Retreat East is an inventive countryside hideaway in Suffolk November 29, 2022 THE WEEKEND: You’ll find Retreat East along a quiet lane in the middle of Suffolk’s glorious rolling countryside (watch out for the discreet sign, as you’ll probably miss it). Made up of a series of converted barns, this newly-evolved project takes all the best elements of the archetypal countryside stay and merges it into one. [...]
Crans Montana: skiing with Eddie The Eagle at the City Ski Championships November 21, 2022 The annual City Ski Championships in Crans Montana is billed as an opportunity “to network, entertain clients and bond with colleagues surrounded by stunning mountain scenery”. In reality, the event is way less about networking and way more about hanging out with celebrities and testing your skiing out to the max. It’s a high octane, [...]
Le Coucou is the stylishly cosy Méribel hotel to visit this ski season November 21, 2022 THE WEEKEND: After a hard day speeding down the slopes, nothing rewards like a lie down in a sauna, a lengthy soak in a hot tub and, most importantly, a hearty feed. Stylishly cosy Méribel hotel Le Coucou delivers like nothing else in the French Alps. Not only does our four-bedroom ‘chalet’ boast a private [...]
Inside The Fox at Oddington, the latest venture from Daylesford Organic Farm November 14, 2022 THE WEEKEND: In the heart of the Cotswolds, close to the picturesque town of Stow-on-theWold, Daylesford Organic Farm is perhaps the country’s poshest farm shop. Owner Carole Bamford, founder of the Bamford wellness brand and Daylesford, has now launched The Fox at Oddington, a ‘pub with rooms’ in a renovated 16th-century pub. It’s made up [...]
I stayed at the real White Lotus hotel in Sicily – it’s as OTT as it looks on the show November 14, 2022 Season two of The White Lotus has traded Hawaii for Sicily. There weren’t any hints in season one of the hugely popular show that The White Lotus hotel is a chain, but it turns out it might be a fictional Four Seasons – one where its inhabitants have an unlucky habit of winding up dead [...]
A Taste of Luxury in the Mountains: Méribel November 10, 2022 | Sponsored Located in the heart of Les 3 Vallées, the world’s largest ski area, Méribel is arguably the best all-around ski resort and offers world-class skiing for all levels. It is very popular with British skiers and snowborders and the resort is made of cosy wooden chalets surrounded by trees and white peaks. If you are [...]
Château Capitoul in the Languedoc region is gorgeous in cooler months November 7, 2022 THE WEEKEND: The cooler months are the finest time to arrive in the Languedoc region of southern France. Across a cloudless sky, white storks make their long way south to soak up the sun in Kenya’s savannah lands. Below them, the grape harvest is underway, taking place in vineyards said to be the oldest in [...]
Vampire hunting in Transylvania October 31, 2022 It’s been 125 years since Bram Stoker published Dracula, the novel partially set in the vast, untouched landscapes of Transylvania. Much has changed since then, but the destination remains—as one character puts it—”one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.” With hillsides darkened by dense forests, pastoral farms toiled by horse and cart [...]
Ghost-chasing in Gothic Bath is a thrilling way to see the city October 31, 2022 THE WEEKEND: You might not think of Bath as the perfect place for a Halloween getaway, but there’s more to this city’s history than extravagant balls and witty debutantes. Mary Shelley was a resident and fans of gothic horror should check out the excellent House of Frankenstein, a highly interactive museum dedicated to the author [...]
A Lord of the Rings pilgrimage to The Ribble Valley October 24, 2022 THE WEEKEND: I’m a lifelong fan of the great JRR Tolkien, and so to mark the release of the new Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series dropping on Amazon, I’m visiting the village of Hurst in Lancashire’s rural Ribble Valley, which has a circular 9 km trail in honour of the Lord of [...]