Sat discreetly in the heart of Mayfair and set over 5,500 square feet with Old Bond Street a literal stone’s throw away, one makes their way up five floors to be released into an oasis of clean lines, cool tones, and – dare you miss it – two whacking great mock-ups of jet fuselages.
Set in a sprawling country estate with a gentle grasp on the Cotswolds just moments away from Cheltenham, a long driveway lined with neatly coiffured hedgerows leads to The Greenway Hotel & Spa. Resident to the same lineage from its construction in 1584 until 1854, after just three subsequent owners, it opened as a luxury hotel in 1945. Relatively untouched, the Elizabethan architecture still reigns throughout the grand Grade II-listed 16th-century manor.
Egypt is one of the four oldest civilizations, an ancient land steeped in Bedouin traditions. In the South East Sinai lies Dahab – not merely a town, but a bohemian arcadia and a powerful fusion of culture and progression, where the past and future coexist harmoniously.
Freshly back from a YogiSki retreat in the French Alps”, is a phrase quite enjoyable to leave hanging in the air at an early morning on set. It holds steady with awe; with a pinch of the smugness generally associated with regaling tales of a ski break, alongside a heaped spoonful of intrigue at the idea of early mornings stridden with a grounding yoga practice, deep in the mountains.
LeShuttle has been a fixture in the UK to France movement of people and goods for almost 25 years, first seeing passengers in May 1994. Some 90 million vehicles have been estimated to have used the service. Movement with pets is integral to their service, having transported over two million cats and dogs since the year 2000.
Half-walled with glass, a surrounding decked courtyard garden is enclosed with a stone wall peppered with ferns. Textural elements from our backdrop are mirrored in the interiors, with well-tended plants, bark-tiled feature walls, underheated wooden floors, a hanging fireplace and his and hers sinks held up by exposed tree roots.
Embarking on the inaugural ski trip of the season is a journey I relish every year. My repatriation to the mountains for each new alpine season is an assault on the senses, both physically and mentally. This season I sought a destination that would combine alpine charm with my usual hunt for contemporary sophistication. The Falkensteiner Hotel Kronplatz in South Tyrol’s Puster Valley, nestled at the foot of Kronplatz mountain in the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage area, was a very strong choice indeed.
At the heart of this verdant expanse, in the southern foothills of the Sintra Mountains, I discovered the Penha Longa Resort; a sanctuary that beautifully marries luxury with the great outdoors and boasts one of the top 30 golf courses in Continental Europe and among the top 10 in Portugal.
