Travel

Nizuc Hotel & Spa

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Let’s set the tone for our first day in Cancun. The Nizuc Resort & Spa was originally designed as a Cancun hideaway for Mexico’s president, so there are two elements that are guaranteed: style and privacy. Basically, the Mexican equivalent of Chequers – minus the rain and Buckinghamshire countryside. The resort is located on Punta Nizuc, a short 15-minute drive from the airport, but still a decent distance away from Cancun City, which I affectionately refer to as the battle zone. The hotel sits on 29 acres between a lagoon and has a protective mangrove forest And of course, a beautifully kept private beach. When we arrived somewhat jetlagged on…

Bedford Lodge Spa & Hotel

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Riding the jam-packed Jubilee Line on a Monday morning with passengers grimacing at each other in silent solidarity, I decided I needed a break. Not just a break from work, but a break from the city. A mid-morning trawl of the internet brought up the Bedford Lodge Spa and Hotel, an eighteenth-century hunting lodge that had been converted into a hotel in the 1940s. The Hotel is in Newmarket, about an hour and a half from London. Far enough away to feel like you’re out of the city, but not so far that you spend the majority of your weekend in a car. Bedford Lodge is set in 3 acres…

Hotel Rosa Alpina

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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…

The Viceroy Riviera Maya

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Having landed in Mexico on our journey back from Belize, the expectation level for our last night was fairly restrained. The Viceroy Riviera Maya was our least-researched resort. I couldn’t tell the team what the accommodation would be like or what to expect in terms of scenery. This is not down to a David Brent-sized lack of professionalism, but more a case of wanting the last night of our trip to have an air of surprise to it. Usually these trips are confirmed, agreed, signed in triplicate, embossed, sent for the royal seal, buried in soft peat for three months, unearthed and filed away somewhere. This trip was no different;…

Decadence in Dubrovnik

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Croatia’s fairytale city, Dubrovnik is every bit as enchanting as Paris or Venice. Indeed, the city has slowly become a go-to destination for the au courant, as well as the rich and famous.  Our editor, Laith Al-Kaisy, took a seven-day tour of the city to see how the post-war mindset and investment has helped cultivate some of the most indulgent experiences in Europe Dubrovnik Palace Straight ahead, beyond the French doors and over the balcony, the edge of Dubrovnik gently falls into the Adriatic Ocean. It’s too dark to actually see, but it’s there. You can hear the water playfully slap the brusque, arid rocks that peg the land’s end….

Alentejo

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Alentejo is a region that remains unspoiled by other tourists: sparsely populated and baking hot, it is a place that invites you to savour relaxing in spa hotels and on boats, eating Alentejo’s distinct bread dipped in locally produced olive oil from traditional pottery dishes, and drinking the plentiful variety of developing wines. Relax, eat, drink; the building blocks of a perfect break. Any landscape that achieves nearly three thousand hours of sunlight every year is an impressive alternative to the steel grey sky of the United Kingdom. And the rolling hills of Alentejo are spread liberally with vines, olive trees and cork oak woodland. The rivers, lakes and beaches…

Spa Illuminata, London, W1K

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It’s usually around the end of February, after several months of cold, rain and wind that my skin just gives up. No matter how many creams and potions I apply, nothing can alleviate the dry dullness that’s become synonymous with these winter months. I needed an intervention. Spa Illuminata, located just off Park Lane, is a tall Victorian building that looks like a high-end corner shop. If it wasn’t for the large gold lettering, I would have walked straight past. Once inside, it was obviously nothing of the sort. The decor gives the illusion of high ceilings being held up by Roman-esque pillars; the floor and fixtures are all marble…

Art of Flight

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On my first ski trip, what seems like millennia ago, my friends insisted that we watch Art of Flight. It was a right of passage they said. Sure there were plenty of other cult boarding films out there. But art of flight was really pushing the boundaries. You try carrying five 4K cameras weighing in at 60 pounds a piece into back country. The staff at The Review are always interested in alternative investment opportunities and film is one that is sure to be with us for a long time to come. Cinematography is an art form, one of the last few vestiges that has a trade craft. Taking that…

ANDERMATT

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