Spotlight :: Modern Honolulu

[trip style = sun + beach + urban + weekend getaway]

Maybe you love crowds, duty-free shopping galleries, two-hour restaurant waits and garden-variety hotels, but I don't. It's not my idea of a tropical affair. So, this past weekend I custom-tailored a trip style = sun + beach + urban + weekend getaway with a modern mantra. You have to know what you're doing to enjoy Waikiki like you're the only guest at the luau.

First order of biz: find a cool hotel just off the strip with a sense of space---not an easy task in Honolulu until recently. In late 2010, a hotel opened that ruffled the feathers of traditional beachside resort cash cows and beckoned a forgotten breed: discerning travelers with an appetite for cool.

The Modern Honolulu is sleek, spacious and social, hanging between Waikiki and Ala Moana beaches. A massive surfboard installation hangs above reception and the rest follows this abstractly composed aesthetic: neutral rooms decorated with tropical accoutrements; a wood-deck pool surrounded by beach beds for two; an outdoor bar with picnic and yellow bistro tables shaded by overhanging trees and lit at night by strings of twinkly wine-bottle luminaries---the list goes on. {See my detailed Trip Advisor review here.}

Rethink Honolulu. Your curated, DIY luau is waiting {without the crowds and watery mai tais}.

Eat

• Breakfast: Cream Pot {in the Hawaiian Monarch hotel}. I was a little skeptical about this breakfast factory with a cult following, but once I tasted the food, I was converted. Don't let the grandma's-kitchen-meets-French-countryside decor throw you. The service is slow, but with a smile, and the food is sinfully good. Dishes like the homemade vanilla custard cream-filled crepe with salted caramel sauce and the ahi carpaccio eggs benedict with a grilled rice cake, avocado and orange miso shoyu sauce are exactly the kind of meals you want to avoid before lounging poolside. But if you go for an early-morning surf, SUP or run, it's all good!
• Dinner: Morimoto {in The Modern Honolulu hotel}. If celeb Iron Chef Morimoto's self-titled restaurant is good enough for Obama {who dined there over the holidays}, it's good enough for me. A stark white interior with splashes of green and purple accentuates the open kitchen. Those who want an al fresco experience while soaking in the warm climate can sit outside in the covered dining area. Make a reso in advance and try the tuna pizza. I don't like anchovies, olives or jalapenos, but I LOVED this inventive appetizer.
• Drinks: La Mariana Sailing Club. Sandwiched between shipping yards and boat repair hangars in Honolulu's pier district, La Mariana is a museum-quality ode to all things tiki. The lush grounds facing the marina lead you into 1950s exotica with wooden carvings, preserved puffer fish lights, netted ceilings and multicoloured glass fishing floats in every corner. Go for umbrella drinks here and dinner elsewhere, and stay long enough to croon to the live piano music. Ron, the longtime {and blind} pianist plays songs like "I just called to say I love you..." {Thanks for the recommendation Steve & Kelly!}

Getting There Getting to Honolulu is easy with a multitude of nonstop flights and departure points. WestJet and AirCanada fly from Vancouver {approx $700 return}, Alaska flies from Bellingham {approx $400 return}, and Alaska, Hawaiian and Delta fly from Seattle {approx $500 return}.

Related A Tropical Experiment High/Low :: Booking A Vacation In Maui

[photos by @tripstyler]

Travel Beauty :: Interview With Shaffali Skincare CEO

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!}

I met Shaffali over 10 years ago in London, England when we both worked for Bliss Spa UK. She was this extremely ambitious, positive ball of energy that always dreamed of owning her own beauty business. It makes perfect sense that now, 10 years later, I am interviewing her for Trip Styler! Her company, Shaffali Skincare, is fantastic and her products are gorgeous, indulgent, and very efficacious.

Giveaway Shaffali is generously offering a travel set of her incredible products for a Trip Styler giveaway---make sure to enter as they are sure to become your absolute favorite.

• How to enter: Comment on this post {below} and tell us where you'd take your Shaffali Skincare travel set.
• Bonus entry: subscribe to Trip Styler's daily trip style tips via email {above, right}---and include a note about this in your comment.
• Details: Open to residents of Canada and the USA. Entries will be accepted Jan 18 – 25, 2011. Winner chosen via random.org and announced Jan 26, and has two days, after prizing notification, to make contact.

What was the inspiration behind Shaffali? Shaffali Skincare is inspired by the Ayurvedic herbs and spices my mom taught me about as she passed her Indian traditions on to me when I was younger. My extensive travel inspired me to search for the finest aromatherapeutic essences from all over the world, including French lavender, Croatian sage, Italian orange blossom, and Egyptian geranium. The line is best experienced as a ritual, and involves meditation and positive mantras to help users connect to their inner selves.

What is special about the ingredients in Shaffali products? I started making products when I was a teenager because I wanted to keep my face glowing. With tons of self-study, experience working with a variety of products in world-class spas and experimenting with a lot of skincare recipes, I eventually refined my own formulations. The transition of making my own products in the kitchen to working with a lab and a team of scientists is both a passion and a process. For example, the Earth Mask took two years to refine to achieve the exact texture I wanted: smooth as velvet {or frosting} for easy-on and easy-off application.

How have your travels to India inspired Shaffali? My name as well as my skincare line is called Shaffali, an exotic and fragrant night blooming flower found in India. Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation are all part of India’s history, and not only am I drawn to each of them, but they are the foundation for my products.

What do you love most about India? I was born in India and moved to the US when I was young. The people in India are so full of life and love! The many temples and sanctuaries exemplify the act of stopping to give thanks and asking for guidance and blessings. This is a way of life. The Himalayas in the north are beautiful as are the deserts of Rajasthan. My experience having lived in an Ashram {pre Eat, Pray, Love} when I studied yoga and Ayurveda was refreshing for my soul to live so simply and peacefully.

What are the top three products on your packing list? I can't travel without Shaffali Exfoliant, Face Moisturizer and Body Moisturizer. I like to keep things basic. I also love Indian Kohl to define my eyes, and specifically use Lakme Kajal eyeliner. Also, I 'm obsessed with the most amazing scent I discovered at ABC Home {<---A Trip Styler fave!} in NYC: A Quiet Morning by Miller Et Bertaux. It is inspired by {you can guess} India, and made by a French design house.

Shaffali products can be purchased on www.shaffali.com. For international shipments, contact them for a shipping quote.

More Travel Beauty Special Baby Edition On-The-Go Teeth Cleaning St. Tropez’ Celebrity Tanning Expert’s Self-Tanning Secrets  Pre-Trip Primping Q & A With Dr. Murad

[photos c/o Shaffali]

Tech Tuesday :: Liftopia

[trip style = active & adventure] Head for the hills!

Liftopia, the largest e-retailer of ski lift tickets, has introduced a free app for that.

If you dream of snow and carving figure eights in "pow", browse a smorgasbord of ski hills in all the major alpine resort areas worldwide: BC, Colorado, Chile, Switzerland, Austria, etc....

Tap it {or go online} to find mountains near you, and deals and details about each resort, for example: number of green, blue, black and double-black diamond runs, amenities, stats, conditions or hours. For select resorts, you can even buy your lift ticket {and score a deal} enroute.

No, Liftopia doesn't post steals for e-v-e-r-y mountain, but it does offer advanced lift ticket purchasing from 10% - 41% off at 150 resorts+ in North America. Think of it as your digital ski bunny without the fur-lined hood and boots.

More Tech Tuesday White Noise Dashboard To Wall Travelzoo App Urban Dig City Guide Hotel Tonight

[photo via itunes]

Packing Pointers With Shaun

[trip style = any]

Last week we had the great pleasure of interviewing Shaun, a Canadian rock star and author of "How To Pack Like A Rock Star" for our monthly feature, The Savvy Traveler.

Today, we get a sneak-peek at Shaun's packing prowess. Curious about how he fits a LOT into a LITTLE space, I asked him to share a few of his never-before-published techniques {that I plan to incorporate into my own packing process}:

1/ About his patent-pending folding method
"It's about being able to see all your clothes from the moment you open your bag; that way you're not rummaging through everything just to find that one article of clothing."

2/ What he likens his packing method to
"Bricks. For the same reason bricks aren't round, in a square suitcase you don't save space by putting in cylindrical objects because they don't stack well on top of each other."

3/ How many articles of clothing he fits in his carry-on {for a two-week trip}
"Ten t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, four dress shirts, a hoodie, 10 pairs of underwear, five white and five dark pairs of socks, and a toiletries bag. I can easily hide a pair of runners underneath as well, not to mention the two external pockets that are empty, but I tend to use those for dirty clothes and shower sandals."

4/ What items are always on his packing list
a} "Two words: Shower. Sandals." "My work lends me to exploring many great cities; however, it can also include some very dark and dirty music venues with dingy showers. Cheap flip flops have saved me on numerous occasions and they slip away easily into a wet pocket on the outside of my suitcase!"

b} "Three words: Industrial. Strength. Earplugs." "When I wake up on the plane or in a new country, I prefer to ease my ears into it by keeping them covered until I'm fully ready to explore. I like taking in the sights of a new city first without overloading my senses."

Related
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[photos c/o shaun]

Cafe Cesura

[trip style = urban]

{Editor's Note: On Monday we announced we'd be adding a new feature to TS's editorial calendar on Fridays, IMG_FRI. Here's the skinny: in addition to our once-monthly Fashion Friday column, we’re going to focus on uber-cool travel images from around the world—snapshots that will enhance the stories we’re already telling or pave the way for future features! Think more pics, less prose.}

Pictured Here: an urbanesque coffee shop in Bellevue, WA {a close sibling of Seattle}. We've done a summer Spotlight on Bellevue, but over our holiday visit we found too many gems to hold back, and this coffee shop, Cafe Cesura, is one of them. Expect more on Bellevue in the coming weeks.

[photos by @tripstyler]