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The Aficionados crew love nothing more than navigating through the urban jungles. A city-break is fun, educational and a foodbank for culture seekers - picked by us these design city hotels and boutique guesthouses are beyond cool, each owned by local heroes who know what being in the neighbourhood is all about, it's in their DNA. We've lined up those creatively reworked luxury Grand Dame Hotels from Zürich to NYC, we found the perfect little boutique Bed & Breakfast in Lisbon, the culture dens of Antwerp, Vienna and Gothenburg and of course the design hotels for the style aficionados from Palma to Rome.
Culture, history and poetic license escort us through the former stomping grounds of Caesars, Mozart, Chopin, Keats, Hepburn & Lord Byron. They once fell in love with these urban hubs paved with culture – strut through your hoods from history to urban street culture.
Get your 'Urbs with this travel, lifestyle & hotel line-up of living in the city.
Definitely off-radar, ‘an insider’s boho art den’ best describes this series of lavish apartments, suites and rooms dressed in a plush melange of period styles, furnishings and artistic installations. This discreet little number is famed by writers, artists, actors and thinkers alike.
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A noble Palácio of cor de rosa in the leafy Príncipe Real district dates back to 1877, a luxurious family residence that courted Lisboan high society. Aptly, this former heritage palace is a rather fabulous boutique hotel of style – it is grandeur: suitably chilled.
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The fabulous boutique Hotel Julien, with its mansion-house pedigree in the heartlands of old-town Antwerp, is a self-confessed curator of the arts, designer pieces, antiques and mid-century furnishings, which adorn the handsome salons and rooms in comfy elegance.
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Created within a former Augustinian cloister and chapel, Hotel August in the Flemish city of Antwerp was designed by one of Belgium's most acclaimed architects, interior designers, and product designers, Vincent Van Duysen.
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A funky creative home to fashionistas and hipsters, trendy grandmas and urban kids - this is where generations mix with ease. Hotel Flora’s playfully light, vibrant boutique interior sees the modern designer hotel fused with Nordic confidence and a nudge of hot Brooklyn vibe.
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A wonderful six-suite design guesthouse-hotel in the creative heartlands of Athens in the Kolonaki Quarter - home to the creative set, bookstores, publishing, galleries, museums and cafes.
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The edgy contrast of an aged coaching inn where artsy installations lend an air of east-side gallery – this is a cradle of the arts and style where a bold, contemporary curatorial scene is flanked by twisted beams and heritage-thick walls.
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Remodelled over the centuries, 'Cinematic Italian' is the interior design mantra that consummately knits the restored historical elements to the nostalgia, style and flamboyance from the height of Italian film and design of the 1960s.
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Affectionately termed by its motif of ‘chic-shock-Baroque’, the Hotel Weißes Kreuz, originally built in 1465, is a timely marriage of its opulent Baroque past with a high concept design that pays homage to the rhythm of change that has taken place over centuries.
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Creativity, nature, heart, design, deep comfort and food fuse at this house hotel and restaurant on the other side of Amsterdam, along the wild shores of Durgerdam, 20 minutes from downtown.
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A combination of country house familiarity and urban chill. A designer orchestration of salvaged pieces, crafted textiles, aged ceramics and bespoke furnishings that are housed in a traditional red-brick new build – this new luxury kid on the block gives TriBeCa the unpretentious grand hotel it so craved.
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Affectionately known simply as ‘Magda’, personality flows from this mountainous bolthole of style framed on all sides by glorious greens, thanks to its location in choc-box Bolzano within the South Tyrolean Dolomites. Magda will soon become your New Best Friend.
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Crossing Condotti is a style colony of luxury suites, lavish apartments and designer penthouse living created within 18th-century palazzo townhouse, which poignantly resides behind the Piazza di Spagna and namesake, Via Condotti, in the heart of Rome’s historic Tridente district.
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Travelling to Rome? Peek at this design, art and style guide to Italy's 'Eternal City', helping you browse, shop and eat all things 'La Dolce Vita'.
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Antwerp is one of Europe's cultural hotbeds with historical landmarks and art institutions. And while Antwerp has plenty of those – we turn our focus on the smaller-scale contemporary culture must-sees the Flemish city has to offer.
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Lisbon, Portugal's legendary capital simply bursts with heritage, azulejo tiles, Pastéis de Nata & art - this is a design guide you can shop, see & drink.
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A Swedish Instagram influencer born long before his time, Gothenburg’s photography icon, Hasselblad, could never have fathomed the impact he would one day have.
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Meet Lisbon's internationally acclaimed graffiti artist Diogo Machado, known for his work as Add Fuell, he stencils his voyeuristic tile designs across the city becoming must find artworks.
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There are the typical Vienna to-dos for any foodie enthusiast who visits Austria’s capital city; from classic cafés to innovative restaurants to ice-cream parlours.
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The world within a Viennese coffee house is filled with so much more than just Sacher - glimpse Vienna & Austria's grand imperial past, always 'mit Schlag'.
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The former cradle of the Habsburg empire, today the chic Austrian capital is the travel destination in daring design and breathtaking architecture. Go beyond Art Nouveau buildings and sleek cafe culture and you’ll find that design in Vienna is thriving.
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Set among the wide streets and historic buildings of downtown Manhattan, for decades Tribeca has been an understated artist haunt, a fusion of easy-going European charm and New York ambition.
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Once considered the “rougher cousin” to Sweden’s pristine harbour-side capital, in the last decade, Gothenburg - or Göteborg to Swedes - has become the country’s west coast hotbed for all things cultural, lovingly nicknamed “Little London”.
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The newest confection from Michelin-starred restaurateur Drew Nieporent, this sophisticated Tribeca bar and eatery fuses modern décor and fine dining with an acclaimed (and customizable) European tasting menu.
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Austria's most successful fashion designer, Helmut Lang, and his eponymous style.
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Ever wanted to know the background story about Sweden's cult brand Nudie Jeans of Gothenburg, from the way-ahead-of-its-time conception of Maria Erixon to the present day.
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Rome's 'square colosseum', now home to fashion house Fendi's headquarters, is a historic architectural reminder of Mussolini's imprint on Italy's capital.
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A Lisbon shopping guide for those under-the-radar gems spanning fashion, antique tiles, vintage furniture, design den interiors & all things children's gifts.
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