Aman Canal Grande Venice due for June opening

Aman Resorts plans to open the Aman Canal Grande in Venice in time for the beginning of the Venetian Biennale on 1 June.

The dramatic palazzo that houses the 24-suite resort is located in the San Polo district and consists of two five-storey adjoining buildings (one is the 16th-century Palazzo Papadopoli). It features one of the very few private gardens on the canal.

Butlers: the gentleman’s gentleman

Visualise a butler and you may well find yourself thinking of a figure such as PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves, Carson in TV series Downton Abbey or Stevens, central character of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, The Remains of the Day.

‘A butler of any quality must be seen to inhabit his role, utterly and fully,’ wrote the Japanese novelist, ‘he cannot be seen casting it aside one moment simply to don it again the next as though it were nothing more than a pantomime costume.’

His book and those of Wodehouse were set in an era when servants were still key to British country houses, the early decades of the 20th century.

Top cigar bars in London

With winter closing in on London, the appeal of the city’s cigar bars becomes all the more defined. Here are four of the latest openings.

The Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop and Sampling Lounge can be found within the precincts of the Bulgari Hotel and Residences in Knightsbridge.

Review: the Ormond at Tetbury, Gloucestershire

There’s been a bit of a drama in Tetbury the night I arrive. A window has been smashed in a second-hand bookshop. Nobody is exactly sure when the crime occurred however. It could be any time between 7pm and 11pm.

That’s a clue there to how many people have walked past the premises on this particular Saturday night – the perpetrator (presumably) and not many others. Or not many who were very observant, at least.

Live like a duke at Château de Brissac, Angers

‘These aren’t our greatest tapestries,’ says the Duchess de Brissac, indicating two large, intricate and, frankly, priceless-looking creations on a drawing-room wall. ‘They aren’t actually originals. But they do well here.’

She’s absolutely right. The room looks as though it could be expecting the Three Musketeers to walk in at any moment and start planning how best to thwart the latest dastardly plans of Cardinal Richelieu.

In fact, the whole Château de Brissac is redolent with that same atmosphere. Located near Angers, in the Loire region of France, with huge grounds and dramatic turrets it looks a lot like a storybook castle.

Review: Aikwood Tower, Selkirk, Scottish Borders

Aikwood Tower: the Reiver's return…

The Border Reivers weren’t big on luxury. After a hard day spent stealing their neighbours’ cattle or otherwise getting up to mischief they’d retire to their strongholds for a few mugs of ale before falling asleep in a heap – and quite possibly in their armour – in front of the fire.

The Reivers roamed the No Man’s Land between England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries, and traces of their presence can still be seen today.

One of the more obvious of these is Aikwood Tower, 40 miles south of Edinburgh. While from a distance the Reivers would find it familiar, however, they would probably be left dumbfounded by its luxurious interior.

Traditional luxury at the Carlton Hotel, Cannes

The Carlton: a façade to remember

Cannes is a city of grand hotels, and they don’t come any grander than the Carlton, whose vast white façade, towering above the famous Croisette, is one of the city’s signature sights.

The hotel was built between 1909 and 1913, much of the money supplied by a Russian aristocrat who wanted to create a Côte d’Azur resort for his wealthy countrymen. Given the popularity of the place now with Russian visitors he had more foresight than he perhaps realised.

The hotel’s 343 rooms include 39 suites, each named after an actor who has a link with Cannes and its film festival. The grandest of these are on the seventh floor and include the Grace Kelly, the Cary Grant and the Sean Connery.

Review: The Old Swan and Minster Mill, Oxfordshire

Spring should see the meadows adjacent to the Old Swan and Minster Mill, in Oxfordshire, filled with wildflowers, says the hotel’s owner, Peter de Savary.

‘We’ve sown 60 acres with them,’ says the serial entrepreneur, ‘that should attract millions of butterflies. The watermeadows will be a fabulous place for people to have a picnic lunch.’

The 67-year-old hotelier is talking to me over afternoon tea in the drawing room of the Old Swan and Minster  Mill, latest venture of de Savary and his wife, Lana.

The hotel, situated in the attractive village of Minster Lovell in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, was bought by the de Savarys in 2010 and has since been extensively refurbished.