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Lusso launches first Europe and North Africa brochure

Trade-only luxury tour operator Lusso has launched its first ever Europe & North Africa brochure.

Senior Product Manager for Europe & North Africa Helen Brown said: “The new brochure is a departure from our traditional style. It’s not a catalogue of hotels – you can find them on our website – but rather a flavour of what the region has to offer, filled with destination guides, don’t-miss experiences and suggested itineraries.”

Managing Director James Weaver said: “Rather than pages of hotel information, the new brochure includes a single hotel directory for each country featured, listing all our hotel partners at the time of going to press.

“But as this may change during the lifetime of the brochure, the directories also include a QR code taking agents and their clients to our website, where they’ll always be able to find our most up-to-date hotel listings.

“Brochures are still a key sales tool used by many of our agents, however it is important to us that they are more sustainably produced. We’ve chosen neither to date the brochure nor to price hotels or itineraries, thus giving the brochure a far longer shelf life and greatly reducing any chance of wastage.”

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‘I think of it as a posh caravan’: What it’s like to unexpectedly inherit a house

J ust imagine it for a second: a letter arrives out of the blue on the doorstep, saying you’ve unexpectedly inherited a 19th-century cottage, deep in the Brecon Beacons. “It’s like something from a fairy tale, like finding magic treasure,” says Frederieke van Ellen, who has been the proud owner of the whitewashed two-up, two-down house ever since it fell into the hands of her husband, Eilir Sheryn, in 2017, and is now sharing their story on the second episode of Channel 4’s heir-hunter show Key To A Fortune , which starts today. But there’s a catch to this dream windfall, says van Ellen: “It fell through the branches of a rather sad and complicated family tree.”

I meet the couple after a dreamy drive through the Welsh hills on a bright spring morning, when the verges are nodding with daffodils. Recent rainfall means the waterfalls are tumbling in exuberant white diagonals down the hillsides. The whitewashed two-up, two-down cottage – known as Brynglas – is set into the lush green slope of a valley overlooking the River Towy and I hear the soothing rush of the current as I park my car beside deep drifts of snowdrops. 

An orange-breasted nuthatch sings out from atop the curved limestone wall. Inside, van Ellen and Sheryn, both architects, have the log burner blazing and a plate of nutmeggy Welsh cakes on the table.

“My mother made these,” smiles 55-year-old Sheryn. “I was born and grew up in Wales. Both my parents are Welsh. But I was sent off to boarding school at the age of eight and that’s why I sound like this,” – his accent is purely English – “because I had the Welshness taken out of me. This place has re-engaged me with my heritage and this is a lovely, predominantly Welsh-speaking area . It’s not touristy. The people are different to the people I know in England – uniquely warm, charming, charismatic.”

But van Ellen, 57, notes there’s a shadow of sorrow to her husband’s inheritance. The cottage was really intended to end up in the hands of her husband’s father. Hywel Sheryn – a jovial headmaster – had often spoken of his dreams to retire to the cottage where he’d enjoyed so many happy holidays as a child. 

“But he was fond of a tall tale,” continues Sheryn, “and so when he talked about pulling all those salmon out of the Towy as a boy, and how he hoped to return as an older man, I didn’t really pay attention. But this place really was left to my dad and his descendants. The letter telling us it belonged to me and my sister landed on the doormat two weeks after he died. I’m sorry he never had the opportunity to return.”

Brynglas was left to Sheryn’s father by his “Aunty Lil”, who died in 2006 at the age of 100. Lil – a distant cousin – grew up in Brynglas as one of three children born to Mary Jane and Thomas Roderick Thomas, a railway worker. “Lil did very well for herself and married the chief of police in Carmarthen,” explains Sheryn, bringing Aunty Lil to life with tales of her scarlet lipstick and many fur coats. 

She had a knack of leveraging her new social status by snagging extra rations at the butcher’s shop during the war. “She didn’t have any children of her own and was close to my grandmother, which meant my dad had many happy holidays here. Only one of Lil’s brothers had a child – Rhydian, born 1945 – who was killed in a car accident in 1978. 

“Rhydian was married,” explains van Ellen. “But his wife Julia was English and they didn’t have any children. Because the Thomas family wanted it to stay with the Welsh, Julia only had lifetime trust of it rather than proper ownership. She never remarried and the neighbours say she kept it almost as a shrine to Rhydian. After she died [in 2017], a lady up the road ended up taking on Julia’s old border collie and we got the house.”

Sheryn admits that, in the fog of bereavemen following the death of his father, he didn’t think he’d keep the house. “My sister didn’t want it – she lives in Holland and has five kids. Freddie and I didn’t need a rural bolthole as we’d moved out of London to live the dream in Devon, 20 years ago. We have four kids, so life is busy.”

He first came to visit with his mother on a grey day in 2017 – before they had the keys – more to pay his respects to his recently-deceased father than as a prospective landowner. But a neighbour let them in and Sheryn was moved to see his mother and the neighbour reminiscing – in Welsh – about the place’s history. A few months later, he visited it with his wife and she was entranced.

“I thought it was magical,” says van Ellen. “Inside it was pretty shabby, with 1970s decor . It was very dark. There were spiders everywhere. The kitchen and bathroom were very tatty but, as architects, we could see the potential. Structurally there was nothing wrong with it. On the drive home, we decided we’d buy out my sister for £75,000, invest around £40,000 in renovations and see if we could afford to keep it.”

Van Ellen’s own architectural practice “is very contemporary,” and she quickly realised that their tendency to use lots of glass and metal wouldn’t be in keeping with the surroundings. Instead, they kept the stone fireplace and Aunty Lil’s old dark wood dresser and brightened the place with new windows, white interior beams and contemporary lighting. 

They scoured local antiques shops for Georgian farmhouse chairs, and eBay for traditional Welsh wool blankets to throw over the beds upstairs. They modernised the kitchen and bathroom, and put in a sturdy log burner. A sense of Aunty Lil’s eccentricity remains: her old stuffed toy cat peers beadily out from a shelf above the fire.

Van Ellen and Sheryn rent the place out between family visits; guests can leaf through a book full of black and white family photos that the couple found in an old cardboard suitcase in a loft hatch in the bathroom ceiling. Van Ellen pulls out the suitcase for me and rifles through to show me the diaries kept by Rhydian’s father. 

“Here is the page from Feb 2, when Rhydian died. You can see how he’s drawn around and around the entry in biro. It says: ‘A black day’. I felt very shaken, very sad when I first saw that.”

Sheryn says that choosing to hang on to Brynglas hasn’t been easy – most other beneficiaries featured in the series, presented by A Place In The Sun ’s Jean Johansson, are forced to sell their new properties because renovation and maintenance is too costly. “We started work on the cottage in January 2019 and took our first paying visitor that October. We were just starting to recoup some money when the pandemic hit.” 

The couple tell me that although the cottage brings in a steady income, they’re “nowhere near” recouping their £115,000 investment. “With cleaning and laundry, a changeover after guests leave can cost £150 and the heating here is all electric, which is costly. So this place is an expensive luxury for us, really,” says van Ellen. 

But as they get older the couple do hope to spend more time in Wales. “We have four children and the youngest just turned 18,” says van Ellen. “At the moment they tend to get itchy feet after a couple of days out here, but I hope they grow to appreciate the peace and use it more as they get older.” 

Sheryn nods. “I enjoy it more and more as I get older. There’s a different pace of life here, where you’re not bombarded by stuff. I love the sounds of the countryside – the sheep and the birdsong.” He grins. “I’ve come to think of this place as a posh caravan. Thanks, Aunty Lil!”

Key To A Fortune starts on March 24 at 5.15pm on Channel 4

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Chalet Aurore, Meribel

• November 23, 2011
• 8 minute read

We whip through the Blackwall Tunnel, exhausts flaring and roaring, enjoying the hum and purr of the monstrous engine restrained in this glowing rocket. Headlights flit-flit-flit through the central reservation but our eyes are on the lookout for Gatsos, flashing blue lights and undercover coppers. We’re encapsulated in a quiet pod, a super-smooth ride that’s surprisingly easy to drive for a vehicle of this power; the quiet breaks when you put pedal to metal and suddenly you’ve hit the ‘on’ switch – she roars up to speed (yes, she is a she). You feel more like you’re flying that driving – it’s a smooth effortless drive, the steering is light and responsive.

There were, as per usual, all the debates about French speed limits. “It’s 90”, someone had chimed in before we left. Ks or mph? Who knows, who cares – we’re tearing up asphalt, watching like hawks for any signs. Fast drivers beware – in France le cinq-zero just love to lurk behind bridges. Masters of disguising their blue motors, they know all the stash points and are quite happy to slap you with a hefty fine (up to 350 Euros) or impound your motor. Now the danger of a ride like the Ferrari California is that you’re happily tearing up the road and she’s so smooth you won’t even notice that you’re touching a ton – and you won’t hear it either. Anyway, the French police are set on being a bunch of spoilsports – I’m sure they’d be happier making cheese or wine or some such genteel occupation. Saying that, some of the cheeses we sampled were far from genteel – when a cheese creates a physical wall of smell it’s time to run for the hills.

It turns out after a spot of impromptu research (god bless the mobile internet) that the speed limit is 130km/h on the motorway (and thus the route of choice for speed freaks) – but be warned, get caught doing over 50km/h over said limit and risk having your car forcibly removed – not an entertaining way to start your holiday. Still – do a bit more research: check out what the French cameras look like, keep an eye on your map for any road-spanning bridges and you’ll be off to a flying start. Not that we’d suggest going over the speed limit. Obviously.

Putting England behind us as we chug across the narrow sea, shrouded in low-lying mist that means as soon as we turn our backs, our homeland has disappeared; the white cliffs have vanished into a thick fog that encircles us until we almost hit the coast of France. The joy of taking the ferry route is that virtually as soon as we bump into the French coastline, we’re back in the comfort of la California, resuscitating its beating heart, before we rumble out of the bowels of the ship and we’re back on the road again, the car eating up the miles like the hungry machine it is. We’re craving a bit of sunshine – the roof is begging to slip away effortlessly into the boot.She’s subtle, understated and not a flashy car – although still a definite head-turner, those blue-white lights let you know something stonking is on the way. Up close, her lines cut a slick, aerodynamic shape – part space age, part lithe creature. 

The age-old expression that getting there is the adventure, couldn’t have been more true. With Satnav systems doing away with the mystery, the days of stumbling upon somewhere out of the ordinary or seeing inspiring sights by accident are gone – but so is the several hours of negotiating Paris’s crappy traffic system. It’s been a hefty blight on some of the journeys I’ve taken to the Alps, often a pain-in-the-arse stumbling block seemingly devised by the French to trap us British wayfarers. Even Sally Satnav gets a little confused, but we manage to put Paris behind us and hit the highway with a foot craving to press pedal to metal. And we do. Needless to say, a discussion of quite how fast we went might land us in a spot of bother with the long arm of the law, but let’s just say, there’s a lot of green blur in France and not a lot of coppers on the road; a race through one of the tunnels along the Route Nationale with a souped-up Supra was of particular amusement and stops every few hundred miles to fill up the guzzling beast provided a few moments of tranquillity and the occasional bland sandwich (a Michelin-starred meal compared to England’s motorway stops, in fairness). 

The French Alps are where the fun really begins. We hit them at dusk, purple skies and glistening peaks catching the last of the waning sun. Whichever god you pray too, he must have built these mountains knowing that one day someone would come along and carve sweeping roads through them, built to test a car and driver, to stun and excite, to encourage and tease, to reward and punish. If you’ve ever watched a shark cut its powerful path deep within its own territory, watched it flex its muscles and plough fearlessly through the water, then that should give you glimpse of what both car and road do through these mountains.

Up here is where we really get to feel the traction control in its full glory – there’s none of the power-loss you expect when it kicks in. It’s an utterly smooth transition with no noticeable shift in the handling and ride of the car – someone’s invested serious time turning this car into a terrain-conquering beast. 

After a few hours of exquisite driving and a couple of oh-god moments when car and driver both nearly took the quick route down, we touch down at Meribel. Arriving at night, the lights of the car cause the snow to twinkle like a thousand crystals illuminated by a caver’s torch. The town is typical Alps – all unfinished wood, piles of snow, dim swaying yellow bulbs, mysterious lights shining from somewhere up, up and away on the sides of the mountain. Iridescent beams from the snow-plough’s fog lights cutting through the night sky and illuminating great swathes of the mountain as it swings back and forth, smoothing and shifting the snow for tomorrow’s ski. 

Chalet Aurore is the perfect foil to our long, exhilarating journey. As soon as we step inside, it’s warm, comfortable, retaining that chalet feel without being contrived, without feeling like you’ve stepped into an Abba video or that you’re going to have to sit next to a sweaty naked man in the sauna. Wooden-carved beams giving a subtle nod to the genre, while all around you feel like you’re somewhere more sophisticated, more developed, more stylish. Flatscreens, an enclosed fireplace, a real coffee machine and the occasional subdued clatter from the kitchen all reassure that this is no ordinary mountain retreat. A walk outside provides further proof – a long, beautifully blue pool hides outside, warm enough to jump in even on a wintry night; a hot tub steams and fizzes, ready to ease away the day’s aches and the perfect counterpart to an icy beer. The views are stunning; the mountains stretch away, as the sun arches round the back of our palatial wooden retreat, it slips slowly between two peaks, bathing the mountains in amber light. Staff are on hand to supply the needy with delicious chow and more beverages in the tub, if you’re still peckish after the spread laid on for your return from the mountains. 

We chat with the Aurore chefs – how do we like to eat, plated or family style; what sort of food are we into – classic French, Thai, Italian; when do we want to eat. We try a mix – on the first night we go formal and the food is as good as any we’ve tucked into in England’s finest eateries, made with a deft and skilled hand. Jerusalem artichokes are a smooth partner for the fork-soft braised beef cheeks in their dark, sticky sauce. On the following night we take it casual, a slow roast leg of lamb to please a crowd. Both are brilliant, as is the service – relaxed, casual but polite, efficient and happy to accommodate even a troublesome rabble like us. The same staff work throughout – breakfast, lunch and dinner and are happy to arrange everything. Phone numbers are handed round for collection from the mountains, restaurants are recommended for dining out, suggestions of pistes to try are given. Skis are collected and dropped off, boots are warmed before we head out, pockets stuffed with bars of chocolate to scoff in a moment’s rest snatched on a chairlift. Instructions are given for the more advanced skiers in the party to try a cross-country route back to the chalet. “Easy,” they tell us – we end up skiing through four-foot deep snow, jumping a river and firing sparks off our skis down a road. They are surprised – they haven’t skied the route for a year or two and will be checking it out. We show off battle scars and are happy with an ‘extreme’ skiing story to tell. We regale our comrades and are met with cheers and back slaps. A happy time. We drink and then party late, only telling the story several more times to impress the models present. A glorious spread saves us at breakfast – stuffed with croissants, fresh juice and granola, we head back out up into the mountains.

The slopes of Meribel are excellent for all levels of skier and boarder. Two of us head out with a guide to conquer a treacherous part of the mountain. Several hours of hard skiing later, we look back at the side of the mountain we’ve beaten and can’t even see a clear path from our vantage point. We call for a pick up, head back to the base of the mountain and join the others in our group who are happily trundling round the more gentle slopes – we ride hard and fast, cutting corners, dropping through trees to wind up our friends but they are having as much fun as us. For the young and beginners, the mountain offers up the shallowest of slopes closest to its base.  For the advanced, it hides challenges in its furthest recesses, off the beaten track and away from the masses. 

Snow. Mountains. Chefs. Ferraris. Hot tubs. There’re not many times in life when all of the above will collide so harmoniously and uproariously. 

And to have done so courtesy of Ferrari and the lovely people at Consensio and the Chalet Aurore only makes this jammy bugger feel even more jammy, an utter compote, if you will. I could talk about the journey back in the car, how we gave the models a lift, but, well, why rub salt into the wound? Mother always told me to play humble because people never like a show off. Sorry, Mother.

For more information on Chalet Aurore visit consensioholidays.co.uk or call +44(0)203 393 08333, for information on visiting Meribel visit meribel.net and for details on the Ferrari California, visit ferrari.com.

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Offering some of the best views in all Italy, Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo delivers old-world glamour in an enviable location in picturesque Taormina, next to the entrance to the ancient Greek theatre, with views from its terraces of [...]

La Fiermontina

Set in a walled olive grove and a haven for art lovers, the stunning La Fiermontina is an 18th-century masseria, filled with contemporary art, designer furnishings and sculptures. The hotel is in the old town of Lecce, one of Pugl [...]

Palazzo Bozzi Corso by La Fiermontina

Dating back to 1775 and situated just a stone’s throw from the Basilica di Santa Croce in the enchanting old city of Lecce, Palazzo Bozzi Corso is one of the out-and-out stars of La Fiermontina Family Collection of hotels. [...]

JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa

This private-island resort sits in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon, 20 minutes by complimentary shuttle boat from St Mark’s Square. It’s perfect, therefore, if you’re looking to escape the crowds that fill Venice in high s [...]

Castello di Casole, A Belmond Hotel, Tuscany

This timeless Tuscan castle complete with sprawling estate dates back to the 10th century and is steeped in Italian history. It has been lovingly restored with an incredible eye for detail and respect for Italian craftsmanship and [...]

Castel Monastero

Castel Monastero began life as a monastery in the 11th century. In the 13th century a wine cellar was added to store the valuable Chianti wines for which this region of Tuscany is still rightly famous. Now, nearly 1,000 years on, [...]

Tenuta di Murlo

The family-owned Murlo estate offers the ultimate Umbrian countryside retreat, with seven luxury villas, a charming apartment, three deluxe rooms and a romantic cottage scattered across thousands of acres of forested hills, valley [...]

Forte Village Resort, Bouganville

Hotel Bouganville lies at the heart of the vast Forte Village resort – a sprawling collection of hotels, restaurants and swimming pools on Sardinia’s southern coast with a huge range of activities and facilities aimed primaril [...]

Forte Village Resort, Le Palme

One of several great options for families within the vast Forte Village resort, Hotel Le Palme sits immersed in tropical gardens at the heart of the action. The magnificent Oasis pool is nearby, as is Piazza Luisa, the resort’s [...]

Forte Village Resort, Il Borgo

Forte Village is a vast resort on Sardinia’s southern coast home to eight hotels, numerous restaurants, its own beachfront and extensive facilities available to all. Hotel Il Borgo offers generously sized bungalows, each with a [...]

Forte Village Resort, Pineta

Positioned near the sea and the extensive Aquaforte thalassotherapy spa, Hotel Pineta is an oasis of calm surrounded by centuries-old pine groves at the centre of Sardinia’s Fort Village resort. Rooms are spread over two floors [...]

Forte Village Resort, Villa del Parco

Part of the impressive Forte Village Resort and also a member of Leading Hotels of the World, Villa del Parco is an intimate, private and tranquil retreat set in fragrant woodlands, offering direct access to the popular Acquaforte [...]

Hotel Savoy, a Rocco Forte Hotel

Hotel Savoy’s super central location between the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio is a hard one to beat. But it’s by no means the only reason to choose this elegant and refined member of the Rocco Forte stable. Excellent service, a [...]

Masseria Torre Maizza, a Rocco Forte Hotel

Puglia’s masserie were once the beating hearts of agricultural estates – historic, fortified buildings built of chunky limestone and painted in brilliant white. Today many have been converted into exclusive-use villas or luxur [...]

Villa Sola Cabiati

Dating to the 16th century and one of Lake Como’s most lavish and spectacular properties, Villa Sola Cabiati was formerly the summer residence of the Dukes of Serbelloni and is available for exclusive-use hire through next-door [...]

COMO Castello del Nero

Encased by vineyards and rolling Tuscan hills, COMO Castello del Nero is a medieval masterpiece that fuses past and present with impressive panache. Step into a world where Renaissance frescoes are matched with cool, earthy minima [...]

Just a 15-minute stroll from the Rialto Bridge, in the Arsenale district where the Biennale takes place, is the stylish, hip yet historically aware Ca' di Dio. As much a house as a hotel, Ca’ di Dio appeals to a young, design-co [...]

7Pines Resort Sardinia

It’s easy to be seduced by the laidback charms of 7Pines Resort Sardinia, set on a 15-hectare promontory on the island’s north coast, just a short drive from the exclusive Costa Smeralda. Scenic paths wind through fragrant gar [...]

Passalacqua

Accolades come and go but pick up the title of ‘best hotel in the world’ – as judged by a team of industry experts in 2023 – and people start to take notice. Originally a private villa built in 1787 on the shores of Lake C [...]

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, A Belmond Train, Europe

A bastion of old-world glamour, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is swathed in the drama and romance of a bygone age, from the impeccably liveried staff ready to greet you at the platform and the gleaming hundred-year-old restore [...]

Flight Time

Flight information.

British Airways fly direct from London to Catania, Palermo, Pisa, Cagliari, Naples, Venice, Bari, Brindisi, Milan and Rome. A number of low cost carriers fly direct to cities across Italy from London and various UK regional airports.

Destination Facts

Time Difference: +2 hours (April-September) and +1 hours (November-March) Currency: Euro

Coastal, volcano, and mountain scenery collide to form this beautiful island landscape. As well as being picture-perfect, the rich and varied topography lends itself perfectly for outdoor pursuits, attracting active and laid-back [...]

Known for its year-round sunshine, pretty towns and beautiful beaches, Puglia remains one of Italy’s most charming destinations, far removed from the tourist crowds of its neighbours. Scenically you will not be disappointed, as [...]

Italian Lakes

It’s easy to see why the Italian Lakes attract visitors year after year. Set among stunning scenery and fringed with charming towns, Lake Como, Lake Garda, and Lake Maggiore make up some of the most beautiful parts of Italy. Th [...]

Often referred to as ‘the green heart of Italy’, Umbria is a profoundly beautiful and largely unspoiled region of forested hills, lakes, valleys, olive groves and vineyards. It’s also home to a dozen or so classic hill town [...]

Considered the oldest landmass in Europe, there is much more to this picturesque Italian island than meets the eye. Steeped in history, culture, and beautiful backdrops, Sardinia is a designated ‘Blue Zone’, a region where th [...]

One of the world’s most iconic and charismatic cities, Rome radiates history, romance, and style. The capital’s cityscape is awash with amazing art and architecture, from ancient showstoppers like the Colosseum and Pantheon t [...]

This magical region in central Italy is a feast for the senses, in every way. Gentle rolling hills lie blanketed with dewy morning mist and afternoon sunshine, while olive groves and bright green vineyards are carved out in neat, [...]

A city unlike any other, Venice never loses its capacity to romance and enchant. With canals for streets, water shimmers everywhere, which reflects many of the historic buildings, fabulous palaces, and churches of what was once a [...]

Amalfi Coast

One of Italy’s most standout destinations, the Amalfi Coast is famed for its scenic beauty, elegance, and glamour, yet it remains an intriguing mix of sophistication and simplicity. Brave the narrow, winding coastal road and di [...]

Classic Cities and The Amalfi Coast

With nods along the way to Italy’s much-loved food and wine, this north-to-south journey through the heart of Italy sees you travel from Venice and its iconic canals through the art-laden streets of Florence and the monuments of Rome to […]

Take a look at our brochures

Our brochures have been designed around our Agent Partners. Each brochure contains valuable resources to promote each destination and our hand-picked hotels. To book your Lusso holiday, please contact your local travel agent. You can download them in PDF format for your perusal or order a hard copy via BP Trade Gate

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