The rooms are a relaxed eclectic mix of antiques and soft furnishings

It boasts a collection of tennis courts, 11 to be precise, an immaculate 27 hole championship golf course and with it’s swimming pool and spa facilties its classed as his n’ hers luxury leisure. We were staying in the main hotel as opposed to the Pavillion in one of the 49 beautiful period style rooms, with antique furnishings, huge roll top baths and emperor size beds, who could ask for more? The rooms are blissfully peaceful and we were fortunate to look over the putting green and could hear the occasional knock of a golf ball, a suprisingly soothing sound.

The grounds are simply stunning but ruled by the golfers! It's also a wonderful place for a wedding...

So we started with immense good intentions like most do on a weekend away, by planning to swim every morning for a good half hour, then perhaps walk the grounds, maybe get some spa treatments and even explore the area. But sadly it went like this: enormous and delicious breakfast, alot of paper reading by the fire, watching a movie in our blissful hotel room, finally making it to the pool, wading in the water for half an hour and eventually heading to their Italian restaurant for enormous pizzas! In fact the weather was so miserable that this routine pretty much repeated itself daily, with the odd glass of bubbly in between!
There is no doubt about it,  this is a very popular hotel and every morning I watched a string of super cars and Range Rovers parade in and out of the grounds with a very attractive clientelle of golfers and spa gooers. But surprisingly the hotel remains calm and peaceful with extremly friendly and helpful staff. The decor is the right side of period home living, not too contrived, and  not going for the usual temptation of upholstering everything in Zoffany velvet stripes, believing that’s an ecclectic comprimise between old and new! Stoke Park has an understated charm without the naffness and I could have stayed there for a week.

The spa has a light and airy feel with lovely views over looking the grounds.

They also have a stunning menu at their fine dining restaurant and the tables are like gold dust and we were lucky enough to get one on our last night. But alas after a glass of fizz by a roaring fire and the offer of a home made burger and chips curled up in one of the big winged arm chairs we promptly cancelled our table and stay put, a much more suitable choice for a relaxed, and very happy couple!

One can always find very interesting lighting at any one of the Hospes Hotels.

The staff at this Hotel are wonderful and helpful, the Hospes Group pride themselves on giving guests a wonderful nights sleep which is not easy in the heart of the city. The bedrooms are large with high ceilings and many of the original features are preserved. They have created a courtyard that has a Wysteria trained on wires above your head – I like that idea that when fully in flower it will screen the buildings alongside. There are some very interesting features in this hotel and I love the huge oversized doors which although modern really work with the high ceilings.

I adore Irises but I draw the line at plastic swans!

There is no better place for inspiration than the Alhambra. It was built from 1237 when the founder of the Nasrid dynasty, Muhammad I al-Ahmar installed his court on the Sabika Hill. The Palace of Lions was where the Sultan would meet his visitors and house his wives. It includes a series of elegant courtyards, meeting places, and spectacular viewing points where you can look over the whole city. You can also make a short climb up to the Summer Palace where the air is cooler and there are more courtyards to admire.

Court of the Lions. Avery modest meeting place!

The mixture of stone, polished plaster, colourful tiles and dark Walnut woods all have been regularly translated today in spas and swimming pools. Having designed modern pools I am drawn back to the Moorish style, its so calming but interesting too

I think about the Sultan, his wives and visitors walking around this vast area when every corner they turned must have been a shock to the senses, creating a feeling of calm and joy.

So having reignited my love for Moorish architecture we then continued to Cordoba, a wonderful city with huge open roads that narrow down into passageways leading to the mezquita de cordoba catedral.

mezquita de cordoba catedral

Nothing prepared me for the size of the Cathedral it is vast! Arch after arch accentuating in size and every part of it holds too much to describe, you just have to go there and soak it all in.

First we check in another Hospes Hotel this time the Palacio del Bailio, this is a wonderful Hotel with the usual friendly staff, serene luxury, calming courtyards and all steeped in history with another beautifully comfy bed overlooking an inner courtyard, quiet and peaceful.
It has been an incredible journey but it is the Alhambra that came home with me. Here I found a place that I could go to day after day, just me, my sketch book and my camera. But if you want to see the Palaces’ real magic then climb the hill to the Sacramento to see it in all its glory at night. (see feature image)

The Boss by day and Mother by night is a complicated role, but there was no doubt about it, when the lady in question walked through the day and surveyed her surroundings she was at that moment, very much my Mother. It became quickly apparent that my home life was a shambles! What I thought was organised chaos now looked like a bomb had hit the place and the impending arrival of a new born baby sent me into a blind panic. All of a sudden I felt the urge to hire a skip and and de-clutter to the bare minimum. I imagined losing my baby in the utility room under a pile of washing or it chewing on the dozen various chargers by the bed and neither of these images were conducive to my aim of being the perfect Mother!

So after a string of crushing observations from my Mother I realised that I had spent all this time making my Client’s dreams a reality whilst completely ignoring my own and this just simply will not do. And so that leads me to Monday, my birthday and all I want to do is walk round my home with a tape measure and start getting my domestic life back in order and here are a few things that I think might just do the trick from the latest OKA Directcatalogue. Samantha Cameron would be so impressed…!

This is a dream scenario, wellis in order and everything stuffed in baskets. OKA Direct know how to hide the mess!

Although this is not very child friendly I think this looks fab in a kitchen, I would need something with doors on to keep naughty toddlers at bay...

If I could squeeze this Cadenet Cupboard into my kitchen that would be perfect!

This is a great TV console and a great place for me to store our old music records either side.

I adore this Rouen Sideboard!

I desperately need tables with drawers to hide the typical bedside clutter!

In 2005 magazine editor Nicola Elliot had a light bulb moment! She realised there was a distinct lack of pampering products on the market that married style and performance with the organic qualities that many luxury brands overlook. Having worked for the likes of Instyle magazine and Glamour, Nicola knew that to be a success in the organic business her products had to look beautiful, smell divine and most importantly work. So in 2005 she co created the brand Neom that ticks all the boxes and does just that. Nicola’s passions for the Neom credentials run more than skin deep, in the beginning she trained as an aroma therapist alongside her day job, to fully understand the potential of her products and learned that the average woman uses over 250 chemicals on her skin every day!

Fast forward to 2012 and Neom is a global brand with a cult celebrity following including the likes of Kate Moss and Sienna Miller. A regular favourite on the pages of Vogue and Elle, Neom’s award winning organic bath, body and super yummy candle range are the epitome of utter indulgence without a trace of synthetic scents or harsh chemicals. This year Neom is running a campaign to ‘Reduce Your Chemical Count’ with products that pamper your body and soul without compromise. We were lucky enough to interview Nicole in this weeks blog and the Neom team have kindly donated one of their brand new ‘Happiness’ candles to one of our lucky readers! Yipee! ‘Happiness’ is hot off the press from its February launch and full of the delicious scents of spring gardens and pretty white flowers, perfect for blowing away the winter cobwebs.

What made you create Neom?

I was working as a journalist in glossy magazines, and my sister was working for Friends of the Earth. She has always been quite a staunch greenie but loves luxury, so when it came to her birthday I was stumped. What ticked boxes with eco-organic credentials at the health food store just didn’t really cut it in terms of prettiness and real, effective pampering.  It got me thinking about everyday green solutions that could actually better than synthetic alternatives.  Organic needed to smell beautiful and feel like an indulgence. After all, that’s why we buy beauty goods.

What is the most challenging thing you faced when creating Neom?

It’s funny how many people look at you like you’re mad when you say you want to start a global beauty brand. In the early days it was hard convincing anyone – from suppliers to friends – to take us seriously, I suppose that was quite annoying!

Where do you look for inspiration?

I always try to take the stance of the customer. What mood are they in? What are they missing? I’m quite demanding myself, so that helps!  I’m inspired always by my Dad, a successful businessman always on hand with great advice and a real can-do attitude. Also, the brand speaks to a great mix of women, from sportswomen like Victoria Pendleton saying she uses our Tranquillity bath oil after training every day (if that doesn’t prove how effective NEOM can be for unwinding, what does?) to The Duchess of Cambridge personally proclaiming she burns the NEOM candles at supper parties. With society ladies and super-cool girls raving about us, I’m driven by making organics something that not only they, but discerning women everywhere, lust after.

How do you relax?

My windows for relaxation are pretty small as I have two little ones under 4! But my quick fixes are…lighting a Sumptuous candle once they have gone to bed. The Rose and precious Neroli oils make for a really pampering, soothing treatment as they fill the room. That and sneaking off to bed early with anything by author Jonathan Tropper – quite dark but hilarious, his writing really makes me laugh. I’m also really getting into swimming at the moment, it helps me to switch off and have some me-time (in between bouts of lane-rage)!

Do you have a favourite product in the Neom range?

I love our Body Scrub; it’s great for making your skin feel super-smooth, especially after months covered up in winter layers and suffocating opaque tights! It has a sugar and an amazing organic safflower and jojoba base to nourish the skin, and carries our gorgeous Real Luxury scent (jasmine, lavender and Brazilian rosewood). It’s won three beauty awards in the past 4 months which I’m really proud of, and the beauty bloggers out there are saying it has literally changed their lives!

Where is your favourite place in the world?

Port Andratx, Majorca.

What advice will you give to your children?

Do something well, be nice to people, don’t take life too seriously, take it seriously enough, don’ t live in a small town forever, have good manners, have fun….oh that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

What is the interior style of your home?

Practical-meets-urban- chic-in- progress

What makes Neom unique?

The sophistication of the scents I think really distinguishes us from (or at least lets us stand easily alongside) synthetic perfumiers out there. We spend months sourcing and testing fragrance, down the last percentage of essential oil content, and also extracting our scent in a really innovative way. Our new scent Happiness came about with a pioneering technique of extracting part of a peppermint stalk (which smells nothing like peppermint) but actually smells just like cut grass and has in fact the same DNA. We’ve added it to Mimosa, White Neroli and Lemon and it’s amazing – it smells like a dewy spring garden, just beautiful. We’re pushing the boundaries in many ways like this to create newness within the organic sphere.

What is the most important skill required to do your job?

There’s no real skill in my job, or (my business partner) Oliver’s; we know little bits about lots of things and have to be good at spinning a lot of plates. We try keeping everyone enthusiastic and perhaps, most importantly, getting the best out of our staff, who obviously are far better in their own individual fields than we are.  I’m always seeking out newness – I want to find the best new thing. Oliver and Paul (our Product Development Manager) are very technical and I am the one that says ‘great idea… but women just won’t like it’ or vice versa, it’s a good balance. We are constantly abreast of all the latest oils and extracts, but we think of new ways to blend them, new ways to make products accessible to a younger market.

If you want to try and win Neom’s latest divine candle then tell us in the comments box below which item in your home makes you truly happy…

Our spare room has welcomed drunken brothers on many occasions and has happily housed our holiday clothes for weeks until I could face to pack them all away, but alas, their days are numbered. And having only just painted it we are now having to think about turning one of my favourite rooms in the house into a nursery. I’m sure that like me you have an ongoing wish list for your home, the ‘if we win the lottery’ big plan, and trust me, a nursery was way down the pecking order, somewhere below new railings for the front steps, a Wolf cooker and Haywoods crystal trimmed curtains for the landing!

We haven't even had the chance to hang our framed wedding invitation but I think it will look lovely in the nursery along with a few other gifts that we have already received!

But until then, whilst we are still paying off our honeymoon we must decorate on a shoe string, it’s going to be a challenge but I think with a little imagination and rolling my sleeves up I can create a room that I can be proud of. So here’s some quick pictures of my spare room and a few cheap and cheerful  ideas that I think can change this adult space into a peaceful haven for a very well behaved, angelic, sleeping baby….

Black and white pictures are not going to look right in the new nursery, I will find a new place for these.

My painted venetian blinds are not going to be dark or cosy enough to help the baby sleep especially through the summer, I think the wooden floor boards will need to be carpeted too for extra warmth.

I adore this Jane Churchill wallpaper this is on my wish list of the budget can stretch to it!

I think these John England linens would be a good choice in here and fairly neutral, they should stand the test of time and they are a great price too.

I love this family tree wall sticker for putting snaps of all the family on the wall for the baby to get to know their faces.

Super stylish and simple storage bags to keep things tidy round the house.

I love these paper balls just for when the baby is tiny and you want to make things feel extra cute for them! Warning they may be a real dust collector so I wouldn't keep them up for long.

I love the idea of doing a wall stencil and I think this lace design looks divine!