Europe and Middle East

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in Europe and Middle East. independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

CASTELLO DEL NERO. Stay at a luxury castle in Tuscany

30/10/2015 by .

Quinta Bonita. Beautiful boutique Quinta close to Lagos

22/10/2015 by .
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I’m having breakfast at Quinta Bonita and watching hens wandering around in front of me on an immaculate lawn.

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The Langham Club

16/09/2015 by .
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Eduardo is a bit quick off the mark at the Langham Club private check in. As soon as I cross the threshold of the third floor foyer there’s a cool drink in my hand, a towel at my side and a beaming smile in front of me.

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The Chedi Andermatt

01/09/2015 by .
CAM Rooms Grand Deluxe Room

It’s an early breakfast at The Chedi Andermatt, but this doesn’t faze my waiter as he gives my latte the full treatment. A mug of hot milk proudly held aloft as he pours in the coffee separating the white from the black. Pure theatre and I love it. And another surprise; the coffee mug is insulated, so no burning fingers as I take my first caffeine hit of the day.

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The Gallivant Hotel. Sustainable has never looked so good.

01/09/2015 by .
Solange Berchemen reviews The Gallivant Hotel in East Sussex, a hotel that puts sustainability front and centre.

Solange Berchemen reviews The Gallivant Hotel in East Sussex, a hotel that puts sustainability front and centre.

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Powerscourt Hotel. County Wicklow

21/08/2015 by .
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Imagine a building that looks as if it was put there just to pay homage to one of Ireland’s most spectacular landscapes? Five star Powerscourt Hotel  on the edge of ancient deer forests in a historic estate sprawling over 1,000 acres in the” Garden of Ireland” is like that. It draws your eyes from all angles to the breadth and beauty of a landscape dominated by the Great Sugar Loaf Mountain across the valley.

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Isle of Eriska Hotel

09/07/2015 by .
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It was late, and we were sitting in the bar with a night cap when a waiter walked by armed with a jug of milk and some bread crumbs. Strange after dinner order I thought, so I followed him. He opened the back door and left them out on the step. Even stranger, must be for a very special guest. “For our badgers” the waiter told me after seeing my perplexed stare. It seems at the Isle of Eriska Hotel even the badgers are well looked after.

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The Ugadale Hotel

24/06/2015 by .
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The famous first tee at Machrihanish Golf Club is looking impossibly perfect from my bedroom window at the Ugadale Hotel, framed as it is by the morning sun and the Atlantic rollers behind. Old Tom Morris, the designer of St. Andrews’ Old Course would be so proud his other baby is looking so good after all these years. The same could be said for the Ugadale Hotel, the once proud dame of Machrihanish saved from abandoned ruin by her new American owners, Southworth Development.

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Hotel Leone. Montelparo

09/06/2015 by .
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The historic hilltop town of Montelparo has witnessed many things during her long lifetime; more than a few wars, an odd feuding baron or two the advent of electricity and of course, stunning views of the Marche landscape. But surely none perhaps more bewildering for the old girl than finding a young couple from England turning up one day as the proud new owners of a ruined palazzo at the top of the town, abandoned for over thirty years. Three years later and after much personal toil and sweat, the old palazzo was alive once again, transformed into the stunning eight bedroom luxury boutique hotel and restaurant that is Hotel Leone.

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Conrad Algarve Hotel

11/05/2015 by .