The tropical rain oscillates between drizzle and downpour as Bill Tapia takes the stage, ukulele in tow. He steps dexterously over electrical cords to reach his stool and, after readying his instrument and voice, begins to play for the 1,000 or so guests at the reopening gala of Waikiki’s Royal …

• Las Vegas’ first nightclub, Pair O’ Dice, opened in 1930.
• When Paul Anka first played Vegas he was too young to be allowed in the casino.• Bugsy Siegel named his casino the Flamingo after the long legs of his showgirl girlfriend.• Howard Hughes stayed at the Desert Inn for …

A Sensory Garden of Fanciful DelightsSensory. The dictionary defines it as “pertaining to the senses.” And sensory, in a word, defines the guest experience at Bellagio. For Bellagio is, quite simply, a gorgeous garden of romance and elegance that engages its guests’ higher sensibilities.
Bellagio surprises the senses even as …

Contrasts in SophisticationThe Palazzo and The Venetian. There is nothing quite like them on the Las Vegas Strip. They are attached but distinct. They complement and contrast. They look different and they feel different. The Palazzo is new, hip, and known by the company it keeps—Mario, Charlie, Barneys. The Venetian …

Though once a gathering place for pirates, the pristine cove that is the setting for the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles is now perhaps the most peaceful stretch on Mahé, the main island in the Seychelles chain. The hotel, which opened in February, has 67 accommodations (all individual villas or multiroom …

Headliners at San Diego’s House of Blues have been vanishing from the venue ever since Sè San Diego, a 184-room high-rise hotel, opened next door in December. A subterranean passageway links the concert venue to the hotel, where an elevator can whisk performers up nearly 20 stories to the three-floor, …

To get to the newly opened remote Soneva Kiri by Six Senses spa resort, guests must take an eight-seat private jet on a 60-minute flight from mainland Thailand then take a short boat ride to Kood, the resort’s private island. The spa opened July 1, five years after owners Sonu …

While navigating a dirt road in the Madikwe Game Reserve, in South Africa’s North West Province, Greg Lederle receives a call on his open-top Land Cruiser’s short-wave radio: Two lions are lying in a shaded area only yards from the electrified fence that surrounds the Molori Safari Lodge property. Lederle, …

A little more than a year ago, the old stone building on Yountville’s Washington Street, between Starkey Avenue and Pedroni Street, resembled the excavation of a medieval tower. And like a zealous archaeologist, its owner, Michael Polenske, led a hardhat-clad group through the hollow shell to view its exposed beams and …

Just outside the nine suites at Banjaar Tola, tigers roam through dilapidated temples, monkeys swing from trees, and, as if from a scene in The Jungle Book, young boys pilot elephants through thick brush. The lodge, which overlooks Kanha National Park, is the latest of four camps opened by Taj …