01
Curation is a responsibility
A recommendation has value only when it is earned. Every addition to Notes should improve the collection as a whole.
Notes Editions
About
Notes.
Notes Editions is an independent publishing project dedicated to places of beauty, culture and character.
We believe that places matter.
Not simply as destinations, but as expressions of history, craftsmanship, landscape and identity. The places we return to most often are rarely defined by a single landmark or attraction. They are shaped by the people who care for them, the traditions they preserve and the culture they continue to create.
Notes exists to document those places.
What Notes is
Notes is a collection of destination guides and editorial stories focused on places with a strong sense of identity.
We are interested in destinations where beauty, culture and daily life remain closely connected — where craftsmanship still matters, traditions continue to evolve and the character of a place can still be felt through its architecture, food, landscape and institutions.
Each destination is built gradually, through research, observation and repeated visits. Rather than attempting to be comprehensive, we focus on the places, people and ideas that best express what makes a destination distinctive.
Our guides are designed to evolve over time, growing alongside the places they document.
What we cover
Notes focuses on places that reveal something meaningful about the destinations they belong to.
Hotels, restaurants, workshops, vineyards, galleries, gardens, estates, museums and cultural institutions all appear within our guides, but only when they contribute to a broader understanding of place.
We are particularly drawn to living heritage — the traditions, crafts, businesses and cultural practices that continue to shape daily life rather than simply preserve the past.
Alongside our guides, the Journal explores the stories, individuals and ideas that help explain why places look, feel and function the way they do.
What you'll find in Notes
Notes is organised around four editorial formats, each designed to document places from a different perspective.
Destination Guides
Our destination guides bring together selected places across five categories: Stay, Table, Art & Culture, Boutique and Experience. Each guide is built gradually through research, observation and repeated visits, and continues to evolve over time.
Notes on Cities
Published annually, Notes on Cities offers a focused portrait of a single city at a particular moment in time. Each edition brings together essential places, cultural institutions, neighbourhoods, stories and observations that help define the character of the city.
Notes Icons
Notes Icons highlights the places, institutions and cultural landmarks that have helped shape a destination's identity. These are enduring reference points within a region's cultural landscape — places whose significance extends beyond their immediate function and whose influence continues across generations.
Journal
The Journal explores the stories, individuals and ideas that explain why places look, feel and function the way they do. Subjects range from cultural history and architecture to craftsmanship, food culture, design and contemporary life.
The Journal includes recurring editorial series, including Conversations with makers, artists, custodians and cultural leaders whose work contributes to the character and continuity of a place.
Together, these formats allow Notes to document a destination from multiple perspectives.
The guides focus on places. Notes on Cities captures the character of urban life. Notes Icons identifies the institutions and cultural landmarks that shape identity, while the Journal explores the stories, ideas and individuals behind them.
Over time, they create an evolving record of culture, landscape and local identity.
Our approach
We do not attempt to cover every place.
We focus on the places worth caring about.
Selection matters. Context matters. Understanding matters.
The goal is not simply to recommend where to go, but to provide a deeper understanding of the places that continue to shape their regions through culture, craftsmanship, stewardship and creativity.
We believe remarkable places deserve thoughtful documentation.
What we believe
What we believe.
Six principles guide every decision at Notes — from the places we choose to the way we write about them. Together they describe how the collection is built and kept.
02
Independence matters
Editorial decisions are made solely in the interest of the reader. Trust is built slowly and protected carefully.
03
Depth matters more than scale
We prefer a small number of destinations explored thoroughly to a large number covered superficially.
04
Beauty deserves attention
Beauty enriches experience, shapes memory and often reveals something meaningful about a place and its culture.
05
Culture is both inherited and created
Some places preserve centuries of history. Others contribute new ideas, interpretations and forms of craftsmanship. Both belong in the story of a destination.
06
A strong sense of place is irreplaceable
The most memorable destinations are inseparable from their landscape, traditions, people and way of life.
Founder & Editorial Director
Monica D. Royce
Monica D. Royce is the founder and editorial director of Notes Editions.
Having studied art and design, and lived in several countries, Monica D. Royce developed a lasting interest in the relationship between places, culture and identity.
Through Notes Editions, she researches and documents destinations with cultural depth, focusing on architecture, craftsmanship, landscape and the people who shape them.
Frequently asked questions
Notes is a curated collection of destination guides — hotels, restaurants, cafés, boutiques, galleries and experiences — selected by people who have visited them. We publish permanent Destinations guides, annual Notes On city guides, and Icons, our standing selection of the places that help define a destination.
No. We do not take commission on reservations and we have no financial interest in where you book. We link directly to places so you can contact them yourself.
We visit every place before listing it and assess it against the same lens: quality, character and authenticity. A place earns its listing by being genuinely good — not by being famous, recently opened or recommended by someone who hasn't been.
Yes. We do not list places we have not visited ourselves. We do not compile recommendations from other sources or accept suggestions without visiting first.
We update the guides when things change — when a place closes, changes hands, or a new discovery earns its place. Notes On city guides are updated annually every December.
Yes. Send suggestions to contact@noteseditions.com. We read every message. We cannot promise to visit every suggestion, but we do take them seriously — particularly for destinations we are actively building.
No. We do not accept payment for inclusion, advertising in exchange for coverage, or any arrangement that could influence what we recommend. Independence is the foundation of the guide.
Notes On is an annual series of city guides published in digital format, released each December for the year ahead. Each edition presents a curated selection of the hotels, restaurants, cultural institutions, shops and experiences that define a city at that particular moment.
An Icon is a place we consider indispensable to the identity of a destination — reviewed against six criteria including sense of place, cultural significance and craftsmanship. Icons are a standing selection, revisited over time rather than tied to a single guide or edition.
We use a combination of our own photography and images provided by the places themselves.
Provence, Tuscany and California are our current destination guides. Sicily, New England, Yucatán and Andalusia are currently in development for 2027. Each destination remains a work in progress: guides are revisited every year, with new places added as the region continues to evolve.