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There are two ways I tend to fall in love with a trip.

Sometimes I discover the destination first.

I see photographs of a charming town, read about an incredible restaurant or stumble across a beach that immediately gets added to my someday list. Then I begin searching for flights, things to do and, eventually, somewhere to stay.

But sometimes the entire process happens in reverse.

I find the hotel.

And suddenly I want to go somewhere I wasn’t even thinking about visiting.

Maybe it’s a pink resort sitting beside a stretch of white sand.

Maybe it’s a centuries-old hotel with sweeping staircases and rooms filled with antiques.

Maybe it’s a tiny boutique property tucked into a neighborhood I know almost nothing about.

Maybe it’s a hotel swimming pool overlooking a lake in Italy.

One photograph is enough.

Suddenly I have fifteen browser tabs open.

I’m looking at flights.

I’m figuring out what restaurants are nearby.

I’m wondering what the weather is like in October.

And a destination that wasn’t even on my radar twenty minutes earlier has somehow become a trip I desperately want to take.

That is exactly why I created the Glitter & Ivy Hotel Journal.

I believe that sometimes the place you stay shouldn’t simply support the vacation.

Sometimes it should inspire it.

The Hotel Doesn’t Have to Be an Afterthought

For years, hotel shopping was often treated as one of the practical parts of travel planning.

Choose the destination.

Book the flight.

Make the itinerary.

Then find somewhere reasonably convenient to sleep.

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with traveling that way.

Sometimes that’s exactly what the trip requires.

If I’m spending fourteen hours a day exploring a destination and only returning to my room long enough to shower and sleep, location and price may matter considerably more than whether the lobby has fabulous wallpaper.

But not every trip needs to work that way.

Increasingly, I’m drawn to vacations where the hotel becomes one of the things I’m actually excited to experience.

I want to notice where I’m staying.

I want a morning where breakfast isn’t something I eat quickly before rushing out.

I want to sit by the pool.

I want to order the ridiculous cocktail in the beautiful hotel bar.

I want to wander through the lobby and notice the artwork.

I want enough time to sit on the balcony I paid extra for.

And if there’s a beautiful garden, library, rooftop or terrace, I actually want enough space in the itinerary to use it.

A Great Hotel Changes the Rhythm of a Trip

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed about hotel-centered travel is that it naturally encourages you to slow down.

If your hotel is nothing more than somewhere to sleep, there’s very little reason to return before bedtime.

But when you’ve chosen somewhere you genuinely want to experience, coming back at 3:00 in the afternoon doesn’t feel like wasting valuable vacation time.

It feels like part of the vacation.

Imagine this instead:

You spend the morning exploring.

You have lunch somewhere you’ve been looking forward to trying.

Then instead of squeezing four more attractions into the afternoon, you go back to the hotel.

You change.

You sit by the pool.

You read for an hour.

You take an unnecessarily long shower because the bathroom is incredible.

You actually take your time getting ready for dinner.

Maybe you have a cocktail downstairs first.

That isn’t doing less of the destination.

It’s simply experiencing the trip differently.

And some of my favorite trips are exactly like that.

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What Makes a Hotel Worth Traveling For?

Not every expensive hotel automatically qualifies.

In fact, price is probably one of the least interesting things about a property.

When I’m looking for hotels to feature on Glitter & Ivy, I’m searching for personality.

There has to be something about the property that makes it memorable.

1. A Strong Sense of Place

I love a hotel that couldn’t simply be picked up and placed in another destination.

If I’m staying in Charleston, I want something about the architecture, food, courtyard, artwork or atmosphere to remind me that I’m in Charleston.

If I’m visiting the Amalfi Coast, I want terraces, views and Mediterranean details.

If I’m in the mountains, I want the hotel to acknowledge that landscape rather than pretending it could just as easily be in Manhattan.

The best hotels add another layer to the destination.

They don’t compete with it.

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2. Design With a Point of View

There are perfectly lovely neutral hotels.

But the properties I tend to remember are the ones that take a few risks.

Patterned wallpaper.

Beautiful tile.

Historic architecture.

Unexpected colors.

Antiques.

Canopy beds.

Amazing lighting.

Libraries.

Gardens.

Art.

Striped umbrellas.

Give me something I’ll remember six months later.

I want to know I’m looking at that hotel without needing to read the caption.

3. A Signature Hotel Moment

Nearly every hotel I really love has a moment associated with it.

Sometimes it’s obvious.

Drinks overlooking the ocean.

Afternoon tea in a grand lobby.

Swimming in an infinity pool.

Breakfast on a terrace.

Watching the sun set from a rooftop.

But it doesn’t have to be dramatic.

Sometimes the hotel moment is simply walking downstairs in the morning and having coffee somewhere beautiful.

Those rituals matter because they’re often the moments you remember.

Years later, you may not remember the exact museum schedule from Tuesday afternoon.

But you remember sitting on the terrace overlooking the water.

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4. Somewhere You Want to Spend Time

This may be my biggest test.

Would I actually want to spend an afternoon here?

A gorgeous lobby alone isn’t enough.

Ideally, there should be something that makes the property enjoyable beyond the guest room.

Maybe that’s:

• a great swimming pool
• beautiful gardens
• a rooftop
• a spa
• an excellent restaurant
• a destination-worthy bar
• afternoon tea
• a beach
• fireplaces and cozy common rooms
• a courtyard
• an incredible view

This doesn’t mean the hotel needs fifty amenities.

Some small boutique properties don’t.

But it should have an atmosphere that makes you want to stay awhile.

EXPLORE HOTELS WORTH TRAVELING FOR →

5. A Little Bit of Fantasy

This one may be the most important.

Travel gives us permission to temporarily live in ways that aren’t part of ordinary life.

I don’t live in a castle.

I don’t normally have breakfast overlooking Lake Como.

There’s no infinity pool outside my bedroom.

Nobody serves me afternoon tea underneath chandeliers on an average Wednesday.

And that’s exactly why those things are fun.

Sometimes I want a trip that lets me briefly pretend I’m the sort of person who casually spends afternoons drinking champagne beside a Mediterranean swimming pool.

That little bit of fantasy is part of what makes travel special.

And hotels are particularly good at creating it.

Different Hotels Create Completely Different Trips

Even within the same destination, your hotel choice can dramatically change the experience.

Imagine spending three nights in New York.

You could choose a large Midtown hotel because you want maximum convenience.

You could choose a tiny downtown boutique hotel and build the weekend around restaurants and neighborhoods.

You could choose a glamorous Fifth Avenue property and make dressing up for cocktails part of the trip.

Same city.

Completely different vacation.

That’s why I don’t think the question should always be:

What’s the best hotel in this destination?

A much better question is:

What’s the best hotel for the trip I want to have?

Start With the Feeling You Want

Before I search for hotels, I like to decide what kind of trip I’m imagining.

For example:

A Romantic Weekend

I might prioritize:

• beautiful rooms
• excellent restaurant
• hotel bar
• balcony or view
• walkable neighborhood
• spa

A Girls’ Weekend

I’d look for:

• great location
• pretty common areas
• pool
• fun restaurant/bar
• rooms large enough to comfortably share
• somewhere photogenic

A Mother-Daughter Trip

I might want:

• comfortable luxury
• afternoon tea
• shopping nearby
• spa
• beautiful breakfast
• walkability

A Relaxing Resort Trip

Now my priorities completely change:

• great pool
• resort restaurants
• beach
• spa
• attractive grounds
• room with outdoor space
• minimal reason to leave

[INTERNAL LINK: Boutique Hotel vs. Luxury Resort: Which Is Your Travel Style?]

When Is It Worth Spending More on the Hotel?

I don’t think the answer is always.

There are plenty of trips where I would rather save the money.

But there are situations where spending more on the hotel can noticeably change the vacation.

When You’re Only Going Away for a Few Nights

For a two- or three-night weekend, upgrading the hotel can make a huge difference because you’re spending a larger percentage of the trip there.

When You’re Celebrating Something

Birthday.

Anniversary.

Graduation.

Milestone trip.

Sometimes the hotel becomes part of the celebration.

When You Intentionally Plan to Use the Property

If you’re going to spend two days at the pool, eat breakfast at the hotel, visit the spa and have drinks at the bar, you’re receiving much more value from the property than someone who is leaving before sunrise every morning.

When the Room Category Changes the Experience

An upgrade becomes much more compelling to me when it gets you something meaningful:

• balcony
• water view
• significantly larger space
• private pool
• exceptional terrace
• better location within a resort

Paying substantially more just to move from 320 square feet to 340?

Probably not.

Opening the curtains and seeing the Amalfi Coast?

Now we have a discussion.

My Favorite Kind of Trip: The Hotel Weekend

One reason I’m particularly interested in hotels is that they make shorter trips feel special.

You don’t always need an elaborate seven-day vacation.

Find a hotel within a few hours of home.

Book two nights.

Make one great dinner reservation.

Find one or two interesting things nearby.

Then actually spend time at the property.

Suddenly an ordinary weekend feels like something.

These are the types of trips I’d particularly like to explore through Glitter & Ivy because they’re more achievable than constantly waiting for the next enormous vacation.

[INTERNAL LINK: Weekend-Worthy Hotels You Can Build an Entire Getaway Around]

Pack for the Hotel, Too

There is also an admittedly frivolous part of hotel-centered travel that I enjoy:

Packing for the hotel.

If I’ve booked somewhere with a gorgeous restaurant or glamorous cocktail bar, I’m probably bringing the dress.

If we’re headed to a resort with beautiful pools, suddenly I care considerably more about my swimsuit and sunglasses.

And if I know I’m going to spend a lazy morning eating breakfast in the room, I want actual pajamas rather than the giant T-shirt I sleep in at home.

Travel is allowed to be fun.

My Hotel-Weekend Essentials

A few little things make hotel travel easier.

Compression Packing Cubes

Especially useful for a short trip when I’m trying very hard not to pack twelve outfits for three days.

A Weekender With a Shoe Compartment

One of those features that sounds unnecessary until you have one.

Then suddenly you don’t want your shoes touching anything ever again.

Compact Travel Steamer

Because I would rather not spend part of vacation wrestling with a hotel ironing board.

Travel Jewelry Case

Particularly useful when you’re bringing nicer earrings or necklaces for dinner.

Portable Charger

Not glamorous.

Extremely necessary when you’re spending all day using maps, taking photos and researching where to eat next.

Silk or Satin Sleep Mask

Tiny enough to bring everywhere and surprisingly useful in hotel rooms where one unexplained light somehow illuminates the entire ceiling.

The Glitter & Ivy Hotel Philosophy

I don’t expect every trip to revolve around a hotel.

Sometimes I’ll choose the cheapest clean room in the best location and be perfectly happy.

But when a hotel has personality, history, spectacular design or something else that makes the stay memorable, I think it deserves more attention than simply being listed at the bottom of an itinerary under Where to Stay.

That’s why hotels will be such a large part of Glitter & Ivy.

You’ll find:

• individual hotel profiles
• boutique hotel discoveries
• luxury resorts
• historic hotels
• pink hotels
• castle hotels
• beautiful hotel bars
• spectacular pools
• hotels worth a road trip
• weekend getaways
• hotels for girls’ trips
• mother-daughter hotels
• romantic properties
• hotel packing guides
• destination hotel collections
• and plenty of places I didn’t know I needed to visit until I saw where I could stay

Some properties will be places I’ve personally experienced.

Others will be researched additions to my hotel wish list and clearly presented that way.

Either way, the question behind every feature will be the same:

Does this hotel make the trip more interesting?

If the answer is yes, I want to know about it.

Start Exploring the Hotel Journal

If you’re the kind of traveler who sometimes chooses a destination because you’ve fallen in love with where you could stay, you’re in exactly the right place.

Start browsing:

[INTERNAL LINK: Hotels Worth Traveling For]

[INTERNAL LINK: The Prettiest Pink Hotels Around the World]

[INTERNAL LINK: Hotels for Design Lovers]

[INTERNAL LINK: Castle Hotels That Look Like Fairy Tales]

[INTERNAL LINK: Incredible Hotel Pools Worth the Trip]

And maybe keep another browser tab open.

You’re probably going to need it.

Because sometimes the destination starts with the hotel.

And that’s exactly the kind of travel story I want Glitter & Ivy to tell.