Excellence Luxury Villas
When arriving late at night, it’s always worth the suspended joy of opening, like a present, the shutters the next morning. In comes the sun over a clear blue sky above these terracotta roofs of Ronda. With Ronda what’s so special is that it’s that rarity: a European city centre from which I could see ...
Magic in Morocco: Essaouira is an adventurers and surfers’ paradise rich in African, Oriental and European history. Essaouira is a deeply magical place that has remained largely unchanged since I last went there 25 years ago, with glorious sandy beaches, constant sunshine, fabulous food and the best water sports this side of the Atlantic. Also ...
The Victoria Palace Hotel is just off the Boulevard Montparnasse, behind the FNAC in the Rue Blaise-Desgoffe. It is an ideal location and laid back pied a terre close to the Jardins de Luxembourg, the Cartier Modern Art Museum and Odeon with all its fabulous restaurants and bars. It has a terrific parking space, which ...
The Resort: Courchevel 1850 (France). Their own small, challenging airport has 6,000 private aeroplane movements each ski season which says it all. These guests come for the cluster of very individual, small 5* hotels and the new breed of mega-chalets, gourmet restaurants galore, night clubs and boutiques selling the world’s most desirable, as well as ...
As a culinary destination Southern Africa is not only stimulating but offers some of the finest hotels, food and wine experiences going, in some of the most beautiful surroundings. The lovely Cape Dutch architecture, some dating back to the 1600s with their period charm set in what are essentially English inspired gardens have every desirable ...
The Med’s High-Style Sparkles in Torquay. We could have been forgiven for thinking we were in Sveti Stefan (now an Aman Resort) – in Montenegro as we gazed out from our ‘deck’, glass of champagne in hand, across the sparkling bay. Sveti Stefan has always been fashionable with a guest list which included Sophia Loren, ...
Hand & Flowers, Marlow. Review So we decided to take the Aston Martin DB9 over to the Hand and Flowers in Marlow. The chef is Tom Kerridge and in 2011 he had the distinction of being the first pub to receive two Michelin Stars, putting him up there with chefs like Michel Roux at Le ...
Midleton Whiskey unveiled their latest Very Rare Vintage 2017 last week at the Midleton Distillery in Cork with an exclusive tasting of each vintage from the Midleton Very Rare Collection from 1984 to 2017. As the whisky, and whiskey, expert for International Excellence Luxury Magazine, I flew over to beautiful Cork to sup, sample and ...
Calcot is a warm and welcoming 14th century country house in the Cotswolds. A cosy, family friendly, spa hotel. They have 35 bedrooms, two restaurants, a large indoor pool, a spa and an exceptional outdoor hot tub with open wood fire. It is set in 220 acres of gorgeous meadows and the ideal place to ...
Luxury Caribbean Destination Guide: Where to stay in Barbados With charter flights arriving from the UK several times a day during peak season, and a summer that offers incredible value for money (there is a threat of hurricanes, although as any resident will tell you one hasn’t hit the island in several decades), Barbados ...
It’s not without good reason that the tourist board of Denmark’s capital have elected to use the slogan ‘Wonderful Copenhagen’. While failing to attract the kind of visitor numbers that flock to London, Paris or Rome, this compact city is easily amongst Europe’s best short break destinations. Renowned for its design ethic, eco-credentials and cuisine, ...
An Eclectic Collection of Latin American Craft: From Designer Bowls To Tequila My first encounter with tequila was in a rough Covent Garden pub when it was in its last days as a fruit market. I recall that we put some salt on the backs of our hands, licked it and swallowed the fiery ...