more...
Editorial illustration for Where We’d Actually Go in Egypt This Winter; conceptual imagery
Where We’d Actually Go in Egypt This Winter
There is a version of Egyptian travel that begins exactly when everyone stops talking about Sahel. And, quietly, it might be the better one. If we had four trips to... Read more...
Editorial illustration for Cairo Deserves Better Staycations; conceptual imagery
Cairo Deserves Better Staycations
A staycation shouldn’t mean driving twenty minutes to a hotel and spending 48 hours pretending Cairo isn’t directly outside. The good ones do the opposite. They make you look at... Read more...
Editorial illustration for Yes, Fayoum Is Worth Leaving Cairo at 7AM For; conceptual imagery
Yes, Fayoum Is Worth Leaving Cairo at 7AM For
The hardest part about Fayoum is leaving Cairo early enough. Do it anyway. Because somewhere between the city disappearing behind you and the landscape opening up, the trip starts feeling... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The Best Egyptian Hotels Don’t Feel International. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The Best Egyptian Hotels Don’t Feel International
There was a time when calling a hotel “international” was the ultimate compliment. We’re increasingly interested in the opposite. The hotel we remember isn’t the one with the marble lobby... Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Four Seasons Is Coming to Luxor. We’re Listening.. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Four Seasons Is Coming to Luxor. We’re Listening.
Luxor getting a new Four Seasons matters for more than the obvious reason. Yes, another major luxury hotel is entering Upper Egypt. But the bigger story is what that says... Read more...
Editorial illustration for 48 Hours in Cairo, If Your Friend Is Visiting for the First Time; conceptual imagery
48 Hours in Cairo, If Your Friend Is Visiting for the First Time
Someone’s visiting Cairo. You have two days. Please don’t spend both of them in traffic. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Adrère Amellal Isn’t the Only Reason We’re Watching Siwa. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Adrère Amellal Isn’t the Only Reason We’re Watching Siwa
The hotel may get the headlines. The destination is the story. Siwa is entering an interesting moment. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Five Egyptian Trips We’d Choose Over a Flight to Europe. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Five Egyptian Trips We’d Choose Over a Flight to Europe
Sometimes you don’t need immigration. You need better ideas. For complete disappearance: Siwa. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Egypt’s Next Big Luxury Opportunity Isn’t Another Hotel. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Egypt’s Next Big Luxury Opportunity Isn’t Another Hotel
It’s everything around it. A great hotel can give you a beautiful room. A great destination gives you a reason to leave it. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The Hotel Openings Making Us Look at Saudi Differently. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The Hotel Openings Making Us Look at Saudi Differently
If your mental image of Saudi travel hasn’t changed recently, it probably needs updating. The country’s luxury-hospitality expansion has moved beyond announcements into actual openings, particularly around the Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for AlUla: The Trip We’d Plan Before Everyone Else Does. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
AlUla: The Trip We’d Plan Before Everyone Else Does
AlUla doesn’t need much help looking impressive. The harder question is how we’d actually travel it. Our answer: slowly. Read more...
Editorial illustration for Where We’d Spend New Year’s Eve If We Hated New Year’s Eve; conceptual imagery
Where We’d Spend New Year’s Eve If We Hated New Year’s Eve
No giant ballroom. No compulsory sequins. No paying an offensive amount of money for a set menu we didn’t want. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Zanzibar Is for the Person Who Wants Summer Back. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Zanzibar Is for the Person Who Wants Summer Back
December arrives. Everyone starts posting snow. And you quietly want to be barefoot. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for What Actually Makes a Hotel Worth Travelling For?. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
What Actually Makes a Hotel Worth Travelling For?
A nice room isn’t enough anymore. Neither is an infinity pool. We’ve seen the infinity pool. Read more...
Editorial illustration for Stop Calling Everything a Hidden Gem; conceptual imagery
Stop Calling Everything a Hidden Gem
If 4.7 million people have watched the Reel, we’ve got some difficult news. It is no longer hidden. Travel content has developed an unfortunate relationship with the phrase “hidden gem.” Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The El Gouna Weekend We’d Book Right Now. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The El Gouna Weekend We’d Book Right Now
Three nights. That’s it. FRIDAY Read more...
Editorial illustration for Why Egyptian Fashion Is Looking Outside Cairo; conceptual imagery
Why Egyptian Fashion Is Looking Outside Cairo
Some of the most interesting Egyptian fashion stories right now aren’t beginning on a mood board. They’re beginning with a place. Fayoum pottery. Read more...
Editorial illustration for Luxor Is Having a Luxury-Hotel Moment; conceptual imagery
Luxor Is Having a Luxury-Hotel Moment
We’re calling this early. Luxor is entering a new hospitality chapter. The destination has always had the hard part: one of the world’s most extraordinary concentrations of history. Read more...
Editorial illustration for The Hotels We’d Build an Entire Trip Around; conceptual imagery
The Hotels We’d Build an Entire Trip Around
Some hotels are where you sleep. Some become the reason you open the airline app. Our shortlist has one requirement: the property needs to change the trip. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for The Alps, for People Who Don’t Really Ski. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
The Alps, for People Who Don’t Really Ski
You don’t need to be good at skiing to justify going skiing. There. We said it. There are people who wake up at 7am, study snow reports and spend eight... Read more...
Editorial illustration for Why Everyone Suddenly Wants a “Local” Hotel; conceptual imagery
Why Everyone Suddenly Wants a “Local” Hotel
Luxury used to mean escape from the destination. Perfect service. International food. Familiar design. Everything controlled. Now we’re seeing almost the opposite. Read more...
Editorial illustration for Cairo Restaurants We Take Visitors To; conceptual imagery
Cairo Restaurants We Take Visitors To
Our criteria are different when someone is visiting Cairo. We’re not necessarily taking them to the newest restaurant. We’re taking them somewhere that contributes to their understanding of the city. Read more...
Travel destination editorial illustration for Dubai’s Hotel Problem Is That the Bar Is Now Ridiculously High. Illustrative imagery, not an exact property photograph.
Dubai’s Hotel Problem Is That the Bar Is Now Ridiculously High
Another luxury hotel opening in Dubai isn’t news by itself anymore. That’s the problem. When a city already has extraordinary rooms, beaches, restaurants, spas and service, simply being expensive doesn’t... Read more...
Editorial illustration for The Middle East Doesn’t Need to Copy Europe to Become a Luxury Travel Capital; conceptual imagery
The Middle East Doesn’t Need to Copy Europe to Become a Luxury Travel Capital
For years, luxury travel aspiration often pointed outward. Paris. London. Read more...
Editorial illustration for We’re Just Getting Started; conceptual imagery
We’re Just Getting Started
When this journal was just an idea, it had no archive. Now it has a point of view. We’ve gone from the Mediterranean to the Nile, from Siwa to Saudi,... Read more...