The August Edit

Hi Friends!

I can’t believe it’s already August. After a July spent traveling, I’ve slowly been getting back into somewhat of a routine again here on island, which feels good. My post-school-drop-off beach walks have been giving me life and I truly can’t believe I now have a second grader. It’s so fun that he’s reading chapter books and doing 1000 piece puzzles with us now, but also sometimes I just want to stop time.

Here’s what’s been on my mind and in my open tabs and feeds this month!

In this newsletter:

• A cozy Wyoming lodge reopening that’s mountain-town charm meets European chalet, plus tons more hotel openings I’m tracking through the end of the year.

• A new-to-me Goa hideaway that feels like staying at your chic friend’s vacation home.

• My first byline in one of my dream travel publications and the long road it took to get here.

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Travel news worth knowing.

• A run-down of designer beach club pop-ups for Summer 2026, from L'Officiel USA

• American Express has added Leading Hotels of the World as a Membership Rewards transfer partner, per The Points Guy.

  • I’m not super big into the points world, but I have redeemed AMEX points by transferring them to ANA for a business class flight to Japan and Hilton Honors for our Bora Bora trip. Excited to see what kind of redemption value the LHW offer.

• United just announced a new Economy Plus option with extra elbow room, per their newsroom.

  • While this seems like just one more way the airlines are screwing us over in favor of the bottom line, as someone living in a plus-size body at the moment, I’d welcome the extra room.

• Amanvari opened in Mexico, immediately followed by controversy as told by Robb Report when Youtuber Ryan Walker claims he was turned away and had the cops called on him.

• Piggybacking on my Menorca hotel post, we’ve got Directionless, the group exhibition organized by Rashid Johnson at Hauser & Wirth Menorca which goes through October 25, 2026.

Recent or soon-to-open design-led hotels on my radar.

Alpine House - Jackson, Wyoming - United States (June 2026) - Love the cozy mountain meets European chalet aesthetic at the renovated lodge. The library — complete with fireplace and deep green bookshelves — looks especially inviting.

The Bonobo - Byron Bay, Australia (June 24, 2026) - From the same team as the well-loved Raes on Wategos boutique hotel. Feels very cool kid and not exactly sure how to describe the aesthetic here — brutalist meets contemporary meets vintage? Feels like there should be vinyl spinning in the lobby kind of vibe?

Luura Cliff - Paros, Greece - (August 1, 2026) - Adults-only luxury overlooking the Mediterranean with interiors by Lambs and Lions studio. Luura was founded by Elie Khouri and is family-run (his daughter Sophie is the Director of Hospitality). I love that there’s a big focus on art, with pieces from the family’s own collection on property.

Slated to open later this year — fingers crossed:

Vestige Namibia (Autumn), JNcQUOI House Lisbon (September), Cori Hornbæk - Danish Riviera (September), Florès Hotel - Zwolle, Netherlands - (September), La Reserve Firenze (October), The Warbler - New Orleans, United States (November), The Malkai - Oman (late 2026), Hôtel Saint Roche - Courchevel 1850, France (December), Hotel the Mitsui Hakone - Japan (December 15), Vermelho Lagoa Melides, Portugal (TBD), Na Praia - Comporta, Portugal (TBD), Hotel Lucile - Los Angeles, United States (TBD)

Spaces & places that stopped me mid-scroll and immediately made it into one of my (meticulously-organized) saved folders.

• Dumbleton Hall - Cotswolds, England - I was fed an Instagram ad for this one that reopened in April and you know I love me a country house hotel. I came across the review Hotels Above Par did in my research, so def check that out for more details.

• Ahilya by the Sea - Goa, India - I’ve slowly been researching hotels in India and this one looks so cool. It’s family-run with just nine rooms, located right on the water in Dolphin Bay. Interiors are cool and collected and I imagine it’s one of those places that feels like staying at your chic friend’s vacation home.

Recent travels, current obsessions, and everything in between.

Currently finishing this post up from my office for the day — Neighbors at 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. Every time I come I tell myself I should really make this a regular thing because the birds-eye view of Hanalei Bay is incredible.

Been on a puzzle kick lately. Recently re-did this Paris puzzle and another Mediterranean-inspired one from the same company.

Just finished reading the psychological suspense thriller The Widow by Fiona Barton (wasn’t a fan). Feel like I keep striking out in the book department, so please let me know if you have any good book recs!

Some big news (to me!) on the travel writing front — my very first assignment for Travel + Leisure was published.

It was actually my second byline for them, but only because that article made it to publication first.

I got to stay at the beautiful Hotel Wailea on Maui and review it, which felt simultaneously terrifying and like one of those rare ‘pinch me’ moments.

And it’s not the first time I’ve encountered this as a creative.

I’m also a credited screenwriter, but it took me 20+ years after my first screenwriting class to get a movie made. I took out an ungodly amount of loans to get my MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and wrote countless scripts.

I networked.

Took meetings.

Applied to diversity programs.

Even had some almosts.

But it wasn’t until we moved to Oakland for my husband’s job — and I had a conversation with my new hair stylist — that the seeds of my “big break” would happen. And I say that since the movie I eventually had made was on the Hallmark Channel — not knocking it (love a cozy Hallmark holiday movie) but that was certainly not the ultimate dream.

Back to the seeds that were planted. My stylist gave me the contact info for her friend that had been writing scripts for Hallmark, which quite literally changed my life. I followed up, but it took years of relationship building for my (one and only — so far) movie to get made.

I’m not actually sure what the point of all this is. It’s not simply a ‘just keep creating and things will work out’ post. Well, maybe a little bit. But I know there’s inherent privilege in that since not everyone has the luxury to pursue a creative career. And even then luck often has more to do with it than talent.

But today I’m proud. Proud of myself for pushing through despite all the rejection and self-doubt.

At 47, I’m still in my travel journalism infancy.

It’s taken years and a very circuitous route to land in one of my dream publications. I had my first byline in The Everygirl back in 2018 and I’ve written for online publications here or there since, but never took it too seriously. It wasn’t until I decided to really lean into this travel writing thing that things slowly began to fall into place.

I started The Hotel Shortlist.

I invested in an online travel writing course.

Sent out pitches.

Got ghosted a lot.

Put myself out there and shared pitches in our class Slack channel.

Took those notes and tried again.

And then one day I got an Instagram DM from one of my instructors who wanted to connect me with an editor at Travel + Leisure because they needed someone to review a hotel on Maui.

I couldn’t believe my “luck.” Luck, yes — but they thought of me for that opportunity because I’d also put in the work.

I was prepared. Well, kind of.

Did it absolutely scare me shitless because I’d never interviewed anyone — let alone in person? Or never written a hotel review for a major travel publication? You bet your ass it did. But I said yes anyway.

I always tell my son that being brave isn’t about feeling ready. It’s about choosing to do something despite how scared you feel.

So here’s to investing in yourself and chipping away at your craft even when it feels terrifying and like a lost cause and you don’t know when or if something is waiting for you around the corner.

Chasing a creative life is scary. There are a lot of unknowns.

But we’re brave.

We got this.

From the bottom of my heart — thank you so much for being here.

~Ronee

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