Journal
Member Spotlight: Armando Mesías
The artists and Hôtel Weekend Club member shares his travel mantra, what’s inside his suitcase and his city’s best kept secret on our MEMBER SPOTLIGHT series.
The Ultimate Challenge
The ultimate challenge list to be the best version of yourself, and cherish the small but essential pleasures of life.
How & Why to Eat Local
‘Eating locally’ is on everyone’s lips at the moment. It’s something which has become a bit of a travel trend, with food tours and retreats becoming increasingly popular and street food vendors and markets popping up everywhere. But whether you are travelling or at home, eating local is a lifestyle choice that helps you to live more mindfully and consciously. It isn’t a fad.
A note from our founder
Hôtel Weekend started as a way to share the places I loved and where I wanted to go. Since then, it has evolved into a big community of conscious travelers, with a shared spirit of exploring the world at a slower pace. If you are here, we probably share a passion for traveling, discovering new cultures and beautiful places around the world. We respect our planet, and want to give back. We want to meet like-minded individuals around a table full of good food, music, and buena vida.
Earthing
Barefoot living is not exclusively about being actually barefoot but there are real benefits of touching the Earth with our bare feet. The soles of your feet can absorb nutrients from the ground, nourishing your whole body. The earth under our feet gives us an energy reboot, balancing and restoring our bodies.
Why Slow Travel Makes You Happier
Slow travel allows you to see the world at your own pace, taking the time to savour each moment rather than rushing around in an attempt to see everything. It is linked into wider lifestyles of slow living and slow food, encouraging more meaningful experiences while also promoting a more conscious, mindful and sustainable way of travelling. To travel slow, you should tread lightly and leave a minimal footprint during your explorations. But did you also know that it can make you happier?
How to Embrace Barefoot Luxury on your Travels
Barefoot luxury is an amalgamation of enjoying a slower pace of travel while also enjoying the comforts of staying in a boutique hotel. It’s kicking off your shoes and feeling the sand between your toes while sipping a cocktail. It’s travelling by train but enjoying the privacy of your own cabin. It’s getting back to nature but having a stylish suite to return to at the end of the day. A barefoot lifestyle is all about having a more mindful, conscious life and finding joy in the smaller moments – but that can come hand-in-hand with a more luxurious way of travelling.
How to live & travel more in tune with the seasons
Seasonal living may be hard to comprehend when you’re living in a cold climate and rain is relentlessly falling from the clouds but living more seasonally is natural for us. Everything around us exists cyclically, such as our menstrual cycles, the phases of the moon and the months themselves. Rather than fighting the natural passing of the year, we can embrace a slower and more intentional pace of life by embracing each season.
Everyday rituals to embrace for a slower life
Living a slower pace of life is something that should come naturally, not a lifestyle that can be forced. It’s about embracing those small moments that we are used to rushing through, and learning to appreciate every little detail. As you learn to pause and slow down, everyday rituals will begin to emerge. You’ll learn which parts of your daily routine you enjoy lingering over and get the most joy out of – but here are some of our own suggestions, of the slow rituals that we make the time for each day.
Travel Healthy
This is a guide for what to do to feel as high as the clouds when you fly. What do you do on a plane so you don’t feel foggy, scattered, exhausted, and jet-lagged when you arrive at your destination? A 10-hour fast. I know, sounds scary, but trust me it works.
How to experience the world through a Wabi Sabi Philosophy
We are in a time of change, we need to learn to perceive the world in a different way. It is the ideal moment to take time, to reflect, observe and listen.
Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic current that appreciates the imperfect and incomplete. It is a state of the heart and its secret is to see the world through it and not through the logical mind. It invites you to live life more relaxed, to find calm and to enjoy it. It shows you little by little that beauty can be found in the places you least expect, experiencing the true beauty of nature and accepting the cycle of life.
Traveling with a purpose
After these past months, we are starting to prioritize what really matters. We are looking out for unique experiences, spending valuable time with our loved ones, and traveling at a slower pace. Making these plans, with a deeper and more meaningful sense, will be more important than ever, especially if they are shared with our family and friends.
How to enjoy travel closer to home this summer
As lockdowns begin to ease, it’s tempting to book those trips you’ve been daydreaming about over the past few months. However, it’s important to remember that the pandemic is far from over. It would be wise to travel closer to home this summer; to take advantage of open borders between neighbouring countries, to visit places accessible by road or rail, or to explore more of your own country.
Finding a sanctuary in sound
“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more - it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.” - Oliver Sacks
The conscious traveler
Travel is something that enlightens our lives, allowing us to take a break from reality and discover new places all around the globe - but did you know that it’s also good for both our physical and mental healths? It may seem like the perfect excuse to jet off on yet another holiday but it’s true. Our adventures and explorations around the world have positive benefits on our health and wellbeing.