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Posts Tagged ‘hotel’

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A Land Of Dreams

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Of all of Morocco’s major cities, the least predictable is Marrakech. It’s a combination of the hectic and the tranquil, the brash and the delicate, and the aggressive and the retiring. This split personality even extends to the geography of the city, which is a mixture of the old and new almost exactly – the medieval Medina, complete with souks and winding streets could not be a greater contrast with the so-called ‘French quarter’, which offers modern buildings and busy roads. The effect of arriving in Marrakech is simultaneously exhilarating, bracing and disorientating. The pace of life is as hectic as in any Western city, but in an entirely different register. Far from being ignored, visitors are treated as objects of enormous curiosity, whether to be welcomed, sold to, begged from or welcomed into the family.

The other thing about Marrakech that has become clear over the past few years is the rise and rise of the luxury travel market. With several airlines now flying here, it’s an easy spot for a weekend break.  Additionally, there are now numerous hotels that cater to the sybarite’s every need, offering everything from a completely Westernised experience of luxury to something altogether more authentic, if no less comfortable. One of the leading lights in the latter sphere is the uber-stylish Royal Mansour Hotel, situated a short distance from the main square, Djeema el-Fna, as well as the other highlights.

The vibe in the hotel is a synthesis between classic Moroccan chic, complete with stunningly painted and designed ceilings, traditional architecture and fountains, and something more contemporary. This is perhaps best expressed in the spa, which has one of the city’s most acclaimed hammams within it. Likewise, the restaurants here are considered to be some of the finest in Morocco, offering entirely different experiences whichever of the three – Moroccan, Mediterranean and French – you decide to head to.

If you decide to opt for La Grand Table Francaise, you’re in for a treat. Described by some as the finest French restaurant in Africa, it’s under the careful tutelage of three Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alleno, famous for his cuisine at Le Meurice in Paris. Unlike some places in Marrakech, which seek to offer French dishes with a Middle Eastern twist, the cooking here is both straightforwardly Gallic, and utterly excellent. The menu is short, but everything on it is cooked to perfection, whether it’s a starter of rich, sumptuous duck foie gras, main courses of tender veal or succulent sea bass, or decadent desserts using the freshest fruit available. The wine list is intelligently divided between surprisingly good (and very underrated) Moroccan wines, and French offerings for those who prefer to cleave a little closer to convention. A glass of 2000 Billecart Salmon to begin with was a particular joy.

Whatever your own path of travel, there can be little doubt that Marrakech offers just about every option under the (blazingly hot) sun. The Royal Mansour, in all its opulence and luxury, is about as sophisticated a means of assessing all the options as can be found in the city at the moment, and seems likely to remain one of the key destinations in the country for the foreseeable future.

Royal Mansour Hotel, Rue Abou Abbas El Sebti, Marrakech. www.royalmansour.com

Heathrow Express is the fastest, most frequent way to travel between Heathrow Airport and Central London. Trains depart every 15 minutes from London’s Paddington station with a journey time starting at just 15 minutes to get to Heathrow Terminals 1 & 3 and a further 6 minutes to Terminal 5. Journeys to Terminal 4 take 25 minutes. Tickets start online from £16.50. Special offers and discounts can be found online at http://www.heathrowexpress.com/

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Getting Away For Autumn

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Well, that was summer. How was it for you? For many, it would have been a strange time, when blazing heat and sunshine alternated seemingly at random with heavy rain and storms, making it nearly impossible to enjoy. For others, swanning from one sun-kissed coast to another (often via yacht), it would have been a sybaritic few months of pleasure, and only now are the tans beginning to fade and attention drawing to the next opportunity for relaxation.

Yes, it’s time to think about a short break to ease you back into the long nights, colder days and, yes, unpredictable rainfall that comes with autumn. There are some outstanding hotels, within easy reach of London, which offer history, wonderfully comfortable rooms, excellent dining and the warmest of welcomes, all of which make for a genuinely pleasant mini-break. But rest assured, each is quirky and individualistic enough in its own way to mean that a visit is something genuinely unique, and a true pleasure.

The Feathers, Woodstock

The pleasant small Oxfordshire town of Woodstock is arguably the first point where the Cotswolds begin, as can be ascertained from the chi-chi antiques emporiums and coffee shops that are dotted around the place. Those of a more historical bent will enjoy visiting Blenheim Palace, Churchill’s birthplace. The hotel that most people will flock to is the recently refurbished The Feathers, situated right in the middle of town. The atmosphere is a cross between upmarket boutique and country house chic, with the rooms offering wonderfully comfortable beds, lavish bathrooms and – best of all for many – a decanter of jelly beans. The food and drink side of the operation is taken very seriously as well. An expertly prepared tasting menu might include such treats as goat’s cheese panacotta, sea bass with shellfish risotto and warm sticky toffee sponge, and those of an adventurous nature are highly advised to try a selection from the gin bar, where the ‘ultimate gin and tonic’ – Blackwood’s vintage gin, Q tonic water (sic), and ice cubes from the local spring’ – is a thing of wonder.

Market Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20.
www.feathers.co.uk

Alexander House, East Grinstead

If you’re looking for a Sussex answer to spa hotels such as Babington House or The Vineyard, you needn’t look much further than the lavishly appointed Alexander House. The piece-de-resistance here is the much-praised Utopia Spa, which plays host to a steady stream of visitors, ready to enjoy expertly administered treatments that range from the simple (neck and back massages) to more complex delights involving hot oil. Throw in a stylish swimming pool, outdoors hot tub and the usual saunas and steam rooms, and you’ve got a great reason to visit. The rest of the hotel more than lives up to its reputation, with lavishly comfortable rooms that offer a pleasant blend of old and new (half are in the old house, half are in the new wing), and a highly regarded ‘formal’ restaurant, AG’s, which, under the care of executive chef Mark Budd, offers an elegant spin on English grill room traditions with such dishes as langoustines and rabbit saddle, loin of Sussex lamb with beetroot and a splendidly decadent banana and chocolate parfait. Plan a visit soon, but be sure to book in advance – it’s generally very busy.

Turners Hill, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH10.
www.alexanderhotels.co.uk/alexander

Langshott Manor, Horley

The only incongruous note when approaching Langshott Manor is struck by the approach, where an odd mix of new-build houses and airplane noise (Gatwick is a couple of miles away) seem to contradict the idyll represented by Langshott itself. An Elizabethan property with gardens that include a croquet lawn and even a private moat, it’s a marvellously welcoming place, with touches of eccentricity (the in-room information contains some very amusing jokes, and bathrooms feature four-poster baths) that add lustre to the experience. As you might expect, the bedrooms are very well appointed, named after historical figures and places (Henry VIII, Katherine Parr et al) and boasting four-poster beds and lovely views over the grounds. It’s an excellent place to kick off your shoes and relax, literally and metaphorically, and a wonderfully peaceful getaway. The food, served in Mulberrys restaurant overlooking the moat, is an especial highlight – the regularly changing menu boasts of the provenance of its suppliers, a welcome touch, and dishes of monkfish loin with chorizo and ‘tasting’ of veal are about as delicious as anything that you’ll have in the area. The wine list, compiled in association with the highly regarded Ellis of Richmond, offers unusual vintages and types at sensible prices. Again, the hotel’s comparatively small size means that it’s an idea to book a good while in advance to avoid disappointment.

Ladbroke Road, Horley RH6.
www.alexanderhotels.co.uk/langshott

If you’re travelling to Alexander House or Langshott Manor, we recommend Southern Railways’ service, which provides the best rates for tickets booked in advance online. For further details and full information, please visit www.southernrailway.com

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French sense & scents

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

I don’t like to dwell on the weather, but winding down the driveway to Le Mas Candille, the car dips out of the mizzle for a moment – that really annoying sort of rain that doesn’t look much, but gives you an absolute drenching. I’m greeted by a glowing-with-olive-tan Francoise, looking a little sheepish under her umbrella having soaked in the sun here for all of last week.

Nevertheless, the four and a half acres of manicured gardens, all lavender, honeysuckle and callistemon, shine through, glugging the weather faster than it can fall. Le Mas Candille (Mas for the farmhouse at its centre, Candille for its landmark cypress tree) is just a few kilometres from Cannes, and slips into the medieval hillside of Mougins like Cinderella’s foot in her slipper – and sits pretty behind Nice and Monaco, her bigger bolshy sisters.

Le Mas is less diamonds and glamour, more understated luxury with a sparkle catching on the breeze from the coast. This is where olive trees have stood for 200 years, and a peach plastered 18th century farmhouse with heavy cream shutters bakes in the southern French sunshine – when the weather behaves, so Francoise Mirebeau, the delightful Responsable Commerciale, assures me – breathing out its warmth like a radiator through long evenings, coaxed by a chorus of crickets.

But Le Mas is not without its fair celeb share – Kirsten Dunst rested her head here, between scooping the best actress award and schmoozing on the red carpet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and Brad Pitt’s been known to drop in for dinner.

Little wonder, since under Serges Gouloumès – un petit ‘chef celebre’ himself – restaurant Le Candille has held a Michelin star since 2005. The food is exquisite; all rounds of asparagus mousse, morel mushrooms, giant langoustine and suckling veal, expertly crafted and perfectly complimentary, with that juicy buttery-ness that is the preserve of the French.

And then there’s the cheese cart; the star of the proverbial show, right as the sun goes down over the pre-Alps, and Serge bumbling around happily, charming guests with a cunning grin and an accent thick enough to slather on a fresh baguette.

Sleeping soundly in vast beds, sinking into rooms that have a hint of the classic Relais & Chateaux, and each with an individual farmhouse charm, the sun peeks through. Inspired by the heady scents of the garden, we venture to Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, to play at making our own fragrances in the original Fragonard factory – with debatable success, it must be said, but an excellent education in scent for a Wednesday morning

But finding your nose is tough work and though Grasse can’t help but smell divine, the soporific effect of its winding streets means that the cocoon of Le Mas’ Shisheido Spa, and a network of Jacuzzis and infinity pools and hammocks and day beds and my deep bath are too hard to resist.

I could go on, but by now you should be sipping Champagne on the terrace, refreshed and barefooted and without a care in the world – Picasso may have lived in Mougins, but with Cypress trees and terracotta roof tiles playing at complementary colours and the big clouds rolling off the Ligurian Sea, the panoramas unfolding are straight from Cézanne’s brush.

So there you have it; a haven, I suppose, where the light is special, the smells almost tangible and the feeling fine – and the kind of place that just when you’re satiated, the petits fours appear and it all starts over again.

lemascandille.com

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Hoo’s Hoo

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

If you’ve ever seen films as eclectic as Eyes Wide Shut, Wilde, The World Is Not Enough and Quills, then you will be familiar with the grand stately home Luton Hoo, situated between Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Many will also remember the house from that memorable wedding scene in Four Weddings And A Funeral when a disconsolate Hugh Grant finds himself stuck in a cupboard while a couple celebrate their nuptials, a scene actually filmed within the house itself rather than on a studio soundstage. With stunning Capability Brown-designed grounds, a Robert Adam neoclassical exterior and exceptionally well appointed public rooms, it was a source of regret to many for years that it wasn’t open to the public.

Well, thankfully these regrets are now at an end, thanks to Luton Hoo being turned into a well-appointed and extremely lavish luxury hotel, by the respected group Elite Hotels. Much like Cliveden, the staff and management are clearly aware that they have a duty to maintain the fabric and integrity of the building, even as hordes of visitors on an even more lavish scale than the original owners must have imagined troop through, whether for weddings, receptions, spa weekends, golf breaks or just to experience, fleetingly, the sense of life on a grander plain.

As one might expect, there are various subsidiary buildings that offer all the facilities that you’d expect, such as a lavishly appointed spa, a very serious 18-hole golf course and the informal Adam’s Brasserie, which has stills of all the many films and TV shows that have been filmed over the years. There is luxurious accommodation in some of the other buildings, but for the full country mansion experience, you want to stay in the main house, which offers near-unbelievably lavish suites with panoramic views overlooking the grounds, named after famous guests past such as Lord Mountbatten. But even the ‘normal’ rooms offer gorgeous beds, marble bathrooms and the usual amenities such as flatscreen TVs and Molton Brown toiletries.

Breakfast and dinner are served in the lavishly appointed Wernher Restaurant, named after Sir Julius Wernher, a previous owner of Luton Hoo. It offers high-class British-influenced cuisine to notable effect. My guest’s starter of pigeon and foie gras was somewhat overcooked, but the rest of the meal – including veal served three ways, beef with oxtail and a tasting of rhubarb to end – was impeccable, giving full credence to head chef Kevin Clark’s belief that using local ingredients and working closely with respected suppliers is the best way to make for an enjoyable dining experience. A bottle of crisp Austrian Riesling was an extremely welcome accompaniment as well.

Saying to many people that you are going to head to one of Britain’s most iconic and grand stately homes outside the frankly unprepossessing environs of Luton might seem a surprising and incongruous juxtaposition. But the experience that you will have as a guest at Luton Hoo is likely to be a memorable and compelling one, and one that will make you feel every bit as welcome as the legions of film stars, aristocrats and royalty who have visited this grand place before.

Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf Club & Spa, LU1 3TQ. www.lutonhoo.co.uk

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Excelsior: The Crash Pad of Cologne

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

I touch down in Cologne to a fanfare of Deutschland welcomes that pass straight over my head – I’ve totally forgotten that the only German I can stumble through is a mismatched rendition of ‘My Heart Will Go On’, taught to me by a friend during a game of beach bat in Cornwall.

So I resign myself to being a mute for the weekend, playing at passing myself off as a local, at least until tight lipped ladies start babbling at me and I’m – quite literally – lost for words.

But it’s no matter. I’m swept from the airport so seamlessly by my driver – though Eduardo is so pint-sized that I’m concerned he’ll not see over the steering wheel of his perfectly polished Mercedes, let alone reach for the pedals – that I slip into Cologne life all too easily.

All B&O speakers and massage chairs with four different settings, the Excelsior Hotel Ernst is looking special – and I’m yet to step out from the car.

My suite is such that I have to take five to decide what to do first; there is the pillow menu to pick from – spelt, cherry pit or horse hair? – a marbled bath with Jacuzzi jets, complimentary mini-bar, a fairly extensive walk-in-wardrobe – clothes, meet hangers – and the most spectacular view of Cologne Cathedral and the Roncallipatz, with excellent people watching potential.

But I’m torn from my fourth floor residence to Hanse Stube, all antique silver tea urns and cream banquettes, for a veritable feast of white asparagus – German, and thicker than my thumbs – langoustine, homemade truffles and white wine. The balance of French flavours and local influences is perfectly weighted, and the service under Sonja Winkels so seamless that she sashays between tables like a prima ballerina.

Taku is all feng shui feelings and fish tanks set into walkways. The lunch-time menu is succinct yet wealthy with choice and my red curry thronging with fresh fish. As at Hanse Stube, a huge tray of chocolates appears just when I’m fit to burst – here all Oriental in flavour and a nod to the consistency running throughout the hotel.

The Excelsior is a dream of a city crash pad; unbelievably central yet peaceful behind heavy drapes, refined yet relaxed enough for big breakfasts, drawn out dinners and cosy nightcaps. I’d excuse you for coming here and hiding out, but you’d be mad to miss the city that’s grown up around the hotel since 1863 – one without the other would be like sauerkraut without the sausage, or a Deutschlander without his lederhosen.

Over three days, Cologne unravels itself in the sunshine like a dot-to-dot of culture – cathedral to concert hall to art gallery to perfume museum to brewery and back again – linked by streets teaming with performers and a man tickling a grand piano on wheels who pops up wherever I go.

So I bob along, squinting without my sunglasses, resisting the temptation of the boutique Belgian quarter and keeping cool with jugs of Kolsch. I pass fruit carts and schnitzel stalls and an oompah band serenading the Old Town, and catch couples padlocking their love on the Hohenzollern Bridge – at once locking Cologne onto the map of must-see Europe.

This is a city with verve and panache of the kind fuelled by 75,000 students in one place and a widespread appreciation for the good life – that is, if the magnificent moustaches and locals of all ages gathering to glug €1,50 Riesling on Sunday evening, are anything to go by.

www.excelsiorhotelernst.com

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The World’s A Stage

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Like many English towns, Stratford upon Avon seems to have two separate identities. On a bright summer’s day, you can walk down the river, past Holy Trinity Church (where the town’s most famous son, Shakespeare, is buried) and the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and think it quite the most beautiful place in England. If, however, you find yourself scurrying down the medieval streets on a wet evening, then altogether darker thoughts come to mind, and one imagines oneself in a nest of villains something akin to one of the more bloody recesses of Shakespeare’s plays. As studies in contrasts go, it’s really quite impressive.

The most impressive thing to happen to the Shakespeare industry in recent years has been the much-heralded rebuilding and reopening of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Occupying a prime position close to the river, it’s home to two different auditoria, the main one and the Swan Theatre. The purpose of the Swan is to show Elizabethan and new drama, whereas the main auditorium specialises in high-quality productions with seriously classy acting and directing. On our visit, Patrick Stewart was starring in Rupert Goold’s much-heralded Las Vegas-set staging of The Merchant Of Venice, which proves that Stratford can still stage some of the world’s best productions in the 21st century.

A visit to the theatre itself, even if you’re not seeing a play, is pretty much obligatory. For starters (sic), the gorgeous new Rooftop Restaurant, situated at the top of the building, offers panoramic views over Stratford, something matched by the food. A sensibly priced and speedily served lunchtime and pre-theatre menu might offer such delights as old spot medallion or Somerset brie and tomato tart for mains, followed by a delicious ginger and pear parkin. You can rely on the wine being good as well; it’s supplied by Berry Bros and Rudd, meaning that even the house selections are head and shoulders above what you’d normally expect.

Of course, a new theatre needs a new upmarket hotel for visitors as a suitable base, and there are few places more fitting than The Arden, a stylish boutique establishment literally opposite the theatre. Even if I never quite managed to work out which was the most logical way in and out of the hotel, there’s no denying that it offers a gorgeously comfortable stay, with well-appointed rooms and luxuriously large beds, bathrooms that are a good deal larger than anyone can reasonably expect, friendly and accommodating staff and a relaxed, intimate feel that makes this a pleasure to spend time in. It also boasts a superb establishment called The Waterside Brasserie, which offers either excellent breakfasts with local produce or equally high-class dinners that give the Rooftop a run for their pre-theatre money, or a more leisurely a la carte.

Talking of dining, serious gourmands won’t want to miss out on a visit to the Arden’s sister establishment, Mallory Court. A dozen miles up the road, it’s a gorgeous Lutyens-styled manor house with extraordinarily beautiful gardens and spacious public rooms. It’s the oak-panelled main dining room that’s the real draw for many though, with Simon Haigh’s deservedly Michelin-starred cooking offering unusual and quirky twists on French-British cuisine. Thus lunch might consist of crab bisque and ravioli to start, followed by fillet of beef with oxtail, and a sublime apple and elderflower soufflé to finish, all of which is of the absolute highest calibre. As you’d expect, the wine list is stupendous and comprehensive, but there are several very accessible and reasonably priced options by the glass.

As Shakespeare wrote, ‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.’ A visit to Stratford, preferably in clement and seasonable weather, is an enormous pleasure, and whether your interests are historic, culinary or cultural, there’s going to be something beguiling and enjoyable for you to appreciate here.

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