6Teen Summers Inc

06/04/2026

Can I tell you one of the most common things that catches families out when booking Europe? 🇬🇧🇫🇷

You spend ages finding the perfect hotel in London or Paris. You love everything about it. And then you realise the room only sleeps two.

European hotels were largely built before American family travel was even a concept. A standard double in a classic Parisian hotel was designed for two adults. Full stop.

So you're suddenly looking at two separate rooms, which can double your accommodation spend overnight, or you start settling for a property that isn't really what you wanted.

Here's what most people also don't realise: if you book a room for two adults and one child but arrive as four, European hotels will move you to a higher room category at check-in and charge you for it. It's not a technicality they'll overlook. Fire safety and licensing rules are taken seriously across the continent. And that surprise bill after a long transatlantic flight with tired kids is not the start to a holiday anyone wants.

I've just published a full post on the blog walking through exactly how to navigate this. Which major hotel groups build their European properties with American families in mind (and why that matters), which independent European properties actually work for a family of four, and what to ask for that you'll never find on a booking website.

Because paying for two full rooms when there was another option all along is completely avoidable.

Read it here 👉 https://www.6teensummers.com/blog/europe-hotel-rooms-family-four-booking-tips

And if you're planning a Europe trip this year or next, drop me a message. I'd love to help.

Most European hotel rooms only sleep two. Here's how to book smart for a family of four without automatically paying for two full rooms and when to call in an expert.

06/04/2026

Switzerland goes well beyond the postcard.

The mountain views get the attention, but it's the experience that stays with people. Lunch on a terrace while trains move through the Alps below. Swimming in lakes surrounded by peaks in summer. Panoramic rail journeys that do half the work for you. Then returning in winter for ski days and villages that feel completely transformed under fresh snow.

Ready to find your Switzerland?

06/02/2026

Wondering where you can spend two weeks in Italy and never once feel like you're sharing it with everyone else? (Hint: You just have to go south.)

Vista Ostuni is a masseria property in the Valle d'Itria, perfectly positioned to experience everything Puglia has to offer. Ostuni's whitewashed hilltop streets are minutes away, the trulli of Alberobello are within easy reach, the sea caves at Polignano a Mare are worth the drive, and the coastline here is some of the most beautiful in Italy.

The property also delivers on what Puglia does best: local produce and some of the finest olive oil in Italy. And somehow, despite the growing word of mouth, it hasn't tipped into the kind of overtourism that has changed the experience elsewhere in Italy.

Ready to explore southern Italy? Message me to start planning.

06/01/2026

Explora Journeys is not your average cruise. Not even close.

Smaller ships. More time in port. No assigned dining times. An onboard experience that feels like a boutique hotel that happens to be moving. And itineraries that reach places the larger ships simply can't.

The Monaco Grand Prix itinerary is one of the most requested experiences I book: race weekend access, the right vantage point, and a ship positioned in the harbor where the view is part of the event.

If cruising has never quite been your thing, this is worth a second look. Get in touch.

05/31/2026

DIY travel planning looks free. It rarely is.

Researching hotels, reading reviews, comparing itineraries, working out which experiences are actually worth booking rather than just well marketed. A two-week trip can easily represent 30 hours of work before anything is confirmed. For most people, that time has a real cost.

Then there's 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 needed to be made three months out and wasn't.

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

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 properly, that's exactly what I'm here for.

05/29/2026

Cool-cations have been trending this summer. I've been recommending them for years.

The idea is simple. Plan around comfort and experience rather than the calendar, and you end up in some of the most spectacular places on earth with a fraction of the usual crowds and temperatures that actually make you want to be outside.

I've sailed the fjordlands in New Zealand and stood on Vancouver Island watching the old growth forests meet the coast. That quality of stillness, of actually being somewhere rather than surviving it, is what these destinations do better than anywhere.

A few I'm recommending right now: Norway's fjord country in summer, where the light at that latitude genuinely stops people. Iceland, long days and dramatic landscapes without the southern Europe chaos. Vancouver Island, one of the most underrated summer destinations in North America. Alaska, glacier trekking and golden evenings that stretch well past dinner. The Atacama Desert in Chile, warm days, cool nights and the best stargazing on earth. And Patagonia, remote and dramatic in a way that is genuinely hard to describe.

Peak season travel without the heat, the crowds or the chaos.

If one of these is calling, message me and let's work out which one fits you best.

05/28/2026

If White Lotus Season 3 had you quietly Googling the hotel, you're not alone.

Anantara Mai Khao is on Phuket's longest beach, bordered by a national park, with 92 pool villas set around lotus-filled lagoons in a traditional Thai village style.

It's a completely different experience from what most people associate with the island.

My favourite thing to recommend here is the Spice Spoons cooking class. Market visit first, then a traditional Thai kitchen. The kind of detail that makes a trip genuinely memorable.

If Thailand is on your list, message me and let's start planning.

📍 Phuket, Thailand

05/26/2026

Every room. Every suite. Every view faces the Taj Mahal.

Oberoi Amarvilas sits less than half a mile from the East Gate and consistently ranks among the top hotels in Asia. It's one of the first properties I mention when a client tells me India is on their list.

India trips are also some of the most talked-about trips my clients ever take. Not just during the trip. For years after. The country rewards great planning more than almost anywhere else I send people, and this is one of the properties I build that planning around.

If India is on your radar, get in touch. I'd love to help design the right journey.

📍 Agra, India

05/24/2026

Some of the best trips I plan aren't for couples or solo travellers. They're for three generations under one roof, or a family milestone that someone decided was finally worth doing properly.

The format varies more than most families realise. Safari, private villa, small ship cruise, ski chalet, luxury ranch, a cultural journey with a private guide. What matters isn't the format. It's the intention behind it.
Every great multigenerational trip I've planned has one thing in common: it was designed that way from the start. Not assembled, not guessed at. Designed.

If you're thinking about a trip that actually brings everyone together, that's exactly what I do. Reach out and let's start the conversation.

05/23/2026

Europe gets all the attention. South America gets all the rewards.

And right now, it is the best-kept secret in luxury travel.

While everyone is fighting for peak-season availability in Italy and France, South America is offering world-class hotels, extraordinary food, and a fraction of the crowds. The destinations have never been better.

Peru has a food culture that has genuinely surprised the world, and properties around Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley that rival anything in Europe for design and experience.

Colombia has gone from under the radar to unmissable. Cartagena's old city, the coffee region, and Medellin's food and design scene are drawing serious travellers.

Argentina rounds it out with Buenos Aires, one of the great city experiences anywhere on earth, and Mendoza wine country that competes with the best regions in the world.

Three countries. Extraordinary experiences.

If South America has been sitting on your list, this is the year to stop waiting.
Message me and let's plan it properly.

📍 Peru | Colombia | Argentina