Time Sep

(Jeff_L) #1

88 TIMESeptember 3–10 2018


Stamba
features a
glass-
bottomed
pool and an
on-site
chocolatier
among other
elements

DESIGNTHAT DEFIES EXPECTATIONS
VICEROY LOS CABOS
SAN JOSÉ DEL CABO MEXICO

CREATING A DESTINATION
STAMBA HOTELTBILISI GEORGIA

A cookie-cutter hotel this is not.
Originally designed by Mexican
architect Miguel Ángel Aragonés
and recently refreshed the
Viceroy Los Cabos resembles a series
of stark white cubes that seem to loat in
blue relecting pools. Elevated walkways
crisscross the property meeting at Nido
(“nest” in Spanish) a latticed nestlike
structure where guests can dine on ceviche
while gazing at the sea. New this year is the
addition of a beachfront pool and bar.—K.R.

Solidifying the buzz around
Tbilisi as an emerging travel
destination is the Stamba
Hotel which opened earlier this
summer in a Soviet-era publishing house
and features a glass-bottomed rooftop
pool on-site chocolatier and an elegant
casino all set around a ive-story atrium.
More than 80000 books—scattered
throughout the hotel as design elements
and for actual reading—pay homage to
the Stamba’s history.—Abigail Abrams

Sequoias are mighty trees that
can live for more than 3000
years and grow to a height of
nearly 300 ft. But they’re not invincible.
And the more than 1 million people
who pour into Yosemite National Park’s
Mariposa Grove each year to appreciate
their splendor also potentially damage
them—mostly with car pollution
and water-blocking parking lots and
asphalt roads. So in a rare move the
National Park Service closed the grove
in July 2015 launching a three-year

$40 million efort to rework the park and
protect its sequoias. Among the changes
it made: ripping out the parking lot and
roads and revegetating the land building
wooden boardwalks and bridges to
improve water low and erecting a
visitors’ center. In order to visit the new
Mariposa Grove which opened in June
visitors must take a shuttle from a more
distant parking lot. But they can do so
knowing their grandchildren may one
day have the same awe-inspiring view
of nature.—Kate Rockwood

HISTORIC


MAJESTY
RAFFLES
EUROPEJSKI
WARSAWWARSAW


LINKING PAST


AND PRESENT
TEOPANZOLCO
CULTURAL CENTER
CUERNAVACA
MEXICO


Over the past few
years Poland has
quietly emerged
as one of Europe’s
most attractive
tourist destinations
thanks to its low
prices improved
infrastructure and
luxe new lodging
options. Chief among
them: the Europejski
a majestic property
that began its life
as a hot spot for
Russian-empire intel-
lectuals in 1857 and
was recently restored
by Rafles the luxury
Asian hospitality
group. It reopened in
June to rave reviews.
—Kaitlin Menza


In designing a
performance space
for Cuernavaca’s
future architect
Isaac Broid and
design studio
Productora looked to
the region’s history.
The Teopanzolco
Cultural Center’s
triangular forms
mirror nearby Aztec
pyramids to create
said Broid a place
where “contemporary
cultural life
establishes an
ongoing dialogue
with our past.”
—Julia Zorthian


A SAFER PLACE FOR SEQUOIAS
MARIPOSA GROVEYOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK CALIFORNIA

THE WORLD’S GREATEST PLACES 2018


MARIPOSA GROVE LOUVRE ABU DHABI: GETTY IMAGES; NOMA: COURTESY NOMA
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