As of recent, JG Black Book has aquired a new excuse to travel to one of our absolute favorite cities: Buenos Aires, Argentina. The excuse, or excuses, happen to be sleek, stylish, and sexy. They're polished and pampered. And they'll make you never ever want to leave. No, they're not Argentine women. They're Palermo Place and Palermo Tower of P hotels, a collection of luxury boutique hotels, located in Buenos Aires' hippest neighborhood: Palermo Hollywood.

With kitchenette's in every room and easy access to the local lifestyle, both boutique hotels serve as the ultimate pied-à-terre for those seeking authentic immersion with a touch of luxury. We didn't think it was possible, but Buenos Aires just got so much better:

Palermo Place

Continue reading "Photo Friday: New Partner Showcase: Palermo Place and Palermo Tower" »

After yesterday's Earth Day celebration, we at JG Black Book have been reflecting on ways in which we can fully follow an eco-friendly travel model. Whether roughing it in the wilderness or lounging on warm Carribean sands, reducing our carbon footprints is always a possibility. If you're like us and count down the days till your next chance to discover another part of this wonderful world, a world which we couldn't imagine without all of its natural beauty, check out the following eco-freindly travel products here:

Water Powered Travel Alarm Clock

Continue reading "Travel Necessities: Eco-Friendly Travel Products" »

In the midst of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the people of Monaco, along with the folks at JG Black Book, are gearing up to celebrate another major event.

After oggling at Djokovic and Murray for days, today we're diverting our attention to the haute-couture models of Karl Lagerfeld's new Hôtel Métropole masterpiece. An 18-panel glass mural surrounding the hotel's pool and Joël Robuchon restaurant, Odyssey is an elegant environment which fuses the best of gastronomy, art, fashion, and leisure. Featuring highest paid model, Batista Giabiconi, amongst others, Lagerfeld's contemporary version of Ulysses' journey, as described by Homer, is an exquisitely chic compliment to the pool, restaurant, and cocktail bar's atmosphere of luxury. Can't imagine such beauty? We'll let the images do the rest of the talking:

Karl Lagerfeld

Continue reading "Travel Tuesday: Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo Opens 'Odyssey'" »

At JG Black Book, we love when members of our Sales team return from adventures abroad with vivid ancedotes of impeccable hospitality, new friends, breath taking landscapes, and delicious discoveries. Today, our very own Greg Santulli shares details of a culture-rich trip to Cambodia with JG Black Book partners Song Saa Private Island and ABOUTAsia:

Continue reading "On The Road: Culture-Rich Cambodia" »

Everyone has a different coping mechanism for stress, but today, in honor of Stress Awareness Month (yes, this exists), we're mapping out a path to relaxation ecstacy à la JG Black Book. While we support journal-keeping, exercise, and mindful meditation as anxiety reducing mechanisms, our favorite form of detox includes warm oil-covered fingers kneading our shoulder blades and a pair of fresh cucumber slices. Whether by Carribean waters or in a European city center, the five following worldwide spas are our go-to destinations to think less, undress, and de-stress:

Conservatorium Hotel - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Continue reading "Travel Necessities: Our Top 5 Rejuvenating Retreats" »

At JG Black Book we love St.Barth's for several reasons: for its beckoning blue waters, for its romantic French culture, and most of all, for its Hotel Taïwana. With bright red furniture, walls, and beach pillows sprinkled throughout the beautiful beach resort, love is in the fresh Carribean air year round at Hotel Taïwana. Circulating in and around each suite, pool, and cabana, l'amour de Taïwana makes its way to the kitchen daily, where it manifests itself in delicious fine fare made from the heart. Thanks to our talented friends behind the scenes at Taïwana's waterfront restaurant, we can take the love home with us to our own kitchens in the form of this rejuvinating lunch or dinner delicacy:

Continue reading "Foodie Friday: Hotel Taïwana's Lobster Casserole" »

It's no mystery as to why the French riviera is the place to be in April. The weather is sublime. The water is welcoming. And Spanish hunk, Rafael Nadal, is once again in town, ready to crush his opponents for a ninth consecutive trophy and steal the hearts of each and every lady spectator.

Monte Carlo Rolex Masters

Continue reading "Ultimate Visitor's Guide: Monte Carlo Rolex Masters with Hôtel Métropole" »

One glance at Worlds Apart and it appears to be yet another glamorous coffee table book. Flip through its pages, however, and you'll realize that what it actually is is a magnificent, 3-stop JG Black Book journey around the world. 

Continue reading "Travel Necessities: New Huka Retreats Book, Worlds Apart" »

What we at JG Black Book love most about Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, New York, is how perfectly it captures the essence of home. Each component of a guest's stay is carefully tailored to create a luxurious home-away-from-home experience.

Although run by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, highly-esteemed kitchen veteran, chef de cuisine and Hamptons local Ty Kotz artfully prepares dynamic dishes that highlight the colors, smells, and tastes of a home garden. Fully embracing the Farm-to-Table movement, Kotz offers the freshly picked, juicy cherry on top of the Topping Rose House experience.

Continue reading "Foodie Friday: From Garden to Table at Topping Rose House" »

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

To start off 2013, JG Black Book intern Paloma Aelyon spent three weeks peeling away the thick layers of a country that perfectly embodies the paradox in the first lines of Dickens' 19th century novel. Coining it Hummus Heaven after her love affair with the culture's cuisine, Paloma shares why the beautiful and the ugly, the celebration and the mourning, the modern and the ancient all together make Israel one of the most gloriously fascinating places on earth:

The Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in the background.

Continue reading "A Tale of Two Cities: Israel Part I" »