From the Poolside turns 10: the top 10 hotels you loved and my own personal favorites.
You've been with me for 10 years - here's my heartfelt thank you #62
Last week, I celebrated two birthdays. My own but also From the Poolside turning 10 years old!
10 years ago, during a memorable hotel stay at Lucknam Park (because that’s when Mr Bigg proposed!), I published my first post in answer to frequent requests from family and friends to share the pretty places we stayed at. I always loved finding beautiful escapes for our holidays and when I was posting photos on Facebook (remember it? 😉) people were always asking me, oh Steph, how do you find those? So rather than repeating myself in emails, I thought I would create a space where all my “trouvailles” (finds) could easily be accessed.
At the time, I was even writing it both in French and English! It’s also quite interesting to see how my photography style has evolved since then.
Ten years later, the blog is still there, which I’m very proud of. I followed several travel bloggers at the time and many of them stopped. Not only is From the Poolside still alive but it has now extended into an app, a YouTube channel, an Instagram account and a newsletter/Substack site. I reviewed 70 hotels, B&B or villas and collected more than 700 places all around Europe (and a few further away).
To celebrate, I am offering a 20% discount on the paid subscription of this newsletter so that you can access to the map with all those 700 places and be the first to know about the latest openings. This makes it only £4 a month if you take a yearly subscription but you can also choose to do it only for one month.
This special edition doesn’t have the usual discoveries or latest openings but instead I’m listing the most popular blog posts and my own top 10 list of special hotels. Hopefully this provides another way to inspire you for your future travels.
I am so grateful for all of you who followed me all this time or just joined recently. I love it when people say that they had a great holiday because I pointed them towards a place they wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Thank you so much for being there, giving me feedback, sharing your own holiday memories in some of those places and generally just supporting me.
What you really liked - the 10 most popular articles
Heckfield Place review – the height of beauty and sophistication (I will update it next week with my opinion about the spa)
2. The exciting new hotels opening in 2022 we can’t wait to check into
My personal top 10 and most memorable stays
A youth hostel in Santorini: ok, this one is way much older than 10 years but it was such a marvellous place. I was about 24, travelling around Greece with my sister and a friend and this hostel was a heaven of white and pink flowers with a view over the caldera.
Glamping in Playa del Carmen: again older than 10 years ago and when Playa del Carmen was still a small fisherman village. I had found this hippy glamping place on the beach. First experience of turquoise water and white sand. Blissful!
Hotel le Sénéchal, Ile de Ré: the first French boutique hotel in this beautiful island whih we hope to make our own soon. I stayed there many years ago and more recently as we look to purchase a holiday home there.
Lucknam Park: as mentioned above because this is where Mr Big proposed.
Cowley Manor: first boutique hotel experience in the UK. We went back many times with Mademoiselle at various ages. Looking forward to seeing its redesign at Christmas.
Endsleigh: a typical English manor with wonderful gardens where we had our first romantic weekend in England when we started dating and got married there 12 years later.
Lundies House: if you are looking for a stylish cosy place, there’s no place better than this Scandinavian designed bolthole in the Scottish highlands.
Domaine de Murtoli: a privileged and secluded heaven in Corsica. First time after my cancer that I finally relaxed and felt the worries of the past months fly away. We returned a few times after that.
One & Only Mauritius: where we celebrated my 50th birthday in style. First luxury winter holiday too. Bigger hotel than what we are used to but such a great service and those sunsets!
Eros Keros: my sister met Anita the owner, a few years ago. My brother stayed there many times and we finally got to experience its magic last summer. Greece as its best and with more Greek people than foreign tourists. Simplicity, warmth, beaches, village life. Mademoiselle loved it and this sparks her desire to do island hopping when she graduates.
That's amazing consistency! Big congratulations, this clearly means a lot to you.
Bon anniversaire From the Poolside !