The Savvy Travel Planner

Directions Website Contact the business

The Savvy Travel Planner I am a luxury travel advisor/planner who ignites a passion for travel and creates itineraries focuse

My favorite under-the-radar Mediterranean capital? Valletta. And I know exactly where you should stay.Iniala Valletta is...
10/20/2026

My favorite under-the-radar Mediterranean capital? Valletta. And I know exactly where you should stay.

Iniala Valletta is the only Forbes Five-Star hotel in Malta, four years running, and it just received the country's first two Michelin Keys. The hotel occupies a row of centuries-old townhouses on St. Barbara Bastion, looking straight across the Grand Harbour. Just 23 rooms, each one different, with a spa carved into the old stone vaults below.

The rooftop is the showstopper: ION Harbour by Simon Rogan, the most celebrated dining room in the country, with the harbor and the Three Cities glowing across the water at sunset. Book that table before you book your flights.

Malta squeezes 7,000 years of history into a few square miles, and this is the place to sleep in the middle of it. Let's plan it.

Yes, I know you're asking AI about your next trip. Honestly? Keep doing it.AI is useful early on: gathering ideas, compa...
10/18/2026

Yes, I know you're asking AI about your next trip. Honestly? Keep doing it.

AI is useful early on: gathering ideas, comparing regions, figuring out what kind of trip you're actually in the mood for, drafting the packing list. Bring me all of it. A client who arrives with a screenshot of ideas gives me a head start I love.

Here's where the handoff happens: AI hasn't slept in the rooms. It doesn't know the hotel changed hands last year, which room category is worth the jump, or that the famous restaurant is coasting. It can't see live availability, add upgrades and credits through my partnerships, or answer the phone when your connection cancels at midnight.

Dream with AI. Book with a human. Send me what you've got and I'll take it the rest of the way.

Part of my job is tracking every big hotel opening in Europe. Here's one worth bookmarking for your next Mallorca trip.M...
10/17/2026

Part of my job is tracking every big hotel opening in Europe. Here's one worth bookmarking for your next Mallorca trip.

Mandarin Oriental Punta Negra, the brand's Mallorca debut, opened in June on its own pine-covered peninsula along the Costa d'en Blanes, and the dining alone would justify the trip. Nobu Matsuhisa and Dani García each opened a restaurant here, one serving Nikkei-style plates against the sea views, the other built around fire, smoke, and local tradition.

Away from the table, it gets even better. A spa with nine treatment cabins pairing Mallorcan traditions with the brand's famous Oriental wellness philosophy, interiors by Laura Gonzalez, one of the most sought-after designers working today, and two private coves for a swim steps from your room. Puerto Portals and Palma are both minutes away.

Mallorca in shoulder season is Europe at its easiest. Message me to start planning!

Three signs it's time to work with a travel advisor:1. You have 27 tabs open and less clarity than when you started. End...
10/15/2026

Three signs it's time to work with a travel advisor:

1. You have 27 tabs open and less clarity than when you started. Endless reviews contradict each other. I've been to these places and can tell you in one call what actually fits.

2. The trip matters. Honeymoon, big anniversary, a once-in-a-lifetime destination. When the stakes are high, guesswork gets expensive, and a wrong hotel choice can't be refunded in memories.

3. You're the one who plans everything for everyone, and you'd like to actually be on this vacation instead of running it.

Sound familiar? Send me a message and see the difference on the very first trip.

A client recently asked me what it would take to rent out an entire resort. In Anguilla, less than you'd guess.ANI Angui...
10/14/2026

A client recently asked me what it would take to rent out an entire resort. In Anguilla, less than you'd guess.

ANI Anguilla hosts one group at a time. Two villas on the cliffs above Little Bay, up to 20 guests, and a staff ratio of one to one. Your own chef, daily spa treatments, a sunset cruise, watersports, and kids activities are all built into the rate, so nobody is signing checks all week.

My favorite moment here: waking up, walking down to the water, and starting the day swimming with the sea turtles that live in Little Bay.

Milestone birthdays, reunions, families who have outgrown hotel life. This is where I send them all. Reach out to learn more.

Do you really need a private guide? Sometimes no. Sometimes it transforms the entire trip. Here's how I call it.Worth ev...
10/12/2026

Do you really need a private guide? Sometimes no. Sometimes it transforms the entire trip. Here's how I call it.

Worth every penny: layered ancient sites like Egypt, Rome, Kyoto, and Machu Picchu, where the stones don't explain themselves and a great guide turns rubble into a story. Food cities, where the best stalls have no sign and no English menu. Wildlife, where a trained eye spots what you'd walk right past. And your first day somewhere intense, like Cairo or Delhi, where a guide turns chaos into context.

Skip it: beach weeks, cities you already know well, and days you've deliberately left open to wander.

The real secret is that who matters more than whether. A brilliant guide is the difference between a tour and a memory, and I keep a short list of the brilliant ones. Ask me about them.

This is what October is supposed to look like.Golden fields, a ridgeline in full color, wood smoke drifting between the ...
10/11/2026

This is what October is supposed to look like.

Golden fields, a ridgeline in full color, wood smoke drifting between the cabins. Wildflower Farms, Auberge's retreat in New York's Hudson Valley, delivers all of it about 90 minutes from the city.

The 140-acre working farm spreads out below the Shawangunk Ridge, with 65 freestanding cabins and cottages designed to frame the view, and Travel + Leisure readers just voted it the #1 hotel in New York State, with a Michelin Key to go with it.

In fall, the whole property leans into the season with harvest dinners, hikes through the Gunks in full color, bonfires, c***r, and mornings cold enough to justify the fireplace.

Fall weekends here disappear quickly. Message me before they do.

Travel + Leisure readers just voted this the best resort in Europe, and I could not agree more.Castiglion del Bosco, a R...
10/09/2026

Travel + Leisure readers just voted this the best resort in Europe, and I could not agree more.

Castiglion del Bosco, a Rosewood hotel on a 5,000-acre estate in Montalcino, took the top resort spot in Europe in this year's World's Best Awards with a near-perfect score. Add two Michelin stars at Ristorante Campo del Drago, three Michelin Keys, and an estate winery producing its own Brunello di Montalcino, and the case pretty much makes itself.

Golfers, save this part. The estate is home to the only private golf club in Italy, a Tom Weiskopf-designed 18-hole course that hotel guests can actually play. Expect Val d'Orcia views on every hole and almost no one else on the course.

Ready to experience Europe's best resort for yourself? Reach out, and I'll handle every detail.

10/07/2026

The trips I'd start planning now? Almost all of them are at least a year away. Here's what's on the drawing board.

Japan for cherry blossom season. A villa summer in Europe. Patagonia at peak trekking season. Marbella or Tangier for front-row seats to the next total solar eclipse. Tuscany for the milestone birthday, and Bora Bora for the anniversary.

The common thread is lead time. These are the trips I lock in 12 to 18 months ahead, because the best guides, rooms, and dates genuinely run out. Eclipse week most of all.

If a big trip year is on your horizon, now is the time to say so. Send me a message, and I'll get started.

The biggest shift in how my clients book right now: the why comes before the where.Purpose-first travel, some are callin...
10/06/2026

The biggest shift in how my clients book right now: the why comes before the where.

Purpose-first travel, some are calling them whycations, starts with the reason instead of the destination. Celebrating a milestone. Learning something real, like cooking in Oaxaca or sailing in Croatia. Getting three generations around one table. Marking a recovery, a retirement, a new chapter. The place gets chosen because it serves the purpose, not the other way around.

Honestly, these are my favorite requests. Tell me the why, and I'll handle everything after it.

Address

4038 Dumbarton Street
Houston, TX
77025

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Savvy Travel Planner posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Savvy Travel Planner:

Shortcuts

Share