This Is the Best Beach Towel Hack You’ve Ever Seen

Imagine sipping Champagne above a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, or indulging in a heavenly spa treatment with the Manhattan skyline in view. Even if your wallet can't quite stretch to a full-blown luxury getaway, sprinkling a touch of luxe into your travels can turn an ordinary trip into a memorable adventure. That idea sparked our new series, Flights of Fancy, where we take you along for a trip to the luxury experiences around the cities we adore.

I turned off my phone, slipped it into my weekender bag, and typed 28920 Pacific Coast Highway into my car's GPS. Next stop: the historic bungalows at Hotel June Malibu for a weekend of unplugging and creative escape.

Since the 1940s, Hotel June (formerly known as the Malibu Riviera Hotel) has attracted artists, musicians, and writers to hole up, avoid the distractions of Los Angeles, and simply create. Bob Dylan famously took up residence at the hotel in 1974 to write his album "Blood on the Tracks" in bungalow 13. The art-loving owners, a married couple named Wayne and Helen Wilcox, took up residence in rooms 1, 2, and 3 and even built a photography dark room on the property.

In the years since its restoration, Hotel June has become an iconic PCH destination to unwind and delight in Malibu's thriving local community. As a typical millennial who's glued to their digital devices 24/7, I couldn't be more thrilled for an excuse to log off and luxuriate in the present moment in the scenic hills of Malibu.

Planning a similar trip? Here's everything you need to know before you go to Hotel June Malibu, plus, what to do while you're in town.

Checking In At Hotel June Malibu

Located one mile from Zuma Beach, Hotel June Malibu features 13 rooms that reflect the serenity of the surrounding neighborhood. The renovated mid-century inspired bungalows include king-size Casper beds, Aesop Bath products, custom deadstock vintage robes, a curated minibar stocked with Health-Ade Kombucha, La Colombe cold brew, and Olipop (among others), Wi-Fi if you need to stay connected, air conditioning, walk-in showers, and private patios with garden views.

Thoughtful touches like vintage fixtures, designer lighting and luxury linens bring a five-star experience to your environs.

Other Hotel June Malibu perks include its dog-friendly policy, meaning you can bring along your fur babies to enjoy the stay, too! Note that there's a one-time pet fee for dogs under 45 pounds, but 10 percent of your pet fee is donated to the Best Friends Animal Society to help a pet in need.

The Hotel June Malibu bungalow exterior is lush with planted cacti and shrubbery and sits across four acres of land. Although it's right off a high-trafficked highway, the street noise was minimal once inside. By nightfall, it's remote location makes the hotel an ideal locale for stargazing with an accompanying soundtrack of nearby frog ribbits and cricket chirping. Talk about off-the-beaten path!

Hotel June Malibu: The Amenities 

Once you've settled into your spacious room, be sure to check out what else this private Malibu retreat has to offer, such as a gorgeous heated swimming pool and deck.

You'll also find hammocks, surfboards, Linus Bikes, and open spaces with ample seating to stretch out, relax and recharge.

Hotel June Malibu: Food

The hotel teamed up with Gjusta (a local artisan deli and bakery) to offer light bites available on the property from 7am to 11pm. Menu highlights include gluten free banana bread, a baklava croissant, a variety of salads, and build your own charcuterie boards.

There's plenty of open air seating around the property for you to enjoy take out meals or friendly chit-chat with other hotel guests.

What To Do In Malibu

If it's adventure you seek, you've come to the right place. My top recommendation when in Malibu is to take in the views from the iconic Pacific Coast Highway. There are plenty of shoulders to pull over and park to see sweeping coastal vistas dotted with blooming bougainvillea. The view changes throughout the day depending on the sunlight, so be sure you plan a stop around sunset for a breathtaking scene.

The Best Beaches In Malibu

Malibu's beaches are famous for attracting surfers and leisure-seekers alike. Get to these beaches early to scope out the best spot for relaxing in the sun:

• Zuma Beach
• El Matador State Beach
• Surfrider Beach
• Leo Carrillo State Beach (one of the few dog-friendly beaches in the area)

Oceanside Hiking

If you want to immerse yourself in natural landscapes beyond the beach, there are a number of oceanside trails to enjoy. Zuma Canyon Trailhead is a dog-friendly 2.1 mile loop that'll take about an hour to complete. I was lucky enough to experience this particular hike after a rainy winter, so the hillside was covered in overgrown yellow wildflowers and lush greenery that is atypical for Malibu. Due to recent rain, part of the trail took me through a flooded creek, so fair warning to wear your hiking boots!

A few other nearby hiking locations include Solstice Canyon, Point Dume, and Malibu Creek State Park.

Malibu Village and Malibu Country Mart are adjacent shopping centers teeming with delicious food options. For a more ambient meal with Greek fare, head to Taverna Tony for top-notch Mediterranean eats. I enjoyed the complimentary creamy Taramosalata dip and warm bread that accompanies each table, and when my server noticed my dog under the table, he brought him some meatball scraps to feast on. The moussaka, grilled calamari, and Saganaki flaming cheese were other menu highlights.

Where To Eat In Malibu: Broad Street Oyster Co.

Located in the same shopping center as Taverna Tony, Broad Street Oyster Co. is a must if you're in Malibu. Their famous lobster rolls come in two styles: warm with butter or cold with mayo. Both are perfect treats after a day spent basking in the California sun.

A moment for the lobster rolls, pictured above. The lively restaurant from Christopher Tompkins has been a Malibu mainstay since 2019.

Where To Eat: Malibu Farm at Malibu Pier

The Malibu Pier is one of Malibu's most popular tourist attractions for good reason. This California State Park also features Malibu Farm and Malibu Farm Cafe for convenient oceanside eats and drinks. Sit by the water and feel your stress melt away as the ocean breeze whooshes by.

This preliminary list of what to do, see, and eat in Malibu is only the tip of the iceberg, of course. I hope it inspires you to chart your own unplugged retreat within Malibu's 21 miles of uninterrupted coastline. Fair warning though: After a few days of mellowing out in the sun, slathering on your SPF, and replenishing yourself with salty seafood, ocean breezes, and endless sunsets across the horizon, you'll probably start to wonder why everyday life can't feel as good as this. So take it all in while you can, and queue up a Malibu Zillow search for the long journey home. A girl can dream—er, manifest—right?

Main photo: Hotel June Malibu

Follow along for all your summer travel needs with our Flights of Fancy series and Jetset Journeys series.

Halle Bailey Performs “Part of Your World” at Disneyland

On the May 14 episode of American Idol, Halle Bailey just performed "Part of Your World" at Disneyland with stunning visuals and a beautiful dress.

"first time singing part of your world live since filming 😭🌊", she says on TikTok. "singing vocals in freezing cold weather at 3am in [the] morning while [the] park is closed is no joke but we did it!"

Halle Bailey Is A Real Life Disney Princess

While on a trip to Disney World, Bailey "met this beautiful lady Mila Rose who made me cry," Bailey said in her Instagram stories. "She just hugged me so tight."

This moment — along with all the fan reactions to Bailey's casting — prove just how important representation is.

Watch The Official Trailer For "The Little Mermaid"

This is our first real look at Melissa McCarthy's Ursula and we're obsessed. It's clear that this new film will have all of the emotion and beauty we loved in the original cartoon.

See The Poster For The Movie

Is The Little Mermaid Coming In 2023?

Yes! The Little Mermaid premiered on May 26, 2023.

Who Is Playing Ariel In "The Little Mermaid"?

In the new live action remake, Ariel will be played by actress and singer Halle Bailey. Jodi Benson voiced the original cartoon. After Bailey received backlash due to her role as Ariel, she isn't letting it shake her.

"I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special, and that they should be a princess in every single way,” Bailey says in an interview with Variety.

Who Else Is In The Cast?

In addition to Bailey as Ariel, we'll see Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Simone Ashley as Indira, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.

When Was "The Little Mermaid" 2023 Announced?

Deadline announced that the remake was in its early stages in 2016 but it wasn't until 2019 that Bailey and the rest of the cast began to be announced. Disney dropped the first teaser for the movie at the D23 Expo the weekend of September 9, 2022 when they announced a bunch of brand new titles.

How can I watch Little Mermaid 2023 at home?

Great news! If you saw the under-the-sea spectacular multiple times in theaters (we did!) then you'll be able to watch the full film on Disney+ starting September 6.

What Are People Saying?

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!