Everyone loves a tried and tested recommendation to escape to, particularly when it’s lesser known, not wildly expensive and fairly easy to reach. But it’s more enticing still when it comes from those with impeccable taste. From Florentine palazzos brimming with character to British gastro-pubs with rooms and new age ethics, we’ve rounded up the secret spots of London’s style set — boltholes they make a break for when the parties, politics and endless emails become too much.
Tish Weinstock on The Joshua Tree Inn, California
Vogue’s contributing beauty editor filled the publishing industry’s Instagram homepages last year with her Gothic themed-nuptials to Tom Guinness on Halloween. The guest list read like a roll call of the haute hobnobbing fashion world, with a vampy Kate Moss, Princess Olympia of Greece and Sabine Getty all waving off the couple as they rumbled to Belvoir Castle for the reception in a Halloween-themed car. Not one to follow the conventional pool-sun-cocktails holiday formula, Tish discovered the hacienda-style Joshua Tree Inn (close to the Joshua Tree National Park) through the story of musician Gram Parsons, the member of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers who died in one of the rooms in 1973. “It’s really charming and unassuming… you’re in a total time warp. The rooms have original fixtures and you’re surrounded by beautiful desert.” Tish particularly loves its sense of seclusion: “You can totally switch off from the world, keep to yourself… There are mini kitchens to make food in or you can hang out with the other guests in the courtyard.” Days are spent wallowing in the pool, sitting in the shade of the wisteria, with plenty of Parsons memorabilia to inspect. “My husband and I went there recently on a mini babymoon. It was so nice just being away from people and — as cheesy as this sounds — being surrounded by nature.”
Doubles from £121 per night, joshuatreeinn.com
Alex Eagle on Palazzo Niccolini, Florence
Founder of the eponymous fashion and design store Alex Eagle Studio, and all-round aesthete extraordinaire Alex Eagle is a woman with the last word on taste. But it’s a sense of authenticity she hankers for when escaping to Florence. “I love the rich history of Palazzo Niccolini. It’s like staying in a family palazzo rather than a hotel. Striking frescos deck the walls and it’s a unique and special place that feels right for Florence… just make sure you book the rooms with views of the Duomo.” Eagle can typically be found zigzagging through the medieval Tuscan city with her friend Italian designer Gioia Bini, “buying linen shorts and stripy socks from heritage menswear shops”. Her Florentine shopping stables include Lisa Corti for home textiles and fabrics, Loretta Caponi for beautifully-made clothes and linens, and Santa Maria Novella for bathroom goodies. Dinner at ‘Troia’ (Trattoria da Sostanza detto il Troia) and Caillo is a must before winding up at Harry’s Bar for cocktails, naturally.
Doubles from £281 per night, niccolinidomepalace.com
Martha Freud on Lindos, Rhodes
Artist and maker of the iconic asymmetric ceramics scribbled in irreverent, off-beat comments, Martha Freud likes to escape to the pretty town of Lindos on the Greek island of Rhodes. A white-washed labyrinth of sugar-cube houses sits along the slopes of a hill topped by an ancient, turreted acropolis. “The landscape is so dramatic and beautiful, you can understand why the ancient Greek stories are so epic.” Martha and her family like to draw out afternoons along the beach, peeling themselves off the sand for “its family-run café serving the best tzatziki I’ve ever had”. Martha suggests renting a traditional villa through locals, somewhere authentic to retreat to for an al fresco supper after days spent exploring the 14th-century Castle of the Knights of St John, gaping at the Virgin Mary of Lindos Church’s 15th-century frescoes or losing track of time along one of Rhodes’s prettiest beaches.
Eric Underwood on Jake’s Cabin, Somerset
American-English ballet dancer, model and actor Eric Underwood heads to the wooded fringes of Bruton to unwind. He discovered Jake’s Cabin at Happy on the Hill on Airbnb — a rustic-luxe refuge crafted from local cedar and larch. Tucked in a clearing sheltered by oaks and hazelnut trees, the cabin features a mustard-yellow roll-top bath-with-a-view (over Somerset’s rolling countryside). A wood stove keeps guests toasty on cooler evenings, there’s a firepit in the garden to warm chilly knees against, and breakfasts on the verandah are magical with the woodland chorus and shifting morning shades across the woods. When civilisation comes calling, he heads to Hauser & Wirth or Bruton Art Society.
Sleeps 2, from £120 per night, airbnb.co.uk
Candice Lake on Hotel Rural Predi Son Jaumell Capdepera, Mallorca
Photographer, model and Balearic loyalist Candice Lake decided to break with her family’s annual Ibiza tradition for Mallorca’s mix of antiquity, reverential design and slow-living ethos. Preferring to stay in houses or small boutique hotels over resorts or grande dames, Candice was recommended Hotel Rural Predi Son Jaumell Capdepera by Net A Porter’s Harriet Haskell Thomas. “I love that it is set very much off the beaten track in a 400-year-old estate. It has a minimalist palette sympathetically restored with everything you could possibly need.” Enticed by its appeal as a large family home, Candice loves its sense of space, privacy and the pool — studded with cabanas. Like much of Mallorca, there is also the foodie draw: the restaurant has incredible food which has mostly been locally sourced thanks to its ex-El Bulli chef. The hotel has also sourced some top-drawer therapists for treatments — “one of the best massages of my life”. Unusually for boutiques,it is particularly accommodating of children — “a wonderful plus” — and lies not far from a seriously photogenic, empty beach.
Doubles from £296 per night, hotelsonjaumell.com
Melissa Hemsley on The Bull Inn, Totnes, Devon
It comes as little surprise that chef, author and waste-warrior Melissa Hemsley would place food and sustainability at the top of her holiday agenda. When she’s looking for a break, Hemsley heads south-west to the pretty market town of Totnes for a pub stay with purpose. Here, previous owner of the Duke of Cambridge in Islington (the UK’s first organic pub) Geetie Singh-Watson has breathed new, farm-to-fork life into a rundown inn. “It’s thoughtfully sustainable throughout, from bedding and towels to the paint they chose and refillable toiletries, but also a real community pub.” Food is veg-first with mindful meat. “I love the way they cook, of course, using the local Devonshire produce, and the beers, ales, drinks, all so carefully selected.” On sunny days, she recommends sitting outside in the nearby square (a great people-watching spot) as artsy Totnes struts on by. “I once missed my train after a two-hour breakfast and basically stayed all afternoon as the lunch menu just looked so good.” Melissa recommends keeping an eye on the Bull Inn’s socials for foodie events — “not only will you get a gorgeous pub dinner, breakfast and sleep, you’ll also probably come away incredibly inspired and fired up.”
Doubles £145pn, bullinntotnes.co.uk
Laura Vidrequin Roso on Oakley Court, Berkshire
As the founder of children’s resale site Kids O’Clock and previous Net A Porter and Moda Operandi buyer, Laura Vidrequin Roso is the sort of stylish operator whose wardrobe most women would kill to spend an afternoon filing through. A curator by nature and trade, her clothes, home and children’s shopping pages all have a lick of style that’s impossible to teach, while her down-to-earth nature resonates with parents, particularly where cool but kid-friendly city escapes are concerned. Laura heard about Berkshire’s Oakley Court through a friend. “There’s nothing better than word of mouth for hotels… and it’s 40 minutes away from west London.” She loves its delicious, easy-going food and unbuttoned style, despite the sharp aesthetics, and the spread of kids’ activities on offer. “There’s great music, I love their garden, and you can sail along the river on a boat.”
