LUX’s personalised Aston Martin Valhalla, created in their factory and projected along the coastline (image generated by computer)

LUX travels to the Aston Martin factory to personalise our new Valhalla, the company’s million-dollar hypercar, with its Q bespoking operation; and then we review the Aston Martin Vantage Volante

What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot actually, if you’re spending a million pounds/dollars/euros on a car. Would you rather have a car named after a piece of software, or one named after a majestic hall for Viking gods presided over by Odin himself? Well, quite.

We won’t dwell here on the million dollar car that sounds like software, although we can confirm we have driven it and it is an extremely fast, brilliantly engineered machine. But as for the Aston Martin Valhalla, this is the sister car to the equally dramatically-named Valkyrie, and if it’s anything like as monumental as its name, the Valhalla promises to be quite a machine.

‘If it’s anything like as monumental as its name, the Valhalla promises to be quite a machine’ (image generated by computer)

(A note: LUX has also been in the Valkyrie, which is even more expensive than the Valhalla and comes with its own set of internal comms headphones as its V12 engine is so loud that the driver and passenger can’t hear each other otherwise. The best way of getting in is by suspending a children’s slide over its open cockpit, and we haven’t quite worked out the best way of getting out, but being inside it is a lot of fun).

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As we made our way to Aston Martin’s factory in Gaydon, England, we pondered that the Valhalla had a lot to live up to. What if the car didn’t cash the cheques written by the name?

We needn’t have worried. Seeing a pre-production Valhalla in the metal and being shown around it by Ondrej Jirec, Exterior Design Manager of the project, was quite breathtaking. The Valhalla is not quite as spaceship crazy as the Valkyrie – a good thing, probably – but it’s still one of the most striking cars on the road.

Hosted by Ondrej Jirec, LUX previewed the Valhalla’s pre-production, personalising the company car (image generated by computer)

Jirec emphasised the organic shape of the Valhalla, how engineering, technology and aesthetic fuse, and how it is a car not just to look at, but to be driven. The petrol engine (there are also three electric motors) is behind the cockpit and even the exhaust pod looks like sculpture.

We also loved the interior – more practical than the Valkyrie but still feeling very hypercar special. It’s clear Aston Martin intends the 999 Valhallas it is planning to build to be driven properly.

On we went from the pre-production car itself, to the Q studio with a screen the size of a large wall, where we were to configure the LUX Valhalla. For the purposes of drama, we went with the colour scheme shown here, a burnt metallic orange with swathes of electric suede inside. With Q, you can bespoke to your heart’s content, although we were told we couldn’t turn the exhaust sculpture into a machine gun turret. Personalisation has its limits.

‘This kind of car – with an actual engine, and real drama – won’t be around for that much longer’ (image generated by computer)

Had it been our private car, we would have gone for an old-Aston colour, a solid blue-green, with an interior somewhere between cream and pumice. It wouldn’t have looked so good in the pictures, but in real life it would have been the ancestor of every classy DB5 Volante we’ve ever seen.

Read more: Binith Shah and Maria Sukkar on UMŌ’s ultimate luxury 

And what’s it like to drive? Our car is still being assembled, as Valhallas haven’t been delivered to customers yet. But we did spend a few days in Aston Martin’s “entry level” offering – a relative term, like an entry level Michelangelo – the Vantage Volante, and our impressions are below. The Valhalla, meanwhile, has more than 1000 horsepower and will get from zero to 100 mph faster than a Norse god escaping a furious goddess who has just found out he has been playing around with a Valkyrie. Whether yours is in outlandish bespoke orange, or a solid green blue, enjoy. This kind of car – with an actual engine, and real drama – won’t be around for that much longer.

The beautifully ‘old-fashioned’ Aston Martin Vantage (image generated by computer)

Aston Martin Vantage review

When something is described as old-fashioned, what does it mean to you? Until recently, it was a pejorative term meaning out of date, unsophisticated, or behind the curve.

Now, however, old-fashioned has undergone its own revival. Vinyl records? Not only old-fashioned, but purveying far better sound quality than a song on Spotify. Vintage clothes? Music from the 80s and 90s? Life without social media? Old-fashioned, yes, but in some cases more desirable than what we have now.

This applies to cars. You won’t see too many enthusiasts at an electric car meeting, even if electric cars are swifter and more advanced than previous models. And old-fashioned is the first phrase we would like to apply to the new Aston Martin Vantage – as a compliment.

‘This is a car made not just for beauty or speed, but for fun’ (image generated by computer)

But, we emphasise, this is not just because it is not an electric car. Super sports cars and supercars, made for enjoyment and show rather than practicality, have undergone their own evolution quite irrespective of the electric car revolution.

Until the end of the 1990s, every supercar was, to a greater or lesser extent, fun to drive, even if many of them were so severely flawed that if you were to attempt to undertake a proper journey in them you might be left yearning to swap into a standard family saloon.

Read more: Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann on the watch industry

They were loud, uncomfortable and most had more power, particularly when it was wet, than their structures could cope with. Great when you’re trying to have a bit of (old-fashioned) fun, but pretty undesirable not to mention dangerous otherwise.

The inside displays Aston Martin’s characteristic attention to detail in design (image generated by computer)

Then, computer technology and electronic advances meant that in this century, supercars not only got much faster thanks to ever more powerful petrol engines, but they also became a lot safer. Put an idiot in a 1990s supercar and soon the idiot would either no longer exist or need to undergo some significant hospital treatment. By 2010, the same idiot could drive a much faster car and keep everything together.

But this came at the expense of that old-fashioned value: fun. For a time, some of the world’s fastest and most exciting to look at cars were also rather dull and clinical to drive, particularly at practical speeds on the road.

And this brings us to the new Aston Martin Vantage. It certainly looks the business: beautiful, imposing, not too huge, dramatic while remaining stylish rather than show-off.

‘The whole car has been engineered for feel rather than just speed’ (image generated by computer)

And from the first corner you navigate, you realise this is a car made not just for beauty or speed, but for fun.

On winding country roads, the thing is both brilliant and exciting. You feel the weight transfer from the front to the middle to the back of the car as you power through corners, encouraging you to do the same again and again.

Read more: Simon de Pury interviews Olafur Eliasson

If you get extremely enthusiastic, you can feel the back of the car wanting to kick itself outwards which in a genuinely old-fashioned car could be lethal, as if you are not an expert driver you would perform a 360° spin. In this car though, the electronic helpers are still there – it’s just that they allow you to have fun, and the whole car has been engineered for feel rather than just speed.

‘The new supercar that is old-fashioned in only one way, the best possible: it just wants to have fun’ (image generated by computer)

The engine is a beauty, also. It’s old-fashioned in one sense, having no hybrid electric motor to help it along. Aston Martin engineers have given the engine (development of one found in Mercedes AMG supercars) real oral character and a hard-edged feeling suitable to a junior supercar like this. It’s a fabulous sound, and it’s always there.

The Aston Martin rides firmly. Don’t buy this car if you’re expecting a limousine, and don’t buy it if all you want to do is make gentle runs to your country home. There are cars that do both of those better. Instead, it is a brilliantly balanced, highly capable, highly exciting and very stylish – inside and out – new supercar that is old-fashioned in only one way, the best possible: it just wants to have fun. And isn’t that what a supercar is for?

astonmartin.com

‘Not For Them’ founder Marcarson photographed in his studio by Charles Roussel

Founding ‘Not For Them’ in 2016, New York City artist Marcarson has created a space which eludes distinctions between art, fashion, and design. LUX Contributing Editor Maryam Eisler speaks to Marcarson about his beginnings in LA, art responsibility, and voyeurism

Maryam Eisler: Who is Marcarson?

Mark Carson: Marcarson is an entity occupying a body.

ME: What was the environment like when you were growing up? How did it influence the way you see the world today?

MC: Very religious and a little dangerous during those times in Southeast Los Angeles.

‘Alive With Pleasure’, oil on canvas, 2019

ME: Can you remember the first moment or experience when you realised you wanted to become an artist? Was there a specific event or person who sparked that desire?

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

MC: It was 2016. I would watch my son during the day. During a routine monthly visit from the exterminator he saw that I had made 3 pieces, he enjoyed them and asked to take a photo to show his wife. I see him again the next month and his wife wants to speak with me. She tells me she works for Banksy’s pest control and the artwork I’m making is exciting and I should continue with it. She also tells me to get classes to learn to paint but I didn’t go that far.

ME: If your art could speak, what would it say about you?

MC: Buckle up with this one.

Marcarson’s fashion design under the studio ‘Not For Them’, photographed by Maryam Eisler in Soho New York City

ME: What’s the most unusual or unexpected experience you’ve had while creating art?

MC: I don’t think I’ve had any… yet.

ME: You also write – does your writing inform your art and vice versa?

MC: The truth is I don’t write. I enjoy photojournalism, voyeurism…

ME: Tell me about life and work in Brooklyn.

MC: I hardly leave my place.

Marcarson’s Brooklyn studio view with ‘Brunch Series’ (2025) photographed by Charles Roussel

ME: How has fatherhood informed your art?

MC: Laeth is my go-to for when I need someone to tell me if my work is shit or not. Children can be soul crushing with opinions.

Read more: A conversation with artist Enoc Perez

ME: If you had to create a piece of art based on a memory, what memory would you choose, and how would you represent it visually?

MC: There’s a memory of my mother’s memory, in which I’m biting the hand of a preacher trying to pray for me when I was a toddler. I would make it into a stained-glass window for churches.

Marcarson’s ‘Fabric Wash’ (2024) in collaboration with Catherine Walsh, photographed by Maryam Eisler in Soho New York City

ME: Is there a piece of your own work that you’ve struggled with the most, and why? Do you still think about it?

MC: There is one piece I wish I never let go. I’m still figuring out how to get it back.

Read more: Hotel reviews: Whatley Manor, Ca’ di Dio, and Westin Valencia

ME: Your art can be tough to experience at times. Entangled, bordering hostile. Explain that to me.

MC: This is a good one. I’ve started to notice that there are two styles of my art: one is cheeky, dark humour, poking fun at society, and the other is a result from love interests that didn’t work out and my way of expressing the heartache, love and disappointment.

‘Creating these furniture pieces that are actually art and not a design passing off as art gets me excited’ – Marcarson

ME: You have also dabbled in design, chairs and furniture. Tell me more.

MC: I have an undying thirst for design and interior design. So creating these furniture pieces that are actually art and not a design passing off as art gets me excited! Eventually I would love to do a whole line of furniture pieces.

Read more: Why the Mercedes G Class is an icon

ME: ‘Not For Them’ – how did it start and what does it mean?

MC: Good’ol ‘Not For Them’ or ‘NFT’ as I was calling it before the bullshit took over. It started in 2016 when I was given a gallery space in Long Island City near Moma PS1. A space for me to do my thing. As for meaning – if you have to ask it’s not for you.

‘As for meaning – if you have to ask it’s not for you’ – Marcarson. Photographed by Maryam Eisler in Soho New York City

ME: What’s something you’ve learned from creating art that has affected how you live your everyday life?

MC: Creating art has helped me get over not showing vulnerability. It’s also the perfect tool to express opinions without getting into too much trouble.

ME: Do you think art has a responsibility?

MC: Art responsibility? If it’s not evoking some kind of emotion you are failing.

ME: What does the future hold for Marcarson?

MC: There are some plans in the works for sure. I don’t know what they are per se (finally can use that in a sentence) but I know there’s a future.

notforthemnyc.com

Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova at the start of the Rallye des Princesses with Richard Mille’s 1964 yellow Porsche 356 type C on Place Vendôme, Paris

Castles, mountain passes, vintage cars, vintage roadbooks, adrenaline and dressing up. When LUX was invited to drive the classic Porsche 356 from Place Vendome in Paris to the mountains of Andorra, on the Spanish border, via the Atlantic coast, much of La France Profonde and many castles, on the all-women Rallye des Princesses by Richard Mille, we couldn’t refuse.

Over five days, the intrepid LUX driving team, comprising the car-mad Masha Nosova and luxury maven Fabienne Amez-Droz, weathered wrong turns, quick changes for banquets, and the challenge of driving a classic car older than their combined ages, covering nearly nine hours each day in a yellow Porsche 356 type C from 1964.

Their satnav was an old-fashioned roadbook, needing the navigator to be on the ball every minute; and their competition was some of the most experienced women regularity rally enthusiasts in Europe. Interestingly, women make up an increasing proportion of this pioneering brand’s clientele: just one of the ways Richard Mille has reinvented the luxury watch market against all odds. In keeping with the playful yet utterly serious nature of the brand, days picking through routes in rural France were rounded off by spectacular evenings in private chateaux.

Now, as this year’s driving season in Europe gets under way, we look back on our team’s journey across France with long-term partners Richard Mille. Masha and Fabienne take up the story

The Rallye des Princesses isn’t about racing at full throttle, and, despite Masha’s efforts to the contrary, we were not required to shatter speed limits and frighten sheep —this is a regularity rally, where maintaining consistent speed and precision is key, with your timing carefully monitored throughout the course.

All of the Richard Mille Rallye des Princesses cars were lined up on Place Vendôme in Paris, where the rally starts

After a day on the road, the adventure continued with glamorous evenings offering the perfect chance to unwind and connect with competing drivers, and resolve arguments with each other about why we missed the turning back in that village (Masha was driving too fast; Fabienne wasn’t concentrating on the road book).

The rally is unique because it exclusively features female drivers and co-drivers, celebrating women’s passion for vintage cars and racing. Participants race using classic cars dating from the 1930s to the 1980s, adding to the event’s nostalgic charm. Vehicles often include iconic models like Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Aston Martin.

At the Rallye des Princesses you have to navigate the routes with a roadbook

The Rallye des Princesses was established in 2000. Since then, it has become an annual event, attracting participants from around the world who share a passion for classic cars and the thrill of rally racing. The rally has grown significantly over the years, blending competition with elegance and maintaining its reputation as one of the most prestigious women’s automotive events in Europe.

It’s a celebration of elegance, camaraderie and competitive thrill in the world of vintage cars. And also the ability to get changed rapidly from roadwear – the cars generally have no A/C – to evening wear, the mark of a true princess.

Training Day

In the two days leading up to the start, all the participants arrived in Paris. On the training day, the teams got to know the vintage cars and spent an entire day driving around a small village outside of Paris to get to know how an old-fashioned roadbook works.

Amanda Mille, Brand and Partnerships Director of Richard Mille, drove with us on the first day with a vintage Mini

Having arrived at the Equipe Europe garage, where we met and became acquainted with our rally vehicle, the yellow Porsche 356, it felt as if we had stepped into a classic car museum. Specialising in the restoration and servicing of historic and rare racing cars, the vintage Delahayes, Bugattis and Aston Martins (to name just a few) against the backdrop of the picturesque French countryside inspired us for our journey ahead.

When Masha and I first saw the roadbook, we were quite taken aback—how on earth would we manage this?

After a few hours of practice, Masha and I had become a fairly well-coordinated team. In the evening, we celebrated our training day near the starting point at Place Vendôme.

Amanda Mille, Brand and Partnerships Director of Richard Mille, held a welcome speech at the aperitif.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Race Day 1 – Waving Goodbye in Paris

In an enclosure just outside the Ritz hotel, around 60 classic cars of all types – from Minis to Mustangs, Porsches to Aston Martins, Alfa Romeos and the odd Ferrari – are gathered. We drove through the bustling city, passing by the Arc de Triomphe, along the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

After leaving the Place Vendôme, we followed the roadbook via the l Arc de Triomphe on the way to Tours

For several hours, we continued through the countryside toward Tours, stopping along the way for lunch at Domaine de Montigny-le-Gannelon and a coffee break at Chateau de Chambord.

To get us through the many hours of driving, the Richard Mille team organised many coffee and cake breaks. On the first day, this break was at Chateau de Chambord

Having concluded our first day of rallying, we arrived at our final checkpoint of the evening at the Medieval La Grange de Meslay, one of the most historic fortified farms of the 13th century.

The first race day was filled with sunshine and rural routes

Each day, we drove around 9 to 10 hours. The routes in the roadbook led us through scenic landscapes and past historic castles.

The finish line of the first day was at a castle near Tours

Race Day 2 – Island Life on St-Martin-de-Ré

After a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast, we prepared to tackle the second day.

All the vintage cars parked next to each other at the lunch spot

The destination for the second day was the French peninsula of Île de Ré, which is a French version of the Hamptons. Along the way, we had lunch at La Mothe-Saint-Héray, an opulent 17th-century fortress.

Lunch was held at L’orangerie de La Mothe Saint-Héray

After turning off our engines, we followed the sounds of clinking plates and lively discourse of our fellow drivers, navigating ourselves through the splendour of orange and lemon trees scattered across the gravelled courtyard.

After lunch with a side of laughter about the sharp corners and unexpected turns, we continued our journey south.

Read more: Car collector king Fritz Burkard on his Pearl Collection

Driving across the 3km Île de Ré bridge that connects La Rochelle and Riverdoux Plage, we decided to slow down, not only for the speed limit but to truly appreciate the expansive sea rolling into the horizon and the sunset visible in our rear view mirror.

Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova with car number 27

The day ended near the coast in St. Martin-de-Ré. Upon our arrival to the seaside hotel, we took the opportunity to briefly swap our 4-wheel vehicle to 2 wheels to cruise around the island with bicycles provided by the hotel – experiencing the real Île de Ré – lifestyle.

The vintage Porsche 356 type C driving through the town of St-Martin-de-Ré

The end destination of the second day was St. Martin-de-Ré at the coast

Race Day 3 – Medieval ages in Sarlat-la-Canéda

After our brief stay on the island, we set off again, leaving the salty air behind. The third race day was filled with impressive landscapes and pitstops to several medieval French castles like Château de Villebois-Lavalette and Château de Hautfort.

In case of any issues with the cars or if you got lost, there was a group of very kind mechanics following us and helping us

Palatial gardens, grandiose architecture and the sounds of revving engines satisfied our appetites to early set off for our afternoon leg.

At the end of every racing day, drivers were welcomed at the parking spot with a glass of champagne

At the end of the day, we were invited to a medieval castle in Sarlat-la-Canéda, where we were greeted by ‘real’ knights and princesses. Even the rallye princesses were dressed in medieval attire and celebrated the third day with a feast in the castle, paired with an exhilarating fire show.

After the feast in the medieval castle there was a huge fire show

Race Day 4 – Carcassonne

Spending the night at Hotel Golf du Domaine de Rochebois, we rose in the early hours of the morning to a light and decadent breakfast overlooking the gentle glow from hot air balloons that spread across the rugged and bushy landscape.

On our fourth day, we embarked towards Carcassonne, located in the Occitanie region of southern France, famous for its medieval fortress and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Stepping inside feels like travelling back in time, having an immersive medieval experience.

We stopped for some lunch at Château de Mauriac

Inside the thick walls of the fortress, all the Rallye des Princesses teams gathered for the delicious traditional Cassoulet – a hearty dish made from white beans, sausage, and duck – a must-try in the region.

The scenic route towards Carcassonne took us through little villages along rivers and narrow routes

The medieval fortress of Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Race Day 5 – Alpine Routes of Andorra and Prize Ceremony

A mountainous finale awaited us. The last day took us along misty mountain routes towards the Pyrenees to Andorra. The routes up the mountains were quite foggy and you had to be very careful as the sight was not the best and there were some wild animals crossing the roads.

Our yellow Porsche 356 conquering the foggy roads towards the mountains

Occasionally, patches of the fog parted, offering brief, breathtaking glimpses of the valley far below, where dark green forests and meandering rivers appeared like miniatures before they were swallowed up again by the mist.

Fabienne Amez-Droz with the Rallye des Princesses merch: A cap, a jacket and a foulard

After crossing the border of Andorra, we drove up and down the mountain passes until lunchtime. Our final lunch stop was an idyllic picnic set up featuring specialities from Andorra, which are a mix between French and Spanish cuisine.

The final leg of the journey to Andorra is nothing short of spectacular, with steep climbs, rugged mountain passes, and panoramic vistas – a fitting finale for the adventure.

Lunch was served at the top of a mountain with many specialities from Andorra, which were interesting to try

After 5 days and countless hours of thrilling driving, we finally crossed the finish line and received our well-deserved champagne to celebrate plus a medal with the whole route engraved. We did it!

The last race day was filled with Andorras mountain passes and we had a picnic set up for us on the top of a mountain

The evening wrapped up with a big awards ceremony, and by the time we assembled at our final venue of the rally, an alpine celebration was awaiting our company. The cool evening mountain air shifted us inside where after a moving speech by Patrick Peter, we sat down at our tables, discussing the rally’s most challenging and exciting moments.

The finish line in Andorra was next to a luxury chalet-style hotel, where we celebrated the end of the rally

We celebrated and danced until the early hours of the morning with all the participants of the 60 teams, and as the night began to wind down, all drivers exchanged contact details and promises to meet at future rallies, still basking in the memories of winding roads, breathtaking views, and the camaraderie that only a journey like the Rallye des Princesses can provide.

At the finish line in Andorra, Fabienne Amez-Droz and Masha Nosova received a glass of champagne to celebrate and a medal with the whole route from Paris to Andorra engraved

By the end of the rally, we had all grown together as close friends and wanted to keep driving. An extraordinary and incredible journey by Richard Mille.

Find out more: richardmille.com/events/rallye-des-princesses

The Mercedes-Benz x Moncler by NIGO collaboration presents the art piece Project Mercedes-Benz G-Class Past II Future

There aren’t many cars these days that become legends. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is one of them; and a new iteration has just been launched

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

It’s an interesting eccentricity in the world of collectors and the wealthy, that perfection is sometimes undesirable. The perfect timepiece, that tells the time more accurately than any Patek Philippe, is a cheap digital watch. The perfect car, while not yet invented, is probably electric, efficient, seats seven, is self-driving and self-cleaning; and costs a tiny fraction of the price of a limited-edition, inefficient, two-seater, impractical supercar.

‘It will plough through mudslides that would deter most normal cars’

Which takes us to the Mercedes-Benz G Class, which has achieved legendary status among a stratum of car collectors. On the one hand, the G Class (it stands for Gelandewagen, basically a car that can cross fields) is quite practical. A tall 4×4 SUV, it will plough through mudslides that would deter most normal cars.

But it’s also a development of the theme of a SUV, in the sense that a multi-complication watch is just there to show what can do, not necessarily to do it. Toy-like in appearance, with doors that “thud” shut as if you are closing the metal door of an industrial unit, it plays with themes of machismo and muscle.

‘The G-Class is a universal hero that adapts to change without losing its uniqueness’ – Bettina Felzer

Its ultimate iteration (produced by Mercedes-Benz anyway; there are plenty of companies that will tune yours up for you) is the G63 AMG, with far more power than necessary, a sound like wet stone cellar full of hungry pitbulls, and a striking, almost cartoonish, road presence.

Read more: Hotel reviews: Whatley Manor, Ca’ del Dio, and Westin Valencia

We visited Shanghai for the launch of this new model, a perfect backdrop of dramatic skyscrapers and go-getting attitude. A car produced by the world’s oldest car manufacturer, and beloved of its newest wealthy economies. It was also dramatically launched with a collaboration with Moncler and Japanese designer NIGO: three design icons together.

‘The G63 AMG, with far more power than necessary’

Or, as Mercedes-Benz VP for digital and communications Bettina Felzer put it to LUX:

Read more: A conversation with artist Enoc Perez

“Our G has evolved from a utility vehicle into a highly sought-after brand ambassador, establishing itself in various cultural fields. Beyond its outstanding technical features, the G-Class is a universal hero that adapts to change without losing its uniqueness. It stays true to its iconic core – timeless yet timely. Following the successful launch of the electric G-Class, we are bridging the timelines of the future and the past in our collaboration with Moncler and NIGO.”

Moncler will be releasing a new fashion collection, designed by Mercedes-Benz and Moncler together with NIGO

From our perspective, it’s just good to know Mercedes-Benz is still creating icons, in an era where others are falling off the radar.

mercedes-benz.com

The exterior view of Whatley Manor, a luxury hotel located in the Cotswolds

Looking for a short early spring break in Europe? Look no further than these gems: Whatley Manor in Britain’s Cotswolds, the Ca’ di Dio on Venice’s waterfront, and the Westin Valencia, in a historic building in the heart of the city

Whatley Manor

The Cotswolds in England have become the most fashionable country retreat in the world. This is partly because of it’s history and natural beauty, and partly it’s location, which is just far enough from London to feel remote but not so far that you get bored driving there in your Range Rover from your home in Notting Hill.

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The cosy yet decadent lounge reception at Whatley Manor

But the Cotswolds are much more than just the patch of land between Chipping Norton and Broadway, in which the most frequently spotted wildlife has been become art collectors and beauty influencers from West London.

These hills, valleys and forested plateaux actually stretch in an arc southward for 100 miles towards that other emerging fashionable countryside zone of Somerset.

And it is towards the southern sweep of the Cotswolds arc that we find Whatley Manor. Five minute’s drive from the astonishingly lovely town of Malmesbury with its 900 year old abbey, you approach the Manor along an appropriately long driveway surrounded by gardens and fields.

A view of the stately gardens at Whatley Manor

A wooden drawbridge-style door swings open automatically to lead you into a courtyard where you are met by friendly staff unloading your luggage from your two-seater (we recommend Aston Martin or possibly a Morgan) before parking it out of sight at the side.

Read more: A conversation with artist Enoc Perez

This stately house is located on a ridge, and on the other side a pretty formal garden gives way to a field which in turn drops down to a river, with more fields and forests rising on the riverbank.

A bedroom suite at Whatley Manor

Views are enormously important in any countryside experience and we are continually amazed at the number of country hotels that don’t manage to provide one. But you haven’t experienced this properly until you head to the outdoor hydrotherapy pool, situated in a private spa area with its own garden on the valley side of the hotel.

While you get pummelled by water jets on a starry evening, you are treated to a view of planets, stars and the dark outlines of the hillside and valley opposite. This is a truly unique experience and it is worth the visit for this alone.

The spa area also contains a series of rooms of varying temperatures, so you can go from cool to warm to hot and back again: good for the soul, and certainly stimulating an appetite.

The understated and intimate Michelin-star Dining Room at Whatley Manor

On our first night we dined in the Michelin-starred Dining Room restaurant, an excellently crafted experience which began with cocktails and “yesterday’s bread” – an utterly delicious secret concoction – in the big, accommodating lobby bar area. This was followed by a taster in the show kitchen, chatting to the chefs while watching the brigade of fellow members putting together dinner. Then, a tasting menu in which each ingredient shone, while being enhanced by the technique and skill of the chef: a far more subtle feat than just combining ingredients and sauces. This was soft power at its best.

Read more: A tribute to Don Bryant

That kind of food is wasted if you do it every night, and on our second day we stayed in the lobby area and had an equally superb casual meal of grilled fish, steamed vegetables and some superb English wines.

Guests are offered a tasting menu which highlights each ingredient – in this case, rhubarb – while being enhanced by the technique and skill of the chef

Our room looked out onto the beautifully tended gardens, river and woodland: a suite, with a living room and bedroom separated by a bathroom whose windowside bath probably had the best of view of all. The decor is a modern take on traditional – minimalist walls with little decoration, no chintz, no carpets, an extremely high-quality bed as benefits this hotels Swiss ownership, and a feeling of craft throughout. Too minimal? Some might prefer rugs underfoot and more art on the walls, but nobody can doubt the quality of this endeavour.

As new country house hotels have opened in the Cotswolds, so they have become increasingly hectic and crowded due to the region’s popularity. Whatley Manor feels truly grown up, sophisticated, professionally run, and offers a big and beautiful oasis of tranquillity.

whatleymanor.com

The airy lobby of the 5-star Westin Valencia Hotel

Westin Valencia

Can a city break to a vibrant southern European metropolis also be tranquil? It certainly seemed the case arriving at the Westin Valencia. The hotel is built into the stone walls of a former factory, low rise but with significant feeling, beautifully transformed with a light and airy atrium lobby area, and a stunning courtyard studded with orange trees with tables scattered throughout. Get a room facing the courtyard and you are in complete privacy and peace; our room faced outwards and had a big terrace on which you could spend long afternoons sunbathing.

‘Get a room facing the courtyard and you are in complete privacy and peace’

But that would be a shame as there is so much else to do – even within the hotel itself. The award-winning bar, high ceilinged but perfectly lit and atmospheric, is a place to try adventurous cocktails including some legendary creations made with seafood, and also some excellent more traditional drinks – we enjoyed a Negroni and champagne cocktail.

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We find breakfast is often a test of hotels’ gastronomic intentions and ability. Do they simply stick some stuff on a buffet and hope people enjoy it? In the Westin’s case, breakfast is in a big and light high-ceilinged room looking out onto the courtyard where you can eat in the warmer months.

The living room of the Westin Valencia’s Royal Suite

The buffet was vast and plentiful, as you would expect, but also extremely skilfully put together with high-quality ingredients. Freshly sliced and seasoned salmon, avocado that came with its own salad and garnishes rather than simply dumped on a plate, a huge array of bread, fruits, vegetables…

The best of American generosity and service in a beautifully restored historic building in the heart of one of Europe’s most interesting and vibrant cities? You’d better believe it.

thewestinvalencia.com

The unassuming exterior of Ca’ di Dio hotel, by the Arsenale water bus stop

Ca’ di Dio, Venice

Is there a best location in Venice? The locals and experienced visitors would certainly say so: probably halfway down the grand canal where you have a vista of the stunning palazzo facing you and easy access to all the city’s brilliance.

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But other icons are also available. Most would probably agree that your ideal place to stay needs to be on the water – it’s a little disappointing being in Venice and having a view of the street.

Ca’ di Dio contains hints of its history as a 15th-century monastery

A visitor needs both history and a view, and for us the location of the Ca’ di Dio hotel is quite astonishing. Alight from your water taxi at the Arsenale water bus stop and your Google Maps tells you are right in front of your hotel. Your eyes, however, may wish to differ.

There are no hotel signs or frontages, nothing at all except a beautiful building many hundreds of years old with odd-shaped windows, facing the water. Look a little more closely, though, and you notice a couple of discreet wooden tables outside the doorway. This is indeed Ca’ di Dio, a converted 15th century monastery.

‘A visitor needs both history and a view’

Walk in, and there is nothing remotely monastic about the style and luxury that greets you in the reception area, with its vaulted ceilings and very 21st century contemporary furniture. We were given a quick tour – the bar is in one wing and the two wings are separated by a tranquil and grassy courtyard bordered by one of the hotel’s restaurants, and our room was in the other wing, the original monastery building.

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Our suite had a perfectly round window, like a porthole, through which one could peer at the locals and tourists ambling along the waterfront, by the lagoon, with the view extending to the various churches, palaces and buildings on outlying islands.

‘The suite, despite its ancient providence, is contemporary and chic’

The changing of the view in the different lights of day, dusk and night was mesmerising, as was the way it changed from blue sky and sunshine to a typically Venetian mist one evening. The suite, despite its ancient providence, is contemporary and chic. There was a cocktail bar, a bathroom straight out of the design fair with a freestanding tub and view both sides, out across the lagoon and the back across the courtyard.

Italian breakfasts, even in luxury hotels, can be little disappointing: it’s as if the culture which is so invested in food at lunch and dinner and times in between just views ‘la colazione’ as an opportunity for some espresso, saltless white bread, a piece of fruit and boiled egg.

Horticulture in the gardens of Ca’ di Dio, where herbs and fresh produce are grown

The alternative in some modern luxury hotels is the full American spread which is not exactly local., But this was a tribute to the imagination and determination of the hotel’s chef – more on whom, later. One entire section was given to home-made cakes and pastries, made fresh every day, not just a token selection but a pastry shop worth of chocolate cakes, fruit tarts, and elaborate pastries and everything in between. Loved it.

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The restaurant VERO at Ca’ di Dio is run by Luigi Lionetti, who just won the award for Italy’s greatest chef under 30

But breakfast was just a precursor to dinner – separated of course by a day wandering around Venice. The Dio’s location is refreshing after staying in any hotel crammed in the centre of the narrow laned tourist district. Here, people wander slowly along the wide waterfront towards the Giardini; meanwhile just to one side of the hotel is the access waterway to the grand gates of the Arsenale, once the world’s biggest naval dockyard and the source of the city state’s power hundreds of years ago. You can still feel it now. But back to dinner, which was precursed by a cocktail one of the little tables discreetly placed outside on the promenade.

The restaurant, VERO, is run by Luigi Lionetti, who has just won the award for Italy’s greatest chef under 30. And this was evident in the precision and passion of his cuisine. Lionetti agreed to give us a sneak peek of his kitchen afterwards: certainly, a man on a mission, to judge not just by his creativity and control, but by his age and ambition.

A main meal at the hotel’s restaurant VERO

Ca’ di Dio is an original and hard to classify creation (it opened during the pandemic) on the Venice hotel scene. A stylish, sophisticated, boutique villa, informal and without the weight of the classic luxury hotels, but just as chic, and big enough to have two restaurants, a big courtyard and the sense of being operated by a professional group. The only problem is we think it’s going to be booked out months in advance during the summer and attractions like architecture and art biennale. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Ca’ di Dio website

Artist Enoc Perez in his home, photographed by Maryam Eisler

Borne of 1980s New York amongst the backdrop of Warhol, Basquiat, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Puerto Rican artist Enoc Perez has spent his decades-long career exploring questions of identity, heritage, and the urban landscape. LUX Contributing Editor Maryam Eisler talks to him about love, the ‘second phase of life’, and art in the current climate

Maryam Eisler: We’re sitting in your summer studio in East Hampton.

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Enoc Perez: I call it the two-car garage; it’s a studio where my children used to run in as children. This is also where I learned how to make sculptures. I’ve even made little pastoral paintings, something I would not normally do.

ME: Is it a place of experimentation?

EP: It’s my lab. This is a place where I knew nobody would see anything when I first bought it, so I could work privately.

Enoc Perez’s studio, photographed by Maryam Eisler

ME: Your sanctuary.

EP: Sanctuary it was. It’s also about the dreams you dream of. When I was studying art as a young guy, I would see Picasso’s studios in the South of France with Paloma and Paolo, his children, running around. Think of the pictures of Julian Schnabel, with him coming out of the water. I wanted somewhere with a pool, where I could go swim and come back to the studio and work, with my family around, because I personally don’t like to stop working. I feel guilty when I don’t work!

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ME: You told me earlier that this is now the second phase of life; talk to me about your beginnings.

EP: I came here when I was 19 years old from Puerto Rico. I wanted to come here and my dad insisted on that too – if I was going to study art, I had to go to America. He was right. When I graduated at 22, the whole challenge was how to get seen in a city that has so many artists.

It was 1986. Jean-Michel [Basquiat] was still working. I was there. I witnessed it all.

Enoc Perez’s ‘Luquillo Beach, Puerto Rico’, painted in 2025

ME: What was New York like in the 80s?

EP: It was dangerous. It was crazy. You remember The World? You remember all those clubs? It was so exciting. I didn’t even have a style, because I came from suburbia in Puerto Rico, so I pretty much looked like the Sears catalogue!

ME: You were a clean slate, ready to absorb.

EP: At first, I did my own interpretations of Jean-Michel Basquiat because he was the best. Until I realised that I had to do something that nobody else had attempted or wanted to do, especially as a Puerto Rican. In the early 90s, Felix Gonzalez-Torres started to come to prominence, and he was a game changer – how he saw sculpture and art was mind blowing. I noticed that Felix would be placed into contemporary art auctions, not in Latin American sales. That’s when I decided I didn’t want to be separated.

So, I decided to win the contemporary. Then came questioning of the method. How would I communicate with my audience using a universal language? I looked at Warhol, Rauschenberg, Richard Prince: they all used printmaking in the painting process, especially Warhol and Rauschenberg. That’s when I started doing transfers of drawings.

Enoc Perez’s oil on canvas ‘My Mother’s Kitchen’, 2025

It’s like a primitive way of printing. This gave me the relationship I wanted with the New York masters. I wasn’t using any brushes. It was very American. People at the time said they looked like Warhol silkscreens. My sister was working at Ralph Lauren at the time, and I went to pick her up one day for dinner and I noticed they had a colour copier. I opened the machine and it had four colours, the basic colour separation. I thought it would be cool if I used these colours to make my images too. That’s when I started adding layers to my monochromatic canvases.

ME: And that’s how your personal style developed?

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EP: When I started using colours, I knew I had something. I was throwing a house party once, and people were just getting wasted, but they noticed a little painting hanging on the wall. I thought to myself: ‘okay, this is going to work’. I had these non-art and wasted guys actually talking about my art!

I started making paintings of other people’s girlfriends. I was recently divorced. I was angry, so I would take a picture of a couple and cut the guy out. They were paintings about envy, anger and desire. Everything happens because of love. The architecture came up when I first met my now-wife Carole who was married at the time.

Carole’s heels sitting next to the family swimming pool in East Hampton, photographed by Maryam Eisler

ME: Love is everything.

EP: Isn’t it? It’s probably the most basic motivation. But when you’re already in love you have to become more conceptual and talk about intellectual matters.

So, I met Carole. She was married to some other guy, but I wanted to do a show about her, and I decided to do a show in code. This was 2003. I thought to myself, ‘what am I going to do?’. I have a good library of architecture books. There’s a hotel in Puerto Rico called the Normandie. The story of that hotel goes back to the Puerto Rican guy who built it. He had a French wife – a singer. He built a boat for her, but that didn’t work out, so she wasn’t too impressed. Then he built this building based on the famous Normandie liner boat. I said to myself, ‘I am a Puerto Rican and I’m in love with a French woman. This painting will be a portrait of her’. And that was that!

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ME: Tony Shafrazi: tell me about him.

EP: Tony? He came in because of the buildings! The works were intellectual and I knew they would spark an interest in someone like him. This was after 2001; we all became painfully aware of the symbols that architecture signalled. Especially after September 11. My architectural symbols were inspired by love. Then, I started thinking about the Caribbean and Latin America, with all their international modernist buildings with beautiful architecture – all symbols of colonisation.

A close-up of Perez’s materials found in his studio, photographed by Maryam Eisler

ME: When did Tony notice your work?

EP: I had a German dealer at the time who took me to Art Basel. He called me and told me ‘Oh, these two guys bought your paintings – all of them!’. He wouldn’t tell me who at first. Anyway, months went by and then he told me, ‘Well, it was Peter Brant and Tony Shafrazi’. At that time, I was starting to join forces with Elizabeth Dee in New York, so she put Tony in contact with me, and the rest is history. Tony even came to our wedding.

ME: Do you regard Shafrazi as your godfather?

EP: He’s a godfather to a lot of artists. But, for me, he was my refinement school. He’s the guy who tells me, ‘No, you cannot do that’, or, ‘Think about it a little more’, or, ‘Challenge me’. He understands art like no one I know. Peter Brant, too. We became friends; Peter commissioned a portrait of Stephanie Seymour. These two men are blessings in my life.

ME: Let’s move to your paintings of beautiful sensual women. You told me that you felt there’s no room for showing these works now? Why not?

EP: I would get killed. I mean, I’m a 56-year-old straight guy. It doesn’t look good and people would criticise me.

‘Ponce Intercontental’, 2023. For Perez, architecture is richly embedded with symbols of love, as well as modernism and colonialism

ME: Do you self-censor?

EP: Well, there’s some degree of self-censoring. But with art, you can store it and bring it out when the time is right. Carlo Mollino has been an inspiration; he found a way to show the female nude in his polaroids in a tasteful and carnal way. There is always that fine line between good and bad taste, and I love him for walking that line.

ME: So, elegant and sensual can go hand in hand?

EP: Yes – look at Mollino’s interiors and what he was able to accomplish with them. He made beautiful polaroids that were found after he died. They will remain a mystery and I think of them as ghosts. Even in my own paintings inspired by his work, I soon thought to myself, ‘Oh my god, they look like ghosts’. They’re an archetype, and as we know, all creativity stems from the female.

‘After Mollino (18)’ by Enoc Perez (2019), inspired by Mollino’s ghost-like polaroids and interiors

ME: Female is creation. Female gives birth. Female inspires.

EP: Yes, quite literally. If you look at Mollino’s national theatre in Torino, it looks like a vagina – the most beautiful thing. It’s also very powerful.

ME: Do you think the art world looks down on all matters ‘beautiful’?

EP: Seduction is mostly looked down upon, at least in my experience in the art world. The current moment reminds me of the mid-90s, when art became so political. My attitude to that was, and still is, that I think it’s necessary. Personally, I want to inspire. I want to make art that has soul. That, to me, is more mysterious than making just a statement or offering a one-liner. I am active politically in my community, but art is about love for me.

‘Untitled’ made by Perez with oil on canvas in 2024

ME: I also sense this idea of bygone past, some sort of melancholic nostalgia in your work, or a nod to sentimental elegance of the past which we seem to have lost today.

EP: I don’t know if it’s nostalgia. I think it’s about wanting to reclaim a time that only belongs to me.

ME: Your representation of this time looks a bit disjointed, like fragmented memories.

EP: It’s fractured, kind of like myself. When I started to do the Rum Paintings, for example, those were self-portraits. I was an alcoholic at the time.

ME: When did you become sober?

EP: When I had my first son, Leo. My wife went on a girls night out, and I stayed behind to take care of him. I almost dropped him while I was changing his diaper because I was so drunk. The day after, I made an appointment with a psychiatrist. It turns out that I’m OCD, and I was self-medicating. I’m now 17 years sober, and I can only now revisit my paintings from that time.

Perez in his studio, with his process captured by Maryam Eisler

ME: Addiction undeniably is very present in the creative community. What has sobriety done for you? How has it affected your life and work?

EP: The positive side is that sobriety allowed me to be a normal, better father to my children. Also, it has allowed me to properly look at my work in greater depth. I did a project for the Dallas Contemporary about the architect Philip Johnson. When I started studying him and found out about his Nazi activity, I called Tony [Shafrazi] and told him ‘I don’t know if I can do this. This guy was a piece of shit’. He replied, ‘I agree with how you feel, but it’s your job as an artist to critique and to tell the story’. That allowed me to get through the show, but afterwards, I didn’t want to do any more architecture paintings. Think about Johnson’s Glass House. The Glass House is an important piece of architecture for American culture. It was inspired by a house bombed to the ground that Johnson saw while visiting a Hitler rally in Poland. I mean come on!

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ME: Where do you find your inspiration today?

EP: I did some of my best paintings in my thirties, so how do I access the person that I was then? That was part of turning 50. At this point, I am competing against myself!

ME: But you are painting as you did, with sobriety. The canvas is ultimately your own skin. I am very intrigued by your use of calligraphy; even that is of the past.

‘Untitled’, 2024, oil on canvas

EP: Maybe I am allowing myself to do that more today. I am having a show in Hong Kong with Ben Brown with my Rum Paintings and I have used words like ‘Go Bananas’, encouraging the alcoholic to get worse! Or ‘it’s nice to know you’re loved amongst friends’ shown with empty bottles. Poetic, right?

ME: Poetic while it’s happening. Perhaps not so poetic the day after!

EP: I also still love the old advertisements. They look like Morandi’s still lives; they’re just like pop art. But ultimately, I like the landscapes because they’re very real, like fragmented memories. The landscape is the only thing for me that is real. And I see it as mine. The Caribbean is mine.

ME: At the end of the day, it’s your world, your imagination, your brain! You allow yourself that privilege. In this world of ours, you cannot control a lot of things. One thing you can control is you.

EP: Understanding the moment, I understand the freedom of being exactly who I think I am.

Don Bryant, the creator of Bryant Estate in California’s Napa Valley

Although they may not know his name, every wine lover in the world has cause to remember Don Bryant, who died earlier this month

Bryant, a successful entrepreneur, was the creator of Bryant Estate in California’s Napa Valley. He turned a hillside high above the valley, surrounded by forests and cooled by the nearby Lake Hennessy, into such a global reference for red wine that the world’s most powerful wine critic, Robert Parker, commented: “The wine from [Bryant’s] hillside vineyard near Napa’s Pritchard Hill has already become mythical. This is a wine of world-class quality, and is certainly as complete and potentially complex as any first-growth Bordeaux. It is not too much to suggest that Bryant’s Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon might well be one of the wines that redefines greatness in Cabernet Sauvignon.” 

The Bryant Estate vineyard

Anyone trying Bryant Estate and its sister wine Bettina – named after his wife, Bettina, who survives him and runs the estate – is inevitably struck by its complexity and poetry.  

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Don Bryant’s life and interests were as rich as his wines: as well as being one of the most successful financial services entrepreneurs, he was a major philanthropist and art collector, listed as one of the top 200 collectors in the world by Art News. A true aficionado, his support encompassed art institutions, schools and universities. 

Don Bryant with his wife, Bettina Bryant

Bettina Bryant is also a major collector, art historian and supporter of artistic causes. Don Bryant’s legacy will shine on, and as a founder of one of the world’s new great wine estates, it is likely his name will be associated with craft and excellence for decades and centuries to come. 

Darius Sanai