Luxury Magazine

Commanding a magnificent position between the Blackdown and Quantock hills in the countryside a couple of miles from Taunton is the Mount Somerset Hotel and Spa. The Regency building has a sophisticated elegance and the surroundings afford superb views from virtually all the public rooms and bedrooms. It is set off beautifully by four acres of well-tended gardens, that privacy is not respected by one sheep which regularly jumps the fence from the neighbouring field to join the rabbits gambling outside our bedroom window.

So IX Magazine attended the Goodwood Revival again this summer and once again it delivered a sizzling slice of a glorious age, an anachronistic extravaganza, a fantasy of Britain from a bygone age, enhanced by imagination, wealthy sponsors and superb organisation.

I attended an illuminating book event hosted at RAF Museum Hendon this past weekend (17 September), which saw the relaunch of 'One of The Few', containing the memoirs of Group Captain ‘Johnny’ Kent who joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1930.
This fascinating event was graced by the attendance of Alexandra Kent, daughter of the RAF hero born at the outbreak of the First World War in Winnipeg, Canada.
 

The Med’s High-Style Sparkles in Torquay.
We could have been forgiven for thinking we were in Sveti Stefan (now an Aman Resort) – in Montenegro as we gazed out from our ‘deck’, glass of champagne in hand, across the sparkling bay. Sveti Stefan has always been fashionable with a guest list which included Sophia Loren, and when we saw the Cary Arms’ new so-called ‘beach Huts’ we just knew that there will be some notable guests. These potentially design award-winning pavilions are exceptional; they breathe 21st century style into what was formerly tired concept.

Alex Thomson is a British Sailor, and one of the most talented yachtsmen of his generation. Already the youngest ever sailor to win a round the world race, Thomson has three world records to his name. Now, he hopes to add Vendée Globe success to his resume, an accolade which has thus far proven elusive to all British Sailors. Ahead of this year’s Vendée Globe, Thomson shares his thoughts on his career to date and how he feels to be taking on ‘the Everest of sailing’ once again.
Early career

This year’s fair will be held, for the third time, at the Old Granada Studios. The venue was the home of Granada Television between 1956 and 2013, before its move to MediaCityUK in Salford Quays and Trafford Quays.  Brideshead Revisited, King Lear with Sir Laurence Olivier and, most famously, soap opera, Coronation Street were filmed at the studios. The studios are now a ‘platform for creativity, innovation and urban exploration. Mixing commerce, events, arts and culture’.

The LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair returns for its eighth year to the suitably breathtaking surrounds of Berkeley Square, Mayfair. Sponsored by Delancey, the LAPADA Fair offers an unmissable opportunity to source and buy some of the world’s most coveted works of art, antiques, design and decorative arts. This year, it will take place from Tuesday 13th September until Sunday 18th September 2016, marking the start of London’s fashionable Autumn art season.

Cheltenham has a reputation of being the essence of an elegant Regency town, the immediate image that comes to mind is that it is rather genteel and sleepy, the fact is that there is masses going on in and around the town. It is generally accepted as having the role as the cultural centre of the Cotswolds; festivals are aplenty. Within the town there is plenty of interest from the museum and art gallery to water activities at the 1930s outdoor lido and the boating lake in Pittville Park.

A few years ago, we reviewed the historic Bear Hotel at Woodstock near Oxford; a characterful, pretty, ivy-clad historic coaching inn with a super-abundance of beams, open fireplaces, squeaky floorboards and a rich helping of atmosphere… Just perfect to explore the Cotswolds for both the active and the just downright lazy! You don't even have to go very far because there's much to see in and around Woodstock itself, so we were very much looking forward to revisiting such a delightful place.

Dawn was just breaking in Yerevan, Armenia and the sun was starting to filter through the high rise buildings in the centre illuminating the mish mash of streets and buildings. The only people walking the street at 5.30 am were the unlucky few. Those who have early morning shifts at the hospital, the parking conductors, the cigarette venders or those heading towards the numerous construction sites across the city. Yerevan in the early morning is much like any other city, the rich and poor, the young and old and the pace of life are all very similar to say London, Paris or Milan.