Luxurious Magazine • 25th May 2020

Spend 48 Memorable Hours In Porto For A Post-Covid Getaway

In the second part of her post-lockdown Portugal city break series, Gina Baksa travels to Porto on the Atlantic coast. You’ll need at least a week to explore a fraction of what beautiful Porto has to offer. But if, like me, you only have 48 hours to explore, then here are some of Porto’s must-see attractions during your stay in this UNESCO World Heritage city.

Luxurious Magazine • 21st May 2020

Lisbon Calling! Head To Portugal For A Post-Lockdown Weekend

48 hours in the Portuguese capital with Iberian Escapes is the perfect post-lockdown city break, says Gina Baksa. You’ll need at least two weeks to cover a fraction of what Lisbon has to offer. But if, like me, you only have a whistle-stop 48 hours, you can still savour much that this intoxicating city has to offer.

Luxurious Magazine • 28th April 2020

A Note From Provence: Make Your Garden A Haven For Bees

Lockdown has given us more time to enjoy and cultivate our gardens. Gina Baksa chats to Mr Stéphane Ellien, Landscaper at Provence’s Terre Blanche Hotel Golf Spa Resort, and discovers five ways to welcome bees into your garden.

Luxurious Magazine • 2nd March 2020

Luxury On La Croissette: Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes

Gina Baksa heads to the French Riviera for a stay at one of the city’s most iconic hotels, the Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes, which looks out across the Mediterranean Sea.

Luxurious Magazine • 16th December 2019

Sitting On A Dock Of The Thames: The Sunborn London Yacht Hotel

Gina Baksa enjoys an overnight stay and afternoon tea at the luxurious Sunborn London superyacht hotel, moored next to ExCel in London’s Docklands.

Luxurious Magazine • 24th October 2019

Rome’s Luxurious Hotel Eden Celebrates Its 130th Anniversary

We take a look at the new offerings launched to mark the 130th anniversary of Rome’s luxurious Hotel Eden, which today forms part of the renowned Dorchester Collection.

Luxurious Magazine • 29th January 2020

The Beverly Hills Hotel Reveals Redesigned Celebrity Bungalows

Gina Baksa takes a look inside Bungalow 9 at The Beverly Hills Hotel – Charlie Chaplin’s former home-from-home. Affectionately known as ‘the Pink Palace’, the iconic five-star Beverly Hills Hotel has been a bastion of glamour, glitz and romance since it first opened in 1912. This iconic Mission Revival-style hotel boasts 210 luxurious rooms and suites, alongside 23 bungalows, surrounded by 12 acres of dreamy tropical gardens.

Luxurious Magazine • 23rd December 2019

Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo’s Penthouse Suite Reveals Its Luxurious Redesign

Gina Baksa takes a look at the exquisitely redesigned Carré d’Or penthouse suite at the Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo.

Luxurious Magazine • 16th December 2019

Sitting On A Dock Of The Thames: The Sunborn London Yacht Hotel

Gina Baksa enjoys an overnight stay and afternoon tea at the luxurious Sunborn London superyacht hotel, moored next to ExCel in London’s Docklands.

Luxurious Magazine • 9th December 2019

Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi Spa Is The Perfect Winter Wellness Escape

Gina Baksa takes a look at one of the most exclusive five-star health and wellness resorts in the Maldives – the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi in South Malé Atoll. Imagine an oasis of relaxation and indulgence: turquoise waves gently lapping white sands, palm trees wafting in the light warm breeze, and ten exclusive treatment villas surrounded by exotic gardens in addition to your own luxurious five-star villa accommodation. Welcome to the exquisite Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi Spa.

Luxurious Magazine • 3rd December 2019

Le Meurice Hotel In Paris Transforms Belle Etoile Suite

Gina Baksa takes a look at the newly-restored Belle Etoile Suite at the iconic five-star Le Meurice hotel in the heart of Paris. The preferred home-from-home for artists and creatives, such as Dali to Warhol, and Picasso to Jay-Z, Le Meurice hotel, a luxurious sanctuary on Rue de Rivoli in the French capital, first opened in 1835 and was soon a favourite with European Royalty.

Luxurious Magazine • 31st October 2019

The Lure Of A Pilgrimage To Lourdes

Look beyond the commercial side of Lourdes and you’ll find a city in the south-west of France that’s well worth visiting, says Gina Baksa.

Luxurious Magazine • 28th August 2019

Château De Fonscolombe - Review of this Luxury Provençal Retreat

Château de Fonscolombe is just 20 minutes’ drive from the vibrant town of Aix en Provence, but the 12th-century château and its 30-acre park feel like another world, discovers Gina Baksa.

Luxurious Magazine • 4th April 2019

Beaverbrook Hotel and Spa Review: The Perfect Weekend Retreat

Gina Baksa enjoys an extraordinary health and wellness weekend at Beaverbrook Country House and Coach House Spa.

luxurymorocco • 11th November 2018

Riad Farnatchi – A Marrackech Medina Masterpiece

This is my first visit to Marrakech, and I’m staying at the luxurious award-winning Riad Farnatchi, a lovingly converted collection of private houses at the heart of the bustling Medina...

Luxurious Magazine • 26th April 2018

Fairmont Mara Safari Club – A Jewel In Kenya’s Crown

Vast yellow-green savannah below, bright blue skies above, we’ve taken off from Nanyuki on the slopes of Mt Kenya on our way south-west, across the Aberdare National Park and Mau Forest to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, near the border with Tanzania. Just 60 minutes later we’re touching down on the bumpy grass airstrip at Ngerende in the Mara.

Luxurious Magazine • 22nd April 2019

Review of The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland

Gina Baksa heads to Edinburgh and a weekend stay at The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel. “We have more than 500 different malts and singles to try – you may want to delay your trip home!” Senior whisky ambassador, Cameron Ewen, at The Balmoral’s SCOTCH bar is guiding me through the Highlands, Lowlands, Islay, Islands and Speyside on a whisky journey par excellence.

Luxurious Magazine • 11th April 2019

A Weekend Stay at the Hôtel Barrière l’Hôtel du Golf, Deauville, Normandy

Gina Baksa tees-off in Deauville at a luxury spa and golf weekend – staying at the Hôtel Barrière l’Hôtel du Golf and the iconic Hotel Barrière Le Normandy.

luxurymorocco • 11th November 2018

A Stay at the Palatial Palais Amani in the Heart of the Historic Fez Medina

Regarded as the historical and cultural capital of Morocco, Fez is finally breaking out of the shadows of its better-known southern neighbour Marrakech and having its own moment in the African sun. This is my first visit to Morocco

Luxurious Magazine • 13th January 2016

Ngala Tented Camp, Glamping South African Style

LOVE CAN STRIKE at any time. A feeling. A look. A whisper. An unstoppable force, South Africa demanded my attention like a valiant suitor and courted me until I surrendered. Beguiling and foreboding, lush and barren, united and divided, the country’s paradoxes delighted and infuriated in equal measure. Yet I had no inkling of this imminent love affair during the flight from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit – where our group was collected in air-conditioned comfort for the 45-minute drive to Ngala, th