Best Hotels

Bedtime and afternoon reading by the pool and spa lily pond at the luxurious Leeu Estates in South Africa’s culinary capital, Franschhoek, was “Moments of Mindfulness", an anthology of African wisdom collected and curated by Danielle and Olivier Follini.  

It was left in my room.  And it left a lasting impression. 

Like the five-star, Western Cape Province hotel, it calmed the senses and prepared the soul to receive simple teachings. As taught by Africa and Africans.  Relax. Don’t fret. Keep a cool heart and remain patient. 

Our last stop on the Audi R8 V10 Tour was the Great Fosters, a Tudor estate just outside Windsor in Surrey. 

Great Fosters is the quintessential historic English Manor estate, offering exquisite dining under new head chef Alex Payne. Plus indulgent pampering with massages, afternoon tea packages and luxury suites frequented by kings and queens set in ornate gardens filled with outstanding and immense topiary (hedges sculpted into a variety of forms).

As we drove the rather superb Audi R8 noisily (V10 engine) over the Clopton Bridge across the River Avon we could see the white walls and red clay roofs of the Arden Hotel behind the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The Arden Hotel in Stratford is set in the most perfect location, right on the river across the street from the RSC and the Swan Theatre. You are bang centre in the middle of the richest history in England. 

William Shakespeare's last home and the church where he is buried are a hundred yards away through parkland and quaint narrow streets.

Adventure beckons the moment you arrive at The Cary Arms in the positively tropical Babbacombe Bay. A gentle cruise along the cliff-top coast road in the new Bentley GTC brought us to a small single-lane track. So steep that you wonder if the car will make it. Of course, it's a Bentley so it's a breeze.  Though anything without four-wheel drive will struggle. 

1300 years ago the Maldives was called "Dvipa Laksham" or a hundred thousand islands. It was later referred to as Treasure Island by Arab and Persian traders who came for the pearls, agate, spices, fish and coconuts. For me, these names conjure up visions of islands drifting in such clear water that they appear to float in the sky. Start with that image in your mind's eye to visualise this paradise. 

Still wearing his lid and his thigh muscles glistening impressively under the Provencal sunshine, Romain pointed to all points of the compass and indulged in some proudly Gallic long-distance celebrity spotting.

“You’ve got Russell Crowe over there and John Malkovich that way.  That's where Richard Mayle used to live. Ridley Scott has a place in Bonnieux and Pierre Cardin owns most of Lacoste, including the chateau which was the Marquis de Sade’s old home.”

Should you be contemplating installing your own whisky and gin bar at home, you will undoubtedly undergo research to determine the design and feel. Your inspiration will be drawn from personal experience and research, perhaps looking at some of the finest whisky bars in Scotland. 

Not being much of a Welsh nationalist, Dylan Thomas wouldn’t have minded that the tableware in the Dylan Coastal Resort is Scottish slate and the balms in west Wales’ new Milk Wood Spa are made by Ishaga in Stornoway.

The drive from The Torridon Hotel to Murrayshall Country Estate was nothing short of spectacular, if at times happily slow, for all the right reasons. Where else is your progress in the magnificent McLaren 720s hampered by a wild Stag? Having driven the McLaren for hundreds of miles already, it was still exhilarating driving this supercar. At times blended in with the far-reaching sky in tonal colour and could easily become invisible in low-lying Scottish mist and rain.

Our final stop on the McLaren 720S International Excellence Magazine Tour was The Roseate Hotel in Edinburgh. They have free parking so we pulled the supercar around the back of the imposing detached Jacobean manor and ambled into reception.

McLaren 720S Scotland Tour.