It’s around this time of year that we pumpkin spice up our lives and stuff our suitcases with scarves for an autumnal break. Perhaps keeping our skin summer-supple on a Holidermie spa break in Normandy, harvest feasting at a Puglian farmstay, cider-making in Devon, or some winter-sunning in Bali. Here are the hotels our editors are ‘leafing’ through during the seasonal turn.
Cambridge Common House
Massachusetts, USA
‘Oh, you went to Harvard, did you?’ I’m afraid my head is turned more by what’s a five-minute walk away from the Ivy League campus: historic bed and breakfast Cambridge Common House is a study in understated hospitality, preppy style (especially its tartans, stripes and corduroy wallpaper) and quiet enjoyment, with a garden to ruminate in. My particular field of research is Cambridge’s drinking and dining scene, which you’re well-placed to explore from here. Top marks go to Toscanini’s for its mango-sticky-rice ice-cream, Giulia for its Périgord-truffle-speckled pastas, and legendary venue The Middle East for cocktails soundtracked by cult bands. And the hotel is a history lesson in itself, having stood for 200 years and acted as a student dormitory and publishing office for the university newspaper. So, technically, if you stay here, you went to Harvard too.
Why we love it: The Lark hotel group, of which Cambridge Common House is a part, has a knack for breathing life back into old buildings, using considered decor and details. Many rooms have wood-panelling and working fireplaces that honour the house’s heritage, plus some have campus views that add to its collegiate spirit.
Kate Weir, Deputy Editor
Glebe House
Devon, UK
I’m far too much of a city-dweller to truly convert to a wholesome, hands-on rustic life, but at Glebe House, a smallholding and hotel on a 15-acre estate in Devon, I can at least cosplay as a living-off-the-land sort. Throughout autumn, workshops include skills to see you through even the toughest winter: pickling and preserving, bread- and charcuterie-making, cider-pressing… Italian dining might briefly teleport you to Tuscany, but farm freshness is evident in dishes like porridge bread with house salumi, charcoal-grilled hogget and a hearty Sunday lunch (even if it includes an antipasti course). To round off your countryside conversion, the drama of the Jurassic Coast and the scenic sprawl of the South West Coast Path (both nearby) may turn you into a bona fide rambler.
Why we love it: Woodland immersion comes in the form of cosy cabins fitted with log-burners for colder nights and alfresco bath tubs for summer; or sauna and cold-plunge sessions with views of the decidedly green Coly Valley.
KW
Hotel Joaquin
California, USA
I’m not ashamed to admit I was one of The OC’s biggest UK fans when the series first aired in the early Noughties. The show was centred around the fabulous lives of Newport’s high society, shaken to its core by an interloper from Chino (I didn’t know where that was, but it sounded shady). Some years later, on an epic road trip across the wild, wild West, I cruised down the Pacific Coast Highway bound for Big Sur and bucket-list retreat Post Ranch Inn, passing the golden beaches and gigantic houses of Orange County as I went. Alas, I didn’t have time (the distances are huge, guys) to detour to Laguna Beach, but had I known about Hotel Joaquin, I would have enforced a pit stop for a swim, snorkel and to stretch my legs on the bluffs above the ocean.
Why we love it: Laguna Beach is just an hour away from LA, but Hotel Joaquin — a sort of Montauk-St Barths mash-up with artistic, sunlit interiors, surf-ready shores, poolside bar and the soothing sound of vinyl spinning on record players greeting you almost anywhere you go — ensures the bright lights of the city don’t hold much sway.
Caroline Lewis, Senior Editor
Verneuil la Douce
Normandy, France
The phrase ‘historic jewel’ comes to mind for flamboyant boutique retreat Verneuil la Douce, tucked into the Eure countryside. When interior-designer owner Camille Omerin first set eyes on this 140-year-old Norman manor house — all Disney turrets and chequered brickwork — she embarked on creating a hotel that would be a love letter to the house’s historic frippery, working with a clutch of artists to transform it into a one-of-a-kind stay. Pool-studded gardens, flourish-rich interiors and refined regional cuisine all carry this creative spirit. And in September, the sun-warmed Norman countryside and timbered townhouses of Verneuil d’Avre et d’Iton provide a ravishing backdrop.
Why we love it: Verneuil la Douce is a showcase for passion well executed. Sometimes in the course of work as travel editors, we come across a stately pile that’s been reworked with modern bedrooms that seek to overrule their storied setting; not so with Verneuil la Douce. Real care has gone into its reimagining, with design that perfectly complements its past. And with a spa and kids’ club in the works, its future is set only to brighten.
Kate Pettifer, Curation Content Lead
Munduk Cabins
Bali, Indonesia
I’ve always had a soft spot for Bali’s ebullient coastal towns, where I’ve spent many happy days flitting between beaches, Bintang beer-slinging dive bars and bang-for-buck restaurants. For all the fond memories, I do think you want a counterpoint to all that action — which I found in the cool, quiet splendour of the northern highlands. Seamed with hot springs and often cloaked in mist, this remote and mountainous region moves to a completely different beat. Stay at Munduk Cabins and that tempo shift will happen naturally — not least because of the riotously verdant views on show from your stilted, window-walled cabin. When you’re not basking on your canopy-grazing terrace or luxuriating in the hillside hot tub, you’ll want to get out into the wilderness to join waterfall treks, dip into volcanic springs and hike to mountaintop temples.
Why we love it: Munduk Cabins is big on natural selections. They inform the timber and stone interiors of each stilted cabin, inspire the time-honoured recipes used in the panorama-peeking restaurant, and even lend character to cocktails infused with indigenous botanicals.
Hamish Roy, Senior Associate Editor
Casa Camper
Barcelona, Spain
Hotels by fashion brands occasionally feel like a bit of a gimmick, with little more staying power than a seasonal collection. Not so with Casa Camper Barcelona, opened by the offbeat Spanish footwear brand way back in 2005. Here, the shoe fits: Camper’s playful and eye-catching design language has been spun into modernist interiors by Spanish designer Fernando Amat and architect Jordi Tió, who’ve run wild with the brand’s signature Crayola red. It’s a bold and non-conformist look that chimes perfectly with El Raval, the hotel’s stomping ground and one of Barcelona’s most exciting neighbourhoods for contemporary art and culture.
Why we love it: Like any self-respecting shoemaker, Camper has given much thought to the tongue. Restaurant Dos Palillos has netted a Michelin star for its Asian-influenced tapas, drawing on cuisine from Japan, China and Southeast Asia. Cocktail bar Dos Billares has after-hours appeal in spades, styled like the billiards room of a 1950s Hollywood hero.
HR
Masseria Donna Menga
Puglia, Italy
As you sip your primitivo in a candlelit alcove at restored 15th-century farmhouse Masseria Donna Menga and cast your eye to the imposing tower built even earlier to defend against Saracen raids, you can’t help but be grateful that today’s welcome is rather more hospitable. Hospitality is, in fact, its M.O., from the generous Italian welcome and the inviting slope of the pool, to spa treatments infused with lemon, thyme and Salento olive oil, and the terrace where you’ll spy the Ionian Sea a kilometre or so away.
Why we love it: Puglia’s vendemmia, or grape harvest, is well underway in September. There are few better bases from which to head out to take part in the celebrations and quaff the region’s wines at source.
Martin Dickie, UX Writer & Editor
Keep some space in your calendar for our other new arrivals