Travel Notes: March
CELEBRATE THE SPRING EQUINOX HERE: Heckfield Place
It opened in 2018 and within months had won every award going, including The Times Hotel of the Year. This month, its event series The Assembly focuses on the spring equinox. Over the weekend of 21st-22nd March, enjoy a tour of Home Farm with biodynamic expert Jane Scotter, a talk from artist Ewa Monika Zebrowski, an exploration of food with food activist and journalist Baroness Rosie Boycott, as well as the chance to get face to face with the creator of Mad World podcast Bryony Gordon. Cap it all off with a dinner cooked by the hotel’s culinary director Skye Gyngell.
Find out more here
STAY IN A PUGLIAN OASIS HERE: Paragon 700
A former palace with one of the few green spaces – and even rarer swimming pools – in Ostuni, Paragon 700 is the new Italian hotel to know. Now an 11-bedroom hotel, Michelin-starred chef Paulo Airaudo is behind the Restaurant 700 menu, while award-winning bartender Salvatore Vita is the mixologist-in-chief. The hotel team also offers everything from motorbike tours to reserved loungers at P-Beach, Paragon 700’s sister beach club. If you fall in love with the chic interiors, you can buy most of the furniture and décor to take home.
Prices from €300 per night, B&B
Visit Paragon700.com
TAKE IN SOME CULTURE HERE: Villa La Massa
Villa La Massa sits on the banks of the Arno, 20 minutes from the centre of Florence. Get your fill of the historic architecture and museums before returning to an oasis of calm outside of the city centre. Due to reopen on 25th March following a full refurbishment, recent additions include the installation of a pool and bistro, as well as the new La Limonaia villa, with ten individual bedroom suites.
Visit VillaLaMassa.com
GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP HERE: Zedwell, Piccadilly
If you struggle to sleep, try checking into London’s Zedwell Piccadilly. Here, the focus is on getting in those all-important ZZZs, with rooms designed with minimal clutter, serious sound insulation, purified air, ambient lighting and Egyptian cotton sheets. Meanwhile, no windows mean no intrusive daylight to upset your circadian rhythms. Similar sites in Greenwich, Tottenham Court Road and Marble Arch are due to open soon, with rooms sleeping up to eight people available.
Prices from £64 per night
Visit ZedwellHotels.com
BE AN ECO-FRIENDLY TOURIST HERE: The Sense Experience Resort
A new luxury eco resort off the Tuscan coast opens at the end of this month, aiming to ignite ‘every sense’. We like the sound of its food truck, which serves international street food, as well as the private beach and 12 acres of parkland.
Prices from €118 per night
Visit TheSenseResort.it
BOOK A STAY IN THE CAPITAL HERE: Locke At Broken Wharf
With a bit of bling, huge rooms and high-tech kitchens, boutique bolthole Locke at Broken Wharf could be your home from home in London when it opens this month. It has a restaurant, bar and buzzy co-working area, plus a cultural programme of wellness, art and music. On the banks of the Thames, some of the rooms have views of Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. Deli Cat & Sons, a New York-style delicatessen, offers bagels, salads and breakfast, or guests can borrow a cookbook and get busy in each apartment’s high-spec kitchen.
Prices from £135 per night
Visit LockeLiving.com
ENJOY A LUXURY RETREAT HERE: Can Aulí, Mallorca
There’s plenty happening in Mallorca this year, including the opening of the Can Aulí luxury boutique hotel. Located near the main square in Pollensa town, the restaurant will serve plenty of the island’s home-grown organic produce. Make sure to book one of the rooms with a private terrace and views towards the Sierra Tramuntana.
Prices from €180 per night
Visit BoutiqueHotelCanauli.com
GET LOST IN THE PAGES OF: Taschen Portrait Of A City Series
The images collected in Taschen’s Portrait of a City series allow readers to travel to some of the world’s most desirable capitals, all from the comfort of their own home. Each volume features hundreds of photographs capturing the energy of London, New York or Paris, with essays and commentary providing context for each image. From the moonlit streets of Paris to snapshots of the everyday lives of New Yorkers in the 1960s, the book’s custom jacket will also add a touch of elegance to any living space.
Available here
REST AND REBOOT WITH: 15th Degree JetFuel Sachets
We’re always on the hunt for a helping hand when it comes to feeling our best after a long flight. Divided into three specialised supplements – energy-boosting 'Performance', soothing 'Rest' and 'Health' for overall wellbeing – each of these naturally sweetened sachets is loaded with vitamins, minerals, botanicals and bacterial cultures. Just empty each sachet into 250ml of still cold water and drink no later than 30 minutes after eating. A game-changer for frequent flyers.
Available here
LISTEN TO THE BEST TRAVEL STORIES HERE: Women Who Travel
If you’re after a bit of wanderlust and inspiration, join Condé Nast Traveller editors Lale Arikoglu and Meredith Carey to dissect the realities of travelling as a woman today, as they’re joined by movers and shakers in the worlds of food, hospitality, adventure and travel journalism. A true celebration of all the reasons not to stay home, their most recent guest was Dolly Alderton, podcast host of The High Low.
Listen here
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