We have asked London based luxury travel, food and lifestyle blogger Lauren Hudson of The Lifestyle Diaries, to share her thoughts with us about her love for hotels, and Amberlair, of course. And before you ask, a #BohoLover is a Boutique Hotel lover… just like us!

How do you choose a hotel when you travel?

It really depends who I’m traveling with: if I’m going with my mum then we both want a luxury boutique hotel, so it’s all about reading blogs about hotels, checking Trip Advisor and booking.com ratings and finding one which has all the facilities that we want in the best location for us.

If I’m traveling with my boyfriend, well that’s a totally different story! He would much rather spend on an experience than a hotel, so it’s usually about trying to find the best luxury hotel for the best price – which can be a bit of a challenge, though we’ve always manged to succeed so far! Though I think I’m converting him: every time we stay in a luxury hotel he always loves it!

If you had to choose 3, which were the most special (boutique) hotels you have ever stayed at?

My first choice has to be St Joseph’s, Dubrovnik as it was hands down the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed in. It’s actually an old UNESCO building with original features. I also adored that breakfast was served in the room, almost in an afternoon tea fashion – a real treat! As if it could get any better, every single feature of the hotel was entirely luxurious: the bed was like a cloud, the linens were very high quality, the bathroom was divine and finally, was stocked with The White Company toiletries! It really was a slice of heaven.

I’ve just returned from Marrakech, where we were staying in the Sirayane Boutique Hotel and Spa where the service was unparalleled. Nothing was too much of a problem for the staff, the turn down service was beautiful, with a different arrangement of rose petals every day, and the pool boys always knew which bed you wanted! Our suite was the perfect place to relax after a crazy day in the souk, and even had a small private garden to allow us to enjoy the sun in private. If you’re visiting Sirayane don’t leave without experiencing the spa: the Hammam was incredible – I feel so rejuvenated and my skin was silky soft.

Finally, when we stayed in Galle, Sri Lanka we stayed in Deco on 44, a luxurious art deco hotel, nestled away in the historic UNESCO Galle Fort. Frankly, they serve the best G&Ts I’ve ever had (which is almost a reason to stay here in itself!), the suites are really beautiful, and the pool is a haven on a hot summer’s day! The rooms are some of the best I’ve ever seen.

What made them so special?

It was the attention to detail in each of these hotels that made them so special: the beautiful turn down services, the high quality linens and exquisite decor. One of the main reasons I love boutique hotels is that they feel so homely: you’re not going back to a resort where you are one in a thousand – you’re going somewhere where the staff know you, know which table you would like and know which wine you prefer. In all of these hotels we were made to feel special: as if we were the only guests in the hotel.

If you had your own boutique hotel, what 3 things would you make sure existed?

• A good restaurant! It’s a pet peeve of mine when a beautiful hotel is let down by a restaurant that doesn’t match up to the rest of the hotel.
• A cosy lounge area, with it’s own cocktail bar as I like to feel at home when I’m in a boutique hotel. Somewhere with a fire to sit beside in the winter, and a terrace to enjoy a cocktail in the summer.
• A really good pool – and jacuzzi. I love swimming, especially when I’m on holiday and I get really annoyed when a pool is either too crowded – or full of children! For me, a beautiful swimming pool is the real mark of luxury.

Name 3 things you loved in hotels you stayed in before…

1. Breakfast served, in the room, with market fresh ingredients from that morning at St Jospeh’s is something I’ll never forget, it truly was spectacular.
2. When we stayed in Jetwing Beach, Negombo, Sri Lanka, we stayed in a gorgeous suite with the most attentive butler I’ve ever had. He was so sweet, always helped us with any requests we had, and on the last night decorated our suite with rose petals, animals made from towels and wrote “Goodbye” on the bed in leaves – it was magical.
3. Finally, when we stayed in Southernhay House, Exeter, they serve the most delicious breakfast, which is included in the room rate. A sandwich made of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup – need I say more?

Name 3 things you wouldn’t want to experience in a hotel ever again.

1. Bad bathrooms! I really dislike bathrooms that are too small, cramped and that have bad showers. I’m always disappointed when a beautiful room is let down by a distinctly average bathroom.
2. Being a room number and not a name frustrates me, especially if you’re staying at a 5* hotel. If you’re staying in a good hotel, I’d expect the staff to at least know my name – and in the really good hotels I’ve stayed in, they’ve known what we’ve been doing that day.
3. Finally, if I’ve booked a double room I’m always upset if I get a twin room. It’s just not the same!

How do you feel about the Amberlair concept?

I love the idea of Amberlair – what could be better to actually tailor a hotel? That way, as tastes change, or people want different things from hotels, it’s those who are crowdsourcing it that can change it! I can’t wait to see the first hotel!

Where are you off to next?

I’m off to New Zealand at the end of the year which I’m so excited about! I’ve never been further than Sri Lanka, but I can’t wait to see what this beautiful island has in store. I’ve also got a surprise weekend away booked for November, but that’s got to stay secret for now. Needless to say, watch my blog and you’ll find out where I’m going!

Lauren Hudson is a London based luxury travel, food and lifestyle blogger who blogs at The Lifestyle Diaries. She’s always looking for her next adventure or meal out. She loves traveling, her favourite trip being her holiday to Sri Lanka last year, and has recently returned from Croatia and Marrkech.

Keep up with all of her travels, foodie adventures and London based excitements on her blog as well as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram .

We asked Carol Lovell, Founder and Creative Director of Stow, to share her thoughts on hotels and Amberlair. Carol is a #BohoLover, a Boutique Hotel Lover – just like us!

 

 

 

How do you choose a hotel when you travel?

I trust accommodation recommended by Trailfinders and I also do my own research, looking at reviews on TripAdvisor and preferred travel and lifestyle bloggers whom I follow online whose tastes I believe to be akin to mine. Ana Silva O’Reilly of Mrs. O Around the World and Sasha Wilkens of Liberty London Girl are the best in the business for all sorts of hotel, travel, and packing advice.

 

 

If you had to choose 3, which were the most special hotels you have ever stayed at? What made them so special?

Isle of Eriska Hotel in Argyle Scotland with exceptional food, hospitality and location. It’s family owned and run by the second generation family members, who have incredible attention to detail.

Gliffaes in Wales has warm hospitality, superb walking, excellent fishing and is an extremely good value for the money for a family reunion or stay. It’s family owned and run by third generation.

Cathedral Peak Hotel, Drakensberg, South Africa, for its dramatic location and family-friendly approach.

 

 

 

If you had your own boutique hotel, what 3 things would you make sure existed?

A relaxed atmosphere and friendly welcome on arrival sets the tone. At some stage in the stay, I would take the opportunity to talk to everyone who stays at the hotel. At Eriska and Gliffaes, this is done in a very unobtrusive and professional but warm way. I believe it guarantees return customers and generates a dialogue for open feedback.

 

 

A number of open fires (if in Northern Europe), not just one that everyone is trying to huddle around, two or three different rooms. People like to feel cosy in a hotel in winter.

 

 

Name 3 things you loved in hotels you stayed in before…

I am pleased by a foyers full of wellies to use, open fires, big deep baths, and spectacular views for gin o’clock. I also like a waitress who knows her wine!

 

 

Name 3 things you wouldn’t want to experience in a hotel ever again.

Mosaic in corridors and lifts (Las Vegas, The Venetian – DREADFUL!). Fire alarms that won’t turn off in the middle of the night (Manchester Airport Hotel – before a busy day of meetings). Poor wifi provision or wifi that has to be paid for as an extra when on business is desperately frustrating and can get me quite hysterical!

 

 

How do you feel about the Amberlair concept?

Amberlair is a brilliant concept and one that I will be getting involved in. I do think it faces a number of challenges (that’s what makes it exciting!), but with good planning, communication and subsequent execution, it will be unique in generating an immediate and loyal fan base who have an interest in the venture succeeding at all stages. Once the first hotel is up and running, the original backers will become highly involved customers (the best mouth piece for any business) who will spread the word via their own networks.

 

 

Where are you off to next?

I am going to Southern Spain on a road trip with my family. Stow’s manufacturing partner is based in Ubrique, the home of luxury leather goods, and so I am tying in a visit to the factory which will be in full production mode for our Christmas stock. Apart from the stunning town of Ubrique we are going to explore Rhonda, Granada and the surrounding national parks.

On 19th September my husband is competing in the World Triathlon Championships in Chicago for GB (in an older age group!) and I am going to cheer him on. I’m really looking forward to Chicago for the first time.

 

 

 

Carol Lovell, Founder and Creative Director of Stow launched the luxury travel brand via the crowd funding site Kickstarter in June 2013. She had globetrotted frequently for work (she has a background in executive travel recruitment and jewellery retail) and had struggled to find stylish yet practical luxury travel accessories to take with her or to send as gifts for friends on special occasions.

Stow’s designs come in contemporary colours and their shapes and quality echo a heritage look and feel, which are made to stow valuables and tech gadgets for today’s modern traveller – creating practical modern wander-luxe and attracting fans worldwide. The full collection is available in Harrods.

Follow Carol Lovell on Twitter, on Instagram and her brand on Twitter @stowlondon, on Instagram @stowlondon and on Facebook @StowLondon.

Boutique hotel lover and travel blogger Natalie DiScala of Oh! Travelissima, tells us about hotels, travel, and her thoughts on Amberlair. Just like us, she’s a #BohoLover, a Boutique Hotel lover.

 

 

 

How do you choose a hotel when you travel?

Like most people, price and location are both important considerations when I’m choosing a hotel to stay in. But that doesn’t necessarily mean looking for the most budget-friendly hotel, though. To me, price has more to do with value. If a place is exceptional in certain aspects, it may be worth paying more for your stay there. Likewise, location is important and it may make sense to pay a bit more to be more ideally situated. But apart from these practical considerations, design is the next most important thing I look for in a hotel. With both a personal and professional passion for design, I’m always drawn to hotels that place an emphasis on gorgeous interiors and other memorable design details.

 

 

If you had to choose 3, which were the most special hotels you have ever stayed at?

Hotels that really nail the guest experience are ones you never forget! Three of the most special hotels I’ve ever stayed at are:

Cavallo Point, nestled at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, California. Every single thing about this hotel resonated with me and felt like home from the moment I got on property. It’s a historic hotel situated at Fort Baker, a former US Army post and the rooms are a delicious blend of original design elements and new, modern ones, too. It’s not surprising that this hotel has a focus on wellness – healing the mind, body and spirit. Something about it just feels good for the soul.

Ham Yard Hotel, which I discovered through the booking service Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in London’s Soho, is walking distance to Mayfair and Knightsbridge so it’s definitely well-situated in the city. But beyond that, the design is what makes this property really special. Designed by Kit Kemp in modern British style, each of the hotel’s 91 bedrooms are individually designed and they’re breathtakingly beautiful. Ham Yard Hotel treats guests to the unexpected at every turn (there’s a 1950s-inspired bowling alley!) and it’s one of the most delightful places I’ve ever seen.

 

 

Mahali Mzuri, which means ‘beautiful place’ in Swahili, is Richard Branson’s safari camp, located in Kenya’s Masai Mara. The luxury tents feature all the creature comforts a person could want while camping out in the bush. But the location puts you in the heart of some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever see. The elevated location of the hotel means that guests have sweeping, panoramic views of the plains below where the animals roam free. Having lunch and watching a family of elephants meandering down below was a life experience I’ll not soon forget!

 

 

If you had your own boutique hotel, what 3 things would you make sure existed?

Sometimes it’s the simplest details that please guests the most – at least, that’s often been the case for me! What would I ensure my boutique hotel had? Here goes:

1. A luxurious bathroom: I adore a deep soaking tub and heated bathroom floors!
2. A seamless technology experience: That means free WiFi, in-room chargers and outlets on both sides of the bed. These days, everyone’s traveling with so many gadgets that need charging and we’re not all sitting at the desk all day. Easy access to outlets for everything from hair dryers to phone chargers is important to me.
3. Luxe design details: This is what I remember when I stay at a hotel. Stunning wall coverings and luxe silk drapery – ooh la la!

 

 

 

Name 3 things you loved in hotels you stayed in before…

When I’m traveling for long periods, I start to miss the things I take for granted at home – like being able to make the perfect cup of tea whenever I want. I appreciate free tea and coffee delivered to your room. Many hotels have tea and coffee machines in the room but no milk, so I can’t make that perfect cup. Being able to order my English Breakfast tea with skim milk and not have to pay a ridiculous room service charge is huge to me. I’m currently at the St. Regis Bali and they offer this service – I absolutely love it!

St. Regis hotels also offer a packing and unpacking service for guests – how amazing is that? They’ll unpack your bags in your room for you, hang everything up and then pack your suitcase again before you leave. That saves a lot of time for doing other things if you don’t have to worry about your bags!

Last but certainly not least – (I’ll always come back to a design element!) – the books at the Rosewood Hotel in London. The hotel’s design is modern yet classic and the rooms are really stunning. But what really won me over: The PG Wodehouse books found lying about the hotel – on the coffee table in the lobby and on side tables in the hallway leading to my room. As an avid reader, a certified bibliophile and a longtime adorer of PG Wodehouse, this detail just delighted me to no end.

 

 

Name 3 things you wouldn’t want to experience in a hotel ever again.

Slippery stairs: My hotel in Cambodia had open-air stairwells and after the rain, the steps were slick and very slippery. I wiped out – seriously wiped out – smacked my head on the cement steps and bounced down the rest to the landing. I was so dazed and in a great deal of pain – and unfortunately, the hotel staff didn’t really do much to help. That was over a year ago and I still have a dent where I hit the stair the hardest; looks like it’s permanent. I strongly recommended that they put some sort of safety tread tape on the stairs and I hope they’ve done that.

Food poisoning: I’ve had food poisoning while traveling before and it is no fun and definitely ruins a trip. While traveling in Jerusalem, I missed some of the most incredible experiences because I was so sick (trust me: puking into a garbage bin at the top of Masada is just ridiculous.) I wasn’t able to swim in the Dead Sea and my husband and I had to cancel our trip to Nazareth.

Bugs: I admit – I’m a huge wuss in the bug department but when they’re in my hotel room, I’m even wussier. I know that in many tropical destinations, they just can’t be avoided but on a recent trip to Chiang Rai, I was in my hotel room when I looked down and saw a huge, black bug with a hard shell just hanging out on my leg. Not. Cool.

 

 

 

How do you feel about the Amberlair concept?

I absolutely love the Amberlair concept. As you can probably already tell, I have a distinct sense of what I like and what I don’t like at hotels and welcome the opportunity to have a voice in the creation of this first crowdsourced hotel. What an innovative idea! And in today’s increasingly social world, this just seems like the right next step towards providing the ultimate guest experience.

 

 

What is your dream location for our first Amberlair?

South Africa! This beautiful destination has long been on my list of must-visit places. Would love to see an Amberlair hotel open there.

 

 

Where are you off to next?

I’m currently at the St. Regis hotel in Bali but tomorrow afternoon, it’s time to pack my bags (actually, the butler will do that while I’m at the spa!) and head to Taipei. I’ve never been to Taiwan before and it will be the 56th country that my husband Johnny Jet and I have been to together as a couple!

 

 

 

Natalie DiScala is a Toronto-based travel writer and digital editor for Canada’s leading decorating magazine, Style at Home, managing the editorial content and strategy for the online brand. She is a contributor to Canadian Living, ElleCanada.com, Toronto Magazine and the Toronto Star and is the editor of the travel and style blog, Oh! Travelissima.

Natalie also has a public relations background, having worked for three years in the consumer marketing practice at international PR firm Fleishman-Hillard. She graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic University’s journalism program with a major in print journalism.

So whether you are an Instagrammer, a Twitter  fan, a Facebook  friend or a Pinterest lover, she’ll happy to share her tips.

 

Vote España!

We invited three travel writers to argue in favour of their favourite country from our shortlist of potential Amberlair locations. In this, the second in the series, Fiona Flores Watson (The Guardian, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, andalucia.com) makes the case for her adopted home, Spain.

When you think of Spain, what springs to mind? Golden beaches, flamenco dancers, fighting bulls? Many people’s view is unfortunately limited to popular, cliched images, but I’d like to think Amberlair’s community of #boholovers appreciates that Spain is so much more than this: a country of huge variety, from its landscape to its people – the party-loving Andalucians in the south; industrious Basques and entrepreneurial Catalans in the north, not to mention the Canary and Balearic islanders – but what they all have in common in their love of eating, drinking and enjoying life. Geographically, it’s all-terrain: did you know that Seville has Europe’s only desert, Tabernas in Almeria, used as a location for countless movie shoots? Or that you can ski and go to the beach on the same day in Granada?

Forget all those images of packed beaches on the Costa del Sol – Spain has a whopping 5,000km of coastline, so there’s plenty of room for families, kitesurfers, paddle-boarders, nudists and everyone else. Many are served by chiringuitos, wooden restaurants serving that morning’s catch – have you ever eaten freshly-caught sardines grilled over hot coals, in a beachfront restaurant, with the sand between your toes? Or tender blue-fin tuna, caught in a sustainable netting system used for 2,000 years? Moving inland, how about some sweet, nutty jamon iberico, from free-range pigs who chomp on acorns snuffled from under trees in rolling countryside? These ingredients are unbeatable, and that’s before they arrive in the kitchens of Spain’s innovative and creative chefs – Ferran Adrià, Joan Roca, Martín Berasategui and others – who have revolutionised 21st century cooking.

And to wash it down, Spain produces more wine than any other country in the world, but it’s not just about Rioja. Sherry is enjoying a new resurgence, as a cocktail ingredient in hip bars – a trend originating in the US, while home-grown gins are also big. Albariño (white, peachy) and garnacha (red, blackberry) are two grape varieties winning over new fans. Exploring a vineyard followed by a tasting and lunch at the bodega is a great way to spend an educational-yet-indulgent day out.

And what of the cities? Spain’s metropolises such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia offer nightlife second to none. Enjoy a drink on a roof terrace bar for most of the year – the wonderful climate allows you to be outdoors nearly 365 days in southern cities like Malaga and Seville. Life is lived en la calle (in the street) – even in small towns, locals stroll through parks and along avenues until the small hours, with children in tow. If culture’s your thing, you will find art galleries and museums with Golden Age painters or the latest contemporary installations. Some of the most famous and iconoclastic figures in 20th-century art were Spanish, and you can visit their homes adorned with works: Gaudi in Barcelona, Picasso in Malaga, and Dali in Figueres.

But for me, as a foreigner living in Spain, the main reasons I love the country – and why Amberlair should definitely have its first hotel here – are three: the food, the weather, and the people. Italy and South Africa are both fabulous countries to visit, but they just don’t have Spain’s infectious zest for good living. Where else can you eat your fill of superb, inventive tapas and plenty of glasses of excellent wine for just 15 euros, with such warm, friendly people? And the sunshine is free. Ole!

Fiona Flores Watson blogs about her hometown, Seville, and her travels at scribblerinseville.com and can be found on Twitter @Seville_Writer.

Vote Italia!

We invited three travel writers to argue in favour of their favourite country from our shortlist of potential Amberlair locations. First up, Chris Madigan (The Telegraph, Toronto Globe & Mail, Condé Nast Traveller) makes the case for Italy.

For me, the allure of Italy is found in a place such as Pistoia. Where? Pistoia. It’s not the best known city in Italy. It’s not even one of the best known in Tuscany. It would be easy to drive past it on the road from Lucca to Florence. But, finding myself there one day, I spent some hours wowed by the campanile in the Piazza Duomo, dazzled by a vibrant flower market and fascinated by the medical museum in a 13th-century hospital. In the evening, I had the best bistecca alla Fiorentina (T-bone) I’ve ever tasted in a very unshowy restaurant in a narrow street as marbled as the meat.

That is the point: Italy has so much to offer in even its humbler parts. It has its fashionable city districts – Milan’s Quadrilatero d’Oro is the design match of anything Paris, London or New York has to offer – but you find effortless style too in the white shirts and coppola flat caps of a farmworker in a Sicilian village square.

Everywhere you turn in Rome, you see wonders of the classical world, such as the Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre ever built. Some destinations offer equally intense history – Petra, Giza, Angkor Wat – but they are dedicated theme parks… people are not flying past the Sphinx on a Vespa to go to work. It’s the same with art: Florence’s Uffizi has one of the world’s best collections. But you can equally gaze over famed Renaissance sculpture, including Michelangelo’s David, from a café next to the Loggia dei Lanzi. In Rome, you can sit on the edge of Bernini’s Fontana di Triton in Piazza Navona eating an ice cream from Grom.

History is woven into the everyday life of every town. In Matera, Basilicata, the 9,000-year old cave dwellings called sassi are not museum pieces. They are used as shops, restaurants and, most significantly, family homes. History and life are not separated. In Puglia, a Baroque masterpiece of a city such as Lecce is rivalled by the charm of trulli, the dry-stone dwellings dotted around the countryside between Ostuni and Alberobello.

Appropriately for Italy, food sums it up best. I’m sure the blogs arguing for Spain and South Africa will try to persuade you by talking about, respectively, game-changing chefs and an exciting street-food scene. But Italy is where you find reliable excellence at every level. I’ve eaten inventive Michelin-starred cucina molecolare. But, when I went to a Sampdoria football match, the cheap café next to the ground was serving freshly made gnocchi with fragrant homemade pesto.

When I was young, my grandparents had a house in the hills behind Finale Ligure, on the Italian Riviera. They weren’t Italian; they just fell in love with the place. As did I. If there was one thing I’d enjoy more than running among the olive trees, or picking the grapes at harvest, it was the restaurants. One was up in the mountains and served a Sunday lunch that went on for hours, with at least five courses of antipasti (they had a playground to stop us children getting bored between servings).

I couldn’t tell you the name, or where it was. But it doesn’t matter. Italy is not the place to go if you need to tick off “destination restaurants” you follow on Instagram. Head out of any Italian town into the campania and look for signs to a restaurant – you’ll find your version of that unpretentious place serving incredibly good, but simple, food. It won’t say “child-friendly” on its website, because it is simply welcoming to all.

Unpretentious high quality and genuine hospitality is why we should vote for Italy as the location of the first Amberlair hotel.

Chris Madigan can be found on Twitter @BarkingAtTheTV.