4-Star Hotel Archives - Our Man On The Ground Travel and Lifestyle

Lifehouse Spa and Hotel

May 27, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Swinging down gentle backroads through the Essex countryside and emerging at Lifehouse Spa and Hotel is like being teleported to Scandinavia. A cubic vision in light, white, glass-walled minimalism, it is a far cry from […]

La Chapelle Saint Martin

April 15, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

La Chapelle Saint Martin is a stylish and cosy small hotel in the countryside near Limoges in France. It’s a hit with travelling gourmets thanks to culinary offerings prepared by the father-and-son team of Gilles […]

Hilton Helsinki Strand

April 9, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Nordic culture has a reputation for connecting with nature and where better to celebrate it than in one of the happiest cities in the world. Helsinki’s top priority is wellness, and it shows. From the […]

The Brudenell Hotel, Aldeburgh

March 5, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Crashing waves. Briny breezes. Wide-open skies. Seagulls screeching and wheeling above white-tipped North Sea waves. The crunch of shingle underfoot and the childlike glee of racing down pebble banks. Aldeburgh touches deep. There are prettier […]

Milsoms Kesgrave Hall

March 1, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Arriving at Kesgrave Hall is like stepping into a period drama. The drive flows through woodland, where on this late February day snowdrops are scattered like white confetti and the first daffodils are peeking above […]

Matthias Welzel, General Manager of Hilton Lake Como

February 24, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

In the first of our brand-new series of hotelier interviews, I spoke with Matthias Welzel, who is General Manager of the beautiful Hilton Lake Como in Italy, to ask what inspired him to follow a […]

The Pier at Harwich

February 19, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 1

There’s a nostalgia about arriving at The Pier in Harwich that is as pure as the briny breezes, silvery light and boom of the North Sea. The most elegant of all the buildings by the […]

Olympic-Inspired Activities at Hilton Lake Como

February 6, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

With the opening of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games today and Italy energised by the Olympic spirit, where better than Hilton Lake Como, which sits on the site of a former silk factory on […]

Heritance Tea Factory

January 8, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Staying in a hotel where the bedroom was once the drying room for Ceylon’s finest has got to be everyone’s cup of tea. The Heritance Tea Factory is a fabulous example of transforming an unused […]

The Rainforest Ecolodge

January 1, 2026 Our Man On The Ground 0

Torch lights lead the way into the depths of the Sri Lankan rainforest as the noisy inhabitants finish off their chatter before settling down for the night. The UNESCO world heritage site biosphere reserve is […]