About Contact
view all

The Aficionados is a neat, tightly edited collection of our personal favourite, creatively inspired hotels, houses, villas & crafted products that possess a strong style narrative and have a natural warmth about them; they make us smile, they are The Aficionados.

We are an online resource for those of you who seek beyond just the plain ordinary. At our heart, we are about individuality, style, culture and passion. We like to dabble in the lanes of the crafted, love clever use of textiles, intelligent design and admire a respect for local culture that is borne of a deep, meaningful connection rather than a marketing plug.

Bespoke luxury is as equally pleasing as weathered chic, as is easy simplicity dressed in heritage. We believe that being different is not an engineered process, more a natural way of doing things, a thought path that leads to the creation of hotels that go beyond just a stay; they are cast just for their location and are the creations of those who dared to dream beyond the hotel cookie box. 

More akin to your favourite emporium full of your favourites and the odd discovery

Founded in 2009 THE AFICIONADOS GROUP LIMITED (prev. White Line Hotels) is the vision of founder Iain Ainsworth (that’s me looking super cool in blue above) in London with a group of trusty fellow aficionados and Co-Creator Markus Burgermeister over in Munich. We jointly foster strong people relationships, believe in true integrity and appreciate the creative process.   

We get excited by cultural engagements, are foodies at heart, love to discover the local tipple, and occasionally like to dip our toes into total unfussy luxury. We are equally happy sitting quayside eating fresh grilled fish with lemon and olive oil from the village.  

This is what true hospitality and style are all about – concepts that are wonderfully dependent on where you are right now, it could even be inspired by a view or an old piece of furniture or family history. More akin to your favourite emporium full of your favourites and the odd discovery, we limit what and which aficionados come in – and once we find the place we love, that’s it for us; this will be our place when in town, on the beach or the ideal place for getting lost in the wilderness – this is our genre of the aficionados and hotels we love - we are Here, There & Not Everywhere™. 

See you around,  

Iain & Crew