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 WorldMags.net CONTENTS JUNE 2014

Features
64 Europe’s best
seaside hotels
92 Belize Take to the empty
waters and beach bars of the Caribbean
These are our top-secret, gem with a true bucaneering soul
word-of-mouth winners for a
quick and fresh coastal fix
102 Gotland
76 Costa de la Luz
The light-drenched corner of
Free spirits should rent a house on
Sweden’s unspoilt summer isle and go
wild in the countryside
Andalucía is a place to revel in
nostalgia for old-school Spain

86 Maldives
Fancy-dress fashion at one of the
islands’ smartest new hotels
PHOTOGRAPH: TOM PARKER

Jerez Cathedral seen from the grounds of Alcázar fort in Andalucía

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www.dior.com
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CONTENTS June 2014

126 26

37
In this issue
10 Editor’s letter 63 Trendwatch This month, shop
the look of your favourite hotel
12 Contributors
114 A traveller’s tales
16 Word of mouth What’s creating Around the world with the Golden

PHOTOGRAPHS: MATTHEW BUCK; FLORENCE DEAU; DANNY NORTH; COURTESY OF TIFFANY & CO; ANDREW ROWAT; JESSICA SAMPLE
a buzz around the world, from Beijing Globe-winning actress Emily Blunt
to San Francisco
116 In Britain Head for the winding
26 Short break Summer time means narrow streets of York to discover the
festival season: we round up the best best bits of this Northern star

52 places in Europe to give it some welly

123 The experts Meet the yoga

116 32 Neighbourhood on the up

Hang out with a boho crowd in Vila
instructor to take your breath away in
Costa Rica. Gadgets The Geek gets

32 Madalena, São Paulo

37 Where to stay Ace Hotel

Downtown Los Angeles; Bed-hopping
with Hilary Swank; Left-field rooms
on the Right Bank in Paris; The
Weekender in Cheltenham; savour
a taste of the coast with Sally Shalam’s
Great British Breaks
manly with testosterone-fuelled gear.
Family An oriental adventure for
teens in China. Feasting Why chorizo
is a kitchen-staple superhero – and
which wines stand up to the spice.
Books This month’s best new travel
titles. Q&A From gluten-free Parisian
patisseries to hippy hideaways in Mexico
– your questions answered by our team

50 A letter from Istanbul, where 140 Competition Win a £4,000

surprising treasures are often wheeled holiday for two in Naples, staying at
out by savvy scrap-metal vendors Grand Hotel Parker’s Napoli
On the cover
A Riverfront Villa at 52 Style file Eye-popping neon art 143 Reader offer Save 15 per cent
Four Seasons Resort inspired by feathers, plus the boutique on a seaside break at one of New
Bali at Sayan, Ubud. gym trend, and more. Beauty Around Zealand’s top boutique hotels
Photograph by the world with Maria Sharapova.
Michel Figuet. Jewellery Take a New York minute for 172 Room with a view The Setai,
Suncare: Clarins Sun an in-the-know tour of Tiffany & Co. Miami Beach
Care Cream High Men’s Sushi secrets in the Land of
Protection the Rising Sun; the lowdown on the
high-top look; how to master the
Med like Alain Delon. On the scene
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes

6 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014 WorldMags.net

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EDITOR’S LETTER
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A
nd so i’m off to coachella, the music festival in Palm Springs where
you’re not allowed to drink anywhere near the stage and everyone looks
like Kate Bosworth and wanders around in laser-cut suede. The reason
I’m going is my 27-year-old niece is getting married and, since she is
partly based in LA, she has decided to hold her hen party there. The party is to consist
of a gathering of nearly 30 boys and girls, a large number of whom are models, in a
house she has procured, with a pool and inflatables of Justin Bieber.
And yet something is wrong. For a while now I’ve been aware of it. Reading a proof,
or watching television, I catch it out of the corner of my eye, or sense its presence
alarmingly near. ‘Issy,’ I say to my friend at work one day. ‘Could you step in to my office for a
moment for a brief meeting? Do please shut the door.’ She sits down, concerned. ‘Does it seem to
you perhaps that my nose is growing, that it is getting larger almost as we speak?’ She pauses. ‘You
must stop this. It’s getting out of hand. It’s just silly.’ And she turns to go.
I have spectacles waiting for me at the opticians. They have been there for six months. I always
wanted to have glasses. And now that I can barely see the hand in front of my face I can’t seem
to find the wherewithal to pick them up. I have, however, gone to Debenhams and re-pierced my
ears. And I have bought a pair of ankle boots. They are golden and glittery. I have no idea what
to wear them with so I wear them with everything in the hope that something will pan out. I find
that people are no longer talking to me but staring, head tilted, at the footwear of Hermes. I have
my nails painted in what can only be described as toothpaste-turquoise. ‘God, that’s a disgusting
colour,’ a friend says. ‘I know,’ I say absentmindedly, ‘but apparently it’s very cool.’
‘Apparently very cool’ is the death knell. Any fool can tell you that.
‘Mostly I’m worried about making an idiot of myself at Coachella,’ I say at supper that night.
‘My concern is, for example, that we’re invited to Tom Ford’s party, and I get over-excited and
find myself whizzing down Tom Ford’s pool slide, but it has a break in it and I cut myself but don’t
notice and so I climb out of the pool, bleeding but nevertheless ecstatic because the glass in my
hand still has wine in it. I have a wet cigarette in my mouth and my M&S swimsuit has come down
in the process, revealing just one former boob, and I’m making some kind of sodden and barbaric
noise like a triumphant bear.’
There is a pause. ‘You have way too much middle-aged angst,’ says my stepbrother.
Later that night I go back to the almost narcotic comfort of googling ‘Kate Bosworth Coachella
best outfits’ and playing with my enormous honk.
This is the new issue of Condé Nast Traveller. For those who know that a simple pair of jean
shorts and a white T-shirt is the obvious way forward.

Melinda Stevens
Editor

@MelindaStevens3 MelindaLP

WINNER NEW EDITOR OF THE YEAR

Truth in Travel is this magazine’s promise to the reader to be an essential source

of honest, first-hand opinion and must-have information. You can trust Condé Nast Traveller
to give you the unbiased inside track, with integrity and attitude.

All information and travel details are correct at the time of going to press and may no longer be so on the date of publication.
Unless otherwise stated, hotel prices are low-season rates and restaurant prices are for a three-course meal for two without drinks

10 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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CONTRIBUTORS
Inspired by this month’s festivals
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feature, we asked our contributors to
name their favourite festival…
Daisy Finer The Spa Guide editor
‘The nicest festival experience I have had was at Wilderness
where there’s a spa set up around a glorious lake that you can
swim in, wooden hot tubs and a sauna in a shepherd hut. There
are also masses of massages and different types of yoga to try.’
Daisy has three children, a dog and an addiction to halloumi
Ken Kochey Photogapher, Gotland (p102)
‘I’m not really a festival guy (not big on crowds) but I am
kind of fascinated by Burning Man in the lunar landscape
of the Nevada desert. It sounds like the real deal and an
expression of a sub-culture that is so vivid and colourful.’
Ken grew up in Hawaii. His work has taken him from the beaches
of Bahia in Brazil to tribal ceremonies in the South Pacific
Mary Rozzi Photographer, Maldives (p86)
‘In the 1990s I went to Nola, Italy to see La Festa dei Gigli,
a Catholic celebration of the town’s patron saint, Paolino.
Twenty men carried towering sculptures (gigli) through the tiny
streets to the main piazza where a huge party went on all night.’
Mary divides her time between LA, New York and Paris
12 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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Martin Morrell Photographer, Belize (p92)
‘The audience is every bit as spectacular as the performers
at Thimphu Tshechu in Bhutan, which celebrates
the introduction of Buddhism to the kingdom. It’s held in
September at the colossal Tashichho Dzong in the capital
city, where the punishing Himalayan sun amplifies the
technicolour, time-travel atmosphere.’
London-based Martin roams the world as a travel photographer
Antonia Quirke Writer, Costa de la Luz (p76)
‘The Llanthony Valley and District Annual Show,
PHOTOGRAHPS: KEN KOCHEY; MICHAEL LOVENTZ; MICHAEL MORRELL; TOM PARKER; STEVE TURVEY
with its alpaca display, monster-vegetable competition, mums’
two-legged sack race and hog roast, has the kind of perfection
usually only seen in highly unlikely movie rom-coms.’
Antonia is a film critic and presenter on BBC radio and TV
Stanley Stewart Writer, Belize (p92)
‘The All Saints festival in Todos Santos, Guatemala
is three days of unrestrained fun, which starts on 31
October with drunken picnics in the cemetery. I love the
marimba music, the total mayhem and the persistence
of a tradition that pre-dates the Spanish conquest.’
Ireland-born Canada-raised Stanley now lives in Dorset
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EDITOR
Melinda Stevens
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT/PA TO THE EDITOR Tabitha Joyce

DEPUTY EDITOR Sarah Spankie ASSOCIATE EDITOR Peter Browne

MANAGING EDITOR Paula Maynard ACTING MANAGING EDITOR Jessica Diamond
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COPY
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Jonathan Bastable, Justin Cartwright, Horatio Clare, Sophie Dahl, E Jane Dickson,
Helen Fielding, Giles Foden, Loyd Grossman, Jeremy King, Emma Love, Kate Maxwell,
Lee Marshall, Thomasina Miers, Reggie Nadelson, Harriet O’Brien, Redmond O’Hanlon,
Tom Parker Bowles, Harry Pearson, Antonia Quirke, Paul Richardson, Anthony Sattin,
Nicholas Shakespeare, Sally Shalam, Stanley Stewart, Colin Thubron

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
James Bedford, Mirjam Bleeker, David Crookes, Squire Fox, Philip Lee Harvey,
Max Kim-Bee, Ken Kochey, Lisa Limer, Lisa Linder, Martin Morrell, Anders Overgaard,
Tom Parker, Oliver Pilcher, Preston-Schlebusch, Alistair Taylor-Young, Jenny Zarins

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WORD OF MOUTH
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What’s hot in Nevada London San Francisco Beijing Ibiza New York
EDITED BY FIONA KERR

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HORSING AROUND
Want to take glamping to a new frontier? Muster a gang for a teepee-style stay on the prairies
S
urrounded by red canyons and big skies, the backdrop to
Mustang Monument in Nevada is pure Wild West fantasy.
But the original dream of Madeleine Pickens, an animal-rights
activist and the British ex-wife of a Texan oil billionaire, was to create
a sanctuary for the USA’s native wild horses rather than a smart
eco-retreat. ‘I bought the land [more than half a million acres] to
save the mustangs, but then I thought it’d be lovely to create a
sustainable ranch to share with others,’ she says.
Pickens is no stranger to animal philanthropy on a grand scale: in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina she arranged to airlift 800 stray cats
and dogs to new homes in California and Colorado. So far, she has
saved 600 mustangs from the slaughterhouse, and they are now
PHOTOGRAPHS: KRISTI JOHNSON; MICHAEL PARTENIO
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thundering in herds across the prairies. When the retreat opens
this month, guests can take guided hikes through the canyons to see
them, ride the mountain trails and explore abandoned mining towns.
Mustang Monument’s glamorous teepees are as far as you can get
from a cowboy camp-out. Hand-painted in Native American style,
they have wooden floors, supremely squishy beds, deep leather
armchairs and hand-woven rugs, with 24-hour butler service. In the
evenings, there are cocktails and wood-fired feasts, traditional pow
wow dancing and folk singers performing Woody Guthrie songs among
the pines: it all creates a Moonrise Kingdom sense of nostalgia in a
beautifully art-directed corner of the world. BRITT COLLINS
www.mustangmonument.com. From £600 per night all inclusive
June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 17
WORD OF MOUTH
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STITCH IT TO THE MAN

Guerilla artists are making their mark on the streets
of the world... with wool. Meet the yarn bombers
WHAT IS YARN BOMBING?
A type of street art where objects are covered
in striking woolly cosies.
WHY WOOL?
Clockwise from Why not? It’s natural, colourful and tactile.
below: Craft and And it can be easily removed.
Folk Art Museum;
the NY subway;
WHERE CAN I SEE IT, THEN?
Yarn bombers often work quickly under the
Magda Sayeg;
cover of darkness, so it could appear any time,
a ‘granny square’;
anywhere. More helpfully, Magda Sayeg – the
Olek’s Crocheted
‘mother of yarn bombing’ – has just completed
Bike, No 13
an enormous, six-storey installation at the
new Dover Street Market in Manhattan.
BUT ISN’T KNITTING FOR GRANNIES?
No. Its new faces are fresh and fun.
WHO ARE THE NAMES TO KNOW?
THE ORIGINAL: Magda Sayeg
‘I discovered yarn bombing by putting knitting
on the door handle of my then clothes shop
in Houston, Texas. I never knew it would start
a movement. Wool evokes sweet, nostalgic
emotions. People knit for love,
to make something warm and
beautiful for someone.
That resonates with
the world.’
magdasayeg.com
THE REBEL: OLEK
‘As I said in the title of my show at New
York’s Christopher Henry Gallery, “Knitting
is for pussies.” I crochet. Sometimes people
forget the conceptual ideas behind the aesthetic.
The pink camouflage covering of the Wall
Street bull was my own intervention in
the conversation about greed.’ oleknyc.com
THE ONE TO WATCH: London Kaye
‘I met Olek while working at the Apple Store;
that’s how I found the world of yarn bombing.
New York’s subway stations and a block-long
fence in Williamsburg are my two favourite spots
to bomb. I have crocheted with 100ft-long
Ethernet cables, but it didn’t go as well.’
londonkaye.com
SO, WHERE CAN I CAST OFF?
Yarn Bombing Los Angeles (www.yarnbombing
losangeles.com) hold get-togethers at the Craft
and Folk Art Museum in LA, while London-
based collective Knit the City (www.
knitthecity.com), headed by the
terrifically named Deadly Knitshade,
create woolly works across the
capital. HAZEL LUBBOCK

18 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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KYOTO

THE BEST THING SINCE

VANCOUVER

 
itch the cronuts, drop that cupcake

D – bakeries are going back to basics,

with bread rather than sweet
treats taking the starring role. But these
new places are more than just somewhere
to pick up a baguette (even if it is artisan
sourdough): delicious design is also an
essential ingredient. There’s a modernist’s
dream in the shape of Panscape in Kyoto,
and fun hybrid hangouts – bakeries by
day, bars by night – such as Easy Tiger

PHOTOGRAPHS: PETER BENNETTS; SHUTTERSTOCK; JEFF SINGER/GALLERY STOCK

bake shop and beer garden in Austin or
Brisbane’s Chester Street Bakery & Bar.
Bien Cuit in Brooklyn offers a full-on
feast of speciality loaves (toasted poppy
and sun-dried pear; 68-hour-fermented
rye and wheat) in a rustic, exposed-brick
space, while at Melbourne’s Baker D
Chirico the wavelike wooden racks that
run up the wall are practical as well as
beautiful, serving as cooling shelves
for the straight-from-the-oven bread.
Gold-and-black VyTA in Turin looks more
like a smart cocktail spot than a bread shop;
by contrast, Vancouver’s Meat & Bread
keeps things simple with its pared-back
industrial design and menu of freshly
baked ciabatta rolls and roasted organic
meats. And now even hotels are getting
in on the act: Barcelona’s new Praktik
outpost, which opened in April, is based
around a sleek ground-floor bakery, Baluard,
rather than a bar. EMILY MILLER

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BARCELONA
WorldMags.net

MELBOURNE

Clockwise from this picture:

Panscape; Baker D Chirico;
signage at Easy Tiger; The
Trouble Coffee & Coconut
Club; New Yorker board at
Easy Tiger. Opposite, from
bottom: Praktik Bakery hotel;
Meat & Bread; Panscape

SAN FRANCISCO

ON THE
SIDE
San Francisco has stepped up to the bread bin
with the latest micro-trend: POSH TOAST.
Along with the simple nostalgia of biting
into a warm, thickly buttered slice, there’s
a world of possibilities for those who like
to customise their snacks. The origin of this
seemingly simple foodie craze has been
AUSTIN traced back to one café: THE TROUBLE
COFFEE & COCONUT CLUB. Here, the
curious menu of coconuts, coffee and
cinnamon-covered toast encapsulates owner
Giulietta Carrelli’s personal formula for living:
sustenance (coconut), communication
(coffee) and comfort (toast). But it spawned
a revolution. Across town, RED DOOR
serves inch-thick slices, ACRE COFFEE has
a dedicated toast bar and THE MILL offers
creations including wholewheat with butter,
pumpkin butter and sea salt, and raisin-fennel
bread with butter and honey. Combine
artisanal toast and fair-trade coffee for a
match made in hipster heaven. EM

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LIGHT ON
As Ibiza’s opening parties kick off, we introduce the island’s latest arrivals
The new beach The new classic The new retreat
COTTON HACIENDA
BEACH CLUB NA XAMENA KIMA
This all-white newcomer Hotelier Pablo Inside, this ancient San
should put tiny Cala Carrington (Cap Rocat, Rafael finca hosts the
Tarida on the map. The Mallorca; Torralbenc, world’s top holistic
cliffside restaurant Menorca) has updated practitioners in its five
serves lazy lunches and this hotel near San treatment rooms.
starry suppers, there’s Miguel, giving rooms an Outside, detoxing
Friday-night outdoor airy look and turning the models and fitness
cinema, and the beach poolside restaurant into freaks make the most of
below has private a laid-back hangout. The a raw-food restaurant,
changing cabanas with dress code is low-key gym and yoga studio.
showers (a first for chic, with smart private It’s all hidden away
Ibiza), crystal-clear terraces to make the in a lush valley,
waters and lovely south- most of the view. with pretty suites to
westerly sunset views. +34 971 334500; www. follow in 2015.
+34 633 622000; www. hotelhacienda-ibiza.com. www.kimaibiza.com
cottonbeachclub.com Doubles from about £185 MAYA BOYD

MEMORY LANES
Beijing’s network of historical
alleyways – or hutong – is fast
disappearing. But local creative
multi-use space called Re-Up (59
Tie Shu Xie Jie). A hub for the
capital’s fledgling sustainability
agency Jellymon, led by Lin Lin, movement, the project includes
is hoping to reverse that trend. a café, rooftop urban farm,
Having worked on campaigns for workshop space and store
companies including Uniqlo, her selling eco-conscious products.
latest project is more personal: It’s a bold but smart attempt
converting a crumbling building to enlighten Beijing’s frenzied The next generation of museums is tackling
within Dashilar’s hutong, south
of Tiananmen Square, into a
consumers while regenerating the
old streets that Lin Lin loves.
powerful current topics through sleek design
his is a year of many weighty political anniversaries, from
LIN LIN’S FAVOURITE HUTONG SPOTS… 20 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa to the
FOR A DRINK ‘Qianmen centenary of the outbreak of World War I. However, new
Yuanshenghao Museum is dedicated museums are focusing on today’s thought-provoking themes,
to erguotou (a local liquor), which all housed in high-design buildings. This month the National
inspired the erguotou bonbons in September 11 Memorial & Museum (www.911memorial.org)
Re-Up’s café.’ 40 Liangshidian Jie will be completed in New York. Set beneath the 1,776ft One
FOR NOODLES ‘Si Ji Min Fu World Trade Center, it’s a coming together of footpaths, plazas,
restaurant is cramped. The staircase carvings of victims’ names and healing water, letting visitors
is too steep. But the zhajiangmian reflect on the attacks and issues arising from them. The Canadian
(traditional fried-noodle dish) here Museum for Human Rights (www.humanrightsmuseum.ca) in
is the best.’ 8 Langfang Ertiao Winnipeg will be the first devoted to the subject when it opens
FOR DESIGN ‘Ubi Gallery has in September. The architecture is part of the narrative, there’s
brought a new crowd to Dashilar a darkness-to-light path, Garden of Contemplation and Hall of
PHOTOGRAPH: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

for its modern ceramics.’
62 Yangmeizhu Xiejie
FOR LUCK ‘Lao Beijing
Tu Ye Dian sells painted
rabbit-god figurines,
which people buy for
good fortune. It’s a rabbit
– in an opera outfit.’ 45
Liu Li Chang Dong Jie
ADRIAN SANDIFORD
Hope. It will ‘challenge visitors to examine how human rights
touch their lives every day,’ says museum president Stuart Murray.
The Musée des Confluences (www.museedesconfluences.fr)
in Lyon, also slated for September, explores how scientific
knowledge applies to contemporary life, with exhibitions dedicated
to theories including the Big Bang. The design, which melds
transparent and opaque chunks, is an ode to deconstructionism,
and the location, at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône
rivers, plays on the theme of fusing ideas. KAREN BURSHTEIN

22 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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 WORD OF MOUTH
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the trends taking
SUMMER’S NEW SIPS
THE SPRITZ: BRITS SPRITZ
WHERE Kamm & Sons at Street Feast,
Dalston Yard, East London
WHAT 35ml Kamm & Sons British Aperitif, 15ml
elderflower cordial, 50ml English sparkling wine,
50ml soda water. Stir with a slice of cucumber
and grapefruit and serve on the rocks
WITH Baja fish tacos from Breddos
WHY Alex Kammerling’s botanical spirit is the
elegant, Anglo answer to sticky-sweet Aperol
THE SHANDY: HEDGEROW SHANDY
WHERE Barnyard, Fitzrovia, central London
WHAT 25ml sloe gin, 10ml lemon juice, 10ml sugar
syrup, 15ml pink-grapefruit juice, 35ml tonic water,
topped with cider. Serve in a half-pint glass tankard
WITH Barnyard’s crispy chicken wings with
smoked paprika, garlic and lemon
WHY The grown-up way to drink cider
– and the smart mix for a festival flask
off and those running
out of fuel
LONG ISLAND CITY
The latest ‘next Brooklyn’ is in Queens. Stay at new Ace-alike The
Paper Factory, drink microbrews, then culture it up at MoMA PS1
ALONE TIME
Need a break? Just a short one? Like Airbnb by the hour, new
app Breather rents rooms in cities (currently New York and
Montreal) to work in or escape to. But not for that, naughty
BREAKFAST CLUB
The cool kids are raving at the crack of dawn at Morning Glory’s
pre-work parties in an East London warehouse
SUB LOVE
Villa company Oliver’s Travels has launched Lovers Deep – a
submarine made for two beneath the Caribbean. It’s yours for
£175,000 a night. Deeply... unsexy

ILLUSTRATIONS: ELENA VILTOVSKAIA

THE WINE COCKTAIL: LITTLE LIVENER HIGH-HEEL WELLIES
WHERE Rawduck, Hackney, East London Yes, they now exist. No, they should not be seen at
WHAT 35ml white vermouth, 65ml sparkling wine, Glastonbury. You won’t need them in any case as forecasters
twist of lemon zest. Serve chilled in a wine glass are predicting this summer will be a scorcher
WITH Rawduck’s cauliflower fritters with cucumber
OTHER PEOPLE’S FEET
yogurt and curry leaves
From July, travellers on the new Toreiyu bullet train in Japan
WHY Last year’s She + T (sherry and tonic) from
can soak their tootsies in special footbath carriages as they
Sager + Wilde left us thirsty for more refreshing
whizz through the countryside. Eww
ways to drink fortified wine, and now vermouth
is having its turn. SOPHIE DENING

COMING TO THE CAPITAL

Ham Yard Hotel
OPENS
1 JUNE
They say: ‘Tim
and Kit Kemp
have designed
Ham Yard,
left, with an
urban-village
feel around
a unique new
pedestrian thoroughfare in Soho.’
We say: With shops, a restaurant
and bar, 24 apartments, a spa,
90 rooms, a rooftop garden and
its very own theatre, it’s the
most ambitious project to date
from Firmdale Hotels (Covent
Garden Hotel, Crosby Street
Hotel), and a surefire hit.
You’ll say: ‘Strike!’ in the four-lane
1950s bowling alley from Texas.
1 Ham Yard (+44 20 3652 2000;
www.hamyardhotel.com).
Doubles from £310
Shangri-La At The Shard
OPENS 6 MAY
They say: ‘The tallest hotel in
Western Europe. The contemporary
interiors complement Renzo Piano’s
architecture, and the breathtaking
views from floor-to-ceiling
windows unfold in all directions.’
We say: It’s high, taking up floors
34 to 52 of the 72-storey Shard.
And it’s late: the original plan
was to open in time for the 2012
Olympics. But the shiny skyscraper
glamour with a distinctly Asian
flavour is worth the wait.
You’ll say ‘Thank God I don’t
have vertigo’ as you swim mini-
laps of the 36-foot infinity pool
on the 52nd floor – London’s
highest when it opens 600ft
above the city in July.
31 St Thomas Street (+44 20 7234
8000; www.shangri-la.com/
london). Doubles from £450
The Beaumont Hotel
OPENS AUTUMN
They say: ‘Grand in style, intimate
in scale. A distinctive hotel based
on the golden age of hospitality.’
We say: In their first hotel, Chris
Corbin and Jeremy King, the duo
behind The Wolseley, swap the
classic European glitz of their
dining rooms for a 1920s New
York gentleman’s-club look.
You’ll say ‘How do I book ROOM?’
That’s the hotel’s inhabitable
sculpture by Antony Gormley.
Brown Hart Gardens (+44 20 7499
1001; www.thebeaumont.com).
Room rates TBA
Mondrian London
OPENS SUMMER
They say: ‘Envisioned by Tom
Dixon, Mondrian London
brings the heat, intensity and
energy of the original Hollywood
Mondrian to the Sea Containers
building on the South Bank.’
We say: With 359 rooms, it’s
big, and Dixon’s design plays on
its cruise-liner proportions and
nautical connections (check out
the copper sculpture in the vast
lobby, inspired by a ship’s hull).
Seamus Mullen (from New York’s
Tertulia) overseeing the kitchen
and Ryan Chetiyawardana (from
Hoxton’s White Lyan) mixing drinks
will draw the crowds across the river.
You’ll say: ‘Relax or roof?’ Deciding
between the basement spa and
the rooftop bar will be tough.
20 Upper Ground (+44 20 3747
1000; www.mondrianlondon.com).
Doubles from £234

CHECK IN Also look out for buzzy fun at The Hoxton Holborn (opening this summer), eclectic style and mean cocktails at the new Zetter Townhouse on
Seymour Street (October), and 16 Art Deco-style rooms at The Arts Club, above, on Dover Street (late 2014)

24 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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 WorldMags.net
SOMEWHERE FOR THE WEEKEND

FESTIVALS

If you think these summer celebrations are the preserve of teenagers and ageing hippies,
think again. They’ve got smaller and smarter, taking place not just in fields but forts,
beaches, parks and pastel-pretty villages. They have Michelin-starred chefs, lakeside
spas and philosophical debates amid the endless music. All are waiting to be discovered
in magical worlds that exist just for a few days. Here’s our pick of Europe’s best
26 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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 WorldMags.net Festival No 6, Portmeirion, Wales.
Opposite, festival-goers at sunset
PHOTOGRAPHS: DANNY NORTH; ANDREW WHITTON

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SOMEWHERE FOR THE WEEKEND FESTIVALS
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Best for free-spirited foodies
WILDERNESS
Oxfordshire
Can a music festival make you smarter?
Wilderness thinks so, as well as pampered,
and very well fed. Here, among Cornbury
Park’s lakes, woods and glades, feather-
headdress-wearing partygoers drift from
The School of Life’s thought-provoking
talks to performances from Shakespeare’s
Globe, catching a couple of music acts
(Burt Bacharach and London Grammar
headline this summer) in between. Food
is top-notch: an Old Spot bacon bap
from St John cures hangovers, meze from
Moro refuels before wild swimming in
the lake. Banquets by Simon Rogan,
Angela Hartnett and Russell Norman
kick off evenings that could lead from
a roller disco to a forest rave. This July
the Wilderness gang also head to North
Devon for their new Somersault festival
(www.somersaultfestival.com), capturing
the same spirit with added seaside activities.
7–10 August (www.wildernessfestival.com;
weekend camping ticket £143.50)

Best for surprises in the shire

BEAT-HERDER
Lancashire
Distinctively northern-style Beat-Herder
has been lovingly cultivated by local
collective Toil Soundsystem, who put on
free parties here in the Ribble Valley in
the 1990s. The fiercely DIY ethos remains,
and they cram a lot of fun into a small
area. The central woodland hides a
pop-up street with tattoo parlour, a
church that holds three services a day
(hymn books are filled with disco hits)
and a garage forecourt offering hose-
downs. Step into a phone box and be
taken through secret tunnels to hidden
caverns, or dance in the courtyard of the
corrugated-iron Fortress. The line-up
competes with much larger festivals.
Last year Nile Rodgers was fresh from
Glastonbury; this year Happy Mondays
will get the 24-hour party people dancing.
18–20 July (www.beatherder.co.uk;
weekend camping ticket £112)
Best for a rockstar fairytale
FESTIVAL NO 6 Wales
The fantasy location is lure enough: the
Italianate village of Portmeirion, with
pastel houses, cobbled streets, woodlands
and beaches. And this much-buzzed-about
festival is intimate yet full of surprises. Last
year there were hallucinogenic carnivals,
discos on a grounded boat, human chess
games in medieval costume in the
grand piazza and spooky processions of
lampshade-wearing women winding
through the alleyways. Now in its third
year, this is an indie-rock lover’s dream
– Primal Scream and Manic Street
Preachers have played in the past – but
half the fun is exploring. Stumble on a
band busking in the woods, get lost
along the seashore or seek out real ales at
country pubs and home-baked scones in
old-fashioned tea rooms. Somehow, like
pieces in a puzzle, the spectacular scenery
and surrealism all make amazing sense.
5–7 September (www.festivalnumber6.
com; weekend camping ticket £160)
Best for urban beats
FIELD DAY London
The capital’s coolest festival rolls out across
a whole weekend this year in Victoria Park,
and it’s not just the line-up that’s getting
bigger (Metronomy and Pixies top the
bill). Food is a big bite above the average
festival fare, with the finest food trucks
being wheeled in by Street Feast (the people
behind the hit Hawker House night

28 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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Clockwise from this picture:
an Airstream, the ultimate
festival accessory; outdoor art
at Wilderness; a lantern-lit
wood; a festival sculpture;
Beat-Herder, Lancashire
market in Hackney), and the London
Brewer’s Market replaces warm cider with
craft ales. Given its East London location,
Field Day is hipster-heavy and LA girl band
Warpaint (this year’s Haim) and Aussie trio
Jagwar Ma (as if Happy Mondays met the
Beach Boys on the dance floor) are the
names to check. Away from the music, the
Village Green is home to a tongue-in-
cheek country fair with sack races, tea-bag
tossing and a winkle-picking competition.
7–8 June (www.fielddayfestivals.com;
weekend ticket £78)
Best for left-field grandeur
WINTERWELL
PHOTOGRAPHS: AHSLEY DAVIS TILLY; DANNY NORTH
Dorset
After a year off, the Winterwell family
descends on the sprawling grounds of St
Giles House. The talented crew put on
immersive events throughout the year
and this bucolic weekender is titled ‘The
THERE ARE DISCOS Lost Pleasure Grounds’, recreating a
ON A GROUNDED Georgian tradition when the Earl of
BOAT AND SPOOKY Shaftesbury opened his home to the public.
PROCESSIONS OF Order your 19th-century costume and join
the period theatre tour of the grounds.
LAMPSHADE-WEARING Take a seat at the grand feast in the
WOMEN dining room. Groove to gypsy disco and
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ska punk in scattered tents and cellars.
Play games in sunken gardens and row
boats across a twinkly-lit lake. Top it off
with an invite from Winterwell founder,
Josh Ford, to watch the sunrise from
the Philosopher’s Tower in the woods.
30–31 August (www.winterwell.co.uk;
weekend camping ticket £110)
Best for creative kicks
PORT ELIOT Cornwall
As otherworldly and romantic as the
rambling estate it’s held in, Port Eliot
plays out like an oversized village fete. It’s
all rather posh and colourful but hosts,
Peregrine Eliot, and his wife, Catherine St
Germans, know their crowd. The orangery
houses a flower-arranging contest, the
walled garden has fashion stalls (Stephen
Jones and Luella Bartley have pitched up
in the past), the opulently threadbare
dining room is turned into a cinema and
the kitchens are the setting for banquets,
this year served up by Skye Gyngell. The
sideways spirit continues after dark when
a narrow path leads through trees to a
yurt with ales, music and dancing hosted
by modern-day dandy Gaz Mayall, with
performances from Jake Chapman and
Gruff Rhys. It’s rare that such a cast
of characters is grouped together for a
weekend, and it’s very special indeed.
24–27 July (www.porteliotfestival.com;
weekend camping ticket £165)
Best for family fun
CORNBURY
Oxfordshire
About as civilised as festivals get, Cornbury
is a hit with the Chipping Norton set –
the Camerons are regulars. But between
Champagne and Hummingbird Bakery
cupcakes, there’s plenty of fun to be 
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 had. There’s unicycling, yoga, bhangra
dancing – and that’s just in the kids’ area. It
pays to be under 10 here. Music strikes a
crowd-pleasing chord. Van Morrison and
Status Quo have headlined in the past,
and Simple Minds take the stage at Great
Tew Park this year. It’s easy to dip in and
out of (as many locals do), although
overnight options reflect the smart crowd,
with yurts and bell tents. Plus, there’s a disco
shed for dad dancing, plenty of space for
picnics and Pimm’s, Morris dancers and a
tea tent: all the ingredients for a glorious
weekend and an idyllic slice of Englishness.
4–6 July (www.cornburyfestival.com;
weekend ticket £170, not including camping)
Best for culture lovers
OPTIMUS PRIMAVERA
SOUND Porto, Portugal
It may be the younger, smaller sister of
Barcelona’s popular Primavera Sound,
but Optimus Primavera, held a week later
in Porto’s seaside Parque da Cidade, has
a charm all of its own. The National and
Neutral Milk Hotel top this year’s bill,
but it’s a festival that doesn’t end when
the music stops. Instead, the party spills
into the city’s historic centre, a 20-minute
beach walk away, into baroque bars on
cobbled streets. There are plenty of quirky
landmarks to discover when wandering
through Porto: its railway bridge designed
by Eiffel; the Lello bookshop, opened in
30 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
1906; the grassy banks of the Douro Best for Nordic flavour
River flanked by Art Deco cafés and
pop-up shops. For festival thrills with the OYA Oslo, Norway
relaxed feel of a civilised European An army of rubbish collectors, almost zero
weekend break, there’s no beating it. queuing, tasty organic food and a rich
5–7 June (www.optimusprimaverasound. mix of families and Scandi hipsters: Oya
com; weekend ticket about £85) is a dream of a festival. This year the
action moves to a new home at Tøyen
Best for a laid-back groove Park where stages are sandwiched between
the Munch museum (see The Scream
SOUNDWAVE between bands), botanical gardens and an
Croatia outdoor swimming pool. International
Croatia has fast become Europe’s festival names (Outkast and Queens of the Stone
hotspot. Among the standouts are the Age) share the billing with top local
Garden Festival, the granddaddy of them talent (see ‘the Norwegian Nick Drake’
all; Stop Making Sense, five days of jazz Thomas Dybdahl and home-spun disco
and reggae beats; and buzzy newcomers king Todd Terje) and a night-time line-up
For (on Hvar) and Unknown (near the takes over the city’s clubs. Oslo’s artsy
old town of Rovinj), which appeal to neighbourhood Grünerløkka is less than
varied tastes. If you pick just one, make a 15-minute walk away and is filled with
it Soundwave. It’s small and perfectly
curated, with an appealingly snug capacity
of 3,000. Held on the same site as the
Garden Festival, a pretty cove on the
Dalmatian coast, but with a more low-key
vibe, this beachside bash has plenty to
offer: cheap drinks, moonlit soirees, boat
parties galore. With an underground
blend of soul, reggae, pop and rap acts, it’s
spread over five days, so there’s plenty of
time for swimming and lounging under
pine trees against the chilled soundtrack.
17–21 July (www.soundwavecroatia.com;
weekend ticket £125, not including
accommodation)
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CORSICA IS WHERE THE
SUMMER MIGRATION
KICKS OFF: IN A
BEAUTIFUL SETTING
FULL OF BEAUTIFUL
PEOPLE
vintage shops, microbrewery bars, craft
coffee houses and plenty of Airbnb listings.
5–9 August (www.oyafestivalen.com;
five-day ticket about £240)
Best for wow-factor location
MELT! Ferropolis, Germany
Past sunflower meadows and wind farms,
Melt! takes place at an abandoned mine
on a peninsula surrounded by a lake. The
laser light shows, giant caterpillars and
cranes make it feel like you’ve stumbled
onto the set of Blade Runner. Music-wise,
it blends techno, electronic, hip-hop and
indie rock on its beachfront stages and
attracts a mixed crowd of rockers and
ravers. Innovative accomodation includes
the MiXery Beds on Wheels Hotel train,
transporting festival-goers from Berlin,
Cologne or Munich aboard sleeper
carriages with food, a DJ and a bar. Once
PHOTOGRAPHS: VENETIA DEARDON; DANNY NORTH
at the site, the train morphs into a hotel;
from there, you can go swimming in the
lake, hang out in the comfy bar, take to the
roulette tables, or hit the endless parties.
18–20 July (www.meltfestival.de; weekend
camping ticket £105)
Best for a party by the Med
CALVI ON THE ROCKS
Corsica, France
The Parisian in-crowd’s summer migration
kicks off here: a beautiful festival in a
Clockwise from this picture:
taxidermy at Festival No 6;
Winterwell, Dorset; a food truck
at Wilderness; a café on wheels;
festival-goers at twilight
beautiful setting full of beautiful people.
Days are spent drinking rosé and dancing
to DJs. The VIP area is a vintage yacht
moored just offshore. After dark the
action moves to the open-air Théâtre
de Verdure (at the foot of the citadel,
‘on the rocks’ by the sea) where bands
and electro acts play; past acts have
included Björk and Hot Chip. The line
easily blurs between festival and holiday.
Pick up supplies at the covered food
market, with its Greek-temple-style
columns, and make a day trip to the beaches
of L’Ile-Rousse along the coast. Back in
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Calvi, Campo di Fiori (www.location-
campodifiori.com) rents charming
apartments minutes from the sea.
5–10 July (www.calviontherocks.com;
five-day ticket about £140)
Best for endless sunshine
ALL TOMORROW’S
PARTIES Iceland
Ten degrees in July might not sound like
ideal festival weather, but this isn’t an
average tents-in-a-field jamboree. For
starters, it’s in a former NATO airbase; the
main stage a hangar that housed bombers,
the horizon punctuated by a radar dome
and steam from nearby geothermal power
plants. The otherworldly atmosphere is
augmented by the fact that the sun barely
sets. It’s disorienting at first, but you quickly
adapt. ATP has always had a quirky
reputation (it has held festivals in a Pontins
holiday camp), and this is no exception.
There’s a book club, pop quiz and films
chosen by the bands. Portishead and Interpol
headline, but the local acts are worth
seeing too. Iceland is one of the best
places for a party: just don’t forget a jacket.
10–12 July (www.atpfestival.com; weekend
ticket about £90)
REPORTS FROM Britt Collins,
Alex Fenton-Thomas, Thomas Frost, Duncan
Geere, Al Horner, Rooksana Hossenally,
Fiona Kerr, Louis de Rohan, Alex Tieghi-Walker
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NEIGHBOURHOOD ON THE UP
The Brazilian city’s one-time hippy hub has grown smart new shoots, with innovative galleries,
WORDS TAMARA MICNER

Clockwise from above: retro

books in O Velho Livreiro;
a living wall in concept store
Farm on Rua Harmonia;
Vila Madalena’s bright houses;
O Velho Livreiro; a quirky street
seat; Alto da Harmonia bar;
Retro 63 vintage shop

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Vila Madalena, São Paulo
bars and boutiques drawing a sophisticated young crowd to its graffiti-daubed streets
DRINK
Mercearia São Pedro is
old-school Vila Madalena,
truly bohemian, a little bit
grungy, a honeypot for
artists, writers and hipsters.
Browse the Borges and
Ribeiro paperbacks, then
order a bucket of Bohemia
beers and hot pastel de
queijo on the packed
outside deck. On week
nights you might see an
indie film, catch a book
launch or find authors
such as Xico Sá propped
up at the bar, flirting
behind his dark glasses.
Rua Rodésia 34 (+55 11
3815 7200; www.facebook.
com/saopedromercearia)
 Cool young things
have been flocking to
Empório Sagarana for
craft beer and cachaça
since it opened a year ago.
With a wagon-wheel
chandelier and barrels for
chairs, the main draws are
the 600 cachaças (try the
Farrista) and 150 beers,
including the Rogue Dead
Guy Ale and Rodenbach
Caractère Rouge. Pair them
with dishes of smoked
tilapia and canastra cheese
with pink peppercorns.
PHOTOGRAPHS: FLORENCE DEAU; MAIRA FRIDMAN;
PAULO FRIDMAN; ANDRE VIEIRA
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Rua Aspicuelta 271 (+55
11 3031 0816; www.
emporiosagarana.com.br)
SEE
The concrete walls of
the trailblazing gallery,
shop and event space
Espaço Art’er showcase
cutting-edge South
American street art, with
an upstairs container for
installations and inventive
jewellery on display at
the back. Sip a mini Moët
& Chandon through a
straw and munch on an
empanada while local
rapper Criolo Doido
blasts from the speakers.
Rua Harmonia 797 (+55
11 3926 2512; www.
espacoarter.com.br)
SHOP
Estela and Pablo Peinado
specialise in fine paper
and well-bound books at
O Velho Livreiro. Inside
their egg-yolk-coloured
house are notebooks
designed by Christian
Lacroix and Pablo himself,
as well as handmade
diaries and photo albums.
The workshop runs
brilliant bespoke stationery
and bookbinding courses.
Rua Harmonia 783 (+55
11 2478 8849; www.
ovelholivreiro.com)
 An exposed-brick-
walled boutique, with bare
light bulbs strung from
the ceiling and a cute,
pebbled courtyard, Anbê
has rails and armoires full
of pretty floral prints. The
breezy tops, trousers and
dresses (and shorts and
shirts for men) are made
from chita, the lightweight
Brazilian cotton that’s
perfect for beachwear,
so it’s worth coming here
if you’re heading on to
Floripa’s coast. Rua
Harmonia 223 (+55 11
2309 7609)
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NEIGHBOURHOOD ON THE UP Vila Madalena, São Paulo
Clockwise from left:
a colourful street in
Vila Madalena; a window
display; prints and
homeware in Espaço
Art’er; stew at Lá da
Venda café; Anbê shop
EAT
St Etienne is the spot for
a lazy brunch. On the
shaded terrace, under
the whirr of lined-up
fans, Paulistas tuck into
omelettes and beirutes
(pitta-bread sandwiches
with cheese, beef and
fried eggs). Scan the
pastry counters inside for
takeaway treats: tiny,
still-warm pão de queijo
buns and passion-fruit
suco (juice). Rua Harmonia
699 (+55 11 3819 2578;
www.santaetienne.com.br).
About £20 for two
 At café/shop Lá da
Venda the emphasis
is on handmade and
home-made. Join locals
for an alfresco Saturday
lunch of picadinho (stew)
with filet mignon, banana
empanada and farofa
(cassava flour), washed
down with a fizzy tutti-frutti
Tubaína, and afterwards
look at the artisan crockery,
linens and scarves inside.
Their other branch is in the
34 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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vast Shopping JK Iguatemi
mall. Rua Harmonia 161
(+55 11 3037 7702;
www.ladavenda.com.br).
About £30 for two
 Brazilian actress Karina
Bacchi and designer 
Patricia Bonaldi are
regulars at pastel-coloured
patisserie Le Jardin
Secret for its photogenic
sweets bedecked with
flower petals from France.
The popular pavé de la
chef is a rose-topped,
layered cake of biscuit
crumble and vanilla
cream. It also makes
completely addictive
brigadeiros, balls of dulce
de leche and Belgian cocoa.
Rua Harmonia 293 (+55
11 2537 3819; www.
lejardinsecret.com.br)
GROOMING
Since it opened last spring,
Terrasse Beauty Bar has
been full of chic women
getting their feelgood
fix. As well as top-notch
waxing, massages and
mani/pedis, the main
PHOTOGRAPHS: FLORENCE DEAU; SIMONE DIACOPULOS; NEWTON SANTOS/HYPE/FOLHAPRESS; ANDRE VIEIRA
attraction is the hair salon.
Treatments are preceded
by a glass of Champagne,
and the perfectly groomed
owner Marcela Rocha
oversees it all with a smile.
Rua Harmonia 252 (+55 11
4327 8723; www.terrasse
beautybar.com.br)
WorldMags.net

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 WorldMags.net

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The recommended retail price of P20 is £13.29 (100ml) and £24.49 (200ml). Distributed in the UK by Godrej Consumer Products (UK) Ltd.
 WorldMags.net WHERE TO STAY
Reviews of the month in Los Angeles Paris Cheltenham Plus Hilary Swank
EDITED BY PETER BROWNE

REVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

PHOTOGRAPHS: JESSICA SAMPLE

EXCLUSIVE This Ace is at the heart of Downtown LA’s comeback, says Alix Sharkey
When i first moved to LA from miles south, held little interest. But sync with the city’s business heart. As
Brooklyn, I rarely quit the palm-lined one day I found myself on Broadway, darkness fell, the streets came alive
avenues of Silver Lake, Los Feliz and gazing up at its Deco, beaux-arts and with people howling, laughing and
Hollywood. Downtown’s steel towers, Spanish-baroque delights, exhilarated running in defiance of ‘Don’t walk’
shimmering above the smog two by the grit and traffic, my pulse in signs. Nearby Skid Row – home
WorldMags.net June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 37
WHERE TO STAY
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 of the homeless, redoubt of the
addicted – lent a whiff of lunacy, but there
was something else. It felt like fun.
How ironic that a city synonymous with
car travel was born from public transport.
Early-20th-century Los Angeles was the
end of the line, the southern California
terminus for transcontinental railway lines,
dumping hordes of young hopefuls from
the USA’s East and Midwest, eager to seek
their fortunes in sunnier climes.
As the city’s financial, manufacturing
and entertainment industries boomed, so
did its privately owned trains, buses and
trolley cars, built expressly by real estate
speculators to fuel property prices. By
the mid-1920s, with 1,100 miles of track
branching from Downtown through
Hollywood, San Pedro and Santa Monica,
Pacific Electric was the world’s largest,
most efficient mass-transit system.
This was Downtown’s golden age: banks
boomed on Spring Street, department
stores and jewellers welcomed the affluent
and a dozen movie palaces – huge, ornate
cinemas with lavish interiors – lined the
neon-drenched sidewalks of Broadway,
offering working stiffs a taste of exotica.
The City of Angels took flight. By 1940
more than 105,000 Angelenos lived within
a mile of Downtown’s centre at 7th Street
and Broadway, a population density to
match New York City.
But after World War II, the tumescent
auto industry and LA’s federally funded
freeway system drove ‘white flight’ as the
middle classes fled to suburban Glendale,
Burbank, Alhambra and Pasadena.
Bunker Hill, Downtown’s northerly
enclave of Victorian houses, became
riddled with flophouses and seedy bars.
Further west, the car-friendly office
towers and commercial developments of
Mid-Wilshire and Century City siphoned
off business, and the city’s transit system
withered and died, its streetcar tracks
torn up to make way for automobiles.
Desperate to staunch the bleeding, the
city razed Bunker Hill, driving out its last
residents. Busy sidewalks were replaced
with faceless avenues, apartment hotels
lost out to soulless skyscraper offices and
multi-level car parks in the International
PHOTOGRAPHS: JESSICA SAMPLE
Style, derived from Le Corbusier’s
grotesque ‘towers-in-a-park’ concept. By
Clockwise from bottom left: the exterior of the
Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles; a theatre in
the hotel; the terrace of LA Chapter restaurant;
Upstairs rooftop bar; a bedroom; LA Chapter;
the terrace and counter at Upstairs; gravlax
in the restaurant. Previous page, the lobby
1998, Downtown’s 45,000 residents were
mostly working-class Hispanics; only the
constant flow of Spanish-language films
and plays ensured that so many historic
movie palaces survived intact.
But in 1999, after decades of neglect, a
re-zoning ordinance ignited Downtown’s
revival, allowing developers to convert
office buildings into loft apartments. Five
years later, the well-heeled professionals
were back and shops and businesses
returned to the city’s rebranded Historic
Core, its 22-block golden-age centre.
On the core’s southern edge stands a
12-storey Spanish Gothic confection, built
in 1927 so that Charlie Chaplin, Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and DW
Griffith could premiere their maverick
studio’s films. With its marble lobby,
gilt interior, cod-medieval murals and
vaulted auditorium ceiling covered in
WITH AN ART-ROCK
SOUNDTRACK AND LOTS
OF COMEDY FACIAL
HAIR, YOU CAN SEE WHY
THERE’S RARELY AN
EMPTY CHAIR HERE
tiny mirrors, it was one of the greatest
movie palaces ever constructed. To reduce
overheads, the United Artists (as they
styled themselves) crowned it with an
office block they leased to Texaco oil.
This jazz-era jewel has been reborn as
the 182-room Ace Hotel Downtown Los
Angeles, the latest link in the Ace chain
of hip hotels. Since it was launched in
Seattle in 1999, Ace hotels have sprung
up in Downtown Portland, Midtown
Manhattan, Palm Springs, London’s
Shoreditch and Panama City. The group’s
brand identity might be termed ‘funky
urbana’: central locations with keenly
priced rooms, vintage furnishings and
street art; eccentric low-fi bistros serving
local food and themed cocktails; front
desks manned by laid-back staff with
neck tattoos and statement hairstyles.
The new Ace was warmly welcomed by
Angelenos, even though its opening was
overshadowed by the untimely death last
October of the group’s co-founder and
public face, 47-year-old Alex Calderwood.
Among Calderwood’s talents was an
ability to capture regional zeitgeist; rather
than develop a formula, he styled and
furnished each hotel individually to
reflect its locale. So it’s surprising that
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design team Commune chose a minimalist
feel and chromophobic palette for the
bedrooms at the new Ace, given that
Downtown’s glory days were flooded with
colour, light and sumptuous detail. And
while my froideur towards exposed concrete,
black MDF furniture and polar-white tiles
might be a personal failing, there’s simply
no excuse for ill-conceived and inadequate
kitchenette lighting. And those Noguchi
paper lanterns? They looked cheap to me
as an art student, and still do.
Still, despite the spartan aesthetic of the
Ace Suites – not a suite by any conventional
definition and devoid of a single artwork
– they have huge windows and excellent
air-conditioning, a perfectly tuned Martin
acoustic guitar on a corner stand and a
thick Pendleton wool blanket on the bed:
a definite boon on a windswept rainy night.
I suspect the Ace’s youngish target
clientele are less concerned with traditional
boutique-hotel comforts and keener on
stylish common spaces. If so, they’ll be
delighted. The groundfloor LA Chapter
restaurant serves modern American
comfort food: roasted black cod; rabbit
ragù; braised lamb. The drinks menu
includes cocktails such as the aromatic
Gaslight (rye whiskey, cardamom syrup
and sweet-cherry-bark bitters) and local
craft porters and IPAs. Factor in a vintage
art-rock soundtrack, Stumptown coffee
and lots of comedy facial hair, and
you can see why there’s rarely an empty
chair among its crowded, noisy tables.
The rooftop Upstairs bar has a hot-tub-
sized ‘dipping pool’ surrounded by stout
sunloungers, Alma Allen found-timber
furniture and a skyline vista dominated
by the Eastern Columbia Building, a
turquoise Deco treasure on the next block.
And the location is right in the mix,
with a clutch of equally hip boutiques
(Acne Studios, Apolis, Guerilla Atelier)
and restaurants (Alma, Bäco Mercat,
Maccheroni Republic) in the surrounding
area. Sure, you’d best avoid those iffy
characters scuffling along 5th Street
between Skid Row and Pershing Square
all day and night, but to sample the zesty
tang of Downtown’s renaissance and
witness the rebirth of a great historic
inner city, Ace is the place.
ACE HOTEL DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES
929 SOUTH BROADWAY, LOS
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (+1 213
623 3233; WWW.ACEHOTEL.COM).
DOUBLES FROM ABOUT £200
 WHERE TO STAY
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BED-HOPPING WITH HILARY SWANK
The two-time Oscar winner tells Francesca Babb which hotels get her million-dollar vote

 AMANGANI,  PARK HYATT TOKYO

WYOMING ‘This is the hotel featured in Lost in
‘I’ve been here three times Translation, and it’s crazy spectacular. A
because I love skiing and big, corporate place like this is not my
I’ve also been to Aman hotels thing at all, so it speaks really highly of
in Bali and Turks and Caicos. the staff and Japanese culture that it’s
They are all great and run up there as one of my most memorable
similarly, so you know what hotel experiences. Those views will stay
to expect. There’s something in my head permanently.’ www.tokyo.
comforting in that: when park.hyatt.com. Doubles from about £370
you’re spending money, you
want it all to come together.’
www.amanresorts.com.
Doubles from about £525

‘WE GOT LOST IN

THE MALDIVES,
BUT IT DIDN’T
MATTER AS WE
DIDN’T HAVE TO BE
ANYWHERE’
 FOUR SEASONS RESORT
HUALALAI, HAWAII
‘I adore Hawaii, but the hotels can be
NO THANKS! rt Lana’i at
ur Seasons Reso really hit-and-miss as I don’t like high-rise
‘I used to love Fo ere are wi ld dolphins places; the key for me is a boutiquey
aii – th
Manele Bay, Haw I we nt back
bay. But when style. Hualalai is borderline too big, but
that swim in the pp oint ed I left
was so disa the way it is designed, so spread out, it
after 10 years, I and
s really run-down doesn’t seem like a large hotel at all.’ www.
right away. It wa rem em bered.’ fourseasons.com. Doubles from about £475
ho tel I
nothing like the

PHOTOGRAPHS: ROBERT ERDMANN/AUGUST; DAN KULLBERG

 CROSBY STREET HOTEL,

 SONEVA FUSHI, THE MALDIVES
‘Staying here felt like I’d stepped back
in time, and it’s so rare to experience
that any more. Our days were spent
lounging, then playing tennis and going
on bike rides. I’m a big foodie and
everything was exquisite: Japanese,
Mexican, Italian, elixirs and fruit juices.
It really hit the spot.’ www.soneva.com.
Villas from about £595
NEW YORK
‘I have an apartment in New York, but this
place almost makes me want to sell it, or at
least remodel. I like the fact that each room
is decorated differently: it feels more like
a home. SoHo is a little too crowded for
me, but being on Crosby Street, with
its cobbled stones, is great. And they’re
super dog-friendly.’ www.firmdale
hotels.com. Doubles from about £365

40 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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 WorldMags.net

VIEW FROM THE DOME SUITE TERRACE. ONE OF

SIX SIGNATURE SUITES AT CAFÉ ROYAL HOTEL

SUITE VIEW
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+44 (0)20 7406 3322 HOTELCAFEROYAL.COM BOOKING CODE *L06$

CAFÉ ROYAL HOTEL, 68 REGENT STREET, LONDON W1B 4DY

+44 (0)20 7406 3322 RESERVATIONS@HOTELCAFEROYAL.COM
HOTELCAFEROYAL.COM

* Return airport chauffeured car service for Regent Suites and above and one way for Junior, Glasshouse and Westminster Suites

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WorldMags.net

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 WHERE TO STAY
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STYLISH AND AFFORDABLE

PARIS HOTELS
Five offbeat retreats at the heart of the Right Bank. By Lindsey Tramuta

FABULOUS FORMER FACTORY

HOTEL FABRIC
11TH ARRONDISSEMENT
This handsome, 33-room hotel occupies a
revamped factory in Oberkampf-Ménilmontant,
once a metalworking area and now a foodie hot
spot. The building has plenty of original industrial
features, including cast-iron columns and large
windows, but designers Agnès Louboutin and
Patrice Henry, known for their flea-market finds,
have updated the look. There’s a mix of furniture
styles in the lobby – Eames chairs, a chesterfield
sofa, antique travelling trunks used as side tables
– and the breakfast room is dominated by a large
star illuminated with exposed light bulbs (it’s from
Recycle, a local vintage shop). The crowd is just
as eclectic: young couples and hip European
families tucking into croissants and artisanal jams
at breakfast, or helping themselves to drinks from
the honesty bar in the evening. Graphic colour
schemes – pink, green and orange – spice up
the bedrooms, and showers are encrusted with
starry LED lights. There’s no restaurant, and
room service is outsourced and expensive (£14
for a Caesar salad) so your money is better spent
in the hotel’s tiny but well-run spa, which uses
all-natural potions by Les Bains de Marrakech.
www.hotelfabric.com. Doubles from about £140

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HIP HOME FROM HOME
HOTEL PARADIS
10TH ARRONDISSEMENT
With its reputation for shady dive bars, wholesale clothing outlets
and, more recently, cool nightclubs, the 10th arrondissement
might seem like a curious place for a hotel promising Zen-like
calm. But this 38-room charmer in a converted fur shop/derelict
motel is on rue des Petites Ecuries, one of the quietest streets
in the neighbourhood. The owners enlisted designer Dorothée
Meilichzon, best known for her work on the Experimental Cocktail
Clubs in London, New York and Ibiza, to rethink the interiors,
and she came up with a mix of textbook Scandinavian minimalism
with subtle riffs on French elegance (faux carved mouldings in
the downstairs sitting room; original exposed beams in the top-floor suite, with its unparalleled
views of the Sacré Coeur). There are bespoke rugs and hound’s-tooth fabric headboards in
the bedrooms, and whimsical, retro-chic wallpapers in the corridors; and although the ceilings
on the upper floors are comically low, it all adds to the feel of a cosy Parisian pied-à-terre.
This homely atmosphere is helped by the Kusmi tea in the rooms and tasty homemade cakes
and yogurts freely available in the breakfast bar. There is no restaurant, but the hotel is close
to plenty of good bistros, including laid-back next-door neighbour Vivant Table, and Le Richer.
www.hotelparadisparis.com. Doubles from about £90

MAD ABOUT THE MOVIES

HOTEL 123 SEBASTOPOL
2ND ARRONDISSEMENT
The film world has been one of interior designer Philippe Maidenberg’s
passions for many years, so it was hardly surprising when he was given
the task of transforming this 63-room hotel on boulevard Sébastopol
into a fantastical homage to cinema. From the outside, it looks like
any other shop on this busy street, and the lobby was indeed an old-
school perfumery, now reimagined as a classic movie-theatre entrance
with an illuminated black-and-white signboard and a deep-pile, palm-
leaf-embroidered red carpet that wouldn’t look out of place in Cannes.
Each of the six upper floors is named after a personality in French
cinema, including prolific film-maker Claude Lelouch, Oscar-nominated
scriptwriter and director Danièle Thompson and actress Elsa Zylberstein,
all of whom have contributed to the look. In the bathrooms, black flight
cases used to transport camera equipment now serve as sink surrounds,
and scripts, storyboards, movie reels and set photographs are incorporated
into the artworks. From the upper floors (once occupied by offices)
there are superb views of the
neo-Gothic Musée des Arts
et Métiers on rue Réaumur.
Downstairs there’s a sunny
conservatory bar configured
like a Hollywood film set with
enormous spotlights, bespoke
leather directors’ chairs and
glamorous mirrored tables
for breakfast (an impressive
Continental spread) or cocktails
made with fresh syrups and
infusions (try the Vesper Martini).
The 20-seat screening room
shows three films daily (requests
are encouraged) and the super-
hip Experimental Cocktail Club
is nearby. www.le123sebastopol.
com. Doubles from about £185

44 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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SERENITY IN THE CITY

HOTEL DU TEMPS
9TH ARRONDISSEMENT
If this charming, one-year-old boutique hotel feels
sepia-tinged, that’s because designers Alix Thomsen and
Laura Leonard conceived it that way. Set back from the
noisy rue du Faubourg Poissonnière near child-friendly
Square Montholon, it has a graceful, timeworn look,
with antiques and decorative pieces including solid-wood
desk chairs, wicker stools (used as bedside tables) and
cleverly distressed mirrors from nearby curiosity shop
Archi Noire. There are 23 sparsely furnished bedrooms
with lime-washed floorboards, white walls and joyful,
tropical-print curtains and bed linens. It all feels very
bucolic, a bit like a serene summer villa. Original artworks
depicting American boxers Rocky Marciano and Sugar
Ray Robinson (by up-and-coming artist Rafael Alterio)
add to the old-school vibe, and handmade soaps in the
ivory-tiled bathrooms lend a contemporary, artisanal
touch. The pretty ground-floor sitting room and cocktail
bar is kitted out with leather booths and geometric-
tiled floors, and there’s a low-lit basement bar with cosy
banquettes and mismatched cushions that has become
a hangout for a cool crowd of designers, musicians
and photographers; it has also been used as a venue
for private concerts by acts including Metronomy and
Breakbot. The hotel serves breakfast (fresh pastries
from local bakery Arnaud Delmontel) and teatime
madeleines and chocolate-chip cookies from pastry
supremo Christophe Michalak, but it doesn’t have a
restaurant. However, staff keep an updated list of the
best places to eat within a two-block radius, including
the English-run Albion and matchbox-sized Abri.
www.hotel-du-temps.fr. Doubles from about £135

DIPPY DESIGNER MASH-UP

EDGAR HOTEL
2ND ARRONDISSEMENT
When hotelier and restaurateur Guillaume Rouget-Luchaire decided to open this
contemporary inn in the heart of the still-thriving garment district of Sentier, he
imagined the space as a restaurant with rooms, a foodie hangout for Parisian regulars
and visitors wanting to tap into the local scene. The restaurant, with its mid-century
Danish tables and chairs, vintage pendant lamps and patterned textiles, is always
busy. Style-conscious bobos (bourgeois bohemians) feast on dishes from the seafood-
focused menu dreamed up by Belgian chef Xavier Thiery (whole John Dory fillets
from the Basque Country; smoked herring or razor clams a la plancha). Cocktail
aficionados knock back serious drinks at the bar, including the Parisienne, a blend
of rum, St Germain and lemon juice served on the rocks. There’s a rollicking vibe late
into the night, played out against a soundtrack of 1950s jazz and the steady clink
of cocktail shakers. Upstairs, the owner’s family and friends were given carte blanche
to design the 13 fantasy bedrooms: Chanel designer Pascal Brault opted for a moody,
monochrome space; photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand imagined his as an African
outpost. There’s also a room with pink, green and yellow walls, another with 1930s
oak furniture, and a pine-lined cabin with 90 watercolours of treehouses. It’s all a bit
bonkers, but in a good way. www.edgarparis.com. Doubles from about £155

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library with oversized velvet armchairs.
Lunches include crayfish sandwiches and
tuna tartare with sesame and avocado. The
evening menu is wholesome and hearty:
Brixham crab gratin; a marathon seafood
platter locals swear by; 17 different cuts
of steak chargrilled in a Josper oven, and
decadent extras such as garlic snails, wild
mushrooms, foie gras, roast bone marrow,
and beef-dripping or duck-fat chips.

WHO GOES THERE? Dom Joly moved

in when his house flooded last winter. And
with Cheltenham Ladies’ College and
Dean Close nearby, plenty of parents treat
their children to the epic high tea of warm
homemade sausage rolls (ridiculously
good), Victoria sponge and lardy cake.
Londoners appear at weekends, along
with those locals up for the fun on Friday
and Saturday nights, all fuelled by cool
music and snazzy cocktails: try Rory the
barman’s Crazy Eight Swizzle. There are
plans for a members’ club at weekends.

WE LIKE Eating under a blue sky in the

courtyard – such a rarity in England.

WE DON’T LIKE For now parking is

tricky here in the town centre, but they’re
in the process of getting a hotel permit.

NO 131 CONTACT +44 1242 822939; www.no131.

CHELTENHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
WHAT IS IT? Somewhere new, exciting
and glamorous to stay in Cheltenham.
Right on the town’s main promenade,
it’s like a flash of New York cool in the
Cotswolds. Exposed-brick walls, pendant
lights and a blue pool table blend in with
marble fireplaces, cornices, antique doors
and a wooden 1940s fridge from Brazil
(stuffed with cold meats, bread and wine).
There are framed beetles and moths, and
even a headdress from Papua New Guinea.
Sophisticated and fun, this is not just the
best new hotel in town, but the whole area.
BEHIND THE SCENES No 131 is the
latest from Sam and Georgina Pearman of
the now famous Wheatsheaf in Northleach.
It’s been two years in the making. The
com. Doubles from £170 DAISY FINER
SLEEP The 11 beautifully proportioned
rooms all have lovely hand-knotted rugs,
antique or bespoke furniture, and huge
Hypnos beds with plump goose-down
pillows. Even the snacks are far from the
norm: dried-pear crisps, sherbert lemons
and Mr Filbert’s rosemary almonds.
Rooms at the front are brighter, with
views over Imperial Gardens (where lots
of festival events take place); those at
the back are quiet cocoons. Bathrooms
have double showers and 19th-century
French or modern Japanese-style baths WHILE YOU’RE HERE
with a clever wooden board to rest your There are festivals (www.cheltenham
head on. Unusual touches include muted festivals.com), the famous Cheltenham
green and mustard Moroccan tiles. Races, fashion shops such as Foundation
in Montpellier Walk, and a Friday
EAT Crazy Eights (with a cool, faded- farmer’s market. For a superb massage,
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS TERRY

couple plundered artisans’ workshops and
reclamation yards for antiques, and much
of the lighting came from Belgium and
Holland. There’s art by Peter Blake and
David Hockney and a lot of zingy colour,
for instance in the blue French workers’
jackets worn by the good-looking staff.
zinc bar) is the official restaurant but
there are lots of places to eat, such as
a brilliant indoor/outdoor courtyard
with a retractable roof, and four den-like
private dining rooms, including one
hidden behind curtains made from Indian
palace blankets and another in a little
book Ayurvedic expert Kathy Moores
at Chapel Spa (+44 1242 518075).
Sudeley Castle is nearby, and Giffords
Circus (www.giffordscircus.com) tours
the area in summer. The hotel’s sister
pub, The Tavern, serves the best burger
in town and a great Sunday lunch.

46 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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© 2014 Hilton Worldwide

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THE NEW YORK

CHICAGO

STORIES GRAND WAILEA

THE BOULDERS
BEGIN DUBAI

HERE ARIZONA BILTMORE

BERLIN

JERUSALEM

PUERTO RICO

SHANGHAI

AMSTERDAM

BEIJING

ORLANDO

ROME CAVALIERI

JEDDAH

KEY WEST

NAPLES

PARK CITY

PANAMA

BOCA RATON

EDINBURGH

RAS AL KHAIMAH

LA QUINTA RESORT & CLUB

TRIANON PALACE VERSAILLES

THE ROOSEVELT NEW ORLEANS

WA L D O R FASTO R I A .CO M / T H E STO R I E S

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WHERE TO STAY
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SALLY SHALAM’S GREAT BRITISH BREAKS
This month, our happy wanderer combs the coast from Kent to Suffolk to
find glorious seaside spots peppered with larger-than-life personalities
he sun is rising in a big eastern sky, gulls call
T in cacophonous discord. A briny tang is
carried on a stiff maritime breeze. There is
nowhere quite like the English coast in summer. Nor
the characters I meet there. Take Jilly Sharpe, who,
after breakfast at her chic and
bohemian B&B Belvidere Place
(www.belvidereplace.co.uk; doubles
from £130) in Broadstairs,
announced I could not leave town
without visiting the local hardware
store. Really? Navigating the
narrow streets felt like a walk back
in time, and suddenly there was
H E Harrington, wrapped around a
tight corner. It’s a Fifties throwback
jammed with cotton thread and
string, mops and buckets, pans and
padlocks. Expect the unexpected
at Belvidere Place: last year David
Waddington and Pablo Flack
staged a pop-up of their Hackney
diner Bistrotheque here. But eat
anytime at Wyatt & Jones (www.
wyattandjones.co.uk), overlooking
the town’s horseshoe bay, and chill out over a beer
at The Chapel (www.thechapel-broadstairs.com).
Two miles along the coast, in a row of Regency
townhouses on Ramsgate’s seafront, is The Royal
Harbour Hotel (www.royalharbourhotel.co.uk;
doubles from £130), owned by the irrepressible James
Thomas. He worked at The Savoy (his tale of the
Russian hat and Baroness Thatcher is unrivalled), then
joined Firmdale Hotels before pinning his colours to
the coastal mast. He likes people. He even likes
their kids. His hotel is comfortable and simple:
no spa, no kids’ club and no tense vibe
when your children start chucking fish
goujons in the restaurant or fiddling with the
48 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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solitaire. For this summer, he has dreamed up shoreline
family forages (oysters, samphire and a beach
barbie), with a gastronomically inclined local geologist
known as the Rock Doc. Thomas’s enthusiasm for
these voyages of discovery is almost eclipsed by his
anticipation of summer 2015, the bicentenary of the
Battle of Waterloo. You could do a lot worse than
a diet of oysters and military history.
There is something special about the lengthening
days in Suffolk, when blue fades to grey and the sharp
chill of evening swiftly asserts itself. I love to walk
north along Aldeburgh’s beach after an afternoon
spent in Strand Gallery (www.strandgallery.co.uk)
admiring its collection of vintage Scandinavian glass
and in Lawson’s deli (www.lawsonsdelicatessen.co.uk)
picking up pork pies and fruit tarts for tea. Now you
can also gild your holiday wardrobe at Collen and
Clare (www.collenandclare.com), the Southwold
institution that’s opened here. Renting a beach house
(www.living-architecture.co.uk; www.bestofsuffolk.
co.uk) means I can enjoy crunching home on the
shingle, stopping to watch Maggi Hambling’s Scallop
sculpture change colour in the deepening dusk.
At the start of my long
journey home to Somerset,
I stop at Emmett’s deli (www.
emmettsham.co.uk) in Peasenhall
for incredible smoked ham. It’s
owned by James Thomas’s
brother, Mark. Which explains
why the breakfast at The Royal
Harbour tastes so good. It’s
the sort of happy coincidence
that can only occur on a small
island such as ours.
PHOTOGRAPHS: JUSTIN FOULKES/4 CORNERS IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES
 WorldMags.net

Morning: Go trekking in Tamerza

Evening: Relax in the spa in Tozeur
free to live it all

www.cometotunisia.co.uk
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A LETTER FROM…
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They may not look like much, but scrap vendors’ rickety old trolleys attract a lot of attention
in a city built on nostalgia, says Malika Browne. Illustration by Laura Carlin
e was pushing his
handcart up the steep
hill in front of me,
pausing every few
yards to catch his breath, clear his
throat and call hoarsely: ‘Hurdacı!
Hurdacı!’ His cart had the same
word, meaning ‘scrap-iron man’,
crudely painted on its side, next
to his mobile-phone number.
I was on my way to a meeting,
but quickened my pace to see
what he had to offer. The random
assortment of objects that can
be found on these ubiquitous
three-wheeled wooden carts, with
their handbrake made of a bent
reinforcing rod, remind me of the
children’s game where various
unassociated items are memorised,
then recalled when a cloth has
been draped over them. Many years
ago, I bought a 1930s clock in a
walnut case with a red crescent
on the tip of its sweeping second
hand, from a hurdacı who had
a cart piled high with them; the
German school down the road
had decided to update its old
classroom furniture.
On an average day I might
spot a vacuum-cleaner tube, an oil
painting, a broken office chair, a
freezer, a red leatherette restaurant
bench and several rusty biscuit tins
shouting greetings from Ephesus.
All these objects would be carted
off to the hurdacı yard to be sorted,
taken apart and resold for parts.
Today’s harvest included a chipped
spongeware plate, an electric kettle
and – this was intriguing – a small,
white, wooden medicine cabinet
with a crude tin cross and a dome
nailed to the top.
Mustering all the nonchalance I
could, I asked how much he wanted
for the medicine cabinet. ‘Çok eski
[it’s very old],’ he warned me, adding
50 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
‘It’s from a Rum family’ to imply
rarity value (Turks still call Greeks
Romans, a hangover from when
the Byzantine Empire was known
simply as the Roman Empire).
He named his price: 100 Turkish
lira (about £30). I declined.
I asked him if he was a hurdacı
or an eskici, a collector and re-seller
of old things. Istanbul’s recent
discovery of marketable nostalgia
has revived the run-down Beyoğlu
neighbourhood, but it means that
there is a fine line between the
two occupations. The writer Orhan
Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence
in Çukurcuma, which displays and
preserves everyday objects from
a fast-disappearing way of Istanbul
life, is the area’s nostalgia HQ.
Junk shops that always existed
around it now call themselves
vintage boutiques and will try to
The dealer gestured at the cabinet, and I felt
a familiar acquisitive pang as I calculated
how it would fit into my life and my flat
sell anything, it seems, as long as it
is battered or dusty.
Twenty minutes later, I made it to
my appointment at a graphic-design
agency in Çukurcuma. By chance,
the same hurdacı was in the street
outside, chatting to a customer who
was examining a filthy enamel milk
churn. He looked delighted to see
me, if slightly incongruous in this
bohemian part of town, surrounded
by hipsters clad in Japanese denim
and sporting better moustaches
than his own. He gestured towards
the cabinet, which had, in a different
postcode, been reduced in price.
I felt a familiar acquisitive pang
as I calculated how it would fit into
my life and my flat, but concluded
that I really had no use for it.
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Istanbul, despite its many hills,
is served by these three-wheeled
trolleys. Many offer simits (round,
sesame-studded bread rolls), while
in winter others sell a thick, white
Ottoman drink called sahlep, made
from wild-orchid root. Even the
most elegant parts of town are
visited by hurdacıs because even
rich people need to get rid of things,
and there are no charity shops.
That evening, I walked down the
hill past vanity-project art galleries
and shops selling dead women’s
fur coats and crocodile handbags.
An axe was stuck halfway up the
wall of one gallery, with a name
and price tag below it. The acrid
smell of lignite signalled that I was
nearing the small Anatolian village,
seemingly overlooked by time and
developers, near my flat in the
centre of Istanbul, metres away
from the shiny new tram and a
busy shopping street. A sleeping
dog lay across the entrance to the
hurdacı yard, which was littered
with broken lamps and old fridges.
Chickens pecked about among
the forest of wires; children were
warming themselves around a fire
in an old olive-oil tin.
The hurdacı was busy in the far
corner of the yard, sanding down
the medicine cabinet. The tin cross
lay on a pile of sawdust at his feet.
He had clearly had no luck selling
it and thought it might have more
success as a secular object. Now
that its only distinguishing feature
had been removed, it was just a
wooden box. I found it remarkably
easy to walk past.
WorldMags.net

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STYLE FILE
WorldMags.net BY FIONA LINTOTT
PLUS Beauty Jewellery Men’s & The scene
Callum
I PRESENT TO YOU...Millie Mc
LONDON-BASED ARTIST
Serendipitously, Millie’s
neon work combines this
summer’s biggest trends
of bright trainers
and feathered headgear
and is fast attracting
a savvy following

ON INSPIRATION
‘Carnivals, festivals, the circus and folk
imagery have given me lots of ideas
for my linocuts. Other elements such
as old-fashioned gypsy caravans,
crazily hand-painted Pakistani buses
ON TRAVEL
‘The Danum Valley rainforest in Borneo
is awesome. The scale and sounds
are so otherworldly, the colours so
vibrant. It’s absolutely my favourite place.
I came back from there desperate to
make jungle paintings. My first linocut
was of an orang-utan. Gaudí’s Barcelona
is amazing, I love the San Marco Museum
in Florence and there is some great

MICHAEL BEAUPLET; ADAM LAWRENCE; SUDHIR PITHWA

and origami have also worked street art in Buenos Aires. In the UK my
their way onto the paper. I love favourite galleries are at The Grant

ILLUSTRATION: HANNAH GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHS:

dressing things up. The idea for the
headdresses comes in part from
some of the fantastic plumages,
colours and markings of the birds
themselves: quetzals, kingfishers,
peacocks, storks and pink cockatoos.
That, mixed with the whimsy,
flamboyance and fun of the fair.’
Museum of Zoology and the Natural
History Museum. I’m going to Catalonia
in July to visit Dali’s house in Cadaqués,
we’ve planned a big family villa holiday
in Andalucía, and in November I’m
going to the Pushkar Camel Fair, which
I’ve wanted to do for years, followed by
touring a bit more of Rajasthan.’

ON ARTISTS ON FUTURE PROJECTS

‘Most of the work I like has an illustrative
feel: Karen Knorr, Olaf Hajek, Sarah
Young, Emily Sutton and Anna-Wili
Highfield. If I could own any piece of
art, I’d commission the world’s greatest
treehouse made by a wonderful cabinet
maker called David Watson. It would be
fully habitable and the outside would
be painted as the King’s Staircase in
Kensington Palace, with all my family and
friends looking out over the balconies.’
‘I want to do more surface design work:
fabrics and wallpaper. But I’d also love
to make site-specific murals, ideally in
parks and playgrounds. Although,
in the meantime maybe it would be
cool to project some of the bolder
linocuts onto buildings, perhaps
Somerset House. Right now I’m
making Rousseau-inspired canvases,
with beautifully adorned animals.’
www.milliemccallum.co.uk

Fiona’s must-have: Cire Trudon candles

I usually don’t have much time for scented candles, but these are on another level. Cire
Trudon has collaborated with designer Giambattista Valli to create the limited-edition Rose
Poivrée. The scent of tangerine, Madagascan pepper and rose means I’ll be in the queue
along with everyone else. £65, exclusively at www.net-a-porter.com and www.ciretrudon.com

WorldMags.net
 WorldMags.net
SPA WATCH 68 Champs-Elysées
This is not just an address, it is the original
and recently revamped Parisian home of
French beauty pros Guerlain, and as far as
spas go, it is off the chart. These are the
people who invented bronzer, after all;
they know intuitively what women want.
Expect high ceilings, marble and deeply
fluffy beds. The day-spa experience is I’m back from...Namibia
discreetly recreated here, even my shoes
It took 28 hours each way, six flights and one uncomfortable
were carried off in their own basket as if
landing on a so-called airstrip but was worth every minute to reach
they were headed for relaxation, too. There’s
Okahirongo Elephant Lodge. Located in the middle of
no need to book a specific treatment, just
the desert, it is only a short, bumpy drive from the home of the
choose a time and they will prescribe what
nomadic Himba tribe and a few hours from the Skeleton
is best for your skin when you arrive.
Coast. We spent a week spellbound by our surroundings: the vast
chameleon-like sky; the open plains broken up by herds of zebra
and lone giraffes. And at night, in total darkness, the talk of
lions made us feel a bit unnerved. Isolated and a little scorched by
the intense heat, Okahirongo is about adventure and adrenalin.
Africa Travel (www.africatravel.com) can arrange trips to Okahirongo

Trend alert: boutique gyms

A new arrival from the New York health scene, where niche
places such as Ballet Beautiful, left, are a hit, the boutique gym
is taking on the social status of a private-members’ club. It’s no
longer enough to have tried the latest fitness fads, from dance
to cycling and all manner of yogic practices. You need to have
your eye on the growing number of independent gyms that take
their interior design and detox-café culture as seriously as their
core work. Check out Psycle London (www.psyclelondon.com),
below, and The Library (www.thelibrarygym.com), right.

WorldMags.net June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 53

STYLE FILE
WorldMags.net
Which beauty products do you
use courtside?
‘I always wear Supergoop sunscreen with
SPF30 and 50 as I’m outside all day. I put
it on as soon as I wake up and then just top
it up. I carry a lip balm with me, too.’

Do you like to visit spas while

you’re travelling?
‘Any spa where you can unwind is good with me.
I like the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica and
the Rosewood Spa in Mayakoba, Mexico. And
all the Aman properties have exquisite spas.’
Do you have a favourite spa
treatment?
‘I love them all!’

What is your daily

fitness routine?
‘It changes depending
on whether I’m in a
tournament or not. I
mix it up with cardio,
conditioning and core
exercises. Working on
small muscle strength
and footwork is key
for me. When I need
to get going, whether Sunscreen Mist

PHOTOGRAPH: MICHAEL COLE

it’s starting my day
or working out, I play
SPF50, £18.50, ‘MY MOTHER MAKES
Supergoop! at
U2’s ‘Where the SpaceNK (www. ME BORSCHT
Streets Have No spacenk.com). TOPPED WITH SOUR
Name’. It reminds me 38˚C mascara,
of an incredible concert £23, Sensai at CREAM. IT’S THE
I went to in LA.’ Harrods (www. RUSSIAN KETCHUP’
harrods.com)

BEAUTY KIT: MARIA SHARAPOVA ON HER TRAVELS

Any great beauty finds? How do you relax and switch off Lèvres
‘I haven’t discovered any specific beauty brands from tennis? Scintillantes
while travelling, but over the years I’ve enjoyed ‘Laughing with friends and family is the best Glossimer in
soaking up the fashion in different parts of the way for me to unwind. We cook together and sit Hello, Sexy and
world, from street style to the way girls wear Sunny, £21,
down for a lovely feast, losing track of time and,
their hair. Hong Kong is like an Asian New York Chanel (+44 20
once in a while, singing karaoke. It reminds me
7493 3836)
City. There’s always some new place to shop.’ of the family meals we used to have in Russia,
which always lasted for hours. It’s a
Do you ever detox? tradition that I miss.’ How do you
‘I always eat a healthy, balanced protect
diet with moderation in things Your health advice? your hair in
I like to indulge in, such as my ‘Drink lots of water. I consume the sun?
Sugarpova candy. And when Evian by the case.’
‘I live in my
you’re abroad so often, it’s nice
Nike visor or my
to have a home-cooked meal.’ Bain Oléo-Relax Sugarpova hat and
shampoo, £17, I use Kérastase
Do you wear make-up Kérastase (www.
hair-care products. Adir
when you travel? lookfantastic.com).
Abergel is my hair stylist. We’ve been working
‘I keep it simple. My daily routine Hydra Floral
together for the last 10 years.’
cream, £39.50,
is to use Decléor Hydra Floral
Decléor (www. Do you play any other sports?
moisturiser. I wear Sensai mascara
decleor.co.uk)
and I love all Chanel’s lip colours.’ ‘Tennis is pretty much all I have time for.’

WorldMags.net
 WorldMags.net

STE ALING THE SHOW.

After midnight, near Rosewood London

A S E N S E O F P L AC E . RO S E WO O D L O N D O N N OW O P E N .
+44 20 7781 8888 | london.reservations@rosewoodhotels.com | rosewoodhotels.com
WorldMags.net
STYLE FILE
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
WorldMags.net
Jessica Diamond travels to New York City to explore the
marble-clad home of Tiffany & Co, the rock-steady jeweller whose influence has spread worldwide

ELECTRIC AVENUE
Tiffany & Co is a shop: it sells things, mainly jewellery but also
other items including china and leather goods and perfume.
And yet, as occasionally brands do, it has become bigger than
the sum of its parts, largely due to its continuous cultural
presence, like a gentle background hum in many people’s lives.
Tiffany is also a colour, an instantly recognisable beribboned
box, a book (and, of course, film), a song and – for many
first-time jewellery buyers or receivers – a rite of passage. A
new boutique has just opened in Moscow, with another due
to launch on the Champs-Elysées in Paris this month, but
the original Fifth Avenue flagship is still the best and so easy
to spend a few hours getting lost in. Here are the highlights.

TOP OF THE
ROCKS
No one can fail to

PHOTOGRAPHS: ALAIN BENAINOUS/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY

spot the Tiffany
Diamond, housed

OF THE TIFFANY & CO ARCHIVES; ALICE GAO; GETTY IMAGES/NOAM GALAI

in its showcase/
safe on the main
floor, all 128.54
carats of yellow
stone, pictured left
actual size. Bought by Charles Lewis TEAM AMERICA
Tiffany in 1877 from the Kimberley Look out for the wheat-sheaf motif picked out in stainless
Mine in South Africa, it weighed 287 steel around the front doors, carved into marble and
carats in the rough and was cut for depicted on screens and banisters throughout the store’s
brilliance. Only two people have ever interior. It represents the American Mid West landscape,
worn it: Mrs Sheldon Whitehouse and Tiffany has a history of sourcing native gems:
at the 1957 Tiffany Ball and Audrey tourmalines from Maine, sapphires from Montana,
Hepburn, in a 1960s setting, for Mississippi River pearls and kunzite from California.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s publicity shots.

56 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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 WorldMags.net
MADE IN GEMS IN THE CITY
MANHATTAN
If you’re in the market to
purchase from the newest Blue
Book collection (the annual
presentation of one-off designs), you
may be invited to inspect them in the
private salon on the mezzanine floor.
Decked out like an apartment, the space
coincidentally occupies the old design studio
BREAKFAST Of course, Tiffany doesn’t do breakfast. But
of Jean Schlumberger, Tiffany’s lauded vice modern Holly Golightlys head across Fifth Avenue to pick
president. Blue Book pieces are made in the up a coffee and chocolate-swirl pastry from Momofuku
Milk Bar. 15 West 56th Street; www.milkbarstore.com
workshops on the seventh floor, where 14
craftsmen conceive, set and polish around SEE The American Wing at The Met is home to New
500 unique items and special orders a York’s biggest collection of Tiffany trinkets, from delicately
patterned parasols to ornate cutlery. Afterwards, head to
year. This year’s collection is
the rooftop bar for a Martini with views over Central Park.
kaleidoscopic in variety: 1000 Fifth Avenue; www.metmuseum.org
fire opals, peridots,
tsavorites, spinels DINNER For New American
and tourmalines. cooking as dazzling as any of
Tiffany’s rocks, Betony has
Amy Adams was the hottest tables in town,
particularly taken with with a grown-up take on
seasonal dishes (chicken with
a pair of rhodochrosite dandelion greens; foie gras
earrings, which she wore to with kale and ham broth).
41 West 57th Street;
this year’s Academy Awards. www.betony-nyc.com

DRINK Like all the best bars, Raines Law Room isn’t easy
to find. Ask for the off-menu Tiffany cocktail: Plymouth
Gin, St Germain, dry vermouth and orange-blossom water
GRAND on the rocks. 48 West 17th Street; www.raineslawroom.com
CENTRAL
Only one Tiffany designer
is granted the honour of a
tribute showcase, situated
beside the entrance – that’s
Elsa Peretti. Her approach
to design, a layered, sensual
and informal style with an
emphasis on silver, kick-
started a shift in attitudes to STAY Dream of Tiffany? Why not dream in Tiffany – the
adornment. Collections Tiffany Suite at the recently revamped St Regis New York.
The dining room, painted in the distinctive Tiffany blue,
by Paloma Picasso and feels like stepping inside one of the jeweller’s boxes.
Schlumberger also sit in the 2 East 55th Street at Fifth Avenue; www.stregisnewyork.com

8,400-square-foot ground
WATCH Sit back and enjoy Breakfast at Tiffany’s and
floor, which was built without other classic films under the stars in parks across the city.
columns using bridge- Check out www.nycgo.com for this summer’s screenings.
engineering techniques.

WorldMags.net June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 57

STYLE FILE
EDITED BY
DAVID ANNAND
WorldMags.net
MAN ON A MISSION
Oliver Lange, head chef at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery’s Magazine Restaurant, goes
on an eye-opening food odyssey in the Far East to learn the secrets of Japanese cooking
‘M 
y search for the hidden arts of Japanese cuisine starts,
as it has to, in Tokyo, where I learn the first rule: practice
makes perfect. We’re at Unazen, a restaurant known for
its unagi, grilled eel. It’s an old-fashioned place, with a
curtained door and wooden interiors, and so popular you have to make
a reservation six weeks ahead. The eel is cooked in front of us. The
technique required is incredible: the chef pulls it alive from a bucket,
kills, guts and preps it in 25 seconds. He then steams, grills and serves
it. You can have it savoury or sweet, in soup or on rice. Later, he
closes the restaurant and gives me a masterclass, showing me all the
intricate techniques. Back home after the trip, my first attempt will
be a disaster, as will attempts two to seven. Frustratingly, as soon as
I master it, eel is declared endangered and I stop cooking it.
From Tokyo my friend and guide Itsunori Saito takes me to Nara,
a city of Buddhist temples where revered
baby deer walk freely in the streets. We
visit the Harushika sake brewery, where
I learn the second rule: curiosity. It’s a
Western misconception that sake is always
drunk warm; the good stuff is poured cold
to maintain its flavour. We do a tasting and
I see the whole process of rice polishing and
fermentation. At one stage, the sake looks
like yogurt and is interestingly sweet and sour.
After Nara, we head to Kyoto, where
we have a tasting menu at Roan Kikunoi and
58 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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I learn the third rule: bravery. It includes blowfish sashimi, a dish so
dangerous you need a licence to serve it. It is a two-Michelin-star
restaurant so I’m not too worried, but it turns out to be quite chewy
and not really worth the risk.
I end my trip back in Tokyo at the Tsukiji market, with its famous tuna
auction and thousands of crazy-looking fish, and queue for two and a half
hours to get 17 minutes at a table in the market’s hidden gem, Sushi Dai. I
order the set menu and a surprise piece of sushi at the end turns out to be
the best I’ve ever had. It is white and soft, served lukewarm with teriyaki sauce. PHOTOGRAPHS: MITCHEL FEINBERG; THE KOBAL COLLECTION
And it’s here I discover that the true secret to cracking Japanese cuisine is
open-mindedness. “What was that?” I ask. “Cod sperm sacs,” says the chef.’
Oliver ‘Ollysan’ earned his title from his Japanese cooking masters and uses
traditional techniques in his dishes at The Magazine Restaurant, London
(www.serpentinegalleries.org/restaurant)
THE BOOK After the Banquet by Yukio
Mishima. Avant-garde author, male model and
aborted-coup leader, Mishima had an incredible
life, which ended in his ritualistic suicide in 1970
but shouldn’t overshadow his brilliant fiction.
This food-focused novel is a good place to start.
THE DOWNLOAD ‘Big in Japan’ by
Alphaville. The 1984 pop classic, with its synths
and haunting vocal, is a motivational soundtrack
for anyone keen to conquer the nation’s culture.
 WorldMags.net
DAVID’S POSTCARD
HIGH TOPS
Naturally, anything that works will at
1 some point get a fashion makeover, so
it’s no wonder that big-name designers are
banging out boots such as this jazzy pair
by Raf Simons. You would no more play
basketball in them than you would a
Balenciaga ball gown, but that doesn’t
mean they won’t see you
right as you bounce around
Art Basel. www.mrporter.
com, £280
The takeover of trainers
2 isn’t just a highfalutin 3 watch the professionals as they knead
European-fashion thing. Supra
have smartly co-opted the crazy
imagination of rapper Lil Wayne for
its Chimera boot, which looks like
a quirky, modern take on the winged
footwear worn by Hermes, the High tops are lovely things, evocative
traveller god. Wear them of a kind of Sesame Street optimism, a
as you negotiate particularly American form of peppy
New Orleans, 1970s innocence that’s captured by
or with a toga that sweetly shortened ‘Hi’. And they
on Mount achieve that rare trick of being stylish
Olympus. and comfortable. To no one’s surprise,
www.jdsports. kings of cool Converse makes the best
com, £100 entry-level pair. www.size.co.uk, £70
GET THE LOOK: PLEIN SOLEIL
Make for the Med in bare-chested brilliance by sailing away à la Alain Delon
+ +
From left: belt, £45, Reiss (www.reiss.com); trousers, £95, Dockers (www.dockers.com); pendant, £188, Serge DeNîmes (www.sergedenimes.com);
Fluid Body Sun Cream SPF30, £88, Sisley (www.sisley-paris.co.uk)
WorldMags.net
FROM...
E5 BAKEHOUSE, LONDON
Ben is the master baker. His hair is
blonde, straw-like, redolent of the West
Country. On a busy day they bake 1,000
loaves to be sold in his Hackney shop
or delivered to local restaurants by bike.
But he doesn’t just bake it; he teaches it,
evangelises it. The 12 of us on his one-
day class start by making dough. The
vital element is the wild-yeast starter, a
fragile creation you have to feed like a
low-tech Tamagotchi. To this we mix
flour and salt. Soon we’re all kneading.
We stretch and fold the dough, turn and
stretch. I whisper blasphemously that it
seems like a lot of work for something
that retails at £3. Later, while our dough
rests, we move to the other kitchen and
and sculpt. There is something Zen-like
about their concentration. I wonder if I
am cut out to be an East End artisan, for
work that involves bread flour or wood
shaving or bike grease. But when I arrive
that night at my father’s birthday party,
my arms full of sourdough, ciabatta and
bagels, I’m glad that hidden in my bag is
a jarful of the starter, a yeast baby, alive
and full of potential. Bread-making
class £120, www.e5bakehouse.com
+
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Swimsuit, £380,
Hermès (www.
hermes.com).
Surfboard, £4,145,
Chanel (+44 20
7493 5040)

Jewel sunglasses, £325, Prada

(www.prada.com). Beach towel,
£390, Hermès (www.hermes.com).
Tote bag, £1,630, Prada (as
before). Espadrilles, £160, Tory
Burch at www.net-a-porter.com

La Mini D de
Dior watch,
On the scene: Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
£2,900, Dior The look: colour-block brights
(www.dior.com).
X-Pro1 compact
system camera T here are many spectacular and enduringly glamorous hotels on the Côte
d’Azur, but there is only one Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc – and it is 100 years old
GETTY IMAGES; ZOE GHERTNER; STUDIO DES FLEURS

this year. The château and its Med-front cabanas have been the discreet
PHOTOGRAPHS: SLIM AARONS/HUTTON ARCHIVE/

with Globetrotter
case, £4,499, backdrops to more real-life movie-star trysts than even rom-com king Richard
Fuji at Harrods Curtis could dream up (Rita Hayworth met her third husband here; JFK had
(+44 20 7730 romantic rendezvous in those beach huts). The architectural symmetry of
1234) the hotel, with its palm-lined gardens, means the ocean comes into view the
minute you step into the elegant marble lobby and white boats bob on the
horizon beyond. After last year’s revamp, the vibe here is smart but also seriously Bikini top, £195;
cool; the service always sings. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the pastel bedrooms bottoms, £170, both
with light. Expect to see only the most taut and tanned bodies around the Eres (www.boutique.
clifftop pool, most likely wearing Eres and Orlebar Brown. Nubile eresparis.com).
figures swing from ropes into the deep-blue ocean and Bangle, £195, Louis
afterwards wander up to the new Champagne terrace, Vuitton (www.louis
where they clink glasses and watch the super- vuitton.co.uk)
yachts come and go. THEA DARRICOTTE www.
hotel-du-cap-eden-roc.com. Doubles from about £685
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STYLE YOU CAN WEAR

ANYWHERE

EARRINGS FROM THE LOLA COLLECTION

WWW.KIKI.CO.UK
12 Symons Street, Sloane Square, London SW3 2TJ.
Tel:020 7730 3323 Email:info@kiki.co.uk
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TRENDWATCH

GET SET TO SHOP THE LOOK

Akin to the thrill of a pair of towering Tabitha Simmons heels when you usually mooch
around in Converse, the joy of staying in a hotel is trying out something new, just for the
night. And when you fall for the style of the place, what then? Ordering the bed you slept
in is old hat, but now you can pick up much more curious souvenirs from your stay. At
Ace Hotels, all kinds of things in your room, from Pendleton wool blankets to Tanner Goods
leather guitar straps, are available to buy. Aloft properties will sell you the George Nelson
pendant lamps above the bar and Verpan stools from the lobby. But more original finds are
curated by design-obsessive Bea Mombaers at her eclectic B&B, pictured, in the Belgian
seaside town of Knokke (www.bea-bb.com). Everything here, and at her nearby gallery, is
instantly covetable and for sale – the art, the furniture, the bowls, the vases. Her coffee-table
books and Antonino Sciortino iron-wire sculptures will fit in your suitcase. The vintage acrylic
desk might be trickier to get home though. ISSY VON SIMSON

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The Moroccan-tiled fireplace

at La Minervetta in Sorrento

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DIGGING IT
THESE ARE SOME OF EUROPE’S BEST UNDER-THE-RADAR
HOTELS – THE PLACES NO ONE WANTS YOU TO KNOW
ABOUT. WITH ROOMS FROM AS LITTLE AS £80 A
NIGHT, THEY ARE ALL A STONE’S THROW FROM THE SEA
AND CLOSE ENOUGH FOR A QUICK GETAWAY
PHOTOGRAPH: HAUKE DRESSLER

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KYRIMAI
PELOPONNESE, GREECE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Three steps
TRAVEL TIME Three-hour flight to Kalamata,
then a 90-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £85
Finding Kyrimai is tricky, lying as it does at the end of a tiny
road that winds down one of Peloponnese’s long fingers,
past miniature Byzantine churches, gorges and wandering
goats. But it is well worth the drive. A converted warehouse
dating back to the 1870s, the hotel sits as close to the
water’s edge as is possible, with a central tower looking out
to sea. The 22 bedrooms, all different, are spread out, some
in the tower, others off an interior courtyard or clustered
around a spiral stone staircase. Inside, all is silent and
pared-back, with wooden beams, exposed stonework, and
crisp grey and white linen on the beds. In the mornings,
heavy shutters open to reveal a blast of cerulean sky and the
rhythmic slap of the sea against the mossy green walls
beneath. Terraces of honey-coloured stone are warmed by
the sun and toasty underfoot. Breakfast is a feast of
just-baked pastries, local honey and creamy yogurt, served
beneath a shady pergola by the swimming pool. This is also
the venue for lunch, with plates of just-fried calamari and
smoked aubergine salad washed down with Asirtiko wine
from nearby Monemvasia. The surrounding countryside
has classical ruins and antiquities to explore, but no one will
bat an eyelid if you spend the day by the pool, stirring only
to cool down by leaping from the jetty into the sea.
INSIDE TIP The wonderful 11th-century church
currently being restored in nearby Ochia is worth a visit.
BOOK IT +30 273 305 4288; www.kyrimai.gr

EKIES ALL SENSES

RESORT
HALKIDIKI, GREECE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER On its own beach
TRAVEL TIME Three-hour, 10-minute flight to Thessaloniki,
then a 75-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £80
The emphasis at Ekies is very much on hanging out horizontally. With its
oversized, Indian-style daybed in the lobby, Coco-Mat mattresses in the
bedrooms, thick-cushioned sun loungers on its small beach, and hammock
strung up in the sea, naps – accompanied by the lulling sounds of the
waves and the cicadas – are thoroughly encouraged. Owner Alexandra
Efstathiadou has turned the place around, commissioning four designers
from Greece’s award-winning agency Beetroot (among them Vangelis
Liakos, now her husband) to curate new looks for the 64 rooms and the
common living spaces. The results could have been messy but, thanks
to Alexandra’s style-conscious eye, are instead fun and quirky. There are
graphic touches, such as the stylised creatures (bees, squirrels and jellyfish)
painted onto the walls to represent the fauna of the surrounding Sithonia
peninsula, as well as more obvious additions such as Panton S chairs,
polished concrete flooring and Tom Dixon lighting. But for all this attention
PHOTOGRAPHS: HAUKE DRESSLER

to design detail, Ekies is essentially a barefoot hideaway, where sarongs

rather than shoes take precedence in the dress code.
INSIDE TIP Head to the old town of nearby Nikiti for an iced coffee
or a glass of wine on the shady terrace up in the hills at Café Barcarolla,
surrounded by the scent of jasmine, fig and pine trees.
BOOK IT +30 237 509 1000; www.ekies.gr

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HOTEL DE TOIRAS
ILE DE RE, FRANCE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Harbour-side
TRAVEL TIME One-hour 30-minute flight to
La Rochelle, then a 30-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £195
Dubbed the French Hamptons, the quintessential harbour of
Saint-Martin-de-Ré has more than your average quota
of Bretons, bicycles and baguettes. The windswept little
island is unashamedly Gallic, chic but not flash, and
staunchly ‘Atlantique’. Sand dunes and pine forests, oyster
beds and vineyards, and whitewashed houses with pale
pastel shutters set the tone. This hotel opened a decade ago,
but somehow feels gloriously fresh. The pretty 17th-century
quayside house has been converted with a lightness of
touch; interiors are classical and smart, antique but not
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imposing. There’s an understated but palpable quality to it
all, from the heavy cutlery at La Table d’Olivia to the bed
linen. Ask for the gorgeously feminine Madame de Sévigné
suite, all duck-egg silks and harbour views, where lunch at a
table by the window demands a newspaper and a bottle of
rosé, the faint scent of beeswax polish mingling with
fresh-cut flowers on a sea breeze; or for the garden-facing
Nicolas Baudin room, with its colonial-style bed and fresh
apple greens. Take your morning coffee on the balcony
as the chef harvests herbs from the garden below.
INSIDE TIP Cycle to the daily Le Bois-Plage-en-Ré market
and stock up with goat’s cheese, sea salt, warm bread, fresh
oysters and fruit before hitting the 7km-long beach.
BOOK IT +33 546 354 032; www.hotel-de-toiras.com
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MALA
LIGURIA, ITALY
DISTANCE TO THE WATER A five-minute stroll down the hill
TRAVEL TIME One-hour 45-minute flight to Genoa, then a one-hour drive
PRICE Doubles from about £115
While the entire Cinque Terre region has been designated a UNESCO heritage
site, Vernazza, with its faded pastel buildings, is a standout. The vocal local
community has resisted the advances of big-name hotel brands; instead, this
is the territory of family-style pensione and smaller, three-star establishments.
A converted Ligurian-style townhouse facing the sea, La Malà is the perfect
distance from the town centre and its day-trippers. Minimal but charming, its
four sunlight-filled bedrooms have buttery soft white linen, hardwood floors
and design details that are more Scandinavian than Italian rustic. Two have
sweeping views of the Med, and there’s also a shared terrace from which to
watch the fishing boats. Despite some caveats – those who are less mobile,
over-burdened by luggage or have children in tow may find the numerous
stone steps to the property an ordeal, and there is no restaurant – the price
and low-key vibe make La Malà one of the best bets on the Italian Riviera.
INSIDE TIP The narrow roads into Vernazza are best avoided. Instead, park
by the station at Levanto, only a five-minute train ride away.
BOOK IT +39 334 287 5718; www.lamala.it

HOTEL PORTIXOL
MALLORCA, SPAIN
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Right on the harbour
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour flight to Palma, then a 15-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £165
Just 15 minutes away from Palma’s flashy new marina, the old harbour of
Portixol with its traditional llaüts (Mallorcan fishing vessels) feels like it
belongs to another era. That is until you enter this waterside hotel and
discover Spanish architect Rafael Vidal’s open-plan interior and owner
Johanna Landström’s palette of soft oyster whites, turquoise and teal, with
mid-century furniture, marble floors and natural wood. In-the-know locals
come here to sip early evening cocktails at the bar, and savvy travellers use
it as a weekend bolthole. Early this year, the Hotel Portixol added a new spa
area and all 25 nautical-inspired rooms were given slick new bathrooms.
Downstairs, French doors open on to the pool terrace, where you can laze
while listening to the lapping of the Med and nibbling on grilled mini-scallops.
INSIDE TIP The family-run Sa Roqueta next door specialises in locally
caught lobster and caldereta (seafood stew).
BOOK IT +34 971 271 800; www.portixol.com

CENOBIO DEI DOGI

LIGURIA, ITALY
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Steps lead down to the pebbly beach
TRAVEL TIME One-hour 45-minute flight to Genoa, then a 30-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £135
Picture-perfect Camogli is the Ligurian town that tourists missed. At the
southern end of its long promenade is Cenobio dei Dogi, a hotel that is old-
fashioned and charming, but not remotely grand. The lovely bedrooms have
lining paper in the old cedar drawers and crisp, monogrammed linen. You
PHOTOGRAPHS: DAVID CROOKES; KIM OLSEN

don’t need a physics degree to operate the lights, and the most recent piece
of equipment in the bathroom is the hairdryer introduced in the 1980s.
Most guests are Italian, with virtually no Inglesi. In the restaurant, which
overlooks the water, the vongole will have been landed that morning, and the
staff’s starched white jackets and shoulder pips denote a pecking order
long-abandoned elsewhere. Should you tire of reading, swimming in the pool
or drinking in the view from the divine terrace, take a boat to San Fruttuoso
for lunch, or catch the train to explore the Cinque Terre. Or simply go on
a passeggiata to the harbour, stopping off for a gelato at Ghiottoneto.
INSIDE TIP Make friends on arrival with Augustin, Cenobio’s parking
attendant, and your car will get the best spot in the shade of the cypresses.
BOOK IT +39 018 572 41; www.cenobio.it

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AMMOS HOTEL
CRETE, GREECE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Right on the beach
TRAVEL TIME Three-hour, 50-minute flight to Chania,
then a 20-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £85
Breakfast alone makes the trip to this chic little beach resort on the
west coast of Crete worthwhile. You could stay for a week and still
not try everything: freshly baked spinach pie; orange cake; sesame
cookies; Cretan yogurt with honey and nuts; mini barley rusks piled
high with feta, olives and tomato. All are served in the groovy,
Moroccan-tiled dining room with its primary-bright mismatched
chairs until a very Mediterranean 11.30am (practically lunchtime
for the many new parents who have wised up to this family-friendly
getaway). Tables at the laid-back restaurant spill out past the
swimming pool and down to a shallow, sandy beach, where the
hotel has its own sunbeds and umbrellas. There’s a playroom if
you want to keep toddlers out of the sun, and babysitters
are on call in the evening. Bedrooms in the low-rise, sugarcube-
shaped building are perky, with bright, colour-blocked walls,
Marimekko cushions of clashing patterns and African-print Moroso
stools adding a grown-up touch. The best are the deluxe sea-view
studios – freshly revamped for this summer – where you can watch
the sunset from your balcony and nod off to the sound of the
waves. This is a feel-good hotel without any formality; most of the
staff have been around for years and many guests are regulars,
which comes as no surprise as the place is astonishingly good
value. Owner Nikos Tsepetis, a self-confessed design junkie, has a
black book packed with insider information about the
region’s stunning beaches and remote mountain villages, plus
details on where to go in the lively Venetian harbour of Chania.
INSIDE TIP Ask Nikos for directions to Dounias, a taverna
hidden in the foothills of the White Mountains. Everything from
the goat to the aubergines comes from the owner’s farm and is
slow-cooked in a wood-fired oven.
BOOK IT +30 282 103 300 325; www.ammoshotel.com
KIRA CHEERS; DANIELLA STALLINGER
PHOTOGRAPHS: JAMES BEDFORD;

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FORMENTERA, SPAIN
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Five strides down the boardwalk
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour flight, followed by a 30-minute ferry
and a 15-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £160
There’s nothing too fancy about Gecko: this is a turn-up-and-kick-your-shoes-
off kind of holiday. With low-rise, pared-back rooms, polished concrete floors
and lots of limewashed furniture, it couldn’t be more neutral; but then you
haven’t come here for Instagrammable design. There’s a simple restaurant with
good Italian food, a lovely pool in the middle of the clipped lawn, and big, fat
daybeds with muslin curtains you can draw for an afternoon snooze. The real
draw is just a few sandy steps away: a knockout beach with secret coves,
powdery white sand and warm, clear water. To get to this funky backwater,
where everyone cycles from village to village, does yoga at sunset and drinks
gin-and-tonics long into the night, you have to swing through Ibiza then hop
on a boat. The room to book is the Gecko Suite with its huge sea-facing terrace;
if you can’t get that, avoid ones on the ground floor as they tend to be dark.
INSIDE TIP If you’re into downward dogs and sun salutations, time
your visit to coincide with one of Jax Lycia’s yoga workshops.
BOOK IT +34 971 328 024; www.geckobeachclub.com

CAN SIMONETA
MALLORCA, SPAIN
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Just down the cliffside steps
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour flight to Palma, then a one-hour drive
PRICE Doubles from about £175
Set on a cliff top in the north-east of the island, Can Simoneta feels
fantastically tucked away. The hotel was designed by local architect Toni
Esteva, who spread the 28 bedrooms across two mid-19th century stone
houses and updated the interiors in calming creams and taupes. There
are simple but stylish doubles and the two-room Gran Suite Neptuno,
set in a walled garden with a private pool, but the best place to stay is the
Beach House, with its sea views. A winding staircase leads to the water,
hot tubs are dotted around the manicured lawns, and crocheted cotton
hammocks swing from umbrella pines. The spa offers facials using slick
Spanish brand Natura Bissé, and a smart restaurant serves locally sourced
suckling lamb or Iberian pork. It’s quite the grown-up hideaway.
INSIDE TIP Take the hotel’s speedboat and discover hidden beaches
where you’ll be dropped off for a Champagne-and-seafood lunch.
BOOK IT +34 971 816 110; www.cansimoneta.com

HOSTEL SA RASCASSA
COSTA BRAVA, SPAIN
DISTANCE TO THE WATER A two-minute walk
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour flight to Girona, then a 50-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £80
This pretty set-up, owned by former advertising executive Oscar Górriz and
his wife, is just steps from Cala d’Aiguafreda, one of many coves that fringe
the rocky shoreline. Its five simple bedrooms have views of the sparkling sea
and are painted in cooling stone hues, and their contemporary bathrooms
are kitted out with fluffy white towels (there’s no bathtub, though, just
a shower). Outside, there’s a wooden-decked terrace where you drink
San Miguels and take in the heady scent of the pine trees. The highlight,
though, is the restaurant, a foodie hotspot known for its modern but
unpretentious riff on Catalan cuisine. By day, eat in the shade of an
impressive 50-year-old euonymus tree; after dark, fairy lights twinkle in its
branches. Feast on grilled sea bream or mar y montaña – a rustic Catalan
stew made with chicken and seafood – with an excellent Empordà rosé.
INSIDE TIP The rugged mountain landscape surrounding the
picturesque town of Begur is punctuated by hillside paths such as the
Cami de Ronda. Go early in the day, before the heat becomes too stifling.
BOOK IT +34 972 622 845; www.hostalsarascassa.com

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LA MINERVETTA
SORRENTO, ITALY
DISTANCE TO THE WATER 200 steps via a private staircase
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour 40-minute flight to Naples,
then a one-hour drive
PRICE Doubles from about £225
With this crazily brilliant, pocket-sized hotel clinging like an eagle’s lair
to the cliffs just outside Sorrento, owner Marco DeLuca has created
somewhere that’s so much more than just a place to sleep. The bold red,
white and blue colour scheme in the huge open-plan living area could feel
a bit Ralph Lauren, but when juxtaposed with Marco’s collection of
curiosities, icons and design pieces from Sweden it becomes zingy and
fresh. Bedrooms are sparse with whitewashed walls and the bare minimum
of furniture: the main focus is what’s outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Each room is different, but especially lovely is the junior suite which, with
its teak floors and brushed-steel Tolomeo lamps, gives you the impression
of being on a boat. Rise early for breakfast and watch the sun rise over
Vesuvius as you munch on cakes baked by receptionist Floriana’s mother.
Then take the staircase to the fishing harbour of Marina Grande where
Neapolitan mammas gossip in the water while their offspring dive from
the rocks. For dinner, pop over the hill to Lo Scoglio, one of the best
restaurants in Italy. And if you are here in mid-July, for the annual lemon
festival, round off the evening with lashings of limoncello.
INSIDE TIP Rather than make for tourist-swamped Sorrento, head
along the Sorrentine Peninsula, still mercifully free from coach parties.
BOOK IT +39 081 877 4455; www.laminervetta.com

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LA VOILE D’OR
COTE D’AZUR, FRANCE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER A stone’s throw
TRAVEL TIME One-hour 50-minute flight to Nice,
then a 30-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £330
Yes, there is a grander hotel in Cap Ferrat, but unless you’re
an emir or an oligarch, chances are you won’t stay there. A
lovely alternative is La Voile d’Or, established in 1966 in a
fantastic position just above the tiny harbour of St Jean. David
Niven lived down the street and would visit its small but
perfectly formed bar for a pre-lunch snifter; likewise Rex
Harrison, who had a place roughly the same distance in the
other direction. And doubtless they still would if they were
around, because La Voile d’Or has hardly changed in the last
50 years, except for a little smartening and polishing. The
19th-century villa feels like a private house, with antique
furniture, painted headboards, original parquet floors and
wonderful curtains, not that you’d dream of closing them and
blocking out the view of the hills of Provence, Beaulieu
sparkling around the bay, and the Med below your baby
balcony. The hotel has a pool and a tiny beach, and if you
can tear yourself away from the water and head to the Le
Gastronomique restaurant you will feast on golden brown
Aquitaine caviar, crayfish and scallop blanquette with star
anise-scented rice and spit-roasted, milk-fed lamb from
Aveyron. When the Cannes Film Festival rolls around and
the Monaco Grand Prix fills hotel rooms from Nice to the
Italian border, guess where you’ll find the old money?
INSIDE TIP Put in a request for rooms 26 or 36, which
overlook the harbour, are enchanting.

LA COORNICHE
BOOK IT +33 493 011 313; www.lavoiledor.fr

BORDEAUX, FRANCE
DISTANCE TO THE WATER A short skip down the dunes
TRAVEL TIME One-hour 45-minute flight, then a 45-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £315
Philippe Starck’s reimagining of this 1930s Basque house is a high-spirited
success. His signature quirkiness is apparent, but with a freshness that suits
the location, right on the sand dunes with views of big skies and an indigo
sea. Bedrooms – if you can excuse the mirrors on the ceilings – are crisp
and minimalist, softened by tongue-and-groove panels in pastel yellows
and pinks. Murano-glass chandeliers hang above the zinc-topped outdoor
bar, and the restaurant, with its Moroccan-tiled floor, has witty quotes
scribbled along the painted beams. On the bleached-wood deck, striped
double sunbeds surround a rimless infinity pool and are roped off for the
use of hotel guests only, as the lunch-time hordes look on longingly. In the
afternoon, paragliders swoop past on the horizon, and children whose
parents are still ploughing through the Provençal rosé play on the garden’s
giant-sized chessboard. Yes, it’s self-conscious and at times perhaps a little
too big for its boots (waiters with a Hotel Costes attitude this far from
Paris?) but on a sunny day, with a huge plate of oysters on the table, and
views overlooking the Bassin d’Arcachon, there can be few places lovelier.
INSIDE TIP Bring hand luggage only. On sunny days, there are hats
to borrow on the terrace. And if the wind whips up in the evening, staff
wheel out gas heaters, with blankets to keep your legs warm.
BOOK IT +33 556 227 211; www.lacoorniche-pyla.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Ondine Cohane, Berenice Debras, Emily FitzRoy, Lydia Gard, Rachel Howard, Alicia Kirby, Mary Lussiana,
Tara Stevens, Issy von Simson, Jeremy Wayne
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DON FERRANTE
PUGLIA, ITALY
DISTANCE TO THE WATER Waves lap up to the hotel walls
TRAVEL TIME Two-hour, 45-minute flight to Bari,
then a 45-minute drive
PRICE Doubles from about £120
If you want a taste of what Capri and St Tropez were like in the 1950s,
but for a smidgeon of the price, Monopoli is the spot. Fishermen still
mend their nets and sell sardines from buckets by the harbour while
wizened old ladies on plastic chairs pinch out orecchiette with their
thumbs. This 10-bedroom townhouse was originally a fortress, carved
into the ancient defensive walls that surround the town. Tucked away
down a side street, Don Ferrante comes as a surprise to even the most
seasoned Italophile, its discreet front door opening to reveal a maze
of narrow stone steps and corridors all leading to the same Adriatic
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panorama. With that blue sea always visible, it made sense for the
owner, Gianni, to paint his hotel entirely white; everything glows, from
the staff uniforms to the vintage Piaggio Ape three-wheeler that trundles
guests through the cobbled streets. Bedrooms are simple, sun-filled
and very comfy. The suite with its Juliette balcony is heavenly, but just
as lovely is the dinky Portiera. The rooftop restaurant is white, too, with
sofas and sunbeds overlooking the coastline. The pool is tiny, but some
of the best beaches in Italy are just minutes away, and guests have special
access to the Hamptons-esque Coccaro Beach Club.
INSIDE TIP Don’t drive: Monopoli is for exploring hand in hand.
Take a short stroll down to the Lido Bianco for a plate of fresh
sea urchins, washed down with the local Primitivo.
BOOK IT +39 080 742 521; www.donferrante.it
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WHITE HEAT
WITH SULTRY, SUN-BLEACHED HILL TOWNS AND WIDE,
WIND-WHIPPED BEACHES, THE COSTA DE LA LUZ
IS A DELICIOUS SLICE OF OLD-WORLD SPAIN, SAYS
ANTONIA QUIRKE. PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOM PARKER

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ong after midnight, I came to Jerez on the road
from Cádiz, with blizzards of moths rushing towards
the lights of the car like crazed supplicants to a shrine.
A freakishly wet spring followed by the savage furnace
blast of early summer had lured tens of thousands from
their journey across the Strait of Gibraltar, until the
whole of the southern edge of Spain seemed to vibrate
with their sound. The fifth largest city in Andalucía,
Jerez is a perfect place to start a tour of the hill towns
(pueblos blancos) and nearby beaches of Costa de
la Luz, the stretch of spectacular natural reserves
running from the mouth of the Guadiana River on
the Portuguese-Spanish border down to the small city of Tarifa
just over the water from Tangier.
Nights in Jerez are for indulgence. On a wooden carousel in
Plaza del Arenal, bright-painted Spanish horses are polished
for the hours and children to come, and gas lamps glimmer on
tables outside sherry bars along Calle San Pablo. Walk for long
minutes through the elegantly shabby old city and you will find
nothing but silent alleys and part-derelict houses sprouting fig
trees or a weeping bottlebrush. Scarlet pomegranate flowers
loll over hoardings decades-thick with posters for bullfights, a
powerful flash-vision of western Asia meeting ancient Crete,
that quintessentially southern-Spanish union. Moors, Romans,
Phoenicians: everywhere is the memory of countless invaders.
And then, rounding a neglected corner, you will come upon a
smart avenue rammed with people talking in that sociable
Andalusian way. An English friend who has lived here for years
says he still marvels at the sound of grandmothers deep in
conversation outside his door at 3am. What can they possibly

ROUNDING A CORNER IN THE

SHABBY OLD CITY, YOU WILL COME
UPON A SMART AVENUE RAMMED
WITH PEOPLE TALKING IN THAT
SOCIABLE ANDALUSIAN WAY
be talking about? What new and bewitching thing can have
occurred since their last long conversation that afternoon?
On a spring evening in the medieval church of San Miguel a
wedding is taking place. Glancing through the open doors into
the gloomy interior, I can make out pew after pew filled with
beautiful women in sequined gowns, gold bracelets flashing on
their wrists. The unbelievable glamour of well-to-do Spanish
women in early middle age. Outside on a bench the father of the
bride sits smoking in a grey formal suit, cooling himself with a straw
fan, surrounded by celebratory friends. None of them is remotely
bothered about missing the service. Inside the church or out, so
long as the front doors remain open to broadcast the occasional
incantation of the priest, it’s all the same to the Andalusian, whose
attitude to Catholicism is born of a deep familiarity and ease.

Twenty miles east of jerez in the high town of arcos, two little
girls in bloomers play with spinning tops while their younger
sister, her hair curled and immaculately parted, attempts to
catch a beetle in a cup. It is important to communicate how
perfectly antique this scene is, how unlike anything you might see

From top right: Hotel V in Vejer; a traditional dish of saffron-baked lamb.

Opposite, the Alcázar in Jerez. Previous pages, Vejer Old Town

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elsewhere in modern Europe. There is an extreme innocence to
the children in southern Spain. Mollycoddled, usually dressed
to the nines and indulged with buns after their long siestas, they
waddle the cobbles until at least 1am while their parents have
supper and jabber with neighbours, moving up and down Calle
Dean Espinosa in a smoothly milling stream. There is a richness to
this ritual. The gathering and eating, the promenading and flirting.
‘What time do you shut?’ I ask the harried waitress at Taberna
Jóvenes Flamencos. ‘Until there are no more people!’ she hoots. In
her arms are plates of chicharrones, cubes of fried, fatty pork belly,
intensely salted and served with glasses of ice-cold white sherry.
On the wall, the jewelled costume of a once-feted toreador hangs
TO EAT IN SOUTHERN SPAIN IS REALLY TO SNACK BETWEEN SNACKS.
MELTING MORSELS OF WHITE FISH TELL YOU THE SEA IS CLOSE AT HAND
like the flag of a conquering knight. Weeds spring from the roofs of
the houses along the incline up to a square dotted with lime trees
outside the 15th-century Basilica de Santa Maria, where on feast
days a statue of the Virgin luxuriates on a bower of white hyacinths.
During an evening of flamenco in the square the town sits watching
a young woman dance a kind of malagueña, but one of particularly
savage fury. Her hair wild, she finally falls into a swoon as though
completely exhausted from all the suffering and squalor of a love
so lost she belonged to nobody and nowhere. ‘Pero yo ya no soy yo,
ni mi casa es ya mi casa,’ wrote the great Andalusian poet Lorca.
Below, from left: Valdevaqueros beach in Tarifa, the most southern spot on the Spanish mainland; a bedroom at Hotel V. Opposite, art and
antiques in the home of David Fraser-Luckie, who opened Las Cuadras tapas bar in his family’s 19th-century finca in the centre of Jerez
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(‘But now I am no longer I, nor is my house any longer my house.’)
Moments later, she stands up with a grin, her rage-trance forgotten,
and everyone cheers and troops down the hill to the bars for more
food. To eat in southern Spain is really to snack between snacks.
One place might sell small plates of delicious grilled aubergine
and goat’s cheese drizzled with honey, another might specialise
in taquitos de pescado en adobo, melting fried morsels of white
fish that tell you the sea, and miles and miles of unspoilt dunes,
is close at hand. Even the olives here taste subtly of anchovies.
Cross the fertile plains of the coastal barbate river in
August and you will pass molten fields of sunflowers and
wheat. Combine harvesters cling to little hills tilted towards
the sun. Massive cabbage whites bash against my car as I idle
along empty roads bordered by in-leaning crape myrtle and
overlooked by storks in disordered nests on the top of telegraph
poles. Vultures circle fields of black horned cattle. The city of
Medina is steep. So steep that to get to the top requires passing
through an old Moorish gate in the middle of town and then
what feels like falling to your knees and crawling vertically into
the ancient quarter. Medina is the oldest city in Europe. Cádiz
may officially claim that title but, in fact, tiny Medina was the
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centre of a Phoenician colony first and then a major centre
under Roman occupation. A grand Visigoth fortress became a
Christian castle, in whose windswept remains tiny stonechats
are now blown about like blossom among enormous blood
poppies. It can feel hotter here at 5pm than it does at midday
despite the constant breeze, hot and ruminative and melancholy.
There is nobody on the surrounding streets, nobody in Plaza de
la Iglesia Mayor, nobody in Santa María la Coronada Church
at the tip-top of the town. Inside, the statue of a tortured Saint
Sebastian is covered in dust. A bench for a 15th-century inquisitor
sits a few feet from a stone gargoyle, his tongue protruding down.
After the noise and gossip of Arcos, the sound of just wind and
crested larks and the view across the plains, unchanged for more
than a thousand years save for the occasional white forest of
wind turbines, make Medina feel gorgeously lost. In the only bar
up this high a family plays cards and decimates a plate of cherries
and sheep’s-milk cheese. Medina is deeply traditional: work
from 7am until 2pm in summer then a siesta ending at 5.30pm,
followed by cake and sugared milk indoors, and perhaps a visit to
the sweltering beach. The locals will dutifully change into winter
clothes on 1 October even if it is still 28˚C. ‘Cristo todopoderoso,
it’s damn hot,’ they’ll complain, shifting uncomfortably in their
woollen jackets, waiting for the cooler weather that might not
come for weeks. If Andalucía teaches you one thing, it’s patience.

And what of these famous, untainted beaches? Bright with

an implacable light, the Costa de la Luz is so capricious it will

THERE’S AN INNOCENCE TO THE

CHILDREN. THEY’RE MOLLYCODDLED,
DRESSED TO THE NINES AND
INDULGED WITH POST-SIESTA BUNS
never find favour with those seeking the drugging reliability
of the Costa del Sol. The Atlantic winds sweep in with an
immense power, wrapping your cheeks around the back of
your head, winds you can actually lean into on the beach at
Roches and El Palmar but which can whip up suddenly to
sandblast bathers, forcing families to run shrieking in towels
to the safety of the juniper forests hugging the coastline. On
other days all is calm. On a cloud-scudding afternoon at the
Bolonia Beach Café, a white-sanded beauty spot overlooked
by the yellow remains of a Roman city, I drink vinegary
gazpacho and work my way through a dish of fried anchovies.
The boquerones here are sometimes as small as whitebait,
sometimes as startlingly large as sardines. Plates of bones and
spines pile high in the open back kitchen and, in the shrubland
beyond, horses and donkeys stand perfectly still, their gaze
drawn helplessly towards Africa just over the water.
In the town of Tarifa, as far south as you can get in Spain,
small groups of teenagers stagger from ferries clutching
fake-silver teapots bought in the souks of Tangier, 30 minutes
away. Tarifa is where Andalucía’s teenagers come to kitesurf
and party, camping under the mulberry trees beyond the
dunes. Along the little stretch of sand outside the Hotel Arte
y Vida dogs mingle happily with all human life: nose rings
and G-strings, Spiderman trunks and ping-pong matches. Oh,

From top right: a girl outside San Dionisio Church, Jerez; Medina Sidonia.
Opposite, clockwise from top left: the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian
Art; Moorish tiles in Vejer; Casa La Siesta hotel; Casa Viña de Alcántara

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the girls. The limbs. Everywhere slim legs and bracelet-
jangling arms. Grandmothers pose proudly for photographs
with granddaughters dressed in outrageously short Daisy
Dukes, hooped earrings glinting in the dark curls they toss
about with the lovely careless manners founded on extreme
confidence. This is a high self-esteem culture. Girls feel
beautiful, wheeling their weekend suitcases through the
streets of Conil – the closest thing on this coastline to a
concrete resort – yelling with excitement. At night the
dancing and drinking in the towns this far south goes on late,
but there is relatively little brazen drunkenness. A taxi driver
in the town of Zahara marvelled to me, a full six years after
the event, about a blind-drunk English wedding guest he’d
transported to her guesthouse. ‘At the age of 45,’ he shook
his head, more in amazement than disdain. ‘45!’

Vejer rises from the flat coastal plain beyond the Cape
of Trafalgar with the paradisiacal salt-whiteness of a
Ladybird-book illustration. Surrounded by medieval walls,
it is the jewel of this region, a bright, dream city of churches
and palaces and wooden doors giving onto mosaiced interior
patios with wafting muslin awnings. Its tiny, tangled and
irregular streets follow the ups and ups of a rocky hill.
Wandering the close labyrinth of these alleys, past delicate
wrought-iron balconies, Vejer feels unlike any other pueblo
blanco. Restaurants serve tagines and add mint to their

VEJER FEELS UNLIKE ANY OTHER WHERE TO STAY remote hill towns. always peaceful. Order
JEREZ The view from the the breakfast of mango
PUEBLO BLANCO. THE SMELL OF Just 15 minutes’ terraced restaurant is and tiny local sheep’s
INCENSE IN ITS CAFES PROMISES drive from the city legendary, and the cheeses. +34 956
THE HIPPY TRAIL AND AFRICA centre, Casa Viña owners wrap you in 451757; www.hotelv-
de Alcántara stands blankets if the winds vejer.com. Doubles from
gazpacho. Roof terraces laden with immaculate hammocks in fields of wheat, pick up. Medina is a about £125
drip with just-watered roses. The smell of incense in cafés surrounded by poplars. thrillingly authentic
(‘established 1962’) promises the hippy trail and Africa, but A peerlessly renovated town, full of rejas, the A short drive from
the potted plants along the scrubbed cobbles look more lodge owned by a protruding boxed the city into the lush
like 6th-arrondissement Paris. Vejer might echo with distant wine-growing family, windows encased farmland below, Casa
civilisations going back 5,000 years to the invasion of the it has just a handful of in metal bars that La Siesta is a country
Cretans (bulls are raced through the streets here once a perfectly chic rooms recall young couples’ house that looks like
year), but the town is supremely, cleanly elegant. Everything and a shaded pool. It’s murmured late-night a Roman villa. Its large
feels amplified, the people stylish and amiably indolent. From close enough to the conversations without rooms give onto a
the highest point in the city, the view is of richly irrigated airport to be your only chaperones. +34 956 leafy courtyard that
fields of tomatoes, pimentos and watermelons, the sound is destination for an 410069; www.lavistade leads down to a garden
of cuckoos and honeybees, busying to and from a nest in the absurdly romantic medina.com. Doubles pool. It’s also a horse
wall of El Devino Salvador Church, which still brandishes weekend, interrupted from about £50 sanctuary, and friendly
an ancient Star of David, recalling a time when the area by the occasional stallions wander past
around Plaza Angel was a Jewish quarter. taxi ride into town VEJER eating the sunflowers.
Sunset in Vejer comes on with an immense yellow ochre, for tapas and sherry. Hotel V is a charming, Lunch and supper
thinning to lilac for an impossibly long time. In Plaza España, +34 956 393010; smart hideaway in an cooked by a health-
under a moon as bright as a streetlamp, Chinese hibiscus www.vinadealcantara. ancient building at the conscious chef are a
reflects off the shiny green 19th-century ceramic frogs dotted com. Doubles from very top of town, with nice change from the
about its fountain, and amontillado-swilling couples order about £140 a hot tub on the roof mostly fried southern-
saffron-baked lamb at restaurant tables. Long after midnight, terrace so high kestrels Spanish tapas. +34 699
in a small domed kiosk, an elderly woman in black crepe MEDINA SIDONIA and buzzards hover 619430; www.casala
smokes and listens to the radio, selling poker cards and lottery More basic than only feet away. This siesta.com. Doubles
tickets for a pittance. And then later still, a cat sniffs the remains boutique, La Vista hotel is precisely where from about £185
of a dried lizard in a side street, relaxed in its moment of feline de Medina is still that you want to be:
solitude, eventually distracted by the call of a nightingale. almost impossible moments from both GETTING THERE
thing: a place to stay quiet bars and churches Thomson (www.
Top right, a tomato salad in Las Cuadras tapas bar, Jerez. Opposite, the with a lovely pool in and a busy central thomson.co.uk) flies
interior of Las Cuadras, which is on the site of a 17th-century prison this steepest of hot, square, and yet it’s from Gatwick to Jerez

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All photographs
taken at Cheval Blanc
Randheli, Maldives
(www.chevalblanc.com)

Cotton bra top, £285, Isa

Arfen (www.mychameleon.
com. au). Cotton-tulle
flower-embellished skirt,
£1,740, Marni (www.
marni.com). Resin earrings,
£150, Marni (as before).
Sautoir necklace, £970;
gold Manchette bangle,
£395; wooden Manchette
bangle, £310, all Roger
Vivier (www.rogervivier.
com). Woven bangle, £55,
Pebble London (www.
pebblelondon.com). Jewel
wedges, £930, Prada
(www.prada.com)

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TO INFINITY
AND
BEYOND
PUSH THE LIMITS OF DRESSING UP IN
THE EYE–POPPING PLAYGROUND OF THE
MALDIVES. STYLED BY FIONA LINTOTT.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARY ROZZI

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Floral bikini top, £415;
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bottoms, £145, both
Dolce & Gabbana (www.
dolcegabbana.com).
Crystal and enamel earrings,
£455, Shourock (www.
brownsfashion.com).
Midnight Tropic necklace,
£660; teardrop V necklace,
£460, both Akong at Salt
Resort Boutique (www.
saltresortwear.com). Jewel
bracelets, from £119,
Nocturne (www.harvey
nichols.com). Jewel wedges,
£930, Prada (www.prada.
com). Parasol courtesy
of Cheval Blanc Randheli.
Opposite, Natte dress,
£3,650, Prada (as before).
Feather headdress, £145,
Pebble London (www.
pebblelondon.com)

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Satin top, £130, Gerard
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Darel (www.gerarddarel.
com). Broadcloth shorts,
£495, Michael Kors (www.
michaelkors.com). Hat,
POR, J Smith Esquire
(www.jsmithesquire.
com). Crystal and enamel
earrings, £455, Shourouk
(www.brownsfashion.com).
Leather necklace, POR,
Hermès (www.hermes.
com). Woven bangle, £55;
wooden bangle, £45, both
Pebble London (www.
pebblelondon.com). Silver
cuff, £505; suede heels,
£585, both Pierre Hardy
(www.pierrehardy.com)

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WorldMags.net Beaded-sleeve top, £850,
Aquilano Rimondi (www.
fenwick.co.uk). Cashmere
shorts, £124, Bella Freud
(www.bellafreud.co.uk).
Shell necklace, POR,
Cheval Blanc Randheli
(www.chevalblanc.com).
Gold bracelet, £45; black
horn bracelet, £75, both
Pebble London (www.
pebblelondon.com).
Embellished Juda boots,
POR, Jerome C Rousseau
(www.jeromecrousseau.
com). Model, Amber
Anderson at Tess
Management. Hair and
make-up, Ruth Warrior at
Lovely Management, using
Guerlain. Nails, Porcelaine
by Dior. With thanks to
British Airways (www.ba.
com), which flies direct
from Gatwick to Malé

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A place to SAIL through calm waters,

DIVE with manatees and DRIFT ashore
at sandy-floored beach bars, Belize is
the quietest corner of the Caribbean
Words by Stanley Stewart
Photographs by Martin Morrell

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O nce upon a time, belize was a holiday destination

for pirates. They lounged on the beaches, swam in the bays and
lurked among the reefs and mangroves in their bandanas and
eyepatches, waiting for passing galleons. The maps tell their holiday
tales. The cayes and islands in these waters sound as if they have
been lifted from Treasure Island: Gallows Point, Man O’ War
Caye, Deadman’s Cayes, Spanish Lookout, Last Chance Caye.
The setting is pure Pirates of the Caribbean: azure waters, a
sand-fringed coastline, highlands of tropical jungle, Mayan ruins.
The buccaneering spirit still means something in this laid-back
little country; Belize is the natural home for all sorts of vagabonds
and drifters, beach bums and runaways – anyone who cleaves
to the idea that a beach, a hammock and a degree of freedom
are preferable to a career, a mortgage and membership of the
golf club. Belize is a happy harbour for wayward romantics.
Running with the trade winds in the Inner Channel, Captain
Cliff was philosophical. ‘It’s a great place to forget the rest of the
world,’ he said. ‘Out here there’s nothing but the sea, the winds, the
islands and the sense that life just doesn’t get a whole lot sweeter.’
We were sailing south towards Coco Plum Caye on a catamaran
the size of small frigate. Palm-crowned islands were scattered
around the blue horizon. Windward lay Shag Bluff and Rendezvous
Caye, the latter nothing more than a grove of trees, a pile of conch
shells and a pristine beach. Belize has one of the world’s longest
barrier reefs, giving it hundreds of kilometres of calm-water
sailing and dozens of deserted islands. Its coral walls provide some
of the best diving in the western hemisphere.
We dropped anchor in the lee of Robinson Caye. Rum cocktails
were served on deck, then dinner arrived: lobster and oriental rice,
Right, from top: pelicans diving for fish off Ambergris Caye; a view of the
beach at Matachica. Opposite, the terrace of a casita at Matachica.
Previous pages: Matachica’s swimming pool; one of the two Azul villas

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To AWAKE at anchor in the lee of a strange island in southern

latitudes on a sunny day is to know the MEANING OF BLISS

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a bottle of Pinot Grigio, followed by a glorious, indefinable pudding.
The setting sun highlighted the Maya Mountains on the mainland.
A stable democracy, a former British colony and an English-
speaking country in a Latino neighbourhood, Belize has never
been bothered by the kind of turmoil that passes for normal life
among its neighbours – military dictatorships, coups, civil wars,
dangerous crime rates. There is an innocent, toy-town feeling
about the place. It has a population of just over 330,000, about
the same as London’s – in the 17th century. With only 16,000
people, Belmopan is one of the smallest capital cities in the
world. This is the country where chewing gum was discovered
and where chocolate is a major export. Independent since 1981,
the Belizeans have kept the Queen on the banknotes because
they couldn’t think of anyone to replace her. In Belize City,
Government House displays a photograph of one of the country’s
landmark occasions: Princess Margaret’s visit in 1958.
Ethnically, Belize is all over the place. There are native Mayans.
There is a mestizo population, with a mix of Spanish and Mayan
blood, many of whom have come from Guatemala or Honduras.
There are the descendants of Carib Indians, of shipwrecked
African slaves, of 18th-century English loggers, of South Asians
who came in the 19th century to work the tea plantations, and of
Confederate soldiers who arrived after defeat in the American
Civil War. And there are the Mennonites – Amish settlers braving
the tropics in 17th-century dress, searching for heaven on earth.
I had begun my week on the beach at the wonderful Azul villas
on Ambergris Caye, test-driving the hammocks, sampling coconut
Above, from left: the bedroom of a beachfront casita at Matachica; the beach and jetty at Azul. Opposite, the roof terrace of a villa at Azul
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cocktails, demolishing several lobsters and chasing manatees
(the creatures said to be the origin of mermaid myths). But I was
not to be confined to the beach, or at any rate to just one. I was
setting off for four days on Captain Cliff’s 50-metre catamaran,
Doris, with few plans, a fine chef, an open bar and a locker full of
diving gear. I was a very Jolly Roger. To awake at anchor in the lee
of a strange island in southern latitudes on a sunny morning, the
boat rocking gently like a hammock, the smell of coffee and bacon
drifting up from the galley, the sound of the surf on the outer
reef, pelicans swooping off the starboard bow, dolphins passing
astern – to awake thus is to know the meaning of bliss.
ravellers are only just beginning to wake up to Belize.
T As part of the Caribbean, it has been overlooked by
people heading for well-worn destinations such as the
Bahamas or Barbados. Anyone who has been sailing in the
British Virgin Islands will be amazed by how beautiful and how
empty are Belize waters. In four days afloat, I saw only a half
dozen other cruising yachts. And when you drop anchor for an
island beer, it is not at a sprawling resort; it is in a little barefoot
bar where the local storyteller is cutting the limes.
In these seas and these islands, Captain Cliff seems to know
everyone. And a surprising number are people like him, refugees
from the real world, people who came once on holiday, fell in
love with Belize and promptly threw their old lives overboard.
There’s Carl from Swallow Caye, who is a manatee whisperer;
he paddles visitors through the mangroves where the mermaids
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rub their noses against his dugout canoe. There is Peter, an Italian
bubbling with enthusiasm for the good life here, who runs the
exclusive Royal Belize resort for celebrity clients. There’s Ally
– known as the Snapper – who escaped Canadian winters for
a life on Caye Caulker, where she takes visitors on snorkelling
expeditions in search of sea horses. Over on Pelican Caye,
there’s the couple from Key West who have created a great little
bar for passing sailors. Down at South Water Caye, there is
Stacey, gym owner, weightlifter and the best bartender in Belize.
As we sailed through the Belize Caribbean, it was beginning to
feel less like a sea and more like a cosy neighbourhood.
If human society along this reef is congenial, the natural world
tends to the bizarre. On the third day, Cliff and I went diving.
Along the reefs, millennia of evolution have produced species of
fish as strange and colourful as their habitat. Their names evoke
more than any description: the harlequin bass, the barred hamlet,
the spotted drum, the yellowtail damsel, the spiny puffer, the
banded butterflyfish, the stoplight parrotfish.
But it wasn’t just prettiness. A pipe fish arrived, looking like a
bit of hardware dropped from a yacht. A couple of nurse sharks
drifted by, switching their powerful tails, watching us with steely
eyes. A turtle appeared, a refugee from the Jurassic age. And
then the star turn: a spotted eagle ray, five metres long, flying in
slow motion on beating wings.
After lunch, we headed across to the bird sanctuary on
Man O’ War Caye. A tiny island with a dozen trees, it has been
colonised by magnificent frigate birds. On the wing, frigate birds
have a glamorous, antediluvian silhouette. They are the pirates
of the avian world, with forked tails and scimitar beaks which
they use for stealing other birds’ catch.

andfall was placencia, a sandy peninsula in the south.

L International idlers of every persuasion have built beach

houses here, but Placencia village still manages to feel
like a fishing hamlet. The fishermen’s Lobsterfest in June trumps
the bohemian Sidewalk Arts & Music Festival in February as the
big draw. Along the paved strip that made it into the Guinness
Book of Records as the narrowest main street in the world, there
are craft boutiques and guesthouses, cafés and beach bars among
the nets and boats drawn up on the sands.
I stayed at Turtle Inn, one of the two Francis Ford Coppola
properties in Belize. The decor might have a touch of the film
director’s beloved Balinese influences, but the vibe is chilled-out
Caribbean and the fish menus are superb.
On my last day, I went diving out on the Silk Cayes. It was too
early in the season for the majestic whale sharks that frequent
these waters in May and June, but every time I turned my head
there was another spectacular creature gazing at me. Flotillas
of gunmetal barracuda drifted by while parrotfish grazed on the
underwater vegetation. A striped lionfish appeared, its tentacles
like some ill-advised fancy-dress costume.
As we headed back to shore, a school of dolphins converged
on the boat, playing back and forth across the bows. We put on
snorkelling gear and joined them in the water. I could hear them
chatting to one another: the soft repetitive clicks of dolphin
speak. Of course they were talking about us. With our masks like
eyepatches and our brightly coloured swimming costumes like
pantaloons, we must have had a familiar look. I knew what the
dolphins were saying: ‘Which one is Captain Hook?’
Right, from top: the bar at El Secreto and a view of the beach from one
of the sea villas. Opposite, the beachside terrace of a villa at Azul

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I went diving along the CORAL WALLS, and every time I turned
my head there was another spectacular CREATURE gazing at me

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HOTEL HOTSPOTS FROM REEF TO RAINFOREST
AZUL
On a long beach at the quieter end of Ambergris Caye, Azul is all
about seclusion. The two open-plan villas are vast, with two
bedrooms, enormous bathrooms, and a hot tub on the roof. The
pool overlooks the sea, and the barrier reef is a 10-minute kayak-
paddle away. The Rojo Beach Bar serves top-class food, including
conch pizza and cashew-crusted lobster. www.azulbelize.com.
Villa for two from about £360 per night; three-night minimum stay

EL SECRETO
Opened two years ago and accessible only by water, El Secreto
combines a chic, modern look with a simple setting of sand, sea and
sky. A central pavilion and snug casitas of tropical wood, stone mosaic
and thatch are brightened up with blazes of vivid orange. The 13 villas
– on the beach or around a saltwater lake – have iPad-controlled
air-con and Wi-Fi, and each has a garden shower and plunge pool
outside. The bartender mixes a memorable frozen coconut Mojito,
and there’s tasty Caribbean-inflected food (chicken with fried
plantain; Mayan grouper served on a banana leaf) in the beachfront
restaurant. www.elsecretobelize.com. Doubles from about £325

MATACHICA
A speedboat ride from San Pedro’s hustle, this must be one of the
most relaxed places on Ambergris Caye. Life here is reduced to
its essentials: glittering sea, white beach and 25 thatched cottages
(plus a two-bedroom villa) in Matisse colours. The beach casitas
are best: nothing can beat stepping straight from bed to private
terrace to beach and into the turquoise shallows. Mambo restaurant
serves scallops, lobster and wonderful local snapper with salsa
fresca. www.matachica.com. Doubles from about £165

VICTORIA HOUSE
A long-established favourite, this is a silky-smooth hotel with 42
thatched casitas, colonial-style plantation rooms and beachfront BELCAMPO BELIZE
villas. There’s a dive centre, acres of dazzling sand and a spa offering Down south in the Toledo district, this jungle lodge offers more to do
hot-stone massages on the beach. Palmilla restaurant’s menu than you can easily pack into a week. Visit Mayan ruins, spectacular
MAP: JANE WEBSTER ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY: IRENE EDWARDS; JULIAN EVANS; ALISON HUMES

runs from a classic shrimp ceviche to a lush pineapple-and-guava
coulis; and the Admiral Nelson Bar, overlooking the waves, is the
perfect spot for a rum-infused sundowner in a frosted glass.
www.victoria-house.com. Doubles from about £140
KA’ANA
The primary goal of Ka’ana is to let you do whatever you want, and
anything seems possible here: snorkelling, cave-tubing, zip-lining,
helicopter tours, birdwatching, Mayan cookery classes. La Ceiba
restaurant dishes up local delicacies including a sensational seafood
soup with coconut milk and coriander, and guests can step into
the kitchen and learn the chef’s secrets. The 17 villas (each with a
butler), master suites and casitas are airy and bright, and the spa,
organic gardens and surrounding rainforest are wonderfully serene.
www.kaanabelize.com. Doubles from about £200
TURTLE INN
The cabanas here, all a few paces from the sea, are decorated in a
mix of antique tropical style and the trademark Balinese motifs (dark
wood, Asian prints and carvings) of owner Francis Ford Coppola.
There’s a family feel about the place, a couple of infinity pools, a
beach bar, a gelateria and a dive centre. In the evening, book a table
at the beachside Gauguin Grill: its seafood, seared over charcoal, is
exceptional. A big plus of Turtle Inn is that you can cycle along the
sandy streets into Placencia and sip a beer with a bunch of barefoot
locals. www.coppolaresorts.com/turtleinn. Doubles from about £230
cave systems, villages, chocolate ateliers, coffee plantations and
the fascinating market in Punta Gorda where Mennonites in austere
garb bargain with Caribbean mammas in tropical skirts. This is not
a coastal property, but the beach is only a couple of miles away,
and there are diving and deep-sea fishing excursions to the reef and
beyond. Rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the
rainforest and its birdlife. Belcampo is proud of its green credentials
and produces its own organic coffee, rum and sugar, but best of
all is the food: the sea and on-site farm provide everything from
cinnamon-smoked breakfast sausages to wild shrimp at dinner.
www.belcampobz.com. Doubles from about £205
GETTING THERE
Abercrombie & Kent (+44 845 485 1497; www.abercrombiekent.
co.uk) offers a seven-day Coastal and Catamaran itinerary from
£3,715 per person including full-board accommodation at Azul and
on the Doris cataraman, flights, transfers and excursions. A 10-day
Highlights of Belize tour takes you from the coast to the highlands,
staying at Victoria House, Turtle Inn and Hidden Valley Inn, close to
the Mayan ruins of Caracol. From £3,075 per person including
flights, transfers and excursions. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies
to Belize (in conjunction with American Airlines) via Miami, where
an overnight stay is required. In Belize, Tropic Air (www.tropicair.
com) ferries passengers around in small propeller planes.
Opposite, the private pool terrace of a villa at Ka’ana in San Ignacio

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On the beach on the Swedish

island of Gotland. Opposite,
fishermen’s nets at Sysneudd

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TAKE
THE AIR
IT’S A SWEDISH SUMMER RITUAL
THAT WILL LEAVE YOU FRESH AS A
DAISY. HEAD OUT OF TOWN WITH
FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND DIP INTO
THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR A WEEK TO
SLOW DOWN, PICK BERRIES AND SWIM
WILD IN THE SEA AND LAKES
WORDS BY JULIET KINSMAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN KOCHEY
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Mention Gotland to
those in the know,
and they will
gush about the
special light, the
fragrant air and
the deserted beaches

This page, playing around

Jakobs Gotland, a converted
farmhouse on the island
with a two-acre garden, and at the
swimming jetty in Visby.
Opposite, one of Gotland’s many
medieval churches, at Kräklingbo

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‘H ej-hej’ waved our neighbour

from his tractor as we emerged
from a shed on his dairy farm.
Our daily routine would
begin like this: fill churns with milk that
tasted like melted vanilla ice cream; jot
down how much we’d taken and leave a
few krona. Then we’d walk home, past
swaying wheat, hay baled in plastic like
giant mozzarellas, and glossy, chocolate-
brown horses.
Our new home was in the hamlet of
Jakobs, on Gotland, Sweden’s largest island.
Most of the clapboard cottages in these
parts are still inhabited by farmers, and
although it was wired for all things digital,
our pretty, chalk-washed, renovated
farmhouse seemed to cast a spell and
magically foster an unplugged, outdoors
spirit. Alfie and Harry were always outside,
playing hide-and-seek among the wild
orchids which grow here like weeds; Kitty
was blissfully happy exploring the barn and
picking wildflowers to press. We couldn’t
have been more content; tensions melted
away with each breath of oxygen-rich air.
Mention Gotland to those in the know,
and they will gush about the special light,
the fragrant air and the deserted beaches,
the reason why painters, sculptors and
glassmakers flock here. And indeed, the
landscape might remind you of an Ingmar
Bergman movie, with good reason; just
to the north of Gotland is the diminutive
isle of Fårö (pronounced ‘phworer’
and meaning ‘sheep island’), where the
filmmaker lived for his last three decades.
Every day we set off along the empty
lanes, in a direction dictated by what we
fancied for supper or where we wanted
to go for a swim. We’d visit the best place exotic larder. Medieval imports are still stretches of white-sand dunes and crystal
for organic lamb, or explore the market found in delicacies such as cardamom waters could rival any Mediterranean coast
at Sysneudd for just-caught crayfish or buns and saffranspannkaka, saffron rice (despite being a few degrees colder).
smoked-that-day flounder, turbot and pudding served with cream and dewberry Signs for ‘loppis’ abound (loppa in
salmon. Cooking for ourselves immersed jam. Ancient grain varieties that flourish Swedish means ‘flea’), and many owners
us in the authentic flavours of local life, here can be traced back to the Bronze Age. hold garage sales even if they’re not
through buying food at the markets and Every excursion promised fresh at home. This open-door ethos extends
farm shops, and stocking up with booze curiosities, from abandoned windmills to the honesty-box farm shops. When we
which can only be bought from the to medieval churches. Bleak but beautiful, paused in Burgsvik for the loppi, stall-
government-run systembolaget. (Beers the rocky, reedy terrain in the north is holders urged us to help ourselves from
from local microbreweries are delicious, punctuated by curly-grey-fleeced sheep, the piles of bric-à-brac. ‘Really? We can
but stick to non-Swedish wines for now.) the distinctive, diagonally-bound rough- have any three toys for free?’ marvelled
There’s a strong sense of independence wood fences and the occasional café such Alfie. Recycling and sustainability
here and an old-fashioned community as Kutens Bensin with its vintage trucks are paramount here, and the islanders are
spirit. Many of the 58,000 islanders are parked outside. Hunting for fossils justifiably proud of their pristine
still yeomen. When the Vikings were off among the raukar, the island’s famous environment. It takes a little longer to
wreaking havoc, the people of Gotland sea-sculpted limestone formations, won get here than other bits of Sweden, but
were paddling their longboats to Russia hands down on any over-priced theme- that’s part of the adventure. Gotland
and Constantinople and their legacy is an park outing. And it is true to say that the exists in a free-spirited world of its own.
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We played
hide-and-seek among
the wild orchids
that grow here like
weeds, and picked
wildflowers to press

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WHERE TO STAY
Jakobs Gotland
This is a holiday house with the soul
of a boutique hotel. A fully fitted
kitchen, larder and large dining-room
table mean entertaining here is a
pleasure – and there’s a great barbecue
space outside. It’s well suited for a
multigenerational family, with two
spacious double bedrooms and a single
room, although with only one bathroom
downstairs you won’t want the house
to be too full; the delicate decor and
spiral staircase are not suitable for
toddlers. Owners Anna and Andi
Granger also have exciting plans for
the huge barn at the back. Eksta Jakobs
409, Klintehamn (www.jakobsgotland.
com); from £600 a week
108
Fabriken Furillen
A mountain of gravel marks the unlikely
and dramatic setting for this 17-room hotel
and restaurant at an abandoned quarry.
Set on a remote eastern peninsula, it’s hard
to believe Furillen was in military use
until the 1990s. The hotel is the brainchild
of photographer Johan Hellström, and
every inch of the interior is staggeringly
stylish. Concrete floors and heavy chains
are nods to its previous life, but instead of
the whirr of industry, the only noises
you’re likely to hear in the restaurant are
the clatter of heavy cutlery on handmade
Scandinavian pottery and the murmur of
discerning guests appreciating the artfully
arranged ingredients that were plucked
just metres from their seats. Sheppskult
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bicycles encourage you to explore this
hauntingly beautiful terrain. For utter
solitude, book one of the contemporary
freestanding suites in the woods. Lärbro
(+46 498 223040; www.furillen.com);
doubles from about £200
Stelor Hotel
Karin Cedergren has transformed a
few farm buildings on the main road
south of Visby into a popular restaurant
with six stylish bedrooms. It’s come a
long way since 2012 when Cedergren, a
teacher by day, was dishing up traditional
dishes such as home-made soups. There’s
a two-acre plot of woodland with rope
swings and curly haired Gutabaggen ram
to feed, and you’re only minutes from
the beach. Instead of hi-tech design,
there’s yoga and cinema screenings in
the barn. Don’t miss the Sunday barbecue
of juicy lamb and fresh-herb salads –
produce here is extra sweet as Gotland
gets so much more sun than the rest of
Sweden – or the breakfasts of nut-rich
muesli, smoked hams and kicking filter
coffee. Västergarn Stelor 117 (+46 707
960128; www.stelor.se); doubles from £190
WHERE TO EAT
Djupvik
Set back from the road and facing out to
sea, this hotel restaurant has an outdoor
deck and a small plunge pool. Light-filled
and family-friendly, it is celebrated for its
sea-inspired and seasonal menu (asparagus
in spring, wild truffles in November).
Be sure to seek out the Viking memorial
in the neighbouring field; traditionally
when a longboat was lost at sea, an
outline of the ship was created with each
stone representing a man lost. Klintehamn
(+46 498 244272; www.djupvikhotel.com);
dinner about £90 for two
Hemma Hos Ulrika
Opened last year by charismatic cookbook
writer Ulrika Davidsson, this converted
pigsty holds healthy supperclub dinners
throughout the summer; there’s no
menu, just whatever Ulrika has picked up
from market (Ronehamn fish, Gotland
lamb) or her garden that day, as well
as the occasional guest speaker. Hemse
(+46 498 700 914440; www.hemma
hosulrika.se); dinner about £65 for two
Konditori Norrgatt
A 1940s wood-panelled bakery and
corner cafeteria so fantastically dated that
it’s hipper than anything you’ll find in
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The white-sand
dunes and crystal
waters could rival
any Mediterranean
coast. Despite
being a few
degrees colder

This page, indoors and out at

the Jakobs Gotland farmhouse,
with excursions to the streets
of Visby, right, windmills and
the fields of Holmhällar. Opposite,
the dining room at Hemma
Hos Ulrika. Previous pages, in the
garden at Jakobs Gotland

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London’s Dalston. Cabinets packed with
sweet cookies, just-baked cakes, and
generously filled sandwiches can be picked
up for fika, the Swedish take on an
elevenses-style snack. Broväg 1, Visby
(+46 498 213234; www.norrgatt.se)
Bakfickan
Meaning ‘back pocket’, this small restaurant
makes simple but tasty traditional dishes
such as fish soup with aioli, smoked shrimps
on toast and pickled Baltic herring with
caviar sauce. You can also buy seafood (fillet
of perch, perhaps) to take home. Stora
Torget (+46 498 271807; www.bakfickan-
visby.nu). Dinner about £60 for two
Crêperie Tati
Kutens Bensin may look like a 1950s
gas station with its yard of rusty trucks,
and a motorbike once ridden by James
Dean, but the restaurant is so quirky
it’s an Instagrammable fantasy. You won’t
mind having to queue up for galettes
oozing savoury cheese fillings, and
indulgent pancakes with names such as
‘Sympathy for the Devil’. Swedes make
up most of the visitors to Fårö, and
they’re a handsome bunch. Broskogs,
Fårö (+46 70 203 8924; www.kuten.se)
WHERE TO SHOP & PLAY
Visby
Park outside this pastel-toned town on
the coast, and take a stroll through its
cobbled streets to the main square.
Walk down Hästgatsbacken and into
H10 Café & Bar (+46 498 249410) and
you’ll discover locally made furniture
by GAD and Acne clothes, as well as
an art gallery. Akantus (Sankt Hansplan;
+46 498 212888; www.akantusvisby.se)
is an inspired capsule of old and new,
from Klippan throws to vintage crockery.
Head to Klinten, the highest point in
the Old Town, for a view of the cathedral
and over the rooftops to the sea. There’s a
guided tour of the town every Wednesday
and Saturday at 11am, leaving from the
Gotland Active Store on Hamngätan.
Leva Kungslador
Every element in this creative complex
exemplifies a design ethos where form
always matches function. Hausfabrik
is a homeware store that manages to
MAP: MARIKO JESSE
make string, paper clips and gardening
tools look exotic, especially when teamed
with coffee-table architectural books
and colourful soft furnishings. There’s a
hammock by the horsechestnut-sheltered
tree house and play area, and an art
studio. Toftavägen 20 (+46 498 288058;
www.levakungslador.se)
Burgsvik Loppis
Tucked away east of the main road in
town, this hut and warehouse is crammed
full of curios, cushions and kitsch trinkets.
You might wish you had a trailer to carry
everything back home.
Toggas
Right by the entrance to the airport,
this is the best outlet for thrift-shop
treasures. Oily hardware segues to chic
homeware via Swedish second-hand vinyl
and memorabilia. Lummelundsväg 49,
Visby (+46 498 50184; www.toggas.se)
Bergman Centre
Ingmar Bergman is considered by many
to be the greatest film director of all time;
cineastes make the pilgrimage to this
cultural centre celebrating his life and
work. Bergman shot seven films during his
40 years living on Fårö; Passion of Anna
(1969) conveys the setting enchantingly in
black and white. Fårö (+46 498 226868;
www.bergmancenter.se)
Etelhems Krukmakeri
See how the Gotlandic clay is extracted
then make your own pots at one of the
country’s oldest potteries – if yours turn
out badly you can buy one from the shop.
Etelhem Tänglings 711, Stånga (+46 498
494035; www.krukmakeri.com); open
between 1 June–31 August
Above, fishing nets at Sysneudd. Opposite,
playing on the limestone rocks at Hoburgen
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Körsbärsgården Konsthall
& Skulpturpark
A former botanical garden transformed
into an art hall, this has an intriguing
mix of ceramics, artworks and micro-
installations: it’s currently showcasing
Japan’s Gutai group; in July there’s a
show of Sweden’s newest talents. Snoop
around the handpicked, reasonably priced
collection of interior and design objects –
from toiletries to glassware – then treat
yourself to home-made carrot cake in the
café. Sundre Västergårde 135, Burgsvik
(+46 498 498229; www.korsbarsgarden.se)
Eksta
Follow the road along this rocky coast
and look out to the Stora and Lilla Karlsö
islands. Explore the caves at Stora Förvar
carved from limestone cliffs, and hunt for
fossils on the pebbly beach at Hoburgen,
the southernmost tip of the island.
GETTING THERE
Norwegian Air (www.norwegian.com)
and SAS Scandinavian Airlines
(www.flysas.com) fly from London and
various regional UK airports to Stockholm.
The flight from Stockholm to Gotland
takes about 35 minutes: try Gotlandsflyg
(+46 498 222222; www.gotlandsfly.se).
Destination Gotland (+46 771 223300;
www.destinationgotland.se) transports
cars and passengers from Nynäshamn and
Oskarshamn on the mainland on a
three-hour ferry ride. The easiest way to
get around on Gotland is by car: there are
several hire companies both at the airport
and the ferry terminal in Visby. For more
information, visit Inspiration Gotland
(www.gotland.info)
111
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AROUND THE WORLD WITH
EMILY BLUNT
Having survived Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada and reigned supreme as The
Young Victoria, the actress is now fighting aliens with Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow
Where have you just returned from?
London. I live in LA now, and coming
home always feels like receiving a big
hug. I grew up near Richmond Park, so
usually I’ll head straight from the airport
to my mum’s house, have a cup of tea
and go for a walk. I feel very proud saying
I am from London; I love being able to
put that stamp on my identity.
Where in the world have you
felt happiest?
My husband [the actor John Krasinski]
and I went to visit some friends in
Ojai, this beautiful old hippy town in
California, and we were driving around
when suddenly I felt like I was going to
cry. I said to him, ‘I don’t know why, but
I feel like I belong here.’ A year and a
half later, we bought a house there. It’s
the best thing we’ve ever done; an escape
from everything to do with the business.
Name a place that most lived up
to the hype
Last spring, we went on a fantastic
three-week trip to Bhutan. We did a
four-and-a-half-hour hike to the top of
a mountain, where there was a beautiful,
eighth-century Buddhist temple with
incredible views. It was wild.
What’s your favourite city?
I love Florence for the extraordinary art,
and because it’s the most romantic place
I’ve ever visited. It’s somehow less intense
than Rome, which I also love because
I lived there for three months. I’m a huge
fan of New York City, too. We used to
have a place in Tribeca and I miss all
that hustle and bustle.
Describe your favourite view
There’s this thing in Ojai called a ‘pink
moment’, which only happens in about
PHOTOGRAPH: ART+COMMERCE/CARTER SMITH
two other valleys in the world. When the
sun sets, it is reflected by the water, and
the sky and mountains go bright pink. It
only lasts for about five minutes, but we
have some amazing Instagram shots!
What do you pack first?
I always take Kiehl’s Crème de Corps
moisturiser wherever I go, because I
feel like my skin turns into a dragon’s
scales when I travel. It’s good to pack
if you’re going somewhere cold, or if you
want to maintain a tan.
Describe a memory from a
childhood holiday
‘My mum and dad had a timeshare on
a villa in Portugal, so we went there for
many years. It’s where I learnt how to
swim, and I have this image of my dad
treading water in the deep end, trying
to get me to jump off the diving board.
Where did you go on your first
holiday without your parents?
I remember staying in an army tent in the
Lake District on a school trip. I managed
to arrive late, so my sleeping bag wasn’t
even on the tarpaulin, it was in the mud.
We had to do things like orienteering,
which was a nightmare because I never
have any idea where I’m going.
‘I’M A HUGE FAN
OF TEQUILA. BUT
THEN I USUALLY END
UP IN A KARAOKE
BAR AFTER’
Tell us about a great little place
you know
The Hemingway Bar at the Four Seasons
Hotel George V in Paris: they make the
best Martinis. I think we actually stole a
coaster as a reminder because we liked it
so much. And my favourite pub is The
Sun Inn in Barnes, which has live music
and amazing Sunday roasts.
Sightseeing or sun-lounger,
barefoot or bling?
I quite like lying in the sun, but my
husband really can’t stand it. We try
to be kind to each other, so we will do
one holiday where I get to slob out on
a sunbed, followed by one where we do
city tours. We went on a diving trip to
Bora Bora for our honeymoon, which
sounded so frightening to me, but ended
up being a pretty existential experience.
Confess to one thing you’ve taken
from a hotel room
I can’t believe I’m admitting to actual
thievery, but one place I stayed had a
miniature pillow saying ‘Shhhh’ hanging
on the door, and I took it because it
was so cute.
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Who is the most interesting person
you’ve met on your travels?
I will never forget a Buddhist monk I
encountered in Bhutan. My beloved
Nana had passed away while John
and I were there; we visited a temple
where the energy was incredible and I
got really upset. Then this ancient monk
came over and asked my guide to
translate for us. What he said was just
extraordinary; a mind-altering experience.
He helped me a great deal.
Which foreign phrase do you use
most often?
There are certain intonations you pick
up when you’re married to an American,
so I’ve caught myself saying things like
‘I’m so frus-trated,’ and my mum corrects
me: ‘No, you’re so frus-trated.’ But John
has picked up some of mine as well, so
we’ll probably have a very confused child!
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Las Vegas: but only for one night. I love
the plane ride there, where every
passenger is full of unbridled enthusiasm
and hope. The plane ride back is the
complete opposite: someone has got
married; someone’s divorced…
What would you most like to find
in your minibar?
Tequila. I am a huge fan, but then
usually end up at a karaoke bar after,
which is not always a good thing.
Most regrettable holiday souvenir?
These floaty, floral kaftans you don’t
realise make you look like an idiot
if you wear them anywhere else but
Thailand. And shell necklaces; I’ve
definitely got a few of those.
How do you relax?
Getting a massage is one of my favourite
things. The best I ever had – I even
remember the name of the masseuse
– was from a girl called Francine at
the Four Seasons Resort in Bora Bora.
I specifically requested her three days
in a row, which must have really creeped
her out. She was probably thinking, ‘You
must be relaxed by now…’
Emily Blunt was talking to Francesca
Babb. Her latest film, ‘Edge Of Tomorrow’,
is released on 30 May
June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 115
IN BRITAIN
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Clockwise from this picture:

Snowhome; the Atelier 22
apartment; Dog & Bone
and Bowler vintage shops;
Yorkshire Soap Company;
College Street. Opposite, a
sitting room at Gray’s Court

116 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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OUR SERIES OF INSIDER
UK GUIDES CONTINUES WITH...
YORK
Yorkshire-born Harry Pearson returns to this grand walled city to find new independent
shops, top-class restaurants and favourite old-school haunts. Photographs by Matthew Buck

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IN BRITAIN
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I 
grew up in a village on the edge of
the North Yorkshire Moors. When
my family drove to a city we went to
Newcastle or York. Leeds, far larger
than either, was not much further away,
but we never went to Leeds. We were from
the North Riding, you see, and Leeds was
in the West Riding, a land that – to hear
my parents tell it – was filled to the brim
with the sort of hoity-toity double-dealers
who’d steal your fillings when you smiled
at them and look down their noses at you
while they were doing it.
In those days, York was a city that drew
its wealth from railways and chocolate.
My father’s favourite restaurant was a
buttery run by Terry’s of York – the people
who make the chocolate orange (there
was once a chocolate apple, too). Up some
stairs in a venerable building overlooking
the river, it had chintzy interiors and a
help-yourself buffet. Given the appetite
for cooked meats and vinegar-soaked
vegetables in North Yorkshire, inviting
people to eat as much as they wanted was
a financial suicide note – it shut down in
the mid-1970s. After lunch, my mother
would call in at Burgins Perfumery and
my father would make his regular enquiry
after an obscure book about the Hundred
Years War at Ken Spelman Rare Books,
then we’d go to Taylors for toasted teacakes.
Later, as a spotty teenager I came to
a very different version of York, visiting
the North Riding’s answer to Rough Trade,
Red Rhino Records (the original label of
Pulp and The Mekons among a slew
of others), hanging around in the type of
pubs so beautifully evoked in Andrew
Martin’s novel of miscreant Yorkie youth HISTORICAL A FLAT WITH FLAIR
The Bobby Dazzlers, and shopping for WHERE BEDDING Atelier 22 is a self-contained apartment
slogan T-shirts that my mum refused TO STAY Tucked away near the to rent, five minutes’ walk from the city
to hang on the washing line for fear of Minster in its own walled centre. The owners have converted the
offending the neighbours. grounds, Gray’s Court is as grand as you’d lower ground floor of their Victorian home
I’ve visited York intermittently ever expect of a house that once belonged to into a bright, chic space with a Parisian
since. Tourism has replaced chocolate one of Henry VIII’s many fathers-in-law feel. 22 St Marys (+44 1904 655218; www.
as the main business, and although (in this case, the Duke of Norfolk). Parts atelier22york.com). From £140 per night;
Red Rhino and Terry’s Buttery have long of the building date from 1080, and along minimum stay two nights
gone, Burgins and Ken Spelman are with a wood-panelled Jacobean gallery,
still trading and much of York remains, there’s also a Georgian Room designed ONE TO WATCH
if not exactly the same, then at least by Laurence Sterne’s uncle, Jacques. A Georgian townhouse near the river, the
easily recognisable. With its crammed, The elegant and comfortable bedrooms Judges Lodgings was recently taken over
narrow streets and independent shops are all different: some have marble by Thwaites brewery, which also owns
(including two department stores), it has fireplaces, others bow windows with The Fleece at Cirencester. It is undergoing
the relaxed atmosphere of a place that commanding views of the city; one has major renovations and is due to reopen in
has complete faith in its own permanence. a William IV four-poster bed. Chapter August as a hotel, restaurant and cellar bar.
It may not have Harvey Nichols, but I House Street (+44 1904 612613; www. 9 Lendal (+44 1904 638733; www.judges
still prefer it to Leeds. grayscourtyork.com). Doubles from £175 lodgingsyork.co.uk). Doubles from £100

118 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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WHERE STELLAR SPOT
TO EAT The Star Inn the City is the
& DRINK latest venture from chef
Andrew Pern, owner of the
award-garlanded Star Inn at Harome, near
Helmsley. By contrast with the quaintness
of that village pub, it’s an ultra-modern
glass-and-wood cube overlooking the River
Ouse. The food, however, is true to Pern’s
original vision: top-class local ingredients
imaginatively used. Braised ox cheeks
come with blue Wensleydale, beetroot
and juniper risotto; soused Hartlepool
halibut with homemade dill vodka. There’s
Pontefract-cake ice cream to follow.
It’s open for breakfast, too, if you fancy
a Full Yorkshire. Lendal Engine House,
Museum Street (+44 1904 619208; www.
starinnthecity.co.uk). About £90 for two
A LITTLE PIECE OF POLAND
Head to The Barbakan Café & Restaurant
for authentic, hearty Polish fare that acts
as a kind of internal stove: pork-stuffed
cabbage leaves; pierogi with fresh pot
cheese; pancakes filled with buckwheat
and vegetables. The cakes, including a
very fine ginger one, perhaps owe more
to Yorkshire than Warsaw, but there’s
nothing wrong with that. 58 Walmgate
(+44 1904 672474; www.deli-barbakan.
co.uk). About £40 for two
EYE-OPENING COFFEE
Hidden away above the Harlequin café,
The Attic has leather sofas, bentwood
chairs and the best espresso to be found
outside Italy. The award-winning baristas
also serve up a latte with a double ristretto
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Clockwise from left: vases at Snowhome; a
sales assistant at Dog & Bone vintage shop;
The Imaginarium; The Star Inn the City; a
fireplace and the exterior of Gray’s Court;
Snowhome; oils at The Hairy Fig deli
as its base, delivering enough caffeine to
have you running around the city walls.
2 King’s Square (+44 1904 630631)
BEER, BAR FOOD AND
BELGIAN ECCENTRICITY
Ruritania and rural Flanders come to mind
at The House of Trembling Madness, a bar
above a speciality beer shop. Animal heads
are mounted on the walls, and there are
surreal decorative touches reminiscent
of Belgian pubs such as Antwerp’s Elfde
Gebod. To drink, there’s cider from the
rare-apple orchard at nearby Ampleforth
and several hundred types of beer. The
hearty menu includes a beef-and-ale stew
that would have put a smile on the face
of Pieter Bruegel. 48 Stonegate (+44 1904
640009; www.tremblingmadness.co.uk).
About £30 for two
NICE AND EASY EATING
Chef Michael Hjort’s main restaurant,
Melton’s, has been a fixture in York for
more than 20 years; Melton’s Too is its
younger, more relaxed sister bistro, with
a restaurant upstairs and a casual bar and
snug below. Good sharing dishes include
home-cured bresaola and smoked salmon
from Mackenzies in Blubberhouses. There’s
delicious goat’s cheese from Raywell
and a sound apple crumble. 25 Walmgate
(+44 1904 629222; www.meltonstoo.co.uk).
About £50 for two
BEST USE OF RHUBARB
Goji Café is a vegetarian spot offering
Mediterranean-influenced dishes such
as cumin-and-lime baked sweet potatoes
with chickpea tagine. There are excellent
vegan cakes, including a lemon-and-
poppyseed one that is as sumptuous as
you can get without involving cows. The
cranachan, in which the usual raspberries
are replaced with rhubarb, is a winner,
too. 36 Goodromgate (+44 1904 622614;
www.gojicafe.co.uk). About £45 for two
FIXINGS FOR A PICNIC
Originally a tiny deli, The Hairy Fig has
now spread to the shop next door. An
improbably wide range of well-chosen
goods is crammed inside. There’s 100-year-
old balsamic vinegar, wonderful olive oil,
fantastic chocolates by Lauden of Leeds
and about 40 types of cheese, including
IN BRITAIN
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Andrew Ridley’s cloth-wrapped
Richard III Wensleydale. Somehow they
have also managed to fit in a small café
at the back. 39 Fossgate (+44 1904 677074;
www.thehairyfig.co.uk)
CATCH IT IF YOU CAN
A tiny shop with neither sign nor website,
Via Vecchia is the place to pick up
freshly made bread from award-winning
baker Alistair Lawton. Specialities
include pesto rolls, ciabatta, cinnamon-
and-raisin bagels and a cheese-and-Marmite
loaf. The bakery opens early and shuts
when the bread runs out. Lawton also
supplies bread to The Hairy Fig and
The House of Trembling Madness, so if
you’re thwarted by the singular opening
hours, there is still hope. 6 The Shambles
(+44 1904 627701)
LEAVE THE GUN,
TAKE THE CANNOLI
Bright, airy and run by an amiable
crew of Sicilians, Trinacria does great
granita and several dozen flavours of
artisanal gelato. If you don’t feel like ice
cream, there are also very fine arancine,
a fine parmigiana, and ricotta-stuffed
cannoli that are so good they may have
been the ones Peter Clemenza spent so
long driving around looking for in The
Godfather. 27 Bishopthorpe Road (+44
1904 640104; www.trinacriacafebar.co.uk).
About £40 for two
TAPAS AND TIPPLES
Cabra Verde serves excellent tapas such
as goat stew, spiced pork belly, and squid
paired with black pudding, to be washed
down with a mouth-puckeringly tangy
glass of fino from Bodegas Alvear. The
sweet wines include a Pedro Ximénez
that tastes like liquid Christmas pudding
and more than justifies having a crema
catalana or a slice of cured Manchego.
There’s also a Cabra Verde deli on Lendal,
full of goodies from suppliers including the
Haxby Bakehouse and the York Coffee
Emporium. 1 Peter Lane (+44 1904 652920;
www.cabraverde.co.uk). Tapas for two £25
TEA, CAKES AND COMFORT
Bettys is to Yorkshire what Ladurée is to
Paris (though Bettys does not sell its
wares anywhere outside its home region).
People may moan about this gilded palace
of sensible cakes being a bit of a cliché,
but sitting here with a pot of tea and a fat
rascal (a type of rock bun), surrounded by
county ladies in their Lavenham jackets
120 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
and pearls, the staff scurrying around in
white pinnies, you feel that no matter how
difficult life is, everything will turn out all
right. 6–8 St Helen’s Square (+44 1904
659142; www.bettys.co.uk)
WHERE NORDIC CHIC
York is a Viking city, and
TO
the design shop Snowhome
SHOP
wouldn’t look out of place
in Copenhagen. You’ll find Chinese scissors
and lunch boxes that are a polypropylene
version of the Asian tiffin box. The shop’s
own range of furniture, designed by John
Green, includes a bent-plywood bookcase
with a utilitarian elegance similar to that
of Finland’s Iittala brand. 42 Gillygate (+44
1904 671155; www.snow-home.co.uk)
FOR THE RECORD
A hipster hangout you might expect to find
in Shoreditch, The Inkwell is devoted to
old and new vinyl, pop-culture books and
artefacts, and good coffee. The tables are
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Clockwise from this
picture: Dog &
Bone; The Inkwell;
Snowhome
1950s school desks, the record racks are
old baker’s trays, and there are Bob Dylan
lyrics painted on the wall. Turned-up jeans
and round glasses are more or less de
rigueur for staff and patrons. 10 Gillygate
(+44 7846 610777; www.ink-well.co.uk)
LET’S GET RETRO
Aside from a branch of high-end northern
fashion chain Van Mildert on Blake Street,
York is a bit short of decent clothes shops.
The closure of the Coggles boutique
didn’t help (though the website is still run
from the city). On the upside, a large
student population ensures that there are
stores selling vintage wear, two of the best
being Dog & Bone and Bowler. They
have racks of tweed jackets and lots of
Sixties dresses in man-made fibres that
whip up an electrical storm of static. Dog
& Bone, 36 Gillygate (+44 1904 624067).
Bowler, 52 Fossgate (+44 1904 630407)
MAD ABOUT THE HOUSE
Step inside the fantastically eccentric
world of The Imaginarium to find quirky
home accessories including candles from
True Grace, Ibride tea trays, textile art by
Mr Finch and whimsical animal jewellery
from And Mary. 6 Blake Street (+44 1904
466642; www.theimaginariumyork.com)
GET IN A LATHER
At first glance you may think you have
found a Parisian patisserie, but in fact this
is The Yorkshire Soap Company. Its
products come in an amazing variety of
convincing disguises, including delicate
pastries and even a four-tier wedding
cake. 10 Blake Street (+44 1904 655820;
www.theyorkshiresoapcompany.co.uk)
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
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bustling avenues to unearth hidden treasures
including jewellery, antiques, art, oils and spices.

Many people don’t equate Dubai with any kind of

nature beyond the desert – but Jumeirah has
introduced a hugely successful turtle rehabilitation
programme (based at Madinat Jumeirah). The project
has seen the successful release of many turtles back
into the Arabian Gulf, two of which have been fitted
with transmitters to track their journeys. Kids will also
love Jumeirah Beach Hotel with its vast array of
activities for every age. From Sinbad’s Kids Club to
endless water sports and direct access to Wild Wadi
Waterpark.

And while the kids are entertained, parents can sneak

off for some serious pampering. The Talise Ottoman
Spa at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray offers almost limitless
treatment options, while the water-enveloped Talise

no ordinary world
Jumeirah is more than just a luxury hotel chain.
It is an experiential brand with a one-of-a-kind service
ethos. We check out what the summer has in store...

hen the Burj Al Arab opened in 1999, the Clockwise from top:

W world woke up to a new type of luxury travel,

courtesy of the pioneering Dubai-based
Jumeirah Group. Since then, JUMEIRAH has
continued to break boundaries, finding new,
imaginative approaches to go above and beyond what
Jumeirah Turtle
Rehabilitation Programme;
Sunken Dug Beach Dining
at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi
in the Maldives; Scott's
Restaurant at Jumeirah at
is expected of a luxury hotel chain. Etihad Towers in Abu
Dhabi; Talise Ottoman Spa
Jumeirah is all about the experience; from the truly at Jumeirah Zabeel
remarkable Burj Al Arab and the vast waterways of Saray in Dubai
Madinat Jumeirah, to the beehives on top of Jumeirah
Frankfurt and the sand-sculpted chairs in the Maldives,
guests enter into the extraordinary. This summer there
are even more unique experiences in the offing...

feels like royalty Spa at Madinat Jumeirah tailors everything to the

When it comes to luxury, Jumeirah knows no bounds.
The Burj Al Arab is a once-in-a-lifetime experience in
itself and anyone staying here feels like royalty. Guests
can go one step further and arrive by helicopter (taking
in a 15-minute bird’s-eye view of the city) before
landing on the 28th floor, walking the red carpet and
being welcomed by a brigade of butlers. For the more
culture-orientated, there is a contemporary Middle
Eastern art exhibition currently on show throughout
Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. Local culture is also
thriving in Madinat Jumeirah’s souk. Take an abra
down the winding waterways (linking Al Qasr, Mina
A’Salam and Dar Al Masyaf) and then explore the
individual. Jumeirah always provides food for thought
by boasting an exceptional culinary scene. While the
Jumeirah at Etihad Towers is one of the most talked
about food destinations in Abu Dhabi, quality and
quantity are rife at Madinat Jumeirah – its restaurant,
bar and lounge count has a dizzying array of options
that range from terrific Thai to quaffable cocktails.
This summer, romance is on the cards at the magical
Jumeriah Dhevanafushi, Maldives where guests can
dine under the stars on sand-sculpted tables.
For further information on Jumeirah’s
portfolio of luxury Hotels, Resorts and
Residences, visit jumeirah.com

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1953
The day I was Queen...
Or at least that is how it felt. The year was 1953
and it was Elizabeth II’s coronation. In similar pomp
and ceremony I was delivered in a large box tied
with a big sash bow. I was delicately lifted out from
layers of white tissue paper then carefully slipped
on with regal elegance. Everyone’s attention was
on the small nine-inch television dwarfed in its
walnut cabinet. That is until I swirled into the room.

To be continued...
www.oxfam.org.uk/vintage

WorldMags.net
 WorldMags.net THE EXPERTS
This month’s Family Health Food Books Advice
EDITED BY ISSY VON SIMSON

WHAT YOU WANT

The best yoga
instructor on the beach
WHO YOU NEED
Stefano Allegri at
Florblanca in Costa Rica
Drawn to Costa Rica 22 years ago because of its
peaceful politics and lack of an army, Milanese-
born Allegri set up a vegetarian restaurant and
tattoo parlour on the Nicoya Peninsula. But for
the past decade or so he has been practising
yoga at Florblanca, a gorgeous beachfront
hideaway surrounded by jungle in Santa Teresa.
Allegri learnt from Sri K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore,
the brains behind ashtanga, and now teaches it,
and vinyasa, to all levels. To prepare, he picks
a few petals from the garden, scatters them
around the wooden floor of his ocean-view
studio, lights a candle and incense, and meditates.
‘It’s all about the relationship between movement
and breath,’ he says. ‘When you’re aware of the
breath, it’s like a magical power you can use
to create peace.’ If you’re a beginner, he’ll ask you
to close your eyes and then demonstrate by
breathing slowly and deeply so close to your ear
it tickles. Whether a first-timer or an old hand,
students will be pushed so hard their legs start
to shake; but Allegri puts people at ease with
amusing references to Bruce Lee and Mick
Jagger’s hips (‘eeps’ in his heavy Italian accent).
And he doesn’t just teach Florblanca guests;
he’s a local legend and strapping surf dudes roll
up for class after catching their early-morning
waves. www.florblanca.com EMMA LOVE

WorldMags.net June 2014 Condé Nast Traveller 123

THE EXPERTS... GADGETS
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GEEK GEAR By George Duffield
It might be socially unacceptable to say that most geeks are men, but who can
really deny it? Here the Geek unlocks the testosterone vault to bring you objects
of desire for your man cave. You may never use them all, but you must have them

SOULRA FRX3 X-JACK BUSHRANGER GERBER APOCALYPSE KIT

Bad name, great product. This rechargeable
weather-alert radio has a solar panel and
hand-turbine generator that can power USB
products. In short, a key item for your disaster
grab bag. www.soulracorp.com, £59.99
Car jacks are for wimps. Real men get stuck
off-road, but how does your jack cope in sand
or deep mud? Enter the X-Jack. The world’s
first inflatable jack, it’s a super-tough pillow
that blows up and lifts your truck clean out of
the mire. www.bushranger.com.au, about £180
Extreme? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely. This
is the winner-takes-all man bag: a selection of
blades, axes and blunt trauma items. When the
world ends, you’ll need it. Don’t show it to your
partner or children. Hide it and sleep well knowing
you have it. www.gerbergear.com, about £210

ESSENTIAL APPS
ILLUSTRATION: HEATHER GATLEY

Drive on Moscow Mixology Movies by Flixster

A highly tactical war game. An indispensable cocktail- This Rotten Tomatoes-
Represent the Germans or mixing app, with a useful enabled app gives you
the Russians in the critical function where you list the access to the latest
1941 Moscow campaign. ingredients you have and reviews and showtimes so
Change history, or repeat it spits out your options. you can pick the best film
it. Leave Temple Run to Easier than going to the for your date. iTunes, free
the kids. iTunes, £2.99 corner shop. iTunes, free

124 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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THE BEST FAMILY

HOLIDAYS
FROM
CHILD-FRIENDLY
SAFARIS TO
SHORT-HAUL
SUMMER ESCAPES
– FIND THEM ALL ON
CNTRAVELLER.COM
PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID CROOKES

+ GUIDES TO EVERYWHERE + INSPIRING FEATURES & IDEAS +DAILY NEWS

+TRAVEL Q&A + GREAT HOTEL DEALS
‘Like’ us at www.facebook.com/cntraveller Follow us at www.twitter.com/cntraveller
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THE EXPERTS... FAMILY
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ADVENTURES IN CHINA
The clash of old and new, traditional and
outlandish in Beijing and beyond is an
endless thrill, as Geordie Greig discovered
China is heaven for teenagers: safe,
sensational and seriously good fun; an
ancient kingdom, but also a manically
developing modern superpower. Jasper,
my 15-year-old son, read that a 202-storey
building was being erected in four months
in Chudong and wondered aloud why
we had taken so much longer renovating
our house in London. The local names
alone – Forbidden City, Dragon Lady,
House Where All Dreams Come True
– promised adventure and spice.
Nothing on our trip to China was ever
quite as expected: the palaces, power-
biking in the mountains, bamboo-forest
treks, t’ai-chi masterclasses, food beyond
our dreams and sometimes our nightmares
– live, belching toad was not 13-year-old
Monica’s first choice – or shopping
galore (Octavia, Monica’s twin, became
spectacularly ruthless at bargaining in the
markets). We found a land of Buddhas and
Bentleys, paddy fields, and stalls selling
wriggling insects; super-Zen skyscrapers
and medieval, labyrinthine city alleyways.
We saw crickets trained for insane
races and fighting, with daily bets across
the nation running into the millions.
Our holiday was also textured with
history, legend and laughter – by us and
at us. The Chinese are delightfully
friendly and, with their one-child policy,
a family with three blond-ish teenagers
is guaranteed to turn heads. ‘Please,
you stand while we take picture,’ was
a repeated request.
imperial and splendid, especially the
Forbidden City, the vast residence
of the emperors. Why are there steps to
every room, asked Jasper? Answer: to
keep out the spirits, as Chinese ghosts
have no feet. The more steps to your
house, the more status you have; fairytale
logic like this was never far away.
Our hotel, the supremely comfortable
St Regis Beijing, was grand but served
up cultural wonders that made my
children’s eyes pop. Breakfast could be
as bizarre as you wished: pork chops with
lotus roots, or boiled eggs – fresh or the
thousand year-old version. The food in
Beijing was always delicious. We ate at
street stalls such as Beijing’s last state-run
café, as well as at the Aman at Summer
Palace. Donkey’s penis was spotted on
one menu, eliciting interminable giggles
from the kids, who were cross that I
wouldn’t fork out £26 for that particular
delicacy. The five of us ate like emperors
for as little as £20, our chopsticks click-
clacking with increasing dexterity each day.
One morning, we signed up for a
session with a t’ai-chi tutor in the Temple
Of Heaven park. Master Liu casually
mentioned he had appeared in the TV

our trip was about four big hits: Beijing,

Xi’an (once the most powerful city on
earth and now the burial home of the
Terracotta Warriors), Shanghai and the
bamboo forests in Moganshan. We started
in Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest
and most arid urban space – and, of
course, the site of 1989’s famous tank
stand-off and massacre – awe-inspiring in
its scale (41 hectares) and security (it has
the highest concentration of surveillance
cameras in all of China). Beijing is

126 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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comedy travelogue series An Idiot

Abroad, which, for Jasper, was almost
as cool as when we landed at Heathrow
and found the model Cara Delevingne
standing next to us at the baggage
carousel. We saw red fan-dancers on
the grass, synchronised hand-clappers
(apparently it’s good for your health),
an impromptu marriage market on a park
bench (‘husband must have decent car
and be 1.8m tall’) and group days out
with 70 office staff in matching acid-
orange T-shirts. We were fascinated by 798
Art Zone – the artists’ quarter – and by
markets filled with jade, Mao memorabilia,
knock-off CDs and a million trinkets. And
that was all before seeing the Great Wall,
just one hour’s drive from downtown
Beijing. The Wall defied disappointment.
It looks like a dragon’s tail that vanishes
into the distant mountains: magical, 

Clockwise from opposite: a cricket for sale at

market; the Red Capital Residence bar; The St
Regis Beijing, the city’s business district;
Chanel boutique at the Peninsula Shanghai

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 curving and astonishing. Our guide

made sure we found the least crowded
part, starting at the Mutianyu section,
which has some of the prettiest views.
We then took the cable car, followed by
an hour-long walk. ‘This is the best
holiday ever. I want to move to China,’
said Octavia as we descended.

after the great wall, it was a short

flight to China’s former capital, Xi’an,
to see the Terracotta Warriors – burial
companions for its first emperor, Qin
Shi Huang Di, who started on his
mausoleum when he was 13, in the year
246bc. At the site, we bumped into the
elderly farmer who had discovered the
statues while digging for water in 1974.
The warriors are utterly transfixing in
scale, number and beauty. The pits in
which they stand, and where thousands
more remain hidden, are as mesmerising
as the pyramids of Giza.
We stayed at the former People’s
Hotel, now the Sofitel, which has the
most brilliant concierge whose local
knowledge will find you everything
from a spare part for an electric razor
to the finest duck. We were sent off to
hire bicycles to ride along the top of
the city walls: at nine miles long, they’re
one of the world’s largest ancient city
defence systems. We pedalled on tandems
past gleaming glass towers overshadowing
the few remaining tiled houses. For 90
minutes, we raced around high above
Xi’an, weaving through myriad locals
and Chinese tourists as the sun set, an
orange glow on a city that has seen the
rise and fall of the Tang dynasty.
The scale of China hit us again and
again: it’s simply jaw-dropping. Xi’an
has nine million people; other cities
we had never heard of have populations
even greater. Britain suddenly felt
rather small and the central axis of the
world not so certain as when we left
London. In Shanghai, as we roared along
the side streets of the old French quarter
on three 1950s motorcycles with sidecars,
my children fantasised that we were
in a Far Eastern hybrid of Mad Max 2
and Easy Rider. ‘Ni-hao,’ they yelled
at the traffic lights to a bemused
policeman. Dumpling sellers stopped
to stare. In a city where the shiniest
skyscrapers loom over traditional alleys
and market stalls, you could see the 18th

128 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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century being eclipsed by the 21st. But
somehow those old bikes provided the
raw romance and excitement we craved in
high-octane China.
Finally, we headed up into the
bamboo forests in the mountains at
Moganshan, a former colonial hill station
but now Shanghai’s answer to the
Hamptons. Here, a French adventurer
and his chic Hong Kong Chinese wife
have created Le Passage Mohkan
Shan, a rural retreat with Provençal
furniture, freshly baked croissants, and
escargots and truffles that would give
any Parisian brasserie a run for its money.
We took the 999-step trek up the hill
via temples, peanut farmers and stunning
views. With its cool swimming pool and
tea-plantation panoramas – authentic,
individual and refreshing after the glare
and glitz of Shanghai – it was the perfect
spot to wind down.
during our time in china, we learnt
to listen hard as everything we knew
– or thought we knew – about the country
was challenged. Zhou Enlai, the first
premier of the People’s Republic,
famously said when asked about the
effectiveness of the French Revolution
that it was too early to tell. China is
a nation that thinks deep and big, right
down to the electronic loos at the Park
Hyatt Beijing, which provoked teenage
titters with their options for rear or
front cleansing, oscillating, pulsating or
soft, as well as a dryer. And where else
in the world would you check into your
hotel on the 87th floor, choose your own
maggots for lunch, and have a pair of
prescription glasses made in 15 minutes?
Our summer was made in China.
Cleveland Collection (+44 20 7843 3531;
www.clevelandcollection.co.uk) can
arrange a nine-night stay in China from
£2,540 per adult and £1,095 per child,
based on a family of four. This includes ‘The scale of China
British Airways flights, transfers and three
nights each at the Park Hyatt Beijing, the hit us again and
Shangri-La Xian and the Grand Hyatt
Shanghai on a bed-and-breakfast basis. A again; it’s simply
two-night extension at Le Passage Mohkan
Shan costs from £600 per adult and £150
jaw-dropping.
per child on a bed-and-breakfast basis.  Britain suddenly
Clockwise from opposite: Red Capital Residence
felt rather small’
in Beijing; Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings;
Aman at Summer Palace; inside the Temple of
Heaven, Beijing; 798 Art Zone
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THE EXPERTS... FAMILY
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WHERE TO STAY
It’s difficult to beat a classic, and The
St Regis Beijing (www.starwoodhotels.
com; doubles from about £180) is assured
and flawless, but the Aman at Summer
Palace (www.amanresorts.com; doubles
from £470) is undoubtedly the most
romantic place in the city: serene and
private, with grand courtyards and a secret
garden door opening to the Summer Palace.
In Shanghai, The Swatch Art Peace
Hotel (www.swatch-art-peace-hotel.com;
doubles from £445) has just four suites
and three rooms, each like an original art
installation. Behind the tall doors of this
historic building are giant bamboo beds and
bathrooms like marble caves. Its Shook!
restaurant has a brilliant American chef
who makes sensationally good tuna tartare.
Also very cool is The PuLi Hotel & Spa
(www.thepuli.com; doubles from £255),
whose Zen-chic design has decorative
echoes of the Forbidden City. In the bamboo
forest outside the city is Le Passage
Mohkan Shan (www.lepassagemogan
shan.com; doubles from £325)
130 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
Clockwise: Alter
lifestyle concept store
in Shanghai; Yuyuan
Gardens market; The
PuLi Hotel & Spa
INSIDE TRACK
The one name you need in the capital is
Bespoke Beijing (www.bespoke-beijing.
com). Founded by former journalist Sarah
Keenlyside, who helped launch Time Out in
China, the company and its guides can tell
you everything from the first emperor’s
armour size to where to find the most delicious
street-stall snacks. The Insiders Group
(www.insidersexpeditions.com) is run by
savvy young specialists who know every
quirky nook and cranny in Shanghai, such as
Moller Villa – a fairytale mansion designed
by a tycoon’s 12-year-old daughter – and
ancient houses set to be torn down in the
name of progress. And you’ll be taken there
in a 1950s sidecar.
FASHION TIP
Yes, China is full of markets selling tat, but they
are increasingly being stamped out. Fashion
brand of the moment is Shiatzy Chen, a
Chinese take on the likes of Chanel, Prada and
Valentino. The label, which has a flagship store
on The Bund, Shanghai’s famous waterfront,
has become a regular at Paris Fashion Week.
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MEET THE GENERAL
China’s most illustrious cricket trainer – the
insects, not the sport – lives in a courtyard
house in Beijing with a caged bird who says
hello in Mandarin. Mr Liu spent 10 years
as a farm labourer during Mao’s rule before
his talent for training grasshoppers to fight
– big business in China’s betting world – won
him celebrity status. Over jasmine tea and
PHOTOGRAPHS: ANDREW ROWAT; LIU XIANGLONG/IMAGINECHINA
biscuits (arranged via Bespoke Beijing, left),
‘The General’ talks cricket legends, and
also about his forced exile to Mongolia.
ESSENTIAL READING
Jung Chang’s Wild Swans is the epic
memoir of three generations of women:
the author’s grandmother, concubine to
a warlord; her mother and Chang herself.
Empress Dowager Cixi is Chang’s
biography of the woman she claims laid the
foundations for modern-day China – think
Marie Antoinette meets Queen Victoria. 
Rana Mitter’s China’s War with
Japan is a page-turner that will challenge
your views on history, detailing how millions
of Chinese died during World War II.
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
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Clockwise from this image:

Aerial view of Halaveli;
Double storey Beach Villa;
Private plunge pool in
Halaveli Water Villa

constance halaveli
hile Constance Moofushi has couples stamped SPECIAL OFFER

W all over it, families often check into its sister,

Constance Halaveli. A blissful private island
setting (in the North Ari Atoll), its beach
accommodation is perfect for children of all ages.
There are family villas with gated gardens and
SAVE up to 40 percent
Seven nights in a Water
Villa at Constance Halaveli
from £2,585 per person
including daily breakfast,
seaplane transfers and
double-storey villas for those with more than two in international flights
tow. For couples and honeymooners, the open-plan
water villas are amazing value for money and come
with infinity plunge pools and direct sea access. This

SisteR
is a great island for those after more action; there’s a
gym, tennis and a large water sports centre offering
everything from fishing, windsurfing and wake-
boarding to pedalos, knee boarding and banana boats.
The dive school is fantastic with the usual PADI
courses (beginners, night, wreck, deep and nitrox)
plus a host of unique courses created exclusively for
the hotel. There’s also a very good kids club (another
familial enticer) as well as the dreamy Spa de
Constance. The food is exceptional, spearheaded
by Jing, an overwater restaurant half way along
the Halaveli jetty that serves mouthwatering
Asian-inspired dishes and fabulous cocktails.
For the best of both worlds it’s easy to combine the
two with the luxury Constance speedboat whisking
you from one paradise to the next.
Halaveli; two very different
For further information email enquiries@turquoiseholidays.co.uk or call 01494 678 400.
Clockwise from left:
Overwater Spa de
Constance at Moofushi;
Private sandbank;
Moofushi Beach Villa
ACT
Turquoise Holidays can’t
rave enough about the
Maldives’ Constance
Moofushi and Constance
takes on barefoot chic
constance moofushi
nce we scoffed at the all-inclusive concept,
O now its luxury reincarnation finds us gorging
on complimentary humble pie. We can now
eat and drink as much as we want at some of
the world’s best hotels without breaking into a price-
induced sweat. The castaway island of Constance
Moofushi is living proof that five-star can go inclusive
without scrimping on the quality. We love the 100-
plus bottles of wine going ‘free’, the cocktail menu
that would have Tom Cruise juggling all night and the
constantly replenished mini-bars without a hobbit-
sized bottle in sight. And of course there is food
galore at the excellent Manta, plus one à la carte meal
on the house. Alizée’s seafood on the beach comes
highly recommended, as does the Turquoise favourite
of lunch at Totem Bar with its tree-trunk tables and
sandy carpet. Moofushi has a dreamy simplicity that
we immediately fell for. There’s a rustic elegance to
the wooden thatched villas where Crusoe-chic meets
modern luxury (both beach and overwater villas have
direct access to the sea). The majority of the islands
facilities are included, but don’t forget to save for the
amazing overwater Spa de Constance hovering above
the azure lagoon. Diving and snorkelling seals the deal
with the house reef just metres from the beach.

SPECIAL OFFER
SAVE up to 35 percent
Seven nights in a Beach Villa
at Constance Moofushi from
£2,465 per person including
all inclusive meal plan,
seaplane transfers and
international flights

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 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
WorldMags.net
s cruising continues to ride its wave of

A popularity, Celebrity Cruises remains the first

port of call for inquisitive and discerning
contemporary travellers. If you’re toying with
the idea of joining the cruise revolution, Celebrity
Cruises is the perfect companion to guide you through
Clockwise from far left:
Bay of Naples; the
Black Sea; Provence
in France; Relaxing
onboard at the Lawn
Club; Award-winning
your first cruise experience, offering over 130 voyages restaurant Qsine's
across the globe each year aboard 11 distinctive ships. sushi lollipops
And, having just announced a raft of innovative new
itineraries for 2015/16, there couldn’t be a better time
to see for yourself why cruising is one of the best ways
to discover the world.

For a gentle introduction to cruising, consider a week-

long Mediterranean voyage aboard one of Celebrity’s
award-winning Solstice Class ships. These majestic
floating resorts set the benchmark for luxury large ship
cruising, innovative restaurants and cafés, several
vibrant bars, a two-storey Canyon Ranch SpaClub,
indoor and outdoor swimming pools, children’s clubs,
boutiques, enriching workshops, seminars and courses,
a cinema, theatre and Celebrity iLounge as well as
the Lawn Club – half an acre of manicured grass
lawn on the top deck. Boredom quite simply is
not an option.

For those looking to plunge in with a little more gusto,

the Solstice Class Celebrity Eclipse will offer fortnight-
long voyages from Southampton to the Baltic, Iceland
and Norway, and to the Canaries and Azores next
summer. Starting your adventure from home turf
not only saves invaluable holiday time and cuts out
the hassle of flying but enables you to exercise
BESPOKE
minimal restraint while shopping in local
markets and boutiques.

Celebrity Silhouette and Celebrity Constellation will

be based in Amsterdam and Venice respectively next
year. Departing from these iconic cities, just a short
hop from home, you could enjoy anything from a
12-night voyage around Scandinavia and Russia to a
fortnight-long exploration of the Adriatic or discovery
of the western Mediterranean and Holy Land.
While your first Celebrity cruise will undoubtedly be
thrilling, you might not want to appear too green,
particularly with so many veteran Celebrity Cruises
travellers around. So here are some insider tips: if
you're a bookworm, make a beeline for the peaceful
bamboo hanging nests in the Hideaway. Sun and
croquet lovers should bag a cabana-style Alcove at the
Lawn Club. Families should book at least one night at
the hearty Tuscan Grille while romantics will swoon
journeys
Celebrity Cruises thrives on giving an unexpected twist to experiences that may
already be familiar, so get ready to be taken far, far from the ordinary
for the intimate French Murano restaurant. Celebrity’s the 2014 ’Best Premium Cruise Company’ Globe
brand new Canyon Ranch SpaClubs are already Award, your first Celebrity Cruises voyage is highly
proving wildly popular, so book some treatments likely to spark the habit of a lifetime.
before you travel but also keep your eyes peeled for
in-port spa specials. Prices start at £1,549 per person for a Balcony
Stateroom on a 7 night Greek Isles Fly/Cruise in
Celebrity Cruises has added several new ports to its August 2014 on Celebrity Silhouette, departing
itineraries, so dropping these into conversation will from Rome.
gain you instant kudos. There’s pretty Salerno on the
Amalfi Coast, the authentic, little-known alternative To discover more about Celebrity Cruises,
to busy Sorrento; the ancient fortress town of see the ‘Take the Tour’ video, and to book,
Fredericia in Jutland, which just missed out to visit celebritycruises.co.uk/cnt, call 0844
Copenhagen in becoming Denmark’s capital; and 493 2047 or visit your travel agent
the cosmopolitan party island of Ibiza. Celebrity
has also added more and new overnight stays to its
programmes, meaning you can take a private boat
from Mykonos and enjoy sundowners on a castaway
beach; admire Istanbul’s minarets, mosques and
palaces by moonlight during an evening cruise on the
Bosphorus; marvel at the Mariinsky Ballet (previously
the Kirov) in St Petersburg; or watch the sun sink into
the ocean from Dubrovnik’s famous Buza bar.
Wherever you chose to go for your first cruise, upon
whichever ship, you can be safe in the knowledge that,
with Celebrity Cruises, you’ll remember it for all the
right reasons. However, we should probably point out
that, as winner of ten 2014 Cruise Critic Awards and

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THE EXPERTS... FEASTING
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CHORIZO
Eat me By Joanna Weinberg
There was a time before chorizo arrived on
our shores. Before people knew to sprinkle
winter dishes with pomegranate seeds and
that sourdough was a bread you had to make
yourself. Dark days indeed. Then chorizo
appeared and, kaboom! It lit up the kitchen.
It did for me what sun-dried tomatoes did for many. It could
do no wrong. I put it into everything: cottage pie, lamb stew,
onion tart. People noticed. It became a joke. ‘Chorizo-and-apple
crumble for pudding,’ they would ask on arrival for lunch.
There was – is – reason behind this obsession. Chorizo is a
superhero of the fridge, the Defender of Flavour. It sits for days,
masquerading in its sausagey disguise, but break it open, fry it in
hot oil, and it explodes with irresistible smoky paprika and clove.
Use it as a base for another dish and you shortcut the need for
endless chopping and adding of spices: it’s all in there already.
Chorizo is originally from the Iberian Peninsula; a version of
it can be found in every former colony of Spain. Each village has
its own spice combination, some heavy on
chilli, others with clove or anise. It comes
in different guises. There is the cured
version, to be eaten like salami,
white pools of fat melting
on the tongue (try it with
caper berries to cut the
richness). The fresh version, which
Drink me By Malcolm Gluck
The world of the wine taster has many
hazards, but the deadliest and most insidious
is the so-called Show Wine. This is a wine
designed not to please any purchaser or to
accompany food. The Show Wine is made
to be irresistible in a tasting. Whereas the producer of a normal
table wine does the best (s)he can and hopes the critics
will lavish a stellar rating on it, the Show
Wine maker has no aim above that
of creating a wine so explosive it will
The Show Wine is
obliterate all others in its category. Such like a streaker at
a wine is rather like a streaker at a a sporting event:
sporting event: it gets everyone’s attention
in a crowded arena. The Show Wine, it gets everyone’s
placed towards the end of long tasting, is
attention in a
outstanding. It detonates the taste buds
with such an orgiastic level of fruitiness crowded arena
that the taster feels grateful to have found
something surprising. And so it gets top marks. But is it a wine
you can take home to mother? To take to dinner with friends?
No. It is so blatant, out of its show milieu, it is embarrassing.
Now, the fact is that when I first tasted Cien Y Pico ‘En Vaso’
Bobal 2011 it was the 360th wine in a tasting of 622. I had so far
managed fewer than 200. When I came across the Bobal (a grape
134 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
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looks like a deep-orangey-red sausage and needs to be cooked,
comes either spicy (picante) or mild (dulce). This is the one that
goes into my everything. Its particular friends in the kitchen are
pulses: cook it up with lentils as they do in so many villages in
Spain and it becomes lentejas; crumble it into a dish of butter
beans, tomato and parsley with a garlicky, sherry-vinegar dressing
and you’ll look at salads in a new light. Here’s a quick stew to
bridge the seasons, as you often have to do in this country.
This month’s recipe
First, slice your fresh chorizo into thick rounds (on the diagonal if you
want a professional look), and fry in olive oil until they turn golden.
Meanwhile, dice onion, chop garlic, and peel and cut a sweet
potato into bite-size cubes. Set the chorizo aside and in the same
pan, fry the onions until soft and translucent, add the garlic, smoked
paprika, a pinch of saffron strands and cook for a few minutes.
Now return the sausage, adding drained, rinsed chickpeas, the sweet
potato, chopped tinned tomatoes, dried
oregano, and a little water or white wine
to loosen it if necessary. Simmer for 15
minutes or until the sweet potato is tender,
season to taste and add chopped fresh
parsley and a dose of best olive oil. It’s equally
delicious hot with a green salad and crusty
bread, or cooled as part of a larger spread.
variety peculiar to south-eastern Spain) I was already flagging,
and so, as with a bosomy beauty rushing naked across a
rugby pitch, the second I saw the wine’s deep-purple colour
and smelled the lustiness of its aroma my attention was aroused.
And then riveted as I tasted. But was I being conned? I
wondered. I tasted the wine again. I gave it high marks and
went off and drank some water, ate a little bread and olive oil,
had a conversation or two. I returned to the
Bobal and it was even more bruisingly
delicious. Here was a unique exception to
the Show Wine rule. So I bought 12 bottles.
I served the wine to friends at my home. I
took it to BYOB restaurants. It was indeed
a Show Wine, but what it showed was how
an Australian, a Bulgarian, a Spaniard and an
ILLUSTRATIONS: HEATHER GATLEY
Italian can take over vineyards in an obscure
part of Spain growing grapes few people have
heard of and create a stunning, authentic
masterpiece of vinosity. How will it go with the chorizo-and-
sweet-potato ensemble? Just as Rogers went with Astaire. It costs
around £12, or a good deal less, at Hanging Ditch (www.hanging
ditch.com), Paul Adams Fine Wines (www.pauladamsfinewines.
co.uk), The Halifax Wine Company (www.halifaxwinecompany.
com) and The Secret Cellar (www.thesecretcellar.co.uk).
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THE EXPERTS... BOOKS
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BEST NEW TRAVEL TITLES By Giles Foden

The fascinating story of As a youngster, Charlie Carroll ‘Ah dark garden, dark When American food
Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), the fell in love with the idea of garden, with your olives and writer Michael Paterniti
writer, archaeologist, civil visiting Tibet, and after the your wine, your medlars came upon a reference
servant and spy who did as 2008 Beijing Olympics decides and mulberries and many to an extremely
much as TE Lawrence to to make the idea a reality. almond trees, your steep expensive Spanish
stamp British influence on the After hanging around in Xining terraces ledged high up cheese called Paramo
Middle East, begins with the waiting for a permit, he ascends above the sea, I am leaving de Guzmán, he decided
adventures recorded in Persian the China-Tibet railway you.’ Thus DH Lawrence, to go to Guzmán (pop.
Pictures, first published in 1894. (oxygen masks supplied) and departing Sicily, where he 80) in Castile and seek
The book describes a young finally enters Tibet, where he lived from 1920 to 1922. out cheesemaker
woman’s journey to visit her struggles with bureaucracy The passage is quoted in Ambrosio Molino. Soon
uncle in Tehran. Preoccupied and yak-butter tea. Carroll’s Sicily: A Literary Guide for becoming part of village
by the image of the ‘garden in travels, as related in The Travellers, a wonderful text life, Paterniti is invited
the desert’ that she has read Friendship Highway: Two on the literary diversity of to join the locals for
about in Persian poetry, she Journeys in Tibet, alternate the island, as produced both wine, cheese and
seeks out imams and merchant with an account of Tibetan- by locals, such as Giuseppe story-telling in the
princes and the camps of born Lobsang’s flight from the Tomasi di Lampedusa and bodega, a man-made
nomad shepherds. Meanwhile, country in 1989. The two tales Leonardo Sciascia, as well cave known as the
cholera approaches Tehran, come together on the Tibet- as by visitors, including Telling Room.
eventually sweeping through Nepal border where Lobsang Goethe, Coleridge, Oscar Relocating his young
the city, like a forerunner of meets Charlie, and asks for his Wilde, Tennessee Williams family to Spain, he
political and religious storms help to get back into Tibet. and Truman Capote. begins to pen The
to come. Tauris Parke, £11.99 Summersdale, £9.99 IB Tauris, £16.99 Telling Room: A Tale
of Passion, Revenge
and the World’s Finest
THE GREATEST BOOK ON EARTH Cheese. But he has not
Novelist Justin Cartwright nominates Jonathan Raban’s ‘Passage to Juneau’ accounted for the fact
You get an idea of what kind into Queen Charlotte Sound, and onwards towards that Molino had
of book this is from Alaska’s southern tip. The plan is to meet his wife apparently plotted to
the subtitle, A Sea and Its and three-year-old daughter there, but a shocking murder his closest
Meanings, which suggests revelation awaits at the end of his voyage. friend, or that the
something large Quite soon you understand that you are not
villagers will do almost
and expansive. And reading a conventional travel book; what makes
that is just what Raban one of the finest travel writers alive is anything to keep him
Raban delivers, that he doesn’t see travel-writing as limiting, from hearing the next
a meditation on but as his chosen form of self-expression. part of the story. The
travel on the sea I love this line: ‘Journeys hardly ever result is not just a book
– in his own 35ft ketch – and a voyage disclose their true meaning until after about Spain and its food,
from his adoptive home in Seattle (he is – and sometimes years after – they are
English) along the Inside Passage, heading over.’ How true this is, and how beautiful.
but an investigation into
between Vancouver Island and the Justin Cartwright’s most recent novel the art of narrative itself.
mainland of Canada before steering out is ‘Lion Heart’ (Bloomsbury, £18.99) Canongate, £12.99

136 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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THE EXPERTS... ADVICE
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Q I am visiting Mexico for the second time and want to
find some off-the-beaten-track beach spots. Where
do you recommend?

Mexico’s Pacific coast has a stash of little places that are

A still relatively untouched compared to its Caribbean

shores. In the province of Oaxaca, the neighbouring
villages of Mazunte and San Agustinillo have a laid-
back, hippy feel: there are beach-shack restaurants
along the sand (Siddhartha in Mazunte was the best we
found, where an Italian chef adds Mexican fire to the
freshest seafood), tattooed, tanned young things
swimming in the super-clear waters and, come evening,
candlelit bars softly thrumming
out reggae tunes. The best place
to stay is Casa Pan de Miel (www.
casapandemiel.com), run by
lovely French Anne Gillet. It has
an infinity pool on a cliff looking
out to the ocean (between
December and March you’ll see
whales splashing around near the
shore, and maybe even hear a
haunting whale-song) and private
steps down to the caramel-col- Grainne McBride
oured sand. To get even closer to Senior sub-editor
those awesome whales and other
sea creatures, go on an early-morning snorkelling trip
(look for the skipper with the orange-canopied boat at
the southern end of San Agustinillo beach). And be sure
to make the 30-minute trek from Rinconcito Beach
through the forest to Punta Cometa, the southernmost
spot in Oaxaca, for a breathtaking sunset. Don’t be
surprised by the robe-clad woman who ceremoniously

Q My friends and I want to book a sailing holiday in the

Mediterranean but we’re not sure where to go for great
beaches, really good food and some nightlife. Any ideas?
blows into a conch as the sun finally dips beyond the
horizon: she sums up the free-spirited vibe around here.

A Q I’m planning a weekend in Paris with a friend who’s

gluten intolerant. Do you have any tips on where
we can eat?

With all those croissants and baguettes, gluten-free has

A not always been the easiest dietary requirement to cater

for in Paris, but things are changing. Satisfy a sweet tooth
at Helmut Newcake (www.helmutnewcake.com), the
city’s first 100-per-cent-gluten-free patisserie, on rue
Bichat near the Canal St-Martin. All the classics, from
religieuses to éclairs, are made with flours milled from
quinoa, chestnuts, rice and corn. A trip to Paris wouldn’t
be complete without macaroons, which thankfully are
already gluten-free: the olive-oil-
and-vanilla concoction at Pierre
Hermé (www.pierreherme.com)
is particularly lovely. For savoury
snacks, try one of the many new
PHOTOGRAPH: PHILIP LEE HARVEY

health-conscious restaurants,
including Soya (+33 1 48 06 33 02),
Nanashi (www.nanashi.fr), Café
Pinson (www.cafepinson.fr) and
Bob’s Kitchen (www.bobsjuicebar.
com). And at NoGlu (www.noglu.fr)
on passage des Panoramas the Alexandra Rhodes
sandwiches are just as delicious Fashion and beauty
as their traditional counterparts. assistant

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Q We’d like to take our children on a safari to Kenya, somewhere

low-key rather than flash. Do you have any suggestions? Q Where can I take my family for a foodie day out that’s
not too far from London?

Encounter Mara (www.encountermara.com) is a new camp in the Whitstable is a stellar spot for a day trip as it’s just an hour’s

A Mara Naboisho Conservancy, where there’s a limit on the number

of visitors and a very real possibility that even with binoculars
you may not see another four-wheel-drive. The camp is simple,
A drive down the M2. If your children have adventurous
palates and won’t squeal at the sight of a raw mollusc, take
them to the annual oyster festival (www.whitstable
comfortable and understated (no plunge pools here). Instead, the oysterfestival.com), which takes place during the last week
12 tents all have their own verandahs, large of July. Besides the live bands, Morris dancers and tale-
bathrooms, handmade furniture and regaling fishermen, there’s an amazing array of local produce.
hot-water canvas showers. And there’s a Buy a late-morning snack of a dozen fresh oysters, served
fire pit to gather around in the evening. on crushed ice with freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one
The gentle ‘hello, hello’ of the spear- of the quayside stalls and, while your brood work their way
toting Masai warrior outside your tent will through the platter (don’t tell them
encourage you to emerge for home-made the oysters are still alive), sip a pint
biscuits, fruit salad and flasks of coffee of zesty East India Pale Ale from
before the first bush adventure of the day. the Whitstable Brewery (www.
Charming, knowledgeable local guides use whitstablebrewery.info). Have
traditional tracking methods on the lunch (roasted wild seabass
twice-daily game drives. Later, wander to with garlic and rosemary) in the
the bird lookout, listen to one of the guides Daisy Finer restaurant of the Whitstable Oyster
give a lecture on wildlife, or visit a Masai Editor at large Company (www.whitstableoyster
village on the conservancy. Children learn company.com), looking out to the Lee Osborne
how to make bows and arrows, go on mini- adventures mud flats. For a real insight into Promotions creative
with staff in the grounds of the camp and even cook with coastal living, stay the night in a director
the chef. The Explorations Company (www.explorations converted Fisherman’s Hut (www.
company.com) can book you in from £285 per person per night, whitstablefishermanshuts.com), one of 15 former cockle
including all meals and game activities. farmers’ shelters right on the pebble beach.

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COMPETITION
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140 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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 WorldMags.net
WHERE ARE YOU?
Will you just look at that view? If you
want to see the sights in this town – and
there are many – you’d do worse than
PHOTOGRAPH: BILL SHERMAN
booking a bedroom at this hotel, whose
46 storeys cast a long shadow over the
neighbourhood. You may even want to
take the top-floor duplex penthouse,
a steal at almost £6,000 a night, which
has its own terrace for vertigo-inducing
games of I-spy. The hotel’s owner is a
man known to play his cards right, with
a very decisive employment policy. The
designer behind its distinctive interiors
has a theatrical streak, creating the
sets for several blockbusting musicals.
In October, the main street you can see
on the left puts on its own show. It’s
the largest of its kind in the country, and
attracts around 50,000 participants. As
everyone dresses up, it can be hard to
distinguish between the performers and
the audience. Last year, among the giant
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puppets, dancers, bands and floats, you
might have spotted revellers dressed as a
Rubik’s Cube, the Marshmallow Man
from Ghostbusters, and a swaying ensemble
of zombies recreating the ‘Thriller’ video.
Where are you? RICK JORDAN
To enter, identify the building referred to above.
Correct answers will be placed in a random
prize-draw. For competition rules and prize
details, please turn the page
COMPETITION PRIZE
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A HOLIDAY WORTH £4,215
HOW TO ENTER
COMPETITION RULES
1. Entries for the Where Are You?
competition can be sent on a postcard,
by email or online (stating your full
name, address and telephone number),
and must correctly identify the place
described according to the instructions
given. 2. Entries must arrive no later
than the last day of the month on this
issue’s cover. 3. The Where Are You?
competition is open to readers of Condé
Nast Traveller who are 18 or older on the
date of entry, except for employees of
142 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014
WIN
naples is a city of wonderful extremes,
from its historic palaces and atmospheric
port to its heady street markets and
eerie catacombs. Stay at the five-star
Grand Hotel Parker’s Napoli and you’re
perfectly placed to experience one of
Italy’s most dramatic cities – a UNESCO
World Heritage Site – and its famous food.
Located close to the stylish shopping
district of Chiaia, the hotel has its own
rooftop restaurant and bar with glorious
views across the Bay of Naples to Capri.
Enter this month’s Where Are You?
competition and you could win a seven-
night stay for two, courtesy of Luxury Link
and Grand Hotel Parker’s Napoli. The
prize includes accommodation in a deluxe
room on a bed-and-breakfast basis, a
spa treatment for each person, return
flights to Naples with Monarch Airlines
and transfers in Italy. The holiday must be
taken by 22 December 2014; dates are
subject to availability and exclusions may
apply during school holidays and Bank
Holidays. For more details, visit www.
luxurylink.co.uk/ghp or www.monarch.
co.uk or call +44 808 189 0029
MARCH’S WINNER
Eric Crate of Yeovil in Somerset correctly identified
Identify the location,
left, and send in your the location below as Huacachina in Peru. He wins
entry to arrive by a five-night holiday for two at the Conrad Algarve in
30 June. All correct
entries will also be Quinta do Lago, Portugal
included in the Grand
PHOTOGRAPHS: 50 CENTIMOS/PHOTOCASE.COM; BILL SHERMAN
Prize draw at the
end of the current
competition period
(1 October 2013–
30 September 2014).
Condé Nast Publications, participating
promotional agencies, contributors to
Condé Nast Traveller, and the families
of any of the above. Entries by post
should be sent to: Where Are You?
competition, Condé Nast Traveller,
Vogue House, 1 Hanover Square,
London W1S 1JU. Email entries
should be sent to: compcntraveller@
condenast.co.uk. To enter online
and for full terms & conditions, visit
www.cntraveller.com/competitions
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 READER OFFER
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WorldMags.net

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CITIES
I
t is no exaggeration to suggest that it would
take weeks, if not months, to get to see and know
Istanbul. The city, established as Byzantium
and for centuries after known as Constantinople
(before modern Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk
changed its name and character in 1930) literally
seeps history from its buildings and streets.
Where to start? Without doubt, the city’s historic
heart Sultanhamet. This is home to the world
famous Topkapi Palace – where the Ottoman
Empire’s Sultan resided and which aside from
many fascinating exhibits and rooms has some
of the city’s best views– the Blue Mosque and
the remarkable Hagia Sophia, in historical terms
probably the most important structure in the city.
Extensive renovations are finally complete which
Turkey
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
means you can visit the former church-then
mosque without having to imagine away the
scaffolding.
The Grand Bazaar is also well worth a long
wander although possibly more for its historical
appeal and beauty than for buying gifts.
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
VIEW OF ISTANBUL
FROM GALATA TOWER;
SULTAN AHMED
MOSQUE; RED TRAM
ON THE STREETS OF
ISTANBUL; MAUSOLEUM
OF ATATURK IN ANKARA
You will almost certainly want to buy
something from the adjacent Spice Market
which runs down from the Grand Bazaar to
the Bosphorus waterfront and the Golden
Horn, the horn shaped estuary that separates
the European and Asian parts of the city.
Take a ferry from Eminonu to Kadikoy, or
one of the many other ferry routes, to get a
sense of how this bustling city of 10 million
people works. After this, wander through
the streets of Beyoglu, the main European
district, to get a sense of the city’s evolution
into the modern age. Beautiful mansions,
mosques and shops line the route of the
main shopping route Istikal Cadessi, which
also has historic wooden trams running along
its length. Tea or a drink at the renovated
but still historically evocative Pera Palace
hotel (where everybody who was anybody
used to stay and which in wartime was the
famous hangout of spies and adventurers)
is the perfect way to end a day.
Turkey isn’t just Istanbul. Ankara is well
worth visiting for its history and as a base for
exploring central Anatolia and Cappadocia.
Wander the cobbled streets of Antalya’s
historic old town (Kaleici) and harbour, visit
Izmir for its famous waterfront and active
nightlife, and Bodrum for the sophisticated
foodie scene that has made this town one
of Turkey’s most vibrant and fashionable.

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The recently revamped
InterContinental Istanbul has
added yet more reasons to call it
home when visiting Turkey’s
most intoxicating city
stanbul is hip, hot and happening: a city where
I Europe and Asia meet; a place of opposites in
which historic palaces, vibrant bazaars and glittering
mosques mingle with sleek office buildings, smart
hotels and chic boutiques. Istanbul should be
compulsory on any travel wish list, but those already
heading here should check into the InterContinental
Istanbul. One of the city’s top addresses, it gets our
vote (first and foremost) for location. Situated near
Taksim Square (the heart of modern Istanbul), it is
perfectly placed for exploring both old and new
Istanbul. A short walk from Dolmabahçe Palace,
Lütfi Kirdar Convention Centre and some of the
city’s best shops, restaurants and bars, its close
proximity to Taksim metro stop also means
guests are an easy 15-minute hop from the
backstreets and bazaars of the old town.
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
standing
TALL
The hotel itself stands tall, affording some of Istanbul’s The one element that has undoubtedly remained
best views. Most rooms look out across the Bosphorus constant throughout the revamp is InterContinental
to the domes, minarets and skyscrapers – undoubtedly Istanbul’s exceptional service. Hospitality is not only
one of the world’s most eclectic skylines. Inside, a a cornerstone of Turkish culture but key to the
detailed revamp has wowed recent visitors. The new- InterContinental ethos: combine the two and you are
look lobby sets the tone for what is now a seriously chic guaranteed some of the best service in the business.
hotel with stunning rooms and suites. For a city-centre
location, the InterContinental Istanbul boasts fantastic For further information visit
outdoor space, including a heated pool (with bar) and intercontinental.com/istanbul
Veranda – a new al fresco restaurant set in its own
gardens. As one would expect of InterContinental,
the food scene is second-to-none. A must-book is
Safran with its contemporary interpretation of
traditional Turkish fare, live fasil music and authentic
ambience; but the heady heights of City Lights
Restaurant & Bar has become a destination in itself.
Perched on the top floor, views of Istanbul don’t get
better than this and the cocktails, atmosphere and
appetisers all score top marks.
transformative revamp Clockwise from top:
The InterContinental
Spa InterContinental has also had a recent revamp Istanbul lords over a
and the results exceed every expectation. An oasis of magnificent view of
calm in the middle of Istanbul, it is a retreat in which the Bosphorus; The
reality is suspended. Cleverly designed using wood and Blue Mosque; Spa
stone (nature is the inspiration), mood-lighting, soft InterContinental's
couples suite;
music and the scent of exotic oils create a haven of
A Club Room
relaxation and indulgence. The treatment list is superb
and other facilities include a Turkish hamam, steam
room, sauna and exceptional fitness equipment.
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eneath the pine-clad hills of Fethiye in Turkey,
B just a couple of miles out of town, Hillside
Beach Club opens out on to the emerald-green
arc of Kalemya Bay. It is an area of outstanding
natural beauty, where guests can live at one with
nature by breathing the heady scent of pine, listening
to the chatter of cicadas and feeling the warmth of
the Mediterranean sun on their skin. Relaxing and
rejuvenating, this is a Turkish time-out at its best.
The rooms and suites are bright and stylish and the
terraces have breathtaking sea views, but the real
appeal lies outside, courtesy of brilliant on-site
facilities. Families love Hillside Beach Club because
it caters for absolutely everyone. The three kids clubs
all get rave reviews. Four to seven-year-olds head to
Kids Club, where they can enjoy arts and crafts, the
games area, waterslides and organised activities. The
Junior and Young Clubs (eight to 13 and 14 to 17)
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heaven
on
earth
Barefoot luxury doesn’t get better
than Turkey’s Hillside Beach Club
cater for the older crowd with football tournaments,
table tennis, diving demonstrations, basketball, darts,
hip-hop lessons and DJ courses. There are also two
dedicated kids pools and one of the best water sports
facilities we’ve come across. Action-packed doesn’t
even come close. Sporty adults (especially the water-
inclined) are also in their element. Hillside is home to
Turkey’s first official water-skiing and wake-boarding
school, and recently hosted an international water-
skiing competition. Other opportunities include
excellent sailing tuition, a superbly kitted-out dive
school, canoeing and water polo. While on land there
is tennis, beach volleyball, basketball and the ever-
popular yoga, pilates and zumba.
ultimate relaxation
But for those who want to just kick back and relax
with a good book or cocktail in hand, Hillside has a
chilled side. The two adults-only beaches are
heavenly, attracting an out-of-season couples crowd
as well as parents who need that all-important me-
time. With its ‘no mobile phone’ policy and morning
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yoga sessions, Silent Beach is a one-of-a-kind spot,
a place to refresh the mind, body and soul. The
aptly named Serenity is a favourite for location
– a remote haven reached by a half-mile forest
path or complimentary boat service from the
club’s harbour.
natural spa
The adults-only beaches serve as an excellent
relaxation prelude to the spas. Yes we’re talking
plural, Hillside Beach Club has not one but two
Sanda spas. For a hotel of its size, its health and
wellbeing credentials are seriously good. We love
the Sanda Nature Spa. Set within the remote hills
near Silent Beach, trees weave in and out of the
treatment rooms and all the therapies are
inspired by nature.
Be at total peace with your senses and enjoy
everything from a Sanda bath (there’s flower, milk
and algae) to other nature-inspired treatments
including a lemon and honey facial, aloe lavender
wrap and avocado hair treatment – the list reads like
an encyclopaedia of the natural world. While this
unique spa has a real sense of place, the Sanda spa
(without the nature) is exotic and minimalist with
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
Images, clockwise For further indulgence the restaurant scene is
from far left: Floating excellent, offering a mountain of authentic Turkish
sun decks at Hillside
and international food. Pasha on the Bay has a
Beach Club; Shady
lovely setting while Beach Bar & Restaurant does
hammocks abound;
Pine-clad hills rise barbecues at lunch and delicious Italian come
behind the bay; evening. The main restaurant has a fantastic
Rooms with views; selection of food morning, noon and night
The very relaxed (rumour has it there are 140 different desserts
Beach Bar; Sanda in the offing). There’s even a baby buffet, pool
Nature Spa; bar and an oh-so-chilled out beach bar.
Silent Beach
a jacuzzi, sauna, hamam and wonderful out-there
treatments including stone therapy, crystal massages,
bamboosage (bamboo stick massage), four-hands
massage and lava shell massage. Alternatively go
seriously spa-focused and book in for a four-day
top-to-toe pampering package.
breathtaking excursions
If you can tear yourself away from the hotel’s beach
club, Hillside Outside offers trips out to the beautiful
surrounding area with its historical ruins, breathtaking
canyons and dazzling bays. Boat trips explore the
secluded coves and beaches around Fethiye and
Göcek in a traditional gulet (a two- or three-masted
wooden sailing boat) while land-based adventures
include trekking, mountain biking or horse riding
along the historical Lycian pathways.
Last but not least, a tree is planted for every guest who
stays: an eco-friendly touch we highly approve of.
For more details visit hillsidebeachclub.com
or follow on Instagram, hillsidebeachclub.
For reservations email hbc@hillside.com.tr
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B eautiful beaches abound in Turkey, with
the Aegean Coast, the Mediterranean Coast and
the Black Sea Coast all offering miles of unspoiled
sand and shingle. Most British and European visitors
stay at the first two, with the latter and the Sea of
Marmara south of Istanbul frequented more by
locals and by Russian and east European visitors.
Given that you are spoiled for choice, where to start?
On the Mediterranean, at over 12 miles long, Patara
Beach is reported to be the longest in Turkey and
it has the advantage of being close to some of the
most interesting archaeological sites in the country.
Turkey
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
It’s also hard to go wrong at any of the beaches
near and around Antalya; Kemer, to the west
of town, has a number of attractive spots whilst
to the east, the area around Side is bustling and
increasingly commercial although its still easy to
find a quiet cove.
However, for Turkey’s best and most luxurious
beach head to Fethiye and the Hillside Beach
Club. This remarkable, luxury resort has no
fewer than three beaches, catering to all tastes,
including a main family beach and a silent
beach for adults who want to get away from
it all: mobile phones are banned so you cannot
BEACHES
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be chased by work colleagues. Although it has
become increasingly popular, old Turkey hands
still swear by Olu Deniz (‘Dead Sea’ although
another translation turns this into Blue Lagoon, an
accurate description of the languid waters of this
much-photographed place). There is a lot here
for kids including old-fashioned pedalos that you
can take out to the point where the Aegean and
Mediterranean meet. For those who don’t like
crowds but also don’t mind the lack of facilities
the mainly shingle beach at nearby Kabak is
worth a visit.
Travelling northwards, Iztuzu Beach near Dalyan
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
OLU DENIZ, ALSO
KNOWN AS THE BLUE
LAGOON; HILLSIDE
BEACH CLUB; KONYAALTI
BEACH IN ANTALYA;
ALANYA IN ANTALYA
(near Marmaris) has often been voted Turkey’s
most beautiful beach; certainly three miles of golden
sand overlooked by pine forested mountains with
little commercial activity to disturb the tranquility
makes it a strong draw.
Iztuzu Beach is also known as Turtle Beach
as it is one of the biggest breeding grounds in
Europe for the endangered loggerhead sea turtles.
Continuing north, the area around Bodrum has
many beaches (both sand and shingle) but the
best are on the south of the peninsula, where
families in particular predominate. Also quite
vibrant are the beaches around Kusadasi, whilst
further north, and much quieter, those along the
Gallipoli peninsula are well worth exploring.

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Clockwise from top:
View of Barbaros Bay;
Barbarossa Beach;
the Chill Out Lounge
CONFIDENTIAL
Sun, sea, sand and spa, look no further than Kempinski Hotel
Barbaros Bay – a sublime all-year-round luxury hideaway
omer described Bodrum and its surrounding area
H as ‘the land of eternal blue’. Today the colours are
as vivid as ever, particularly now spring has sprung
once again, carpeting the hills in colour. People’s
shutters are opening and, just like the flowers, the villages
are bursting into life again. Bodrum itself was once a
sleepy fishing town (those days are long gone): its
cobbled streets are now lined with chic boutiques,
excellent restaurants and buzzing bars (described
by the New York Times as Turkey’s St Tropez).
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
hotel
The Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay was the first
luxury hotel to open its doors to the discerning
Bodrum-bound traveller. Our 2014 luxury hotel radar
has picked it up for privacy, pampering and position:
the perfect short-haul destination for sun and sand-
seekers. Situated slightly off the beaten track
(15-minutes by car from Bodrum), it is far enough
for solitude but close enough to dip into civilisation.
Once cocooned here, privacy is key. The cliff-top
setting is stunning but it is the huge hotel grounds
versus the relatively small occupation that creates such
a special place. Even when at full capacity, it is never
crowded: from the private (blue-flagged) sandy beach
to the enormous spa and numerous restaurants, space
is of the essence. Occasionally there are visitors: luxury
yachts sail into the hotel’s private marina to enjoy a
couple of nights in this piece of paradise. Guests rave
about the rooms and suites: light, fresh and beautifully
designed, they are enhanced by balconies with
breathtaking views out over the cobalt sea.
loving the buzz
As one would expect of Kempinski, the facilities are
top-notch. We particularly love the parasol ‘call’
button (a gin and tonic is never far away). The cliff
top infinity pool is like a mirage, the Kids Club is
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brilliantly creative and above and beyond the water
sports norm there is a dive school, sailing classes and
sunset cruises. There are mountain bikes at your
disposal (exploring the nearby villages comes highly
recommended), as do day trips out to the ancient sites
of Ephesus. The food is exceptional: we love the light
Turkish-style sandwiches throughout the day and
evening at Barbarossa. Saigon Club’s contemporary
Asian food is outstanding and La Luce does Italian
at its romantic best. For pure chill-out head to
Sundeck, where you can enjoy a vast variety of
cocktails and live DJ music after dinner.
tailor-made bliss
Kempinski Barbaros Bay was sold to us with one look
at the treatment list. This is 5,500 square metres of
tailor-made bliss. The focus is holistic, and in addition
to the pampering, there is reiki, meditation, Watsu
(aquatic body therapy), EFT (emotion freedom
technique) yoga and a chill-out lounge and vitamin
bar. The spa’s personal health consultations and
wellness coaching are inspirational with life-changing
results lasting long after the tan has faded.
For further information visit
kempinski.com/bodrum
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GOURMET

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 Turkey
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V
i isitors who think Turkish food
starts with kebabs and ends with pide , the
delicious oven-baked flatbread often served
with chillies and olives as an accompaniment,
washed down with raki (an aniseed-based
firewater) or an ubiquitous Efes beer, are in
for a pleasant surprise.
Turkish food lies somewhere between Lebanese
and Greek, combining the finesse of the former
with the freshness of the latter, but with
considerably more variety. As a result you will
find dishes common in Greece – moussaka or
dolma (minced lamb and aubergine and stuffed
vine leaves) alongside cooking styles commonly
associated with India ( tandir , a clay tandoori
oven set in the earth) or Iran (flame-grilling),
with the focus, always, on fresh local produce.
So what to order? A meal will typically start
with traditional mezes, small starters of which
hummus, aubergine dip and garlic yoghurt
with cucumber and mint ( cacik ) are the most
common, although more sophisticated options
include lakerda (salt fish) and kalamar tava
(calamari with a special sauce). For mains,
on the coasts in particular, fish is ever-present,
sometimes grilled simply with herbs and garlic
but also oven baked according to local recipes.
However, if you like meat – and it is rare to
find a Turk who doesn’t – you are also in luck.
The best restaurants use an open grill to cook
a dazzling range of regional kebabs, including
the spicy mincemeat adana kebab, tokat kebab
– skewered lamb and vegetables – urfa kebab,
with onions and peppers and from Bursa,
iskender kebab, soft lamb soaked in spicy
yoghurt sauce.
mellow wine not unlike a merlot); bogazkere
(a drier, more austere grape akin to cabernet
sauvignon) and kelecik karasi , Turkey’s silky
and seductive answer to pinot noir. Whites
include narince from the Black Sea region
(a dry floral grape not unlike a viognier)
and emir , from Cappadocia, which tastes
like a dry un-oaked chardonnay.
So where to eat? Wherever you are, you are
spoiled for choice. In Cappadocia, Goreme
has a wide selection of restaurants serving
traditional Anatolian cuisine: the focus is on
simple but fresh cooking styles, using the best
local ingredients. For a good selection, try
Somine in nearby Urgup, which specialises in
cooking in clay pots; the central fireplace and
cosy atmosphere make this a good romantic
choice. In Istanbul, naturally,
the choice is huge. For those
with big budgets, near
Taksim Square, be sure to
try Changa which specialises
in fusion food – though it is
closed in the main summer
months. If it's location you are
after, it would be hard to top
Maiden’s Tower, located on
an island in the middle of the CLOCKWISE FROM
Bosphorus, with spectacular views of the city. FAR LEFT: HAND
CAUGHT SEA BREAM;
However, to really get a feel for what makes
ORTAHISAR CAVE
Turkish cuisine so special, head to one of the CITY IN CAPPADOCIA;
many busy venues off Istikal Cadessi where LOKUM, PISTACHIO
locals and visitors alike while away the hours TURKISH DELIGHTS;
over long meals, starting with meze and the TRADITIONAL TURKISH
TEA; MAIDEN'S
working their way through various courses. TOWER IN ISTANBUL

This country has a vast regional pantry:

try the high quality Taris olive oil from the
Mediterranean Coast, hamsi fish from the Black
Sea and herby cheeses from south-eastern
Turkey. For desserts, pistachio baklava is well
worth having at least once although for British
tastes it can sometimes seem too sweet. Try also
one of the many varieties of helva (made with
tahini and sesame seeds though also often with
many other ingredients including chocolate)
and cezerye made with nuts, caramelised
carrots and coconut.

Turkish wine is also very much on the up despite

punishing taxes: market leaders are Kavaklidere
and Doluca but some of the best wines are
now being made by small producers such as
Urla Sarapcilik who make quality wines with
international varietals from his winery outside
Izmir. Indigenous grape varieties include, amongst
reds, okuzgozo (which produce a soft, fruity and

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TO10 P
UNMISSABLE
Many books have been written about Turkey’s sights but outside Istanbul,
what really shouldn’t you miss? Here’s our top 10, in no particular order
1 7
Ephesus
The granddaddy of Roman ruins, this well-
preserved former Roman capital would
reward days of sightseeing.
2
Cappadocia
Dramatic landscapes, old historic villages
and cave hotels, with designer mod cons,
make this an unmissable experience.
3
Mount Ararat
The spiritual home of Armenians, but
located in Turkey, this eerily impressive
mountain was reputedly where Noah’s Ark came
to rest after the Flood. Visit also the spectacular
and highly photogenic ruined Armenian churches
at nearby Ani.
Turkey
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
CLOCKWISE FROM
THIS IMAGE:
NEVSEHIR CAVE CITY
IN CAPPADOCIA;
MOUNT ARARAT;
GALLIPOLI WAR
MEMORIAL; DENIZ
ON THE LYCIAN
COAST; GHOST
TOWN OF KAYAKOY
Kayakoy
The sad, deserted brick ruins of this
former Greek town – abandoned after
the 1923 Greco-Turkish population exchange,
and in 1957 damaged by an earthquake –
is an eerie testimony to the lost cosmopolitan
atmosphere that defined the Ottoman Empire.
8
Konya
Together with Kayseri, this is a base for
Turkey’s emergent Islamist middle class
4
Side but is well worth seeing for its picturesque
This former port used by Alexander buildings from the 12th century Seljuk dynasty.
the Great is today a perfect mix of Palaces, mansions, historic mosques and Whirling
ancient Greek and Roman ruins – including a Dervishes (for this is their home) abound.
well-preserved amphitheatre – and a bustling
9
modern town, with good beaches nearby. Gallipoli
For Australians and New Zealanders
5
The Lycian Coast who lost thousands of their countrymen
This large chunk of Turkey’s so-called in the bloody Gallipoli campaign of 1915, this is
Turquoise Coast is dotted with ancient hallowed ground. Whoever you are though, this
ruins – don’t miss Patara, Xanthos or Pinara – picturesque and now rather low key peninsula is
friendly villages and stunning beaches. well worth a visit.
6 10
Safranbolu Kalkan/Kas
No trip to Turkey is complete without They’re very different, with Kalkan
a visit to one of the caravan stations an über-trendy resort catering to the
(caravanserai) that dot Anatolia, and there are glitterati and Kas a more traditional, earthy
a few and more besides in this well-preserved resort. A visit to Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast
UNESCO protected Ottoman town. wouldn’t be complete without a visit here.
WorldMags.net
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
WorldMags.net
You can now own a piece of paradise
courtesy of The Residences at Mandarin
Oriental, Bodrum. Newly opened, they
UHGH¿QH0HGLWHUUDQHDQVW\OHOLYLQJ

private
paradise
he Turkish Riviera is quickly morphing into a Electric blue skies, crystal clear

T super yacht playground for the rich and famous.

A-listers have quietly been coming here for years
(Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Yves St
Laurent, Michael Douglas and Kate Moss), and if you
look carefully, many a designer home can be spotted
nestled into the hillside. This year, Mandarin Oriental
not only unveils a five-star resort (with all the usual
trimmings) but a host of exclusive residences and
villas are available for sale for those looking to call
this stunning peninsula home. Word on the beach:
summer 2014 is all about Bodrum.
waters, verdant flora and a year-
round temperate climate set the
scene: the new residences simply
add home-from-home luxury to
this blissful idyll. Located on the
northern side of the Bodrum
Peninsula (near the cosmopolitan
town of Golturkbuku), the hotel
and residences have exclusive
access to Cennet Koyu, a two-kilometre stretch
of pristine coastline. Known also as Paradise Bay, it
incorporates three private beaches all framed by pine
forests and olive groves. The 60 hectare site has been
totally rehabilitated with the planting of more than
100,000 shrubs and trees: a place where green
meets blue and nature meets luxury.
There are 98 exclusive villas and 116 elegant
residences on the market, each with breathtaking
views of the Aegean Sea. The design is sleek,
contemporary and minimalist with oodles of glass,
stone and natural light. Outdoor areas include infinity
pools (and pool houses), vast terraces with wood
decking, all designed to ensure the utmost privacy.
Daily housekeeping is a certainty and private chefs are
available for in-residence catering. But above and
beyond the super-chic villa, owners will have the
Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum at their disposal.
Land and water activities include five kilometres
of trekking tracks, tennis, basketball and a range
of water sports. Villa owners will have access to the
spa with its couples suites, dedicated pilates room,
heat and water therapies not to mention the array
of award-winning Mandarin Oriental signature
programmes plus unique treatments inspired by
Turkish traditions and customs. The hotel’s
restaurants and bars are of Mandarin Oriental’s
usual exceptional standards: there’s meze
at the Blue Beach Bar, alfresco dining at Olive
Garden, traditional Turkish breakfast at Sofra and
Italian at Assagio, not to mention little take-away
treats at the Mandarin Oriental cake shop, and
seriously good cocktails at the Mandarin Bar.
For further information visit
MOresidencesbodrum.com or
mandarinoriental.com/bodrum

WorldMags.net
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
WorldMags.net
egendary designer Ian Schrager (in partnership with

L Marriott International) is the man behind the super-

cool fledgling EDITION brand. Individuality,
authenticity and originality are key, and in 2011
the co-creator of Studio 54 brought his vision to Istanbul
adding a trendy venue to this already en vogue city.
Located in the modern Levent quarter (European side),
the 15-storey tower houses 78 cocoon-like rooms, each
with wall-to-wall windows, remote-control curtains,
42-inch Bang & Olufsen televisions and vast marble
bathrooms. The rich rosewood and oak combined
with natural tones creates a warm serenity.

Schrager always draws a hip clientele with his high-profile

bars, restaurants and clubs and The EDITION is quickly
becoming Istanbul’s place to be seen. Never one to do
things by halves, Schrager included a magnificent full-floor
penthouse and a three-storey spa, courtesy of one of our
all-time favourite brands – ESPA. Opulence oozes out of

turkish
every nook with embossed bronze floors forming a
backdrop for an amazing array of ESPA-dreamy
treatments. We love the VIP couples suite with its
relaxation bed literally suspended from the ceiling.

Schrager does like name-dropping when it comes to his

delight
restaurants and here we find the Cipriani (of 1930s Venice-
fame). The Gold Bar is also filled with smart-looking guests,
luxuriating in its cosy interior embellished with gold chain-
link curtains and a luminescent 20-foot aquarium; while
entrepreneur Flavio Briatore’s (aptly-named) Billionaire
nightclub buzzes until the early hours. Thirty seven years
on from Studio 54, Schrager has not lost his touch for
creating trendsetting spaces that are dressed to impress.
Like the city it’s in, The Istanbul EDITION is hip, hot
For further information visit and happening. And for ultimate relaxation, head to
edition-hotels.marriott.com the intimate Palmalife Bodrum Resort & Spa

almalife has been operating in Turkey since 2009 physical activity, stress management and good sleeping,

P and is renowned for its health and wellbeing

credentials. The Palmalife Bodrum Resort & Spa
is a lovely laidback getaway, located on a private
250-metre sandy beach in the beautiful bay of Yalikavak,
near Gökçebel. Just 40 smart contemporary rooms are
set in lush seaside gardens, creating an intimate hotel
that is perfect for escaping the hustle and bustle of every
day life. There’s a wonderful relaxed ambience that sets
the scene for its fantastic spa and wellness facilities.
Many guests come to detox, lose weight and kick-start
a healthy lifestyle. There is an excellent fitness
centre with pilates, kinesis, yoga and
power plate, but it is the
Yasasin Hayat! Institute that
health-seeking guests swear
by. Focusing on achieving a
better quality of life through
healthy eating, regular
experienced dieticians and nutritionists as well as skilled
ESPA therapists and personal trainers are all on hand to
educate and motivate. The programme includes a detox,
exercise regime, and education on eating habits as well
as spa treatments. Guests leave relaxed, rejuvenated and
with a real positive outlook.
For those who just want to sit back relax and enjoy life
on the Turkish coast, there’s an excellent water sports
scene, great Mediterranean food at Sunset restaurant
and traditional Turkish fare at the snack bar. What’s
more, the beach is the only white sand beach in Bodrum,
perfect for kids. The more active can enjoy tennis,
volleyball and football, and for explorers, a cruise on
the five-bedroom Palmalife boat is a must.
For more information visit palmaliferesort.com

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 Turkey
WorldMags.net
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
THIS IMAGE:
GULET CRUISE
ON THE LYCIAN Capital: Ankara
COAST Time: GMT +2 hours
Language: Turkish, with
writing in the Roman alphabet.
English is widely spoken in
Istanbul and on the Aegean,
Mediterranean and Black Sea
coasts, less so elsewhere.
Religion: Most Turks are
Sunni Muslim. Attitudes
are generally relaxed but
visitors should remove shoes
and cover bare skin when
visiting mosques. Despite
Turkey producing increasingly
impressive wines, alcohol is
highly taxed, prohibited within
100 metres of a mosque and
cannot be purchased after
10pm except in a bar or
restaurant. Be aware of the
greater cultural differences
prevailing in eastern and
south-eastern Turkey and
steer clear of border areas
adjacent to Syria, Iraq
and Iran.
Climate: Turkey has a
continental climate, which
means it can get very hot in
the summer months (almost
stifling in Ankara and other
places in central Anatolia)
and cold and quite wet in
the winter months. Istanbul
gets most of its rain between
January-March. The best
months to visit, and when
crowds are fewer, are May-
July and September-October.
Getting there: Direct
scheduled and charter flights
operate from a wide range
of UK airports to Istanbul,
Izmir, Dalaman, Antalya
and Bodrum.
Currency: New Turkish
Lira, currently around
TL3.6/£, or TL2.25/$.
DIRECTORY
WorldMags.net
The currency has depreciated
around 20 percent since May
2013, making the country a
bargain for visitors from the
UK, US and Eurozone.
Entry Visas: Visas can still
be purchased at entry points
into Turkey but only until the
end of 2014, when they can
only be purchased online and
in advance at e-visa.gov.tr. Cost
per visa for UK nationals is £10.
Tourism Organisations:
A wide range of specialist
travel agents offer packages to
Turkey, with everything from
sun and sand to exploring
remote eastern and south-
eastern Turkey catered for.
Details of what’s on offer
can be found at the Turkish
Culture and Information
Office gototurkey.co.uk .
Agents include:
QGreen Island Holidays
greenislandholidays.com
QElixir Holidays
elixirholidays.com
QAnatolian Sky
anatoliansky.co.uk
Essential Reading:
Visitors should ensure
they have Orhan Pamuk’s
Istanbul: Memories of a
City , a moving and readable
account of the city which
puts it into proper historic
and cultural perspective.
Orhan Pamuk’s Snow – set in
and around contemporary
Kars in eastern Turkey –
and My Name is Red (set in
the mid-Ottoman era) are
worthwhile but challenging.
To understand modern
Turkey’s evolution, see
Andrew Mango’s masterly
account of its founder,
Ataturk .
W
W
W WorldMags.net
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 W
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These elegant
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WorldMags.net
 WorldMags.net
Dream Destinations
EUROPE-UK
Dream Destinations
NORTH AMERICA
La Sablonnerie Hotel is located on the lovely
island of Sark, Channel Islands. It has a strong
international clientele who return-year-after-
year to recapture the beauty of the island and
to enjoy the excellent cuisine, wine, and
friendliness for which the hotel has an enviable
reputation. Guests gather in the bar before a
roaring log fire for a cocktail or a glass of
champagne before dining, and later take a
moonlit walk or simply gaze at star-studded
skies. Featured by the Which hotel guide as
‘The place to stay in the Channel Islands’, the
hotel also received Condé Nast Johansen –
‘Small Hotel of the Year’ Award and was
nominated as their “Most Romantic Hotel”.
Also the “Hotel of the Year” Award from Les
Routier. Visit www.sablonneriesark.com or call
01481 832061.
THE BULL HOTEL. Easy-going and
bursting with life this 16th century
coaching inn oozes eclectic style and
contemporary rustic charm with two
award-winning restaurants, cider house
and cocktail bar in the heart of Bridport
near the Jurassic Coast in West Dorset.
Call 01308 422878 or visit
thebullhotel.co.uk
Deelin Mor Lodge is a secluded retreat in
the midst of the Burren, one of Ireland’s
most unique areas of outstanding natural
beauty. This design led family home, built in
the style of an Irish Georgian hunting lodge,
accommodates up to 10 people and is
perfect for holidays, special occasions or a
weekend break. www.deelinmor.com
Tel: +353 65 708 9009.
Dream Destinations
EUROPE
BOUTIQUE BEYEVI HOTEL in ALACATI,
TURKEY. Nestled in the Aegean’s stylish
Alacati town, the Beyevi is an oasis of a
boutique hotel lovingly restored from old
village houses. Matching the town’s allure of
vintage and contemporary style, it is the
ideal hideaway for relaxation with a beautiful
pool, gourmet cuisine and 15 stunning
rooms. E: info@beyevi.com.tr T: +90 533
602 1600, www.beyevi.com.tr
CASA MONTANI is a luxury guesthouse in
the heart of Rome, overlooking the
prestigious Porta del Popolo. Its five rooms
and exclusive new apartment are beautifully
furnished with the best Italian and French
brands. The atmosphere is very personal
with breakfast served in your room – the
perfect haven to stay in while you explore
the city. www.casamontani.com Tel: +39
063 260 0421.
HERITAGE LISBON HOTELS
Live the Portuguese Charm and Tradition
in the Historic Centre of Lisbon. Stay in
one of the 5 Heritage Lisbon Hotels
Collection – As Janelas Verdes, Heritage
Avenida Liberdade Hotel, Hotel Britania,
Hotel Lisboa Plaza and Solar Do Castelo
Tel: +351 213 218 200
heritage.hotels@heritage.pt
www.heritage.pt
PONGWE
BEACH HOTEL
Zanzibar
WWW.PONGWE.COM
Honeymoon
in Paradise The UK’s most comprehensive
dedicated website all about
the Galapagos Islands
WorldMags.net
www.cruisethegalapagos.co.uk
Tel: 01473 890499
ZURICH
HOTEL RESTAURANT HELVETIA
The boutique hotel Helvetia with its 16
individually furnished rooms is a real jewel
among the city’s hotels. The family-run
and individual hotel and restaurant offer a
home from home to business travellers,
city explorers and Zurich lovers alike.
Phone: 0041 (0)44 297 99 98
Web: www.hotel-helvetia.ch
QUALITY VILLAS in France, Italy and
Morocco.
Luxury holiday villas with pools on the
Cote d’Azur, St Tropez, Provence, Biarritz,
Tuscany, Umbria, Marrakech, Agadir and
more. Our portfolio of villas are visited
personally by us, meaning we can offer
AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN
specialist advice down to the smallest
detail. Services including chef, transfers
and maid service are easily arranged.
Tel 01442 870055 or visit
www.qualityvillas.com ABTA & Fully
Bonded.
CASA LA CONCHA, a beautiful finca
situated in the stunning Marbella
countryside just minutes from Puerto
Banus. An Old Andalusian residence, it
has been exquisitely renovated into a large
main house and 5 luxury cottages. Relax
in the living room with a drink, enjoy a
good book from their library or go explore
the hidden treasures of Marbella. Visit
www.casalaconcha.com or call +34 646
520 883.
Borgo Pignano is a private estate
extending over 750 acres set in the rolling
hills of the Tuscan countryside. The villa
and two smaller stone farmhouses are
part of the 18th century converted luxury
hotel comprising of seventeen elegantly
furnished rooms. With 350 acres of
organically farmed land and two organic
vegetable gardens the kitchens prepare
locally sourced, fresh Tuscan delicacies.
Rooms can be booked for individual stays
or the Villa and farmhouses can be
booked exclusively making it the ideal
venue for private celebrations, retreats,
classes, holidays, and conferences.
www.borgopignano.it, +39 058 835 032.
AUSTRALASIA & OCEANIA
istanbul!place apartments ‘Best City
Apartment’ winners at i-escape. Stylish,
characterful, self-catering period
properties in Galata, the heart of Istanbul.
Stay close to the ancient sights yet be
part of the contemporary, authentic local
community: live like a local. Perfect for
gatherings of families and friends.
www.istanbulplace.com or 07729 251676.
HOTEL CLAUDE MARBELLA is a
luxurious boutique hotel, set inside a
meticulously restored 17th-century
townhouse. Perfectly placed in the heart of
Marbella’s Old Town. Experience this
former artists club with its 7 uniquely
styled rooms, restaurant, patios and roof
terraces. www.hotelclaudemarbella.com
Email: info@hotelclaudemarbella.com
Tel.: +34 952 900 840.
The Baker House 1650’s luxurious and
relaxing environment makes it the ideal
home away from home in East Hampton,
New York. On offer is a range of amenities
including breakfast daily, local beach
access, spa treatments, and concierge
services to cater to every guest’s needs.
T: 631.324.4081 or email
info@bakerhouse1650.com.
Dream Destinations
HOT
LIST
THE 60 BEST
NEW HOTELS
IN THE WORLD
THE ZANZIBAR COLLECTION
Exotic, Luxurious, Zanzibar!
The Zanzibar Collection is a privately
owned collection of beautiful boutique
hotels inspired by the magic of Zanzibar,
lying on one of the Top 30 Island beaches
in the world. Offering a range of water
sports, stunning spas and East Africa’s
only National Geographic affiliated PADI 5
star Dive Centre. Baraza Resort and Spa
was chosen as one of the World’s 60
Best New Hotels on the Conde Nast
Hotlist. www.thezanzibarcollection.com
WINCHESTER MANSIONS is an iconic
building on the seafront in Cape Town
within close proximity to the V&A
Waterfront and Cape Town International
Airport. This landmark hotel offers
classically elegant rooms boasting sea or
mountain views. Facilities include a pool,
Ginkgo Spa, signature dishes from
Harveys restaurant and full service
conferencing.
Tel: +27 (0)21 434 2351
Fax: +27 (0)21 434 0215
Email: traveller@winchester.co.za
Web: www.winchester.co.za
Now from only £99 per room B&B
Dream Destinations
THE HUKA RETREATS
www.hukaretreats.com
Three sister properties in South Africa, Fiji
and New Zealand – chic and understated
statements of exclusivity and seclusion, all
offering an exceptional hospitality experience
to the world’s most discerning travellers.
GRANDE PROVENCE ESTATE, South
Africa, is located within a one-hour drive
from Cape Town. This 300-year old heritage
estate offers award-winning wines, cuisine
and art gallery with superb accommodation
at The Owner’s Cottage and La Provençale.
T +27 (0)21 876 8600
E reservations@grandeprovence.co.za
DOLPHIN ISLAND, Fiji offers 14-acres of
Pacific private island beauty, romance and
luxury ‘castaway’ time for a max. of 8
guests, on an exclusive-use basis.
HUKA LODGE, New Zealand, is famed for
its natural beauty, legendary hospitality and
absolute style since the 1920’s. With just
25 rooms within 17-acres of manicured
grounds.
Contact: T +64 7 378 5791
E reservations@hukalodge.co.nz
for both Huka Lodge & Dolphin Island
reservations.


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> ää£ nnn Óx£ änx vÀ Ài vÀ>Ì°

 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

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On The Move...
To Greece

Find your perfect villa

rental in Greece
To advertise within On The Move... please call 020 7499 9080 ext 3705

Quote ‘CNAST’ for £100 discount

www.thetopvillas.com/cn
www.lesante.gr info@lesante.gr
+30 269 504 1330
Call us on 0800 43 34567

ST NICOLAS BAY RESORT HOTEL AND VILLAS,

CRETE, GREECE.
This elegant resort provides a wealth of romantic settings
for wedding couples with many venues to choose for the
most important day of your life, whether you want a unique
wedding ceremony or an extra-special honeymoon.
For information, visit
www.stnicolasbay.gr call +30 28410 90200 or email
WorldMags.net stnicolas@otenet.gr for enquiries.
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

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On The Move...
To Greece

Anemomilos Apartments
Dimitris and Cornelia Patelis
840 11 Folegandros – Cyclades
Tel.: +30 22860 41309, Fax: +30 22860 41407
www.AnemomilosApartments.com info@anemomilosapartments.com

FINEST GREEK VILLA RENTALS

AND YACHT CHARTERS
ileana@fivestargreece.com
www.fivestargreece.com WorldMags.net
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

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On The Move...
To a Hot New Destination
El Secreto Resort
To advertise within On The Move... please call 020 7499 9080 ext 3705

El Secreto resort, located in Ambergris Caye, Belize offers an intimate, barefoot luxury experience surrounded
by the crystal blue waters of the caribbean and a lush tropical landscape, a true and authentic paradise...
El Secreto nestles 13 exclusive individual thatched roof villas with a smart combination of contemporary and
traditional elements. Fine Belizean tropical woods, marble finished bathrooms with a tandem bathtub,
outdoor private jacuzzi and shower patio. All the villas are equipped with a King size bed, a state of the art
led lighting system, air conditioning, ipod dock station, LCD TV, mini bar, safe, Melita coffee maker, 400
thread egyptian cotton Vivenda linens and Malin & Goetz amenities.
You can experience a variety of activities for couples to enjoy together-from private dinners and couples'
massages, complimentary watersports and bicycles to adventurous excursions - all designed to create
lasting memories for a lifetime.

Tel: +501 236 51 11 +501 670 51 11 Toll Free: 1 800 479 5037
info@elsecretobelize.com
11 miles North of San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize.

This Tahiti hotel in TAHAA is located in a paradise-like setting on the Motu

Tu Vahine, a private little island of 23 acres, in the middle of the lagoon of
Tahaa. The Vahine Island, Private Island Resort has everything to make
your stay in paradise an unforgettable one.
www.vahine-island.com Phone : (689) 65 67 38

Château Les Carrasses

Dominican Republic Luxury Hotel is a 19th Century wine domain in the
Located on the exotic north coast of the Dominican Republic and directly on the Languedoc, South of France. Converted
crystal water, Casa Colonial Beach & Spa is the ultimate, world-class resort. into stylish suites, houses and
apartments it offers the best of a self-
www.casacolonialhotel.com catering villa holiday with top class
00 1 866 376 7831 / 00 1 809 320 3232 facilities such as a heated 20m infinity
pool, clay tennis court, restaurant and
bar and panoramic dining terraces.
WorldMags.net Web: www.lescarrasses.com
Tel: +33 664 35 83 61
Bel Horizon Seychelles
Affordable beachfront self-catering holiday
duplex at Glacis set in a beautiful tropical
garden leading directly to a secluded beach.
Suitable for couples, business travellers and
families. Your home away from home.
www.BelhorizonSeychelles.com or email
BelhorizonSeychelles@gmail.com
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

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On The Move...
To a Villa Retreat

01242 787800
redsavannah.com OU TSTA NDING V ILL A S

Some of the finest villa

rentals in Tuscany
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

by Tuscany Now

#1 rated hotel in British Virgin Islands 2011, 2012, 2013

(TripAdvisor™)
9 private stand alone cottages set on a dramatic point
overlooking the Caribbean Sea with Honeymoon Packages
starting from 1.500 GBP including car rental,
couples massage, and sailing adventure.
www.frenchmansbvi.com +44 207 684 8884
Phone: +1 284 494 8811 WorldMags.net tuscanynow.com
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

WorldMags.net
On The Move... On The Move...
To a Villa To Africa and the
Retreat Indian Ocean

01242 787800
redsavannah.com INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS
To advertise within On The Move... please call 020 7499 9080 ext 3705

TUSCANY
MONTE ARGENTARIO
Luxury Villa Rentals Property Sales
For further information, please call 020 8246 6123
www.isolarossa.co.uk

Island Cottage
Holidays Info@PureSafari.com
Info@PureSafari.com UK: 01227 753181
UK:

Isle of Wight & Dorset Agent@PureSafari.com

Agent@PureSafari.com USA: (646) 513-4227
USA:

This stunning manor house in the South of France

near historic Pezenas is perfect for two families
with 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Huge walled
garden with ancient pine trees for shade, indoor
and outdoor dining, courtyard pool, beautiful Holiday cottages in beautiful rural
room proportions and original features yet with & coastal locations
modern bathrooms, air conditioning and WiFi.
www.secret-south-france.com
00 33 664 35 83 61

Montenegro Villa
Montenegro Historic Quayside Villa to let in
Rose, Lustica Peninsula, Bay of Kotor.

Sea pool, private terrace, sleeps 10+.

Air conditioned. Beautiful village with

3 restaurants.

Stunning views and crystal clear sea.

Dubrovnik airport 1 hour by land and

water taxi.

Full details:
www.PureSafari.com
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/montenegro/MN383.htm
WorldMags.net
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

WorldMags.net
On The Move...
Handpicked Properties
with Private Pools Mansion Baliwood
A selection of beautiful individual
villas & houses with pools in
tranquil settings & areas of
traditional local culture.
*5((&(63$,1
 /$1=$527(
%$/($5,&63  2578*$/)5$1&(
,7$/<&52$7,$

Now in our 23rd year

Call for a brochure or to speak to one of our specialists

2787
01954 261431
or visit our website
www.vintagetravel.co.uk V5643

L’Albiousse; 18th century elegance

and 21st century luxury in the centre
of the historical market town of Uzès.
Explore Unesco world heritage sites,
take off in a hot air balloon, go
kayaking or simply relax at a café
terrace before retreating to your
luxuriously appointed bedroom or
terrace suite with it’s own private
terrace.
Email Address: info@themansionbali.com
Call Us: +62 361 972 616
Condé Nast Traveller exclusive offer. Book before 31st May 2014 and get Fax us: +62 361 972 632
15% off Best Available Rate – code “CNTraveller”.
Visit our Website: www.themansionbali.com
www.albiousse.com or call 0033 4 66 59 15 74.

WorldMags.net
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FEATURE

WorldMags.net
On The Move...
On The Move...
To Spain

dŚĞ^ƉĞĐŝĂůŝƐƚdĂŝůŽƌDĂĚĞ,ŽůŝĚĂLJƐƐŝŶĐĞϭဓϳဓ


To advertise within On The Move... please call 020 7499 9080 ext 3705

SON MAS is located in a serene rural area, just

inland from the coast. The hotel inhabits
original 17th-century structures that belonged
to a Mallorca posesio (farm), and the buildings
have been lovingly restored and equipped with
every creature comfort. Daily, 5* holidays including Heathrow flight
The 16 rooms are all junior suites, with Cairo, city break from £495,
approximately 50m2 (165 sq. ft) of space,
including a large and well-equipped bathroom Cairo & Nile cruise Luxor– Aswan from £795
and terrace. The outdoor pool (26 x 66 ft.) is Cairo, Nile cruise & Sharm El Sheikh from £1190
located in a quiet and sunny spot just removed
from the hotel, ideal for relaxation and privacy.
Ctra. Porto Cristo – Porto Colom (Camí de Son Mas), 07680 Porto
Cristo, Mallorca, Illes Balears. Call (+34) 971 55 87 55, visit
www.sonmas.com or email hotel@sonmas.com
Hotel Duquesa De Cardona
Delightfully contemporary palace
hotel of the19th century, superbly
located in front of the port and just a
3 minute walk to Ramblas and the
historic centre.
Breath-taking views towards the
harbour from the cocktail-terrace
and roof top pool. A romantic
urban retreat.
For more information visit
www.hduquesadecardona.com
or call +34 932 689 090
Marbella
Private Luxury
Guaranteed Sighting
Mediterranean Villa Villa in Marbella, Spain.
– Sleeps 12 people Rent per week: Euro 3,000.
www.privatevillaspollensa.com
ref VP90
WorldMags.net
For more information, please email
Palm.Marbella@gmail.com
To travel in style call 020 7258 7800 or visit www.goaway.co.uk
ƐŽůŝŵĂŶƚƌĂǀĞůĐŽŵ A3781
020 7370 6446
Condé Nast Traveller reminds you to ensure that when
booking a package holiday to check that the travel
Affordable
company has arranged a bond, in order to provide
financial security through a trade association luxury
(eg ABTA), insurance, or a trust account. Spain Mallorca Portugal
Capri
Tailor-made holidays to
Italy
a delectable collection
Switzerland Germany
Travel of hotels across nine
France
destinations by air, sea,
SOUTH AMERICA rail or accommodation only.
Madeira
Visit our website for
fantastic special offers
CHILE TOURS and inspirational ideas
Tailor-made holidays in Chile,
Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia
Tel: 020 7730 5959 www.chiletours.org
Email: London.chiletours@btinternet.com
INDIA
Romance with the Taj
Bespoke tours on India, Burma, Vietnam and China.
GOA/KERALA 14 nights from £897 inc flights.
Quote Condé Nast for further information!
 WorldMags.net
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ROOM WITH A VIEW
WorldMags.net

WHERE ARE WE? MIAMI, FLORIDA

TAKEN FROM ROOM 2708 AT THE SETAI
There may be all sorts of frisky newcomers muscling onto the Miami hotel scene right now, with the
WHY WE LOVE IT COMO and the Redbury opened at the beginning of the year, Tommy Hilfiger taking over the reins
at The Raleigh, plus Ian Schrager’s Edition and the Faena both on the autumn horizon. But it’s The Setai that we keep coming back to.
PHOTOGRAPH: MARTIN MORRELL

The Art Deco building and adjoining glass tower, polished and flawless thanks to last year’s facelift, are more Shanghai than South Beach,
with teak floors, bronze statues, buttery leather bar stools, carefully curated jade trinkets, and doorways blessed by Buddhist monks. The
Zen-like rooms have sweeping views, gigantic beds, monsoon showers and black-granite baths – all scented with Roja Dove’s orange and
neroli. There’s a private stretch of beach just for guests, but really the thing to do is hang out poolside in the shade of those perfectly
lined-up palms. Loll on the daybeds, tuck into swordfish ceviche and order the first of many Passion Martinis with chilli-infused vodka.

INSIDE TIP The stunning spa, as you’d expect, continues the Asian vibe. The Oriental Ritual includes an aromatherapy
foot polish and a 60-minute Balinese massage (the best hour you’ll spend in town). ARABELLA DUPONT
2001 Collins Avenue, Miami (+1 305 520 6000; www.thesetaihotel.com). Doubles from about £460

172 Condé Nast Traveller June 2014

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WIN A WEEK AT ONE OF THAILAND’S TOP HEALTH RETREATS
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THE BEST SPAS

IN THE WORLD 2014
YOGA IN INDIA
ANTI-AGEING IN THE ALPS
DETOXING IN OMAN
WEIGHT LOSS IN FRANCE
GETTING FIT IN THE USA
+ THE MAYR CLINICS ASSESSED

THE SPA GUIDE

in association with
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Cuvée Rosé.
The Ultimate.
photographe Iris Velghe

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THE SPA GUIDE
W hen did you last go dancing? Or watch the sun rise? Or feel free and light and easy and energised? Most of us
are juggling more than ever before. An alarming and growing number of us are tired, if not exhausted, for much of the
time. The lines on your face, that sore back, those tension headaches, that annoying bit of flab around your bottom, those
bitten fingernails, that end-of-day desire for a glass of wine or sneaky cigarette, even those recurrent 2am wakings – all are
telling you that recharging your battery is fundamental to your health. And spas are about just that: learning to look after
yourself. They are not just a flight of fancy, or an expensive over-indulgence (which is why, along with our pick of the top
new-to-the scene players, we’ve also included some good-value options). The spas in this guide are about taking stock,
rebooting, rebuilding. Some are the ultimate in tuning out, others are truly educational, even life-changing. And we are
supported by the outstanding knowledge of the most esteemed spa tour operator out there, Healing Holidays, which
offers not only bespoke, personalised and – most importantly – impartial advice on where would truly suit you, but also
the best deals on the best programmes, which you won’t find anywhere else. Perhaps in no other area of travel is the
wisdom of a tour operator so crucial. You shouldn’t starve and over-exercise if really what your body needs is rest and
recuperation. Healing Holidays knows its properties, and it is masterful at gently matching you to the right spa in the
right part of the world on a journey that won’t wipe you out or leave you wondering if it was worth the money. There’s no
time to make mistakes when it comes to your health. This is the new Condé Nast Traveller Spa Guide. Our reviews are
the most honest, detailed and authoritative you will find; a good massage isn’t nearly good enough for us.

DAISY FINER, SPA GUIDE EDITOR

THIS YEAR’S WINNERS

B E S T N E W D E S T I N AT I O N S PA VA N A , INDIA

M O S T E F F E C T I V E R E B O OT S I X S E N S E S Z I G H Y B AY, OMAN

B E S T VA LU E F O R W E I G H T LO S S A B S O LU T E S A N C T UA RY, THAIL AND

M O S T S O U L F U L S PA S O N G S A A , CAMBODIA

B E S T H E A LT H Y H I D E AWAY VA M I Z I I S L A N D , MOZAMBIQUE

M O S T AVA N T - GA R D E C L I N I C LO N H E A , SWITZERL AND

MOST CONSISTENT HIGH PERFORMER I N : S PA

ON THE COVER: CHEVAL BLANC SPA, CHEVAL BLANC RANDHELI, MALDIVES PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARY ROZZI STYLED BY FIONA LINTOTT HAIR
AND MAKE-UP: RUTH WARRIOR USING GUERLAIN TERRACOTTA BRONZING MIST MODEL: AMBER ANDERSON BIKINI: LISA MARIE FERNANDEZ

EDITOR: MELINDA STEVENS PUBLISHER: SIMON LEADSFORD MANAGING DIRECTOR: NICHOLAS COLERIDGE
Spa Guide Editor: Daisy Finer Spa Guide Deputy Editor: Issy von Simson Acting Managing Editor: Jessica Diamond Art Director: Pete Winterbottom
Director of Photography: Caroline Metcalfe Deputy Art Director: Paula Ellis Art Editor: Jon-Paul Pezzolo Picture Editor: Karin Mueller
Chief Sub-Editor: Rick Jordan Senior Sub-Editor: Gráinne McBride Sub-Editor: Davydd Chong
Associate Publisher: Juliette Ottley Advertisement Director: Erica Wong Projects Manager: Justine Board Senior Account Manager: Amy Cole
Promotions Director: Victoria Higgins Promotions Creative Director: Lee Osborne Promotions Co-Ordinator: Celia Thursfield

CONTRIBUTORS
CONNIE ALFREY, LYDIA BELL, HANNAH BETTS, ABI BUTCHER, CHRIS CALDICOTT, CATHERINE CHICHESTER, HARRIET CHUBB, ONDINE COHANE, BRITT
COLLINS, HARRIET COMPSTON, AMANDA CROSS, OLIVIA FALCON, KAYLA JACOBS, FIONA LINTOTT, SALLY LOVETT, GRAINNE MCBRIDE, GABRIEL O’RORKE,
ANNA PASTERNAK, HELEN PICKLES, ADRIAANE PIELOU, EMINE ALI RUSHTON, EMMA STRENNER, CAROLINE SYLGER JONES, CATHERINE TURNER

Copyright © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd, Vogue House, 1 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JU. Printed in the UK by The Artisan Press Ltd. Colour origination by CLX
Europe Media Solution Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. The title Condé Nast Traveller is
registered at US Patent Office and in Great Britain as a trademark. All prices correct at time of going to press but subject to change. The Mail Order Protection
Scheme does not cover items featured editorially. Not to be sold separately from Condé Nast Traveller
HOTEL PRICES ARE LOW-SEASON RATES. INFORMATION IS CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. FACILITIES AND SERVICES DESCRIBED, AND PRICES QUOTED, MAY HAVE CHANGED BY
THE TIME OF PUBLICATION. PRICE DISCLAIMER: UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED ALL TOUR OPERATOR PACKAGE PRICES ARE PER PERSON, BASED ON TWO PEOPLE SHARING

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BIG HITTERS
The results-driven retreats that pack a real punch

4 Spa Guide June 2014

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BEST NEW
DESTINATION
NEW VA N A SPA
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
IN BRIEF Holistic therapies meet high design
THE LOWDOWN For a land you might reasonably expect to be their
spiritual home, India has always been strangely lacking in wellness retreats.
In January, that changed with the opening of Vana, the country’s most
exciting new spa in years. Vana thrills like nowhere else, delivering all
the know-how, style and authenticity that health junkies have long
sought. It’s a five-star home for proper Ayurveda and traditional Chinese
medicine, almost 100 per cent organic, with spot-on diagnoses and one
dreamy, four-handed massage after another. Top doctors and therapists
work in sustainable buildings crafted out of stone, wood and bamboo.
There are 50 treatment and consultation rooms, three yoga studios and
a pavilion, indoor and outdoor pools, a gym, a ritual spa for longer
treatments, a private Watsu pool and even a Tibetan healing centre. 
G R A N D R E S O R T B A D R AGA Z
Sufi hymns and Buddhist chants were sung at the opening. Vana is the ST GALLEN, SWITZERL AND
vision of Veer Singh, a 31-year-old Harrovian who is one of India’s most
IN BRIEF Slick, effective and clinically precise
eligible bachelors and heir to the Indian equivalent of BUPA. The retreat,
THE LOWDOWN If you’re considering cosmetic surgery, need
on the Malsi Estate near Dehradun in Uttarakhand, is the first stage in
rehabilitative care following a sports injury or hospital procedure, 
Singh’s plans for a global brand focusing on emotional, physical, spiritual
or have been dissatisfied with treatment of a specific health issue,
and mental therapy. Guests will certainly need a dose of all those after
this is the place for you. It will help, too, if you’re not averse to
being rattled along rural roads for an hour; remote northern India is not
elaborate spa treatments in lavish surroundings, and dressing for
the easiest place to reach. Still, on arrival they will find themselves
meals cooked by a Michelin-awarded chef. Switzerland is home to
welcomed into a sanctuary. Built according to the ancient rules of Vaastu
some of the finest medi-spas in the world, and the Grand Resort
Shastra (Ayurveda’s answer to feng shui) the estate is the work of Spanish
Bad Ragaz is arguably the best of the lot. Impeccably run, it has
architects Esteva i Esteva, whom Singh met while spending a year working
a pristine medical centre with its own operating theatres. The
on a farm in Mallorca in preparation for setting up Vana’s kitchen gardens.
latest star to join the staff, Professor Hermann F Sailer, is a pioneer
Its 90 rooms are light-filled, with large balconies and comfortable beds:
of the ‘reverse’ facelift, a procedure carried out within the oral
the duvets and pillows are filled with goose down and the organic linen
cavity, leaving no telltale scars. He has also developed a snore-
is sourced from southern India. Off the huge atrium of the main building
stopping operation involving lower-jaw rotation, which might be
lies the restaurant, a boutique selling exquisite, hand-embroidered
furiously expensive but could save your sanity. There are sleep
Abraham & Thakore silk kaftans (an unexpected bargain at about £85)
clinics, burn-out prevention packages and anti-ageing programmes:
and a flight of cleverly lit stairs leading to the serene medical and
everything from Botox and fillers to acid peels and laser therapy,
treatment centre. Even the receptionists’ laptops have wooden cases to
overseen by Dr Claudia Steiner. The centre also specialises in broken
ensure they blend in with the otherwise empty desk. ‘With us, treatment
veins, skin discolouration, analysis of moles and skin-cancer care,
does not start with a pill,’ says Dr Avilochan Singh, who carries out a
with patients flocking here from all over the world. The enormous
detailed consultation before prescribing a daily schedule. This holistic
spa is staffed by talented therapists who are more than a match
approach is echoed by other members of the team. ‘Be happy and make
for their impressive surroundings; try massages and facials by big
those around you happy – that is the secret of health!’ says Dr Jitendra
brands such as La Prairie, Sisley and Carita. There are 267
Uniyal, an acupuncturist and specialist in traditional Chinese medicine,
immaculate, high-ceilinged, antique-filled bedrooms spread across
as he adroitly slides needles into your scalp. ‘The Chinese used to
two Grand Hotels – the Quellenhof and the Hof Ragaz – but make
keep their traditional medicine a secret. Now the secret is out and we
sure you stay in the new wing of spa suites, which have their own
all know everything!’ Especially here, it seems. A nutritionist will explain
steam rooms and saunas, and loos so hi-tech they come equipped
chronobiotics and the best plants to eat at certain times of the day:
with a remote control. Mini bars are stocked with healthy snacks,
foods that grow on trees in the morning, on the ground at midday and
and guests are provided with a small rucksack and hiking map –
underground in the evening. In the spa rooms, which are high-ceilinged,
exploring the surrounding countryside should be high on the agenda.
bamboo-floored and empty except for the bed, sweet and plump-palmed
All this lavishness stands on Lake Constance, an hour by train from
therapists administer massages that leave you tottering and incoherent.
Zürich. The village of Bad Ragaz has been a health resort since
The treatments, which surpass expectation, are a reminder of how
the 1840s, and now the entire spa complex is plumbed into the
intrinsic holistic wellness is to Indian culture. The main restaurant serves
thermal water, so it’s used for everything from swimming in the main
delightful soups, smoothies and snippets of vegetarian deliciousness,
pool (one of 10) to brushing teeth. Food-wise, you can stick to a
and then there’s the dedicated and airy Ayurvedic restaurant, which
fully controlled spa diet or choose from wonderful, local organic
allows guests on the Panchakarma detox (unbeatable for weight loss)
salads and antipasti, including herrings soaked in olive oil and thyme,
to eat their micro-meals in peace. Vana is not a place you dip into for a
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CALDICOTT

marinated artichokes in parsley and garlic, shredded beetroot

weekend. It’s about total immersion and turning around your lifestyle in
in lemon juice, and plum-sized olives on a bed of mixed leaves.
the purest yet most polished of surroundings.
For efficiency and effectiveness, look no further.
INSIDER TIP Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to get there in a day, stop
INSIDER TIP You can safely recommend this place to your richest,
off overnight in New Delhi. Stay at The Leela Palace with its exquisite spa,
most demanding acquaintances, whatever their age or health issues.
before the short onward flight to Dehradun in the morning.
Young stars of the Swiss Olympics squad work with the medical team. 
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healing
co.uk/condenast) offers an eight-night Involved Wellness programme
holidays.co.uk/condenast) offers four nights from £6,120 full
from £2,169 full board, including flights, transfers, a wellness consultation
board, including flights, transfers, medical consultation and
and daily treatments.
anti-ageing treatment.

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GA I A R E T R E AT & S PA
BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA
IN BRIEF Gorgeous hippy hangout for a lifestyle rethink
THE LOWDOWN While many of those who flock to Byron Bay are
after plain old good times, a large number come seeking solutions to the
questions and anxieties of modern life. Reiki masters, astrologists,
reflexologists, spiritual healers and witches are a dime a dozen, and
downtown is full of juice bars and raw-food outlets. However rich the
Bay gets (and this is some of the most expensive real estate in Australia),
it’s still ‘out there’. Gaia was launched by Olivia Newton-John and her
interior-designer buddy Gregg Cave in 2005. The pair came across the
down-at-heel Bangalow Palms Health Farm while looking for
a farmhouse for Cave to buy, and decided to convert the semi-derelict
resort into a temple to wholesome food and holistic therapies. It’s hard
to describe just how idyllic the spot is, with its
emerald-green rolling hills and valleys unfolding
in a tableau of Cotwolds-style prettiness, bathed in
the warmth of the Australian sun. The spa ethos
leans resolutely towards treatments that tend the
spirit as well as the body, hence psychic readings,
astrology and counselling join iridology and
craniosacral balancing therapies. Daily activities
are also thrown in, from sound healing to yoga
and t’ai chi. Danielle Davies, a former model with
a second string of expertise in Australian native
birds and wildlife, leads a yogic team focusing on
hatha with elements of Iyengar and ashtanga, with
90 minutes of monitored practice kicking off the
day, often preceded by a warm-up of qigong. The
usual massages, facials and beauty and body treats
are available, too. Most ludicrously overindulgent
is the Gaia Goddess (or Gaia Man) which involves
four-and-a-half hours of pampering (body polish,
T H E FA R M AT S A N B E N I TO
LIPA, PHILIPPINES
IN BRIEF Far-flung and fabulous tropical medi-spa
THE LOWDOWN Opened in 2003, the Philippines’ only medical
health retreat is well worth the 14-and-a-half-hour flight. It’s set in
an unplugged jungly oasis; a place where you can make big changes
in stupendous surroundings among coconut, bamboo and guyabano
trees, with green mountains in the distance and peacocks roaming
the lawns. It’s impressively holistic, yet guests are under the care
of medically trained doctors; the director, Dr Marian Alonzo, is an
especially calming presence. Come for a general wellness holiday,
to lose weight, to detox or to beautify your skin (the skin therapy is
good for acne, eczema and psoriasis). On a more serious level, there
are retreats dedicated to diabetes management, heart health and
recovery from radio- and chemotherapy. Long-term stays are
encouraged and, unusually, you can bring your children along. Every
conceivable form of treatment is on offer, from live blood analysis to
acupuncture, ozone therapy and colonics. There’s pampering, too:
scrubs, wraps and a huge variety of massages take place at the tranquil
Healing Sanctuary, centred on a cooling pool graced by frangipani
trees. Book a Ventosa cupping session, where warmed glasses are
applied to the back, creating a vacuum that is said to help draw out
toxins; the sucking sensation when the glasses are removed is curiously
satisfying. All the therapists are exceptionally thorough – even the skin
brushing is an hour long and includes your scalp. Do circuit or interval
training, daily yoga and guided walks, or private t’ai chi with Dr Ron
in your room (the Narra Pool Villas have mini-pools and balconies
6 Spa Guide June 2014
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body mask, scalp massage, full body massage, facial, hand and foot
treatment) using locally made organic products, and is guaranteed
to send you into a blissful trance. The most ‘Byron’ is the Esoteric
Breast Massage, which focuses on restoring ‘nurturing honour’ to
the fairer sex. The food ethos at Gaia is bringing the produce of the
kitchen garden to your plate, topped up with the fruits of the region’s
orchards, plantations and farms (you can also join a weekly cooking
class). It’s not at all austerity: there’s organic wine, chicken, seafood
and desserts, the loveliest being the coconut kaffir-lime rice pudding
with mango purée and ginger praline. But there’s a lightness of touch
from the chef to keep the spring in your step. Its 22 rooms and suites,
all with private decks and some with day beds, are grouped around
a Samoan-style longhouse amid the jacaranda
trees and native bush. The gardens are dotted
with hammocks, meditation benches and Tibetan
urns, but if this sounds too sedate, the sights,
sounds and surfing of Byron are within easy
distance. For those seeking a non-judgmental
panacea to the ailments of modern living, Gaia
is a safe place to unpick what went wrong and
determine how to make it right. If it’s good
enough for Oprah (or so the rumours go) it’s
surely good enough for the rest of us.
INSIDER TIP For a slug of alternative Byron sign
up for a Kahuna massage with Kate Little, best
described as a kooky fusion of spiritual healing
and massage. You’ll feel sparkly afterwards.
BOOK IT From about £530 for a two-night
package, full board, including yoga, one
massage and group activities. +61 2 6687 1216;
www.gaiaretreat.com.au
looking over the tree tops). Spa aficionados may be disappointed at
the lack of a steam room or hot tub, and some public areas feel a little
less polished than you might want, but what makes this place stand
out is the heartfelt approach of the therapists, and of course the
setting, which is as far from clinical as you could possibly imagine.
INSIDER TIP Daily yoga takes place in a wooden pavilion facing the
lake and the mountains beyond. Mr Bee is great for beginners;
the more experienced should join a class run by Paolo.
BOOK IT Specialised seven-day healing retreats, from £2,464 full
board, including treatments and medical consultations (+63 918
884 8078; www.thefarmatsanbenito.com). Philippine Airlines
(+44 1293 596680; www.philippineairlines.com) flies five times
a week from Heathrow to Manila.
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BIG HITTERS
WorldMags.netMOST
EFFECTIVE
S I X S E N S E S Z I G H Y B AY
MUSANDAM PENINSUL A, OMAN
IN BRIEF Transforming, directional programmes in the sun
THE LOWDOWN Six Senses excels at the modern eco-luxe combo, and
you don’t have to trek all the way to Thailand to enjoy it. Just a couple of
hours’ drive from Dubai, this pocket of peace feels like a rustic, ancient
Omani village with its sandy paths, low-cushioned daybeds and palms,
figs and lime bushes dotted around. But every detail is considered,
from the thrill of the villas, private pools, outdoor showers and butlers
to buggy you about, to the super-slick boats from which you can watch
the sun set while sipping on fresh date juice, to the top-notch spa
where candles flicker and you only have to look at the therapists to know
they are going to be good, exceptional even. When it first opened in
2008, Zighy Bay received a mixed reception: it was judged too barren,
its service below par. But it is this sense of isolation, this otherworldly,
Mad Max-meets-The-Flintstones setting, that lends the resort its
unique stop-the-clock vibe. A few years on, now that it has put down
roots (there’s an immaculate organic vegetable garden, too), it’s in full
swing, with staff that are perfectly pitched and zippy. The only real
disappointment is that the low-slung, beige brick villas are built rather
close together, though miraculously you still barely see another person
even when the place is busy. The weather is hot right when you need
it to be – the best time to visit is between November and the end of
March – and nothing is nicer than fleeing the British winter and finding
yourself amid the delicious hot sands of the Omani desert, with
starry skies above you, the dramatic sandstone Al Hajar mountains
looming behind and the waters of the Gulf of Oman gently lapping
the empty beach (sunbeds are grouped together in one area,
leaving the rest of the bay clear). You can bring the family, as there’s
a playground, tennis courts and an excellent children’s club (free
for four-year-olds and above) which will introduce them to crab-
hunting, marine biology, henna-tattooing and movies on the beach,
with popcorn and more than 40 different flavours of ice cream. But
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REBOOT
the resort is also twinkly enough for couples. The Sense on the
Edge restaurant, hidden up in the mountains, sparkles at night like an
exotic palace, with exquisite food and wide-open views. For health
junkies, Zighy Bay ticks every box. Everything you can imagine is on
offer and executed with style, incredible care and superlative know-
how. You can hike or bike in the mountains, go yogic, meditate on the
rooftop or sweat over the wildly challenging, heart-pumping bootcamps
(where you exercise for eight-hour stints at a time, kayaking, swimming,
and hurling yourself across horizontal ladders). Or embark on a
proper detox programme with hardcore training, mind clearance with
mentor Steve Harvey (if you could see him every day for a whole
week, you’d be sorted) and pure, cleansing food including green juices
for breakfast, lush protein lunches and slimming soup for supper.
And then, when it’s time to flop, nibble on caramel-like fresh dates
in the comfort of the spa. Treatments are decadent but results-driven:
a vigorous Indian head massage which involves drenching the hair
in coconut oil then wrapping it in hot towels also irons out the creases
of your brain. Even the wraps and facials are beyond the norm. The
Arabian facial, for example, combines figs, almond powder, honey
and magic hands. Also available are reiki, singing bowls, cupping,
acupressure, the Bowen Technique and all manner of leftfield holistic
treats. This is one of the best and healthiest hotels in the Middle
East, a world away from the Disney-esque vibe of Dubai and with
an approach that is soulful rather than formulaic.
INSIDER TIP The hotel’s DVD selection is dire, and the movies
available through the TV system are about three years old. So bring
your own, especially if you are detoxing, as the evenings are long.
BOOK IT Villas from £407 per night. A seven-day Wellness Programme
costs £965 per person. +968 2673 5555; www.sixsenses.com.
Emirates (+44 844 800 2777; www.emirates.com) flies five times
a day from Heathrow to Dubai.
PHOTOGRAPH:DAN KULLBERG
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BIG HITTERS
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C A N YO N R A N C H
ARIZONA, USA
IN BRIEF All-singing, all-dancing American institution
THE LOWDOWN It’s 9am and people are returning from a two-hour
desert hike; others are streaming into the open-air café for breakfast
after an early yoga session, while some pile into the first of 40-plus
exercise classes. Ten hours later, a meditation session closes the
day’s programme. For an inspiring boost in a setting that captures the
allure of the Wild West, it’s hard to beat this haçienda-style spa near
the desert city of Tucson. With an emphasis on exercise and more
exercise, it’s the place to get stuck into high-energy Zumba, sweat it
out at spinning and another half-a-dozen activities a day, and
challenge yourself to have a go at something new. It doesn’t matter
how old or how fit you are. Each of the sessions is rated beginner,
intermediate or advanced, but the ethos of positivity combined with
the size of the place (it can accommodate more than 240 people
when full) means guests can safely lurk in the back row, be rubbish,
and either remain gratefully anonymous or just get an encouraging
grin. That autonomy extends to mealtimes, too. The calorie, fat and
carb content of each dish (recipes for which can be found on the
spa’s website) are listed on the menu each day, and while most meals
come in at around 350 or 400 calories, there’s the option of having
it all in one dish – the 350-calorie apple cinnamon crusted oatmeal
for breakfast – or across several, such as the 240-cal baked cod with
olives, say, plus the 110-cal black coconut rice or 140-cal banana
bread pudding with (a teaspoon of) chocolate sauce. Canyon Ranch
was set up in 1979 on the site of the famous Double U riding ranch
by an overweight businessman who smoked, drank, felt bad about
himself and realised there was nowhere anyone like him could go to
lose weight and learn how to get fit. Now in his 80s, still lean and
energetic, Mel Zuckerman is a familiar figure at the spa. ‘After you’ve
been once, you feel like family, they look after you so well,’ a whippet-
thin grief counsellor from Manhattan says intently. ‘They know I like a
5.30am game of tennis, so they’ll call the instructor to come in early.’
Gulp. With 20 per cent discounts for first-time visitors, a two-for-one
special for graduating students and intensive Life Enhancement
packages for people who want to radically change their existence
in a week, it’s an astonishing, all-encompassing proposition.
INSIDER TIP Don’t miss the equine therapy classes, where you get
the chance to have celebrated neurosurgeon Dr Allan Hamilton
(Harvard-trained, consultant to Grey’s Anatomy and author of
The Scalpel And The Soul and Zen Mind, Zen Horse) teach you the
rudiments of non-verbal communication with the aid of a particularly
patient horse. Categorise it as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healing
holidays.co.uk/condenast) offers seven nights from £4,155 full
board, including flights, transfers, activities and daily classes.
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C H I VA - S O M
HUA HIN, THAIL AND
IN BRIEF Top-of-its-game Thai legend
THE LOWDOWN Those who have enjoyed the Chiva-Som experience
often deploy the epithet ‘life-changing’; they also tend to return. A lot.
It is not unusual to come across zealots who visit a couple of times a
year, every year, just to keep its feel-good momentum ticking over.
Staff throw green juice-fuelled festivities to celebrate visitors’ 20th,
30th and even 40th Chiva anniversaries. It’s a trailblazer that many lesser
institutions have modelled themselves on (though it’s now a bit frayed
around the edges); the thinking person’s spa, if you will, though your
hosts will happily do some of the thinking for you. Chiva-Som means
‘haven of life’, which is no exaggeration if you generously gloss over the
outdated Thai-themed decor, a disappointing public beach, and a
timetable that is meticulously scheduled and utterly rigid. The food is
astonishingly good: nowhere does health taste better or more
sophisticated. Portions will readily be doubled should they feel too
constricted, and it would be difficult to feel deprived after being served
duck dumpling, rock lobster curry and the many ingenious ‘chocolate’
treats coupled with whey-protein ice cream. On arrival, guests attend a
wellness consultation to set objectives for their stay and beyond, and a
strict schedule is constructed, including daily massage. From here,
subsequent specialists may be sought out, be they physical, medical or
emotional or, typically, some super-charged combination of the three.
These practitioners are all totally on the ball and no therapeutic CV is
considered complete without a sojourn in the cathedral-scale spa.
Experts provide written advice for visitors to take away, plus suggestions
for specialists across the globe. And the treatment manual is an
encyclopaedia of surgical, cosmetic and alternative therapies, from
physiotherapy and sacred crystal healing, facials and thread lifts, live
blood analysis and a ‘deep blue cleanse’, to colonic hydrotherapy and
remedies for ‘iPhone finger’, plus everything in between. Add a huge
array of daily fitness classes, including yoga, aqua aerobics, t’ai chi and
gyrokinesis (a yoga/dance fusion) and you have a programme so
complex it rivals that of the UN Secretary General; never have attempts
at self-reform felt more strenuously supported. The cost is as serious
as the approach, its shop rivalling Harrods for prices, though a stay here
is still considerably cheaper than at many swanky medi-spas. The
timetables may pull couples in radically different directions while lone
travellers sit by contentedly, but everybody is superbly looked after.
INSIDER TIP The utterly exhausted may want to defuse elsewhere
beforehand so they are decompressed enough to take advantage of
everything on offer. Do this and you will happily embrace the enormity
of it all. Don’t and you may rebel, not least when your Kindle is snatched
from you (the no-computer rule includes electronic books).
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
co.uk/condenast) offers seven nights from £3,075 full board, including
flights, transfers, daily massages, consultation and fitness activities.
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BIG HITTERS
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C O M O S H A M B H A L A E S TAT E
BALI, INDONESIA
IN BRIEF Picture-perfect, magical rainforest retreat
THE LOWDOWN Understated yet outstanding, this resort delivers on
every level. The scenery is dramatic: Balinese jungle with giant, arching
bamboo; trees as tall as skyscrapers and cicadas as loud as police sirens.
Yet amid all this, in a sheer, calm expanse with grass so perfect it
appears to have been manicured with nail scissors, there’s ultimate
stillness. This land is blessed daily by two resident priests. Make the
pilgrimage down 250 steps and you’ll find sacred springs that bubble up,
creating natural waterfalls and swimming pools. There is a magic about
these cool, tingling, healing waters hidden amid the foliage. Staff glide
by like ghosts, barely noticeable yet totally plugged in, anticipating every
need. Enveloped in nature, you feel completely safe and comfortable
letting go. Emotional releases are welcomed and almost expected. You
can pretend that you are weeping at the sheer extravagance and beauty
of the lotus flowers and bright-orange African tulip trees when really
it is the paucity of your self-love that has floored you. Visiting healers
are exceptional, and in-house Ayurvedic doctor Deepak Deginal is
a must-see. He reads pulses like braille and is uncannily accurate with
his appraisal of guests’ emotional and medical state. Yoga with Eka will
12 Spa Guide June 2014
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leave you in a trance. His style is simple: the movements involved feel
minimal, but goodness, something shifts. Everything here is geared
to awaken your senses, so it is impossible not to come alive. The big
cleanse happens on a digestive level as the food is unparalleled. Glow
restaurant is nutritional nirvana, serving up simple, turbo-healthy meals,
including an extensive raw-food option. The kaleidoscopic drinks
menu of fresh extractions and blends packs an antioxidant punch with
antidotes to every ailment – from hormonal imbalances and nerve-
soothing to stimulating the immune system. Boosters include royal jelly
and raw Peruvian maca. Guests are affluent and the vibe is cool, making
the COMO Shambhala Estate feel like the most sophisticated healing
hospital ingeniously disguised as a slick destination spa.
INSIDER TIP Do not leave home without pre-booking your appointment
with Oriental medicine practitioner David Melladew, who provides
a masterful combination of acupuncture and spiritual healing.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
co.uk/condenast) offers a seven-night Rejuvenation Programme
from £2,799 full board, including flights, transfers, wellness
consultation and treatments.
WorldMags.net

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 WorldMags.net
C O N S TA N C E L E P R I N C E M AU R I C E
POSTE DE FL ACQ, MAURITIUS
IN BRIEF Fasting and feasting on the beach
THE LOWDOWN Where better to get the hang of the 5:2 routine,
with all its intermittent starving, than on holiday? Journalist Mimi
Spencer, who co-wrote the best-selling book The Fast Diet with
Dr Michael Mosley, has devised her own Kickstart The Fast Diet
programme for guests at Constance’s flagship hotel in Mauritius. And
it’s rather easy to stave off your hunger here, with soothing treatments,
fitness activities and spot-on service to divert your attention. On the
diet, calorie intake is reduced to 500 per day for women and 600 for
men – a quarter of the normal recommendation – two days a week. In
addition to weight loss, its benefits are said to include a reduction in
the risk of age-related diseases such as diabetes. On all the menus, the
dishes that Spencer regards as nutritious, tasty and low-calorie are
flagged up by a symbol. On a fast day, you might breakfast on poached
eggs with smoked marlin (175 calories) and a dinner of albacore tuna
carpaccio with celeriac and preserved lemon (112 calories) and a side
dish of parsley peas and onion pickles (64 calories). To distract you
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WEIGHT LOSS
Foolproof regimes to leave you feeling lighter and brighter
from snacking, there’s beachside yogic stretching on giant yellow towels
with the lithe Isabelle, a personal trainer from France; one-to-one
Pilates and fitness sessions, tennis courts, a nearby golf course, a gym
and a lap pool for lengths. If you get itchy feet, ask Rajiv to take you out
on a bike ride through the sugarcane fields. The hotel’s courtyard spa,
with its sauna, steam rooms and ice-cold plunge pool, has treatments
including a ‘Mimi recommends’ digestive massage, lymphatic drainage
or detoxifying wrap for fast days. Also worth signing up for are a hydrating
Sisley facial with Volena, a wondrous shiatsu with Darje and a medical
pedicure with Parisian Franck Douni. With any luck, on your return
you’ll feel so good you’ll want to continue eating the 5:2 way. It can take
a while to see results, but it’s a much better bet than quick-fix diets.
INSIDER TIP Hang out at the beach on non-fasting days; attentive staff
will occasionally deliver a mini-tub of Häagen-Dazs to your sunbed.
BOOK IT Audley (+44 1993 838250; www.audleytravel.com) offers
seven nights from £1,910, including flights, transfers and a Kickstart
The Fast Diet information pack.
June 2014 Spa Guide 15
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LES PRES D’EUGENIE
L ANDES, FRANCE
IN BRIEF French gourmand philosophy that works
THE LOWDOWN If there is one place on earth where embarking
on a prescriptive diet doesn’t feel like a penance, it is at this
magnificent, Second Empire-style estate surrounded by gardens
in the heart of Gascony. Here is somewhere that is superbly pretty;
a spot that few people know about and whose traditional formality
but soulful heart would encourage even the likes of Gordon Ramsay
to get onboard its weight-loss agenda. It’s as far from a clinical
environment as you could imagine: a mini-kingdom of herb beds,
high ceilings, chunky marble baths, L’Occitaine bathroom goodies,
painted wardrobes and roaring log fires. The menu takes centre
stage, so prepare for food that will entice even the most reluctant
dieter. Iconic French chef Michel Guérard has ensured that this
centre of epicurean excellence has held three Michelin stars for
37 years; no lacklustre buffets here. With dishes such as poached
beef fillet, lobster carpaccio, and chocolate cream – yes, you
can expect puddings – it is hard to believe that kilos will be shed.
But the medically supervised nine- or 12-day Minceur Essentielle
programme, devised by Guérard and nutritionist Dr Patrick Sérog,
is the result of years of extensive research and a shared belief
that great health and a slim silhouette needn’t require an ascetic
lifestyle. The schedule also includes four resculpting hot-spring
treatments per day, daily personal training sessions and full-
throttle dietary and medical consultations. The approach is utterly
bespoke throughout the three phases: starter (triggering weight
loss), metabolic adaption (intensifying weight loss and physical
activity) and cruise control (preparation for the return home,
with a calorie intake closer to everyday life). Results are monitored
not only with scales and a tape measure, but also with
bioimpedance analysis at the beginning and end of the programme,
which reveals the ratio of fat, water and muscle in the body and
gives an accurate and reassuring picture of your progress. It also
serves as a reminder that body redefinition is equally as important,
if not more so, as losing the pounds. In the spa, the smell of the
natural, hot sulphuric springs mingles with the sharp citrus notes
of verbena. Treatments include floating weightlessly in a kaolin-
clay mud bath and vigorous pummelling by water jets in heated
pools. Cécile Ledru and her spa team are warm and professional;
book Marian for a facial: she has bewitching hands and will
send you spinning off into other realms. The gym has no need
of sophisticated equipment as trainer Martin Foy focuses on
effective exercise regimes you can continue at home, and when
the weather permits he will conduct training in the beautiful
surrounding countryside. The interiors are equally agreeable:
Michel’s wife Christine has an elegant touch and each of the
estate’s buildings is gorgeously decorated, supremely comfortable
and, above all, restful. No wonder this is a favourite haunt of
A-listers. Barbra Streisand visited during her last European tour
and actor Robin Williams chose to recuperate here after heart
surgery. Despite its impressive credentials, the overall ambience
is one of a big happy family. The attentive, caring staff bend over
PHOTOGRAPH: GUILLAUME DE LAUBIER
backwards to ensure your visit is a memorable one, and Michel
himself is ever-present, whether in the kitchen or lunching in his
own restaurant. At 80 years old, he emanates glowing health and
is the best advertisement for his unique programme.
INSIDER TIP Arrive one night early and go out with a pre-detox
bang by sampling one of the full-on, all-singing, all-dancing tasting
menus. Dressing for dinner is de rigueur, so pack accordingly.  Kitchen. It’ll help you stick to healthy eating when you get home.
BOOK IT The Healthy Holiday Company (+44 20 8968 0501;
www.thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk) offers the nine-night
Minceur Essentielle programme from £4,665 full board,
including flights and transfers.
WorldMags.net
BEST
VALUE FOR
WEIGHT
LOSS
A B S O LU T E S A N C T UA RY
KOH SAMUI, THAIL AND
IN BRIEF Hardcore detoxing and incredible yoga
THE LOWDOWN If you’re serious about cleansing, feeling 10 years
younger and seeing your stomach shrink, but are reluctant to splash
out at swankier spas, this place is for you. Don’t expect a spiritual
setting: there are no sea views, no jungly gardens, no private beach;
and the rooms, while decorative, are pretty basic. But this place really
does deliver, and you’re likely to return home with an uncluttered
mind, having banished niggles and pains and lumps and bumps that
you’ve harboured for ever. Programmes can be mixed and matched
to suit your needs. The most effective involves fasting and is based
on the philosophy that giving your digestive system a break allows
your body to heal itself. This means no solid food; instead, days are
punctuated with surprisingly filling drinks of psyllium husk and
bentonite clay, broths with a sprinkling of salt to balance your
electrolytes, and heavenly coconut water that you will seriously look
forward to. This can be combined to powerful effect with daily,
self-administered colonics (not for the faint-hearted), though even
without these you’ll be racing to the loo – no wonder you feel so
light and energetic. You’ll be well looked-after and given a mass of
educational information and supplements so you don’t miss out on
any nutrients. And, of course, the heat and sunshine do make the
whole thing a smidge easier to bear. Plus, the therapists are the sort
that remind you why it’s worth travelling to Asia. There are Pevonia
facials, scrubs and wraps, but what you really want is the pressure-
point massage, which is painful but terrifically effective at releasing
tension. And with treatments starting at £35, they’re affordable
enough to really treat yourself. On top of all this, there’s the most
fantastic yoga (the teachers really are stellar) with at least four
classes a day, covering ashtanga, vinyasa, yin, hatha, hot, pranayama
and meditation. You’ll return with a newfound mindfulness about
how you feed yourself, as well as a much more svelte silhouette.
INSIDER TIP Buy the cookbook, Food Made With Love From The Love
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
co.uk/condenast) offers eight nights from £1,850 full board,
including flights, transfers, a wellness consultation and detox
treatments. Condé Nast Traveller readers will receive two additional
free nights and a complimentary room upgrade on booking.
June 2014 Spa Guide 17
WEIGHT LOSS
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A N A N DA I N T H E H I M A L AYA S
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
IN BRIEF Amazing Ayurveda, high in the mountains
THE LOWDOWN Everything you need to lose those pounds is here:
cleansing diets, cellulite-busting treatments and workouts that will
leave you spinning. Days are punctuated by personal training, yoga,
swimming, boxing sessions and enemas. Don’t panic, though: this
is not a bootcamp or starvation clinic, and a happy dose of nurturing
food is provided. Hit your thighs hard with a bracing temple trek; it
will be blindingly sweaty, but the views of the snow-capped mountains
soon silence any whinging. Tone yourself to the core in the gym
with personal trainer Lakan, letting him stretch and push you. Jump
into the sparkling pool and bash out some lengths before flopping
onto a sunbed, fresh juice in hand. There’s a fantastic amount of
yoga on offer: best is the sleep-inducing nidra and pranayama (breath
control), which is taught with such seriousness by Manish that you your dosha (body type) so it won’t cling to your hips. The 70 rooms
actually want to practise – this involves panting like an overexcited and five suites in the Viceregal Palace are disappointing, with dated
spaniel, humming like a bee, sneeze-inducing nose tricks and interiors, drab corridors and a rather soulless vibe. Lose yourself
rhythmic breathing. Vedanta lessons hammer home the Ayurvedic instead in the manicured grounds with their pottering peacocks, cheeky
way of life (bed before sunset, no sleeping during the day), cooking langur monkeys and waterfalls. Ananda gets cracking results, which it
classes make you vow never to touch chocolate again, and spa needs to with competitors creeping up on the horizon. The therapists
treatments continue the good work. The resident flautist adds to the and yoga instructors may not be the most intuitive or groundbreaking,
air of calm, but don’t be deceived: a Sneha Vasti (oil enema) is just but you’ll skip home sleeker and slimmer, with your spirits soaring.
around the corner. Or, if you’re not so brave, there’s the jet-shower INSIDER TIP Escape for the day to nearby Rishikesh, the birthplace
blitz to improve circulation and firm your wobbly bits. The force of of yoga. It’s weird but fascinating, too. Visit ashrams and sprawling
the water stings, but the therapist is sniper-like in her efficiency, so markets, and stay until sunset for Ganga Aarti, a daily religious ritual
you’re not stuck there for long. Finish with a pampering treatment of worship where young monks chant hypnotically beside the Ganges.
to pummel out stress and toxins (the Aroma Cocoon is deliciously BOOK IT Elegant Resorts (+44 1244 897515; www.elegantresorts.
detoxifying). The food is almost devilishly good, with sweet pepper- co.uk) offers a seven-night trip from £3,245, including six nights
stuffed polenta roulade and ginger, coriander and coconut-infused at Ananda, full board, one night at The Leela Palace with breakfast,
steamed chicken breast. It’s calorie-controlled, too, and tailored to and flights and transfers.

NEW J U I C Y OA S I S
VALE DO SERRAO, PORTUGAL
IN BRIEF Wallet-friendly juicing retreat close to home
THE LOWDOWN Founded by Jason Vale, self-styled ‘juice master’,
life coach and author of 7lbs In 7 Days (you can see the draw) this is
a fresher, more upmarket alternative to Juicy Mountain, his set-up in
Turkey, and is only an hour and a half from Lisbon. While it may sound
like a grim prospect to survive on no solids for a whole week, you’re
here to tone up, slim down and get beach-ready – quickly. There’s no
bar and certainly no restaurant, only a café serving salads on changeover
day. Meals are replaced with nutritionally packed juices and smoothies
including the Blood Builder, a bright-pink blend of apple, avocado,
beetroot, carrot and lemon; power-green shots and small ginger chasers,
all served at regular intervals throughout the day in between scheduled
activities. While you may take a dive mood-wise, you really don’t
feel hungry, and it’s more the ritual of mealtimes that you will find
yourself missing (plus, of course, chewing). Not that there’s much
time for mourning knife-and-fork action. From 6.45am till 8pm, there’s of body massages that are good without being particularly special.
meditation; ashtanga yoga with Nat, who has the boys clamouring Far more functional is the colonic menu, which further helps to flush
to sign up to her Strictly Come Dancing class; long walks through the out your system; this is a safe and relaxed place to try one if you’re
hillside for those getting cabin fever; volleyball, which gets seriously a novice. Evenings are spent watching health-related documentaries
PHOTOGRAPH: MATTHEW WAKEM

competitive when Jason’s involved; swimming in the nearby lake; circuits
with the kick-ass, take-no-prisoners Kym, and ‘rebounding’, which is
basically jumping on a mini trampoline to One Direction tracks. Smash
it on the cardio during the group exercises and you’ll see the difference
almost straight away, even if you do ache all over. If you’re here for
peace and a rest, you can take the pace down, and during the hottest
parts of the day there’s time for poolside lounging, nutritional talks –
involving lots of cheesy soundbites like ‘Are you hungry for change?’
– as well as spa treatments such as facials, mani/pedis and a range
such as Food Matters and You Decide, and by day five, all talk between
fellow juicers is laughably focused on what everyone’s first meal will
be at the end of the week. If you are carrying even a little surplus
baggage, you will slim and shape up; if you can pinch more than
several inches, prepare to shift a surprising amount.
INSIDER TIP Do not attempt any rebounding after a colonic treatment.
Sneak off for a nap in one of the cosy, hanging spa cocoons instead.
BOOK IT Seven nights from £845, including all juices and some
activities. +44 1234 480280; www.juicyoasis.com

18 Spa Guide June 2014

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 T RAVELLER AD VERT ISEM EN T FEAT U RE

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ALILA VILLAS
ULUWATU
Contemporary, cool and chic, this divine all-villa resort is
exquisitely poised on the south coast’s dramatic limestone
cliffs, affording spectacular views of the Indian Ocean.
No less awe-inspiring is the striking and contemporary
design of the hotel, which features walkways and bridges
linking a series of pools, pavilions and 86 villas on stilts,
all of which have private saltwater pools, sun terraces and

BASK IN
ocean-view cabanas. Inside, doors and even walls can be
removed to capture the refreshing breeze, while stylishly

BALI
ethical interiors include wood, stone and rattan. Outside,
indulge in sensational Indonesian cooking at the Warung
restaurant, or feast on fusion dishes at Cire.

The resort is also home to a Spa Alila offering a heavenly

array of holistic and customised treatments including
massage and meditation. Local therapists combine Asian
and Western therapies to create a personalised experience,
For the ultimate in Balinese hideaways, lose yourself in drawing on traditional practices and using the curative
the luxury of Alila Villas Soori and Alila Villas Uluwatu benefits of fresh, natural ingredients.

T
his magical island is vibrant yet serene, a perfect
blend of rich culture and superb surroundings.
Let Healing Holidays take you here and you'll
discover beaches and warm blue water, volcanic
peaks and verdant jungle, Bali’s fascinating spiritual
culture and the dazzling comforts of a five-star
resort and spa.

ALILA VILLAS SOORI

Slotted betwbetween
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eexploring
xploring Balinese culturculturee aatt nearb
nearbyy temples and Soori from £2,099.00 per person sharing. This includes flights, Uluwatu from £2,379.00 per person sharing. This includes flights,
villages befbefor
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Spa Alila, and, exclusive to Traveller readers, a USD 500 Spa Alila credit per and, exclusive to Traveller readers, a USD 500 Spa Alila credit per
which
hich
hich specialises in putting a contemporar
whic contemporaryy spin reservation per couple, when staying for five nights or more. reservation per couple, when staying for five nights or more.
on ancient Asian healing techniques
tec
techniques.
hniques.
hniques The offer is valid for travel between May 1, 2014 and The offer is valid for travel between May 1, 2014 and
October 31, 2014. October 31, 2014.

To book, contact Healing Holidays on 020 7843

3592 or visit healingholidays.co.uk/condenast

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WEIGHT LOSS
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PA R K H OT E L I G L S
INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA
IN BRIEF The favoured spot for the Mayr method
THE LOWDOWN It’s always interesting to discover how many British
guests are here because of a medical issue that has apparently baffled
doctors at home. Even something as common as bloating, for instance.
Does a GP ever explain this complaint can be helped, if not banished,
by a few days of rest, minimal food and a declogging of the intestines,
followed by adherence to a mostly alkaline diet? Or that with this and
any health problem, it’s always wise to tackle the cause rather than
the symptoms and not think in terms of a pill for every problem? Such
precepts are mainstays at the Parkhotel, agreed by many to be the
best and most affordable of all the Austrian medi-spas run according
to the practices developed by the great 19th-century doctor FX Mayr
(see our feature on page 48). The philosophy is rooted in the belief
that good health starts with a properly functioning digestive system. SOFITEL QUIBERON
Once you’ve been on the receiving end of this rational thinking, the
old-fashioned habit of visiting a spa every year, which many Austrian
DIETETIQUE
and German guests seem never to have lost, appears sensible. Rather BRITTANY, FRANCE
than the traditional Mayr fasting programme (not good for muscle
IN BRIEF Water-based therapies with stunning sea views
tone), here they have developed eight different diets depending on
THE LOWDOWN If you want to lose half a stone in a week without
your goals. You’ll start each day with the dreaded Epsom salts, which
starving, come to the best thalassotherapy centre in France, a country
taste disgusting, sandblast your insides and send you running to the
where seawater cures are something of a national obsession. Butter,
loo. Other mealtimes are inevitably spent chewing (at least 40 times)
cream and wine are all banned (slightly different from your normal
on stale bread or crackers with sheep’s yogurt, but by day three most
French holiday, then), but you can have a slice of toast with ham and
guests add delicious, albeit bite-sized, portions of protein because the
eggs for breakfast. And coffee. And add meringue or a naughty scoop
Parkhotel is also keen on exercise, which requires some sustenance.
of ice cream to your poached fruit for pudding. Of course, all meals
Whether you opt for personal training with Michael, sign up for
are carefully cross-checked and calorie-counted to make sure they
AquaGym sessions in the indoor pool or join a Nordic-walking outing,
provide the correct ratio of protein and vegetables, and you’ll find lots
you’re more likely to be up and about than lying on your bed with a
of soups and salads, but there are also freshly caught oysters and
hay pack on your liver, as can happen at the other Mayr medi-spas.
beautifully presented scallops and lobster on the three-course menus.
The doctors work with the University Hospital in Innsbruck, so you can
The French seem to know how to keep things balanced without
come for the intensive Modern Mayr Medicine check-up combining
obliterating every treat known to mankind. It’s an approach that’s far
mainstream laboratory diagnostics with the Mayr philosophy. An
easier to keep up at home, too. Choose between the Slimming Design
additional £2,875 on top of the accommodation charge buys a package
Week (lots of sculpting and toning treatments), the Slimming Tonic
of blood tests and ultrasound scans and is aimed at those who really
Week (more sports-intensive) or the Slimming Starter Week, consisting
want to know the truth about their health. After seven days, most
mostly of a series of lower-impact, water-based treatments. There
guests leave 3-4kg lighter, with more energy than a Duracell Bunny.
are group sessions in the pool where you exercise against strong jets of
INSIDER TIP It’s not only obvious digestive problems that the medical
water, and showers where legs, thighs and back are blasted to break
team here can help with. They’re worth consulting about any niggling
down the fat, tone up muscles and help weight loss – incredibly effective
– or serious - health problem. The dynamic head of the medical team,
considering you’re essentially doing nothing. In between, you might
Dr Peter Gartner, is particularly recommended.
be covered in a seaweed gel, wrapped in a heated blanket and left to
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
sweat for 20 minutes (smelling like a mudslide) or hooked up to electric
co.uk/condenast) offers seven nights from £1,690, full board,
pads so ticklish currents can pass through and stimulate abs (so much
including flights, transfers, medical checks, daily hydrotherapy
easier than crunches). Cheating never felt so good. Mornings are a
treatments and exercise training.
flurry of treatments and massages, while the afternoon is a time for
brisk walks to the rocky headland, a dip in the sea or just a chance to
curl up in an armchair and have a snooze by the fire. Thanks to a radical
redesign by renowned French architects Marc Hertrich and Nicolas
Adnet three years ago, the 76 bedrooms now have a soothing palette,
clean lines, wooden floors and sliding doors that lead onto sea-facing
balconies. Before you leave with your newly flattened stomach and
radiant skin, you’re given a lesson in how the body deals with sugar,
and a helpful list of instructions on what to eat going forward. An easy
hop from Nantes, a wild and beautiful shoreline and even some nearby
boutiques – though do try to avoid the cake shops in town – this has
to be the perfect healthy mini-break.
INSIDER TIP Dressing gowns are fine in the spa, but everyone wears
cashmere at lunch and looks smart for dinner. And don’t confuse this
hotel with the interconnecting Sofitel Quiberon Thalassa Sea & Spa,
which shares the wellness centre but has no food rules.
BOOK IT The Slimmer Starter Week package costs from £2,480
for six nights, full board, including medical consultation, workshops
and treatments. +33 297 504 888; www.sofitel.com

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ANTI-AGEING
Stop the clock, wind back the years, emerge rejuvenated

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AVANT-GARDE
CLINIC
NEW
LO N H E A
VILL ARS-SUR-OLLON, SWITZERL AND
IN BRIEF Hi-tech overhaul for those who take it seriously
THE LOWDOWN Somewhere new and fully charged; somewhere so
scientific you wear a heart monitor for the duration of your stay;
somewhere with such commitment to your health that it offers fortnightly
follow-up sessions online for four months: this is unprecedented. With a
maximum of just nine guests at a time, Lonhea is all about ultra-focused,
one-on-one care, which is why guests include those with Parkinson’s
disease, those on the brink of a breakdown, those dealing with sleep
issues, addiction, weight-related problems and relentless stress. You don’t
come here for a facial or for plastic surgery: this is about maintaining
your health for the long-haul. The simple, streamlined Alpine clinic aims
to counterbalance the effects of a frown-line-inducing lifestyle with up
to eight hours of exercise a day, gut-friendly food cooked by Portuguese
chef Pedro Alexandre, and a crack team of stellar therapists. Head
honcho Dr Michel Golay, a former professional footballer and athletic
chiropractor, has based his programme around the two-brain model,
which has been advocated by the Chinese for centuries. The theory is
that the body has two brains: the digestive and, inside your head, the
encephalic or reptilian. The digestive brain needs nutrients to produce
energy and protect the second brain, which is the coordinator of all
essential functions. So, we need to eat well, exercise and take probiotics
to help keep the gut healthy (guests with conditions such as IBS and
arthritis see vast improvements). On arrival, you’ll have extensive blood
tests followed by a thorough four hours of cardio and NeuroCom
sessions, which check your balance and mobility. The evaluation is like a
workout: 45 minutes on a treadmill controlled by your therapist, French
climber Xavier Gerfaud-Valentin; balance challenges on a wooden board
with your eyes closed; toe-touches with one leg in the air; core- and
lumber- strength assessments and, weirdest of all, a halo of wires
(developed by NASA) that is placed on your head to determine the
adaptive and visual capacity of your motor system. And the aforementioned
heart monitor must be worn throughout your stay, even while you sleep,
in order for your body and brain function to be studied. The results
determine your tailored programme, which is likely to include a cardio
blast at 7am (Xavier has a steely determination, so excuses are not
tolerated), a mid-morning personal-training session (squats, weights,
resistance training and Power Plate), a quick lunch and a two-hour
afternoon hike, followed by yoga. It’s exhausting. But all this hardship is
cushioned by fantastic food, which isn’t too strictly monitored. Breakfast
consists of ham, eggs and strong coffee (yes, it is allowed), with lunches
such as roast beetroot with sheep’s cheese, followed by poached pear
and melted chocolate, then a dinner that is light on carbs – perhaps
chicken and fennel salad. Downtime is spent in the spa, which has an
infrared sauna, a steam room, a Turkish bath and a bubbling hot tub
where you can soak tired limbs. Before you leave, there’s a final
consultation and treatment with Dr Golay, who cracks and crunches
your bones, gives you a vigorous abdominal massage and uses a suction
pump on your muscles to release toxins. Lonhea is not necessarily for
those who need to rest, but it’s terrific if you like a daily challenge.
And there’s no better motivation than hearing the truth about your
physical and mental health and wellbeing from a scientific standpoint.
INSIDER TIP Physiotherapist and yoga teacher Rose Caseley offers cranial
PHOTOGRAPHS: ERIC LAIGNEL
osteopathy, which involves poking your skull with a plastic prong that’s
a bit like a crochet needle. This is not exactly relaxing, but afterwards
the world seems sharper and your vision actually clearer.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
co.uk/condenast) offers a six-night package from £4,590 full board,
including flights, train transfers, full health analysis, all treatments
and therapies according to a tailormade programme, and fortnightly
follow-ups for four months.
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CLINIQUE L A PRAIRIE
MONTREUX, SWITZERL AND
IN BRIEF Famed forerunner of Swiss health retreats
THE LOWDOWN Everyone from Winston Churchill and Marlene
Dietrich to David Bowie and Mick Jagger is rumoured to have disappeared
into this lakeside fortress at some point to undergo Revitalisation. This
fabled rejuvenation therapy – which originally involved injections of
live cells extracted from lamb foetuses – claims to reduce cell division,
boost the immune system, slow down the ageing process and aid repair
and recovery from chemotherapy and chronic viral infections. CLP
Extract is now taken from the livers, instead of the foetuses, of black
lambs and is given orally rather than via a needle the length of Bond
Street, though its price remains forbidding: around £17,000 for a
week’s treatment. This is what a state-of-the-art medi-spa should look
like. It’s expensive and immaculate, and the thrill of checking into the
clinic is almost unequalled. Your driver sweeps up to the entrance, a
few hundred yards from the shore of Lake Geneva, and you’re ushered
by a crisply suited staffer into the pristine lobby. Within minutes, you’re
shown into a rose-pink room with a beautiful bathroom and a bed that
rises on an angle so that you can admire views of the lake without any
propping up on pillows. Down in the newly overhauled spa, the look is
white-on-dazzling-white and almost space-age. The waiting room is
lined with glass shelves packed with Swiss Perfection products; this
range, based on iris extracts (the flower, not the eyeball), has replaced
the famous (but long sold-off) La Prairie skincare line. The light-filled
treatment rooms contain the kind of equipment which less wildly
profitable places could only dream about. The conscientious, well-
trained therapists do not disappoint, either. Expect a delicate touch
for your facial and one as tough as you like for body treatments. There’s
also thalassotherapy and hydrotherapy, and in the medical centre
specialists operate (literally, where relevant) in more than 30 areas,
from cardiology to neurology via cosmetic surgery. There’s an ultra-
slick dental clinic and, in the Menopause Centre, cutting-edge work
is carried out by a team led by Dr Thierry Pache. More alternative
practices include acupuncture and homeopathy, although you don’t
really come here for those. Gym staff couldn’t be more helpful, possibly
because all that top-notch equipment appears to go largely unused.
And those bedrooms really are wonderfully comfortable, providing
ample opportunity to lie back and ponder Revitalisation’s most
impressive claim: mice given CLP Extract live 40 per cent longer.
INSIDER TIP It’s incredibly quiet at night. Take every book you want
to catch up on, go alone, and feast on room service. The trolley will
be brought right to your bed, which will of course be angled just so.
BOOK IT The lead-in package is the Beauty Programme, which starts
from £10,450 for six nights’ full board, including consultations and all
treatments. +41 21 989 3311; www.laprairie.ch
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L A R E S E RV E
GENEVA, SWITZERL AND
IN BRIEF Complete health MOT within easy reach
THE LOWDOWN Most of us are aware that a lack of serotonin can lead
to depression, but did you know that digestive problems can block its
production and therefore probiotics, not Prozac, could be the solution?
Also, were you conscious of the fact that a high level of cortisol – a
hormone produced by stress – stops fat being burnt, which makes the
reduction of stress a vital factor in weight loss? You’ll leave here buzzing
with riveting information such as this. Crucially, though, you will also
know the personal relevance of this knowledge, because you’ll be armed
with the results of comprehensive genetic testing, a medical check-up,
and blood tests that show everything from your serotonin and cortisol
levels and your risk of suffering from a range of health problems, to the
precise changes needed for tip-top wellbeing. The four Nescens Better
Ageing Programmes (four-day, seven-day, Intensive
and Programme Plus) all include a private
consultation with the ever-approachable Professor
Jacques Proust, one of the world’s leading
specialists in the study of healthy ageing and
genomics, who also heads the nearby Clinique de
Genolier. In addition to this, there are five hours
of treatment and exercise each day, including
a daily massage, personal training sessions and
yoga with the radiant Sabel (‘Shoulders back,
chin up. Remember, your lungs are just under
your collarbones, so give them space’). Stunningly
good, healthy food – such as petit-pois soup
with tiny balls of goat’s cheese – is served in
the shimmering white and sugared-almond
surroundings of the Café Lauren restaurant, which
is also a lunchtime rendezvous spot for local spa
members and staff from the nearby UN HQ. But
it’s the expert consultations that make this place
PA L AC E M E R A N O
SOUTH T YROL, ITALY
IN BRIEF Smart but brutal king of the Italian detox
THE LOWDOWN Just when you thought its anti-ageing therapies
couldn’t get any better, the Espace Henri Chenot spa at the Palace
Merano in the Italian Dolomites has raised the bar with a spanking-
new floor named Revital. A 1,000-square-metre space in minimalist
white marble, it provides an Olympic standard in health diagnostics,
with a scientific laboratory that tests your DNA to predict future
genetic weaknesses and potential for disease. Bone-density scanners
assess the ‘age’ of your spine and your chances of getting osteoporosis,
as well as scaring the hell out of you by highlighting the fat around
your vital organs. Sophisticated hormone analysis will explain
why you’re always shattered. Come here with your partner before you
consult the divorce lawyers as this is where you will face the truth
about your erratic emotional and physical states. Treatment also
includes a detox diet offering mouse-sized mouthfuls of exquisite
food, and the miraculous Chenot Method massage. As well as
rediscovering your cheek- and hip-bones (average weight loss is 3kg
per week), you will find something far more alluring: an unfamiliar
inner balance, plus practical knowledge on how to sustain this
newfound, bouncy optimum health. This is tough love delivered in
Chanel kid-gloves. The divine doctors who, like Dorian Gray, look
younger and more handsome every year, will shock you senseless
with your statistics, then coax you back to youthful vigour. Vitamin
drips provide bespoke cocktails of antioxidants, ozone-therapy pumps
the blood with stress-busting, circulation-boosting oxygen, and
24 Spa Guide June 2014
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so potent. Osteopath Sebastien Ducasse examines your bone structure
and movement and prescribes a corrective exercise programme.
Nutritionist Olivier Bourquin gives instant read-outs of antioxidant and
inflammation levels – the latter is particularly important as a preindicator
for disease – and explains the benefits of spirulina (rich in protein,
vitamins and minerals) and a good daily probiotic (he recommends
Lactibiane). And although it costs extra, you can even employ the
services of a leg specialist: the glamorous Dr Valérie Leduc will laser
away spider veins and, using the fabulous CoolSculpting machine,
freeze the fat cells in that bulge just above the knees, or anywhere
else on your body. The only intelligent response to relentless health-
hype, whether it concerns a new wonder-food or a miraculous diet/
supplement/form of exercise, has to be a skeptically raised eyebrow.
But no one can fail to be excited by genomics. Or
that CoolSculpting machine. And you don’t even
have to sign up for the full week for any of these
consultations: the whole team can be accessed
for one-off appointments. That said, nothing
quite beats a seven-day attack.
INSIDER TIP Don’t be put off by the outside of this
1970s-built hotel: the interior, with its leopard-
print carpeting, was designed by Jacques Garcia
of Hôtel Costes fame, and the service is excellent.
Lake Geneva is a five-minute walk away and it’s a
10-minute drive from the airport. Also, from March
to October, a water-shuttle will speed you across
the lake to the city centre.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592;
www.healingholidays.co.uk/condenast) offers the
seven-night Better Ageing Programme from £4,690
full board, including flights, transfers, consultations,
personal training and treatments.
infrared lights stimulate collagen and plump out fine facial lines.
Unsurprisingly, given that a week’s stay leaves you with dewy,
exquisite skin, this attracts a rather glamorous crowd. Ignore the
diamonds and Dior at dinner, though, as the towelling robes worn
by all during the day are a great leveller.
INSIDER TIP Ask barman John to make you a Virgin Mojito with
extra agave when you feel dementedly hungry, and be sure to see
Marco, the sensational osteopath.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healing
holidays.co.uk/condenast) offers a seven-night Wellbeing
Programme from £3,899 full board, including flights, transfers,
a wellness consultation and treatments.
JAMAICA
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SAINT LUCIA ANTIGUA BAHAMAS GRENADA BARBADOS

RELAX
MORE QUALITY INCLUSIONS
THAN ANY OTHER RESORTS ON THE PLANET
A sanctuary for mind, body and soul, the Red Lane ® Spas exclusively at Sandals resorts
offer the ultimate in relaxation. Treatments ^ combine European traditions with a distinctive
Caribbean flair and utilise ingredients indigenous to the region. Unwind in our garden
sanctuaries and enjoy complimentary use of hot and cold plunge pools, steam baths and saunas.

TO B O O K T H E W O R L D ’ S L E A D I N G A L L- I N C LU S I V E R E S O R T S
Call 0800 742 742 | Visit sandals.co.uk
See your local travel agent
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HOLISTIC HEALERS
Charge your chakras, cleanse your aura and clear out your head space
NEW DWA R I K A’ S R E S O R T
DHULIKHEL, NEPAL
IN BRIEF Nepal’s inaugural destination health retreat
THE LOWDOWN In 1952, Dwarika Das Shrestha opened Nepal’s first
hotel, the Paras, in Kathmandu. With time, love and the great vision of their
founder, these few modest rooms for pilgrims evolved into Dwarika’s
Kathmandu, a project committed to preserving Newa heritage and
incorporating elements of local arts and crafts. Now his daughter, Sangita
Shrestha, has opened her own spa outpost in Dhulikhel. Only an hour from
the capital, it’s set on the bluff of a hill between the Panchkhal Valley and
the village of Patlekhet, with the Himalayas stretched out in all their mighty
glory. The 360-degree panoramas are breath-stealing, soul-soaring.
Dwarika’s Resort is elegant and considered, warm and welcoming. The spa
rooms, chakra sound chambers, yoga and meditation spaces and vast
bedroom suites are scattered across the sides of two hills. Each suite has
indoor and outdoor sleeping and living spaces with expansive views over the
snow-capped Langtang mountain range. This is rustic chic: no imported
marble or generic five-star fittings here. All materials are locally sourced,
from the bricks and mortar through to the furniture, bath products and bed
linen (the only exception being the impossibly comfortable mattresses,
imported from the USA). Shrestha designed every element in consultation
with Buddhist and Hindu masters, from the orientation and placement of
the rooms to the installation of a meditation maze, Himalayan salt chamber
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and the Gol Lok Dham Lounge, which is named after the place that,
according to Hindu myth, sits above heaven and where time stands
still. The focus is on complete wellbeing, drawing on knowledge from
the Himalayan region. The sheer range of consultations, treatments,
activities (yoga, meditation, pottery, block printing), excursions and
lessons can, at times, feel overwhelming, but there are specific programmes
to make things easier. And for more indepth guidance, seek out one of
the gurus, masters or astrologists. Stroll with in-house sage Guruji and
realign your spirit en route to the organic farm, then wander the rice
paddies, help with the harvest, pick vegetables for supper, drink tea and
watch farm life unfold. Shrestha’s dream was to build a place where she’d
happily live out her retirement; Dwarika’s is certainly one of the most
restorative and spiritual retreats you’ll find.
INSIDER TIP Imagine falling into one of Anish Kapoor’s vast concave
sculptures and being engulfed in vibration and sound – that’s the delicious
loss of self you’ll experience if you book in for singing-bowl therapy.
BOOK IT A five-night Revitalisation package costs about £1,530,
full board, including consultations, yoga, meditation sessions and
spa treatments. +977 1 447 9488; www.dwarikas-dhulikhel.com.
Turkish Airlines (www.turkishairlines.com) flies daily from Heathrow
to Kathmandu via Istanbul.
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SOULFUL
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SPA
SONG SAA
KOH RONG ARCHIPEL AGO, CAMBODIA
IN BRIEF Gentle treatments with a strong ethical spirit
THE LOWDOWN Until now, Cambodia’s star spa players have
been situated in or around Siem Reap; there’s Amansara – a low-key
sanctuary where you should try the Temple Walk, a zingy peppermint
scrub for tired feet – and the Prince D’Angkor, a slice of boutique
peace. But this is something else, something dazzling. Song Saa (Khmer
for ‘the sweethearts’) consists of two gem-like islands in the otherwise
untouched Koh Rong Archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand. Getting here
is an adventure, but when you arrive by speedboat on the last leg of
your mega-journey and the first hut looms into view, it becomes clear
that the trek is worthwhile. There is nothing else around. The island
of Koh Ouen is home to 27 eco-villas of a standard as yet unseen in
this part of the world (the strong sustainable ethos has inspired the
stylish reworking of old fishing-boat timber and driftwood into furniture).
And wild and hilly Koh Bong, reached by a winding bridge, has
meditation platforms and yoga salas. It is hard to believe the sparkling
spot was sorely neglected and littered when Australian owners Melita
and Rory Hunter – who had been doing up houses on the mainland –
began their plans for Song Saa eight years ago. It’s been a long ride,
fraught with unforeseen obstacles (including Melita’s diagnosis with
cancer and the Lehman Brothers crash, which dramatically affected
funding) so that the project was nearly abandoned. But the couple’s
dream was eventually realised and their relentless creativity continues
with their commitment to improving the local environment and the lives
of nearby villagers. Behind-the-scenes initiatives such as The Boat of
Hope project, which aims to get healthcare and education to 30 remote
islands (which appear to be entirely neglected by the government),
lend integrity and authenticy to the spa ethos. Jungle villas enjoy
gobsmacking views, while in the water villas you can watch the fish
through the floor and dive straight into a clear sea from the private
deck. The castors run smoothly and silently but are not over-polished,
allowing the island’s natural charm to shine through and bringing you
closer to the sea, the sun and the stars without too much fanfare. Guests
are rarely disturbed and instead receive tiny Alice In Wonderland-style
notes: ‘Pour this’, ‘Drink this’ and ‘Try this’ are the instructions for the
indulgent Stillness Bath Ritual, which involves bathing in milk, oil and
petals, sipping ginger tea and nibbling on a mini macaroon. Small scrolls
are tucked into your door, inviting you to feasts across the island: Khmer
curries by the pool with your toes dipped in cool water, or sea-bass
ceviche on a swing bed in the Vista Restaurant. There’s plenty of natural
and organic produce from the local rainforests and farms, but also
moreish wood-fired pizzas at the Driftwood Bar for when you feel the
need. The spa reception area is swathed in muslin, orchids and lotus
flowers, with sea-green painted boards salvaged from a derelict railway,
and herby honey tea that is divine; treatment areas are dotted around
the island. Therapies are managed by Narayana Prasad, for whom every
day is ‘wonderful’. Slip off for massages devised by Ila, the organic British
brand whose philosophy, based around the Buddhist tenets of metta
and karuna (loving kindness and compassion), reflects the principles
of Song Saa. Try the Ananda Facial, where gentle pressure is applied to
the marma points of the face and pure damask-rose products are used,
or a Himalayan salt scrub and hot-stone chakra massage performed to
the sound of the beating waves at night. There is a subtlety to the
PHOTOGRAPH: JENNY ZARINS
therapists’ touch here that works in a profound way, and hands and feet
are enclosed in piping hot towels at the end of each treatment to ground
you. This is a spa with soul, which sets it apart from the pack.
INSIDER TIP Try the underwater meditation, which involves floating in
shallow waters looking up at the stars – you don’t have to be a scuba diver.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healing
holidays.co.uk/condenast) offers seven nights from £3,450 full board,
including flights and transfers.
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G R A N D PA R K H OT E L
BAD HOFGASTEIN, AUSTRIA
IN BRIEF Weird but wonderfully reparative radon caves
THE LOWDOWN Just standing in the utter greenness of the Bad
Hofgastein valley, surrounded by craggy peaks, is enough to make
you feel better. But this valley – or rather, the mountains that fringe it
– guards a secret: Gasteiner Heilstollen, the world’s only healing caves
with naturally occuring radon gas. This location has been used by
Austrians and Germans for centuries to cure everything from hay fever
to broken bones and arthritis, and health insurance companies send
patients here for a natural remedy that’s cheaper and more effective
than conventional medicine. Spa-treatment programmes at the Grand
Park Hotel are based around daily trips to these strange, sauna-like
caverns where everyone strips off (though this is not compulsory, and
there are separate caves for men and women) and no one talks. There
are doctors on-site, but claustrophobics beware: the journey deep
into the mountain, via a little plastic-seated train, feels rather ominous
and there is a faint whiff of sweaty bodies. It’s not the most enjoyable
experience, but it brings results, including markedly reduced pain
and inflammation, a boosted immune system and glowing skin. Thermal
waters with a lower concentration of radon stream into the hotel’s
swimming pool, one drinking tap (no more than three glasses a day
of the metallic-tasting water is recommended) and some of its baths.
Medical staff including senior consultant Dr Liane Weber, a specialist
in musculoskeletal disorders and traditional Chinese medicine, devise
treatment plans to boost the body’s healing ability using diet,
physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, lymphatic drainage massage, tui na and
acupuncture. Physio is tough, pounding out every ache and pain, but
this is no bootcamp: patients are on holiday, so alcohol and cake are not
off-limits, though you are gently encouraged to apply moderation. While
neither sleek nor modern – despite a recent refurbishment, the look is
rather fusty – the hotel does hospitality to a tee. Head chef Franz Huick
will prepare food according to your personal nutrition plan, but his
meals won’t leave you wanting, there’s flaxseed and antioxidant-rich
berries for breakfast, miso soup for lunch, wolf fish with asparagus
followed by buckwheat waffles and mango sorbet for supper. In addition
to all the pummelling, stretching and needling, rest is essential, so boost
your schedule with detoxifying mud wraps and collagen facials using
QMS Medicosmetics products, or a spot of Nordic walking along the
appropriately named Gasteiner Ache, the river that flows down the spine
of the valley. If you have a serious complaint, expect to return with
renewed vitality and needing less medication.
INSIDER TIP Help your body by fuelling it with such anti-inflammatory
wizards as green tea, pumpkin seeds and seaweed.
BOOK IT Health and Fitness Travel (+44 20 3397 8891; www.
healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers a seven-night Healing Caves
programme from £1,670 full board, including flights and transfers.
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FIVELEMENTS
BALI, INDONESIA
IN BRIEF Ancient Balinese traditions, incredible raw food
THE LOWDOWN In Bali, it is believed that healthy, happy beings are
in harmony with divinity, humanity and nature. Award-winning local
architect Ketut Arthana has constructed this spiritual retreat around
these principles, and the results are simply gobsmacking. The whole
place is built entirely out of bamboo to resemble a traditional Balinese
village. There isn’t a jarring inch of concrete anywhere, so energy-wise
it zings. The idea is that guests will be soothed through the painstaking
attention to sacred geometry. Everything is circular and even the rooms,
which are like large, sophisticated bamboo yurts, are built on stilts so
that air can circulate. Stressed urbanites stumble in and fall apart; you
feel so protected that it is impossible not to unravel. Accommodation
is rustic-luxe with eco bedrooms, meaning low lighting and an open-air
bathroom. It’s a tad basic, but you’ll adapt. Treatment rooms hug the
riverbank, with floating muslin curtains and little decks where tea is Sanskrit mantras and evoke the divine blessings of health and abundance.
sipped to the strangely soothing soundtrack of the pounding Ayung river Even if you don’t manage that, you’ll have a giggle as it’s fun being
that flanks the resort. Seek the pragmatic, insightful and intuitive Janur splashed with healing water and banishing spirits by ringing bells. Cynics
to organise your programme; the treatment menu is so esoteric and may scoff that it’s all a bit New Agey, but they will be won over by what
geared to different levels of healing energy that you’ll need to be is served up in the vaulted dining room. The vegan food is a revelation: 80
navigated through it. And yet, it almost doesn’t matter what you choose, per cent of it is raw, and the menu reads like a culinary thesaurus. Order the
as all the therapists are Balinese healers who draw on profound psychic lasagne made with cashew cheese, and coconut crepes with caramelised
energies for each session. The only drawback is their stilted English, so onion and shiitake mushrooms. A few days here prove the concept of food
be prepared for little talk and plenty of trust. You’ll find every conceivable as medicine to be true: you leave feeling internally healed and nourished.
energy-healing, negativity-clearing, auric-cleansing emotional rebalancing INSIDER TIP Book a bodywork session with Pak Made, who can almost
available. Try grounding yin yoga or tantra healing yoga: it will leave you reset broken bones.
utterly spaced-out but reconnected. You can transform obsessive BOOK IT The Healthy Holiday Company (+44 20 8968 0501;
mental patterns with the Fire Blessing Ritual where, with a local priest, www.thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk) offers seven nights from
you will throw negative thoughts (along with lentils) into the fire, chant £2,299, including flights, transfers and breakfast.

H I LTO N S H I L L I M E S TAT E NEW

PUNE, INDIA
IN BRIEF Healthy hedonism as a Mumbai side trip
THE LOWDOWN Another stellar arrival on the Indian spa scene,
perfect for a three-day break after a city trip or for a week-long overhaul.
The journey here is therapy in itself; as soon as you leave the main road
at the Lonavala hill station, the drive becomes a pure joy as it climbs into
the tantalising, chiselled peaks of the Western Ghats and winds deeper
into the beautiful lake district of Maharashtra, dotted with sleepy villages
and ancient hilltop forts. It’s hard to believe there are 99 villas hidden
between the trees and lush undergrowth of this 320-acre retreat, set amid
pristine wilderness. The Spa Villas are vast and each comes with its own
heated pool: just the place to dust yourself down, take a deep breath of
fresh air (or ‘positive energy’ as your meditation tutor will call it) and start
to relax. Like all the architecture here, the villas are ultra-contemporary
and chic with clean lines, natural fabrics, wood and stone, and plenty of
light and space. It would be easy to spend your days just pottering around,
but you wouldn’t want to miss the morning yoga sessions led by the body-type-specific meal in the spa’s Green Table restaurant, where there
cosmically named Shine to a soundtrack of birdsong and whooping is also a light menu including dashi broth with teriyaki tofu (most of the
monkeys. Breakfast can be delivered to your villa, served as a picnic after ingredients are grown in the organic garden). Wind down with sunset
a sunrise trek, or taken in the indoor/outdoor Terrazzo restaurant where meditation in the womb-like cave; there are no distractions here, only the
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CALDICOTT

you’ll find everything from wheatgrass shots to quinoa porridge and South
Indian masala dosas. Then make for the spa. Dip in a toe by opting for a
classic scrub, wrap or yoga, or go for total immersion via chakra cleansing
and pranic healing. Under the guidance of spa manager Dr Dinesh Goswami
you can choose from 150 treatments, including Ayurvedic facials, Sundari
deep-tissue massage and the utterly sublime Yoga Nidra ‘psychic sleep’
therapy. Afterwards, kick back on a huge daybed in the Japanese-style
tearoom, cooled by the mountain breeze, sipping organic green tea with
fresh ginger and honey. Those reluctant to leave their bubble can order a
trickle of water and the melodious tones of teacher Vijay.
INSIDER TIP When you head out in the evening, be aware that some
guests aren’t on a regime. If you end up at the super-cool Shillim bar,
resist temptation and keep it virgin with a red pepper and pineapple juice.
BOOK IT Greaves Travel (+44 20 7487 9111; www.greavesindia.co.uk)
offers a tailormade trip from £2,075 with the three-night Experience
Shillim package, which includes breakfast, a consultation, a selection of
therapies, yoga and meditation, and three nights at Taj Lands End,
Mumbai, plus flights and transfers.

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NEW
MUKUL
GUACALITO DE L A ISL A, NICARAGUA
IN BRIEF Jungle retreat where privacy is paramount
THE LOWDOWN When there is a story this dramatic lurking behind
a spa concept, it’s hard not to be seriously intrigued. Back in the late
1980s, a Boeing 727 crashed in the mountains of Honduras, killing
almost all of its 141 passengers; among the nine who miraculously
survived, albeit with terrible burns, were Vivian and Carlos Pellas.
Fast-forward to 2013 and the opening of Mukul (it means ‘secret’),
Nicaragua’s first seriously smart boutique resort. It was the burns that
enveloped Mrs Pellas’ body in particular that inspired the couple to
create the spa. There are six domed, palapa-type buildings on the
rugged, tropical hillside of Nicaragua’s Emerald Coast, each of them
a private treatment pavilion with its own dedicated theme to help
you on the path to enlightenment. From the Rain Forest to the Secret
Garden – so secret you might not get to see it – each is inspired by
nature, from design details such as the dangling palm leaves tickling
the floor-to-ceiling windows, to the products themselves, which use
locally sourced and organic herbs and plants – from turmeric and rice
powder scrubs to cool, zesty yogurt face masks. What’s special here
is that it’s a purely two-way experience between you and your therapist;
no inquisitive eyes from others, no tricky communal relaxation room.
It is unique in its intense privacy and therefore perfect for anyone with
even a slither of insecurity, whether that be significant life-changing
scars or not-so-noteworthy patches of cellulite or an unwanted
muffin-top. And the therapist will personally escort you directly to
your spa experience, so there’s no need to even leave your bohio
(that’s how they say ‘beach shack’ in Spanish, though these ultra-smart
treehouse-style villas certainly aren’t beach huts). With zero
unnecessary fuss, or fear of awkward meetings with overly naked
strangers, the entire experience is yours and yours alone. The sunny
local therapists will instinctively wheedle out those weak points and
push you to your limit; it’s all about realigning your inevitably crooked
body and soul. Astonishingly, guests are allocated a whopping three
hours minimum (if not the whole day) at the spa, so go mad and roll
around on the gargantuan pillows in the palapa, dunk yourself in
and out of the vast plunge pool as many times as possible and fill that
petal-strewn, marble outdoor bath to its absolute limit.
INSIDER TIP If you happen to be staying in Bohio 14, watch out for
a curious knocking at your door early in the morning. It’s not the butler
with your dawn espresso, rather a pesky but charming blue jay seeking
your attention. This is all part of the Mukul magic.
BOOK IT Scott Dunn (+44 20 8682 5030; www.scottdunn.com)
offers five nights (plus a one-night stopover in Miami) from £2,870 full
board, including flights and transfers. 
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K A L A R I KOV I L A KO M
KERAL A, INDIA
IN BRIEF Strict, authentic, effective Ayurvedic escape
THE LOWDOWN Kerala is the birthplace of Ayurveda, thought to be
the oldest system of medicine known to humanity, and Kalari Kovilakom
is not only the region’s but the country’s leading centre. This is not
a place for people seeking indulgence, rather for those in need of
profound healing. The doctors pray over the medicines or medicated
oils they administer, and blessings are dispensed with every treatment.
From the minute you arrive at the 19th-century palace, you forget
the honking horns and bustle outside and enter monastic-style living.
Leather is forbidden, as are sunbathing and leaving the premises. The
gates shut, shoes are swapped for flip-flops, clothes for white cotton
pyjamas and kurtas (the three pairs provided serve as a uniform for
the entire stay; some people bring no clothes), and guests head to the
spartan room where they’ll spend a lot of time in isolation (and possibly
pain, as the body goes into crisis before it heals). Stress, slimming,
anti-ageing and the spectacularly cleansing Panchakarma rejuvenation
process are all covered. Whatever your focus, you’ll kick off with purging,
which means a few days of ghee (a clarified, medicated butter) for
breakfast, rice gruel for lunch, and for dinner a small, zero-fat, zero-
sugar, vegetarian dish. Meals are eaten on benches overlooking the
garden, providing little opportunity for conversation. Silence isn’t imposed,
but it is encouraged. While the food is far from indulgent, the Indian
spices and chutneys ensure it is delicious, and everyone is given a bespoke
menu. Ingredients are used therapeutically – for example, ginger for
warming – and if the request is for wheat-free, chapatis will be made with
rice or lentil flour. Just as the food is tailored, so too are daily prescriptions
provided by the doctor (so there’s no picking your own therapies).
Days are filled with yoga, a gentle morning stretch to move the ghee
around the body, deep relaxation to improve healing, breathing work and
sun salutations – and, of course, prescribed spa therapies. These can be
anything from Elakizhi, a pouch filled with leaves and herbs from the
garden is dipped in medicated oil, then dabbed over your body, leaving
you remarkably supple, to the more extreme enemas or nose cleanses.
After dinner, there are Ayurveda lectures, yogic chanting, candle-gazing
meditation and Indian dance performances. The minimum stay here is
two weeks, as this is considered sufficient time for the healing process
to take effect, but the rewards are profound, both physical and emotional.
So while the strictness of the regime may sound off-putting, remember
this is a spa with integrity and depth, and a cult following: 70 per cent
of guests are repeat clients.
INSIDER TIP The care continues on your return, so don’t be shy about
emailing your doctor with any questions. Dr Jouhar is so intuitive he
sometimes ignores what you say (in the politest way possible, of course)
because, as it turns out, he knows best.
BOOK IT Greaves Travel (+44 20 7487 9111; www.greavesindia.co.uk)
offers the 14-night Manasanthy Anti Stress Programme from £5,975
full board, including consultations, treatments, yoga, flights and transfers.
HOLISTIC HEALERS
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F R E GAT E I S L A N D P R I VAT E
FREGATE ISL AND, SEYCHELLES
IN BRIEF Wild but properly polished beach haven
THE LOWDOWN You’ll never forget your arrival here. Imagine
stepping back in time to the age of Charles Darwin, with flocks of
tropical birds, lime-green geckos and no fewer than 2,000 jumbo
Aldabra tortoises shuffling slowly among the lush grasses. There’s not
one, but seven palm-fringed beaches with spotless white sand, each
with clever ‘Beach Occupied’ signs at the cliff-top path which can be
flipped to ensure total privacy. And herein lies the magic of Frégate:
it’s not only low-key and alive with all the rhythms of nature (resident
conservationists take you on nature walks and, during nesting season,
you can watch Hawksbill turtles paddle ashore to lay their eggs)
but also smart, slick and smoothly operated by the Oetker Collection
group with everything the savvy traveller could wish for. The air
conditioning is so efficient it might freeze your camera. The butler lays
the table with different flowers each day and remembers where you
like your cushions placed. Guests are provided with a little buggy
which, come morning, is always ready to go: fully charged, packed
with rolled towels and water, and facing the right way, no matter how
haphazardly parked the previous night. Positioned high in the hills,
with its own beautiful water garden, the Rock Spa has a ‘fresh is best’
philosophy. Treatments focus on restoring balance and energy,
drawing on age-old know-how and the healing properties of locally
foraged plants, with lemon and cinnamon immune-building scrubs;
coconut and avocado body masks to hydrate the skin, and scalp
massages of hibiscus and holy basil. Massages run the full spectrum,
from aromatherapy, Swedish and Balinese to Thai and hot stone. You
can book yoga lessons, try a session to help strengthen your back, or
plump for one of the new Ayurvedic programmes (three, seven or 15
days) with the lovely Dr Haridas from Jodhpur. The range of Ayurvedic
treatments is impressive, majoring on the powerful effects of herbal
oils, and powders known for their rejuvenating properties. Come with
a bad knee and therapists will soothe it with pads of heated herbs
applied with just the right pressure. The chef can rustle up Ayurvedic
curries to suit your regime, but the normal food is so spectacular you
might not want to miss out. The colonial Plantation House restaurant
serves wonderful Créole food, with organic salads such as shrimp with
shredded palm hearts at one end of the spectrum, and Bunter’s
Delight – the melting chocolate pudding – at the other. After dinner,
sip rum and Coke at the Pirates Bar beach hut while gazing at the
stars, then sleep like a newborn baby. This is a peaceful, private and
totally natural paradise to take you back to yourself again.
INSIDER TIP Don’t bother to pack many clothes: you really won’t see
anyone else (this is not a place for the glitzy or socially inclined).
BOOK IT Africa Travel (+44 20 7843 3500; www.africatravel.co.uk)
offers seven nights from £9,095 full board, including flights and
helicopter transfers.
32 Spa Guide June 2014
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AY U RV E DA R E S O R T S O N N H O F
THIERSEE VALLEY, AUSTRIA
IN BRIEF Great-value and accessible Ayurveda
THE LOWDOWN Some of the best spa bargains in Europe can be
found in the Tyrolean mountain villages where small, family-run hotels
have changed with the times, adding treatment wings, installing sauna
and steam rooms (they really excel at this) and removing dumplings
from the menu. The 30-room Sonnhof, which underwent complete
refurbishment and reopened in 2012 as an Ayurvedic spa, is a particularly
shining example. You open the curtains every morning to heart-lifting
views of snowy peaks, breathe in the purest air, eat nutritious food,
sleep in spotless surroundings, and then at the end of the week there’s
no horrible shock when you inspect the bill. What really distinguishes this
place, however, is that along with the much more expensive Parkschlössen
in Germany, the Kempinski in Gozo and the Hotel de France in Jersey,
it is one of only a handful of hotels this close to home to offer proper
Ayurveda. Dr Alaettin Sinop, an Indian GP and naturopath, can tell just
by holding your hand what sort of highly strung state of mind you are in.
Alongside Ayurvedic practitioner Dr Gaurav Sharma, Dr Sinop presides
over a 13-strong team offering a huge programme: everything from
shirodhara (an insanely relaxing treatment where warm oil is poured onto
your forehead) to the traditional Panchakarma detox (brilliant for shifting
weight, this involves minimal food, ghee to slosh out your digestive
system, daily yoga, breathing exercises and a lot of massage); acupuncture
was recently introduced, too. There is also a three-day cookery course
run by Swiss Ayurvedic chef Johannes Baumgartner, who spent years
in India cooking for temple monks. You’ll learn about spices and their
various healing properties – fennel seeds to cleanse the breath, nutmeg
in warm water to induce sleep – and recipes such as three-minute banana
curry with cumin, ginger, chilli, cinnamon and cream; or the marvellously
detoxifying and energising green mung-bean soup. The Ayurvedic spa
was the idea of Brigitte Mauracher, late wife of the owner Johann and
mother to the eager, friendly Lisa and Christina, both in their 20s. Sadly,
Brigitte died just a few months after the opening, so it has been left to
her daughters to put into practice all that she had planned. Lisa teaches
yoga and meditation, and Christina has a degree in Ayurvedic science
medicine which she puts into practice here on a daily basis. ‘We try to
make everything as wonderful as our mother would have made it, to
honour her memory,’ explains Christina. Perhaps as a result of this
sentiment, there’s an immediate emotional connection when you arrive at
the hotel, which no doubt enhances the healing work done here.
INSIDER TIP Book the Ayurveda Suite, which looks straight across the
mountain and valley. And you must go for a walk in the mountains:
possibly the best treatment available anywhere.
BOOK IT Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.healingholidays.
co.uk/condenast) offers a three-night Ayurveda Taster from £719
full board, including flights, transfers, treatments, yoga and meditation
activities, and use of the Ayurveda Centre.
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
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Clockwise from top left: sanctuary for the senses

Spa therapists at Banyan
Tree Phuket; Hot Spring
Pool at Angsana
All Banyan Tree Spas are created with the senses in
Tengchong · Hot Spring mind and each treatment enhances and enlivens
Village in China; View touch, smell, sight and sound. Banyan Tree
from Al Khaimah Pool signature treatments also incorporate local
Villa at Banyan Tree ingredients to create unique destination-inspired
Al Wadi in the UAE experiences. A stalwart in ancient Asian medicine,
ginger is often found on the spa menu. Many
treatments draw on this ingredient but the two that
get rave reviews are the wonderful Warm Ginger
Body Scrub at Banyan Tree Hangzhou (great for
circulation and detoxification) and the Thai Ginger
Healer (Banyan Tree Phuket) with its invigorating
Ginger Body Scrub, Thai Herbal Heat Treatment,
Herbal Enhancer Body Wrap, yoga massage and
aromatic Ginger Bath. Lemongrass is also a spa

health& HOLIDAYS
menu mainstay: its scent calms, aids relaxation and
reduces anxiety. Other ingredients used are soya
beans (great antioxidants that help slow down the
development of wrinkles) and sesame oil used as
part of the legendary Royal Banyan treatment
In 1994 Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts pioneered the tropical garden spa concept: – a must-try at all Banyan Tree Spas.
\HDUVRQLWUHPDLQVDVSDUHVRUWEUDQGE\ZKLFKRWKHUVDUHGH¿QHG
Jax Coco is just as nature intended,
100 percent pure coconut water with absolutely
no added sugar, preservatives or colouring. What’s
or a total spa pick-me-up, Banyan Tree is one Rainforest Experience (available at Banyan Tree Al more it is super hydrating, packed full of natural

F of our all-time favourites. Celebrating its 20th

anniversary, the internationally-renowned group
has teamed up with Jax Coco, the environmentally-
conscious coconut water favoured by celebrities, sports
stars and health experts. This exotic duo celebrates the
Wadi, Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Banyan Tree Samui
and Banyan Tree Sanya). This is a state-of-the-art
hydrotherapy facility infused with Asian-inspired
therapies: a one-off rejuvenating bliss-out for mind,
body and soul. Another recent addition to Banyan
electrolytes and great to combine with a healthy
lifestyle, low in calories and tastes delicious.

For further information and special

offers visit banyantree.com/jaxcoco
natural and puts healthy lifestyles first. Tree’s spa portfolio is its hot spring retreats in China or call 00800 300 200 00
at Banyan Tree
where it all started Chongqing Beibei and
Angsana Tengchong ·
Banyan Tree’s story started with the opening of Asia’s Hot Spring Village.
first tropical garden spa resort, Banyan Tree Phuket. These retreats are an
The concept being a holistic spa that uses traditional ode to everything that
Eastern therapies passed down through the generations. Banyan Tree stands for
Named after the sacred tree, Banyan Tree Spa Phuket and anyone Beibei-
offers guests a total Sanctuary for the Senses, a place for bound should try their
physical, mental and spiritual renewal. To achieve this, it signature treatments
focuses on a non-clinical ‘high-touch, low-tech’ approach using volcanic mud.
that celebrates human touch alongside the use of natural The private hot spring
herbs and spices. Following its extraordinary success in pools provide healing
Phuket, Banyan Tree has taken its unique approach benefits used in China
global, opening more than 30 spa resorts in 20 years. for centuries and the
dramatic landscapes
innovative vision of mountains, rivers
and temples add a
Banyan Tree is both founder and innovator in the heightened sense
ever-evolving spa industry: recent creations include the of the spiritual.

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SUNSHINE SAVIOURS
A reinvigorating blast of heat just when you need it, with therapists and treatments on tap

34 Spa Guide June 2014

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BEST
HEALTHY VA M I Z I I S L A N D
HIDEAWAY
QUIRIMBAS ARCHIPEL AGO,
MOZAMBIQUE
IN BRIEF Unspoilt castaway paradise for bespoke nurturing
THE LOWDOWN What a beach this is: wild and windswept, dotted
with driftwood, all manner of shells and creamy coral. Sea turtles
nest on the downy white sands; the conservation team has tagged one
of them, Claudia, and tracked her all the way to Kenya. The water is
endless different shades of blue and grey and can reach a bath-warm
30°C, while never dipping below 20°C – this is a genuine year-round
destination, though winds perk up between January and March.
And when the tide is out a vast, lunar-white landscape reveals itself.
A stay here is a reminder that nature is the most powerful spa of all:
soft, frothy clouds hang delicately in the sky, weaver birds sing to each
other as they build nests in the fringes of your villa, and the sea can
be heard all night. The island, which is home to not only the hotel but
three villages, has all manner of wildlife: kingfishers dart in the bushes;
butterflies land on your shoulder as you drive along its rocky roads
in a Jeep; monkeys have been known to pilfer from guests’ rooms;
and if you’re lucky you’ll spot a king crab, though you don’t want to
tread on one in the dark as they can grow up to a metre long. After a
few days here in the midst of a British winter, you will come up for air
like a blinking mole emerging into the light. The general manager’s wife,
Meg Fey – a South African in her 30s, who grew up on a dairy farm –
is a one-woman health team. She’s brilliant, balanced, strong and
wise, and performs some of the best reflexology anywhere, reading your
body as if she knows you inside-out. She also gives wondrous massages
with coconut and vanilla, facials using wild ginger and ginseng, head
massages that leave you snoozing, and soulful, one-on-one unravelling
yoga at just the right pace, accompanied by the sound of chirping
crickets. As there is no actual spa building, all therapies take place in
your villa. There are no lists, no forms, no staff asking you a million
times, ‘Did you enjoy your treatment?’ All you need is someone with
healing hands who listens to you and your body. You soon start
to feel better, brighter. There’s no requirement to detox here, either.
The food is fresh and inventive. A breakfast of just-squeezed orange
juice, platters of fruit, creamy yogurt with sticky granola, and wholegrain
toast with homemade jams and marmalades flavoured with cumin
is a comforting and reliable start to the day. Lunch might come in
the form of a hideaway picnic, perhaps by a deserted lighthouse. And
a picnic is never actually just a picnic: there will be soup to start – cold
and zingy courgette, mint and lime - followed by maybe three different
salads, kingfish with chickpeas and aubergine, a magnificent barbequed
lobster, then watermelon sorbet to finish. There are drinks and nibbles,
such as spankingly fresh sashimi, at the main lodge before dinner,
where you’ll be asked your plans for the next day, and then treats such
as grilled halloumi with beetroot or spiced snapper with vegetables.
You soon slip into the cool, laidback African rhythm of the place, playing
backgammon, reading a stash of books, signing up for another massage.
Its reputation has fluctuated over the years, but right now Vamizi is top
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CALDICOTT

of its game (more so than Zanzibar’s Mnemba). It’s extremely special,

unplugged, low-impact, eco-minded and gloriously unmanicured.
A step back in time, while also being totally up to speed.
INSIDER TIP There’s a World Wildlife Fund base here, and conservation
is a cornerstone of the development of Vamizi, so don’t miss the
top-notch lectures by naturalists in the treehouse.
BOOK IT Africa Travel (+44 20 7843 3500; www.africatravel.co.uk)
offers seven nights from £5,195, full board, including guided
activities, flights and transfers.

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SUNSHINE SAVIOURS
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B A N YA N T R E E S E YC H E L L E S
MAHE, SEYCHELLES
IN BRIEF Ultra-reliable brand with authoritative know-how
THE LOWDOWN Banyan Tree is a hotel group renowned for delivering
zoned-out pampering to perfection, so you feel completely calm and
cossetted in capable hands. Its therapists all undergo formal training at
spa academies in Indonesia, Thailand or Lijiang and embody an innate
grace, ever-sensitive to guests’ needs. At this slick Seychelles hideout,
irresistible extras include a near-empty powdery beach, Bombay
Sapphire-colour seas and a preternaturally back-to-nature setting. There
may be 60 villas, but they’re so well hidden on the hillside you’d never
know. In fact, where is everyone? Six guests on the kilometre-long beach
and it’s a traffic jam. The wow factor here is the space and privacy.
Skinny-dip in your villa’s pool and shower on the outdoor deck – no one
will notice. At the spa, paths wind around palm trees and huge granite
boulders then up to the breezy open-sided pavilions, designed
so that as you gaze over the tree canopy there’s not a soul to be seen.
Hi-tech gizmos have no place here: it’s all about ancient Asian traditions
(Thai, Indonesian, Ayurvedic), natural ingredients (cucumber, coconut,
lemongrass) and plenty of time – diminutive Thai and Balinese spa staff
apologise that massages are only two hours long. Don’t be fooled by
their seraphic appearance: these therapists are firm and thorough, and
they’ll turn you away from a facial if you’re sunburnt. Submit to the
Royal Banyan – three hours of acupressure, herbal compresses, face
and head massage – and you’ll emerge as relaxed as a rag doll. Book for
late afternoon and in that final, limpid moment – a soak in a ginger-
infused bath – you’ll gaze up through palm fronds at a starlit sky. Lower
back pain? Book a herbal pouch massage. Knotted muscles? Balinese
or lomi-lomi massage. Tension headache? Ayurvedic Shirodhara. Can’t
decide? Go for the Oriental Romance, a steam bath, body scrub, Thai
massage and super-softening facial. The approach isn’t for everyone:
it’s a bit incense-y and there’s no one to rake the sand or move your
sunbed into the shade. But if you get the vibe, you’ll love it.
INSIDER TIP Rawisa is tiny with a sweet smile, but she will stretch
your body to places it’s never gone before. And you’ll swear she’s
grown an extra pair of hands as she soothes every hard-boiled knot.
BOOK IT Seven nights from £1,822 including breakfast. +248
438 3500; www.banyantree.com. Ethiopian Airlines (+44 800
635 0644; www.ethiopianairlines.com) flies to Mahé, Seychelles
via Addis Ababa six times a week.

O N E & O N LY R E E T H I R A H
NORTH MALE ATOLL, MALDIVES
IN BRIEF Revved-up and highly manicured island hotspot
THE LOWDOWN If you’re not averse to being over-spoilt this hotel
is heaven, with beneficent staff whizzing around in white buggies,
delivering Champagne on ice and ferrying guests from A to B. Each
beach villa is a palatial space of Malaysian-influenced mahogany and
teak and opens onto a private pool for late-night dips. The sea is a
sensation for swimming, snorkelling or soaking off jet lag, and the
perfect foil to the island’s Japanese-inspired gem: the spa. A sip of
ginger tea heralds the start of an extraordinary journey through
verdant gardens to a treatment room that feels the epitome of
tranquillity. Therapies marry science with a holistic approach. The
two-hour detox is a thorough overhaul – after
weeks). Continue your health drive in the resort’s four restaurants,
where the Clean&Lean range (devised in partnership with Bodyism,
the company founded by exercise-expert-to-the-stars James Duigan)
comprises items light in calories but laden with taste, such as
Atlantic salmon ceviche and Vietnamese rice rolls. Perhaps the star
of the show, though, is the enchantingly lit, overwater Tapasake
restaurant serving wagyu beef and buttery black cod. But then,
there is no weak link in this seamless production. Indeed, there is an
improbable sense of the possible: everything can be perfect, and
you will certainly leave feeling more so.
INSIDER TIP Be sure to take a boat trip to the reef where, in an
underwater circus among the blue and
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CALDICOTT

being scrubbed, wrapped and rinsed in an pink corals, parrot fish, starfish and pufferfish
outside shower with a view, you feel pure, perform, and perhaps the graceful turtle
free of stress and toxins. Both a Clarisonic will give a slow royal wave with one flipper
cleanser and icy rose crystals are swooshed as he surfaces for air. 
over skin in the Rejuvenating Facial – this is a BOOK IT Elegant Resorts (+44 1244
spa as indulgence, but with enough 897525; www.elegantresorts.co.uk)
technological savvy to ensure lasting results offers seven nights from £3,675, including
(so that forehead crease remains at bay for flights, transfers and breakfast.

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NEW
C H E VA L B L A N C R A N D H E L I
NOONU ATOLL, MALDIVES
IN BRIEF Glamour and sophistication amid endless sea
THE LOWDOWN Eight years after the LVMH group opened its first
Cheval Blanc hotel in Courchevel, here at last is its second outpost.
As the de Havilland flying boat splashes down into a lagoon then chugs
towards the hotel’s jetty, you know it’s going to be just as glitzy, just
as elegant. In fact, it’s knockout. Like Courchevel, the palette is
taupe, mother of pearl and oyster grey, with flashes of lemon yellow,
a Vincent Beaurin-sculptured sun disc on the wall here, a row of
cushions on a white sofa there. Nine thousand down- and feather-
filled pillows and cushions were delivered to this 45-villa, Jean-Michel
Gathy-designed resort. For the villas, Gathy has shamelessly repeated
the airy, cathedral-roofed loft style he used at Reethi Rah, and they
are easily the most stunning spaces in the whole of the Maldives.
Pleasing little details reveal themselves everywhere, from the candles
in primrose glass holders lit beside your free-standing bath each lapping lagoon. Even the rattan ceiling is exquisitely crafted. The anti-
evening, to the straw-coloured espadrilles in the dressing room – in jet-lag head massage sounds tempting but is, bizarrely, a thumping
your shoe size, of course, thanks to the pre-departure questionnaire endurance test that feels more like punishment than pleasure. Instead,
sent by the resort ‘alchemists’. The French concept of l’art de recevoir choose from the languorous full-body massages, which are exactly
is the big thing here. The alchemists are keen to flex their muscles what you want: straightforward, with an adept mix of strokes and the
and organise a hurricane-lamp-lit dinner on a remote sandbank, gentlest of facials to follow, all using Guerlain products and a choice
yoga at dawn, or golf on a practice range where, if hit into the water, of scents such as stimulating citrus or smoky incense. Afterwards,
the biodegradable balls become fish food. The tasting menu at Le steam away in the dramatic hammam. Then, if you are too dazed to
1947, the wagyu burgers (about £35) in the beach café and Spanish- move, Moosa or one of the other butlers will jump aboard the dhoni
Japanese fusion restaurant The Diptyque also exert a powerful and escort you home.
lure. But once you’ve taken the dhoni across to the spa, on a palm- INSIDER TIP This is a family-friendly hotel, too, so you can schedule
shaded island of its own, you’ll want to stay put. In the six large, long hours in the spa while the over-threes head to Le Carrousel with
thatched treatment villas, the changing rooms alone are so white- its waterslide and crafts room, children’s yoga and beach treasure hunts.
on-white gorgeous – big shower room, long dressing table, enticing BOOK IT Cazenove+Loyd (+44 20 7384 2332; www.cazloyd.
box of cosmetics – you might forget to scamper through and climb com) offers seven nights from £5,630 per person, including flights,
on to the massage table, just feet away from the beach and the transfers and breakfast.

A M A N ZO E
PELOPONNESE, GREECE
IN BRIEF Lush and indulgent long-weekend break
THE LOWDOWN Set inland, but with elevated views of the deep blue
Aegean sea, this is a serenely spartan resort. The design is pure Ed
Tuttle: marble alcoves, reflective ponds and white colonnades based
on ancient Grecian designs. Its 38 gloriously large villas have sun
terraces and mini pools, while inside all is grey and white sleekness with
a scattering of sculptured heads, tortoiseshell bowls and ceramic vases
filled with sprigs of home-grown herbs. The beach is a short drive or
20-minute cycle away, or you can sunbathe on the wide, cinnamon-
brown-striped loungers beside the vast main pool. There’s a tennis court
and gym, and one-to-one personal training and yoga can also be booked.
Pilates is taught in an impressively equipped studio by Alexandra, who
begins any session with a thorough postural assessment. She trained
with Pilates consultant and clinical therapist Ivana Daniell, who runs
retreats here every May and September. The spa speciality is the gentle, olive oil and mint. Then wander back to your room and catch the scent
water-based body therapy Watsu. All the therapists are taught by aquatic of lavender and rosemary on the breeze. Meals include Greek-inspired
bodywork specialist Steve Karle, and sessions take place in a soothing, comfort food such as giant salads with tuna and fresh grilled octopus.
light-filled pavilion. Watch the sky through the bamboo ceiling as the Breakfasts are especially impressive – there’s a ‘morning salad’ of
empathetic Sophia swishes you through the water in her surprisingly smoked salmon with quail’s eggs, cinnamon toast and the Amanzoe
strong arms – she’s very good at Thai massage, too. Tranquility prevails Intelligence, a delicious smoothie of avocado, mint, lime and pear.
in the rest of the spa, the design of which gives you the impression INSIDER TIP For total privacy on the shoreline, hire a cabana at the
of being in a temple. A hammam has opened this spring, under the Beach Club, where you’ll be looked after by attentive but unobtrusive
watchful eye of dashing spa manager Stavros, and for something more staff. Guests will find a chic black canvas beach bag and floppy straw
straightforward there’s a menu of holistic facials and body treatments. hat waiting in their pavilion, so no need to pack those.
These use Aman’s own chemical-free products, devised by Sodashi, as BOOK IT Pool Pavilion from about £1,115. +44 800 2255 2626; www.
well as local ingredients including sea salt to exfoliate and orange oil to amanresorts.com. British Airways (+44 844 493 0787; www.ba.com/
refresh. Try the clay wraps with yogurt, or aromatherapy massage with athens) flies from Heathrow to Athens four times a day.

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V I C E R OY A N G U I L L A
ANGUILL A, CARIBBEAN
IN BRIEF Designer Caribbean with a pampering edge
THE LOWDOWN On a clear day you can see St Barth’s in the distance,
but Anguilla is a world away, the less showy – and some would say
prettier – sister. Set above Meads Bay, one of the West Indies’ most
perfect beaches, the Viceroy is all rock ’n’ roll, funky design with views
of the turquoise ocean everywhere you look. Kitted out by the super
stylish Kelly Wearstler, it’s where Californian cool meets the Caribbean
heat. In keeping with the stingray-skin-covered furniture and modern
sculpture, guests dress to impress, so pack your Melissa Odabash kaftan
and Charlotte Olympia wedges. Days are spent flitting between beach
loungers, the shady cabanas (with vast sofas, mini fridges and TVs) around
the pool and, of course, the grade-A spa on the cliff top. Treatments
are refreshingly hi-tech for these parts: ultrasonic microdermabrasion,
LED light therapy, and skin-firming Valmont facials using medical-grade
collagen masks. More soulful is the Raindrop Harmony – a spine-tingling
massage in which warm essential oils are dripped up your back – or
the Earth and Air Ritual, a treatment inspired by Native American
wisdom, which aligns your chakras using colourful silk veils whispered
over your skin. It sounds weird, but it really lifts tension from the most
frazzled parts of your body. With a big posse of guests from LA, the
gym is also a focal point and you can sign up for spin classes and power
yoga (it’s modelled on ashtanga, so you’ll need to be fairly fit). At night,
a DJ spins reggae in the sunset bar, and you’ll enjoy a spectacular
supper at Coba, such as red snapper and truffle fries. For something
more relaxed, head down the road to the On Da Rocks bar – the locals’
best-kept secret – for the best crayfish of your life.
INSIDER TIP A couple of spa treatments are available poolside, so you
can have a hydrating, sun-protection mask applied to your hair, or a
speedy neck, back and shoulder massage, without leaving your sunbed. 
BOOK IT Abercrombie & Kent (+44 845 485 1146; www.
abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers seven nights from £1,875, including
flights, transfers and breakfast.

NEW
P O I N T YA M U BY C O M O
PHUKET, THAIL AND
IN BRIEF Thailand’s most exciting opening this year
THE LOWDOWN Being rhythmically massaged to the point where
you feel your mind is melting, while gazing out over the Andaman Sea,
is an experience that should come with a warning: it’s addictive. No
sooner is your 75-minute session over than you want it to start all over
again. The flickering candles scent the air with jasmine and lemongrass
and by merely lifting your head you can drink in a view of Phang Nga
Bay and its awesome limestone islands – one of the most iconic sights
in Asia. COMO took over this property last year, making Point Yamu
its first island hotel in Thailand, and you can see why: it’s a wonderful
spot, fresh and modern – all open, airy spaces with flashes of
turquoise and endless beguiling detail, from the enveloping cotton
bathrobes in the sybaritic bathrooms to the lobster-trap lampshades,
black-and-white striped crockery and walls hung with Thai roof tiles.
In terms of design, nowhere in Phuket matches it. The fact that you
are on the uncluttered, unspoiled side of the island helps, too. Come
for quietness, for contemplation, and for a spa with mellow, holistic
undertones. As at her hotel Parrot Cay, the
therapists are exceptional, with magic hands;
it’s rumoured that billionaire owner Christina
Ong personally picks all staff. Treatments
range from massages to detoxing skin
treatments, but also include Thai Lanna-
heritage therapies developed over 2,000
years ago, which use only a small amount
of oil. Or no oil at all, in the case of the Thai
massage, where you wear pyjamas and are stretched in all directions
to unleash trapped energy. Other options include the abdominal chi
massage – great for those with digestion issues, if a little painful – and
the full body compress using warm boluses filled with up to 12 different
traditional herbs. There are free 8am and late-afternoon yoga, t’ai chi
or Pilates classes run by Asis, a former monk, as well as biking around
Yamu village, diving, deep-sea fishing and snorkelling off Phi Phi
Island. But nothing beats stretching out on one of the massage beds.
And the isolated setting, on the crest of a breezy headland where
you can still spot elephants in the rubber plantations, means that after
check-in, guests tend to stay put. Once or twice, you’ll want to board
a long-tail boat for the 20-minute ride to the hotel’s island beach club,
since the one drawback about Point Yamu is the lack of an expanse
of sand (the shoreline around the headland is muddy, visited only
by locals foraging for molluscs). But you’ll spend much of your time by
the gigantic 100-metre pool outside the glass-walled La Sirena
restaurant until your next spa appointment comes around.
INSIDER TIP Buy Very Thai, the witty but
profound insider’s guide to Thai pop culture,
including the national obsession with
massage, by Philip Cornwel-Smith and John
Goss. It’s perfect reading for the spa terrace.
BOOK IT Carrier (+44 161 492 1355; 
www.carrier.co.uk) offers seven nights
from £1,585, including flights, transfers
and breakfast.

38 Spa Guide June 2014

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Serenity and spirituality meet state-of-the art
facilities at The Mulia – Nusa Dua, Bali
Clockwise from this image:
Ocean pool at Mulia Resort;
The Lounge at The Mulia;
Ice Room at Mulia Spa;
and The Baron Suite
ali, island of the gods, blessed with lush forests,
B white sand beaches, verdant terraced paddy
fields and rugged mountains. There’s a thriving
spa scene in this naturally spiritual land; Bali
really understands wellness. Now there’s a new player
on the scene with unrivalled standards of comfort,
luxury and service. The Mulia – Nusa Dua, in Bali
is a new six-star, all-suite resort, recently voted one of
Condé Nast Traveler’s best new hotels in the world.
Facing out over one of Bali’s loveliest beaches, the
hotel combines a relaxed, breezy nonchalance with
seriously slick, gilt-edged opulence.
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
blissedout
sun-kissed both Asian and Western techniques. Mulia Spa has
also recently introduced full day wellness programmes,
Suites are vast, most with spacious balconies complete with wellness cuisine and a training regime
overlooking the Indian Ocean giving you a front that is designed to nurture and restore wellbeing.
row seat for spectacular sunsets. All come with
private jacuzzis and personal butler service. Three For more information visit themulia.com
restaurants – Chinese, Mediterranean and Pan or email info.EUR@themulia.com
Asian and Japanese – serve some of the best food
on the island and all are beautiful, carefully
curated spaces. There’s also a complimentary
breakfast and a decadent Afternoon Tea, served
overlooking the spectacular oceanfront pool
surrounded by private cabanas.
rising spa
The Mulia Spa is a serene, calming, lemongrass-
scented space that promotes a sense of peace the
moment you arrive. The minimalist aesthetic –
marble corridors, wooden slatted walls and
soothing, natural tones – belies a serious, state-of-
the-art facility. The Spa Wellness Suite includes an
Aroma Steam Room, a Finnish wood sauna and
the Asia Pacific’s only Ice Fountain room with
chromatherapy chakra-cleansing colours. There’s
also a hot and cold hydrotonic pool – excellent for
detoxing and kick-starting sluggish metabolisms,
and award-winning hammam tables for incredible
deep cleansing scrubs. Holistic treatments are
based on ancient wisdoms which believe in ‘senus
per aquam’ – healing through water – and fuse
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Rich culture, stunning scenery and mouth-watering food are three good reasons to visit Thailand.
Exceptional spas offering mind, body and life-changing treatments are the real clinchers
T
hailand is the original spa
destination in Asia and, thanks
to innovative and highly
effective treatments delivered
in breathtakingly beautiful
surroundings, it continues to
delight those in need of rest and
rejuvenation. Whether your aim is
to leave looking younger, feeling
energised or completely overhaul
your health and wellbeing, let spa
specialist Healing Holidays arrange
your perfect Thai escape. All you
need to do is pack.
THAITHERAPY
CHIVA-SOM, HUA HIN
Chiva-Som, Asia’s original destination spa, has been transforming the minds, bodies and spirits of spa
goers for nearly 20 years. 2014 has seen the internationally acclaimed health resort re-design and
revamp its retreats, ensuring each one is even more focused on guests’ individual goals. Choose from 11
themed programmes, including A Taste of Chiva-Som, which is ideal for newbies, Inner Peace, which is
perfect for stressed-out souls, and Art of Detox, which is a must for those in need of a thorough cleanse.
The newest addition to the range of life-enhancing retreats is Optimal Performance, a programme that
aims to enhance physical fitness and elevate emotional and spiritual functioning. Drawing on treatments
and classes from the resort’s fitness and physiotherapy departments, this is an ideal retreat both for those
wanting to ramp up their fitness regime and those recovering from illness or injury. Athletes and those
of the non-athletic persuasion are all welcome. Chiva-Som’s renowned gourmet spa cuisine is
designed to complement each retreat, with creations which are delicious and imaginative yet
low in fat, sugar, salt and calories.
Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night Optimal Performance programme from £3,399.00 per person sharing.
This includes flights, transfers, full-board accommodation in an ocean room, a wellness consultation and treatments.
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 T R AVE L L E R A D VE RT I SE M E NT FE AT U R E

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KAMALAYA WELLNESS SANCTUARY
AND HOLISTIC SPA
SPA, KOH SAMUI
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ABSOLUTE SANCTUARY, KOH SAMUI

Since its inception six years ago, boutique wellness resort
Absolute Sanctuary has evolved to become one of Asia’s top
spa resorts. It’s easy to see why: its location, in the hillside of
tropical island Koh Samui, presents stunning views over the
Gulf of Thailand; its Love Kitchen restaurant serves the best
spa cuisine on the island; and the state-of-the-art detox centre
offers cleansing programmes that will leave you squeaky clean
from the inside out. Choose from its comprehensive range of
detox programs that feature colon hydrotherapy sessions,
detox drinks, nutritional supplements, massages and yoga
classes held in one of its fully-equipped yoga studios.
Speaking of yoga, you don’t have to be a yoga enthusiast to
stay here but you’ll be in exceedingly good company if you
are because Absolute Sanctuary has become a popular
destination for teacher-training courses and workshops run
by world-renowned yogis, the resort is also the first to launch
a pilates reformer bootcamp holiday in Asia. As well as top-
notch detoxes and yoga classes, Absolute Sanctuary excels in
pampering treatments and rejuvenating therapies. Massages,
facials and healing cures abound in the spa. Then retire to
your Moroccan-styled room to rest and reflect.

Healing Holidays can arrange an eight-night detox stay from £1,850.00

per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers, accommodation, full board,
a wellness consultation and detox treatments. Exclusive to Traveller readers:
book an eight-night programme and receive two additional nights free
including breakfast, a complimentary room upgrade, a pilates group
reformer class and a Thai massage.

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 WorldMags.net
GET FIT
The top spots to shape up

42 Spa Guide June 2014

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 MOST
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CONSISTENT
HIGH
PERFORMER I N : S PA
ANDALUCIA, SPAIN
IN BRIEF Exceptional year-round detox and fitness
THE LOWDOWN Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, In:Spa
is still absolutely at the top of its game, running an extensive
programme of seven-day combined exercise, detox and yoga retreats
in boutique-hotel settings in the South of France, Marrakech and
Spain, to which it flies in its own team of experts. Because the courses
are run each and every month, there are plenty of dates to choose
from, so not only can you do a week to get bikini-ready for the beach,
but you can also head off for a post-summer reboot in Provence, or
sign up for a holistic rather than hedonistic New Year’s Eve in Morocco.
The private outpost in Andalucía is a 21-room, converted 18th-century
monastery with a fabulous swimming pool and good-sized bedrooms
(stone floors, traditional furniture, shady terraces) arranged over two
storeys on either side of a beautiful courtyard filled with orange trees
and bougainvillaea. Bad eating habits are stopped from the get-go:
alcohol, salt, caffeine, red meat, wheat and sugar are all banned and
replaced with dishes including roast chicken with garlic, lemon and
rosemary for lunch and watermelon gazpacho followed by Thai
fish curry for dinner. Punishing yourself isn’t the point; instead, it’s
about overhauling your system through re-education and exercise.
Nutritionist Claudia Norris, a lecturer at the UK College of Nutrition
and Health, really knows her stuff and teaches the importance of
controlling blood-sugar levels and getting your acid/alkaline balances
right. Chef Miranda Martin gives simple cooking demonstrations of
meals that can be easily recreated at home, such as turkey skewers
with chilli, lime and ginger. Similarly, head personal trainer Stan Blair
puts together routines to squeeze in around a busy lifestyle, whether
at 6am before a breakfast meeting or after the children go to bed at
night. Even if 20 minutes is all you have, there are no excuses.
Sceptics soon start to believe in the power of a decent diet; arriving
ragged, they leave bursting with energy. During the day, there are
anusara yoga sessions in the converted stables (with the odd donkey
sighting for distraction), guided 10km hikes through the spectacular,
rugged surrounding hills, hardcore circuits, boxing and highly
energetic dance classes led by former Stomp performer Dan Baines.
All this is counterbalanced with wonderful deep-tissue and restorative
massages to soothe aches and pains. During summer retreats, the
heat of southern Spain makes working out seem twice as hard,
although programmes are tailored to your ability so you won’t feel out
of your depth. Alternatively, for those who are super-keen there are
optional extras such as morning runs and one-on-one yoga. There’s
also plenty of downtime for swimming and reading, but don’t expect
too much solitary peace. This is a group holiday, which means lots
of motivating camaraderie, everyone eating and chatting together
at meal times; some trips have even resulted in marriage (plenty of
men have caught the In:Spa bug too). While the programme is mapped
out in advance, there’s also scope for some spontaneous magic. If
there’s a full moon you’ll be jollied outside for starlit salutations and
you can combine mountain biking with bird spotting on a dusk ride to
see the nightjars. For the journey home, you’re sent on your way
with a lifeline for the plane: a delicious chickpea, tomato and chicken
salad box to help you avoid an in-flight junk-food relapse. No wonder
this company’s reputation is so rock solid.
INSIDER TIP In:Spa’s excellent sister outfits include Destination Yoga
and Fitscape, for those who want even more of an emphasis on either
yoga or fitness. Both also operate all year round.
BOOK IT A seven-night retreat costs from £1,995 full board,
including all group activities, a nutrition consultation, a personal
training session, two massages and transfers. +44 20 8968 0501;
www.inspa-retreats.com
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THE FITNESS RENAISSANCE
TUSCANY, ITALY
IN BRIEF Grand but grounded sweaty overhaul
THE LOWDOWN An impressive 18th-century summer villa with a
majestic open-air amphitheatre is the extraordinary backdrop for an
intense week of fitness run by Welsh personal trainer Drew Perrott. Expect
an energising programme that begins the moment you drive through the
wrought-iron gates and up to the classical façade of Villa di Geggiano.
Its immaculate box hedges and line of lemon trees are so uniform in their
layout you feel inclined to walk that little bit taller straight away. Despite
its grand location, this retreat is very much a family affair. Perrott’s mother
Christine devises the list of holistic treatments, which include reflexology,
reiki and massage. Brothers Andrea and Alessandro Boscu Bianchi
Bandinelli, whose family inherited the villa in 1527, are your hosts and
they give heartfelt encouragement over the course of the week. The dirt
tracks that lead off from every corner of the estate and disappear into
the distance are the only clue as to how far you will run over the following
days, that and the Epsom bath salts thoughtfully placed in each bathroom
to ease muscles. Perrott puts you through your paces at sunrise every
morning, up and down the steep slopes of the Chianti countryside.
Before arriving in Italy, he will discuss your health history and thoroughly
establish what you hope to achieve. He is no pushover, but above all he
is focused on improving your technique, so depending on your fitness
levels you can choose between a run or power walk, followed by stretching.
Then circuits, core work, boxing and weights, swiftly followed by a dip
in the icy plunge pool to stimulate blood flow and boost your metabolism.
The routine is different each day and Perrott’s fitness knowledge, from
yoga to Thai boxing, means the innovative schedules keep everyone’s
attention. TRX (total-body resistance exercise), in which giant straps
are wrapped around trees and used to increase upper-body strength,
is strangely meditative. Afternoon ‘rest activities’ vary between bike
rides through the countryside, which are more painful than they sound,
and hikes in the hills. Alternatively, make the most of Christine’s
pampering treatments. A caveman-diet philosophy is applied to the
high-protein meals, which are cooked by the Bandinellis’ Sri Lankan
chef Damayanthi and shared together in the villa. You eat heartily
at the start of the day, with seasonal snacks such as fennel or mozzarella
with tomato to keep the experience authentically Italian. Lunch and
supper are light to ensure your sleep is restful and the body can
recuperate, and you wake hungry but ready to start over again. After a
week you feel stronger, leave trimmer, possibly have a crush on Perrott
and more than likely glow with a gentle Tuscan tan.
INSIDER TIP Visit Villa di Geggiano’s shop to pick up some of the estate’s
wines, olive oil and jam to take home.
BOOK IT A seven-night retreat costs from £1,990 full board, including all
activities and four treatments. +44 7976 619374; www.drewperrott.co.uk
GET FIT
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F 12 F I T N E S S , L A M A N GA C LU B
MURCIA, SPAIN
NEW
IN BRIEF Short and sharp body blitz
THE LOWDOWN Getting up in the dark to knock back a sludgy-
green probiotic shot before heading straight out for a run is not many
people’s idea of fun. But it’s certainly the way to kick-start a new regime.
And that’s what this programme at the sport-centric La Manga resort (a
sprawling complex with golf courses, cricket and football pitches and
tennis courts) excels in: inspiring you to find a healthy routine to plug into
your hectic lifestyle. ‘It’s not a boot camp,’ says upbeat director and trainer
Steve Halsall, who’ll call you before arrival to discuss exactly what you want
to get out of the four-day experience, and follow up after the course ends.
‘I’m not a shouter.’ Instead, his approach is one of encouragement; known
as ‘the body whisperer’ (a title he laughs off), he has an intuitive sense of
how far to push each person. Over the long weekend you’re even allowed a
coffee a day and a glass of wine on Saturday night. But you have to earn it,
with punishing runs up hills in the midday heat, intensive cardio work in the
gym, interval training, weights, core exercises and circuits. This is topped
off with a dip in an ice bath (Usain Bolt-style) for as long as you can bear
it – your muscles will thank you for it the following day. But it’s not all
high-tempo action. Softly spoken yoga instructor Paula Denvir leads daily
classes on the lawn in front of the shared villa. These are designed to stretch
hamstrings and calves that may be screaming after those sunrise runs on
the soft sand of Calblanque beach, deserted save for a lone fisherman
knee-deep in the waves. And there’s plenty of time to loll by the pool, relax
in the hydrotherapy baths at the spa or have a reviving massage with mint
and eucalyptus lotions. A highlight is the Sunday-morning hike up 1,200ft
Lion Mountain, so-called for its sphinx-like profile, where the air is cool
and fresh with the scent of pine trees and wild thyme. The reward at the top
is beautiful views over the Mar Menor lagoon, and a picnic breakfast of
still-hot quinoa and apple flapjacks along with the mandatory daily protein
shake. The food (gluten-free, apart from a sprinkling of granola on the
mid-morning fruit and yogurt) is surprisingly filling: lentil, white bean and
turkey casserole; chickpea, mint and ginger salad; platters of juicy melon and
pineapple. The nutritional breakdown of each meal is set out in a handbook
that you receive at the start of the retreat; it’s helpful to see just how much
goodness you’re packing in. And Halsall gives dietary tips such as adding a
little almond butter to your regular breakfast of porridge and honey to
balance the sugar hit. And the result? Aching muscles aside, you leave
feeling lighter on your feet, sliding into your skinny jeans and with a
determination to switch your newfound fitness groove into the next gear.
INSIDER TIP With four bouts of exercise each day, you’re going to sweat – a
lot. Bring enough clothes for several daily changes and a hat to keep off the sun.
BOOK IT Health & Fitness Travel (+44 20 3397 8891; www.healthandfitness
travel.com) offers the four-night F12 Fitness Retreat from £1,195 full
board, including flights, transfers and a bespoke training programme
44 Spa Guide June 2014
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K R I PA LU
MASSACHUSETTS, USA
IN BRIEF Way-out, left-field yogic hub
THE LOWDOWN This is North America’s largest yoga retreat centre,
and you couldn’t ask for a more stunning spot. But before you get too
excited, be warned: the main building and sprawling car park are
reminiscent of university halls of residence, and the prevalence of
notice boards rather than Buddha statues doesn’t induce the usual
atmosphere of a holistic haven. However, with its size (up to 650
guests at any one time) and stature comes a highly respected faculty of
in-house and visiting yoga teachers, including Sarah Powers and Shiva
Rea, along with a host of wellness experts who lead yoga and fitness
retreats, teach reiki, promote mindfulness and even give workshops on
‘How to talk to loved ones on the other side’. Guests are a mixed bag:
slick New Yorkers, dreadlocked vegans, New Age energy healers, yoga
newbies and pros – all eager for the chance to chant their hearts out
with Krishna Das or simply succumb to a few days’ downtime on the
popular rest and relaxation programme. Choose from shared dorms or
private rooms; go for the pricier, but far nicer new annexe. Refreshingly
modern, it was built as part of a £10-million project to improve the
campus’s energy efficiency and also makes for a more restful night’s
sleep away from the buzz of the main building. Most people come for
three or four nights (and some for weeks or even months). A typical
day involves twice-daily yoga classes (choose between gentle, moderate
or vigorous), a guided hike, experiential workshops and empowering
life-coaching lectures – participate in as much or as little as you like.
While nothing is compulsory, no trip is complete without shaking your
thing at the daily noon-dance session. Follow the sound of the drum
beat for an hour of uninhibited, surprisingly therapeutic freestyle
dancing. It’s hard not to join in, however embarrassed you might be. And
having worked up a sweat and an appetite, make a beeline for lunch.
Food is natural, organic, wholesome and abundant (root roasts, pulses,
miso soup). For guests on a serious health kick, there are also simple
macrobiotic meals (low-sodium, low-fat, lots of grains and vegetables).
Lunch and dinner are sociable affairs but breakfast is eaten in total
silence and there are even dedicated quiet rooms for those who wish to
eat all meals in peace. Check in at the Healing Arts spa, home to a
highly trained team of intuitive therapists, where treatments include
energy work, Ayurveda and lifestyle consultations. Opt for Abhyanga-
Gharshana, a dosha-balancing herbal-oil therapy, or the signature
deep-tissue massage to iron out over-worked limbs. Kripalu is worthy of
its international acclaim and makes for a transformative add-on to a trip to
New York or Boston. Just don’t expect a high-end, fluffy-robe experience.
INSIDER TIP To really see the beauty of the Berkshires, visit in the
autumn and experience an authentic New England fall.
BOOK IT A two-night R&R Retreat costs from about £200
full board, including workshops and activities. +1 413 448 3180;
www.kripalu.org
PHOTOGRAPH: DAEJA FALLAS

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TWO of a KIND
Relax and rejuvenate in style at one of the uniquely beautiful,
family-run Anassa or Almyra hotels in Cyprus
reaming of an idyllic island getaway? You can’t
D go wrong with a stay at one of Thanos Hotels’
stylish, five-star, luxurious Mediterranean
properties. The jewel in the Thanos Hotels
crown is the majestic Anassa. As a member of the
Leading Hotels of the World its elegance speaks for
itself. Situated regally on the northwestern coastline
against a backdrop of lush-green hilltops, each of the
well-appointed rooms and villas assumes panoramic
sea views. Arranged like a traditional Cypriot village,
Anassa caters for every whim imaginable – chic
restaurants, tennis, swimming, cycling and even golf.
But, and perhaps most importantly, it also gives you the
space to breathe, to relax and rediscover your own
rhythm. After all, what are holidays for, if not for the
perfect place to unwind and reconnect to ourselves.
Which is where Anassa’s Roman-style, world-renowned
Thalassa Spa comes in. Comprised of 18 treatment
rooms, an indoor pool, sauna, steam room, gym,
a seawater exercise pool (fantastic for boosting
metabolism), thalassotherapy and they will also soon
be offering treatments from renowned British natural
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
Clockwise from left:
Indoor pool at Anassa in
Cyprus; view of Anassa
and beach; Almyraspa's
pool; Almyra's main pool
skincare brand, ILA. For those who like results the
hotel also offers another sought-after facial brand,
QMS. Be sure to try out their QMS Skin Cell Renewal
Treatment, which enhances the stimulation of fresh,
new skin cells resulting in that ultimate, sought-after
holiday glow. Perfect.
Another of Thanos’ coveted properties, which quickly
became the hippest hotel on the island, is the stylish,
189-room Almyra, situated on the Paphos shoreline.
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Having caught the eye of Design Hotels of the World,
Almyra oozes a contemporary vibe in their uniquely
laid-back yet chic space. The service is warm, friendly
and personalised, and the hotel welcomes both couples
and families, including those with children in tow.
The spa here is worth a mention: this holistic utopia has
also just welcomed the coveted skincare brand ILA.
For a real treat, immerse yourself in their signature
Chakra Wellbeing treatment, which is specially tailored
to each guest using seven blends of chakra-balancing
essential oils. For those who can drag themselves away
from the spa – or indeed from their beautifully designed
rooms (this becomes nigh on impossible if you’re staying
in the Kyma Suite) – there are three freshwater pools
and a variety of restaurants with food concepts such as
Zen meze or Omakase. What more could you want.
For more information visit thanoshotels.com.
Or for Anassa call 00 357 26 888 000 or email
anassa@thanoshotels.com; for Almyra, contact
00 357 26 888 700 or almyra@thanoshotels.com
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BAD RAGAZ, SWITZERLAND

Nestling amid mountain scenery, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern
Switzerland is regarded as the leading wellbeing and medical health resort in
Europe. The resort consists of two hotels, the 36.5° Wellbeing & Thermal Spa,
two golf courses and an in-house casino. Thanks to the abundant healing thermal
waters, simply bathing in the pools makes you feel better but for complete bliss,
indulge in a spa treatment sourced from around the world. Also because of the
internationally renowned Medical Health Centre of the resort, a byword for
diagnostics, preventive care and rehabilitation of the highest order, this is the
ideal place to holiday while overhauling your health.

Healing Holidays can arrange a four-night stay from £6,120.00 per person sharing. This includes British
Airways flights, transfers, full-board accommodation in a comfort room, a medical consultation, treatments
and, exclusive to Traveller readers, an upgrade to the next room category and a To B. Cosmetic Kit.

SPAPICKS
From Bali to
Switzerland, via
Austria and Vietnam,
Healing Holidays
maps its favourite
spas across the world

SPA VILLAGE RESORT TEMBOK, BALI

Far from the touristic south, this tranquil sanctuary on the northeastern coast is set against a dramatic
landscape of soaring peaks and the vivid blue Bali Sea. Bali’s gentle spirituality and rich culture infuse
every treatment and activity: enjoy traditional healing therapies after watching the sunrise from the
peak of the island’s sacred mountain. Similarly, Spa Village’s philosophy of wellness encompasses every
aspect of the resort, from architecture to cuisine. To gently explore natural life practices in a holistic
environment, sign up for the School of Life, a personalised wellness and lifestyle programme offering
respite and an opportunity to reflect and replenish.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night stay from £1,360.00 per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers, full-board
FUSION MAIA RESORT, VIETNAM accommodation in a Kamar Room and, exclusive to Traveller readers, one daily 80-minute spa treatment per person.

Asia’s first all spa-inclusive resort is a pool-laden

villa paradise that boasts down-to-earth five-star
service and luxury. Each low-slung, open-plan
villa has a rain shower, sunken stone bathtub,
outdoor courtyard and private pool, breakfast
can be served anytime, anywhere – at noon in
your room or at 3pm on the beach – and all spa
treatments are included in the room rate. Beyond
the spa, exploring the nearby town of Hoi An is a
must. If you’re not sure where to start, fusionistas
(resort hostesses) are on hand to help you make
your stay as perfect as possible.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night stay from

£1,699.00 per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers,
accommodation in a pool villa, breakfast, daily spa treatments
and, exclusive to Traveller readers, a free lifestyle consultation
with one of Fusion Maia’s lifestyle consultants.

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COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE, BALI
Winner of this magazine’s Readers’ Best International
Spa award 2013, COMO Shambhala Estate is a
stunning and serene wellness retreat that specialises in
hands-on healing, fusing traditional Eastern techniques
with cutting-edge advances in holistic healthcare. As
you’d expect, massages are out of this world and, like
the other therapies on offer, results-focused. That’s
because every guest has a tailor-made treatment and
activity plan, ensuring goals are reached through a
combination of treatments including facials and
hydrotherapy, activities such as yoga and hiking, and
nutritionally balanced cuisine. Upon arrival guests
meet with their key consultant who through discussion
will plan an individually tailored programme for the
duration of their stay.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night stay from £2,670.00

per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers, half-board
accommodation in a garden room, daily activities and one
daily spa treatment.

LA RÉSERVE GENÈVE, SWITZERLAND

Discover your personalised youth-boosting solution at this spacious and incredibly
pretty spa on the shores of Lake Geneva when you enrol on their Better-Ageing
programme – a collaboration between the spa and Swiss anti-ageing brand
Nescens. Highly trained therapists and medical specialists collaborate to carry out
a meticulous assessment of your health to identify physical blockages, determine
imbalances and analyse oxidative stress before delivering a totally bespoke plan,
including nutritional recommendations and targeted dietary supplements. Then
you spend the next four, seven or 14 days following their advice and enjoying the
recommended massages, healthy meals, relaxation sessions and physical activities.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night Better-Ageing Programme from £4,690.00 per person sharing.
This includes British Airways flights, transfers, full-board accommodation in a superior room, a consultation
with a doctor, a session with an osteopath, daily group classes, personal training and spa treatments.

PARKHOTEL IGLS, AUSTRIA

This award-winning health retreat, high in the sun-soaked Tyrol, is the place to come
if your tummy is troubling you as all the holistic, medically-supervised programmes are
based on Modern Mayr Medicine, where nutrition, exercise and treatments focus on
stomach health. Plus, you’re bound to leave with a smaller waist. Medical director Dr
Peter Gartner believes most of our illnesses can be traced to our digestive systems and
that getting them in good working order is essential for good health. Expect thorough
diagnostic tests, eight different tummy-taming diets, bracing massages and the chance
to admire the splendid surroundings while Nordic walking.

Healing Holidays can arrange a four-night Modern Mayr Swift programme at Parkhotel Igls from £1,239.00
per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers, accommodation in a standard double room, full-board on
Mayr cuisine, a medical examination, a health check up and treatments and, exclusive to Traveller readers,
a 10 percent discount when booking the Modern Mayr Swift programme (discount already included in price).

To book any of these offers or for more information contact Healing

Holidays on 020 7843 3592 or visit www.healingholidays.co.uk/condenast

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Ready for your close-up?

A magnified image of finger-
like villi in the small intestine,
where food is processed

48 Spa Guide June 2014

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THE
HUNGER
GAMES
Born over a century ago, the Mayr therapy is not so much a diet, more
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES

a way of life, with a cult-like international following. It is practised at three

main clinics in Austria, but which one is best for you – and do they really
live up to their reputation? Daisy Finer puts them to the test

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THE MAYR METHOD
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T
he question is not whether to
Mayr or not to Mayr. As most
serious spa devotees already
know, the Mayr therapy is one
of the most effective cleansing
programmes out there, rooted
in the concept that good health starts
in the gut and that problems with your
digestive system lead to all manner of
irksome issues including bloating, bad
skin, chronic fatigue, allergies, obesity and
IBS – many of the lifestyle issues most
GPs remain unfathomably inadequate at
treating. The Mayr ‘cure’ was conceived
by pioneering Austrian doctor Franz
Xaver Mayr (1875–1965), who reputedly
grew up on a dairy farm examining cows’
bottoms in order to pick the healthiest,
and who later on (having undergone
some rather more conventional training)
worked at a World War II military
hospital treating patients with serious
diseases including cholera and typhoid.
Here he started to notice that the best
recoveries were achieved when the
patients ate only soup. He swiftly became
a proponent of the belief that giving the
digestive system a break is one of the
fastest and most dramatic ways to help
the body to heal itself: purge the gut and
you purify the body.
The touchstones of the Mayr method
include eating stale bread (spelt equals
svelte) for breakfast and lunch, taken
with teaspoons of sheep or goat’s yogurt
and chewed at least 40 times (boring
and rather hard work on the jaw, but
this is where good digestion starts)
and, come supper time, slowly sipping
alkalising broths or soups. Other key
elements include abdominal massage,
performed by a doctor and sometimes
agonisingly painful, liver compresses
(made of warm hay and applied in your
bed, so your room smells like a stable)
and, crucially, the dreaded and ferocious
Epsom salts, drunk every morning in a
glass of water and swiftly resulting in
frequent bathroom visits. As obsessive as
fans are about the cure itself, so too
are they about which clinic they prefer.
So the real question is, if you want to do
the Mayr, then where?
The holy trinity of clinics (and it’s best
to think of them as more like hospitals
than hotels) comprises Mayr&More,
rebranded this year as the Original FX
Mayr, on the shores of Lake Wörthesee
in Austria; Viva Mayr, a five-minute drive
away; and the Parkhotel Igls, which
50 Spa Guide June 2014
opened near Innsbruck in 2009. These
clinics, each of them run individually and
competitively under the reign of different
doctors, are the world’s top runners.
D
espite legions of loyalists, it’s
always been easy to criticise
the granddaddy of them all,
the Original FX Mayr (usually
referred to simply as ‘The Mayr’). For
starters it’s not much to look at. It
so resembles a three-star golf hotel that
when I first visited, in 2010, I thought
the taxi driver had gone to the wrong
place. Interiors were stuck in a Seventies-
style time warp, with head-spinning floral
carpets, lots of horrid orange pine and
WHAT REALLY HOOKS
PEOPLE IS WHEN STAFF
SOLVE SOMETHING
THAT’S BEEN TROUBLING
THEM FOR YEARS
bedrooms with a blazing yellow-and-green
colour scheme – hardly relaxing, and made
all the more surreal by the traditional
Austrian costumes worn by staff. It wasn’t
the most prepossessing place to arrive
at on a rainy weekend. Or any weekend,
actually. Nothing much ever happened on
a Saturday or Sunday. Treatments started
after you’d had a consultation with one
of the doctors on a Monday morning,
which meant that if you arrived on a
Saturday (which flight times encourage)
you were paying for little more than the
chance to wind down, or be the lonely
figure working out in the gym or flipping
through dull German magazines.
At the end of your stay the bill was
often considerably higher than expected.
Many guests were taken aback to
find charges for treatments a doctor had
urgently prescribed in the course of a
consultation without making it clear this
would be at extra cost (sometimes as
much as £825 more). There was a great
deal of complaining about this; it felt
underhand, almost devious. So, it will be
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of huge interest to Mayr regulars that all
this is about to change.
The clinic now has a new doctor in
charge, Dr Stephan Domenig, and has
just reopened after being closed since
November 2013 for a much-needed and
massive overhaul. The bedrooms have been
expanded and redecorated, some of them
made into doubles (no more lonesome
single duvets), there are new carpets,
bathrooms, sitting areas and a whole new
sauna and swimming-pool section. Hopes
are high. ‘I don’t feel ashamed any
more,’ says the quietly determined and
wonderfully frank Dr Domenig. ‘For 10,
15 years or more we have not been able
to hold our heads up in comparison with
the other Mayrs. I feel the prices we asked
people to pay were unfair, to be honest,
when you looked at the rooms. When we
reopen everything will be different. Now
clients will get value for money.’
Along with this face-lift, treatment
programmes have been simplified so it
will be clearer what is included and what
isn’t. There’s also, at last, an Original FX
Mayr book (something Viva Mayr did
aeons ago). The Alkaline Cure, a 14-day
diet and anti-ageing plan, covers the
importance of maintaining an alkaline
diet, such as eating almonds (the least
acidic nut), and lamb and sheep’s cheese
rather than beef and Cheddar. It is
also going to offer genetic diagnostic
testing, which checks your blood for 200
markers, from which they can get a
picture of what sort of diet and exercise
you should you take. ‘Genetic diagnostics
is the future,’ says Dr Domenig. ‘At the
moment we have to charge around £8,270
for this testing, and the blood and saliva
tests need to be done two months before
you arrive. The price will undoubtedly
come down in years to come but it’s
best to attack now.’
Before you panic that your pair of
Mayr slippers are being transformed into
futuristic stilettos, fans will also be relieved
to be hear the doctor say that ‘Despite
all the updates, we have tried to maintain
the old cosy and warm atmosphere of a
wooden house.’ And herein lies the appeal
of the place. Notwithstanding its faults, it
has always been loved for its no-nonsense,
boarding-school atmosphere. There is
something gloriously unthreatening
about the vibe. Everybody is in it together
– from leaders of industry playing gin
rummy and stressed-out lawyers talking
about Yorkshire puddings, to brides
 T R AVE L L E R A D VE RT I SE M E NT FE AT U R E

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Clockwise from
top: Sun sets on
the lush Spa
Garden;
picturesque bridge
to the Spa
Entrance; tranquil
Treatment Room

THAI odyssey
Restorative retreats don’t come more specialist, sumptuous and
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WULSDURXQGWKHFRXQWU\WRH[SHULHQFHWKH¿QHDUWRI7KDLFRVVHWLQJ
Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya and is the ultimate
Thai Lanna style experience. It’s obvious here why the
Thai’s are so gifted in massage and spa therapy; the
staff are gracious and gentle. Try the Voyage of Golden
Lanna signature massage which uses oils infused with
pure gold.
Divana Spa in Bangkok is an eco day spa committed
to using organic, locally-sourced materials and oils such
as Plai. Try the Organic Golden Silk Royal Pampering
Experience that uses Thai golden silk to nourish skin
and hair.
Don’t be daunted by Chiva Som’s extreme holistic
approach. This accolade-ridden Hua Hin based health
resort features one of the most impressive range of
detox treatments you’ll find worldwide. But, ranging
from the Art of Detox through to Spa Pampering
options you can dial up the decadence or health angle
depending on what you fancy.
For more spa ideas and essential facts,
plus first-hand reviews and accounts of Thai
spas visit and ‘like’ Thailand Reunited on
Facebook. Featuring exclusive prizes and the
chance to post your own Thai spa photos,
videos and stories, it’s one to bookmark pre-
and post-trip.

Thailand’s glut of exceptional international hotels all

he glorious sensation of warm oil drizzling over offer world-class spa experiences. In Bangkok, both the

T your skin, subtle scent of exotic frangipani and

faint sound of tropical birdsong, all set against
the lapping of aquamarine waters. And relax…
Spa treatments are elevated to sublime sensory heights
when they’re in far-flung destinations. Who wouldn’t
take an ocean-front cabana hands down over a clinical
treatment room.
In Thailand, massage is almost part of the culture.
The Wat Pho School of Thai Massage is the
birthplace of the traditional Thai style, which uses
acupressure on ‘sen’ or meridian lines of the body
combined with muscle stretching to stimulate energy
flow. Wat Pho is set in a majestic temple complex and
inside you can read ancient tablets inscribed with Thai
massage techniques.
Continue your journey at one of the boutique day
spas. The Oasis Spa has branches in Bangkok,
Chi Spa at the Shangri-La and Oriental Spa at
the Mandarin Oriental will tempt discerning
travellers. While at the Four Seasons Resort in
Chiang Mai the focus is on organic Thai herbs. The
Royal Samunprai treatment uses silk poultices filled
with warmed herbs to rejuvenate weary limbs.
For total seclusion and otherworldly luxury choose
The Barai, Hua Hin. This collection of eight
exclusive residential spa suites boasts private butler
service. At Barai Spa, treatments centre around earth,
fire, air and water and bespoke programmes are
tailored to your individual needs.
Translating as ‘lotus realm’, a Thai symbol for spiritual
human growth, Kamalaya Koh Samui is more of a
holistic spa resort. Book in for the Asian Bliss
Treatment, part of the Stress and Burnout Wellness
programme if you’re feeling the effects of fast-living.

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THE MAYR METHOD
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desperate to lose pounds and actors’
agents who can’t sleep. And no one
could ever feel under-dressed: towelling
robes or tracksuit bottoms at meal
times are the norm. Another huge
attraction, lacking at the other clinics,
are country walks straight from of the
door, something most guests make a
morning routine of. It’s an Alpine vision,
crunching through woods and jumping
over streams. It almost makes up for the
fact that in order to swim in the lake you
have to cross a busy road.
But, of course, what really hooks people
is when the staff solve something that’s
been troubling them for ages, sometimes
years. One woman I met was delighted to
have finally been given a diagnosis of a
liver infection after not being able to shed
even a pound despite the regime. Six
doctors in the UK had failed to discover it.
Let’s hope with so many changes afoot
some of the previous criticisms can finally
be laid to rest and the Original FX Mayr
can regain its spot at the top of the ladder.
the water. In terms of comfort there’s no
contest. Viva is a shiny, polished spaceship.
If you care about your surroundings, this
is the one to plump for. And it says a lot
that despite these high standards, this
year is all change for Viva too. The inside
of the building – sharp lines and walls of
glass perfectly in sync with the surgeon-
standard spotless environs – is being
smartened up with a swish new medical
department and reception area. Until the
end of the year, when work is completed,
the whole operation has upped sticks to
WEIGHT LOSS HERE
IS INEVITABLE. ONE
REGULAR ALWAYS
BRINGS A SMALLER SIZE
OF TROUSERS WITH HIM
and the bedrooms are simple, chic and
mind-clearingly fresh. All this lends an
uplifting air to the atmosphere. The
gym is vast and hi-tech – if you want to
exercise hard be sure to ask for a menu
that includes solid food (we’re talking
tiny portions of protein with vegetables.
‘Are you on real food?’ people will ask
jealously). There’s a lovely herbal tea
station which guests gather around,
happily complaining about their ailments
(allergies so bad they can’t leave the
house, arthritis so crippling the weight
of a duvet is painful) and you can’t help
but join in the chat.
Aside from the interiors and the
energy of the place, the key difference
from the Original FX Mayr is Viva’s
comprehensive emphasis on education.
The rules are drummed home (at
Original FX you get the feeling they
assume you know a lot already, perhaps
because of the number of repeat guests).
There’s a very well-written Viva Mayr
book, which you can buy on Amazon.
A British journalist, Helena Frith Powell,

B
y far the most glamorous of
all the clinics is the Viva Mayr.
Although it looks like a motel,
it is set smack bang on the
sparkling lake and definitely has the
edge when it comes to views. When the
weather is fine, meals are taken outside
on wicker armchairs, and swimmers
jump off little wooden pontoons into
a satellite clinic at the My Lake Hotel
& Spa, on the other side of the lake. So it
might be worth delaying your stay.
The original building is not everybody’s
cup of tea, but it has an architectural
weight that in my mind was borderline
Mies van der Rohe. I liked it immensely,
helped write it, which means there are
none of the terminology issues often
found in medi-spa literature. There
are also evening lectures, so interesting
I recorded them on my iPhone. Head
honcho Dr Harald Stossier is gentle,
kind and incredibly knowledgeable; he is
particularly clued up on allergies and
histamine, and I thought it was great

ORIGINAL FX MAYR VIVA MAYR PARKHOTEL IGLS

A session with osteo Wolfgang, who is
so serious he barely talks. With his
SIGN UP FOR methodical, scientific approach he’s
like John Malkovich at his most criminal,
and his ruthless bone cracking will
untie your computer-posture knots
Nasal reflexology, which is all the rage.
You’ll suddenly spot a little gang of
dressing-gown-clad guests with cotton
buds stuck up their noses. What on
earth are they doing? Clearing sinuses,
decongesting, melting facial tension
Kneipping .Who would have thought
that the communal pools would be
where it all happens? Guests gather
here at least once a day, dipping their
legs in hot and then freezing cold water
like Hackney ponies, gossiping about
their bowel movements

Forget about the pampering beauty

treatments. They are available using
Organic Pharmacy products but in
BE WARNED
basic surroundings – no fluffy towels,
music, low lights – and therapists
have been known to have hands that
smell of cigarettes
There’s no real garden to speak of
The weak-willed should perhaps be
(just a patch of lawn for sunbeds and
aware that Viva is surrounded
some herb beds) and no lake to swim
by temptation, with cafés, bakeries
in, plus the property is bang in the
and pizzerias on the doorstep –
middle of a village with roads around it
make sure you don’t wander too far
– so don’t expect Alpine perfection

In winter, the ice-skating on the lake
HEALTHY over the road is like a scene straight
HIGH out of a Breugel painting
There’s a swanky cookery school with
excellent and informative sessions
where you can learn how to make
pumpkin-seed bread and soft goat’s
cheese herbal spread
This is the only set-up with a properly
orchestrated mini-detox organised over
four nights and three days, but it means
you leave just as the side-effects
(sluggishness, headaches, tears,
craziness) are at their height

52 Spa Guide June 2014

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 T RAVELLER AD VERT ISEM EN T FEAT U RE

PANGKOR LAUT RESORT

WorldMags.net
As the only resort on the privately owned island of
Pangkor Laut, three miles off Malaysia’s west coast,
Pangkor Laut Resort is undoubtedly exclusive. Set in
two-million-year-old rainforest, it overlooks sweeping
sandy bays and emerald waters. Dining options are
extensive and private dining experiences include having
traditional Japanese food in an open-air pavilion or a
barbecue on Emerald Bay beach, renowned as one of
the world’s most beautiful. The big draw is the award-
winning flagship of the luxury Spa Village brand,
Spa Village Pangkor Laut, a four-acre haven offering
treatments inspired by Asian healing therapies. Be sure
to arrive early to enjoy the signature 45-minute Bath
House Ritual, an absolute must-try complimentary
pre-treatment.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night stay at Pangkor Laut Resort

from £1,545.00 per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers,
accommodation in a Hill Villa, breakfast, one complimentary Sunset
Cruise per person per stay and, exclusive to Traveller readers,
one complimentary 80-minute spa treatment per person per stay.

MALAY
TANJONG JARA RESORT
Designed to reflect
reflect the elegance
elegance and grandeur
grandeur of 17th Century
Century
Malayy palaces
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Healing Holidays can arrange

arrange a seven-night stay at TTanjong
anjong Jara Resor
Resortt from
£1,189.00 per person sharing. This includes flights, transfers, accomm
accommodation
odation
Malaysia is a pampering in a Bumbung Room, breakfast, two complimentary
complimentary activities per perso
personn per
paradise, with idyllic spas stay and, exclusive to TTraveller
raveller readers, one complimentary
complimentary 8080-minute
-minute spa
treatment per person per stay
stay.
set in spectacular surroundings.
Let Healing Holidays help you
unlock its secrets

GAYA ISLAND RESORT

A gorgeously intimate retreat, just off the coast of Borneo in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine
Park, a natural conservation area. Surrounding the resort are coral reefs inhabited by schools
of tropical fish – a snorkelling paradise best visited with the resident marine biologist.
On land, the view is just as impressive; ancient rainforest and tropical mangrove encircle
the resort’s villas and the dramatic silhouette of Mount Kinabalu can be seen in the distance.
Be sure to check out Spa Village Gaya Island, which uses native ingredients in transformative
treatments inspired by cultural healing traditions of the area’s indigenous people.

Healing Holidays can arrange a seven-night stay at Gaya Island Resort from £1,390.00 per person sharing.
This includes flights, transfers, accommodation in a Bayu Villa, breakfast, one complimentary Sunset Cruise per
person per stay and, exclusive to Traveller readers, one complimentary 80-minute spa treatment per person per stay.

To book, call Healing Holidays on 020 7843 3592

WorldMags.net
or visit healingholidays.co.uk/condenast
THE MAYR METHOD
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that his gorgeous wife Christine also
works as a doctor here (women are
scarce on the Mayr scene). She provides
emotional support, when needed, to
those who find their detox brings
psychological issues to the surface, as
well as being a homeopath and good on
feminine-health issues, such as hormonal
changes and infertility.
T
he strategies that distinguish
Viva are the daily consumption of
linseed oil (you get little pots of it
with each meal), high in Omega-3
which helps boost concentration and
energy levels; the mantra ‘no raw after
four’; and the idea of skipping supper, or
eating little and early. ‘Cancel dinner,’
says Dr Stossier, ‘it’s the secret to a long
life.’ He also advocates one hour a day to
yourself, as well as one day a week, and
four weeks a year. So while weight loss
is inevitable (one regular always brings a
smaller size of trousers for when he
leaves), Viva is more about stamping out
bad habits. Of all the Mayrs, I enjoyed
Viva the most. The gardens and the lake
swung it for me, along with the personal
care, and I also love the fact that you can
see the doctors back in London – every
couple of months they hold appointments
on Harley Street or at the Grace Belgravia
day spa, so you can clock in and chart
your progress. New patients can pop in
for a 60-minute consultation (£300)
before visiting the clinic, or go there
regularly if they can’t make it abroad.
Some women bring their husbands and
children along too – what a brilliant way
to spread the word.
A
nd so to the last of the Mayr
trio. When it launched five years
ago, light and bright after a multi-
million-pound refurbishment,
Parkhotel Igls billed itself as the ‘next-
generation cure’. It wasn’t so much about
the setting or the interiors, although the
bedrooms (just 51 of them) are perhaps
the cosiest. What set Parkhotel apart
was its more modern approach to the
food, with eight different diets that steered
away from total starvation – there’s a
danger of muscle wastage if you diet
too severely and quickly – and which
somehow felt less of a punishment and
more realistic to continue with back
home. You weren’t so shattered you felt
like crying. And you could exercise. This
progressive, totally tailormade approach,
54 Spa Guide June 2014
which really questions what you want
out of your stay and your health, lends
an intimate, gently-does-it approach;
none of that one-size-fits-all brutality.
The new head of the medical department,
Dr Peter Gartner, works hard to achieve
this balance. Yes, you still take the Epsom
salts; but if you’re feeling ravenous
after your allocated quota at mealtimes
you are allowed to ask for more and
won’t be left hungry. At the other Mayrs
I really missed eating cooked vegetables,
here there were lots of them. And the
joy of being allowed ravioli made from
spelt on a bed of spinach for lunch
(and it being delicious, too) was heart-
warming, and had the bonus of giving
me enough of an energy boost to swim
laps in the indoor infinity pool or enjoy
personal training sessions with Michael
in the gym, with its mega mountain
YOU NEED TO SLOW
DOWN IN ORDER TO
SPEED UP. MOST OF
US EAT TOO FAST, TOO
MUCH AND TOO LATE
views. If you’re feeling claustrophobic,
you can head out to the forests for Nordic
walking with Alice (who also teaches the
yoga, and guided relaxation).
For no obvious reason, Parkhotel is
also probably the best advert for the cure.
It certainly has the largest quota of tanned,
toned and slim staff. ‘Guess how old she is?’
someone asked me of Dr Brigitte Schirmer-
Fereberger, a specialist in homeopathy and
applied kinesiology (great for unearthing
food intolerances). Forty-five, I guess.
‘Sixty. She lives the Mayr life’. There’s no
better example than that.
S
o, which mayr is for you? To
simplify, if you need the comfiest
surroundings Viva is the trump
card; if you want somewhere
old-school that’s about tough love the
Original FX Mayr will no doubt suit, and
if you want to walk the tightrope between
WorldMags.net
the two and still feel fantastic then
Parkhotel rises to the top.
One thing remains true, whichever
clinic you plump for, despite the hardships
(hunger, crashing headaches, weepy
lethargy, pimple outbreaks and low moods),
the Mayr method works. The paradox is
that you need to slow down in order to
speed up. And this is the essential lesson.
Most of us eat too fast, too much, too late,
too often and when we are too stressed.
The Mayr method is all about taking
things down a notch, becoming in tune
with what your body needs. Much as you
will hear people talking about their
dramatic slimming (seven pounds in seven
days, and the fatter you are the more you
lose), all three exponents agree it’s about
health and not weight loss, and ideally
prevention not treatment.
Nothing makes you more mindful,
for the long term, about what you put
in your body than fasting, or eating tiny
morsels. You realise how little fuel we
really require, how unnecessary afternoon
sugar hits are, and how damaging they
are in the long run, not just to your
waistline. And when you do start to eat
normally, your palate comes back with a
vengeance. You can’t believe how artificial
some things taste. After completing the
programme, I came back armed with
empowering information, a new-found
inner energy and eyes that sparkled.
The key is not to treat the clinics like
fat farms, where you go to shift fugitive
flab only to return home to your normal
naughty ways. Instead, you should see
your stay as a stepping stone to a
new, healthy, conscious you. Though one
has to admit that losing almost as much
weight as your EasyJet hand luggage
does make it seem all worthwhile.
360 Travel (+44 20 7437 3601; www.360
travel.co.uk) offers seven nights at
Original FX Mayr from £2,476 in a single
room full board, including consultations,
abdominal treatments, massages and
detox wraps (but excluding flights).
Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; www.
healingholidays.co.uk/condenast) offers
seven nights at Viva Mayr from £1,459
in a single room full board, including
herbal infusions and daily supporting
programme; and seven nights at Parkhotel
Igls from £1,715 in a single room full
board, with medical check, hydrotherapy
treatments and group training. Both
prices include flights and transfers

WorldMags.net
Bulgari proves the last word on holistic health and beauty at its London spa gem.
Enjoy an unparalleled spa experience at the height of contemporary
Italian luxury, and now you can invite your friends too
he luxurious Bulgari Spa is part of the Bulgari
T Hotel & Residences, London, and the epitome
of decadent downtime in the city. Expect the
highest quality of contemporary Italian design
in 2,000 square-metres of space, over two beautifully
crafted floors, in the heart of Knightsbridge.
italian style
The award-winning facilities in which to relax and
revive include a 25-metre swimming pool lined with
T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
SPA
in the city
shimmering green and gold mosaic tiles, a vitality
pool, steam, sauna and ice fountains, a relaxation
room and yoga studio. There are also 11 treatment
rooms, a Neville Hair Salon and a fully equipped
gymnasium with personal training by Bodyism.
Bodyism, for the uninitiated, specialise in creating
long, lean bodies. At the Bulgari Spa, both members
and non-members can access the Bodyism Oracle to
receive a personalised programme to promote better
health, increased energy and serenity. ingredient from the root of the Iris The pool at Bulgari
germanica plant and leads the field in Spa in London; The
anti-ageing anti-ageing rejuvenation. hotel exterior in
Knightsbridge;
James Duigan;
The Bodyism team – under the guidance of celebrity To enquire about membership Swiss Perfection
personal trainer, James Duigan, whose protégées at Bulgari Spa call 00 44 (0)20 product range
include Lara Stone, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and 7151 1055 or email spa-london@
David Gandy – will access problem areas that may bulgarihotels.com
include nutrient deficiencies, sleep problems and stress,
providing ongoing solutions.
Guests of the hotel have full access to the spa but there
are also membership options for non-guests. Day spa
programmes are available from Monday to Friday
when visitors can also enjoy the first class facilities.
A limited number of exclusive individual, joint or
overseas memberships also allow access to Bulgari Spa
– and include further additional privileges. All visitors
to the spa can enjoy the benefits of Swiss Perfection
Cellular Skin Care. Bulgari is the only spa in London
to offer this product, which features a signature
WorldMags.net
 WorldMags.net

Clockwise from this

image: Sunrise yoga at
Canyon Ranch in Tucson;
Exterior of Canyon
Ranch in Lenox; Ocean
Terrace at Canyon Ranch
in Miami; Suite at
Canyon Ranch in Miami;
Main drive at Canyon
Ranch in Tucson; Yoga at
Canyon Ranch in Tucson

I
f you’re looking to visit a top health and wellness
haven in the USA, narrow down your search to
three destinations – the Canyon Ranch properties in
either Tucson, Arizona, in Lenox, Massachusetts or
in Miami, Florida offer a personal journey with a
uniquely American flavour which confirms that
Canyon Ranch, the pioneer of the health and fitness
revolution, continues to lead the way in wellness.
Since it opened its doors in 1979, Canyon Ranch
has become an icon in the wellness world, offering
inspiring experiences that unite every element of a
healthy lifestyle to rejuvenate mind, body and spirit.
This remarkable achievement is testament to the vision
of its founders, Mel and Enid Zuckerman, whose
original mission to inspire people to commit to healthy
living, continues to underpin values at Canyon Ranch.
The ethos is simple: living well through fitness, good
nutrition, stress management and integrative wellness
means a longer, more joyful and healthier life.
The Canyon Ranch wellness team has an incredible
amount of knowledge at their fingertips, and the
gifted physicians, therapists, dieticians, personal
trainers and practitioners are always on hand to
guide and inspire positive everyday lifestyle choices.
This all-encompassing and empowering approach to
attaining optimal health is combined into cutting-edge
programmes designed to enable guests to reach their
individual health goals in blissful surroundings.
Each of the properties offers a distinct take on the
quintessential American backdrop: the original
Canyon Ranch health resort in Tucson is the perfect
place in which to enjoy the rugged beauty and
temperate weather of southern Arizona. Set in the
lush Sonoran Desert, surrounded by scenic mountains
and beautiful canyons, it provides a powerful and
AMERICAN WAY
For an inspirational and transformational healthy holiday in
America, book into a Canyon Ranch property with Healing Holidays
energising environment for adventure and personal
discovery. With close to 350 sunny days a year, hiking,
biking, bird watching, and sunbathing are possible all
year, as is stargazing – the sweeping skies and clear
weather make it an astronomers delight.
At Canyon Ranch in Tucson, the choice of more than
40 fitness classes each day ensures every fitness practice
is on offer. Unhurried consultations with top wellness
experts, nutritious cuisine (and lessons on how to cook
it at home), and incredible body treatments all work in
harmony to deliver a truly integrated experience. If
you have a week, sign up for the Life Enhancement
Programme, an exhilarating journey to wellness hosted
in the self-contained Life Enhancement Centre.
Like its sister property, Canyon Ranch in Lenox is an
all-inclusive health resort and luxury spa that offers
indoor pleasures – think pampering spa treatments
and pilates – and outdoor activities, from zip wires to
snowshoeing in winter. Set in an area renowned for its
natural beauty, the estate is surrounded by verdant
forests and crisp mountain vistas. Miles of walking,
hiking, biking and cross-country skiing include routes
along the Appalachian Trail, via spectacular rivers,
meadows and lakes, giving guests the opportunity to

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 T R AVE L L E R A D VE RT I SE M E NT FE AT U R E

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absorb the area’s extraordinary wildlife and fascinating
history. A blend of the most effective Western and
Eastern health practices is available at the resort’s
Integrative Health Centre, where medical and holistic
preventative care help establish healthy habits for life.
To fast track onto a path to optimal wellness, book
on to the five-day Jumpstart to a Healthier Life
programme and begin your journey with a
supportive group of guests and experts.

For those who prefer to be near the sea, Canyon Ranch

Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach offers inspiring healthy
living in a luxury oceanfront guesthouse – plus easy
access to everything Miami and South Beach has to
offer. Located on fashionable Collins Avenue
overlooking an immaculate white sandy beach, this
spectacular all-suite boutique hotel combines the
flexibility of à la carte hotel services with Canyon
Ranch’s health expertise. Transform your body on the
pristine beach or in the world-class gym, overhaul your
mind with the help of a specialist, address a health
concern through conventional or alternative therapies
or pamper yourself in the extensive spa – Florida’s
large wellness facility.

Every Canyon Ranch property offers nutritionally

balanced gourmet food, a fantastic range of daily
YOU'LL SOON REALISE THAT CANYON RANCH IS MORE THAN
wellness activities, indulgent spa services and the
opportunity to meet with a range of integrated health
A PLACE – IT'S A STATE OF MIND AND A WAY OF LIFE
experts in a life-enhancing environment. Whichever
property and programme you choose, you’ll soon
realise that Canyon Ranch is more than a place – it’s a
state of mind and a way of life. Expect to check out
feeling healthier, happier and more vibrant.

For exclusive Canyon Ranch offers and to book,

contact Healing Holidays on 020 7843 3592 or
visit healingholidays.co.uk/condenast

SPECIAL OFFERS

Seven nights at Canyon Ranch Tucson

costs from £4,155.00 per person
sharing, including flights, transfers, full-
board, accommodation, activities, daily
classes and use of all facilities.

Seven nights at Canyon Ranch Lenox

costs from £4,550.00 per person
sharing, including flights, full-board,
accommodation, activities, daily classes
and use of all facilities.

Seven nights at Canyon Ranch

Miami costs from £1,655.00 per
person sharing, including flights,
accommodation, access to the fitness
centre, thermal cabin and relaxation
area, plus a daily 10 spa credit.

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WorldMags.net

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WorldMags.net

SUPER
N AT U R A L S
THESE THERAPEUTIC WIZARDS
AROUND THE WORLD HAVE A MAGIC
TOUCH THAT CAN WORK WONDERS.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JONNY HANNAH

NEW YORK
ABDI ASSADI
ACUPUNCTURIST
It’s no surprise that Abdi Assadi comes across
as so international and erudite: born in Iran,
he grew up in Africa and Asia before becoming
one of New York’s – and the world’s – top
acupuncturists. You could come to him with
insomnia or shoulder pain, but you leave with
self-knowledge: Assadi’s intuitive pre-treatment
talk might reveal a spiritual rather than physical trigger. In this instance,
he will recommend a programme of meditation and suggest new
ways of thinking to reduce anxiety and deal with problems effectively.
This isn’t to say he is New Agey – tales of motorbiking in the Sahara
and East Africa reveal hints of the alpha male within. The needles
themselves don’t feel uncomfortable; in fact, after an hour under
a heat lamp, dozing to the sounds of classical music or a rainstorm, it
is hard to drag yourself away from this cocoon in the Flatiron district of
Manhattan. Assadi has attracted a cult following, from ashtanga master
Eddie Stern to fashion insiders such as Norma Kamali and musicians
including Sting and Sheryl Crow, which means there is a waiting list and
you’ll need to sign up far in advance of making the pilgrimage across the
Atlantic. Treatments from about £165; www.abdiassadi.com

SANTIAGO
ANGELICA LAMARCA
PILATES INSTRUCTOR
Natalie Portman lookalike Lamarca, known as
Keka, has a soft but surprisingly stern voice and
a figure that makes you want whatever she’s
just ordered. Her secret? Keep moving, keep
training and keep taking classes from other
instructors. That doesn’t only mean Pilates:
Lamarca practises yoga with her husband, cycles
everywhere and is trained in Gyrotonic; she’s also an ambassador
for Adidas in Chile. There’s an edge to her style – think Catwoman
with a dash of rock chick – and she can normally be found teaching in
leopard-print leggings, with her hair pulled into a bun. Trained at
TriPilates in New York, last year she opened The Place, her studio in
the Chilean capital, and the bold and beautiful have come flocking to
be pushed to their limits. Her enthusiasm and, quite frankly, her
forcefulness will get you doing more crunches than you thought

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 WorldMags.net
NEW YORK
physically possible, and you’ll leave her class energised, exhausted and
feeling like you can do it, whatever it may be. Private sessions from
about £70; www.facebook.com/theplacepilates
MELBOURNE
MICHELLE MACEWAN
SHAMAN
The word shaman can conjure images of ancient
rituals, medicine men and maybe even a spot of
voodoo, but shamanism has a much less hocus-
pocus tenet at its core: the belief that we are all part
of nature and therefore connected. MacEwan, of
Irish descent, practises a form of traditional Celtic
shamanism in workshops and one-to-one sessions.
For her, the process is a means of rejoining the original spiritual path, so
there are no hallucinogens or extreme surroundings. Instead, she works
in calm rooms, leading her clients on a process of exploration and asking
them to describe the landscape of their imagination. They meet with
ancestors, identify their ‘power animal’, and explore the outer reaches of
the mind. It may sound strange, but after just one session things do
become clearer. She can guide you at one of her popular programmes
all over the world, or on Skype. www.micheleemacewan.com.au
HAWAII
REBECCA GOFF
AQUACRANIAL THERAPIST
Uprooting urbanites from their concrete jungles
and reconnecting them with nature is always a huge
priority on the wellness scene. The ultimate method
may be aquacranial therapy, pioneered by Rebecca
Goff. Her mix of osteopathic-based craniosacral
manipulation, emotional release work, meridian
balancing and yogic stretches – all done while
floating in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Maui – decompresses the
spine and relieves tension; it’s especially successful for realigning pregnant
women’s pelvises in preparation for birth. Come during the whale season
and Goff will combine her techniques with the sonic vibrations of marine
mammals, felt from miles away. It has to be one of the most effective and
non-invasive ways of eliminating physical stress. Expect to cry afterwards.
Stay at the Four Seasons Resort Maui and you can book a session via the
hotel spa. Treatments from about £180; www.aquacranial.com
CAPE TOWN
ROBYN LOTZ
KINESIOLOGIST
There are times when the stresses of life become
too much and you just want to stop the world and
get off. Cue Robyn Lotz, a Cape Town-based
kinesiologist who believes that by reading the
body, you can unlock any physical and/or mental
disturbances. She’ll quiz you about sleeping,
drinking and exercise, jotting down responses on
a form that soon becomes cluttered with oblique references to vertebrae
and energy levels. A series of tests – such as the strength of your grip –
help her assess the health of your nervous system. She may even balance
glass vials of liquids on different parts of your body to check for allergies.
And if you have an imbalance, she’ll ask you to hold a specific supplement
while she manipulates your arm. If your response becomes stronger,
your body has told you what it needs. An inspiring, intuitive teacher,
Lotz gets results. From about £30; +27 741 992 572
60 Spa Guide June 2014
WorldMags.net
ALETA ST JAMES
ENERGY HEALER
Featured in everything from the pages of the New
York Times to CNN news reports, Aleta St James
is the woman behind the sustained sanity of many
successful business moguls and celebrities.
The emotional healer and best-selling author has
a star-studded following and a packed schedule
at her Midtown practice, but remains very
grounded. Described as the ‘Indiana Jones of the Soul’, St James endured
her own struggles as an aspiring stage actress in the 1970s, which took
her on a journey of self-discovery. Whilst globe-trotting, she unearthed
her psychic gift and honed her healing techniques. In your hands-on
private session (or over the phone if you can’t get to New York), St James
uses a combination of repressed-memory recovery, touch therapy,
meditations and breathing exercises to clear bad energy and banish
negative thoughts. St James gave birth to the first of her four children at
the age of 50, so her dynamism speaks for itself. About £180 for the first
session, then about £150 an hour; www.aletastjames.com
SYDNEY
SHARON MCGLINCHEY
FACIALIST
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Poppy Delevingne may be
among her fans, but namedropping is the last thing
you’ll get from this lass from the North of England,
who brims with humour, warmth and wellbeing
knowledge. McGlinchey developed her own skincare
range after a client had a severe petrochemical
reaction to a product bought in another salon,
and her brand, MV Skincare, is now one of the world’s best-respected
organic lines, with rave reviews from the likes of Emma Watson and Rosie
Huntington-Whiteley. As a therapist, she has stayed true to her roots, and
her powerful MV Radiance Facial blends reiki, craniosacral therapy and
a technique used by osteopaths and chiropractors to release tension
within the fascia surrounding our muscles. Slow, rhythmical massage
takes clients into a very deep state of relaxation, noticeably lifting facial
contours, and her 100-per-cent organic products and custom-blended
masks leave skin soft, glossy and supple. McGlinchey practises in New
South Wales, but once or twice a year she can be found at acupuncturist
Lida Ahmady’s rooms in New York or at The Rubens at the Palace hotel
in London. From about £60 for 60 minutes; www.mvskincare.co.uk
TUSCANY
YAMUNA ZAKE
BODY HEALER
Lithe and vital, with a dancer’s suppleness and
long, flowing hair, Zake epitomises what it means
to be ageless (it’s hard to believe she’s in her
late 50s). A yogi first and foremost, she created
the Yamuna Body Rolling system over 30 years ago
when her left hip ‘popped’ after the birth of
her daughter. Osteopathy and other therapies
didn’t help, so she tried self-massage using different-sized balls, as well
as yogic postures and breathing exercises. Zake’s hypnotic and
anatomically precise instruction is empowering. It teaches you to listen
to your body and detect the site of the tension, then manage it yourself.
After a couple of sessions, when the rolling becomes smoother, smaller
balls are used to awaken the tiniest muscles and unlock joints you didn’t
realise needed work. The result is a limber body and a wonderful state of
 T RAVELLER PROM OT ION
WorldMags.net
From left to right: Oligoanne
serum, £96, Phytarosa serum, Anne Semonin has
£96, 100% Active serum,
£119, Precious serum, £96, made its name as a
Tissue Serum, £96
front runner on the
beauty scene, thanks
to its reputation for
radical results
and made-to-
measure products
and regimes

AMAZING FACE
Pallid, pasty, peaky skin, be gone! Take your beauty regime up a notch
for a radiant complexion with a little help from French skincare brand, Anne Semonin

kin hates winter. Fact. Darting between sub- (including Langdale in the Lake District and Spa

S zero temperatures outside and sweltering

central heating inside is enough to make
anyone's face feel dry enough to fall off. But,
come rain or shine, we have unearthed the secret to
healthy, supremely soft, radiant skin – Anne Semonin.
After almost 30 years on the beauty scene, the French
brand has firmly made its name as a front runner,
thanks to its reputation for radical results and made-
to-measure products and regimes. And the brand’s
popularity is no secret. Hotel spas across the country
Verta in London) are filled to the brim with Anne
Semonin essentials and treatments. Further afield
Sani Resort in Greece and the resorts of Huvafen
Fushi and Niyama in the Maldives, offer the full
range of Anne Semonin made-to-measure beauty
therapies. It is also a firm favourite with Liberty of
London, where it is available online (liberty.co.uk).
For further information on spa locations,
visit annesemonin.com

Above: Express
Radiance ice cubes for
S K I N D E E P – T H R E E L AY E R S TO CA R E F O R eyes, £44. Left:
Express Radiance
LAYER 1: Creams protect and moisturise the repair the middle layer of your skin.
ice cubes for
top layer of skin – a dollop of Anne Semonin’s LAYER 3: Detoxify the deepest layer each face, £48;
Dheanne Cream (£119) every morning is just evening with something more refreshing to boost your
the ticket. and penetrative. We love Anne Semonin’s complexion
LAYER 2: Try Anne Semonin’s 100 Firming Intensive Complex (£122)
percent Active Serum (£119) to feed and featuring essential oils.

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MEXICO
equilibrium. Body Rolling is still an insider secret among yogis, bodyworkers
and dancers, but word is spreading through classes at Zake’s West Village
studio in New York, and retreats such as the one at Enrico Marone
Cinzano’s Casa Bianca in Tuscany this summer. About £240 for a private
class with Zake, or £60 with another instructor; www.yamunabodyrolling.com
PYRENEES
MANEX IBAR
SHAMAN
This former Sony executive turned shaman
combines science and mysticism for powerful
readings and healing work. Most intensive is his
summer-solstice camping retreat in the Basque
Pyrenees, where you trek out into the mountains for
what he calls a Vision Quest, an uncomfortable but
exhilarating reboot with fasting, hallucinations via
plant infusions, and sweat lodges. If you don’t have 10 days to spend in
the wilderness, Ibar does private three-hour sessions at home, taking you
on a journey into your life – past, present and future – using drums,
meditation, Bach flower essences, essential oils and hands-on healing.
Ibar sees clients in the UK, the USA, France and Belgium, but make your
booking quickly. His roster of titans of industry and A-list athletes is
ever-growing. From £200; http://manexibar.com
HONG KONG
CHRISTINA PAUL
KINESIOLOGIST
On the ninth floor of a high-rise block in the
bustling Central district is a bright, airy haven
where ultra-calm kinesiologist Christina Paul treats
stress-ridden Hong Kong financiers and society ladies
in the know. Paul monitors muscle contractions and
uses acupressure on energy points to access the
deeper recesses of physical symptoms from chronic
fatigue to a persistent shoulder pain. A trained aromatherapist, she also
weaves in the powerful benefits of olfactory memories to push underlying
physical shifts further, with a remedial massage for an instant satisfaction
factor. As with most gifted therapists, the magic happens after you’ve left
her treatment rooms and begin to feel your body opening up to the changes
she’s initiated. Paul will also provide you with a long-term nutritional plan.
Treatments from about £80 for 75 minutes; www.kineseologyasia.com
NEW YORK
CHRISTINE CHIN
FACIALIST
Chin isn’t known as ‘mean Christine’ for nothing.
The facialist has been known to cut off celebrities
for not showing up for appointments, and she will
tell you all the ugly truths about your skin (‘Your
face looks like you are in your early 30s, but your
chest is a disaster. Are you even using sunscreen?’).
This seemingly brutal approach belies a skill that is
hard to find in the facialist world: Chin makes your skin look and feel as
fresh as a baby’s, and Rachel Weisz, Gisele Bündchen and JLo are all
testament to her talents. She has been known to tend to the dermis for
up to five hours, with a mix of needles and microdermabrasion. While
this process doesn’t necessarily feel good, the effects – glowing skin,
significantly reduced lines – last for up to six months. The cost may seem
high, but it feels justified by the compliments you’ll receive afterwards.
Treatments from about £300; www.christinechin.com
62 Spa Guide June 2014
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BARBARA VERROCHI
AND KRISTIN LEIGH
YOGA TEACHERS
Tulum’s white sand and crystal-clear sea draws
boho travellers from all over the world, but it can
be hard to find a beachside yoga retreat that is
neither too hippy nor too hardcore. With serious
asanas followed by a restorative treat, and perhaps
even a well-deserved Margarita in the evening,
Shala Yoga House’s retreat provides that middle
ground. Verrochi and Leigh opened a studio in New York’s Union Square
in 2002, and their mix of gentle adjustments, powerful sequences and
intuitive meditation, which they take on the road to Tulum, as well
as Nicaragua and Costa Rica, strikes the right balance between serious
practice and light-hearted fun. Verrochi’s chanting, accompanied by
her harmonium and the lapping waves, is one of the most beautiful
soundtracks imaginable. Price depends on location; www.theshala.com
IBIZA
AMANDA TIZARD
CRANIOSACRAL THERAPIST
Fresh-faced and relaxed, Tizard exudes an energy
that instantly calms and reassures. This is vital to
her work: if you can’t trust her, you won’t properly
let go. There’s no ceremony at her retreats;
everything is done instinctively. She will customise
treatments with alternative types of bodywork
as and when she deems it necessary, but it’s her
craniosacral therapy that packs the most powerful punch. Hers is an
inspired, gifted method. As she puts it, ‘We juggle so much – including
people’s perception of us, as well as our own judgements – that if I can
offer someone a space just to feel safe, then I’ve done my job.’ Tizard has
spent many years learning her craft, starting 10 years ago with massage
therapy, then moving in to craniosacral training using the Upledger
method. Track her down in Ibiza, where she regularly collaborates with
retreats run by nutritionist Vicki Edgson, or at the occasional appearance
in London’s Notting Hill. Treatments from about £50 for 60 minutes;
+34 639 152 912; amandatizard@hotmail.com
NEW YORK
ALEX DEFACCIO
COLONIC HYDROTHERAPIST
Anyone undertaking a detox, looking to kickstart
a new diet regime or suffering from IBS should
hotfoot it to Green Star Wellness on New York’s
Fifth Avenue. Its Brazilian founder, the softly
spoken Alexandra Defacio, is famous for her
colonics and inflammation-reducing lymphatic
massage using LED lights. We all know the standard
advice when it comes to water: if you want to look good on the outside,
drink plenty of it. But Defaccio has devised a series of treatments using
water both inside and out to heal, detoxify and spring-clean. The bespoke
Shamanic Colonic is not your ordinary colon hydrotherapy session; it
assists with cleansing, but also works on balancing the body’s vibrational
sounds and chakras. It may sound a little out-there, but the process has
such a powerful cleansing effect on your body that you won’t feel like
filling up on cakes and crisps any time soon. It’s an enlightening way to lose
a few hours and emerge feeling as fresh as a daisy. Treatments from about
£115 for 75 minutes; www.greenstarwellnessnyc.com
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L AU N C H I N G O N L I N E N E X T M O N T H
THE SPA FINDER
I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H
T H E Q U I C K E S T WAY TO F I N D
T H E B E S T S PA F O R YO U , W I T H
I N - D E P T H R E V I E WS A N D
E S S E N T I A L A DV I C E
+ YO GA R E T R E AT S +
+ D E TOX P R O G R A M M E S +
+ W E I G H T - LO S S W E E KS +
V I S I T C N T R AV E L L E R . C O M
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BARCELONA
BASTIEN GONZALEZ
PODIATRIST
Gonzalez lives for feet, which is just as well.
He has nail studios in some of the world’s
smartest city hotels, his most recent residence
being The Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona. Also a
self-confessed aircraft addict – he hopes to own
a private jet one day – the Frenchman
commands all the One&Only resorts from the
Maldives to Mexico, spends a lot of time in Dubai (he caretakes the
Royal Mirage, The Palm and Atlantis, The Palm) and rarely stays in any
one place for more than a couple of days. He offers the occasional
session at The Cadogan on London’s Sloane Street, which is popular
with his regular clientele of hedge-funders and billionaire businessmen
(who he doesn’t scare off with polish or girly stuff), but getting an
appointment there is nigh-on impossible; you’re better off flying.
While jetting away for a mani/pedi may sound nuts, once you’ve tried
his treatments all will become clear. Don’t expect your typical, speedy
shape-and-paint. Gonzalez clips, cuts and shines with marble dust
and chamois leather, and feet are left buffed and positively gleaming.
Treatments from about £130 for 60 minutes; www.bastiengonzalez.com
HAVANA
RAFAEL ORAMA
FACIALIST
In a quiet, suburban street in way-off-centre
Nuevo Vedado, the veranda of Rafael Orama’s
house is always full of those waiting to have their
pores deep-cleaned by the city’s most sought-
after facialist. Orama, who has been plying his
trade for two-and-a-half decades, is very much
of the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ tradition.
He does do waxing, massages and nails (and a sideline in classic-car
rentals), but facials are his thing. His profoundly revitalising treatment
consists of a deep cleanse with steam and ethanol, a painful and
protracted extraction, optional eyebrow tinting, a sulphur mask and
a take-no-prisoners massage and cheekbone-pound. While the mask
sets, you’ll sit in his massage chair and listen to the theme from
St Elmo’s Fire as he counsels the next client on their needs (and life).
Orama doesn’t mince words and will bark advice such as ‘Never go
out in the sun, ever,’ but once the blotches die down, your complexion
will look five years younger. Charmingly, he uses an adapted 18th-
century barber’s chair, as well as a beautifully looked-after collection
of equipment from the 1950s to 1980s. This place is neither
conveniently located nor remotely fancy, but it offers the best facial in
Cuba. Prices on request; +537 832 0123
INDIA
SUSHANT PANDEY
YOGA DIRECTOR
Dressed in a traditional white cotton kurta and
trousers, Sushant Pandey is the opposite of
the Lycra-clad yogis of the West. It’s fitting
that his base at the Ananda Spa is known as
‘the seat of yoga’; as you practise with him, you
begin to understand what the discipline is all
about. Pandey radiates calm and can back-
bend his lean, flexible frame almost in two with supreme ease, yet
his message is not that we need to be tying ourselves in knots or
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standing on our head. It’s about ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’ and a
session may find you focusing on breathing methods and sitting
postures rather than complicated positions. That doesn’t mean
you don’t work hard: under his gentle and graceful guidance,
you’ll find yourself deeply engrossed, stretching to your limits in
the meditative detail of even the simplest postures, such as the
tree pose. Pandey’s combination of ancient yogic techniques
and an understanding of the 21st-century psyche encourages
a profound shift. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced,
your mind, body and yoga practice will be transformed.
Five-day yoga package from about £2,870; www.anandaspa.com

MALDIVES
JACQUELINE BOURBON
SPIRITUAL COACH
British-born Bourbon operates mainly out of
Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, where owners
Sonu and Eva Shivdasani consult her about
everything from the feng shui of the island to
the layouts of the villas. She is a healer, a
transformational teacher, a medium and a sage.
You may come to her with a physical ailment
(crushing headaches or niggling back pain) but she is quick to root out
the deeper issue. A lethargic and distressed child is diagnosed with
YOUR MEDITERRANEAN SPA EXPERIENCE
gluten intolerance and turns almost overnight into an energy ball with
a completely different attitude to life. When you are feeling plain old TO REJUVENATE AND UNWIND IS
stuck, in a relationship or with work, or you’ve got yourself into a spin CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
about something, Bourbon is terrifically good at getting you out of the
vortex and moving you on. There’s no touching, no laying of hands.
Instead Bourbon can sense and release the blockages but, of course,
as she says, ‘It’s not an exact science’. Clever and relaxed, she is adept
at working with resolute sceptics. She travels all the time, to China, to
Nepal, to Thailand to dip into workshops at Chiva-Som; if you can
catch her on a rare trip to London, sign up for a house visit where she
will help you not only tidy your mind but your sitting room too. About
£240 for 50 minutes; www.soneva.com

ALGARVE
RICARDO ROSA
OSTEOPATH
This exceptional therapist quickly gained a
cult following when he was based at the
Longevity Wellness Resort in the Algarve.
The spa now has a shiny new outpost in
Lisbon, and Rosa has moved on to practice
at his own private clinic in Alvor. First and
foremost, this kind, gentle man will spend
as much time with you as is necessary, so your sessions are never
on the clock. He’s a qualified osteopath, but that’s just half the
story. He is deeply spiritual in a way that instantly wins your trust.
Rosa can tell you about your birth and its bearing on your spinal
development: if you were breach or there were delivery problems,
it may have affected the alignment of your bones. A master of
cranialsacral therapy, he’ll cradle your head in his hands and rock
you into a trance. He can tell if you have kidney or liver issues by
mere touch, whether your sleep problems are caused by overheating
in the blood, and if your bad back is the result of poor hip reflexes.
He then treats you with strong hands or cracking of bones until all
is where it should be. Much of what he says is common sense, easily
understood and remedied. The rest comes from the heart, which
is thought provoking and inevitably leads to a great emotional
release. Few osteopaths could have such impact. Treatments from
about £90; +351 936 014 171; ricardofisio@live.com.pt
CYPRUS
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THE PURE INDULGENCE OF LE SPA WILL
REJUVENATE BODY AND SOUL
Alluring décor, soothing waterfalls, mosaic tiled pools and lavish treatment
rooms combine to create an inviting and tranquil ambience in this unique
Thalassotherapy Spa. The only one of its kind in Europe, Le Spa features
four outdoor and three indoor seawater treatment pools in the 3,000 square
metre, award winning Le Spa with 34 individual treatment rooms, where
guests can be pampered with a choice of over 130 Thalgo and Elemis
treatments. Le Spa is a truly extraordinary therapeutic and relaxing haven.
free half board upgrade offer FOR SUMMER 2014
Available through most tour operators - see your local travel for details and
booking conditions or contact: Le Meridien Limassol Spa & Resort
Tel: +357 2586 2000 Fax: +357 2563 4222
Email: reservations@lemeridienlimassol.com / lespa@lemeridienlimassol.com
www.lemeridienlimassol.com
YOUR MEDITERRANEAN SPA EXPERIENCE
The island’s only
international
Five Star Chain Hotel
on the beach
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THE COMPETITION
THE PRIZE
A £9,000 SPA BREAK IN THAILAND
The rest of the world seems a million miles away when
you’re kicking back at this jungly hillside resort on Koh
Samui. Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary is built around an
ancient monk’s cave, which was once the font of Buddhism
on the island. The spa offers every type of healing, from
Ayurveda to a sleep-enhancement programme. There are
treatments to stimulate your meridians, restore your
chakras and polish your aura, all soothingly performed by
intuitive therapists. Enter the Where Are You? competition
and you could win a seven-night holiday for two here. The
prize includes full-board accommodation in a Sea View
Villa, return British Airways flights and transfers. It also
includes the Relax & Renew programme, with arrival and
departure wellness consultations, a Body Bio-impedance
Analysis, two essential-oil massages, two traditional Asian
hand and foot massages, one Thai massage, one Indian head
massage, one lotus scrub and wrap, one Sodashi facial, two
Chi Nei Tsang abdominal treatments and two infrared
sauna sessions, as well as use of the steam cavern, swimming
pools and fitness centre, daily holistic fitness activities and
one wellness gift pack. The holiday must be taken by
December 2015, excluding 20 December 2014 to 12 April
2015. For more details, contact Healing Holidays on +44 20
7843 3592 or visit www.healingholidays.co.uk.
66 Spa Guide June 2014
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WHERE ARE YOU?
This was one of the world’s first health
resorts. King David was known to hang
out on the banks and Herod the Great
liked to take a dip. Later, the Egyptians
came here to hone their mummification
techniques. These days, you’re more likely
to find people bobbing about or taking a
selfie than actually swimming. The water is
amazingly soothing for skin problems such
as eczema, psoriasis and rosacea, and the
pure air makes it an excellent place to
recuperate after an operation. From here,
you can see across to the western shore,
along which the world’s lowest road runs.
It is 393 metres below sea level and in a
different country, so pack your passport if
you plan to cross the border, your oldest
swimming costume and something to wear
on your feet. Don’t bring your snorkel
though as there aren’t any fish, just microbial
fungi and minuscule bits of bacteria. And
if you’re clever, you’ll come at night when
the heat of the desert has cooled off to
float under the stars. Where are you?
HOW TO ENTER
Identify the body of water and country, top left, and fill in the entry
form at www.healing holidays.co.uk/competitiontermsandconditions
COMPETITION RULES
PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID CROOKES
1. Entries for the Where Are You? competition can be completed online (stating
your full name, address and telephone number), and must correctly identify the
place described according to the instructions given. 2. Entries must arrive no later
than 30 June 2014. 3. The Where Are You? competition is open to readers of
Condé Nast Traveller who are 18 or older on the date of entry, except for employees
of Condé Nast Publications, participating promotional agencies, contributors to
Condé Nast Traveller, and the families of any of the above. For full terms and
conditions, visit www.healingholidays.co.uk/competitiontermsandconditions
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condenastjohansens.com
WorldMags.net Maradiva Villas Resort & Spa, Mauritius
SPA GUIDE INDEX
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AUSTRALIA
GAIA RETREAT & SPA, BYRON BAY 6
AUSTRIA
AYURVEDA RESORT SONNHOF, THIERSEE VALLEY 32
GRAND PARK HOTEL, BAD HOFGASTEIN 29
PARKHOTEL IGLS, INNSBRUCK 20
CAMBODIA
SONG SAA, KOH RONG ARCHIPELAGO 29
CARIBBEAN
VICEROY ANGUILLA, ANGUILLA 38
FRANCE
LES PRES D’EUGENIE, LANDES 17
SOFITEL QUIBERON DIETETIQUE, BRITTANY 20
GREECE  F12 FITNESS, LA MANGA CLUB, MURCIA 44
AMANZOE, PELOPONNESE 37
INDIA
ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS, UTTARAKHAND 18
HILTON SHILLIM ESTATE, PUNE 30
KALARI KOVILAKOM, KERALA 31
VANA, UTTARAKHAND 5
INDONESIA
COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE, BALI 12
FIVELEMENTS, BALI 30
ITALY
THE FITNESS RENAISSANCE, TUSCANY 43
PALACE MERANO, SOUTH TYROL 24
BIKINI, £77, MARYSIA SWIM AT WWW.
SHOPBOP.COM. EARRINGS, £733;
NECKLACE, £765, BOTH MARIA
BLACK AT NET-A-PORTER.COM.
BRACELET, £600, HEDI SLIMANE FOR
SAINT LAURENT (WWW.YSL.COM)
68 Spa Guide June 2014
MALDIVES NICARAGUA
CHEVAL BLANC RANDHELI, NOONU ATOLL 37 MUKUL, GUACALITO DE LA ISLA 31
ONE&ONLY REETHI RAH,
NORTH MALE ATOLL 36 OMAN
SIX SENSES ZIGHY BAY,
MAURITIUS MUSANDAM PENINSULA 8
CONSTANCE LE PRINCE MAURICE,
POSTE DE FLACQ 15 PHILIPPINES
THE FARM AT SAN BENITO, LIPA 6
MOZAMBIQUE
VAMIZI ISLAND, PORTUGAL
QUIRIMBAS ARCHIPELAGO 35 JUICY OASIS, VALE DO SERRAO 18
NEPAL SEYCHELLES
DWARIKA’S RESORT, DHULIKHEL 27 BANYAN TREE SEYCHELLES, MAHE 36
FREGATE ISLAND PRIVATE, FREGATE ISLAND 32
SPAIN
IN:SPA, ANDALUCIA 43
SWITZERLAND
CLINIQUE LA PRAIRIE, MONTREUX 23
GRAND RESORT BAD RAGAZ, ST GALLEN 5
LONHEA, VILLARS-SUR-OLLON 23
LA RESERVE, GENEVA 24
THAILAND
ABSOLUTE SANCTUARY, KOH SAMUI 17
CHIVA-SOM, HUA HIN 10
POINT YAMU BY COMO, PHUKET 38
USA
CANYON RANCH, ARIZONA 10
KRIPALU, MASSACHUSETTS 44
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The greatest
wealth is health
Virgil

Join the wellness revolution, become

a healthier version of yourself by
investing in a wellness holiday.

Healing Holidays the spa and wellness experts

www.healingholidays.co.uk 020 7843 3592
#WeAreWellness @healinghols