Woolloomooloo

Ovolo is a hotel for the design-minded. There are several locations of this hotel chain, but we’re partial to Woolloomooloo with its bright, occasionally cheeky, approach to hospitality. There’s a well-equipped gym (open twenty-four hours), a modern vibe throughout, an inviting lounge where you can play a few rounds of pool, and—this was a first for us—the minibar is complimentary. Guest rooms feel optimistic and contemporary, with generous bookshelves, interior balconies, playful wall decorations of things like two enormous orange fish staring at each other, and brightly colored, edgy furniture—mustard-yellow chaises longues, pink stools, Alexas, iPads, and Apple TVs. Another plus: Ovolo has its own Spotify playlist to set the tone.

Flour and Stone is the exact bakery Nadine Ingram wanted to open after years cutting her teeth at top London institutions like Le Gavroche and the Ivy. These aren’t New Age cakes and gluten-free confections. The pastries at Flour and Stone are the nostalgic sweet treats you might have eaten at your grandmother’s on Saturdays. Victoria sponges with rings of jam in the middle, apple tarts, lemon drizzle cakes, sometimes, if you’re lucky, the gone-in-three-bites gingerbread men of your childhood. To re-create this sugary magic at home, do what we did: Buy Ingram’s cookbook.