Special Features Archives - A Luxury Travel Blog : A Luxury Travel Blog

Special feature: Mas du Brulat, Provence, France

By Paul Johnson on May 07, 2019 in Accommodation, Attractions, Bars, Disabled Travel, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, France, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, Vacation Rentals, Western Europe

In the heart of a small, pretty village in Provence’s department of Var, just under an hour’s drive from Marseille, is a new luxury hotel called Mas du Brulat. Built in 1594, some 200 years before the French Revolution, this historic building, which now houses not only a hotel but also a restaurant and bar,

Special feature: Fiat Ducato Auto-Roller 707 motorhome

By Paul Johnson on Apr 26, 2017 in Accommodation, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Leisure Travel, Road Travel, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Normally my special features are reserved for hotels and vacation rental accommodation, but last weekend we did something a little different. We’ve been travelling up and down the UK to attend our sons’ sailing events for a couple of years now, and have often contemplated what it would be like travelling in a campervan or

Special feature: Amanbagh, Rajasthan, India

By Chinmoy Lad on Jan 29, 2017 in Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, India, Regions, Resorts, Special Features, Travel Miscellany

Departing Aman-i-Khas in Ranthambore, we drove nearly four hours north to Aman‘s other Indian outpost, Amanbagh, set at the foothills of the Aravali Range, a lush, green landscape in otherwise arid Rajasthan. Recent improvements in Indian infrastructure have made this hotel slightly more accessible than before, now only a two-hour drive from the Rajasthani capital city of

Special feature: Skandika Hurricane 12 tent

By Paul Johnson on Jul 05, 2016 in Accommodation, Camping, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Regions, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Equipment, United Kingdom, Western Europe

I know camping is far from many people’s idea of luxury, but that’s not the way we see it. On the contrary, camping provides the perfect opportunity to be at one with nature – arguably a luxury in itself – and gives families the ideal opportunity to spend quality time together, often away from the

Special feature: Elounda Gulf Villas & Suites, Elounda, Crete, Greece

By Paul Johnson on Jun 30, 2016 in Accommodation, Attractions, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Greece, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Resorts, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, Videos, Western Europe

Equidistant from Europe, Asia and Africa, Greece’s largest island is 260 kilometres long and anything from 12 to 56 kilometres wide. It is mountainous in parts and offers huge variations in both landscape and climate. Welcome to the island of Crete where olive groves and vineyards are interspersed with short mountain ranges, and where the north of

Special feature: Amanpulo, Palawan, Philippines

By Chinmoy Lad on May 03, 2016 in Accommodation, Asia, Hotels, Philippines, Regions, Resorts, Special Features, Travel Miscellany

Palawan in the Philippines has recently rocketed to the top of many travellers’ wishlists after being consistently featured in several travel publications as “the best island in the world”. While it is only recently that this ecologically diverse region of Philippines has gained prominence, the world’s foremost luxury resort group Aman clearly recognised the beauty of Palawan

Special feature: Trisara, Phuket, Thailand

By Chinmoy Lad on Oct 06, 2015 in Accommodation, Asia, Regions, Resorts, Special Features, Thailand, Travel Miscellany

There are many faces to Phuket. What started off as a backpacker hippy heaven now offers much more. Trisara is one of the island’s best exponents of the very opposite end of this scale – ultimate luxury, where privacy and minimalist elegance are complemented by a spectacular location. The resorted was opened in 2006 by one

Special feature: Seasides, Weymouth, Dorset, UK

By Paul Johnson on Sep 28, 2015 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Regions, Special Features, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Vacation Rentals, Western Europe

The seaside town of Weymouth has one of the best weather records in the UK with low rainfall and over 1,800 sunshine hours per year, so when the opportunity arose for our sons to take part in a national sailing competition there, we of course jumped at the opportunity. We stayed at Seasides, a self-catering

Special feature: JA Manafaru, Maldives

By Paul Johnson on Sep 03, 2015 in Accommodation, Asia, Bars, Featured, Going Out, Maldives, Regions, Resorts, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany

I don’t make this statement lightly when I say it is difficult to find fault with JA Manafaru. Situated at the northernmost atoll in the Maldives, this luxury island resort is about as close to perfect and as you’re ever likely to find anywhere in the world, and our first glimpse of this idyllic island

Special feature: Amankila, Bali, Indonesia

By Chinmoy Lad on Aug 19, 2015 in Accommodation, Asia, Hotels, Indonesia, Regions, Resorts, Special Features, Travel Miscellany

Bali is a curious destination. An island of nearly 6,000 square kilometres featuring incredible geographical contrasts, and culturally at odds with the larger nation in which it resides, Bali is known the world over as a spiritual getaway. But the island of Bali is disturbed; rampant commercialism, consumerism and development in the Bukit Peninsula, a

Special feature: Elounda Gulf Villas, Elounda, Crete

By Paul Johnson on Jun 04, 2015 in Accommodation, Attractions, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Greece, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Resorts, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, Western Europe

Regular visitors to Crete are probably aware that the small fishing town of Elounda is one of the island’s most desirable resorts. I’ve had the pleasure of staying in a number of the town’s best luxury hotels over the years, but none as small or intimate as my most recent stay at Elounda Gulf Villas

Special feature: Yellow Cottage, Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall, UK

By Paul Johnson on Apr 21, 2015 in Accommodation, Attractions, Cruises & Boat Travel, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Going Out, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Vacation Rentals, Western Europe

Occupying the most idyllic North Cornwall location, overlooking Trebarwith Strand beach, Yellow Cottage is one of a very select group of holiday homes available through Perfect Stays. It sleeps 9 with two king size rooms, a twin-bedded room and a bedroom with three single beds, making it perfect for a large gathering or extended family,

Special feature: The Athenaeum Hotel & Apartments, London, UK

By Paul Johnson on Mar 06, 2015 in Accommodation, Attractions, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Anyone who has ever played the famous Monopoly boardgame will already be familiar with the whereabouts of one of our latest stays. The Athenaeum is located in Mayfair, among some of London’s prime real estate, so to have the pleasure of an entire apartment there – rather than just a hotel room – was a

Special feature: Ox Pasture Hall Hotel, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK

By Paul Johnson on Feb 11, 2015 in Accommodation, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Just before Christmas we decided to have a short getaway in North Yorkshire, staying at the Ox Pasture Hall Hotel, a small country hotel just a few miles out of Scarborough. Not only was this my first time in this part of the country – despite it being only about 3 hours’ drive from home

Special feature: Sani Beach Hotel, Sani Resort, Halkidiki, Greece

By Paul Johnson on Nov 17, 2014 in Accommodation, Bars, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Going Out, Greece, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Resorts, Restaurants, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, Western Europe

On our arrival at the Sani Resort, a family-owned ecological reserve covering some 1,000 acres and with stunning, golden beaches, we were warmly welcomed by the ever-helpful Angelina in Guest Relations, offered a glass of fizz and presented with a useful map of the resort, outlining the various accommodation offerings, the marina, the restaurants and

Special feature: Airstream, The Quiet Site, Ullswater, Lake District, UK

By Paul Johnson on Aug 23, 2014 in Accommodation, Attractions, Camping, Cruises & Boat Travel, Europe, Family Travel, Featured, Going Out, Leisure Travel, Regions, Special Features, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Camping or caravanning might not be everyone’s idea of luxury but, if you’re going to do it, one way to do so with a little comfort, significantly more style than those white caravans that you see, and without any of the hassle of pitching a tent, is with an Airstream; and so we stayed in this iconic vehicle on a

Category: Special Features