Giraffes and water pistols may be tempting extras – but an Irish castle comes top of chef Monica Galetti’s Amazing Hotels

Amazing Hotels: Life beyond the Lobby BBC iPlayer

Ed Grenby - 16 February 2021

From breakfast hugs to rodent suppers, Monica Galetti has seen – and tasted – it all on her travels. Right now, the restaurateur and MasterChef judge is locked down like the rest of us, but with a fourth series of Amazing Hotels filmed just before those flight corridors closed, she knows all the best places to stay. And if, like many, you’ve rolled forward last year’s holiday budget into this one, this might be your chance to follow in her sandy footsteps. Here are her favourites…

MY FAVOURITE HOTEL — EVER!

The most amazing place I’ve ever stayed at, the one I loved more than any other – and the only one from the show that I’ve been back to when actually spending my own money! – is Ashford Castle in County Mayo, just north of Galway. It’s got all these great experiences and amenities, but so have posh hotels all over the world. What makes Ashford special is the warmth of the welcome. On my first morning there, I came down for breakfast, and the two ladies in the dining room were trying to feed me everything, like a mum does. By the second morning they were hugging me! ashfordcastle.com

BEST ON A BUDGET

I like to find little guesthouses on Airbnb. My favourite is at Port Isaac in Cornwall, near Nathan Outlaw’s restaurant. My friend owns it, and it’s a nice, quiet little place. So there’s no way I’m going to ruin that by telling you the name: I want it all to myself!

SWIMMING IN LUXURY

I love any pool I can push Giles [Coren, her cohost] into! But the ones at Jade Mountain are jaw-dropping. It’s a super-luxury hotel-withina-hotel, at the top of a hill in St Lucia, and it’s in the first episode of the new series (on iPlayer). All the rooms have their own infinity pools, and are open to the sky on one side: they’re missing that fourth wall, but because of the Caribbean climate, they don’t need it. Privacy isn’t a problem, either, because you’re so high up. But birds are an issue! They fly in and steal sugar from the tea tray, so you get these water pistols to shoo them away with. I was a bit timid about it, but Giles was out for the kill! jademountain.com

EXCELLENT ROOM SERVICE

After I’d checked in to the Royal Mansour in Marrakesh, Morocco, I left my shoes and clothes lying around and rushed out – but when I came back to the room, everything had been laundered and polished and hung up by the room’s “butler” without even being asked. The rooms have these back entrances, so you never even see the staff: each time you go out, you just hear these mouselike scurryings behind you. And they actually comb the carpet! royalmansour.com

LOOKING FOR ROMANCE?

It’s not actually that romantic when they spread rose petals on the bed and leave champagne when you’re there with a film crew. In fact , one time shortly after I got married [in 2004], I was staying in Dubai, and I was on my own because I was working, and they insisted on giving me a whole wedding cake. The place I most missed my husband and family was when I stayed at Giraffe Manor, which is a crazy hotel in Kenya where giraffes wander around sticking their necks in through the top-floor windows for snacks. I was like, “I love you to pieces, Giles, but you’re not who I want to be here with.” thesafaricollection.com

FINDING THE BEST FOOD...

My ideal place to eat is anywhere I can try something local that I’ve not had before. It’s really boring when you go somewhere exotic and they want to give you the same old “fine cuisine” you could have anywhere, like filet mignon with a mustard sauce or something. The best meal I had while filming the show was when I left our fabulous hotel in Morocco and followed my nose down the winding alleys of the medina until I found a little place where the mum was the cook and the dad was the waiter, and I got seven or eight delicious dishes I never knew the name of. Sadly, I couldn’t tell you what it was called, or even find it again myself, if I tried.

...AND THE WORST!

I coped OK with eating guinea pig, while staying at the stunning Mashpi Lodge, up in the cloud forest of Ecuador – but that’s because mine was all cut up and served nicely. Giles got his presented whole, and it looked like a rat frozen in the act of being about to bite you. I wasn’t quite so keen on that. Closer to home, I had a pretty bad experience in Madeira, where my husband fell ill after I made him eat shellfish. He blamed me, I blamed his weak stomach, but probably it was the seafood itself. Then again, I’ve been served some pretty raw stuff on MasterChef, too… mashpilodge.com