Taste
Check in with Ivo Weyel
He enjoys two things most: traveling and being pampered. Ivo knows better than anyone where to book a room or suite.
LOBSTER AT CRISTO
Is there anything tastier than fresh Oosterschelde lobster? Not much in my opinion. And then preferably eat it where it is caught, as is now appropriate in the eat local trend. Then you will automatically end up at restaurant Cristó, the restaurant of the Mondragon hotel in Zierikzee, idyllically located on the Old Port. The new hotel opened at the end of 2019, closed barely three months later due to corona, but reopened with the approval of the Michelin Guide, which states that 'the correct cooking of the anjou pigeon betrays the classical knowledge of the chef, who also brings contemporary grace to the plate '. Namesake Cristó Mondragon was the Spanish occupier of Zierikzee in the sixteenth century, who emerged as a true friend and helper of the population. He resided here and now hangs life-size in the lobby of the hotel, depicted with a black eye sustained in a battle, which he thought was extremely cool. The sommelier comes up with surprising wines to go with the lobster (“every preparation and every sauce needs a different wine”), but – simple as I am – I remain loyal to champagne. Nothing beats lobster with champagne. Don't miss the tart with sea buckthorn compôte for dessert and then of course stay the night, preferably in the Mondragon Suite, although, strangely enough, there is also a Duke of Alva and a Philips II Suite, two gentlemen who are not really considered friends of the Netherlands. are on record. I would say: in the current trend, rename them respectively the Smytegelt Suite (after the local anti-slavery preacher) and the Simon van Winter Suite (the eighteenth-century Zeeland writer of an anti-slavery play), then politically correct sleeping here in this sympathetic hotel means nothing. in the way.
FEEL LIKE A BORGHESE
If it feels like a Borghese, sleeps like a Borghese and eats like a Borghese, it must be a Borghese. And indeed, the Palazzo Borghese used to be home to this princely Italian family, supplier to quite a few magistrates, cardinals, a pope here and there, and later also a notorious Mussolini fascist who fled to Spain in 1970 after plotting a coup. They may not have been good, but they did love art and culture. As this Palazzo proves, it has recently become part of the Vilòn hotel in the heart of Rome that I have loved for a long time. Vilòn is small-scale (a Small Luxury Hotel of the World), beautifully decorated around a leafy courtyard with occasional ruins. Although the rooms and suites are more than adequate (which is appropriate, my mother would say given the prices), the non plus ultra Palazzo Borghese Vilòn has now been added, an opulent complex of a thousand square meters including four bedroom suites (although even for twelve people), a private swimming pool, sauna, gym, lapis lazuli bathrooms, butler service and seventeenth-century ceiling paintings with so much going on that you can watch them for hours. And the strange thing is that this 'only' costs around fifteen thousand euros per night, a pittance if you compare it with a regular suite for two people that fluctuates around two thousand per night (all depending on the season). So I'd say: round up eleven friends and sleep for just over a thousand per person in perhaps the nicest hotel accommodation Rome has to offer.
FEEL LIKE A BRANSON
I'm lucky to have ever felt like Sir Richard Branson. I stayed on Necker Island, his private island turned into hotel accommodation, where at one point I was so bored that I thought: okay, then I'll do yet another sightseeing flight with the helicopter (sigh). Of course, the man has many more houses, and he transforms one after another into rentable places to stay. He recently opened one in Mallorca, the Son Bunyola, a massive thirteenth-century castle that he bought in 1998, ten years after he had previously bought and run hotel La Residencia on the holiday island and sold it to LVMH in the early 2004s. . Branson has figuratively wreaked havoc on the island. After twenty-five years of arguing with the local government about the renovation (so heated that he sold it again in XNUMX, only to take up the fight again - Branson does not take any no as an answer –, won it, after which he bought it again in 2015 and drastically restored it. And now it's finally opening, with twenty-six rooms, 400 hectares of land, an olive grove and vineyard, 40 grass-eating donkeys (so much more eco-friendly than an army of gardeners) and an almond orchard. The decor is light, rustic and simple, a textbook example understated luxury. The rooms and suites (from 950 euros including breakfast) are on the small side but extremely pleasant and relaxing. For those who want something bigger, there are four multi-bedroom villas. But the lonely location of the hotel, the views over land and sea, the swimming pools, terraces and parks, restaurants and bars are so wonderful that you spend little time in the room, so give me a simple room.
MASTERS MAGAZINE #55
This article is from MASTERS Magazine. The magical autumn edition of MASTERS Magazine is now available. Artificial intelligence has now become an indispensable part of our lives. But, is this development something to celebrate or fear? Will Terminators take over or will friendly robots make our earthly existence even more comfortable? In this edition, AI is examined. According to philosopher Rowan Williams, it is important to remember that whatever AI does, it always imitates. And that we as humans distinguish ourselves through ingenuity. A good example is real estate entrepreneur André Snippe, who is developing an ultra-modern city district in Hoofddorp. Or nautical designer Jurjen Eerkens, who has developed a groundbreaking boat with his Hytender that is leading the way in making the yacht industry more sustainable. These and more resourceful entrepreneurs grace the pages of this edition. Which also looks ahead to MASTERS EXPO | The MAGICAL Edition, our exclusive business fair also born from ingenuity.
