Image Visitors now throng the Forbidden City in Beijing.CreditYan Cong for The New York Times BEIJING — For much of the past century, the Forbidden City has been an imposing void in the otherwise bustling heart of Beijing. The 180-acre compound, where emperors and their advisers plotted China’s course for centuries, was stripped of its…
The stand-up comedian Amanda Seales keeps busy. She’s a series regular on “Insecure,” her HBO comedy special “I Be Knowin’” came out in January, and she is now the host of NBC’s new comedy competition show, “Bring the Funny,” which premiered in July. Success over the last couple of years has changed the way Ms.…
To celebrate my daughter’s college graduation in May, I wanted to treat her to a luxurious getaway with my sister. We initially eyed a spa weekend in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania, but got sticker shock from the prices, which averaged $2,000 per person for the weekend. My sister, a seasoned traveler, got an idea. If it…
The yellow gantry cranes of Harland & Wolff, the company behind Belfast’s shipbuilding industry and the creation of the Titanic, rise high above the River Lagan and can be seen from nearly everywhere in the city center, a reminder of the working class that built Belfast. As the capital of Northern Ireland — increasingly known…
Procuring and exhibiting art in all forms has been synonymous with the hotel experience for several decades now, with both luxury and midlevel brands highlighting local artwork and museum-quality pieces rather than predictable poster reprints. Guests like it: In a 2018 survey conducted by the nonprofit organization, Americans for the Arts, 72 percent of respondents…
Now that the hotel industry has largely embraced bans on plastic straws, one major hotel group aims to eliminate the next set of plastic targets: mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and the like. On Tuesday, July 30, IHG will announce it plans to replace all “bathroom miniatures” with bulk supplies across all of its…
The 52 Places Traveler Image A brass band from Fribourg paraded along the shore of Lake Geneva during the Fête des Vignerons.CreditSebastian Modak/The New York Times The Swiss aren’t known for dancing all night to ABBA, but in the town of Vevey, the 52 Places Traveler found, every 20 years or so they let loose.…
On a cold and damp Iowa evening last October, I sat in a tent and thought about Abraham Lincoln. More precisely, I thought about Lincoln signing a minor piece of legislation deeding the Yosemite Valley to the state of California. It happened in 1864, while the Civil War raged. It is important because of just…
The offer seemed too good to be true: a three-day cruise to the Bahamas for $129. At a minimum, that’s room, meals and transit abroad for about the price of an average hotel room. Budget cruises abound in the ever-growing industry, where some 18 new ships are expected to launch this year, according to the…
The Goûter Refuge — a futuristic structure that clings to a cliff at 12,516 feet — is, for many people, the final stop en route to the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, straddling the border between France and Italy. Every summer at least 20,000 people attempt the 15,776-foot summit. The…