Gazing out from the top deck of the ferry, excitement rises, as land ebbs into focus. The outline of the vintage, white picket fences, bobbing boats and luscious green foliage draws closer. This is Vineyard Haven, one of the six main towns on Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s Vineyard, or ‘the Vineyard’, is an island located south […]
Hotel Cala Di Volpe – The Shimmering Costa Esmeralda, Sardinia
Cala di Volpe, or the Bay of the Fox is a seductive, secluded, sultry enclave hidden in the eastern corner of Sardinia. Its where its namesake, the Cala Di Volpe Hotel, was born, during the hedonistic era of the sixties; a playground for the Aga Khan and his equally exuberant friends. Designed in 1963 by […]
Pine Cliffs Resort, Algarve. The Luxury Collection.
Stepping onto the tarmac at Faro airport, it’s the heat. It sweeps you off your feet. Still floating, and with a rising delight, you arrive at one of Europe’s most indulgent resorts – the Algarve. Beaches, seafood, golf… and oranges. Greeted by the driver in Arrivals, then whisked to a gleaming white Mercedes, your chariot […]
Dromoland Castle Hotel & Country Estate, Ireland
The gentleman waits patiently at the looming metal gates with a clipboard. No ordinary clipboard; gold embossed, with Dromoland Castle emblazoned across the front. Meet the gateman. Dressed in red, hat tilted to perfection, he welcomes you to the Narnia that is Dromoland Castle. Past the gate, the journey begins. Driving along landscaped paths, past […]
Captivating Luxury, The Culloden Estate & Spa
The WIFI code is love1066. For those of us not au fait with history, 1066 was the year of the Battle of Hastings, between the Norman French Army of William, Duke of Normandy and English Army under the command of Anglo Saxon King, Harold Goodwinson. Bear with me, there is a point. The Culloden Estate […]
Glorious Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, St Lucia
For centuries, the British and French squabbled and waged diplomatic war to secure the mighty resourceful island of St Lucia. Sugar was its most precious commodity. The plantation is now a Unesco world heritage site, 100 acres of lush rainforest spread as far as the eye can see. During the colonial period the plantations grew dramatically […]
Windjammer, St Lucia. Caribbean Treasure.
One of the superb advantages of visiting an island is the ability to arrive in style, in almost any guise. I chose a boat, silently slipping alongside the jetty, like a pirate in the night, ready to plunder the amazing wares that lay onshore. Solomon brought me. He has a fishing fleet. Well, not quite […]
Swedish Lapland. Bright Lights, Big Delight.
‘Obsession’ – The Oxford English Dictionary describes this as ‘the state in which a person’s mind is completely filled with thoughts of one particular thing or person in a way that is not normal’. They should change it to ‘Aurora’. Everyone that visits Swedish Lapland in the autumn, through to winter, is obsessed. Obsessed with […]
Luscious Ladera, St Lucia. Exhilaration and adventure.
Exhilaration and adventure, that’s Plantation Ridge at Ladera; a masterclass of villas designed with the most scenic spine-tingling view. Waking up from your four-poster bed to the green-framed ocean, mountains shrouded in mist and birds daring to venture where no man can, is not only a luxury, it’s a privilege. The pool is right at […]
Athenaeum, London. Blissfully British.
Throw a Coutts card over your shoulder in London and you won’t have any trouble securing a five-star boudoir, complete with brass door knobs and chocolates on your pillow, especially in Mayfair. The affluent beating heart of the city. But is that what you want? What distinguishes the garish from the graceful? The ostentatious from […]