Wanting: Kempinski Hotel & Spa

Kempinski Hotel & Spa is on Hainan Island, which floats in the South China Sea. Sapphire water, lush jungles, baby powder sand, oh my. Wouldn’t you rather be here Monday? This China trip’s on sale at LuxuryLink.com. Why only wish? Life’s short…

Buying: Commune By The Great Wall

I love Hong Kong’s east-greets-west vibe, and this China trip captures that: you’re nestled near the Great Wall, cozy in a modern, minimalist collection of contemporary architecture…

Hating: Myths and Mountains

This sounds like Disneyland in Mandarin…

Wanting.

I’m back from London: there was loads of shopping, tip-toeing through cobble stones in kitten heels, and walking across Tower Bridge to Conran’s Design Museum. The museum’s got a great cafe that overlooks the river, and tightly edited exhibitions on design. My only regret? My feet were so sore — I gave satin Loubies more wear in one day than they should see in a year — that I only glossed over the Design Museum’s exhibit on Jan Kaplický, the Czech architect behind some of Britain’s most remarkable buildings…

Seeing.

The main exhibit at the Design Museum was “Super Contemporary,” a celebration of London as the capital of forward design…

Hating.

Mariscal had a decade-spanning, genre-hopping career, but someone explain to me why — besides his brand-building — his scribbles were so magical…

Wanting: Bali’s St. Regis Resort

I love my work, mostly because it involves sitting around in panties and Giuseppes nine to five, five to nine. Still, sometimes Monday needs to eff off. So bid on Bali. There are tons of choice deals on travel auction site LuxuryLink.com, including five nights at the Bali St. Regis Resort. Get limo’ed to a villa with a private pool, garden, and ocean view. The package includes packing and unpacking, a 24-hour butler, and “keepsake beach tote with his & her sun hats.”

Yeah, the his and her sun hats sold me, too…

Using: Bali’s Kupu Kupu Barong

For less than two grand you get seven nights in Bali, with a private pool, Balinese massages, and butlers. Good bye, Monday…

Hating: Bali’s Hotel Tugu

Hotel Togu is Bali’s first museum boutique hotel. You can dine in an 18th-century temple or sleep in a Balinese pavilion floating over a lotus pond. So why am I hating? LuxuryLink.com canceled this Bali bid…

Wanting.

Hope Springs is a midcentury modern spa in the Desert Hot Springs, the sister town to Palm Springs, CA. Their 10 rooms are filled with Jetson arm chairs, their three pools are filled with mineral water…

Using.

The only hotel in the area to be in Travel + Leisure’s hotel issue and Taschen’s The Spa Book,  Sagewater Spa is simple: billion-count-thread sheets, home-baked coffee cake when you arrive, and a hot tub and pool gurgling mineral water from a nearby well. A steady 90° F, Sagewater Spa water is like walking into air, only better…

Hating.

Living Water Spa is a “European-style, clothing-optional mineral water spa.” Seeing that I barely enjoy the average person clothed, how is sharing a pool with naked strangers a getaway? If anything, that’s some nightmare version of public life…