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The view is marvellous, the breakfast excellent, the rooms luxurious. But what made so many correspondents write to us so effusively about Lavanta Hotel seems to be something more: it is the sense of being the personal guests of an urbane, courteous and witty (and more than a little wealthy) landlord.

Tosun Merey is a businessman who spent most of his life in various countries around the world. He and his German-born wife planned Lavanta first as a private home. They then took it on with the enthusiasm of second youth, and ended up converting a hundred acres of virgin hillside into a comfortable and spacious retreat. They offer their guests excellent cuisine and all the attention to details that turn a good hotel into an extraordinary one. Each room is differently furnished, and stands a notch or two above the usual "5-star" standard. There is a good library, and several common rooms filled with valuable Asian antiques.

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