Destination Design

We head to New York's Rockaway Beach to a newly opened, campy motel with artist-designed theme rooms.

We visit the Radisson Blu Riverside Hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden for a bit of quirk in this edition of Destination Design.

A Portuguese hotel that gives you a glimpse of the future.

The NoMad Hotel is housed in a fully-restored, turn-of-the-century Beaux-Arts building in NYC with interiors by French designer Jacques Garcia.

A modern vacation paradise that has us daydreaming away.

We're loving the design of this hotel in Barcelona that has a car in its lobby and a reception desk made of old suitcases.

Get away from your computer and travel to the Argentario Resort in Tuscany - we're ready to go right now!

Destination Design goes to Panama City for a peek inside a newly-opened hotel with rooms designed by local artists.

2012 was the year of designy destinations! We started off in the warm tropics, ventured to Iceland, and ended up in Chile. Check out this year's Destinations for Design.

December's Destination Design takes you to Refugia, a new hotel deep within the Archipelago of Chile, on the island of Chiloé in Patagonia. Seriously enticing. The 12-room lodge, which opened in September 2012, was built by Santiago architecture firm Mobil Arquitectos. The hotel building is a shingled, horizontal structure that sits atop a glass base, combining traditional Chiloé craftsmanship with modern design. Perched on a hilltop, with a water view of the Rilan Bay, and a glimpse of the Andes Mountains, the idea is to be at one with nature, but very comfortable, of course. The rural setting offers opportunities for sailing and horseback riding, as well as treks through the rain forest to visit over a dozen UNESCO World Heritage sites. Refugia even has its own vessel for excursions that was built by local shipbuilders.

This month, Destination Design travels to the world's first ever wholly submerged getaway, the Poseidon Undersea Resort, which will be located in a lagoon off a private island in Fiji. The property, which is relatively small compared to a similar but much larger project being proposed in Dubai, was developed by L. Bruce Jones, president of U.S. Submarines, Inc. The resort is comprised of 25 guest suites, spa, 100-seat restaurant, bar/lounge, fitness center, conference room/wedding chapel/theater, and of course, a dive shop. Not a diver? No problem. Guests descend via elevator from a pier.

For this month's Destination Design we fly up and over to Iceland (not really, we wish!) for a stay at the dramatic 101 Hotel Reykjavik. Situated in the heart of the city's historic district, the sleek design is a symphony of black and white, punctuated with cozy touches like the fireplace in the lounge, and old-fashioned freestanding tubs in some guest rooms. Contemporary art, from standing and crouching nudes of slightly indiscriminate gender to misty abstract canvases, dot the public spaces, lending an almost eerie feel to the cutting-edge design. As you've probably figured out by now, we're huge fans of boutique hotels that incorporate art galleries into the experience.