MAISON DE L'AMOUR
Review from Brain Berkman Business Day June 2017
For cosy romance, Nina Monda and Derek Poole’s Maison de L’amour is a perfect bolt hole. They are wonderfully generous hosts and if the candles, lace brocade and festooned four-poster brass bed don’t tickle your fancy, then the white ostrich feather left on the double bed, with a note quoting Milan Kundera: "Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that’s very beautiful", might. We stayed in the intimate Gardener’s Cottage, which has its own entrance and en suite separated from the room with pub-style swing doors shaped like angel’s wings. If you subscribe to the less-is-more school, this spot isn’t for you but, if you’re after a place where you’d like nothing more than to curl up in each other’s arms, read a great book and listen to the birds, this is recommended. A delicious cooked breakfast is included in your stay. Ask Nina to make her yogurt and mascarpone breakfast sundae. Although we didn’t have dinner there (by prior arrangement only), if breakfast is anything to go by, it will be sensational. Nina is well known in PR circles and as an upscale event coordinator and the décor at Maison de L’amour reflects this. She has created a warmly welcoming space from antique and junk-shop finds — an old Victorian bath keeps a stash of firewood and it is likely there are more candelabra than on a Liberace stage.The Honeymoon Suite in the main house has the largest bed, a two-person bath and toilet and basins that are open to the room. There is another interior room available. Highlights include the décor, the large garden table shielded from the heat by a roof and white cotton curtains and garden that, come sunset, is transformed with candle-lit nooks and crannies aflame. But it is Nina, Derek, their team and the food that stand out. The Poole's recently bought a 100-year-old barn adjacent to the Darling Sweet that they have plans to convert into a bar and restaurant. - Brian Berkman - Business Day Online
WWW.MAISONDELAMOUR.NET
