If the Flintstones Vacationed in France: A Guide to the Cave Villages

If a French chateau is a little out of your vacation budget, why not consider a cave house? Unforgettably unique and even more historic, the “troglodyte” homes of France; those ancient rocks dwellings dotted along quiet country roads of the Loire, or deep in the basin of Dordogne; were built 100 millions years ago by…

An Arctic Seaside Town they call “The Paris of the North”

Today, we’re pointing our compass to an alternative seaside town – the Arctic island city of Tromsø, Norway, known for over a century as the “Paris of the North” for its blend of mainland-European and Nordic culture. Dream of spending a night under the Northern Lights in your own Bio-Dome-like house? It awaits you here.…

My Perfect Little Paris Attic

A nineteenth-century poet once described the Place Dauphine as the ‘vagina of Paris’, because of its erotic triangular V shape. Rumour has it King Henri IV modelled the place after the private parts of his favourite courtesan. Ah, French romance. Vaginas aside, it is one of my favourite squares in Paris, tucked away on an…

Vacation Inside the Belly of California’s Whale House

There’s a sleeping giant in the trees of Santa Barbara, California. Some call it “the Whale House”; others the “the Snail House” thanks to its hypnotic curves, which camouflage so well into the trees that they’re easily missed. The mansion is like a portal into a 1970s SoCal fairytale for locals, and the occasional tourist, of…

Can I Interest You in a Giraffe Wine Safari?

It involves a jeep trek through the beachside hills of Los Angeles, lots of wine, and the (near) guarantee of a kiss from a celebrity giraffe named Stanley. At the “Malibu Wine Safari”, where the movie industry’s animals go to retire, here, you’ll find the kind of Hollywood-meets-hakuna-matata experience you never knew you needed… The safari grounds are…

Once Upon a Summer in Black Eden…

Today, the glory days of Idlewild feel a bit like a fever dream. Just ask any of the African American vacationers who made the pilgrimage to the Michigan resort from the 1910s-60s. “It was something that you’d never believe…stranger than fiction,” reflects one woman in Coy Davis Jr.’s documentary, Whatever Happened to Idlewild? In the midst of Jim…

Cruising with Agatha Christie on the Last Steamship of the Nile

The passage up the Blue Nile has always been both a physical experience and an allegorical tale. Thousands of years after pharaohs were ferried to the afterlife on golden barges, the steamboat began transporting mesmerised 19th century tourists past their temples in search of something otherworldly. This graceful journey up the river, passing ancient pyramids and…

The Vault

A Hauntingly Good Guide to Autumn in New York

No one does Fall like the East Coast. The air grows perfectly crisp, and a tide of orange leaves sweeps the Catskills and Central Park alike in such cinematic fashion, you practically expect Meg Ryan to come sauntering around every corner with a jug of piping hot cider. Of course, this year is different in…

Pssst! You've stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy's Keyholders.

There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic …

Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration, collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

Apply now to unlock the Vault

Keyholder Login

Decline of the ‘Dirty Dancing’ Dream

We’ve made a few trips to explore the abandoned resorts of the Borscht Belt of New York. Once places like Grossinger’s, the Concord, Kutscher’s and the Pines, were the epitome of a swanky summer holiday for New Yorkers. All through the Catskills were dozens of all-inclusive resorts, glitzy enough to entice the mostly Jewish, upper-middle…

Swimming with Ghosts at the Spectacular Sutro Baths

Water parks used to be a lot different before the days of chlorine pools, lifeguards, and road trips. Take, for example, San Francisco’s Sutro Baths… The Sutro Baths were built in Lands End in 1894 by wealthy San Franciscan Adolph Sutro, a German immigrant who had made a fortune by figuring out how to drain and…