room seven

It has been an annual tradition since 2007 to stay overnight at Villa Augustus. How strange it may seem, it really feels like a 'mini break' after all those years, although I'm A in my hometown and B 'at work'.

This time we stayed in room 7 on the second floor of the water tower, with view on the vegetable garden and my favorite French terrace, entirely in autumn atmosphere with the luminous yellow mulberry trees.

No matter how many times I've been there already, I still think Villa Augustus is the coolest hotel in the Netherlands.

To make the 'tourist-in-my-own-town' feeling complete, we made a city walk through the historical city centre, visited the Dordrechts Museum and had coffee and chocolate cake at Het Magazijn. And on the way back to the water tower, I found my new party shoes at Rockin' Items just before closing time, to wear them straightaway during dinner at Augustus.

roadtrip portugal - casa mãe

Casa Mãe - Lagos

The second stop of our roadtrip was in Lagos. We stayed 3 days at hotel Casa Mãe, a very special place by the city walls of Lagos.

Last year we found the Casa Mãe magazine in a bookshop in Lisbon. At that time they were still building the hotel. In this magazine there are interviews with all the designers, craftsman, chefs, gardeners. We already knew we would like to visit Casa Mãe one day...

Casa Mãe is much more than a hotel. It opened in October 2016. Casa Mãe is about colloborations with Portuguese designers. Overlooking the old historic city and the sea, Casa Mae comprises three very different houses combining old and new, traditions and modern design.

They have managed to preserve the traditional skills and techniques, experimenting with new ideas and designs. For example the handwoven rugs by GUR you can find everywhere in the building. The hotel also has it's own organic vegetable garden and out of town farm.

Perfect base to explore the well-kept secrets of the wild part of the Western Algarve.

interior shoot at chambers d'amis

Last week I went for a mini-trip to my friend Ank in Marrakech and stayed in her amazing green and relaxed oasis in the middle of the Medina.

A short work-holiday, just between the CC & GG workshops, to shoot the interior of the hotel for the new website of Chambres d'Amis, which will be updated soon.

Besides shooting, styling and a 'flowerday' for a few days, I enjoyed immensely to be together with my dear friend & partner in crime Ank in Marrakech. Love this place!

Here's a small preview. Once the website is updated, I will let you know ...