62 Daily Express Saturday December 5 2009

GREAT VISTAS: Richmond waterfront is not far from the hotel. Inset, Duncan’s party view the match from the room’s balcony

This home

arrivals By CATHERINE BOYLE

RETREAT: The Banyan Tree Ungasan Hotel

TravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravelTravel

DUNCAN CRAIG checks in to the Twickenham Marriott to test out its newly opened stadium-view suites“WAKE up,” my wife hissed, “I think there’s something outside the window.”

“Go back to sleep,” I mumbled into my Egyptian cotton pillow. “It’s probably nothing.” But as I lay there in the half-light of our lavish hotel room, I couldn’t deny that there was indeed a certain something emanating from behind the black-out curtains. It sounded like, well, 82,000 people going barmy.

Like most sports fans, I’ve seen numerous matches live, countless more lazing in bed. Never had I combined the two. Yet here in the Twickenham Marriott, ensconced in the Home Of Rugby’s glinting South Stand, such slothful spectatorship is positively encouraged.

Ever the cynic, I had assumed the “pitch-view” suite would house little more than a porthole-sized opening and probably neighbouring-postcode proximity. The reality as I stepped into the room made my jaw hit the fl oor. Beyond the bed were large, softly-tinted windows framing an uninterrupted view of the entire ground: a vast, elliptical bowl of sea-green seats fl owing down to a pitch as vivid and fl awless as a snooker baize.

Even those fi ercely indifferent to the sport (my wife), would (did) concede that it is a commanding sight. Twickenham is one of the great sporting cathedrals. And any fan of course will be mesmerised, the views of the 100-year-old hallowed turf unleashing memories of titanic clashes and last-gasp tries.

There are six of the newly opened suites on a swipecard-accessed fl oor at the hotel’s apex. Non-match day demand is already high. But rather like sleeping in the same bed as Scarlett Johansson – three weeks later – the thrill will be tempered by anticlimax. Synchronising your stay

with a game is the ideal, and I was lucky enough to check in to “HQ” at the same time as New Zealand.

I’m afraid the suite’s soothing auburn and sand tones and king-size bed were rather lost on me. Giddy with anticipation, I had a disturbed night. Every couple of hours I’d wake and sneak a peek at the partially-lit ground, half-expecting to see the obsessively dedicated Jonny Wilkinson lining up practice kicks.

Hence our oversleeping.As decadently appealing

as it would have been to stay in bed for the game, it was not an option – we had guests arriving. For those wishing to push the boat out, each of the suites has an adjoining room with sofa, boardroom-style table, TV and, the pièce de résistance, an outdoor balcony with seating for eight visitors. With the atmosphere

in the ground building, I dressed and went down to greet my group.

Confi ned by the stand, this ultra-contemporary, 156-room hotel maximizes its limited space. The four communal areas are open-plan and interlinked, occupying two fl oors in the stadium’s curved south-west corner. Natural light cascades into the marble lobby, with its red-leather recliners and shelves of rugby memorabilia; so too the adjoining

newly opened stadium-view suites

Never had I combined the two.

Marriott, ensconced in the Home with a game is the ideal, and I was

CLIFF-TOP LIVINGPerched 230ft above sea level, the sky’s the limit at the new Banyan Tree Ungasan Hotel in Bali. Scheduled to open on January 1, the cliff-top resort boasts breathtaking panoramic views of the Indian Ocean. The tropical retreat has three restaurants serving a mix of seafood and Arabic dishes; private gardens; and the largest infi nity pools on the Indonesian island. Why not try one of the award- winning spa treatments based on Indonesian healing therapies, such as the Serenity massage and Lular Scrub? Tropical Locations (0845 277 3310/www.tropical-locations.com) offers seven nights B&B from £2,129pp (two sharing), including return fl ights from Heathrow.

SAY HELLO TO SANTAFirst Choice and its airline Thomson Airways are offering 100 youngsters the Christmas trip of a lifetime. The holiday company is sending children from Delce Junior School in Kent, together with their parents and teachers, to Lapland on

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Daily Express Saturday December 5 2009 63

of rugby is pitch perfect

arrivals By CATHERINE BOYLE

THE KNOWLEDGE: London Marriott Hotel Twickenham (020 8891 8200/www.londonmarriotttwickenham.co.uk) offers pitch-view suites on non-match days from £299 per night (two sharing), room only. The suites are available, with match day hospitality, for England’s RBS Six Nations games against Wales (February 6) and Ireland (Feb 27). Price on application. Night At The Museum package from £125 (two sharing), including one night’s accommodation, breakfast, tickets to the World Rugby Museum and stadium tour.

of rugby is pitch perfect

Side Step bar, dominated by two 82-inch plasma screens and double-height windows shared with the partially mezzanined 22 South Chophouse above.

The restaurant’s décor, as throughout, is functional yet fun – chromatic unrest verging on a full-scale riot of colour. The seats are a medley of amber, lime and crimson arranged around illuminated pillars of burnt orange. A scrum of eight rugby-themed canvases maul the far wall.

Here, my wife and I had dined the previous evening on hearty, patriotic fare: Cornish beef fi llet with truffl e oil; Lancashire chicken with lemon thyme; and a dry white from Denbies in Surrey.

A few rugby types were present but just as many were non-fans. The hotel’s prime positioning ensures a clientele as diverse as its international, invariably excellent staff. The A316 south-west artery is 100 yards away, Heathrow six miles and central London a short walk and 20-minute rail journey. And some

of south-west London’s fi nest attractions, from Hampton Court Palace to Kew Gardens, are within easy reach.

The atmosphere had been muted then. Now it was abuzz. I led my group through the mêlée to the lift. “Which fl oor?” The question came from former England captain Bill Beaumont. He looked up to see all of us beaming inanely at him. If your rugby autograph book still has a few gaps, this is your hotel.

Back in the suite, the atmosphere was oddly serene. The near-soundproof windows, soft lighting and drawing room-style furnishings ensure a refi ned air. We sipped wine, tinkered with our pristine food (a four-course meal is served on match days) and even attempted a political conversation. Our hearts weren’t in it, though. The maelstrom awaiting just the other side of the balcony door was what we craved.

Stepping out, the noise was overwhelming. Taking our seats just behind the rear-most row of

the stand, we attracted envious glances. A few spectators waved, some just their fi ngers, but it was all typically good-natured.

The purist would blanch at watching sport in such lofty segregation. Let him. When things got too tense we could step inside for a breather. For contentious decisions, we spun round for the Sky Sports replay. Toilet break or another drink? No missed action or gauntlet of tutting for us.

The game was over in a fl ash, England failing to really trouble the All Blacks. Our guests departed, some to nearby Richmond with its boutique shops, bustling riverbank and London’s best park, others to the adjacent World Rugby Museum.

As the thousands streamed out of the rain-soaked ground, braced for clogged roads and backed-up trains, I put my feet up on the balcony with a beer. Carlsberg don’t do hotel rooms, but if they did…well, they’d probably only be the second best hotel rooms in the world.

December 10. Organised in conjunction with the charity Family Holiday Association (www.fhaonline.org.uk), the children have been selected from low-income families. After touching down in Lapland the group can enjoy husky rides and snowmobiles before heading off for a meeting with Santa. The Christmas visit marks the start of the Family Holiday Association’s three-year plan to provide UK breaks to struggling families.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTIONCalling budding fi lm-makers: fancy showing off your work to Academy Award-winning

director Peter Jackson? Tourism New Zealand invites international entrants to pitch their self-penned screenplays in a 60-second video entry. The fi ve fi nalists will travel to New Zealand to shoot their short fi lms before their work is judged by the Lord Of The Rings director himself – who shot much of those epics there. The Your Big Break competition launches on December 9 and the closing date for entries is January 15, 2010. For more information visit www.your-big-break.com

CULTURE CAPITALIstanbul is next year’s European Capital of Culture

and the Turkish city will be laying on a host of treats. Marvel at the Kremlin Palace Treasures exhibition at the Topkapi Museum, cheer at May’s Tall Ships Regatta or delight at the Istanbul Puppet Festival. Get a real feel for the city by staying at The Sumahan On The Water on the banks of the Bosphorus. The luxurious hotel has just 20 rooms all with log fi res and fl oor-to-ceiling windows. Exclusive Escapes (020 8605 3500/www.exclusiveescapes.co.uk) offers three nights B&B from £825pp (two sharing), including return Turkish Airlines fl ights from Heathrow, transfers and a half-day city guide.

SWING LOW, SWEET MARRIOTT: The sumptuous suites boast uninterrupted views of Twickenham’s famous ground. Right, contemporary decor in the lobby

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