To find out, we pulled together a list of our very favourite extravagant hotels. They might not have hit the highs of gold brick vending machines yet, but each offer quite extraordinary levels of glamour in to-die-for locations. Just be warned: stays here are definitely not for the shy and retiring…

Amanjena, Marrakech

Amanjena hosted the Sex and the City 2 girls while filming on location in Marrakech, which is a stamp of more-is-more approval if ever we heard one. Moorish design, a huge heated outdoor pool and myriad spa treatments make this place special enough, but the living quarters are even more mind-blowing. Hole up in a pavilion with its own pool and garden, or go all-out with a two-storey private mansion.

Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast

Queen of bling Donatella Versace’s Renaissance-style palace on Australia’s Gold Coast leaves no opportunity for lavish luxury undiscovered. Rooms come kitted out in Versace furniture and linen and have their own private spas, while condos go a step better with plunge pools and roof-top terraces too. Check in here and you’re guaranteed a fashion-diva fantasy of a stay.

Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa, Phuket

This luxury Thai resort is a world of its own, offering a calm respite from frantic Phuket a few miles down the coast. The big deal here is Bon Island, the hotel’s own private island paradise just a speedboat ride away from the main resort. Honeymooning couples find the ultimate love-nest in the island’s only accommodation, a traditional stilted honeymoon suite surrounded by jungle with views out to sea.

Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan
It’s (technically) camping, but not as we know it – 25 safari tents at Oberoi Vanyavilas are set in a glorious grove of fruit trees and come with air conditioning, DVD players, four-poster beds, teak floors and huge freestanding deep-soak tubs. Outside, you can take breakfast in your own private walled garden, or wander further afield to spot tigers at Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, within which the luxury camp is integrated – pure magic.

Isabel Clift is a writer and editor for Travelintelligence.com. For more top luxury hotel recommendations, including an amazing collection of luxury hotels in London see UK-based hotel specialists www.travelintelligence.com.

Soho House Berlin is right bang in the Mitte, with great views of the TV Tower and some less attractive post War architecture. It is Soho House’s most ambitious project to date and at the time of our visit three of the floors were still to be completed. The scale is wonderful – big restaurant and reception spaces, good light, the anticipated long swathes of zinc bar, the utilitarian restaurant design with open kitchen and wood fired pizza oven. My favourite feature is the cosy rich red velvet be-tasseled screening room – it’s unmistakably Berlin but complete with popcorn maker.

The Cowshed spa copes well with the fact it is in a basement with good lighting and very substantial space circulating round a central hub. The communal parts again are spacious and still quite basic in furnishings and decor – soon to be upgraded when they open Cecconis on the ground floor.

Now onto the all important bedrooms. I viewed one in each size. The top floor rooms in the eaves are cosy but good lateral layouts make the best use of space; the mid rooms now feel a little meagre for Soho House standards but the larger rooms are spectacular. Each is designed in typical quirky style with slightly pastiche 1940s heavy furniture, with the usual touches of eclectic styling (hat displays in the hall, 33rpm record players in each room contrasting with the flat screen tvs and ipod stereos). The bathrooms are worth the trip alone with perfect pressure that ensures blasting showers and rapid baths. Everything you want at home but rarely get.

The staff were erratic but it was early days. Many from other SH hotels had been seconded in but the newbies were coping well. The concierge was ill informed however and we relied on the waiting staff to give us the best tips for our 24 hour Berlin immersion. I ate at Grill Royal (excellent steak with asparagus and a medley of puds), found Bar Tausend definitely lacking (too much rubbernecking, lacking in confidence) and finally found my Berlin cool at Bar 25, an amazing 24/7 collection of wooden chalets by the river. There were firepits, live guitar shows and different DJs in each chalet; this was something I had never seen before and it restored my faith.

Berlin is not an easy city to get under the skin of. Paris and Rome are so immediately and shockingly beautiful that loving them is inevitable whereas Berlin is definitely more edgy, less obvious and harder work. In our 24 hour stint, I took a river boat (cheesy but great to have your first view of the Reichstag building from the water) and then hired a bike to ensure I felt in touch with the city. This was a great success. I also highly recommend breakfast and afternoon cake at Café Einstein. I think there might be an expression ‘the Berlin Blues’. If not, there should be because when Berlin is grey, it reflects a certain malaise that affects everyone. I had a great time but for once a European city reminded me how incredibly beautiful London is.

Written by Sîan Sutherland

What can one say of a hotel where the bedrooms can be described as quirkily decorated at best and need refurbishment; where the bathrooms are adequate but not much more; where the pool is tiny, the sun beds are arranged like rows of sardines and the restaurant is only open for lunch? Quite simply that it’s one of the best hotels that Globalista has visited in the last year.

So why, despite its shortcomings is it one of our favourites? Well, more than anything it’s to do with the staff, many of whom have been there for over 25 years. They make you feel that not only is this a family run hotel but that staying there you’re part of that family. From Gennaro who presides over lunch and runs the bar, to all the staff at reception, the welcome was all embracing. And when we arrived we were greeted as regulars despite the fact that the last time we were there was over 20 years ago.

While the rooms are a little basic on the décor front, the beds are supremely comfortable and just to demonstrate how solicitous the hotel is as to your wellbeing they’ve even fixed the bathroom scales to register 1/2 kilos less than your normal weight. More importantly, the sea views from the rooms are incomparable, particularly from rooms 58 and 59 on the ground floor by the bar (paradoxically these are the highest rooms as the hotel cascades down the hillside). Just to sit on the terrace gazing out at the sea with the town spread out to the right is an absolute delight.

The poolside restaurant is also exceptional, serving, in our opinion, the best food we had on the island. It was a difficult choice between going to swim off the Faraglioni rocks and lunch at La Fontelina or stay at La Scalinatella for magnificent pasta, grilled fish and wild strawberries.

Also, if you’re put off by holidaying on an island whose two main streets rival Bond Street or Madison Avenue, and which are difficult to avoid if you’re staying in the centre, the other pleasure of La Scalinatella compared to the fancier hotels such as the Quisisana is that it is a ten minute walk from the main square. At La Scalinatella you can ration being exposed to Hermes, Prada, Ferragamo et al and live reclusively in a divine haven. If you want to go for a walk you can simply turn right and walk to the Tragara without any retail blandishments.

In summary this hotel is PERFECT and in case having read this you think that as Globalista we enjoyed better than average service, we in fact travelled incognito paying full rate for our rooms without any mention that we were there to update our Globalista Report on Capri and Ischia.

La Scalinatella
Via Tragara,
8 – 80073 Capri
+39 081 8370633
(www.scalinatella.com)

With over 900 riads offering accommodation, there is no shortage of fabulous places to stay in Marrakech. The same cannot be said once you’ve stepped beyond the Palmeraie however, which is a pity, as places like the small town of Ourika in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains are some of my favourite spots in Morocco. Until now, it has felt like a well-kept secret, known only to aficionados and local residents. I knew it from visiting the aromatic herb garden, Nectarome. Now that the greatly anticipated guesthouse, Kasbah Bab Ourika is finally open, there’s an even better reason to visit – and stay – in the area.

Perched on a hill overlooking the Ourika River and surrounded on three sides by national parkland, the Kasbah has one of the most beautiful settings imaginable. It feels impossibly lush and impossibly grand but nature’s grandeur, rather than man’s. Indeed, the setting is so extraordinary that the magic of the hotel is almost an added bonus. There’s an expansive ease that feels both totally peaceful and wholly embracing. This is a place for unwinding, walking the hills, or discovering the local villages. There are books – good ones – in every room and each of the 15 suites is individually decorated in muted palettes and locally sourced furnishings.

My personal favourite is the cosy Room 9, with a fantastically airy outdoor shower…which I concede might be less appealing in winter months. Carefully chosen antiques line the colonnades of the inner courtyards, and the bar is as intimate and inviting as you could wish. Lunch on the garden terraces alone is worth the one hour roundtrip from Marrakech, although I warn you, you’ll want to stay longer. You might want to stay forever.

Doubles from €150; 00 212 661 25 23 28 / 00 212 661 44 77 89 / 00 212 524 38 97 97; www.babourika.com

By Eleanor O’Keefe

Luxury beach hotels – and by this we mean stunning places to stay with friendly service to match the blue skies outside – are harder to come by than you think. Mistakes happen all too often: you turn up at your dream destination, caught up in visions of white sands and palm fronds only find you’ve paid up for a not-so-special, shoebox-room resort with a back view of a building site. Let it never happen again! Here we round up our pick of our very favourite paradise destinations, where wonderful luxury beach hotels are guaranteed…

South Pacific: The Maldives

The modern Mecca of the luxury beach hotel, Maldives hotels do stylish stays effortlessly: expect posh spa treatments and super-pampering service. Traditional water huts suspended over warm lagoon waters are particularly popular here, but you could opt for an equally snazzy all-white villa with private pool. Island pastime? Spotting the rich and famous whizz by on their super-yachts.

Europe: Santorini

Relaxing Greek island Santorini has class and style in spades. The rugged and rocky volcanic landscape makes for absolutely stunning views: grab a suite with a balcony and you’ve got the hot-seat for the best sunset scenes in Europe. Clean-lined, all-white boutique accommodation and gorgeous Santorini beach hotels (some of which are literally cut in to caves in the cliff-face!) await.

Southeast Asia: Langkawi

This collection of islands in Malaysia’s Andaman Sea plays host to some superbly opulent luxury Malaysian beach hotels in secluded coastal spots. Design is typically elegant and uncluttered, and outdoors there’s opportunity to see local wildlife in protected rainforests, stretch out on pristine white sands or partake in all the golf, open-air spa treatments or water-sports your heart desires.

South America: Bahia

Brazilian state Bahia’s coastal region is fantastic for whale-watching, reef diving and exploring environmentally-protected stretches of the Atlantic Forest. Check in to a beautiful, eco-conscious Bahia beach hotel for all this plus a super-comfy bed and square meal at the end of a hard days’ adventuring. All Saints Bay is best for those looking to go sailing, with 56 islands to hop between.

USA: Miami

A city destination: an unusual choice for the luxury beach hotel-lover, but hear us out. Miami is home to some of the world’s most famed examples of 20th-century Art Deco design, making every one of its colourful hotels unique and covetable. The city also lives and breathes parties, so you like to relax on the beach by day in preparation for your big night out, cool Miami is the place for you.

Africa: Zanzibar

From the crumbly, breathtaking beauty of World Heritage Site Stone Town to spotting monkeys in Jozani Forest, Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania is a stunning destination. Set up camp in a luxury African beach hotel and enjoy the island’s crystal waters and soft white sands – you can choose to laze your days away by the ocean, or take a wander round Stone Town’s narrow alleys and bazaars.

Where to throw a memorable house party for a landmark birthday with an invitation list to accommodate parents, godparents, a clutch of recalcitrant teenagers, another clutch of turbo-charged pre-schoolers and the demands of a bunch of high-achieving closest mates. Does such a villa exist anywhere in the world that will be large enough, special enough and flexible enough to live up to such an occasion?

Mount Hartman Bay Estate located on the southern shores of the charming and quirky island of Grenada near where the pale turquoise of the Caribbean and the indigo of the Atlantic meet and mix, may well be the perfect party location. Owned by a telecom millionaire with obvious vision, the house squats like an exotic bug among three acres of tropical gardens at the end of a private and secure promontory overlooking the bay. Built partly into the rock-face with a cactus and grass covered roof and cooled by internal waterfalls, this is the antithesis of the usual sedate colonial-style island house. What you have here, instead, is as fantastical futuristic and fabulous, complete with helipad and private jetty and, so local folklore has it, a secret elevator that accesses the beach from the master bedroom. I never succeeded in locating it!

Actually, ‘master bedroom’ is a misnomer; one of the great things about Mount Hartman Bay is that there is no ‘best’ room for anyone to bicker over. All 12 suites have equal space and spectacular views across the bay, most with indoor and outdoor bathrooms and all enough high-tech gadgetry to make warm the cockles of any city-boy’s heart; with Bose sound systems and flat 42” plasma screens, ipods loaded with 1800 tracks in all the bedrooms. There is also a home cinema, Sony playstation and plenty of other toys-for-the-boys including a record-breaking Blade Runner 51-foot powerboat capable of speeds of up to 70 knots over 80 mph, for the exclusive use of the guests. It even has an outdoor misting system, a sort of air conditioning to keep passengers cool while sitting in the cockpit. There are also motor launches for wakeboards, jet boats and sea scooters.

Everything in the house is built on a generous scale; beds and wardrobes are oversized, the kitchen and the wine cellars are vast and cavernous and perfectly adapted to party entertaining. And although I didn’t think the black damask upholstered Biedermeier furniture was suited to a holiday house in the Tropics, at least there’s room enough for everyone curl up. The dining room table, hand carved out of Venezuelan purple heart is so heavy, immovable and huge (it can seat 30 comfortably) that it had to be made on the premises.

There are pods of rooms in different zones across the estate so that, for instance, the children’s hysteria over sightings of spiders and lizards need never intrude on the whispered canoodlings of the loved up couples. The children, we hardly saw. They could not have been more thrilled by the Flintstones meets Tracy Island architecture and spent happy hours sliding through the internal waterfalls. We never saw much of the fiancées who holed up in the turret suite, a wonderful romantic eyrie up a funky glass staircase overlooking the pool. The noisy teenagers were consigned to the separate beach house below with its own pool and spacious wooden decks that led straight onto the beach, where we enjoyed daily sunrise yoga sessions with marvellous Mike.

It was easy to fall under the spell of the ‘anything’ goes charm of the island, easy to be seduced by the languid beaches and its crazy history. We spent days exploring waterfalls and volcanic craters in our 4×4s, we sampled a variety of fish specials at different and sensational restaurants everyday. We road tested cocktails at crazy beach shacks like Aquarium or bohemian hideaways and spent siesta hours snoozing beside the 27-metre infinity pool, cooled by a remote controlled mist vaporizer built into the retractable awning. Utter bliss.

Contact: 01628 829222; www.mounthartmanbay.com

The estate accommodates up to 24 guests in 12 double rooms, including the Beach House which can also be rented separately. From £3,200 per person per week, including all food and drinks, laundry, staff of 16, transfers, all boats and the use of two Mitsubishi Shoguns 4×4s.

All pictures courtesy of Mount Harman Bay

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is one of those places dubbed a ‘hole’. It’s neither particularly old, nor particularly beautiful. But read on because now there’s a reason to visit: the Oyster Bay Hotel. Renovated in 2007, the hotel is particularly beautiful. It’s also one of the coolest overnight stops in Africa for in-transit honeymooners and those who are en-route, whether to the high snows of Kilimanjaro, the coral sands and historical sights of Zanzibar, the Rift Valley or the Serengeti with its annual migration of two million animals.

The Oyster Bay Hotel is a nine-bed villa with shady colonnades and courtyards. It sits on Oyster Bay, next to the embassy residences and overlooking the ocean. Opposite, huge boats line the harbour (harbour duties are low here) and then set off in twos and threes to deter pirates. The hotel’s interior is in keeping with the new African aesthetic: tribal, organic and chic. It has a large, minimalist open-plan space with muted colours and materials that you want to touch (think jute, fur and hemp), plus artefacts that tell a story. There’s a Kudu-horn lamp musical instrument used in ceremonies to communicate with ancestors; interesting lights, such as raw rattan hanging shades and a Buri palm leaf floor lamp; tribal-chief-sized beds, village-sized bathrooms and free-standing baths. ‘Such a cool vibe,’ scribbled Harpers’ editor Lucy Yeomans in the Visitors’ Book.

I was there in transit to meet friends at Lake Tanganyika – the second deepest lake in the world and the world’s longest freshwater lake – where we were picking up a Lady Lori helicopter (East Africa’s numero uno heli company) to fly to the Serengeti. In the meantime it’s only the style-addicted like me who feel content to go to Africa and just revel in a hotel’s interior. So in pursuit of areas beyond my World of Interiors mindset I decided to spend my few spare hours on the island of Zanzibar.

The ferry trip to Zanzibar involved my travelling companion, Maretha Wemtzer, the (endlessly helpful and hospitable) white South African big mama of the Oyster Bay Hotel in lengthy cross-cultural negotiations. There were ten strangers who, offering their assistance, accompanied us from the taxi to the harbour-side ferry booking office. After a small tree’s worth of form-filling, animated chats about ‘Muzungus’ (white people), residents’ rates and charges for tourists and lots of gesticulating and hand-waving, finally a deal was struck: $80 for my return trip and substantially less for Maretha because she’s a resident. We were accompanied on the two and a half hour ride by cheerful Tanzanians and narcoleptic backpackers who slept on the ferry floor.

When you arrive in Zanzibar by sea, you pass the old dhow harbour where outrigger canoes chug up and down in turquoise waters bordered by golden sands. On the shore, there’s the old Arab fort and House of Wonders (a 19th-century ceremonial palace) of Stone Town, a World Heritage Site. The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, has poured development money into Zanzibar. The dollars show immediately on its manicured sea front garden – Forodhani Park – where, on the day we go, someone also happens to be wrapping the trees in red fabric, in readiness for a party. Better than a yellow ribbon round an old oak tree, any day.

We walked through Stone Town, Zanzibar’s old quarter. In Zanzibar, Portuguese rule was followed by that of Omani Arabs. Omani sultans made Zanzibar the seat of their Imamate, and their home. It then became a British protectorate in 1890. Little has changed since the 1850s; Stone Town is a maze of alleyways, mosques, bazaars and high-walled buildings with teak door frames and the Koran’s scripts and symbols: from the lotus (denoting reproductive power) to fish (for fertility). A roadside vendor was selling cane sugar juice and barbecued cassava (like sweet potato.) Around him, a few men sported the traditional kanzu (ankle-length robes) and some women wore bui-bui (black gowns). But the hot fashion item is still the men’s crocheted hat.

We visited artefact shops selling Coca-Cola cans fashioned into toy cars, beaded necklaces and bags and dresses made by women’s communities from kikoi fabric. Zanzibar Gallery, a wondrous book shop sells endless tomes on African art alongside photographs, carvings and textiles. At the fish market there are piles of unidentifiable blue fish, flailing yellow Piscean prototypes and octopuses; the vegetable and spice market has spiky ‘ugly fruit,’ cashews, pungent cloves and cumin – all taken away after purchase in bags made of old newspapers. At lunch we sat in a restaurant overlooking the ocean and ate the delightfully named pilli pilli perch, steamed with lime, chilli and garlic.

Then we took in a little history. The slave trade had existed for centuries before the sultans came to Zanzibar, but not on such a scale. In the mid 19th-century, 30,000 slaves a year were bought to Zanzibar. Some were punished by being buried alive in the walls of houses under construction; others were beaten and fondled lasciviously in the market. We visited the dank and cramped subterranean quarters where slaves were kept before auctions, many dying before the sale. Then we walked around the Cathedral which was built on the site of the old slave market; saw the altar, the location of the old whipping post; and a crucifix, made from the tree under which Livingstone’s heart was gouged out after his death, and buried. It was his belief that his heart er, belonged to Africa.

On our return trip to Dar es Salaam in the evening, the ferry was full. Men in business suits, with polyester ties, Africa-sized status and even bigger smiles, stood port side, getting drenched with spray. And laughing. And laughing. It was a very happy moment.

We arrived back to the Oyster Bay Hotel and a Tanzanian feast of ‘bamia’ (okra), nyanya chungu (white baby aubergine), and spinach. All dishes were cooked in coconut milk and delicious enough to turn even the most ardent cannibal into a vegetarian. For pudding there was hot grilled pineapple drizzled with cashew, butter and honey sauce or passion fruit crème brulee. Maretha, a formidable foodie, has her staff of black men in white tunics cooking up a storm.

I looked around the beautiful and homely room; at the festivity drums, ebony veneer tree-like lamp, cow skin rugs and a gong that’s used to warn villagers against thieves; at the attentive staff and flickering candles. And I listened to the haunting music of African chanting. Dar es Salaam may not be particularly old, nor particularly beautiful. That’s certainly true. But with the re-opening of the Oyster Bay Hotel it would be hard ever to call Dar es Salaam a total hole again.

Stay at Oyster Bay from £250.00 per person, per night on a fully inclusive basis including airport transfers. Scott Dunn organises tailor-made holidays throughout East Africa, including Oyster Bay.

Call the Africa team on 020 8682 5070 or visit: www.scottdunn.com

Lady Lori Helicopters:

In East Africa, those in the know call Lady Lori helicopters the way the rest of us phone taxis. (The only difference is that these flying taxis cost $2050 an hour.) One of the pilots, Ian Mimano, once landed us elegantly between the hoops on the croquet lawn of Stefanie Power’s erstwhile safari club, so it would be a cinch for him to James Bond it onto the Oyster Bay Hotel, putting down between the oversized metal face sculptures that decorate the lawn. Used by government big wigs and celebs from Sting to Branson, Lady Lori would take less than half an hour in superlative luxury to reach Zanzibar.

Book Lady Lori helicopters through Scott Dunn or direct on (+254) 7257 97397/7334 08738;(+254)20 605 726, 605 417/8; www.flyladylori.com; operations@flyladylori.com

The house, which is called La Posada del Mar, faces the Caribbean so you can hear the crashing of the waves, but as soon as you cross the threshold you enter another world. The dining table sits above a turquoise tiled pond where water used to run down the walls and through fountains. Blanca, Raul’s late wife, had a passion for plants, a talent that runs in the family and the house is built around a jungle of green. Palms and other tropical trees that have been nurtured over the decades, tower above the terracotta sloping roof in the centre of the house.

The room I chose to stay in, granddaughter Marisol’s favourite, is virtually in the trees, and has a brilliant view from the hammock that’s slung on the terrace. In the personal coffee index that I am compiling from my travels, the coffee that Petrona, the housekeeper, makes in the old fashioned Colombian style, is worth the trip halfway across the world. Which is saying something – Cartagena is not the easiest place to access from London.

In the late 60s Marlon Brando, who was making ‘Queimada,’ the first international Hollywood movie shot in Cartagena, refused to stay anywhere else in the city although the house wasn’t for rent. He refused to make the movie unless he could stay in the house so finally the family agreed to move out for a year. He invited them for dinner on a number of occasions and spoke flawless Spanish. He also brought his own monkeys and kept them in the closets and when the family moved back the deeply unpleasant smell in the wood remained for a very long time. Brando used to walk around naked (to the delight of the staff no doubt), drink vast quantities of vodka while playing the bongo drums, party hard, and fly back to Los Angeles for his weekly psychiatric sessions.

In those days the house was not surrounded by high rises; now modernisation has hit Colombia like everywhere else. The big, extraordinary Colonial mansions that sprawled for blocks in the Manga (which means mango) district were still privately owned, but have been slowly sold off as the upkeep became horrendously expensive. Most are gone. Olga, Raul and Blanca’s daughter, is also looking for a buyer and in the meantime renting rooms to those lucky enough to find out about it.

Many years ago the land was sold to the family by an Italian gem dealer who had made a fortune. He lived on the plot next door and befriended Raul. He told Raul that he wanted to make him a rich man and was selling off the land so that he could go back to Italy to die. Raul bought the plot, engaged the architect Manuel Delgado to build the complex, which has many different levels and houses on the site in traditional Colombian style.The second floor, where the hammock hangs, was built for Olga’s sister Gloria when she married her doctor husband. The house in Cartagena is well off the beaten track but within a few minutes of the old city by cab; there you can find beautiful boutique hotels and it is also where Marquez has his house when he stays here. The house of Dona Blanca is a national treasure and should have a preservation order but as yet its future is uncertain.

La Posada del Mar
Bocagrande av del Malecon no. 9-112
tel: +57 5 6641197/6652753
http:/laposadadelmarcartagena.spaces.live.com
Email: arconanticuario@hotmail.com
Rooms start from US$60.00

Everyone appreciates the extras when staying in a hotel – a decent restaurant, a pool or spa, beautiful grounds. Visitors to the Hempel then, will no doubt be impressed with The Gallery, a 145 sq m space, tucked away in the basement of the eponymous Hempel hotel, itself nestled within the enclaves of West London off Bayswater Rd.

It’s not the most obvious location for an exhibition space but stroll through the softly lit lobby, take a right turn past the sofas set deep into the floor, down the uplit stairs and you’ll emerge into a large rectangular white room; minimalist fire lit at one end, artwork adorning the walls. This is Art Work Space, an independent art gallery featuring work from emergent artists in the fields of painting, photograpy and drawing.  Art is affixed to the hanging walls – large floating panels that line the room – making for a space that is stark on first impact but isn’t so large as to feel unwelcoming or cold.

Images © Dustin Humphrey (courtesy Reel Sessions Inc.), SWPA 2009

Despite its rather hidden feel, the gallery has played host to a number of exhibitions, the last being Conrad Frankel’s The First People – black and white oil portraits that recreate the intensity of old photographs, and which themselves possess an eerie quality. From January 20th – 29th is the London stop on the Sony World Photography Awards 2009/10 tour, which features some of the best photography in the world from snappers around the globe, whilst from February onwards the gallery plays host to Good Rats, a photo series from emergent photographer and filmmaker Niall O’Brien. The series sees O’Brien documenting the lives of a group of young punks as they travel around Brighton and Berlin. All exhibitions are open to the public but check online before visiting as the space is sometimes closed for functions.

The Gallery also works very well as an events space (Globalista had a very enjoyable Christmas bash there last year) – the surrounding artwork providing an element of atmosphere that trumps the bland minimalism of other venues. With capacity for up to 100 people, a smart bar and in-house catering team providing very good canapes (as Globalista can attest), it’s a very good choice for a party venue.

For further enquiries, contact Lindsay at events@the-hempel.co.uk , and for more information on the Hempel hotel and our London recommendations in general take a look at our London Report.

Art Work Space
Lower Ground Floor, The Hempel Hotel, 31-35 Craven Hill Gardens, London, W2 3EA
Tel: 020 7298 9000
www.artworkspace.co.uk

Wanderlust – and a natural curiosity for finding beauty in the unexpected – leads me to many places. So, on a recent trip to Salta, in the North West of Argentina where the sun rises and sets daily on the most spectacular scenery, from majestic mountains to dramatic deserts, I set about my search for any surprises the region had to offer.

Reason would have directed me towards Purmamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca in the North – all magnificent places to see – but instead I decided to head off down south. On the road towards Cafayate and the lush vineyards south of the desert region, just 30 minutes out of the city, I stumbled upon a sign for a tiny village called Chicoana. Cute little name I thought, with the description ‘a little piece of heaven,’ it was 2 km off the beaten track, nestled between the mountains and as traditional a place as you could ever find.

A straight stretch of road leads you to the village square, lined with Tipa trees and tethered Criollo horses – pure gaucho country. Something magic seemed to be awaiting us. While seeking directions for local estancias I unexpectedly stumbled upon a gem of a hotel. The owner Tony was helping us with directions and then casually invited us to visit – a nice idea that turned quickly into a fabulous surprise. Situated in a small square park, full of centennial trees, he and his wife Roxana had crafted the ultimate hide away.

Everything about this hotel brimmed with understated luxury, from the quality furnishings and spotless linen bed linens, to the eye-popping colours (inspired by flowers in the garden) and play of natural light that all demonstrated the owners’ inherent flair for design. It was such a pleasure to see a place paying attention to the smallest detail and actually getting it right, lifting it beyond the ordinary and into the slightly magical only the best hotels can reach.

The hotel consists of six individual suites all arranged around a beautiful main garden with wildflower patches, terraces, lush lawns and an inviting swimming pool. All the rooms have king-sized beds, air conditioning and private bathrooms which come with a heavenly whirlpool. You can also have a number of spa treatments in the hotel’s extremely pretty spa.

Breakfast was a scrumptious gourmet feast, lovingly prepared by our hosts and presented like a tray studded with jewels: a thimble of juice here, a shot of yogurt there, homemade bread, a mouth watering fruit salad, broccoli and potato mash, scrambled eggs…And to top it all off, they are in the process of adding a small restaurant so guests can make the most of their brilliant culinary talents. If you ever get a chance to visit I promise you one thing: in terms of pleasure this is as it as good as it gets.

Bo Hotel de Encanto, +54 387 490 7068; www.bo-chicoana.com.ar

By Nathalie Koerfer