Fly me to the moon (and these hotels)

By Dan Howarth

Hey (HAP)ers!

Raise your hand if you’ve personally bawled your eyes out at any point during NASA’s Artemis II mission over the past week? This oh-so casual jaunt around the moon has left me inspired, emotional, and, naturally, curious about the future of space tourism. Blasting non-astronauts into space has been a dream of billionaires like Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos for decades, and this has long been seen as the final frontier for the luxury travel industry. Leaving our planet’s atmosphere, and even one day making it to the moon or beyond, is the ultimate adventure—at least for some. I unpack this a little more below.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget that the wonders of the galaxy can also be enjoyed here on Earth. In this week’s newsletter, Britney Eschelman delves into her personal experience with the growing Dark Sky movement and the boutique hotels capitalizing on locations with the best stargazing. And bringing us safely back down to Earth, Ruby Gregg has compiled her latest news updates from the global travel scene.

As always, thanks for reading! D x

- Dan Howarth, HAP Weekly Newsletter Editor

By Dan Howarth

Fly Me to the Moon

After Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin successfully sent an all-female crew of six into space and back again last year, the future of space tourism was left—excuse the pun—up in the air. Launching famous faces beyond the atmosphere as a PR stunt felt tone-deaf, especially at a time of global turmoil, and the overall public response to the flight was cold. The world was not yet ready for billionaires and celebrities to venture beyond our atmosphere for a jolly, when many more pressing issues here on Earth could benefit from the money and resources. Blue Origin has since paused its tourism program to focus on helping NASA.

However, the Artemis II mission that has unfolded over the past week has managed to strike a much different chord: one of curiosity, discovery, and joy. All of a sudden, we’re optimistic—and even excited—about space travel again. There is of course a huge difference between a scientific research mission and what was effectively an expensive karaoke session in a capsule. But nevertheless, if this and following NASA missions are successful, we may be a giant leap towards putting more people on the moon. And there will be plenty who would be keen to go.

As things stand, a quick journey beyond the Kármán line is as far as non-astronauts can venture. Virgin Galactic offers short suborbital plane flights starting around the $450k mark, while SpaceX touts high-end orbital missions costing millions. While Blue Origin’s website states it is working on “radically reducing the cost of spaceflight,” a multi-day excursion to the moon will require exponentially more effort and consideration around training, comfort, and of course cost. But thanks to Artemis II, this is much more tangible to us than it even was a week ago. As the four crew members make their final descent back to Earth tomorrow, the travel industry’s pioneers will still be looking to the stars until space tourism for the masses is a full reality—which could be sooner than we think.

By Ruby Gregg

I’m Ruby, HAP’s News Editor. Each week, I highlight the travel, hotel, and lifestyle stories catching our Editor-in-Chief Brandon Berkson’s eye—and what should catch yours too. Have an above-par piece of news? Pitch me at [email protected]

United Airlines is marking its centennial with a limited-edition Adidas Samba, reimagined in signature United Blue with a globe-stamped heel. A subtle gold “100 years” insignia also makes this shoe a collector’s dream.

Marni turns an iconic Milan café into a playful, immersive pop-up for Milan Design Week. Bold colors, unexpected details, and charm in spades make it impossible not to linger.

The Setai St. Maarten marks the brand’s Caribbean debut with a 205-key collection of villas and suites set along Indigo Bay. Expect the same serene ethos, complimented by a backdrop of turquoise water and sugar-soft sand.

Miiro Templeton Garden has launched a new immersive experience that transports guests into a Wes Anderson film—much like The Grand Budapest Hotel. Symmetry, color, and playful details turn every corner into storybook magic.

The Grand Palais is welcoming a vibrant new exhibition dedicated to Henri Matisse, celebrating the artist’s bold use of color and form—it’s a must-see moment on the Paris cultural calendar.

Scorpios kicks off Summer 2026 this May with a lineup of music, art, and island rituals that have made it a global destination. Highlights include a live set by Nicolas Jaar, immersive installations, and the barefoot luxury that keeps guests coming back year after year.

Luštica Bay has launched The Peaks Townhouses, a new collection of residences perched above the Adriatic. Modern, airy, and effortlessly coastal, these spaces beckon travelers to experience Montenegro’s glittering shores.

By Britney Eschelman

I’ve always been drawn to the sky—but not necessarily in the way you’d expect.

My freshman year at CU Boulder, I signed up for Astronomy… mostly because I loved astrology. They are, as I quickly learned, very different things. I spent seminars under the Fiske Planetarium’s 65-foot dome attempting to calculate moon phases and map constellations, quietly realizing I may have made a scheduling error. I scraped by with a B-, but the fascination stuck—even though the formulas didn’t.

It wasn’t until years later, in January 2025, on Lizard Island in the northern Great Barrier Reef, that it all clicked. I’ve never seen the Milky Way so clearly in my life. The only thing I remembered from that astronomy class—my new favorite star cluster, Pleiades, or as most people call it, the “Seven Sisters”—was clear as day thanks to zero light pollution. It was the kind of moment that really made me pause.

So when the news broke this week about Artemis II—NASA’s first crewed mission to orbit the moon in over 50 years—my mind went straight back to that horizon. It feels like a turning point for how we think about “destination” travel.

For so long, travel has been defined by where we could land. Now, it’s starting to seem like it’s about the depth of the view. We’ve spent years measuring experiences by coordinates on a map. But lately, I’m realizing it might be something else entirely—how much of the universe we can actually see.

We likely will not all make it to orbit anytime soon, but places like Lizard Island offer something similar: perspective. A reminder of scale. Of how small we are, in the best possible way.

Maybe the future of travel isn’t about the next “it” destination at all. Maybe it’s just about finding a place dark enough to finally look up.

I wrote more about Lizard Island here.