The Sunday Times May 29, 2022 15
From left: on
tour in India
in 1961; in
Kenya’s
Aberdare
National Park
in 1983.
Below from
left: Hotel
Imperial,
Vienna; Inter-
Continental
Amstel, in the
Netherlandssecond state visit to the country, in 1972,
she combined a reception at Versailles
with a stop to see her uncle, King Edward
VIII, and his wife, Wallis Simpson, at their
residence in the Bois de Boulogne.
Afterwards the royal couple headed to
Provence, where they stayed in the pretty
village of Les Baux. Their accommodation
here was L’Oustau de Baumanière, a
discreet Michelin-starred restaurant with
rooms that has a long history in French
gastronomy.
Details Room-only doubles from £185
(baumaniere.com). Fly to Marseilles or
Montpellier10 HUKA LODGE TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND
The Queen has stayed at the spectacularly
located Huka Lodge on North Island
several times, first in the 1980s. Whatbegan life as a tented fishing camp on the
Waikato River now has 22 luxurious
suites; the royal party took over the whole
place. The Queen was supposedly fond
of the trout fishing, and the serenity
must have come as a relief after a sticky
encounter with an egg-throwing protester
at an Auckland racecourse during her
1986 tour. These days there’s nothing tent-
like about the lavish interiors, and the
room rate includes Michelin-starred
dinners, preceded by fireside cocktails.
Details Full-board doubles from
£1,428, including airport transfers
(hukalodge.com). Fly to Auckland11 THE AHWAHNEE YOSEMITE, USA
In 1983 the Queen embarked on an
adventurous trip along America’s west
coast, from San Diego to Seattle.
En route she popped into the world’s first
national park, Yosemite, in California,
staying in the grand Ahwahnee. The hotel
was built in 1927 in a hotchpotch of styles
— art deco, Native American, Middle
Eastern, Arts and Crafts — in a bid to
attract the elite. Big windows drink in
views of Yosemite Falls and Glacier Point.
The Queen slept in its Tresidder Suite,
although the entire 123-room hotel was
reserved for her private use.
Details Room-only doubles from £414
(nationalparkreservations.com). Fly to
San Francisco16 RAFFLES HOTEL SINGAPORE
The birthplace of the Singapore sling has
also had the Queen to stay. As a rule,
Singapore doesn’t have much time for
vintage buildings, but the Raffles is an
exception, an opulent 19th-century oasis
set in tropical gardens in the heart of an
otherwise concrete business district.
Named after the founder of modern
Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, the
all-suite hotel has hosted stars such as
Charlie Chaplin and Noël Coward over
the years. The Queen was here on a state
visit in 2006, and had time to go to the
races at the Singapore Turf Club.
Details Suite-only from £561
(rafflessingapore.com). Fly to Singapore17 THE HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS
SCOTLAND
Many of Her Majesty’s state visits were
based on the Royal Yacht Britannia, until
it was decommissioned in 1997, and her
chartering of the luxurious Hebridean
Princess for family celebrations in 2006
and 2010 implies a lingering affection
for travel by boat. This intimate cruise
ship — just 30 cabins — styles itself as a
country-house hotel on the sea, complete
with an inglenook fireplace. Most of its
itineraries (including hers) focus on the
Scottish islands, where its small size
allows greater access.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from
£4,760pp (hebridean.co.uk). Fly
to Glasgow for air and road
connections to Oban18 KAMPALA SERENA
KAMPALA, UGANDA
Commonwealth heads of
government meetings have
been a regular feature of the
Queen’s travels. The 2007
summit was in Kampala, the
quietly elegant capital of Uganda,
where she was accompanied by the Duke
and Duchess of Cornwall, who elected to
do most of the round-the-country visits on
her behalf. The royal party stayed at the
Kampala Serena, a 152-room resort hotel
decorated with hand-carved wood panels,
a ten-minute walk from parliament.
Breakfast is served on the terrace, beyond
which a big swimming pool hides amid
lush gardens.
Details Room-only doubles from £177
(serenahotels.com). Fly to Kampala19 GRAND HOTEL UNION
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA
Despite the name, this must rank as one
of the Queen’s more modest stays, in one
of Europe’s more diminutive capital cities
(population 280,000). She was briefly
here in 2008, although she did have time
to visit a stud farm of Lipizzan horses.
When it was built in 1905 the Grand Union
included a concert hall and a bowling
alley, and its art nouveau café was a
hotspot for intellectuals. But these days
it is a gently elegant four-star, although
it has a swimming pool up on the top
floor, unusually extravagant for Ljubljana.
Details B&B doubles from £115
(uhcollection.si). Fly to Ljubljana20 HOTEL ADLON KEMPINSKI
BERLIN, GERMANY
The Adlon, right beside the Brandenburg
Gate, has long been the grande dame of
Berlin hotels, and the Queen stayed in its
Royal Suite on her most recent state visit,
in 2015. The original building had its
golden era in the 1920s and 1930s, hosting
a who’s who of politicians and celebrities,
but then it decayed during the Communist
era, and was eventually demolished. After
reunification it was rebuilt in the style of a
true classic, all marble and cut glass, and it
is conveniently close to the Reichstag.
Details Room-only doubles from £340
(kempinski.com). Fly to Berlin12 THE ADOLPHUS DALLAS, USA
Having previously seen the west coast,
the Queen returned to America in 1991,
travelling on Concorde to visit the east
coast, Florida and parts of Texas. That
included staying in Stetson country, in
Dallas, where the towering Adolphus rules
the roost. The hotel was built by Adolphus
Busch, brewer of Budweiser, and it
brought landmark glamour to cowpoke
country. Its public spaces are sumptuous
and oak-lined, while its restaurant — the
French Room — tips its hat to Versailles.
Details Room-only doubles from £222
(adolphus.com). Fly to Dallas13 LABADI BEACH ACCRA, GHANA
Sometimes there are few hotel options for
a royal visit, so it’s a question of making
the best of what’s available. Such was
the case in Ghana, in 1999.
Having been welcomed with a
libation of gin on the airport
tarmac, to bring good luck,
the Queen stayed in Labadi
Beach Hotel, in Accra’s
coastal suburbs. This timber-
framed hotel with courtyard
gardens has no particular
grandeur, but it does have a spa
and a pool and the location is a
relief after the heat of the city
streets. In 2022 its beach is a place for
partying, when sound systems make
the sand bounce.
Details B&B doubles from £222
(labadibeachhotel.xyz). Fly to Accra14 THE HALF MOON
MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA
There’s plenty of privacy for the Half
Moon’s guests, including the Queen, who
stayed here in 2002, thanks to its 237
rooms and villas scattered along a two-
mile crescent beach. The main building
is evocative of 1950s plantation houses
and the property has nine restaurants,
although high-rolling guests barely need
to dine out since every villa has its own
butler and chef. Other celebrity visitors
have included Paul Newman and John F
Kennedy with his wife Jackie. And
although the resort has no fewer than
11 tennis courts, we’re guessing Her
Majesty was more interested in its
dedicated equestrian centre.
Details Room-only doubles from £428
(halfmoon.com). Fly to Montego Bay15 FAIRMONT JASPER PARK LODGE
ALBERTA, CANADA
Thanks to its Commonwealth status and
its spot next door to the US, Canada has
welcomed the Queen more than 20 times,
often to stay in the big-city Fairmont
Empress in Victoria or the Fairmont Royal
York in Toronto. But for tranquillity she
liked the Park Lodge in Jasper National
Park. Its 440 rooms are spread along the
shores of Lac Beauvert, where there’s
peace and quiet for days; in 2005 she and
Prince Philip took over its secluded six-
bedroom wood-framed Outlook Cabin
(aka Royal Retreat), which has majestic
patio views of the Canadian Rockies.
Details Room-only doubles from
£267 (jasper-park-lodge.com). Fly
to EdmontonClockwise from left: Rajmahal
Palace, Jaipur, India; the view
from Antumalal, Chile; Hotel
Excelsior, Dubrovnik, Croatia;
the Queen in London last weekThe Queen
travelled to
America in 1991
on Concorde
EN
WPA POOL, DEREK BERWIN, TIM GRAHAM/GETTY IMAGES; MATTHEW SHAW