Travel

Ninh Van Bay

By

Having already visited a Six Senses resort, Zighy Bay in Oman, I thought I had an idea of what to expect from Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam. Boy, was I wrong. Located on the exquisite Vietnamese coast, Ninh Van Bay is a stunning beach property overlooking the South China Sea, tucked above the ashen-sanded beach. Not many resorts can boast this kind of paradisiacal luxury. Ninh Bay is made up of numerous private pool villas and, in keeping with the Six Senses aesthetic, is built to complement the natural environment around it, designed either on the beach, over the water, or into the impressive rock formations. We stayed in one…

Jumeirah

By

When you park your marque in the Jumeirah Carlton Tower’s underground bunker, you pass Phantom nestled next to Ferrari, tucked in beside Aston. It might as well be a private car club. In hindsight, we probably should have let the concierge park our pool car though. However, at the time, a white Ferrari FF was arriving with the usual pomp and ceremony from a well-honed door staff. This is Kensington at its most seductive. The gold gilt and mahogany lobby is refined and unassuming, the staff polite and courteous, with personality too. This makes a change from the usual robotic gofers you find at many London hotels. Having checked in,…

‘Nam Flashback

By

Watching the sunset over the summit of the Victory Monument in Dien Bien Phu, where hoards of Vietnamese people perform their daily exercises, I can reflect upon a country about which I understood so little before I began my journey through it. A country steeped in culture and tradition, but mired by conflict and tragedy. Vietnam is a country where one can go from fine, sandy beaches to mountainous ranges and grass-tipped archipelagos. From the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, where motorbikes adorn even the pavements, to the serenity of Hoi An, where one can take an evening stroll across a lantern-lit riverside and eat fresh seafood…

The Lancaster Hotel

By

Do you remember 1966? Can you tell me one thing that happened that year that doesn’t involve words, football or Germany? Labour won the election, that’s about all I can remember and I wasn’t even born. I’m pretty sure my mother was still an infant. That’s less a comment about how young I am, you understand, and more about how young my dear mother was when she brought me into this world. Words by Peter J Robinson It is also the year that TP Bennett Architects completed an eighteen-story office block opposite Hyde Park. There is nothing that makes English Heritage want to attach a blue plaque more than precast…

A Mouthful of Madrid

By

I’d been to the Spanish capital before. It was the summer I graduated, I was twenty-one and me and my group of gal pals tagged it on the end of a honey rum-swigging, cheap, paella-munching trip to music festival Benicassim. Madrid was essentially the last stop on a ten-day blow out before we all went back to our parents’ houses with decent degrees but without jobs. Naturally, the city didn’t hold the most brilliant of memories for me. Amy McNichol tells you where to spend your euros in the Spanish capital Six years on and with meaningful employment, I was back. My word, how differently I felt this time around. Myself and…

Italian Downtime

By

There has to be a bucket list written by the gods somewhere, listing the world’s ultimate holiday destinations. If such an ethereal summation of Earth’s most breathtaking places does exist, then surely Italy’s midriff would feature highly. Tuscany, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, gave way to Chianti, Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and many more. Sensing that my status as a functioning alcoholic might come into question, I suggest we move on. Tuscany would indeed be our first destination in central Italy. VILLA IRIS Having little experience with luxury villa holidays, I tend to stay ski-centric, so enlisted the help of the Abercrombie & Kent team. You’d be hard pressed…

Premier Alpine Centre

By

I would imagine that, having skied for a number of years now, I wouldn’t need any tuition. But I’d be very wrong. When we arrived in Nendaz, we had already called and arranged tutelage from Patrick at the Premier Alpine Centre. Patrick is a professional ski and télémark instructor with 15 years of experience. Undoubtedly highly qualified, it’s only when you see Patrick ski that his expertise becomes apparent. Having grown up living and breathing the Alpine mountains, Patrick certainly knew his way around. We met on the first day in Chamonix, a decent two-hour drive from Nendaz. With snow melting fast, it felt like I was continually throwing a…

Chez Cliché

By

I have stayed at many hotels and I can count on both hands the amount of times I have needed to call on the small army that are responsible for running the various establishments. Do I order room service? No, the smart traveller heads out to eat anything but the anaesthetised hotel food. Of course, the humble steak sandwich and the standard caesar salad are hard to bugger up. When you spend in excess of £350 on a hotel room for a night, you’re likely to only use the bedroom. Unless, of course, you’re on business, in which case, you’re likely to sit staring at a laptop. If, however, you’re looking…

ANDERMATT

SWISS ALPS