Escape

The Texas Caribbean: Sleek new island hideaway is full of Houston connections — and NASA architect power

The tony gathering in the private room at Americas River Oaks was all ears as architect Gui Trotti, a former University of Houston architecture professor, made his presentation on Las Verandas Hotel & Villas, a new resort on the tiny island of Roatán, off the Caribbean coast of Honduras.

Temptations to hop the next plane to Honduras ran high as slides of a white sandy beach, azure waters and palm trees blowing in a warm breeze beckoned on this particularly cold night. The spectacular Caribbean design and furnishings pictured were enough to convince anyone with beach fever to sign up. With non-stop flights between Houston and Honduras, flying time is less than three hours.

Trotti's early career in Houston included working with NASA on lunar bases, Mars vehicles and the Space Station.

Through his architecture firm based in Cambridge, Mass., Trotti designed the luxury project that stretches across 400 acres and includes an 18-hole golf course. Trotti and Bill Sharman, chairman and CEO of the Houston-based Lancaster Group, headed up the gathering aimed at encouraging investment in one of the private villas and/or reservations in one of Las Verandas' hotel rooms. The project is being developed by Houston-based Pan Caribbean Capital Partners.

Sale of the two- and three-bedroom villas is being handled by Sudhoff Properties and Jacob Sudhoff was among the small group that was wined and dined in style.

Trotti's early career in Houston included working with NASA on lunar bases, Mars vehicles and the Space Station. He designed the Challenger Learning Center for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He later spent two years traveling the world on a sailboat, studying various regions and environments. The wisdom gained from that experience, he told the gathering, was instrumental in his design of Las Verandas.

Jacob Sudhoff of Sudhoff Properties, which is handling Las Verandas sales.

News, Shelby, Las Verandas event, Jacob Sudhoff, February 2014

Photo by Chris Brown

Jacob Sudhoff of Sudhoff Properties, which is handling Las Verandas sales.

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camping awards

Waterfront resort outside Houston named best large campground in Texas

Photo courtesy of Lagoon Ranch Luxury RV and Cabin Resort

Lagoon Ranch Luxury RV and Cabin Resort is the best large campground in Texas for 2026.

Let's TACO 'bout it: The Texas Association of Campground Owners has awarded Lagoon Ranch Luxury RV and Cabin Resort in Onalaska a new title as the best large campground statewide for 2026.

The 54-year-old trade association currently represents over 430 Texas campgrounds, RV parks, and resorts. In 2024, the organization launched its annual TACO Awards to "recognize the hard work of campground owners" throughout the Lone Star State.

Awards are presented in three categories: Small Park of the Year (under 125 sites), Large Park of the Year (125-plus sites), and Glamping Resort of the Year. The 2026 winners were announced at the TACO Annual Spring Meeting and Trade Show on April 21.

Lagoon Ranch is a fairly new campground that opened in April 2025 just an hour outside Houston, and boasts a 1,000-foot shoreline along Lake Livingston. There are 24 custom cabins and 194 RV sites for visitors to camp at the resort, and entertainment opportunities span a basketball and pickleball area, a fitness center, a dog park, and an on-site Texas barbecue restaurant called Pit Row Pit Stop on the Lake.

The resort's most impressive amenity is a 180,000-gallon lagoon-style pool, complete with a swim-up bar, hot tub, spacious lounge areas, and a kid-friendly splash-and-play area.

Lagoon Ranch is an oasis for those who love spending time on the water.Photo courtesy of Lagoon Ranch Luxury RV and Cabin Resort

TACO's Small Park of the Year, River's Edge Campground in Johnson City, is a more distant destination from Houston. The resort is about an hour outside Austin, and about three-and-a-half hours from Houston.

River's Edge is a 100-acre park that offers 57 different sites for campers to enjoy the scenic Hill Country and the Pedernales River. Solo campers, families, and large groups alike can take their pick between tent sites, covered wagons, fully-furnished cabins, and more.

Being in nature is one of the biggest perks of doing a camping trip, and River's Edge encourages visitors to explore the park's two-mile hike and bike trail or go swimming or fishing in the river. The park also provides a nine-hole disc golf course, multiple sport courts for sand volleyball, basketball, pickleball, and cornhole, and a large playground for children.

Texas' best glamping resort
Camp Quitcherbichin (you read that right) in Lake Bridgeport, a camping and RV resort located 90 miles northwest of Dallas, was named the Glamping Resort of the Year.

In addition to RV sites, Airstream trailers, and fully-furnished cabins, resort also has 10 futuristic "Area 51" vessels that look like they came straight out of a sci-fi comic — think space station pods with floor-to-ceiling windows, electronic skylights, modern finishes, and luxe amenities like smart mirrors and heated floors.

Camp Quitcherbichin in Lake Bridgeport "Area 51" vessel The "Area 51" vessels are futuristic tiny homes.Photo by Jeff Crider Photography

Water-based activities are the main entertainment at Camp QYB with pontoon boat, kayak, paddle board, and pedal boat rentals for guests to take advantage of the property's one-mile stretch of waterfront lake access. Night fishers will appreciate the resort's guided night bow fishing tours, and animal lovers can visit the on-site petting zoo to spend time with miniature donkeys, horses, goats, pigs, and a turkey.

Weekends are often packed full of organized activities like scavenger hunts and foam parties for kids, or poker and music bingo nights for adults.

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