Relais Chateau

Summer Lodge

I am continually dumfounded by people’s lack of appreciation for history. It can be forgiven of the ill-educated, but surely not anyone with a basic appreciation for England and her peerage system. Irrespective of your political alignment, we would not be the nation we are today without a fair dose of dukes, earls and barons. Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways was the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, a British peer and Member of Parliament in the 18th century. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he held office for six years, gained the rank of Captain before his passing in 1802, and was succeeded by no less than nine children. I think we…

Hotel Rosa Alpina

Having skied most of Europe over the past five years, some places twice, it was time that the team headed to pastures pinker. The Hotel Rosa Alpina resides in San Cassiano in the Dolomites, the epitome of Italian charm. If Peter Sarstedt’s ‘Jet Set’ needs a new bolt hole, San Moritz is out, San Cassiano is in. The small town of San Cassiano is located at the foot of Mount Lavarela. With a population of under 1000 people, it is a welcome change from the hedonistic attitude and footfall of its more meretricious cousins. We shan’t name names. San Casiano is more of a sybaritic escape for the great, the…