After six exhilarating, exhausting months on tour with “Now That’s What I Call a Musical”, my mind was racing, my body ached, and sleep had become an elusive friend. So when I was invited to Croatia’s Maslina Resort on the island of Hvar to experience their new “Disconnect to Reconnect” retreat, I said yes faster than you can say “lights, camera, action.”
KRIS GRIFFITHS spends three days in Michigan’s Motor City, experiencing the best of its arts, attractions and craft beer as can be squeezed into a short break in this multifaceted city getting back to its prime.
DAY ONE – checking in after a providential occurrence
Moseralm Hotel Welcome: Fairy Tales, Franciacorta Bubbles, and the Finest Pine
“A chalet straight out of ‘The Sound Of Music’.”
The Dolomites are a fantasy rendered in limestone and snow, rising like the set of a couture film directed by angels with impeccable taste. Peaks jagged yet graceful, valleys cascading with wildflowers or winter’s pristine white, and somewhere amidst this Alpine perfection sits the Moseralm Hotel, a Tyrolean chalet that feels as though it has been plucked straight from a storybook.
The Montroc Kevlar PrimaLoft 3IN1+ Adventure Jacket: Performance for Every Season
The new-for-2025 Furygan Montroc is a versatile three-in-one adventure jacket designed to conquer changing weather conditions without compromising protection.
Montroc's core strength is its modular design.
I am publishing this article today, as it coincides with the Distillers One of One charity auction, which I recently wrote about. Glen Scotia’s contribution is stunning, and I urge you to make a sizable bid. Not only will you receive 4 wonderful bottles, but 100% of the proceeds go to charity.
Flying directly into the tiny airport of Bolzano from Gatwick with SkyAlps makes the journey into South Tyrol unusually simple. Within half an hour of landing you are driving through the Val d’Ega, its meadows and forests framed by the jagged peaks of the Rosengarten and Latemar. Nestled in this landscape is Engel Ayurpura, the first dedicated Ayurveda hotel in the Dolomites and one of only two in Italy.
For a company that trades as much on emotion as engineering, Aston Martin has rarely struggled to make an entrance. Yet the new DB12 S unveiled this week (under embargo from Gaydon) isn’t merely another performance evolution, it’s another incredible statement of intent.
There’s something quietly magnetic about Kahani. Hidden just off Sloane Square, this modern Indian restaurant hums with understated confidence. You descend from street level into a warm, candlelit space where rich woods and jewel tones create a cocoon from the chaos above. There are no windows, yet the high ceilings and clever lighting keep it feeling open and elegant rather than enclosed.
Bladnoch is no stranger to reinvention. Founded in 1817 on the banks of the River Bladnoch in Dumfries and Galloway, the distillery has seen prosperity, closures, sales and revivals across more than two centuries. Today it stands as the oldest privately owned Scotch whisky distillery, often referred to as the Queen of the Lowlands. Under the stewardship of owner David Prior and master distiller Dr Nick Savage, Bladnoch has been brought back into focus, producing single malts that carry both the weight of history and the promise of modernity.
Set the scene
Before Bora Bora, before overwater villas became shorthand for South Pacific luxury, there was the InterContinental Tahiti. Opened in 1974 and refreshed multiple times since, this sprawling resort sits just 10 minutes from Papeete’s airport and is often used as a stopover before or after a cruise of Polynesia, but it deserves more than a cursory glance. The rambling buildings sit in lush tropical planting and the seafront position provides views of Moorea on the horizon.
