The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas
When George Huntington Hartford II, heir to the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, bought what was formerly known as Shangri La from Swedish millionaire Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren around 1960, his aim was to give the Paradise Island Hotel a touch of romance and of course history. An avid art collector, Hartford has dotted an impressive collection of centuries-old sculptures throughout the elegant Versailles Garden, including the Reclining Venus by Florentine Lorenzo Bartollini from 1829, a two-meter-high stone statue of Hercules and, perhaps most notably, a number of dismantled 12th-century monasteries Although the Ocean Club has an undeniably European flair – Marie Antoinette would have a soirée somewhere if she was after 18.
The resort’s accommodations – ranging from multi-bedroom villas to luxurious oceanfront rooms just steps from the beach – are built on a five-mile stretch of soft white-sand beach and are worthy of A-listers who stayed here for a few nights to have .
The Lygon Arms has a 650 year history in the Cotswolds and it shows.Photo: The Lygon Arms
In the heart of the Cotswolds, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Great Britain, the structure of the Lygon Arms is so antiquated that its exact history is more or less unknown. However, some documentary evidence from around 1377 suggests that what used to be a proper post office called The White Hart stood where today’s 86-room, stone-fronted Tudor-style hotel stands. And in 1620 a man named John Trevis, perhaps the then owner of the building, a stonemason or perhaps a local benefactor who wanted to preserve his legacy long after his death, carved his name on the wall at the entrance to the building. Today, however, his deed rests in the capable hands of Iconic Luxury Hotels Ltd., who have honored the 650-year history of the former inn in several ways.
With charming guest rooms and suites spread across the main building, the annex, the inner courtyard and the cottage, there is hardly a lack of accommodation. Not to forget that the accommodations are just as luxurious for the guests’ dogs who can nap and store the Le Chameau dog bed waiting for them on arrival in the room.
Hotel Jerome is over 130 years old, but the Felix Roasting Co. coffee concept designed by Ken Fulk is brand new. Photo: Reagan Petrehn
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