The Caledonian, Edinburgh
“Fresh from a £24 million renovation, The Caledonian now boasts two restaurants by the Galvin Brothers and a Guerlain Spa…” Alwynne tries Edinburgh’s plushest new arrival on for size…
Browsing: The Explorer
Hotel de la Trémoille
“My favourite moments in Paris are when I feel I’m bushing right up against its golden age – that early 20th century heyday when Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso and a pantheon of other cultural icons roamed…”
The Queensberry, Bath
“The Queensberry is enshrined in a set of four terraced houses built in 1771 by the 8th Marquess of Queensberry, father to the better known John Sholto Douglas who lent his name to the famous boxing rules…”
The Pig in the Wall
“What good things spring to mind when you think of Southampton? The Titanic, up to a point. Some fine medieval buildings. And, perhaps, the Spitfire, which was first designed here.”
Lebanon: Hard to Enter, Hard to Leave
“Beirut is a vibrant and colourful city attempting to emerge from troubled times. A mix of communities and subdivides speak Arabic, French, English and Armenian, across dozens of religions.” David J Constable reports…
Les Sources de Caudalie
“Arriving at Les Sources de Caudalie is a little like entering Wonderland, where nothing is quite as it seems and everything leaves you grinning like a Cheshire Cat…”
The Desire of Dalmatia
“I’m reluctant to write about this but I will. Not out of obligation but because I don’t really want to reveal a secret I’d rather keep. Four years ago I went to Croatia…” Larry divulges a long-held desire for prime Adriatic property…
Macau: A Gambling Odyssey
“I’m sitting in the Super Class of the TurboJet feeling slightly seasick as I try to figure out why the first class compartment smells like an onion bhaji and how much more lurching my rickety sea legs can withstand…”
Ashdown Country Park, East Sussex
“Country: Club. Gun: Shot. Agent: Stirling. Murder: A scotch. Skyfall: I think you mean Ashdown old chap, and like Bond this story starts with a woman wielding a gun to my detriment…” Stirling is outgunned in East Sussex…
Old Swan & Minster Mill, Cotswolds
“I’ve always wondered what it felt like in ‘the old days’ when you climbed saddle-sore and weary from your steed, desperate to get out of the biting cold and into somewhere warm and cheery for a few hours…” Nick Hammond goes camping. Well, nearly…
Toronto: In Pursuit of Luxury
‘Casa Loma’s grandeur casts an opulent shadow over this city, but it is only one of a few features that make Toronto a luxury getaway.’ One-time Torontonian Alwynne Gwilt returns for a taste of the tourist high life…
The Llawnroc, Cornwall
“Cornwall was baking, the hedgerows alive with the chirping of birds and the buzzing of arthropods…I could almost hear my skin peeling under the commanding rays of an unexpected summer sunbath.”