The Savvy Travel Planner

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

If Japan is on your list, Kyoto is non-negotiable. And within Kyoto, so is this.Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto opened on the sit...
06/05/2026

If Japan is on your list, Kyoto is non-negotiable. And within Kyoto, so is this.

Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto opened on the site of the Mitsui family estate near Nijo Castle, and the grounds reflect that history. A natural hot spring runs below the property, and the onsen program is among the most considered in Kyoto. The pool, spa, and quiet of the gardens set this apart from most city hotel experiences in Japan.

The location works well for everything Kyoto offers. Nijo Castle is steps away, Arashiyama is within easy reach, and the Gion district is close enough for an evening without requiring a taxi.

Ready to experience Japan? Message me to start planning!

If a beach trip is on your mind, this one is worth a look.St. Regis Punta Mita is on a private peninsula about 45 minute...
06/04/2026

If a beach trip is on your mind, this one is worth a look.

St. Regis Punta Mita is on a private peninsula about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the recognition speaks for itself: Forbes Four-Star, AAA Five Diamond, and ranked among the top resorts in Western Mexico by Condé Nast Traveler readers.

A few of my favorites: Bahia, the main restaurant, is one of the best dining experiences on the Riviera Nayarit with seafood pulled fresh from the Pacific daily. The two Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses include the famous Tail of the Whale hole, an island green only accessible at low tide. And every villa comes with a dedicated butler.

Advisor Tip: Sayulita is 20 minutes away and worth an afternoon. Bohemian surf town, great tacos, a farmers market on Sundays.

If Mexico is on your calendar, reach out and let's start planning.

If Bhutan is somewhere you've been curious about, here's the first thing worth knowing before you book: there's a daily ...
06/03/2026

If Bhutan is somewhere you've been curious about, here's the first thing worth knowing before you book: there's a daily fee just to enter the country. It's also one of the best things about going.

A daily Sustainable Development Fee applies to every visitor and covers a licensed guide, accommodation, and most in-country costs. The result is a destination where the most remarkable sites are never crowded and the guides are among the most well-informed I've worked with anywhere.

What clients actually find when they go: a country where the relationship between development and preservation is taken seriously at a policy level, not just in marketing. Tiger's Nest Monastery. The Punakha Dzong. The Phobjikha Valley and the black-necked cranes that winter there. A food culture built around hyper-local produce that earns the farm-to-table description without trying to.

The lodges at the highest end are among the most considered hospitality experiences in Asia.

If Bhutan has been on your mind, reach out.

Booking a trip soon? Save this checklist. These are the details I review on every trip I plan:Passport validity. Many co...
06/01/2026

Booking a trip soon? Save this checklist. These are the details I review on every trip I plan:

Passport validity. Many countries require six months of validity beyond your return date. Check before anything else.

Entry requirements. Visa rules shift frequently and vary significantly by destination. What applied last year may not apply now.

Travel insurance. Not all policies are equal. Coverage for trip interruption, medical evacuation, and pre-existing conditions all matter, and the differences between policies are usually invisible until something goes wrong.

Flight routing. The lowest fare and the best routing are rarely the same thing. Long layovers, tight connections, and overnight arrivals into complex destinations all have consequences for how a trip begins.

Room category. Categories within the same property can vary significantly in view, size, and experience. Getting the right room for the right stay is something that gets overlooked more than it should.

Timing within the destination. Most places have a week or two that is categorically busier than the dates around them. Knowing where those fall changes both availability and price.

A good travel advisor works through all of this before you ever see a final itinerary. Get in touch if you'd like help planning your next trip correctly.

Does travel feel more expensive right now? It's not your imagination, and it's not one thing.Demand at the top end of th...
05/31/2026

Does travel feel more expensive right now? It's not your imagination, and it's not one thing.

Demand at the top end of the market has grown considerably. More travelers competing for the same number of genuinely excellent hotels, private guides, and limited-access experiences means pricing has moved in one direction.

International premium cabin pricing has shifted significantly since 2022 and hasn't come back down. The windows where pricing softens are shorter than they used to be. Then there's the currency piece. A strong dollar helps in some markets and doesn't in others. Knowing where and when it matters is part of the planning.

What this means practically: the travelers who get the most out of their budget right now are planning further ahead, staying flexible with timing, and being strategic about where they spend well versus where it doesn't change the experience.

If you're trying to make sense of what a trip should actually cost right now, I'm happy to walk through it with you.

Christian Louboutin's first hotel is in a tiny coastal village in Portugal that most people have never heard of. Very on...
05/31/2026

Christian Louboutin's first hotel is in a tiny coastal village in Portugal that most people have never heard of. Very on brand.

Vermelho means red in Portuguese, and Louboutin's signature color shows up exactly where you'd expect it. Each of the 13 rooms is individually designed with antique furniture, hand-painted frescoes, and artwork from his personal collection.

It's a Relais & Châteaux property, and the restaurant Xtian, serving Alentejo cuisine on hand-thrown local tableware, is a big part of why.

The village of Melides itself is the quieter, less discovered neighbor of Comporta on the Alentejo coast. The beach is a ten-minute ride away; guests get there in Fiat 500s with red roofs.

This is the kind of property that books up fast. Message me to start planning!

Truffle hunting with trained dogs in the morning. Twenty-seven holes through Tuscan vineyards in the afternoon. Tablesid...
05/28/2026

Truffle hunting with trained dogs in the morning. Twenty-seven holes through Tuscan vineyards in the afternoon. Tableside tiramisù at dinner inside a medieval castle. That's a Tuesday at Castelfalfi.

It covers everything Tuscany does well in one place. Five restaurants, including La Rocca inside the original castle. A RAKxa spa with both indoor and outdoor pools. Falconry experiences, a cooking class with the executive chef, and a beekeeping session with the resident beekeeper that ends with a honey tasting.

The estate produces its own wine, olive oil, and wildflower honey, all available to taste and take home. San Gimignano is 30 minutes away, and Volterra is 35, so it works well as a base for the wider region too.

If Italy has been on your travel wish list, this is one of the most interesting places to build the trip around. Get in touch to learn more.

DIY travel planning looks free. It rarely is.Researching hotels, reading through reviews, comparing itineraries, and fig...
05/27/2026

DIY travel planning looks free. It rarely is.

Researching hotels, reading through reviews, comparing itineraries, and figuring out which experiences are actually worth booking rather than just well-marketed. A two-week trip often represents 20 to 30 hours of work before anything is confirmed. For most people, that time has a real cost.

Then there's the invisible cost: what you don't know you're missing. The hotel that looks strong online but has a known service issue. The guide who changes how a destination feels entirely. The upgrade that was available and simply never offered. The reservation that could have been made three months out and wasn't.

And the small mistakes that add up. A transfer that doesn't account for timing. A sequence of stops that requires unnecessary backtracking. A decision made without context that costs more to fix than it would have cost to get right from the beginning.

Working with a travel advisor doesn't just save time. It changes the quality of the trip, and often the cost of it.

If you're planning something and want it done correctly, that's exactly what I'm here for.

It keeps showing up at the top of Caribbean rankings. Most people have never heard of it.Hermitage Bay has landed on the...
05/26/2026

It keeps showing up at the top of Caribbean rankings. Most people have never heard of it.

Hermitage Bay has landed on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List and Travel + Leisure's World's Best Hotels list more than once, and it's not hard to understand why. Thirty suites maximum, adults only (16+), and every single one faces the ocean.

Private plunge pools, daily changing menus built around produce from the resort's own garden, a Tree Bar literally constructed around the trunk of a tree, and a clear-bottomed kayak you can take out any time are included in the rate.

The day trip to Barbuda for lunch at Nobu on Princess Diana Beach is one of the best advisor recommendations I make anywhere in the Caribbean.

Antigua also delivers well beyond the resort. English Harbor, 365 beaches, and some of the best sailing culture in the Eastern Caribbean are all worth building time around.

If the Caribbean is on your list this year, message me to start planning!

Some travelers are planning with a different set of priorities right now. Destinations that feel stable, well-organized,...
05/24/2026

Some travelers are planning with a different set of priorities right now. Destinations that feel stable, well-organized, and deliver an excellent experience without uncertainty. A few I keep recommending:

Switzerland, for alpine adventures that are hard to match anywhere. In summer, gondola rides into the Alps, mountain coasters, and for the chocolate lovers, Geneva has an unlimited chocolate pass honored at the city's best artisanal chocolatiers.

Ireland and Scotland, for long summer days, the Wild Atlantic Way, and a hospitality culture that consistently surprises first-time visitors in the best way.

Japan, for cherry blossom season, world-class powder skiing, small-ship cruising along its coastline, and a level of cultural depth that clients say changed how they think about travel entirely.

Australia and New Zealand, for stunning natural landscapes, serious food culture, and a well-run English-speaking environment that works particularly well for first-time long-haul travelers. Book New Zealand now before its first Michelin Guide puts the best tables out of reach.

If this is the kind of trip you're planning, I'll help you find the right destination and design it properly.

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