The Yeatman, Porto
“Seated a deux along the pretty paved harbourside of the terracotta-coloured UNESCO world heritage city of Porto, an inky Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas 2009 from the Duoro valley glugged into my wine glass.”
Browsing: Hotels
Stoke Place
“Stoke Place was built as a family residence in 1690, and little did they know that one day an enthusiastic hotelier would fill an entire wall with empty picture frames, paint the staircase a duck egg blue…”
Banyan Tree Phuket
It was my first evening at Banyan Tree Double Pool Villas in Phuket and an excitable looking Thai man was beckoning me away from my bubbly. “Miss Jessie, please follow me, I have something to show you…”
One Aldwych, London
“This round office had a view through three imposing windows, and the whole rummy thing was decorated like a luxury apartment; it wasn’t like an office at all!” Jonesy stays at the Morning Post’s former HQ…
Middlethorpe Hall
“I found myself at the chic new concrete concourse that is Kings Cross at the hitherto unheard of hour of 8am, to catch a train to the unknown quantity of Middlethorpe Hall in deepest Yorkshire.”
Hotel 41, London
“When it comes to staying in a hotel in your home city, the test for me is how far it takes you out of the daily routine: the softening of the harsh edges of day-to-day life; the dulling of reality.”
Capo Bay
“Cyprus beckons; the birthplace of Aphrodite, far enough south for warmth and with a promised 320 days of sunshine per year, moussaka, mezze, aniseed spirits in small clear glasses.”
The Athenaeum, London
“I stare into the bevelled edge, floor to ceiling mirrors running around the room. Drifting my fingers over the notched glass handle of the wardrobe, I lose myself in visions of ’20s glamour…”
Stanglwirt, Austria
“Sometimes I still can’t believe there is a place called the Stanglwirt. It has a Narnia quality, and how I wish I could retreat to the back of my cupboard and enter into its reception daily.”
The Grove
“The Grove, London’s self-proclaimed country estate, has played host to everyone from Kylie Minogue to Johnny Depp.” Jess embarks on a celebrity safari in Hertfordshire.
The Lydmar, Stockholm
“The cold wind hits hard as we descend the steps from one of Ryanair’s winged beasts. This is bitter. We’ve left a London where every paper carries the headline ‘The Big Chill is here’…”
Four Seasons Langkawi
“Langkawi is prone to sudden and arresting tantrums; riveting downpours and urgent winds alarm palms, ripple private plunge pools and foam the Andaman’s emerald waves on the cusp of the rainy season.”