Hotel rooms where the view is a shore thing...
25 June 2006
On the face of it, tectonic plates aren’t terrifically romantic. Shifting parts of the earth’s crust might get geologists hot but no one’s ever written a book, song or poem inspired by the theory of continental drift. Or, at least, if they have, it’s failed to register on this writer’s radar.
And yet, if it weren’t for these mighty forces scattering continents all over the globe, our coastlines would look very different. Ibiza, Santorini, Sicily and thousands of other island gems that have sparked proclamations of love would not exist. Hemingway and Coleridge’s best work would never be written. Turner’s paintings of Britain’s coastline wouldn’t be seen and, crucially, the Beach Boys would be stumped for something to sing about.
There’s something inspirational about the meeting of the two elements of earth and sea. Whether lounging by the pool in St Tropez, fishing off the docks in Cornwall or strolling down La Croisette in Cannes, the siren call of the coastline is hard to resist.
With this in mind, we’ve spent the last year scouting for chic weekend hideaways with a sea view and the new hotel collection, European Coastlines, is exclusively online. Chosen for their intimate size, hip style and superb service, the new recommendations include secret, island retreats on Ibiza, Mallorca and Greece, sleek designer hangouts by the cooler waters of Iceland, and wildly romantic boltholes on Italy and France’s extended shorelines.
Just as with the books, the reviewers were anonymous, there's a helpful 'In the know’ section highlighting everything from the best rooms to top tables in the restaurant, providing vital reading about each hotel and how best to enjoy your visit there. Also included is a comprehensive low-down on featured destinations with tips on local culture, climate, travel information, food and wine and an up-to-date diary of exciting events.
Here’s our cherrypicked selection of the reviews. You can find many more at www.mrandmrssmith.com
Perivolas, Santorini, Greece
Style All-white Dal?-contoured caves
Setting Overlooking the caldera
Perivolas is perfect. Perched high on the hills of Santorini above the Aegean Sea, it’s the sort of place that inspires spontaneous marriage proposals. Indeed, if top scientists were to analyse this splendid luxury inn from top to bottom, it’s likely that they’d find that it sits on top of the world’s most powerful love ley line.
The site was originally a set of disused fishermen’s cottages which had been painstakingly carved out of the hillside itself. Anyone who’s ever experienced the childlike pleasure of climbing into a cave will be in seventh heaven here. The rooms are all whitewashed walls, with no hard edges. Santorini’s fishing folk, it seems, had a thing for curves, and the effect it has on visitors is quite astounding. Instantly welcoming, even womb-like, the room feels like home from the moment you walk in.
Hundreds of feet below your sun terrace are dozens of boats bobbing around on the water, all sunset-seekers whose captains know that this particular point is the place to see the big sky fires. Sitting above them on the cliff’s edge, it’s obvious why the ancient Greeks worshipped such dramatic, powerful gods. Santorini is drama itself. And Perivolas provides front-row seats. SCOTT MANSON
Le Jardin des Sens, Montpellier, France
Style Contemporary gastro cocoon
Setting Languedoc-Roussillon’s 17th-century capital
A boutique hotel with a two Michelin-starred restaurant, near the centre of Montpellier and decorated in contemporary-chic – this is a real find for the gastronomically inclined. The mahogany floor, linen bedspreads and a scattering of oranges and mauves amid the otherwise delicate cream and grey tones make for a restful bedroom while a notice in front of the fridge invites you to help yourself to all the soft drinks, juices, water and beer you wanted, free of charge. Such generosity instantly puts you in a sunny mood.
The cosmopolitan bustle of the city itself is as engaging as ever, and the architectural contrasts as fascinating. Caf?-crawling around Place de la Comedie, the huge central square they call ‘the Egg’, is a must-do for any visitor. Similarly, if you’re staying at Le Jardin des Sens, it would be nigh-on criminal to skip dinner at the restaurant. The cuisine is delicate, perfumed and sublime. We pounced on lobster with artichoke, mango, melon and vanilla-infused olive oil, and roast lamb fillet with a millefeuille of grilled baby artichokes, mint-laced broad beans and spiced lemon. It was the food of the Mediterranean with the precision of a truly great chef, and our wildest expectations had been met. This is a hotel that intends to transport all of your senses into a garden of delight. DARIUS SANAI
La Sacristia, Tarifa, Spain
Style Moorish shabby-chic
Setting Windy and wild Costa de la Luz
Tarifa is in Spain’s deep south, and the weather is hot, hot, hot. And cool – because this stretch of beaches and cliffs is the Costa del Surf, where Stussy beats Pucci, and the nightlife is less disco, more mellow.
We fly to Gibraltar, and pick up a hire car over the border from ‘peque?o England’. The road to Tarifa is fast and fun, snaking alongside the coast and giving us thrilling views of Africa over the water. When we reach the cobbles of the casco (the mediaeval centre whose narrow alleyways tend to bruise the old wing mirrors a bit), we park up and find La Sacristia on foot.
Anyone who models their lifestyle on Donatella Versace’s – and some like it sumptuous, especially on holiday – may find the beach-hut chic of Sacristia’s rooms on the spartan side. We loved the unexpected minimalism of it, the quiet, and the feeling of being hidden when we looked down into the narrow street below. The bespoke bedlinen and mosaic-tiled wetroom are as luxurious as most surf bunnies could ask for.
Supper at La Sacristiais equally good: by night, the restaurant – the courtyard of the centuries-old building – is swanky and sexy, and the service smart. We eat amazing pork, and smile at the soundtrack of contented surfers chatting about the waves they’ve caught. If we were excited when we arrived, our beats per minute have been seriously chilled out by the pace in Tarifa. Fine dining, beautiful beaches and a mellow mood – the holy trinity of a real Spanish holiday. SOPHIE DENING
Drakes, Brighton, United Kingdom
Style Luxurious townhouse
Setting Seafront Kemp Town
Making the dash from London to Brighton on a Friday evening is never an entertaining experience, and much less so on a busy train. Thank the Lord, then, for the perfect weekend bolthole that is Drakes. Our large airy room (surprisingly spacious for a Regency building) made full advantage of its seafront location, and glorious windows promised to let the light beat in as soon as the BST had made up its mind. Luckily for us, we could batten down the hatches, ignore the tropical storm outside, and run a bath in one of the largest free-standing tubs I’ve seen, in the cove of the bay windows. With its heated floor and gently changing coloured lighting, the wet room lived up to the highest of expectations, and we jumped from bath to shower and steam.
Cocooned in our robes, we were contented that we’d booked dinner at the Gingerman, the hotel’s restaurant, and wouldn’t need to venture out into the rain. Renowned throughout the South of England, not just in Brighton, as a top-carat dining experience, it lived up to all the hype. Seafood and more seafood was the order of the evening – which, I’m guessing, was all taken from local fishing boats, with the exception of the superb Colchester oysters.
We sank into bed that night enjoying the strangely comforting patter of rain against the shutters, relieved to be out of the city for the weekend and soothed by the prospect of a late-morning wake-up in a bed that ticked a big box on our how-much-do-we-like-this-hotel criteria sheet. BEN REID