Window shopping #49
A London icon heads stateside, why now is the time to book summer travel, and the Cape Town hotel worth booking a flight for
This is Window Shopping, a weekly mini-letter from Window Seat—your stylish scroll through what’s new and noteworthy in the world of travel. Each issue blends timely headlines, personal favorites, and design-forward hotels to keep your wanderlust well-fed.
London’s iconic grand café The Wolseley is coming to New York. Minor Hotels just announced the global launch of The Wolseley Hotels, with its inaugural property set to open in New York City in early 2027. The 76-room hotel will occupy the landmark 1905 building at 130 West 44th St, a building long associated with Broadway's creative community and New York's cultural elite. At its heart will be The Wolseley New York, the brand's first U.S. restaurant, carrying forward the grand café tradition of the London original with all-day dining and a vibrant yet refined atmosphere. A cellar-level speakeasy bar rounds out the offering.
The founder of Aman is opening a new nature retreat concept in rural Japan. Azuma Farm Koiwai is set to open spring 2026 in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, in partnership with JR East with a premise that’s a farm resort rooted in over 130 years of symbiosis between humans and nature at Koiwai, built around what they're calling "Farm Life:” horses, forest walks, fresh dairy, and deep engagement with the land. The 24 villas are scattered across an 8-hectare grove and built from red pine and cypress grown on the property itself.
Sooo now is the time to book your Summer flights. Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began last month, jet fuel has more than doubled (from $85–90 per barrel to as high as $200), and airlines have already started passing on that cost. Cathay Pacific is roughly doubling fuel surcharges starting March 18. Qantas and Scandinavian Airlines have followed. The exposure is worse for U.S. carriers specifically: most major American airlines stopped hedging fuel costs years ago, meaning there's no buffer between a barrel price spike and your ticket price. The advice from travel experts is simple: don't wait on summer bookings, and don’t skip travel insurance.
One month since moving into my new apartment and I am unwell. I'm someone who needs their space to feel like a sanctuary, and living out of boxes while waiting for things to come together is a specific kind of hell for me. Every day it's not all done is a day I'm not operating at 100%.
This is especially true when it comes to my bedroom. In my last apartment, I’d recently redone it to be exactly what I wanted: limewashed walls, rose-colored floor-to-ceiling drapes, and Hue bulbs on a timer so the mood lighting was always just right. Now, it just feels cold and white and sterile and, crucially, not mine. I still had my six-year-old mattress and the bed I once shared with my ex. Not ideal!!
I think a new chapter and a new space deserve, at the very least, a new bed. But thankfully, Thuma reached out and offered to gift me both their mattress and their Classic Bed, which, amazingly, doesn’t require any tools to assemble (as someone learning to use power tools for the first time in her life, the convenience of this is not to be overstated). Finally, one big thing I can check off the list.
The Silo Hotel — Cape Town, South Africa
Last night I had dinner with some of the most accomplished female hoteliers in the world, including Liz Biden, founder of The Royal Portfolio, and her daughter Ali McAdam, Chairperson of The Royal Portfolio Foundation, the team behind this iconic South African hotel. Safe to say this one is no longer just on my list, it's at the top of it. The Silo is a reimagined 1920s grain elevator on Cape Town's V&A Waterfront, its facade a geometric grid of convex, pillowed glass windows that catch the light differently at every hour of the day. Inside, raw industrial bones are softened by vivid color, eclectic textiles, and over 300 works of contemporary African art, with a rooftop pool and views stretching from Table Mountain to the Atlantic. It sits directly above the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa—the continent's largest collection of contemporary African art—meaning you are quite literally living on top of a cultural institution. Cape Town has been on my list for an embarrassingly long time—this hotel might just be the reason I finally book the trip.
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Tori Simokov is a Travel Writer and Graphic Designer/Strategist based in New York. To get in touch, email tori@v1projects.com. Want more? Check out Instagram, TikTok, or shop her curated favorites.
The apartment is looking gorgeous!!!!!
I am headed to South Africa in two weeks and cannot wait to experience the Royal Portfolio properties - will report back!!!