Greece’s Two Graces, I: Santorini
This trip feels like it’s been a long time coming. It was conceived nearly two years ago over dinner at Quo Vadis, when I was told about the Grace hotels on Mykonos and Santorini in the Greek Cyclades.
Browsing: The Explorer
Pavillon de la Reine
“Don’t forget,” I called from the bathroom, mid-shave, “this is Paris. We can’t set foot outside the hotel without looking like we’re stepping onto the catwalk.”
Hotel La Tour Birmingham
I last visited Birmingham for a piece back in the mists of time (well, 2009). It was a city on the cusp of something…’ Alex Larman checks in to the city’s luxury newcomer.
Scandic Front: Copenhagan
It was The Killing’s Sarah Lund, with her exemplary knitwear and sixth sense for scenting out serial killers and political conspiracies, who first made me fall for Copenhagen…
Anything is Possible: Anassa, Cyprus
“By mid-April it’s hot, the wheat fields are golden and the hay has already been cut and is drying in huge round bales. The swallows are here too, swooping and diving around the coast.”
A Tale of Two Riads
A riad is not exactly what you think it is. Or at least it’s not what I thought it was. I’ve always believed a riad to be a Moroccan house with an inner courtyard, but that’s a much less magical-sounding dar…
Berns Hotel Stockholm
“Let me make one thing clear up front: if you’re looking for a calming retreat in the city centre, look away now. No one, dear reader, comes to Berns to sleep.”
Carry on Glamping: Dandelion Hideaway
“It springs, I feel, from a youth spent being forced to go to Scout camp.” Canvas, tent pegs, cold, wind, rain. Nick Hammond explains why camping really gets his goat…
Mallory Court
I occasionally wonder whether Shakespeare was the first writer to have enjoyed the services of a PR. At the time, that is; the subsequent foundation of the RSC, amidst much related Bardolatry, has seen to it that Big Bill remains top literary dog in the English language…
Liming at the Barbados Crop Over
Unlike some Caribbean holiday destinations that don’t always live up to the paradisal connotations fed to us through the Malibu rum TV ads of old, Barbados, in real life, really is that beautiful, that hot and that laid back..
Fright Night at Oxford Castle
“About five minutes into our attempted séance in the crypt at Oxford Castle, as the giggles calmed down and we fell silent, it occurred to me that I really did want to experience the paranormal.”
Marari Beach Resort, India
“When arriving at a five star resort, it is best to avoid doing so in a tuk-tuk…” Alwynne Gwillt arrives at the final stop of her India tour in traditional style…