Sinah Warren Coastal Hotel: Fun in the Sun and an Offer to Readers from Warner Leisure Hotels (Collaboration)

Warner Leisure Hotels offer all-inclusive holidays at some 13 locations around the country, from fine country homes to holiday villages. The hallmark of their offering is that it's for adults only, ensuring a peaceful break. There's a wide range of activities on offer, from heated swimming pools, spas and gyms to sports like shooting and archery. And there's evening entertainments too. If this sounds all a bit too energetic, you're of course perfectly free to chill out for your stay and do nothing but enjoy the food and hospitality.

Arriving at Sinah Warren Coastal Hotel on Hayling Island

I recently stayed with Mrs Grey Fox at Sinah Warren Coastal Hotel on Hayling Island. Just to the east of Portsmouth, the island is a haven for wildlife. The hotel looks onto Langstone Harbour and just behind are beaches overlooking the Solent, with the Isle of Wight beyond. It's a glorious setting and, soon after arriving and settling into our room, we walked around the coastline on a bright, warm, blustery afternoon. White horses over The Solent showed a stiff breeze which was enjoyed by acrobatic kite surfers on the beach. Windsurfers and small boats sped around in clouds of brilliant white spray and overhead birds of all kinds swooped and dived. 

Our room was comfortable, with proper milk for morning tea rather than little plastic containers of UHT - always a sign that thought has gone into the hospitality. Food is very good and plentiful and the evening entertainment, normally something I'd be wary of, was excellent with very high quality musicians.

The heated pool looks across Langstone Harbour

Nicely landscaped gardens by the sea

Selfie in the gym

Evening entertainments

We were unable to book any treatments in the spa as the hotel was busy the weekend we were there and we hadn't planned ahead adequately, but we enjoyed the well-equipped gym, jacuzzi and checked out the archery and small-bore rifle range. There is certainly plenty to do. The staff are friendly and helpful. As ever with all-inclusive hotels, it's easy to feel slightly lost, so a bit of homework and a chat at reception on arrival helps orientate and clarify.

Warner's hotels are all-inclusive and very reasonably priced. If you need to take family or parents away for a few days to a hotel with a wide variety of activities without breaking the bank, one of the Warner Leisure Hotels would fit the bill perfectly. The clientele is more mature and there were many family groups (without young children of course) making for a friendly atmosphere, but you can be as sociable or not as you prefer.

Souvenirs, kite surfing on the beach, Portchester Castle

Sinah Warren is a large hotel, with some 280 rooms and chalets at different price points. It's well-placed for local sights, from the historical naval dockyard at Portsmouth with HMS Victory and the Mary Rose, to Chichester and the Hampshire downs and coastline. We spent time at Portchester Castle, a fascinating Roman/Norman castle and explored the coastline of Hayling Island - you won't run out of things to do, either at or away from the hotel.

For more information go to Warner Leisure Hotels who are kindly offering blog readers a £20 per person discount per break using the offer code GREYFOXWLH (valid until 31st December 2018). 

Note: This is a collaboration with Warner Leisure Hotels whose guests we were at Sinah Warren. I'm grateful to brands for such collaborations which help me to cover the costs of curating this blog. I retain editorial integrity and the views expressed here are mine alone.

Hidden Curiosities Gin: From the Founder of Cravat Club

Jenny Meguro is founder of the successful Cravat Club. Featured several times on this blog, she provides British-made silk cravats, ties and pocket squares to men of discernment. However, not content with this, Jenny has now developed a gin, working closely with a small local distillery in the Surrey Hills. 

Jenny Meguro proudly shows off her Hidden Curiosities gin

In the name of research Jenny tried 100 gins (over the course of a year, she's quick to point out) in order to develop her distinctive and delicious product. She's used 20 botanicals to produce an aromatic gin that I found delicious with a drop of water, but it's also goes well with a high quality tonic water, perhaps (as Jenny recommends) with pink peppercorns and green cardamom to enhance the subtle flavours. This is a truly outstanding gin.

Hidden Curiosities gin is already stocked in several bars and is making a name for itself early in its career. To buy and to find stockists, both shops and bars, go to Hidden Curiosities website.

For more information here on the blog on Cravat Club, click here.

I was sent a sample of gin to try. All views are my own.

Glenfiddich Excellence 26 Year Old Whisky; a review

I've recently had the pleasure of tasting and enjoying a selection of whiskies from Glenfiddich. I wanted to write about one of these in particular: a rare 26 year old malt which was quite unlike anything I'd tried before in terms of quality and flavour.

I've been a casual imbiber of malt whisky for many years, occasionally enjoying the complexity, variety and subtly of whisky's flavours from many distilleries, not all Scottish. Despite this, I've only written about whisky infrequently on this blog. However, the senses that enable a man to appreciate a finely made pair of shoes, a well-fitting suit or a beautifully designed car are the same as those that allow him to enjoy a fine wine, beer or whisky.

Malt whisky speaks to me of mist-covered hills, dew-soaked heather, lichen-daubed rocks and low tide on seaweed-strewn beaches: precisely the parts of our beautiful country that I love. It bears the stamp of the terrain and wood from which it springs. Glenfiddich 26 Year Old is matured in American white oak barrels. These are imported from the USA and, having held bourbon, they impart, over more than a quarter of a century, a complex oaky, tannin, vanilla flavour to the whisky tempered by Scottish Highland air and water.

I'm used to malts at the lower end of the price scale. These are usually delicious enough, but they didn't prepare me for the complexity of the pleasures I experienced with this malt. A pale golden colour, on first pouring this 26 year old releases a summery waft of grass, toffee and apple. To taste, it's smooth, almost chewy, on the tongue. A peppery, toffee, oaky, seaweed flavour is balanced by a floral fragrance given a bit of edge by a lemon/citrus aroma. These flavours just keep on developing, giving a finish that is quite sublime in its subtlety and complexity.

This is a malt that should be cherished and kept for those special occasions when you want an exceptional tasting experience, packed with memories and revived experiences. Highly recommended. See the Glenfiddich website for more information.

I was not paid for this blog post. I was provided with a sample of the whisky. The views expressed are entirely mine.