TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF. WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I currently live in Cambridge but was born in Hong Kong and spent my childhood in Japan. Some of my earliest holiday memories are from the Philippines, Thailand, and Bali, so Asia feels a lot like home to me. I studied Classics at university which means I can read as many ancient languages as I can speak modern languages, specialising in the reception of the ancient world in later art, literature, and film.
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AT SLH AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT IT?
As the brand’s Senior Content Editor, I look after the copywriting and hotel imagery across our digital channels, spending most of my time writing and editing articles for the SLH Journal alongside curating our hotel galleries. My role combines visual and written content in a really exciting and creative way, and I love bringing hotel stories to life while working alongside a wonderfully international team.
Making connections with such interesting people around the world through our shared love of travel is the best part of my job, whether it’s interviewing a moose whisperer in Swedish Lapland or a Sicilian family of granita makers – you learn something new (and often niche!) every day.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE WHEN VISITING AN SLH HOTEL?
This is an impossible question because I have been lucky enough to enjoy so many memorable moments at SLH properties! As a horse lover, riding through the Umbrian wilderness at Castello di Reschio on a black stallion is an experience which will live with me forever – the ancient estate is home to around 40 Andalusian horses who have inspired several equine sculptures around the grounds, crafted by one of my favourite artists, Nic Fiddian-Green, who exhibited at Reschio this summer. Being in amongst the misty rolling hills and cypress-dotted landscape on horseback felt like stepping back in time.
Waterskiing off the iconic blue umbrella-lined pier of Hôtel Belles Rives on retro skis and whizzing around the Bay of Antibes – the birthplace of the sport – is another highlight. Our wonderful host François waved my colleague Lucy and I down to the Belles Rives Ski Nautique Club and let us take the boat for a spin, followed by a seafront lunch of truffle pasta and the most beautifully presented platter of desserts which had been handmade by the hotel’s pastry chef that very morning.
I must also say that the seamless service at the Nimb Hotel in Copenhagen stands out in my mind – the friendly team is headed up by Maria Oldenbjerg, who will greet you with a genuine ear-to-ear grin and hug you like a long lost relative, and immediately make you feel at home with personalised in-room treats and hand-written notes. There is this magical, hyggelig atmosphere at the Nimb whenever you visit, but particularly around Christmas time, when you’ll be plied with warm glasses of gløgg and homemade festive biscuits beside a cosy fireplace.
WHICH SLH HOTEL DO YOU MOST WANT TO VISIT?
The ultra-chic Le Coucou Méribel is where I would most like to spend a ski holiday, for its ski-in ski-out piste-side location and Pierre Yovanovitch interiors. I have visited the chalet’s sister properties Hôtel Crillon Le Brave in Provence and Hôtel Lou Pinet in Saint-Tropez, which are members of the beautifully curated, family-run brand Maisons Pariente, so completing this trendy trio would be a dream come true!
Le Coucou by @mister_tripper, one of the travel photography accounts I regularly swoon over.
When it comes to some sunshine, our new Italian member Lupaia, a sustainably-focused agriturismo with panoramic views over the vineyards and olive groves of Montepulciano, is ticking all my country girl boxes. I am also completely obsessed with Villa La Madonna’s Instagram feed, there is something so raw and rustic about the vineyard picnics, truffle hunting, and wine tasting at this ‘slow life’ retreat in the Bormida Valley, yet effortlessly stylish at the same time. The fact that it is owned by two Swedish sisters – Marie and Annica Eklund – who have an enviable eye for interiors and photography also just adds to the cool factor.
A few of my favourites from the @villalamadonna feed…the views, the truffles, the hats! #obsessed
Speaking of Sweden, Ett Hem has been on my list for years – this Arts and Crafts townhouse in the embassy quarter of Stockholm is the epitome of Scandi cool with its open kitchen, help-yourself library, and wood-burning stoves.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CITY AND WHY?
Edinburgh is a city I could return to over and over again (and I do quite frequently take the train up!) Thanks to my sister who has lived there for nearly five years, I have got to know the cobblestone, Georgian streets like a local.
The independent shop scene in the Scottish capital has got to be one of the best in the UK – I love picking up freshly baked bread from the farmers market in Stockbridge, whiling away hours choosing cheeses and quince jelly in I.J. Mellis, a smallscale farmhouse producer with the prettiest window displays, and hunting for homeware treasures in the city’s many antique shops. Sandwiched between the dramatic Pentland Hills and windswept, sandy shores, Edinburgh beautifully blends countryside, coastline, and cityscape – and did I mention the castle?
WHICH DESTINATION DO YOU MOST WANT TO VISIT AND WHY?
I would really like to see more of Scandinavia and the Nordics. The other-worldly landscape of Iceland is calling my name, with its black sand beaches and bubbling lava fields, along with Norway’s fjordscape – going off-grid in Viking country and skiing in the Sunnmøre Alps would really feel like leaving the world behind and connecting with nature on another level.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBY, OUTSIDE OF WORK?
Horse riding has been a lifelong passion of mine, as well as skiing. Although I no longer have my own horses, I still try to be in the saddle whenever I can – plus, my beloved hound Humphrey has filled the four-legged hole in my heart and I mostly spend my weekends on long country walks, trying to tire him out. My less outdoorsy alter ego is a Jane Austen-loving bookworm who spends hours poring over the pages of House & Garden for interior inspiration…
DESCRIBE AN AVERAGE DAY WORKING AT SLH…
I split my time between London and Cambridge, so I try to make the most out of my commutes by listening to podcasts, reading travel books and magazines, and brainstorming ideas for articles. Office days are mostly for meetings, whether this is with the Marketing Team or sitting in on presentations from visiting hoteliers, alongside my imagery and content work – which includes hotel gallery maintenance, refreshing the copy and imagery across the website, and collating content for hotel and destination pages whenever new members join the brand. Otherwise, I mostly research and write articles, and manage the editorial look and feel of the Journal, which we have just given a makeover.
Sometimes, my office looks like this…my imagination always runs wild whenever I travel, which means writing ‘in situ’ is where the words seem to flow best!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT YOU HAVE WORKED ON AT SLH?
We launched the Considerate Collection a year ago this month, a special subset of the brand dedicated to our most actively sustainable luxury hotels. Writing the copy for such a meaningful project was really empowering and educational, as I learned sustainable best practices from industry experts including Condé Nast Traveller’s contributing Sustainability Editor, Juliet Kinsman, along with the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) community following their sustainable hotel course which I completed earlier this year.
Helping to unearth the exciting, eco-friendly initiatives of our Considerate hotels and bringing these positive-impact pioneers into an editorial light – like the family behind the 200-year-old Sicilian farmhouse Susafa (pictured above), who have a self-sufficient vision for their estate and are running an ‘adopt a field’ programme for guests to watch their crops grow via webcam – is as fun as it is fulfilling. I also enjoy working closely with our Development Team to interview some of our most forward-thinking hoteliers for the Journal’s Independent Minds series – talking with such trailblazers always leaves me feeling inspired to travel with purpose.