Well Traveled Texan

08/03/2024

Popping the Pink today in celebration of big news - Well Traveled Texan has been invited into the prestigious Belmond Bellini Club 🍾

A huge thank you to for the honor and for the amazing for flying into Houston to surprise us in person in our office over lunch and pink bubbles. To be invited into this tiny, exclusive list of luxury travel agencies in the world is a big deal in so many ways, especially since we are a boutique travel advisory, not a huge firm. We succeed by always focusing on our clients first and spending countless hours building relationships intentionally with partners like Belmond who offer the best in luxury travel and focus on representing the DNA of every single destination where they have a property. Taormina, Tuscany, Amalfi, Peru, Brazil, Anguilla, France, the UK, San Miguel, Madeira, Mallorca, and many more glorious hotspots.

What does this mean for you, our fabulous clients? 😎 Extra VIP perks and first in the list upgrades for Belmond’s incredible hotel and resort properties around the world. Bespoke travel on their breathtaking train journeys, the Venice-Simplon Orient-Express across Europe, Scottish perfection (and Dior Spa!) on the , and Peru’s iconic that whisks you up to in luxury and style (one of my favorite trips ever!).

Belmond is 7 ⭐️ luxury in the world’s most iconic places. Haven’t experienced a Belmond yet? What are you waiting for? PM me and let us help you fall in love with luxury travel all over again ✨

12/01/2024

Weekend getaway alert! We’re in love with our newest WTT hotel partner, Auberge Hotels’ Bowie House in Ft Worth. Stayed a few weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it!

Let’s start with a sense of place because it’s so important. I’m a stickler for hotels that intentionally represent. It’s an art to get it right. When I walk inside a hotel in a cool destination like Ft Worth, I better feel like I’m in Texas.

In Ft Worth’s art district, Bowie House welcomes guests to step their boots inside, order a fancy cocktail, and stay a while. Floor to ceiling windows, gorgeous marble vanities, huge walk in showers, warm wood accents, and hidden bars await; We slept like babies in the most comfortable beds, soft sheets, lush curtains, and fluffy soft towels. The high staff to guest ratio is evident every moment you spend here. Friendly, and helpful.

I love lobby bars - they’re the calling card for the hotel’s vibe. It needs to be the living room of the destination.

Bowie House’s magazine spread- worthy lobby, game room, and library are the place to be seen in Ft Worth. Couples, ladies trips, guys groups and multi-gen families happily gathered together every night we were here. So fun to be a part of the scene. I bet the pool deck is hopping in summer.

Auberge Resorts’ attention to the guest experience is the reason why they have the highest percentage of hotels in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2023 Reader’s Choice Awards. They do SO much right.

Bowie House makes you feel like you just stepped through the looking glass and into a secret party - warm, welcoming and oh so Auberge. It’s perfect for a guys or girls trip or couples Staycation. Well done Auberge ⭐️

The icing on the tres leches cake…when we book you here we add complimentary daily breakfast for 2, upgrade and VIP amenities. Trust me, you want the breakfast! Get the quail and waffles 👩🏼‍🍳

09/01/2024

What NOT to do when you hop on Wi-Fi when you travel? Have we got a story for you 😆

Tune in to KHOU/CBS 11 tomorrow morning with , and learn how to not let what happened to me happen to you!

22/12/2023

The Happiest of Holidays to all our friends, clients (who we are lucky to call friends!), and travel partners, all over the world. May you have a very merry holiday season filled with Love, Peace and Joy.

10/12/2023

On my recent trip to Florence, you might have heard me repeating “go in the off season” several times. Why? Overtourism is killing Italy, footstep by footstep. It’s much more enjoyable to discover these ancient cities when they’re not jammed with summer tourists, in the Fall, Spring Break or the Holiday season.

Venice was hit hard by tourism this past summer - it was miserable. Summer 2024 will be worse as we see more of the world opening up post covid and those travelers getting back to Italy that couldn’t go this summer. It will be “doubled down”.

The Venice government is doing something about it. Venice is an iconic destination and everyone should see it once. Let’s make it happen outside of summer! Read on for yet another reason why off season travel just got even more attractive 🙂

The Venice City Council just released a 2024 schedule of dates during which day-trippers will need to pay to enter the city. Here's the full list of dates and what it will cost.

22/11/2023

Just in time for Black Friday cruise sales, our brand new website is ready to go on our website at WellTraveledTexan.com.

The week after Thanksgiving is the busiest time of the year for travel advisors since all of you get together over holiday meals and talk about where the next year will take you. Then Monday you call us to make it happen.

Why wait when you can get started now before the food coma starts?

Our new website makes it easy to not only search and book all the Black Friday cruise sales (hurry, they’re happening NOW!). Click the Book Yourself tab to search and book cruises, tours all over the world, purchase never-leave-home without it travel insurance and take a peek at all the VIP benefits in our Fine Hotel and Resort program.

The biggest gift to give yourself - find your new best friend/travel advisor who will help you make 2024 the best year yet.

Click the Travel Team page, get to know our advisors in Houston, Austin, Los Angeles and Atlanta and send them an email to get your trip started!

Happy Thanksgiving from Well Traveled Texan. Let’s get this travel party started!

14/11/2023

We’re excited to announce Molly Strange has joined Well Traveled Texan as an inside travel advisor who will help us craft itineraries for individual clients and small groups - plus, assist me in relaunching the wine side of our business. Molly will be based in our Houston office and brings our rock star travel advisor team in Houston, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta to 15. Welcome, Molly!

13/10/2023

Our team has been around the world this week! We started the week with Peru, Panama, Cuba, Spain, zipped over for dinner with Japan, lunch yesterday with our Italian partners and ended Friday with our fun friends from Switzerland Tourism, St Moritz (my fav ⛷️ spot I hit last year!), Ticino (the Italian side of Swiss Alps can’t wait to go!) and lovely Geneva Tourism (the lake!).

Relationships and spending time with travel partners means everything in this business - and what makes us the best travel advisors and advocates for our clients.

What a way to wrap up the week and remind us all how travel truly is the great connector - and it’s a heck of a lot of fun! Next time over White Merlot and Fondue 🫕!
.ch .switzerland .patrick

09/10/2023

Casa Del Mar 💕My first time staying here and I realllly don’t want to leave.

The perfect marriage between an elegant Mediterranean Villa + chic beach house, sits right on the sand in Santa Monica. The attention of the staff to every guest makes it special for couples, families and travelers looking for a luxury beach getaway for a few days. They texted me the moment I checked in, so when we needed dinner reservations or the car brought up, they’re a tap away. True luxury is being able to relax and let them take care of you.

The rooms are light and bright, white marble bathrooms (my fav) and the architecture of the public spaces - sweeping staircases, ocean views and the hopping lobby make you relax the moment you walk in. The pool, perched on the fifth floor overlooking the huge stretch of beach and walking and bike paths is the best of both worlds. Grab a chase for an afternoon dip, nap or my favorite pastime, people watching!

I’m obsessed with the lobby lanterns, Murano lamps and etched mirrors in the room. Don’t get me started on the huge Princess and the Pea King beds, we needed a step ladder to climb in for the best sleep- perfectly firm mattress, the softest sheets.

You need minimum 3 nights here to enjoy the property and the Santa Monica area. Take the beach bikes down the Venice, hit the spa, then have the house car drop you at dinner down the street like we did.

Casa Del Mar is thankfully part of our WTT Fine Hotel & Resort Progrom so we get you the best rate, then spoil you with complimentary Daily Breakfast for 2, $100 spa credit and upgrade at check in if available. But only when you book it through us. Let us VIP you 😎

02/10/2023

So many reasons to love Fall, especially because it brings our luxury travel partners and fellow advisors into our beautiful Houston office for meetings 🍾 and celebrating all of us surviving the crazy summer of travel in 2023. Such a great week with these incredible partners from Ireland, Scotland, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, London, Cuba and New York City.

Buckle 🆙 - 2024 is coming in like a Lion. It’s going to be a big year, if you’re planning on going anywhere next year, call your travel advisor stat. We’re all crazy busy doing what we love - creating memory making trips for our clients 💕

Cheers to Travel and its ability to bring everyone together from across town and around the globe!

09/09/2023

The answer is YES. Day 3 of meetings in Maui . This place is magic. Think about the beauty and the soul of Maui - sunsets, beaches, mountains, waterfalls, the people - all the memories waiting to be made.

Then think about this:
“What the fire didn’t destroy, an empty and deserted island will”.

In the coming days you will see the Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau release their Malama campaign for Maui.

Everyone at Well Traveled Texan is ready to help you return to Maui - call, message or email your advisor and if you don’t have one yet, email [email protected] and we’ll get you set up with the best team in the business.
Maui is waiting, Mahalo!

After catastrophic wildfires leveled the western Maui town of Lāhainā, the island's residents now say they are in the midst of a second crisis—the economic toll of a steep loss in tourism.

11/06/2023

Tea is a lovely event here, a nod to Singapore’s British roots and made to settle you down, spend time with friends, and have a bite between lunch and dinner.

Whether you go for a traditional Tea House like the tiny .chapter in Chinatown where the Queen visited or High Tea in one of the cities luxury hotels, make it a date, order a glass of bubbles - and always get a reservation.

27/04/2023

My smile should say it all, I’m grateful to our partners and for opening my eyes to India. Namaste 🙏🏻

Now for the rest of the story on the magnificent Taj Mahal…it’s a Love Story ❤️.

Called the “teardrop on the cheek of eternity” , the Taj is actually a mausoleum, a symbol of the enduring love of Emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth, making her a martyr. Inside that gorgeous white marble lies her tomb, in the very center and his, joined later, to the side.

It is said that the Taj, an octagon with minarets and one main spire was constructed to create the optical illusion that it is floating up to Heaven ☁️
When you finally make it here, it enchants you, I promise you will not be able to stop staring at it and take a million pictures like I did!

15/03/2023

Yes! Super excited and honored to be named by the editors of Condé Nast Traveler as a Top Travel Specialist 🗺️

✨We’re passionate about helping clients explore their world. When we hop on a call we give you wayyy too many ideas…to be sure you’re seeing the best of the best 🍾

✨Our team of advisors at Well Traveled Texan is THE best because we work collaboratively - you get all of our well traveled brains to send you to any destination all over the globe.

✨CNTraveler has been our bible of travel knowledge for decades so to be chosen by them is the icing on a very big 🎂!

Thank you Condé Nast Traveler for the honor, now let’s get back to exploring our world!

https://www.cntraveler.com/contributor/jeanne-polocheck

19/02/2023

Where in the World did Well Traveled Texans wake up this weekend? RIO de Janeiro, Brazil for the 100th celebration of Carnival! I love when clients send us gorgeously fun pics of them enjoying adventures we’ve carefully planned. Especially when they’ve left their 5 kids at home 💕 for parents week out!

Helicopter 🚁 ride over Christ the Redeemer, Black tie Carnival Ball - check! Tonight our Brazil team will es**rt them to the Sambadrome to watch the action from the safety of the VIP box. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

We have Mardi Gras, Rio shakes it at Carnival. Let the pre-Lenten partying begin - Samba up💃🏻 !

27/01/2023

Fun Friday news! Our boutique luxury travel agency has grown again, Welcome to the family Lissette and Jennifer!

Lissette Jenkins joins our Houston office and Jennifer Beltz has joined our rock star team on in Los Angeles. These incredibly sharp, strong women come from successful careers in Media and Finance (respectively), are world travelers and expert planners, bringing their professional expertise and attention to detail to the world of luxury travel.

Louiza Deskin has been promoted to Client Services Manager (or as I call her - one side of my brain, she reads my mind all the time, she’s amazing!).

To work with all the incredible women at Well Traveled Texan and call them dear friends is an honor. We’re a collaborative team in every way, constantly bouncing ideas around and learning from each other. Despite Covid shutdowns and unpredictable world events, we’ve shown up every day to figure it out for our clients. While many agencies closed their doors, we’ve expanded and opened our beautiful office doors again to welcome in travelers ready to get back out there.

Thank you to our incredible clients who support us, keep on traveling and keep calling us back to plan their next trip. While we’re busy making your travel dreams come true, you’re making our lives more fulfilling because we all get to do what we love - help you make memories in the world’s most fantastic places.

Thank you all for supporting small business and continuing to explore this great big wonderful world with Well Traveled Texan!

https://welltraveledtexan.com/about-houston-travel-agency/

09/01/2023

In 💕 with this hotel. I’m in LA a lot, used to live on the Westside during my TV days - so I’m super picky when it comes to Beverly Hills Hotels.

Where to stay/play/meet for drinks is my jam. There’s a hotel for every personality - we’re master matchmakers. The hits all The Maybourne Beverly Hillsin a city with a lot of luxury options.

I’m all about real location…not what might be “Beverly Hills adjacent” I want to be right in the middle of the action, walk out the door, shop, dine, go for a run and when I return, relax in beautiful spaces.

Rooftop pool, outdoor terrace dining (it’s LA!), fun bar, spa, great gym (Peletons!), even a barber shop - and a secret cigar and whiskey lounge tucked away where the concierge has to es**rt you 😎. I’m also a sucker for great design and service. It has to be light, bright, fresh, well thought out. The staff has to be spectacular, and plentiful. It’s all here.

This week’s stay at The Maybourne was a breath of fresh air, it has jumped itself up to one of my top US hotels. In a post Covid world of staffing issues and blips in service, they do everything right. In my meeting with the management team this week I discovered why - they’re a luxury group with just 5 hotels, all focused on perfection. London’s Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkley and the new Maybourne Riviera gleaming it’s way onto France’s Cote D’Azur. They took over this Beverly Hills hotel in 2019 from the previous owners then took their time in a stunning renovation. Thought about the details. And made it happen, gorgeously.

Big Bonus - it’s one of our Signature Fine Hotel and Resorts which means when we book you, we add:

* Daily breakfast for two in that fabulous garden terrace (butterscotch pancakes 🥞)

* $100 hotel credit to use during your stay (drinks on us at the pool!)

*Upgrade if available at check in.

Good thing we just checked in a daughter into USC…reason to come back again and again!
#90210 Maybourne Beverly Hillsretravelnetwork The Maybourne RivieraSignature Travel Network

31/12/2022

We snuck away for 2 days to kick in the New Year and just chill. No work, no emails, just beautiful blue water and cold beer.

While I wish we were at our favorite family vacay in St Barths, I’m thankful for a 2 hour fight to Mexico - it does just fine for a quick trip to🏝

We flew Southwest (!) - on time departure and back to usual friendly staff. Lots of “mea culpas” going around - we looked out the window as we pulled back from the gate to see the ground crew holding thank you signs, the flight crew apologized for all the chaos of the past weeks.

Being in the travel business during and post Covid is not easy on any of us in the industry, and especially the airlines who have been impacted across the board.

Let’s take a moment to think about which ones consistently, all year, every year give bad service, kill us with fees, inflexibility and cranky staff. Southwest is NOT one of them. The past few weeks are a blip in what has so consistently been good consumer service. I’m sure given all the bad press, and justifiably angry passengers they have learned a great deal, and are pivoting into the new year focused on regaining our well deserved trust.

I chose to remember how great has been to our family and our travel clients - the smiling flight attendants who tell jokes as the plane takes off, sing happy birthday to passengers, if you have to cancel, gives you easy travel credits to use - to the dime - for your next flight, the friendly airline that flies in and out of our favorite US cities, Mexico and the Caribbean - and doesn’t charge passengers for bags or ridiculous fees.

Who would you be stuck with if Southwest went away and how much would those fares to your favorite places go up without competition?

The last few weeks were hard but we still ❤️ Southwest Airlines

09/11/2022

It’s on! Our favorite time of the year - our annual Signature Consortia luxury travel conference in Vegas, baby! Time to meet our partners and hoteliers one on one for great conversations, destination workshops with the tourism boards, and relationship building - all to benefit our clients. Travel is back - time to fill our brains so to keep our clients enjoying the best experiences on earth!

08/10/2022

Wine tasting in Germany’s Rheingau at .vollrads stunning estate is a history and culinary tour all in one. Their Rieslings are delish, I especially love their dry Trocken, crisp, refreshing, and best enjoyed wandering the wood paneled walls, sunshine warmed great rooms filled with family paintings, and peering over the terrace to the manIcured gardens below. Wine + History, Guten Tag!

02/10/2022

Welkom to the Negen Straatjes! It never fails - every time I’m here I fill up my suitcase the first 2 days of my trip, shopping the boutiques of The Nines, Amsterdam’s best shopping streets 🛍 . Last time it was cowboy boots (!). From vintage shops, to runway ready, cheese stores and the famous leather goods that give the streets their names when in Amsterdam, save a few hours for the Nines on your trip.

Between the Singel and Prinsengracht canals, the area was formerly a base for the tanning industry, so the 9 streets have animal names like Wolvenstraat and Huidenstraat. It’s a great way to spend a gorgeous fall afternoon 🍁 in Amsterdam.

01/10/2022

Amsterdam is always a stunner, one of my favorite cities for Fall and a great add for a few fun nights to kick off a European adventure 🇳🇱 Let the weekend begin!

02/09/2022

WELL TRAVELED TEXAN shared a post on Instagram: "36 hours, 500 Km, 3 Trains, 1 Sommelier, 1 Chef and so many great villages with culinary secrets waiting to meet our tastebuds🍷 Laissez-vous Rever…Let Yourself Dream. Then Do it! Nothing like a last minute road trip with a foodie friend into the ...

27/08/2022

There’s something about French villages that make you want to wander around and stay a while. Peek around corners and take it all in. Hautvillers, the home and final resting place of Dom Perignon, the monk who behind all the tiny bubbles, is perfect for a little stroll, popping into tasting rooms/antique stores and soaking it all in.

27/08/2022

French Fri-yay for sure! There’s nothing like a girls trip to the Champagne region starting with the home of Le Grande Dame herself, the Widow Clicquot. She was a force of nature far ahead of her time, widowed at 27 with a small child the V***e Clicquot Ponsardin made champagne a woman’s world with the belief “Only one quality, the finest”. A perfect and powerful kick off to our mother- daughter day in the French countryside. Bubbles up!

WELL TRAVELED TEXAN shared a post on Instagram: "French Fri-yay for sure! There’s nothing like a girls trip to the Champagne region starting with the home of Le Grande Dame herself, the Widow Clicquot. She was a force of nature far ahead of her time, widowed at 27 with a small child the V***e Clic...