The Upgrade by SUITCASE Magazine – Details, episodes & analysis

Calling upon Adam Burke – President & CEO of LA Tourism – and Francine Sheridan – Regional Vice president for Europe and the Middle East for LA Tourism – we’ll be spotlighting their go-to LA recommendations, sharing their insider stories and showcasing the places our audience should have on-radar in this conversation-starting podcast episode. 

From world-class museums, world-class gastronomy and a whole host of red carpet-approved experiences, we’ll be giving our audience all the tools, tips and tricks to start planning their Los Angeles adventures. Whether they’re seasoned visitors or first-time travellers, we’re lifting the lid on the best spots for brunch, art exhibitions not to miss and the beaches locals want to keep a secret. 

Throw in some editor-approved recommendations from our podcast co-hosts and you’ve got yourself a LA adventure where anything is possible. 

Discover what’s playing at discoverlosangeles.com/

Adam’s & Francine’s Insider Recommendations to LA

To Stay:

Venice V Hotel 
Short Stories

Fairmont Century Plaza

Dream Hotel Hollywood

The Conrad Hotel 

To Eat:

La Cha Cha Cha

Republique 
Browse Dine LA roster of events 

N/Naka 

To Drink:

Homebound Brewhaus (formerly Imperial Brewing Company)

To Do:

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 

Catch a Los Angeles Angels game
Explore the Original Farmers Market

LACMA 

Visit the Arts District in DTLA

Catch a live show at Hollywood Bowl

Dogpound to get your sweat on

To Shop

Clae for eco-conscious kicks 

The Grove

Our Editor-Approved LA Hotspots

The Peppermint Club for a celebrity-fuelled night out.

Stay in the Silver Lake Pool and Inn 

Amira’s foodie favourites: L&E Oyster Bar for seafood; Bowery Bungalow; Bacari for glam patio vibes; Mother Wolf for fine dining vibes; Causita for Puruvian Japanese fusion and All Day Baby for something casual

And for fashionistas: Mohawk General Store, and for vintage Golden Age

Fleur’s Culver City foodie picks:

Lonzo’s

Hatchet Hall

Jackson Market Deli

In this energetic episode Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Justin Jesso, who has amassed hundreds of millions of streams for his collaborations with Kygo, Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys, is joined by Sangyay Chen; a fashion, beauty and lifestyle tastemaker who has graced the cover of Vogue and has nearly 250,000 followers on Instagram.

They tell Amira Hashish about their back-to-back European travels after they packed their bags to explore Italy, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, the Balearics and Switzerland over four culture-packed months.

From stumbling across their new favourite sculptural artist to a surprise foodie getaway, they lift the lid on the more unexpected jet set adventures.

Looking for the soundtrack to accompany your travels? Justin’s new single Lose Ya is available to stream here.

This episode was recorded at Soho Works, the members-only co-working space from Soho House with locations in Los Angeles, London and New York. Visit sohoworks.com.

Keep up with our hosts' travels and follow Fleur Rollet-Manus on @fleur_rm and Amira Hashish on @thedesigneditor.

Spark joy: order our winter issue, Vol. 35: Celebration, here. 

Keen to follow in our editor's footsteps? Here are their insider recommendations to enjoying a great day in Florence:
 

Walk the length of the Arno, or hop on a bike.

Visit the Sant'ambrogio market for a panino. 

Eat at Trattoria Sostanza for their artichoke omelette and butter chicken, Il Santino for, well, everything, and Enoteca Bruni, a vino spot only locals know about.

To stay? Bed down at one of Betty Soldi’s hotels. 

Planning your next trip? Check out our city guide to Florence. 

The destinations we’re spotlighting for 2022 (and some travel inspiration for you to browse, too)

Siberia 

Socotra 

Pakistan

Namibia 

Milan

And hotels we’re checking into in 2022

The Maker Hotel, New York

The Sea Ranch Lodge, California

El Rey Court, New Mexico

Madame Reve, Paris

Casa Pacha, Formentera 

The Rooster, Antiparos 

Wrinkly potatoes dipped in mojo wolfed down in beachside boltholes; surf huts serving world-class red wines; hiking to walk it off in lush pine-filled forests – Tenerife is the ultimate getaway for the gourmet traveller. 

Calling upon two of Tenerife’s food-obsessed island insiders, Carlos Hernández and Xavi Riera, we shine a light on the island’s best restaurants, vineyards and beach shacks. 

Plus, we’ll be revealing just how to find one of the island’s legendary guachinches – a traditional eatery usually in the home of a local, small-batch wine producer – the chefs shaking up the island’s food scene and the must-visit restaurants you should have on your radar.  

Seeking an outdoor adventure? As part of our partnership with Tenerife Tourism Corporation, our insiders also lift the lid on the secret spots to watch the sunset, the natural pools to seek out and Tenerife’s most magical hiking trails.

This is a foodie pilgrimage and then some. 

Time to dig in.

Start planning your trip at webtenerife.co.uk

Carlos and Xavi’s Insider Recommendations to Tenerife

Bodegon el Puntero, Santa Cruz

El Burgado, Santa Cruz

El Aderno, Santa Cruz

El Capricho de Nicomedes, Santa Cruz 

El Templete, Santa Cruz

Nub, Costa Adeje 

La Caleta, Adeje 

Salitre, La Caleta 

Char, La Caleta

Casa Paca, Benijo

Want to know more about Xavi’s restaurant, Jaxana? Follow them on Instagram here.

Keep up to date with the foodie experiences Carlos is planning 

here

.

We hear you loud and clear. We’re itching to shake off lockdown fatigue and get back into the great outdoors. 

That’s why we’re bringing you a destination special dedicated to the island that has it all: Tenerife.

As part of our partnership with Visit Tenerife, we’re shining a light on the design-driven boutique hotels, athlete-approved hikes and world-class wineries that you should have on radar.

Plus, we’ll be joined by Canary Green’s founder – an eco collective championing sustainable tourism in the Canary Islands – John Dale Beckley and creative writer Grace Molan to get their insider recommendations. Listen up as they share their go-to restaurant for papas arrugadas, the beaches we should be paddleboarding to and the best place for stargazing on the island. 

Seeking meaningful travel and the chance to reconnect with nature? This one's for you.

This is a deep-dive into Tenerife’s best bits. 

Start planning your next trip at webtenerife.co.uk.

Our Insider’s Guide to Tenerife 

Hacienda Cristoforo

Alberto Dorner

Finca La Calabacera

Bodegas Monje

Tierra Cafe 

Whale Wise Ecotours

Tenerife Horse Rescue

Playa de Diego Hernandez (the hippie beach)

Find out more about Canary Green’s eco initiatives here.

Skincare obsessed? This one's for you.

Join us as we transport you to the dunes, souks and oases of Morocco through the next cult beauty brand: whind. 

Fuelled by skin-saving science and a sensual Morrocan approach, join us as we chat to whind founder Hind Sebti about her pioneering range of skincare projects, how her homeland of Morocco inspired her and the beauty secret she swears by. 

Plus, Hind will be sharing her treasured tales from her homeland of Morocco. From where to sip mint tea in Tangier to a design-driven crash pad that’s perfect to rent with pals, she spotlights her must-visit recommendations. 

Prepared to be pampered. 

Hind Sebti’s go-to beauty buys for that envious desert-glow and must-visit Morrocan tips:

Atlas Pure Purifying Whipped Mask

Kasbah Moonlight Transforming Cream to Oil Nightly Mask

Marrakech Light Illuminating Magic Oil

Oasis Fresh Dissolving Jelly Cleanser

Sahara Silk Vanishing Cream Exfoliator 

Cafe Hafa, Tangier for mint tea

La Maison de L'Elephant Blanc

Visit Dakhla for the surf and up-and-coming creative scene, Casablanca if you’ve done Marrakech and Meknes for culture

Not just for wine buffs / oenophiles.

Instead of getting hung up on malbec and merlot, noses and tannins, we’re raising a glass to the UK wineries shaking up the English wine-making scene.

Join us as we speak to the innovative producers championing community and fuelling our love for locavore labels and natural tipples. We’re popping the cork on homegrown grapes and spotlighting the next generation of UK wineries. 

Plus, we catch up with Renegade Urban Winery’s Founder Warwick Smith who has ripped up the wine-making rule book and is producing outstanding wines beneath a railway arch in Bethnal Green. He shares his tips for picking a stellar bottle of plonk, the urban wineries we should visit and an easy trick to look like an oenophile. 

We’ll drink to that. 

We’d love to know where you’re going next and how you think the travel landscape might change as lockdown restrictions ease. Send your voice notes to fleur@suitcasemag.com or drop us a DM on Instagram @fleur_rm. For a daily dose of travel inspiration, check in with us at suitcasemag.com or get yourself a copy of SUITCASE Magazine. 

Warwick Smith’s epic list of urban wineries to check out:

Renegade Urban Winery, of course 

https://www.renegadelondonwine.com

Broc Cellars, California 

https://broccellars.com

Bow and Arrow, Oregon

https://www.bowandarrowwines.com

Donkey and Goat, California 

https://www.donkeyandgoat.com

Infinite Monkey Theorem, Colorado 

https://theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com

The Red Hook Winery, New York

https://www.redhookwinery.com

Noita Winery, Finland 

https://www.noitawinery.fi

And the UK wine producers he suggest paying a visit too:

Charlie Herring

http://www.charlieherring.com

Offbeat Wines

https://offbeatwines.co.uk

Langham Wine

https://langhamwine.co.uk

India and Fleur’s reccs for booze-fuelled weekends:

Wild Escapes at Fullerton Farm

https://wildescapes.com

Tillingham 

https://tillingham.com

Oxney Estate

https://oxneyestate.com

Forty Hall

https://www.fortyhallestate.co.uk

Warden Abbey Vineyard

https://wardenvineyard.org.uk

Articles to help you seek out the best vineyards:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/uk-wine-industry

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/worlds-best-wine-destinations

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/underrated-wine-destinations

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/best-wine-hotels-europe

So far the 2020s have been, understatement of the century, a lot. We’re worn out, lethargic and our mind and bodies are craving some TLC. Before slinking off to a hedonistic weekend in the Balearics or booking that four-years-in-the-making road trip around the US, we’re securing a spot on a much-needed wellness retreat.

Forget green juices and white robes, we’re spotlighting the next generation of wellness that focus more on community and connection than intermittent fasting. We’ll also be joined by Artah founder and former Psycle CEO Rhian Stephenson who shares her transformative travel experiences, how we can extinguish the flames of burnout and what the future of wellness looks like.

So, who's joining us?

We’d love to know where you’re going next and how you think the travel landscape might change as lockdown restrictions ease. Send your voice notes to fleur@suitcasemag.com or drop us a DM on Instagram @fleur_rm. For a daily dose of travel inspiration, check in with us at suitcasemag.com or get yourself a copy of SUITCASE Magazine. 

Links and notes from the episode 

Find out where Artah’s first UK wellness retreat is taking place

https://www.artah.co

The wellness retreats Rhian recommends:

https://www.original-mayr.com/en/

And read this for SUITCASE contributor Olivia Squire’s experience

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/hotel-story-original-fx-mayr-austria

This is the Italian hotel Rhian cites as her favourite:

https://www.alpinadolomites.it/en/

India and Fleur’s wellness retreat recommendations:

Lucknam Park Hotel

https://www.lucknampark.co.uk

Lanserhof Tegernsee

https://www.lanserhof.com/en/tegernsee

Wildfitness

https://wildfitness.com

Helios Retreats

https://helios-retreats.com

Mojo Rising

https://www.mojo.co.uk

Camp Sarika

https://www.aman.com/resorts/amangiri/camp-sarika

Missionworks

https://lamingtongroup.com/brands/missionworks/

Rockwater Hove

https://rockwater.uk

Articles to kick-start your wellness journey

We talk a lot about some of these fab UK-based retreats that you can find here:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/uk-wellbeing-retreats

Circadian travel is the wellness sphere’s next biggest trend

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/circadian-travel

And you’ll find more inspo here:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/wellness-panel

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/londons-wellness-wizards

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/affordable-wellness-retreats

Hands up who's desperate to return to the bel paese (beautiful country)? 

We know that The Upgrade listeners are as infatuated with Italy as us, so we decided to join forces with the duo behind Italy’s coolest creative crash pad.

Tune in to this recommendation-packed episode as we’re joined by Villa Lena’s foundersLena Evstafieva and Jérôme Hadey, who share their Tuscan tips, under-the-radar restaurants in Rome and where to (hopefully) sip rosé this summer. That’s amore.

Plus, India and Fleur chat about the group getaways they’re hoping to get off the ground this year. Think beachy boltholes in Formentera, an art-filled hotel in Beirut and a mid-century cabin in the Welsh countryside. This episode is filled with good, old-fashioned escapism. 

We’ll see you for aperitivo.

We’d love to know where you’re going next and how you think the travel landscape might change as lockdown restrictions ease. Send your voice notes to fleur@suitcasemag.com or drop us a DM on Instagram @fleur_rm. For a daily dose of travel inspiration, check in with us at suitcasemag.com or get yourself a copy of SUITCASE Magazine. 

Links and notes from the episode 

Lena and Jerome’s Italian recommendations:

Ristorante Le Pineta, Marina di Bibbona

Ciberèo Ristorante, Florence

Viareggio for Italian seaside jaunts

Hotel Locarno, Rome

Pierluigi, Rome

Le Sirenuse, Positano 

Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda

The places Fleur’s (fingers crossed) slinking off to:

Iraia, Cornwall

The Gin Trap Inn, Norfolk

Arthaus Beirut, Beirut

Casa Pacha, Formentera 

The Rooster, Antiparos

India’s go-to group getaways:

Hergest Lee, Wales

Fynbos Cottages, Babylonstoren, South Africa

Craveiral Farmhouse, Portugal

Keep your escapism alive with these articles:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/best-beach-huts-uk-staycation

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/europe-seaside-town-revival

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/self-catering-stays-reunited-travel

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/unique-UK-airbnbs

Sustainable? Tick. Slow travel? Tick. Affordable? Tick. 

Move over glamping, #vanlife is the latest travel trend we can’t get enough of. Whether you’re hitting the road in a revamped VW, careering through California in an RV or pitching up on a campsite in a static caravan, bundling your pals/ family/ pets into the back of a campervan is the way to adventure in summer 2021.

We’re ditching the traditional flight-and-hotel model and riding the campervan trend as soon as travel gets back on the road. Helping us travel more sustainably, slowly and smarter, listen up as we deep-drive into why a holiday-on-wheels is the next outdoor trend. Plus, we reveal our own campervan travel tales, the road trip routes we want to take and whose vans we’re borrowing. 

We’ll also be joined by the trio behind the UK’s newest (and coolest) staycation retreat, Club Jupiter. Interior designer Whinnie Williams, interior writer and stylist Emma Jane Palin and travel journalist (and long-time SUITCASE contributor) Anna Hart have spent the last year of lockdown revamping a static caravan in Kent. Snazzy. Tune in as they share the hotels that have inspired them, nifty interior DIY tips and why we’re all seeking a dose of nostalgia. 

We’ll save a space for you by the campfire.

We’d love to know where you’re going next and how you think the travel landscape might change as lockdown restrictions ease. Send your voice notes to fleur@suitcasemag.com or drop us a DM on Instagram @fleur_rm. For a daily dose of travel inspiration, check in with us at suitcasemag.com or get yourself a copy of SUITCASE Magazine. 

Links and notes from the episode 

Follow Club Jupiter here:

https://www.instagram.com/clubjupiteruk/

Didn’t catch the name of the peer-to-peer campervan rental Fleur suggested (read: butchered), it’s here:

https://www.yescapa.co.uk

Want to join India on a motorhome adventure through Japan, check it out here:

https://www.dreamdrive.life

In need of some #Vanlife road trip inspiration? From Sicily to Sydney, California to Cádiz, we’ve got you covered:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/us-road-trip

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/road-trip-destinations

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/australian-road-trip

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/italy-road-trip

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/road-trip-iberia

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/sweet-nothings-a-road-trip-through-portugals-wild-west

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/best-road-trips-in-the-world

And for a dose of armchair escapism, you’ll want to read these:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/road-trip-books