Don’t Just Drive Through This Booming Southwest City

Plus, I Might Have Finally Gotten Over My Loathing of Big Resorts

Manage newsletters View in browser The entire world in your inbox. Hello all—   As we reach the end of January–and hopefully the Omicron surge as well–you may be planning your next trip. If a road trip across the American west sounds like fun, this week's lead feature on Phoenix, Arizona is perfect for you!   For years I've seen Phoenix more as a pass-through than a destination. But after spending some time there last month for our underrated destination series, It's Still a Big World, surprise surprise, I fell in love. The city  has something for everybody—outdoors, art, culture, cool bars, and amazing architecture. I hope you'll find yourself inspired to book a trip yourself.   This week we also have this lively piece from Hannah Seligson on how she finally got over her loathing of big resorts. The author long considered herself an interesting traveler, and the idea of an all-inclusive made her groan. But, this winter she managed to find one that changed her mind.   Rounding out this week is Candida Moss's column about a recent discovery of an Ancient Roman dog statue. Most of us would regard the news with mild curiosity but Candida being Candida, she's spun this news into a fascinating piece about how Roman used to, um, crucify dogs!   Enjoy!   —William O'Connor, Travel Editor Don't Just Drive Through This Booming Southwest City While the sun and affordability have been bringing droves of people here for decades, there's a lot of incredible stuff keeping them around. I Might Have Finally Gotten Over My Loathing of Big Resorts With two kids, who are just shy of 2 and 4, we have become those people we swore we wouldn't become. The Romans Used to Crucify Dogs When they weren't making terracotta statues of dogs, Romans were sometimes known to crucify them. This Caribbean Island Is Great for Underwater Adventure It wasn't until I descended into the depths of Aruba's clear waters that I realized something new and exciting was about to happen. "Hawaii is not an easy place to fish. Each island is surrounded by a ring of coral, which correspondingly has breaking surf, making open water access limited to certain channels. The warm, salty water eats any and all metal. The sea conditions can be demoralizing; don't believe the brochures, the weather here is often a beast." —Conor Sullivan writes about the most humbling place in the world to fish, Hawaii. OMG I Want This House!      Chalet Nevada The Nei, Courchevel, France (Vrbo): Oh, the weather outside is frightful (editor's note: At least in the parts of the world where it's winter and where global warming isn't currently wrecking seasonal havoc), which means it's officially ski season! There are plenty of places in the U.S. where you can slap on some skis and hurtle yourself down the side of a mountain, but since we've been stuck in place too long, why not dream of more chic peaks. Like those of the Trois Vallées in the Alps. It goes without saying that if you're going to ski the finest, you'll want to stay in the finest as well.   What is fit for a queen comes with a dramatic price tag. A stay here will cost you just shy of $29,000 per night, thank your highness very much.   But for those of you who aren't bonafide Snow Princesses, your frugal little hearts may find some peace in the fact that the staggering fee comes with your own personal Alps concierge available to you 24/7. Chalet Nevada has eight substantial rooms—some of which are the size of a spacious Manhattan apartment as this airy master proves. According to the listing, the winter retreat sleeps 16. But with this much airy space to play in, we're sure you could sneak a few additional guests onto your trip and, even if they drew the short straw for the couch, they'd still sleep in the best luxury of their lives.   The chalet includes an indoor azure pool. Grab a bottle of wine, heat that baby up, and you've got yourself the makings of a vacation evening that you (and your bank account) will never forget.   Book Your Stay: Chalet Nevada The Nei, Courchevel, France: $28,950/night via Vrbo   Don't miss previous OMG, I Want to Rent This House posts, which spotlight the most spectacular and unique homes that you can actually stay in.  Check out the full archives.  Travel to Zaha Hadid's Coolest Buildings   While the long-term fate of a starchitect's legacy is impossible to predict, we feel pretty comfortable with assuming Zaha Hadid and her work will be iconic for generations. The Iraq-born architect and her team designed instantly recognizable works around the world, including the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, the Guangzhou Opera House, and the yonic Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar. Given their stature (and the way smartphone-wielding tourists often go gaga over her buildings) the next selection for our Just Booked series on gorgeous new coffee table books is Taschen's Zaha Hadid: Complete Works 1979-Today.   Put together by Philip Jodidio, the tome is a serious but visually engrossing look at one of the post prolific and provocative architects of the last half century. (This, despite Zaha's early death at age 65 in 2016.) The book starts with her earliest proposals (including a career-jumpstarting one for Peak Hong Kong) and her eye catching painting renderings. It then works its way through her works, giving a feel both for their evolution and yet a constant amazement at how difficult to pigeonhole she was. There are buildings that look like spaceship transports, terrifying futurist cities, sexy medical spas, and, yes, vaginas. The greatest delight, however, is in discovering details and works you might never have known about (for us it was the orange-lit bathroom in the Hotel Puerta America).   Check out our previous selections for our series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, Just Booked. BUY ON AMAZON  >>                Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts or newsletters, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales. © Copyright 2022 The Daily Beast Company LLC  555 W. 18th Street, New York NY 10011  Privacy Policy If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, click here to view this email in your browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add emails@thedailybeast.com to your address book. 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