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ANGELINA VILLA-CLARKE

Freelance Travel & Lifestyle Journalist

Recent work

GLOBETRENDER VOLT •

VOLT: Cultural Powerhousing

In this edition of VOLT, we explore Cultural Powerhousing, a term that describes how travel and hospitality brands are shifting from showcasing culture to actively hosting, stewarding and amplifying it. Rather than treating art, heritage and creativity as decorative or ancillary, hotels, cruise lines, destinations and even airlines are positioning themselves as cultural platforms - places where culture is activated, exchanged and given space to evolve.

In this edition of VOLT, we explore Cultur...
CN Traveller •

The best restaurants in Surrey

Trying to find the best restaurants in Surrey, approved by experts-in-the-know, look no further than this handy guide by our resident foodies. Lying to the south west of London, Surrey remains a hotspot for urban commuters. It’s a county that gives residents the best of both worlds: here, you are in reach of the city yet able to enjoy its bucolic spaces, such as the Surrey Hills Area of Natural Beauty.When it comes to the county’s culinary scene, it goes without saying that up and down its high...
CN Traveller •

The 15 best wellness retreats in the UK for 2026

One of the most-loved and prestigious country house hotels in the UK, Chewton Glen is gearing up to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2026. In anticipation, it has just unveiled newly designed public spaces by London-based designers Goddard Littlefair, while bedrooms will also soon undergo refurbishment. Despite the refresh, old-school hospitality lies at the heart of a stay here, but so does its forward-thinking wellness concept. Taking place this summer is the Coastal Vitality Escape (5 July 2...
Elite Traveler •

Inside Hampshire’s Most Enchanting River Retreat

The River Test is burbling away, and the water is so clear that you can peer in and see glossy brown trout weaving their way downstream. Occasionally, a few leap out, their mouths gaping comically to catch mayflies. On a summer’s evening, the butter-yellow house, sat on the banks of the river, has its windows and doors flung open. In winter, the beauty is of a different kind. Fog shrouds the land, adding a sense of mystery to the rural setting. Snowdrops, already poking out of the earth, bring t...
London Standard •

Why an Amazon river cruise should be on your bucket list

This is the wild world of the Peruvian Amazon River, and I have a window on it – literally and metaphorically – on a four-day sailing trip with Aqua Expeditions, a responsible travel company known for luxury river cruises in some of the world’s most remote locations. I was to travel along the Amazon and its tributaries, into the tropical rainforest that makes up 60 per cent of Peru’s landscape.I’d joined the small expedition ship, Aqua Nera, in Nauta, a small town in Peru’s Loreto Province. Gett...
Globetrender Magazine •

Lost worlding: Sailing the Peruvian Amazon with Aqua Expeditions

The Peruvian Amazon River is buzzing right now, and no, it’s not just the orchestral soundtrack of the millions of resident insects that’s causing the fracas. Major luxury brands, it seems, are finding an affinity with this untouched waterway that snakes around the Amazonian rainforest, giving jungle-philes a taste of lost worlds.

Just launched, and taking travellers through the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, for instance, is the Pure Amazon riverboat by Abercrombie & Kent (A&K). Starting its...
The London Standard •

Why the Maldives is the best place to test the blue mind theory

I’m drifting on the breeze. I am lightweight; flying through the clouds… This is not a dream but, rather, a floating sound therapy session in my private pool at the The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands. As the meditative ‘pings’ and ‘pongs’ of the crystal bowls do their magic, my mind is sent off into the ether. I am buoyant – mentally and physically – for, in reality, I am on an inflatable bed across the water listening to the singing bowls and it feels sublime. In the Maldives, you are alw...
The Standard •

This hotel deserves to be much more famous than it is

It may not be as famous as The Savoy or as renowned as Claridge’s – but The Beaumont Mayfair, with its elegant Art Deco vibe, still packs a punch as one of London’s most glamorous hotels. Last month, it completed the final piece in its recent multi-million pound renovation with the opening of its new modern British restaurant Rosi.Interiors were originally designed by the late French architect Thierry Despon to embody the spirit of the grand hotels of the 1920s. From the Gatsby Lounge (with its...
Forbes •

Why The Sub-Holidaying Trend Is So Right For Our Times

Over the last few years, the travel industry has been busy—very busy—with a whole plethora of increasingly inventive offerings. Whether it is getting stuck into community tourism or heading on wild, off-grid adventures, travel has been all about ‘doing’. While these are all valid and vital ways to travel; nevertheless, there’s been a slow mounting push back against all the activity. The result is a rise in what I am calling the ‘sub holiday’. What does this mean, you might ask? It’s simple, real...
Forbes •

Why Luxury Travel Is All About Elusive, Magical Moments

This month, eDreams ODIGEO—the world’s leading travel subscription platform and parent company of Opodo in the UK—launched its annual ‘Year in Travel’ report. The report examines search and booking data from travelers in key European markets and the USA and gives insight into what’s ahead for the industry in 2026.A key trend found in the report is ‘transformational and purpose-driven travel’. “Travellers are increasingly prioritising transformational and purpose-driven holidays: designed not jus...
Forbes •

Deep Luxury: The Travel Trend That Will Set The Tone For 2026

In the latest The Future Laboratory Report, Travel & Hospitality Futures: Optimised Odysseys, ‘Gilded Luxury Travel’ is cited as a major trend for 2026. But what does this mean? The shift has been defined as: “Moving beyond material excess: post-luxe travel embraces sensory design, resonant rituals, heritage connections and human-centric service to create experiences that resonate on a deeper emotional level.”The report also reveals: “According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, internationa...
The Standard •

The hotel perfecting slow travel in Italy’s most under-the-radar region

The fortified borgo, circled by crumbling walls, has just 42 inhabitants and a handful of shops, restaurants and one of the smallest theatres in Italy, dating back to the 18th century. A leisurely stroll around its streets, passing by apron-wearing nonnas sat in doorways and slinking cats that watch you from the shadows, takes just 15 minutes. It may be tiny but what Rastrello lacks in size, it makes up for with plenty of charm.Rastrello’s owner, Christiane Wassmann, certainly thought so when sh...
Forbes •

How Urban Hotels Are Redefining Soft Power

In The Future Laboratory’s Travel & Hospitality Futures 2025 Report, one key trend for the year ahead is what is termed, ‘Souljourns’—which references how travelers are prioritising travel that offers “emotionally resonant experiences”. Tying into this is the rise in wellness tourism—one of the fastest growing markets in the travel sector, expected to be valued at £1 trillion by 2027 (sources: Skift, Global Wellness Institute).
Urban hotels are hopping on to both trends with offerings that eleva...
The Standard •

Out like a light? I spent a week at a luxury sleep retreat in Bangkok

It’s twilight when I arrive at RAKxa Integrative Wellness, a curiously-named health retreat found 45 minutes outside of Bangkok. The sky is streaked with painterly strokes of lilac and gold. It may be early evening in Thailand, but I’m wide awake due to the fact that it is six hours ahead of the UK. I’m here to try out a brand-new sleep programme, and I am wondering if flying half way around the world was the best idea to improve my sleep hygiene.It’s slow progress through the city’s heavy traff...
The London Standard •

Out like a light? I spent a week at a luxury sleep retreat in Bangkok

It’s twilight when I arrive at RAKxa Integrative Wellness, a curiously-named health retreat found 45 minutes outside of Bangkok. The sky is streaked with painterly strokes of lilac and gold. It may be early evening in Thailand, but I’m wide awake due to the fact that it is six hours ahead of the UK. I’m here to try out a brand-new sleep programme, and I am wondering if flying half way around the world was the best idea to improve my sleep hygiene.It’s slow progress through the city’s heavy traff...
Forbes •

How Big Hospitality Brands Are Redefining The Chain Hotel

It is tricky for corporate hotel chains to capture just what we love about an independent, boutique hotel. But there are a few big names in the hospitality sector breaking the mould and offering properties with charm, character and sumptuous design—far removed from a one-size-fits-all sign above the door.
Alila Hotels, for example, known for its cutting-edge architecture, sustainable approach (with many hotels holding EarthCheck accreditation) and cultural immersion offering, is actually part of...
Forbes •

Welcome To The New Era Of Non-Hotel

In Expedia’s latest annual travel report, Unpack 26, one emerging trend flagged for the year ahead is what the travel company calls: ‘Salvaged Stays’. “Where architectural relics have been converted into remarkable retreats—offering travellers unforgettable accommodation. Whether it’s sleeping in a 12-century abbey in France, a stylish former schoolhouse in Kyoto or a historic train station in Nashville, these hotels put the ‘rest’ in restoration,” says the report.
Sleeping in historic propertie...
Forbes •

How London Has Become A Hub For Artisan Perfumery

Tucked away in a courtyard off Soho’s Brewer Street, Massimiliano Torti is perhaps an unlikely London shop. The perfume house might have been founded in Umbria some 30 years ago, but the brand has chosen the heart of London for its first bricks and mortar store.
Enter the tiny shop, which opened earlier this year, and it is like lifting the lid on a jewellery box. Its walls are lined with treasures in the form of perfumes, oils and body products that hone in on high concentrations of essential o...
Forbes •

How The Outer Hebrides Has Sparked A Beauty Revolution

On the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, the Calanais Standing Stones sit on a windswept promontory, overlooking the magical Loch Roag. Dating back some 5,000 years, and predating Stonehenge, the stones, standing in a cross formation, are one of the great tourist draws of this island, that sits on the same land mass as the Isle of Harris, part of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
But that’s not its only attraction. On Braighe Beach, close to Stornoway airport, a giant tumble of seaweed has amassed acros...
Elite Traveler •

Imaret: A Holistic Retreat that Reaches Back in Time

Beyond the stone walls, you can hear the faint chatter of people as they walk along; sometimes, a police siren pierces the air – a reminder that 21st-century life is going on outside. With its tailored offering, a stay at Imaret transports you to another time, immersing you in a bygone way of life.
In the city of Kavala, a 90-minute drive from Thessaloniki, Greece, the sprawling mismatch of buildings that makes up Imaret has a complex history – one that feeds into your experience as guest. Insid...
Forbes •

Forget Tuscany, Why You Should Put Umbria On Your Radar Instead

From the pilgrims of the Middle Ages to the aristocratic Grand Tours of the 18th century, tourists the world over have long had a love affair with Tuscany. The passion for its art, culinary offering and historic cities, have not waned, with this sun-kissed region hosting some 134 million tourists in 2023 (amounting to a total of more than 450 million overnight stays). As a result, overtourism has become a real problem, not only for visitors but for residents, with overcrowding and rising pressur...
Forbes •

It’s The Return Of The Jazz Age At The Grand Hotel Birmingham

In the UK, the Victorian era was the heyday of the grand hotel. Coinciding with a new appetite for travel, especially by rail, architectural wonders, in the form of grandiose hotels, sprung up across the country, with most major cities boasting their own elaborate versions.
The Langham, which opened in London in 1865, is regarded as the UK’s (and, in fact, Europe’s) first grand hotel, with the Savoy, opening in 1889, following its lead. Birmingham was no exception and its own grand dame property...
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