It’s August and you haven’t booked to go away? No need! Opt for a staycation on the Isle of Wight instead – just a short trip on the ferry to this island off the south coast, you’ll feel you’re leaving the country without having to pack your passport. It’s the perfect destination for a short holiday, with great beaches, plenty of activities, interesting places to visit and a very good chance of fine weather. Or, if you’re close to the south coast, with crossing times of just 25 minutes on the brand-new Red Jet passenger ferry, it’s a day trip option as well.

The Isle of Wight is a beautiful spot. In 1963 half of the island was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and 1974 its north west coast was recognised for the unspoilt natural beauty of its soft cliffs, woodlands, farmland and creeks and defined as the Hamstead Heritage Coast. It includes the National Trust land of Newtown National Nature Reserve and Forestry Commission woodland of Bouldnor Forest, and is a haven for wildlife, including the native red squirrel.

The opposite coast, with its rugged clay and sandstone cliffs was named as the Tennyson Heritage Coast. It includes the Needles chalk stacks and is a fossil rich coastline, well known for dinosaur footprints, chines and lighthouses.

Needless to say, this natural paradise is a big attraction for walkers and a coastal path winds its way around the island, accessed from Bouldnor near Yarmouth or Thorness near Cowes, with other footpaths from Newtown, Shalfleet and the surrounding areas leading across the fields and woodland to the coastline. Altogether there are 64 miles of coastal paths to rocky coves and dramatic clifftops and over 500 miles of footpaths on the island to suit both the gentle stroller and experienced hiker.

Isle of Wight: top things to do

1. Take a guided walk to discover local wildlife and landscapes or uncover the island’s dinosaur heritage on a fossil hunt. The island is often called ‘England in miniature’ and a walk will allow you to explore the very best of the English countryside, from sand dunes and coves to thatched villages and sailing towns. ‘Rambles by Bus’ have been developed by the Isle of Wight Ramblers and Southern Vectis to allow visitors to follow walks that start and end on a bus route.

2. Hire a bike once you land on the island – most ferry terminals are near a cycle route and the majority of routes are off-road, so suitable for all the family. There are over 200 miles of cycle tracks and off-road bridleways on the island and lots of cycle-friendly accommodation if you want to make this the focus of your visit. Some local businesses offer baggage transfers so you can cycle unimpeded from place to place.

3. Pay a visit to Queen Victoria’s former home, Osborne, with its own private beach. The monarch’s former home was owned privately and kept as a summer home and place of retreat for herself, Prince Albert and their family. Writing about it she said, “It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot”. Now owned by English Heritage, it is one of the island’s most popular tourist attractions, its grand rooms, including the family’s private apartments, still full of their possessions, including many of the gifts Prince Albert gave his wife. Outside the extensive grounds house a beautiful Victorian walled garden, the Swiss Cottage built for the royal children and woodland that runs down to a private beach. Admission is £15 for adults, £9 for children under 15, more information here.

4. See Carisbrooke Castle, where the deposed king Charles I was incarcerated before his beheading. The castle is over 1,000 years old and began life as an Anglo-Saxon fortress, built to provide refuge from the Vikings. As well as a prison, it has also been used as an Elizabethan artillery fortress and royal summer residence. Today, as well as its fascinating history, you will find donkeys working the 16th century treadwheel and an Edwardian-style Princess Beatrice Garden, designed by TV presenter and award-winning garden designer, Chris Beardshaw.
Adults £8.80, Children £5.20, more information here.

5. Visit the spectacularly sited clifftop fort and Victorian coastal defence, the Needles Old Battery for the best views of the iconic Needles, one of the island’s landmarks. You can explore its history through exhibitions, displays and memorabilia and take a trip into its underground tunnel for more spectacular views.
Adults £7.50, children £3.75, more information here.

6. Travel back in time on the island’s west coast, where you’ll find Stone Age burial tombs – long barrows – around Freshwater Bay and above the village of Mottistone. Barrows are also strung out along the tops of the downs at Headon Warren and Brook Down.

7. Go on a dinosaur hunt. Rapidly becoming known as Dinosaur Island, the cliffs and beaches around the coast are full of animal and plant fossils, with the oldest rocks formed back when dinosaurs walked the earth. The yellow, brown and grey rocks exposed in the bays of Compton, Brook and Brighstone contain fossilised tress and dinosaur bones and giant casts of dinosaur footprints in stone are a famous feature at Hanover Point.

8. Hang out on the beach – there are plenty to choose from. Most popular are Sandown beach, Whitecliff Bay, Shanklin (pictured above), Brightstone and Gurnard.

For more information on all of the attractions above, see Visit the Isle of Wight website

Stay
Haven Hall on the west coast, overlooking Shanklin beach, is one of the most stunningly-located hotels on the island, a haven of 5-star luxury and just recently opened. Read all about it here.

Eat
Thompson’s in Newport is run by the youngest chef ever to win a Michelin star, Robert Thompson, and offers classic cooking with a modern touch, using lots of the island’s superb local produce. The Waterfront at Totland Bay has amazing views and great food.
The Isle of Wight is a bit of a foodie paradise, don’t leave without buying some of the wonderful local produce, including its famous garlic. Yes, it even has a garlic festival.

Drink
Fisherman’s Cottage at the end of Shanklin beach has outside tables that are just a few feet away from the sea. It also does very good food.

Getting there

Red Funnel runs a regular passenger (travel time 25 minutes) and car (travel time 1 hour) ferry service to the island from Southampton (including a free shuttle bus from Southampton train station), see details and timetables here.
It’s a dog friendly service – read more here.
Red Funnel has also produced a Days Out guide, with suggested itineraries for day trips and four self-guided day trip tour packages including Queen Victoria’s Osborne, Carisbrooke Castle and Newport, Olde-World England, around Godshill and Shanklin, and Dinosaur Isle & the Isle of Wight zoo. Packages include travel to and from the island and cost £29.95 per person and there is also a cycling package for £28 per person, including bike hire.
You can also take the Wightlink ferry from Portsmouth and Lymington or Hovertravel from Southsea.

I’m watching the photos emerging from several days of protest in Beirut with some dismay. Just last week I walked around the streets of the city and stood in the square close to the mosque and Christian church where fires now blaze.
This weekend also, the President of Ireland was evacuated from the hotel I stayed in, the glamorous Phoenicia overlooking the waterfront. Hardly surprising. In a city as small as Beirut, a fire anywhere is not going to be too far away from the hotel – not close enough to put him in any danger but close enough to make minders uneasy.
Last Sunday I stood looking into the parliament square where a protest was underway, a peaceful protest where hundreds of people stood with placards, calling for fairness in their government. It was made up of all ages, the young and the old, people, it seemed to me, from all walks of life.
It was just like the protest I took part in on Saturday in London, where hundreds of thousands of us, young and old, from all walks of life, marched with placards and called for fairness in our own government.

But the Beirut protests erupted in flames after the government introduced even more crippling taxes for its already financially stretched population – and flames make headlines. Beirut is only putting itself back together after the nightmare of its 15-year civil war, from 1975 to 1990, when the very name of the city became a catch word for destruction and mayhem and violence. It began as a religious war as East fought against West and Israeli and Syrian forces entered the country, but alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably. 120,000 people were killed during the fighting, one million left, 76,000 still remain displaced within the country.
Going there last weekend, I hadn’t expected to find a city that was so beautiful, so calm and so welcoming. There are still streets of war-torn houses and bullet-marked walls but there are many more streets of preserved 18th and 19th century buildings and attractive Art Deco and 1930s architecture.

Entire areas of the city have been completely rebuilt, using a modern take on classical design, here you’ll find the designer shops, the posh restaurants, the stylish cafes and bars. In more run-down streets are the businesses that survived the war, the oldest Armenian bakery in the city, the traditional spice shops and coffee houses.
Around another corner there are contemporary glass buildings with their penthouse apartments – some built over the city’s ancient Roman ruins, preserved in the glass enclosed foundations. These sit alongside streets of 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s architecture, Brutalist blocks of concrete, the ancient sitting beside the new.
The old sits beside the new in the culture and lifestyle as well, here you will see Muslim women in traditional dress as well as in Western clothes. On a day trip from Beirut to the coastal city of Tyre, I watched a group of Lebanese teenagers party on the beach, a few swimming in the sea, where a girl in full hijab floated alongside her friend in a swimsuit.

There are businesses with a conscience here in Beirut, proving that progress is not all about blind capitalism. Sarah’s Bag and Bajoka both work with underprivileged communities to produce their products – Sarah’s Bag employing female prisoners to make designer handbags for which they are paid a wage, Bajoka keeping the skills of the refugee community alive in their high-end homewares.
With all that was destroyed in the Lebanese war, it’s amazing so much remains. There are growing numbers of tourists and facilities for them – as well as the luxury hotels like the Phoenicia, lower cost guesthouses are opening up as well as hostels.
Today, the UK government confirm that protests have been generally peaceful, but there has been sporadic violence, including clashes between protestors and security forces, vandalism and looting. Banks remain closed, and there are reports of some ATMs being low on cash.

Beirut was described as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ in its 1960s heyday and the Phoenicia was the jewel in its crown with its majestic entrance staircase, marble lounges and chandeliers.

It’s clear those days can come back if the unrest settles, if the problems of high prices and the country’s political elite, perceived as out of touch and insensitive to the problem of its citizens, are resolved. National debt is high – more than 150% of the country’s GDP. The militia leaders of the war, who came to political power afterwards in a system based on power sharing between religious groups, have been criticised for plundering the state to hand out privileges, jobs and lucrative contacts to supporters. The country’s premier, Saad al-Hariri, gave his partners in government an ultimatum to agree a package of reform to ward off economic collapse.
There’s something of an irony in all of this. Divided in war time into religious factions, last week’s protests united the people of Lebanon as Christians, Sunni and Shia Muslims gathered together to call for the corrupt political elite to stand down.
Unity and inclusive leadership are what the country needs. I hope it achieves its aims and continues to welcome travellers to experience its wonderful charms.

The heart-breaking job of burying the dead was still underway in Sri Lanka this week when three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up on Friday night during a security forces operation, killing 15 others, including six children.

Another devastating blow for the people of Sri Lanka who last week, on Easter Sunday, witnessed their country racked apart when suicide bombers took up position in three churches and three luxury hotels and detonated their terrible packages. A statement from Isis said that churches and hotels with foreign guests from “crusader” countries had been struck.

I was one of those “crusading guests” who visited Sri Lanka last September, staying at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, having breakfast in that same dining room that was last week ripped apart by two bomb blasts that killed entire families.

I chatted to the friendly staff, met many kind people who welcomed us to the hotel and Sri Lanka, delighted that after many years of civil war in their country, tourists were now returning and boosting the economy, providing jobs and income. (Twenty-six years of fighting between the government and the Tamils ended just ten years ago).

The driver who picked us up at the airport at 4.30am stopped his car as he drove through the dark city so he could buy us two fresh coconuts from the early morning stall-holders who were just setting up by the river. We drank coconut milk as the sun came up and the driver told us how happy he was we had come to his country. (He also told us how delighted he was to see my friend Rob’s dreadlocks – “the first time I have ever seen hair like this,” he said)

Later that day we zipped through the city streets in a tuk-tuk – presented with more fresh coconuts by our driver Rex as we climbed abroad.

We wound our way through the traffic as people waved from neighbouring scooters, children laughing as we overtook them, waving furiously with wide smiles as they overtook us.

We met groups of men in the Spice Market who wanted to come and shake our hands and have their photo taken by Rob. With wide smiles and thumbs up they posed madly. And later, one man who had stayed outside of the group shyly approached Rob to ask if he could have his picture taken too.

We learned the history of Sri Lanka’s proud past in the tea shops, ate lunch with locals in the market – the men sitting with us at the communal tables gesturing at the staff to bring me some cutlery, so that I wouldn’t have to look like a foreign idiot eating with my hand as they did.

We went down streets that have only been opened recently to the public following the years of fighting, the bullet holes still clearly visible in the walls. And everywhere we went we found friendliness and kindness – Rob is still in touch with many of the people we met on our visit.

Yesterday the British government issued a statement advising against travel to Sri Lanka, except in essential cases. The country will suffer loss of income from foreign travellers and no doubt many of the people we met will lose their jobs. Another heart-break.

But while the bombers have wrecked great destruction and tremendous horror on the country, they can’t take away its spirit – the spirit of kindness, friendliness and welcome. The welcome that the suicide bomber who entered the Protestant Zion church in Batticaloa received from the pastor’s teenage son – killed moments later – is unutterably poignant and heart-rending.

But kindness and love will win out over hatred and hostility. I believe this. I believe that the spirit of the Sri Lankan people will win. And people will return to the country again, to show solidarity and to show those that attempt to spread fear and hate, that you will not succeed.

Christian churches and western style hotels were targeted in the hate attacks. Only just over 7% of the country is Christian. 9% is Muslim, 12% is Hindu and the overwhelming majority, 70% of the 20m Sri Lankan population, are Theravada Buddhists. There are 6,000 Buddhist monasteries in Sri Lanka, over 15,000 Buddhist monks and thousands and thousands of temples.

Theravada is the most ancient form of Buddhism, a practice that teaches its followers to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness and wisdom to reach a state of complete freedom from any spiritual, emotional or mental restrictions or limitations. It teaches that nothing is fixed or permanent, actions have consequences and change is possible. And so I believe that hate doesn’t have to be permanent, that change is possible.

On our last day in Sri Lanka, having travelled to the south of the country, we visited one of the temples – Mulkirigala Rock Temple, where we climbed over 500 steps to visit seven caves on five terraces, with their ornate wall paintings and huge reclining Buddhas. We met a monk called Siriniwasa, who was wary at first when Rob, having asked our guide if it would be appropriate to ask for a photo, approached him.

And after posing for a few photos with his young Buddhist apprentices, he eventually whipped out a mobile phone from under his robes and asked if Rob could take a photo of them all with it. I was eventually persuaded into the group to take photos of Rob with the monks, all of them beaming furiously. By now fast friends, Siriniwasa asked Rob to help them plant a tree and he did, there at the top of Mulkirigala, everybody delighted with their new found friendship.

I’ll go back to Sri Lanka again. I’ll go back to see the people we met, to see how they’re coping and to see if Rob’s tree has grown. I very much look forward to it.

******

I first wrote about my trip to Sri Lanka for The Scotsman newspaper and it was published in December 2018 using Rob’s photos

There’s an elephant standing a few metres away from our jeep in Sri Lanka’s Udawalawe National Park, engaged in a very elaborate breakfast routine. Kicking the grass to loosen it, he tugs it free, then rolls it painstakingly with his trunk, constantly repeating the process over and over – kicking, tugging, rolling – an awful lot of hard work to make each small mouthful.

So far this morning we’ve seen elephants, spotted deer and water buffalo as well as a myriad of birds. But the most magical moment of all was on our way to the elephant transit centre, where abandoned baby elephants are cared for before being introduced back into the wild, when a – clearly selfie-conscious – large male elephant came to the edge of the road for a photo.

Standing the other side of a thin wire fence where a few other jeeps had also pulled up, he moved over to each new arrival, waiting patiently until they’d had their photo taken with him before moving on to the next group. “This is such kindness,” said our guide Palinder in wonder as we snapped away furiously.

Read the rest of the article published in The Scotsman…

All photos by Rob Wilson Jnr, Fluid4Sight

The island of Nevis in the West Indies doesn’t have an airport big enough to land international aircraft. Instead we land at St Kitt’s, drive for 20-minutes to Reggae Beach and board a water taxi for a 6-minute speedboat ride across the bay, arriving James Bond style on its white sandy shores.

Nevis is one of the smaller and lesser known Caribbean islands, despite the fact it was ruled by the British for over 200 years and was for a time the home of Admiral Nelson. Which means the Queen’s head is still on the local banknotes and English is the first language. Your bank card will work in the cashpoints and you don’t need a visa to enter.

The island measures just 36 square miles and has a population of 11,000, with the twin islands of Nevis and St Kitts making up the smallest nation in the western hemisphere. “Two islands, one paradise,” says the tourist board slogan.

Nevis offers the rare luxury of “exclusivity”, this unspoiled gem is how the Caribbean used to be, says its Minister for Tourism, Mark Brantley; “there are no high rises or fast food chains, no all-inclusive package holidays or mass tourism”. Neither are there cruise ships, traffic lights or bustling crowds, here you’ll find more monkeys than people, a place where sheep and goats graze freely at the sides of the roads.

Princess Diana used it as a refuge, holidaying here with the young princes and Harry returned on a royal tour of duty in 2016. It’s a favourite spot with Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Travolta and Meryl Streep.

Read on the rest of the story in a feature recently published in The Scotsman travel magazine…

To visit Massachusetts and not spend time on Cape Cod would be a big mistake. While Boston is that most fantastic of urban spaces, a city with access to beaches where skyscrapers and scenic coasts merge, the beaches of Cape Cod are little nature paradises. And with regular ferries to both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, it’s the perfect launch pad for some island exploration.

Take the train
It’s easy to get there on public transport, with daily buses from Boston South Station to Hyannis ($19 single). But if you are visiting during the summer months, from May to September, take the Cape Flyer train, which runs from Friday to Sunday ($22 single). It’s a rather glorious journey through scenic countryside and on to the ocean, crossing the stunning Buzzards Bay vertical lift bridge to the Cape, the second longest bridge of its kind in the world. First established in 1848, the railroad service discontinued year-round operation in the 1950s and the current service is a contemporary one that has been running since 1999.

Hit the beach

The best areas for beaches are Chatham and Truro, though with over 500 miles of coast, you’re never far from a stunning stretch of sand on the Cape. Local resident (and President of United States) John F Kennedy preserved the Cape Cod National Seashore, from Chatham to Provincetown, in 1961 for “the inspiration and enjoyment of people all over the United States”.

The Kennedy’s have had a summer home on the Cape since the 1920s and you can get a clear look at the family compound from Eugenia Fortes beach at Hyannisport, close to the poignant Kennedy Memorial. Other best beaches on the Cape include Sandy Neck at Sandwich, Old Silver Beach at Falmouth and Race Point at Provincetown. Divided into Upper, Mid, Lower and Outer Cape, Upper has calm tidal bay beaches, while Outer boasts the wild open Atlantic.

Visit the JFK Museum in Hyannis

A more intimate telling of the Kennedy ‘Camelot’ legend through rare and personal family photos and papers, the JFK Museum in Hyannis may be a lot smaller than the super-sized John F Kennedy Library in Boston but it is a treasure trove of exhibits. Featuring intimate behind-the-scenes images of the 35th President of the United States and his family, taken by their personal photographer Jacques Lowe, the museum charts a journey through the life of JFK, with a special focus on Cape Cod, the place he called home. A parallel exhibition looks at the life and work of Robert F Kennedy in the run up to his 1968 Presidential campaign.

Meet the locals
The stories of US immigrants and colonists are widely told. But we don’t hear so much about the native people their arrival often displaced. Down the road from the JFK Museum in Hyannis on Cape Cod, meet Iyannagh, sitting contemplatively on the village green. This statue to the leader of the Mattachiest tribe pays tribute to the American Indian ‘sachem’ – chief – who helped the Mayflower Pilgrims when they landed on Cape Cod before making their way to settle in Plymouth. He is the man responsible for the name Hyannis, and also part of the reason Americans sit down to eat Thanksgiving turkey every year.

Sail to Nantucket

If you spend the night in Hyannis, you’re perfectly placed to sail from Hyannis Port to the beautiful island of Nantucket in the morning, making it an easy day trip from the Cape ($25 round-trip).
The island, measuring just 14 miles by 3.5, has over 800 pre-Civil War homes, more than anywhere else in the USA. It also boasts 82 miles of coastline, 10 stunning beaches and hosts celebrity holiday homers like Tommy Hilfiger, Ben Stiller and Google’s Eric Schmidt. Bills Clinton and Gates are frequent visitors. After you’ve explored the quaint Main St with beautiful historic stone buildings and scenic marinas, it’s easy to travel around the rest of the island by hire bike or on the frequent buses.

Meet whales and artists
Nantucket’s Whaling Museum (admission $20) is just a short walk from the harbour where the Cape Cod ferry comes in and a good first port of call to get the history of this affluent island. It became famous as the whaling capital of the world in the 17th and 18th centuries, inspiring the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, and the museum tells the fascinating – and rather gory – story of this industry.

Once the whaling industry collapsed at the end of the 19th century, artists, attracted by the stunning natural landscapes and the light, began to arrive on Nantucket. Today a thriving artists’ colony still exists on the island. This is mainly centered around Sconset, with its quaint flower-bedecked cottages and long beaches, an easy 20-minute bus ride from the Main Street.

See the Gingerbread Houses on Martha’s Vineyard

Martha’s Vineyard makes another great day trip from Cape Cod and is an even quicker journey than Nantucket. Take a tip from the insiders and travel from the Cape on the Island Queen ferry from Falmouth, an easy half-hour journey ($22 round trip).
Less ‘preserved’ than Nantucket, it feels all the more real for it but none the less interesting historically. Its beautiful Gingerbread Houses are an easy walk from Oak Bluffs harbour, brightly coloured 19th century cottages with gingerbread trim that grew up around the Methodist tabernacle in Wesleyan Grove. Part of the Methodist summer campground established after the American Civil War, the houses replaced temporary tents as the congregation became more permanent and the era is now a National Historic Landmark.

Hang out in Falmouth
The coastal town of Falmouth is a great place to base yourself on a trip to the Cape, with its pretty beaches, pleasant shopping streets and the historic 19th century Highfield Hall estate with its contemporary art exhibitions. Browse independent boutiques for artworks, photography, contemporary homewares and very reasonably priced beachwear and fashion – and of course you’re never very far from a Cape Cod emblazoned sweatshirt! If you hire a car, the journey will take about an hour from Hyannis, travelling on the bus will add another 20 minutes or so onto your travel time.

Stay in a sea captain’s home

Stay half way between the beach and Falmouth Main Street at Shoreway Acres Inn, a historic house that was once the home of a sea captain, since extended into a comfortable inn. It’s set in pretty gardens, with lots of al-fresco chill-out areas, and indoor and outdoor pools. Family rooms from $119, Shorewayacresinn.com

Enjoy family fun at a water park
The Cape Codder Resort & Spa on the outskirts of Hyannis is ideal for families with its big water-park, several restaurants and bars and nightly live entertainment. Family suites from $359, Capecodderresort.com

Visiting Massachusetts? See 18 top things to do in Boston

More on the US: Why we should all visit America right now

Read my travel feature on Boston and Cape Cod published in The Scotsman

Images: Mike Galvin, William DeSousa, Bernadette Fallon

‘The Isle of Wight is how England was 40 years ago.’

So says David Barratt, my host on the island and owner of the very beautiful Haven Hall.

Forty years ago. 1978. Labour was in power, James Callaghan was Prime Minister and people stopped hunting the otter as it became a protected species. May Day became a bank holiday, the world’s first IVF baby was born in Oldham and bakers and the BBC went on strike. The Bee Gees’ ‘Night Fever’ was number one for two months and Annie Hall won the Oscar for Best Film.

But I can’t really pass judgement on how England was back then. I was a 9-year-old in the west of Ireland, just discovering Top of the Pops but already an aficionado of Blue Peter and – previously – Play School. So I had plenty of English cultural references, but from the far side of the Irish sea.

But I can tell you how the Isle of Wight is right now.

Good. In a word.

Or in two words. Very good.

If by ‘England 40 years ago, he means a slower, steadier, calmer pace of life, then yes, that’s spot on. It’s a place where people chat to you on buses and the buses take you on scenic drives through beautiful countryside. It’s not the most efficient way to travel – my half-an-hour drive from West Cowes, where the Southampton passenger ferry docks, to Haven Hall at Shanklin beach takes almost two hours on two buses.

But if you’re happy to sit back and take in the scenery, the picture-perfect villages with thatched cottages and trailing roses, the green fields stretching away to golden beaches, and you’ve got a leisurely day to spend, then why would you rush through it? This is slow living at its best.

But you can do it faster. The total journey time from London Waterloo to Haven Hall is two and a half hours if you take the fast ferry to the island and on to Shanklin by train. A new Red Funnel passenger ferry has just been launched, which is lighter, more efficient, more manoeuvrable, quieter and smoother. It takes just 25 minutes to speed across from Southampton and if you arrive by train, a free shuttle bus will take you to the ferry terminal with ferries running every half hour. If you’re driving, the car ferry crosses every hour from Southampton to East Cowes.

If you’re coming from London or the South East, it’s a quick and easy journey – and, at the end of it, here you are on the edge of an island with cliffside walks to the beach. Two acres of beautifully planted landscaped gardens overlook the sea and local resident Alan Titchmarsh voted this the Best Commercial Garden 2017 for Isle of Wight in Bloom. The Hall’s other celebrity fans include actor Colin Firth, who has visited with his family twice, footballer Peter Crouch and his wife Abi Clancy and comedian Jimmy Carr.

There’s an outdoor swimming pool that’s solar heated to a comfortable 26 degrees on the day I visit, grass tennis courts, sunloungers on the lawns and a pergola that is more in the nature of a beautiful piece of sculpture, set in the gardens looking out to sea. And there’s a cliffside walk to the beach where you can eat at Fisherman’s Cottage, sitting at an outside table, just a few feet away from the waves lapping on the sand.

The hall has 14 bespoke bedrooms with sea views, which includes seven apartments, all individually designed by David’s wife Arielle. The couple bought the property, a run-down Edwardian mansion built as a private home in 1908 and run as a hotel since the 1950s, because of its location and their dream of what it could become. But not without a considerable amount of work. Its last incarnation, a hostel for school children in the 1970s, saw its grand spaces converted into a warren of tiny rooms stacked with bunk beds.

“The contractor said year and a half to complete it and we were reasonably happy with that and the budget that was allocated for it,” said David. The project went on to take four and a half years to finish at almost four times the original budget.

“You take the wallpaper down and the plaster falls off the wall, you discover the wiring is terrible and if you’re re-doing the wiring, you might as well re-do the plumbing. If you’re doing that, then why not add air conditioning, and soon you find you’re taking most of the roof off as well,” he explains ruefully. “I fired the first two project managers and ended up doing the job myself. At any one time we had up to 55 workmen on the site, 3 people working full time renovating period furniture and 11 shipping containers storing everything we were buying at auction to kit it all out.”

And while they might not have had to move heaven to achieve their dreams, they certainly had to move earth – several hundred tonnes of it, completely remodelling the grounds to make the most of the stunning location and its spectacular view.

The couple lived on the property through the renovations, “either in a sea of mud or a cloud of dust,” says David. But he is no stranger to complex building projects.

Originally from Newcastle, he spent all of his working life in California and Hawaii, running his own property companies. He left England, he explains, because he didn’t want to live in the shadow of his father, the man who built Britain’s largest building company, Barratt Homes. Sir Lawrie Barratt was “a hard act to follow,” says David.

“He lived through the war, built his own billion-pound company and was knighted by the Queen. He valued working for yourself, so he didn’t want me to work for him or anybody else. He gave me enough money to set myself up so I went to the US and made all of my own mistakes.”

But he still missed the UK. “I enjoyed the US but there were parts of England I was always yearning for, like Radio 4 and intelligence.”

Moving back to the UK when his father was ill, he ended up divorcing when his daughter went to university and meeting Arielle while he was living in London. An art graduate from Yale and the Slade School – whose keen eye for design is evident throughout Haven Hall – the pair wanted to find a home together, looking at various parts of the south of England and then – as he describes it – “discovering” the Isle of Wight.

Describing this period as the next stage of their lives, he explains that they had to find what they wanted to do. “I didn’t want to just be someone on the golf course who used to do something. Both of us are do-ers, we’re both creative and we love meeting new people.”

Now he’s combined his passions. An island haven that is home, where he can entertain people from all over the world. They’ve been coming since the start of the year when the hotel opened its doors – from international worlds of culture, politics, business and entertainment; CEOs, high court judges and Colin Firth. And in this picture-perfect setting perched high over the ocean, no doubt it will continue.

For more information and to book visit www.havenhall.uk, phone 07914 796 494 or email info@havenhall.co.uk

Where to go and what to do on the Isle of Wight – see our top recommendations here

What do you think of when you think of Miami? If it’s Don Johnson in pushed-up sleeves, thin girls jogging in bikinis in South Beach and a couple of scenes from Scarface, then I was right there with you. Right up to the time I boarded a flight to Miami International and had my preconceptions kicked all the way down Ocean Drive.

Yes, there’s jogging on the beach boardwalk, there’s also the stunning architecture of the South Beach Art Deco district, the most concentrated area of Art Deco buildings in the world. Yes, there are dogs in handbags, in pushchairs and wearing sunglasses – I mean it! – there’s also the New World Centre, a stunning indoor space designed by Frank Gehry that also has an outdoor theatre and is home to Miami’s New World Symphony.

Yes, there’s the clubbing fraternity on Ocean Drive, there’s also the Wynwood Art District, which is home to over 100 artist studios and exciting street art in midtown Miami. Hire a talking Go-car (two-seater souped up go-cart that can be driven on all roads) for a self-guided tour of the city that offers a lot more besides beach life and clubbing. And hold on to your hat because it can be hairy driving down four-lane highways on the ‘wrong’ side of the road as trucks roar along beside you!

The Art Deco district is a great place to start exploring. Part of the South Beach area, it’s a great mix of sociability, celebrity and architecture. Many of the buzzing cafés, restaurants and bars stay open all night; celebrity owners include Danny DeVito and Gloria Estefan, and P Diddy recently attended the re-opening party of the iconic Essex hotel accompanied by an entourage of penguins. The stunning Art Deco designs in this area house many of Miami’s most elegant hotels with original 1920s and ‘30s interiors – and if you’re not staying in one you should definitely pop in for a look.

Art Deco tour

The most photographed building in Miami is famous not only for its architecture. It’s Gianni Versace’s mansion, where the designer was gunned down on the steps outside as he returned from his daily breakfast at the nearby News Café. Now a private club and hotel, visits are by invitation only but no need to hanker for one unless you are the type of person who drops over $200 on a round of four drinks (which is what you can expect to spend once inside, we got the lowdown from our guide Paula on the Art Deco tour – visit www.artdecowalks.com for more information).

Eat: Chill day or night at the News Café, it’s open 24 hours. The buzzy pavement tables are the place to see and be seen, inside is no less busy and the newsagents that gives the cafe its name does a roaring trade in international papers and magazines. Treat yourself to dessert from an impressive list that includes local favourites Key Lime pie and salted caramel cake (though we can’t vouch for the nachos with ice cream …)

Visit: The Wolfsonian gallery, with several floors of artefacts dating from 1885 to 1945, puts Art Deco in context. This impressive private collection – and the building it’s housed in – was a gift to the city from Mitchell Wolfson Jr.

Culture sampling

For something completely different, head to Little Havana on the Miami mainland, across the bridge from Miami beach and island homes of the rich and famous – Will Smith, P Diddy, J-Lo and Tony Bennett all live here. As well as the stars, Miami is home to one of the largest Cuban communities in the world – the closest thing you’ll experience to Havana without actually going to Cuba; you might not hear a word of English during your visit. Take a local tour with Dragonfly Expeditions for the insider lowdown.

Eat: Versailles is the place to eat if you’re a local and also a huge draw for tourists – the snazzy ‘70s decor is certainly eye-catching – fill up on hearty tamales, rice and beans, plantain and yucca. As well as Cuban, Latin American influences are huge here. Away from Miami beach, in the fashionable Ocean Grove area with its stylish boutiques, hotels and restaurants, the places to eat are Jaguar, mixing foods and flavours from Mexico to South America, and Sushisamba, an international brand blending Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine.

Visit: Pedro Bello was imprisoned for 20 years for refusing to co-operate with Castro’s regime but was released to come to the US where he set up the Cuba Tobacco Cigar Company with his son Peter; you’ll find him now sitting inside the door, sampling the produce for quality control in one of the most famous cigar shops in the world.

Art walks

And if you time your visit mid month, don’t miss the buzz of the Wynwood Second Saturday on a lively weekend night when the galleries throw their doors open to the public. But this is no sedate standing around nodding seriously at artworks, makeshift bars serve drinks, DJs strut their stuff on outdoor decks and it’s party time.

Eat at the area’s hotspot, the Wynwood Kitchen, known as much for its tapas-style sharing cuisine as for its arresting interiors, the walls blaze with original artwork from Miami’s coolest street artists.

Visit: The Wynwood Walls on the second Saturday of the month and browse art to your heart’s content.

Where to stay

The Palms, South Beach

For direct access to Miami’s beach culture, stay at The Palms. Beautiful marbled interiors lead to gorgeous tropical gardens with a pool and through a gate to the boardwalk and the sea. There are 251 bedrooms on 12 floors, many with sea views from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and after its recent renovation the hotel is stylish, contemporary and luxuriously comfortable. Plus its Essensia restaurant – with indoor and al-fresco tables – is fast gaining popularity with local gourmands.
Booking: The Palms Hotel & Spa, 3025 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; phone 305 534 0505 or visit www.thepalmshotel.com

Sonesta Bayfront Hotel

Looming high over the buildings of the fashionable Ocean Grove area, front-facing bedrooms at the Sonesta offer stunning views over the harbour and several million dollars worth of yachts. The pool, sundeck and dining room are eight floors up with unspoiled views of Biscayne Bay; the award-winning Panorama restaurant is attracting a big local following for its Peruvian inspired dishes. Many rooms offer studio-style accommodation with full kitchen facilities – a great choice for a family break.
Booking: Sonesta Bayfront Hotel, 2889 McFarlane Road, Coconut Grove; phone 305 529 2828 or visit www.sonesta.com/CoconutGrove

More information
For the complete low-down on Miami visit www.miamiandbeaches.com