Window shopping #63
The end of stressful airport layovers, vintage artwork, and a Neo-Basque estate where you won't find Wi-Fi
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.
My favorite travel app just rolled out a massive new update that tackles the most stressful part of flying: layovers. Flighty, an app I’ve been obsessively using since 2021, now gives you a custom, step-by-step breakdown of your exact connection that’s tailored to your passport—telling you whether you can use e-gates, recheck bags, or skip security, with time estimates between gates. Plus, their new Gate Predictions tool forecasts your arrival/departure gates before the airline even posts them. If you travel a lot and still don’t have this on your home screen, what are you doing??
PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS reported that cult-favorite beauty brand MERIT is teaming up with The Ritz-Carlton on an upcoming collection. All we can expect so far is jet-set-approved beauty designed for five-star carry-ons. Personally very excited to see what comes of this.
After two months of what felt like nonstop traveling, I am finally back home and aggressively trying to get back into some semblance of a routine. There is truly no better feeling than unpacking your suitcase for the last time in a while and channeling all that post-trip energy into a deep reset. Naturally, that spiraled straight into a spring cleaning binge and a few little home updates:
Crisp cotton sheets: I came home from my last trip to brand new sheets waiting for me in my mailroom. THAT is luxury. These are my new favorites; ultra-breathable, structured, and give that freshly-laundered hotel bed crispness.
Home Accents: I picked up a few pieces to both elevate my living space and add some function. Namely, a woven basket that keeps throw blankets neatly tucked away and a large decorative tray that’s the perfect size for my ottoman.
Artwork: I almost exclusively buy vintage art, which means sourcing pieces takes forever, and I was getting so sick of staring at my blank white walls. Luckily, I finally found the perfect piece for a surprisingly tricky spot in my living room, and it ties my existing color palette together seamlessly.
Villa Magnan — Biarritz, France
Behind a monumental iron gate above Lake Mouriscot, Villa Magnan is the antithesis of a standard beach resort. A 1920s Neo-Basque estate originally built for Spanish nobility, the property lay sleeping under wild brambles for decades until it was rescued and restored by a film set designer and cinematographer. Today, it operates as an ultra-bohemian, 14-guest pension de famille set across three hectares of wild parkland where donkeys and peacocks roam freely. There are no TVs and intentionally no Wi-Fi in the bedrooms, forcing you into the kind of offline surrender that true luxury usually promises but rarely delivers. It seems like the antidote to cookie-cutter luxury, and I’m already dreaming up a French coast itinerary just to experience it.
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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.
I immediately downloaded the Flighty update after reading this. 😂 The layover feature sounds like one of those things you don't realize you need until you've sprinted through an unfamiliar airport wondering if you're about to miss your connection. Also, Villa Magnan looks like exactly the kind of place I love discovering when I travel. The no-Wi-Fi-in-the-bedrooms detail doesn't feel restrictive..it feels intentional. Those are often the places I remember long after the trip is over.