LM: What luxury item could you not live without?
TH: Wine! I really enjoy sharing good wines with friends. I’ve always been a wine fan and I especially like red wine from Saint-Julien in the Médoc region of Bordeaux. I discovered wine through my parents, from holidays in Portugal in my childhood. There was often a bottle of rosé on the table to try.
LM: When did you start collecting wines?
TH: I’ve been building my wine collection for about seven or eight years, since I stopped playing professional tennis, and some bottles have been laid down for the long term.
LM: Which is your favourite type of luxury holiday? Beach Villa retreat? City escape? or skiing on the slopes?
TH: We especially love beach holidays. My wife Lucy and our three daughters really enjoy the sun.
A close second to this would be a ski holiday. For insurance reasons I couldn’t ski while I was a professional player and skiing is something we really enjoy as a family, so we always have an annual skiing holiday with The Hideaways Club. So far, we have stayed in the club’s chalets in Chamonix, Nendaz and Morzine. Chalet Lumiere in Morzine is our favourite and we’ve been there six times.
LM: Wimbledon Championships remains a very special place for any tennis player lucky enough to grace its courts. Can you share with our Luxurious Magazine readers your top three highlights as a tennis player during your playing career at the prestigious Wimbledon Championships?
TH: My first match on Centre Court was very memorable. It was against Yevgeny Kafelnikov and I beat him 7-5 in the fifth set.
In 1997 I was lucky enough to play on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon against the Dutch player Paul Haarhuis, who I beat 14-12 in the fifth set. Tennis fans had been queuing for tickets overnight and it was an amazing atmosphere.
I also have great memories of my match against Roger Federer on Centre Court in 2001 where I won in four sets. This was an achievement I am particularly proud of, knowing what a great player Roger is.
LM: You seem to be really enjoying your retirement from tennis. What’s your secret?
TH: I’m lucky that I enjoy everything I’ve been involved in since I retired from professional tennis. I still play tennis and commentate at Wimbledon, where I am also on the board. I also work with Jaguar and Rolex, giving coaching clinics for example and I have worked with HSBC and Robinson’s for 20 years. I’ve been a member and ambassador of The Hideaways Club since 2009.
Fortunately, I still have time to play golf and spend time with my family.
LM: As an Ambassador for The Hideaways Club, please tell our Luxurious Magazine readers why they should visit a Hideaways Club property?
TH: It’s such a great model. Members are not restricted to one property as you would be if you bought a holiday home. Instead, you have access to a wide variety of homes, whether you are into skiing or city breaks or beach holidays. It ticks all the boxes in terms of investment and choice.
LM: What exciting future plans for The Hideaways Club can you share with our Luxurious Magazine readers?
TH: Well it’s great that the Hideaways Club is continuing to add extremely desirable properties to its portfolio, all worth more than £1.2 million, with the aim of owning a total of 100 homes across the globe in the Classic Collection and 100 in the City Collection, which means, even more choice of destination for the Members. For example, The Club has just acquired Kentroma House in Corfu, which is a fantastic villa overlooking the sea which has been totally redesigned and refurbished, which I’m looking forward to visiting sometime soon.
The Hideaways Club – Where and How?
For more information on The Hideaways Club, please visit www.thehideawaysclub.com
Interview conducted by Jamie Ndah
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