Petra Ecclestone, 36, the daughter of the Formula 1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone and the Croatian model Slavica Radic, is a model and beauty brand founder. Raised in Chelsea, London, she now lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles, with her second husband, the businessman Sam Palmer. She has three children from her first marriage to James Stunt (Lavinia, 12, and twins Andrew and James, 10) and a daughter (Minnie, aged 5) with Palmer.
My dad’s job took us to different places every other weekend when I was growing up. Everywhere my mum went, my sister Tamara and I went too. That’s just the way we were raised; she never left us on our own and we never had nannies. Often we’d be in Brussels or Monaco. The Monaco Grand Prix was always so busy, so fun, so chaotic — and great for people watching. There were so many celebrities, really cool footballers and basketball players — I was a huge Lakers fan and remember being so excited when I saw Kobe Bryant and Shaq. We’d mostly stay at the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, other times on my dad’s boat, and we’d fly there on his plane.
I’ve never been away just with my husband, because trips always revolve around our kids. I’m quite a nervous individual and I can’t imagine being far from them if there’s an accident. My children actually prefer flying commercial to private jet. I don’t know why — I think it’s more of an experience for them. I like the ease of a private jet, but I feel safer flying on a larger plane. Emirates and Singapore Airlines are my favourite airlines: they’re amazing, and the staff are always so helpful.
Airlines I’d avoid? Well, we just flew to Bora Bora in French Polynesia with Air France, and I found that the level of care just wasn’t the same. The air stewards didn’t seem happy with any sort of noise, and that makes it stressful when you’re travelling with four kids. On the way back we flew Air Tahiti: it wasn’t the same level of luxury, but the people were so kind and that meant everything.
Petra and her family in Bora Bora
Bora Bora was beautiful, but the food there was disappointing — lots of it has to be imported because the island is so remote. I don’t eat fish, which didn’t help me. We stayed at the Four Seasons for the first five days and then we went to the private Brando Island for another five days. Both hotels had incredible views: the Four Seasons was surrounded by the ocean and the green mountains beyond, while the Brando felt more rustic, with wild forest all around.
Living in LA means weekend breaks are often to Las Vegas, which my kids love. They’re so excited by everything that’s going on, and they’re entertained the entire time. We also love Los Cabos in Mexico, which is an easy two-hour flight away, and we stay in Las Ventanas al Paraiso. It’s my favourite Rosewood hotel, and they have a lazy river and ice lollies for the kids. But my favourite hotel in the world is the Amangiri in Utah. It’s breathtakingly beautiful — the scenery is otherworldly — and we love taking a day boat to Lake Powell.
Dubai is one of my top places to travel with the children. I feel safer in Dubai than I do in LA or London. In London my dad’s been robbed four times, my sister’s been burgled; it’s not the same place it used to be. LA is an absolute disaster too, safety-wise. I sleep so much better in Dubai.
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When you grow up with such wealth, you just think it’s normal. You go to private schools with all these other wealthy kids and we all lived equally. My mum didn’t grow up with much money, though, and she wanted to show me how privileged I was. She was a huge advocate for learning through travel, so she took us all over the world, from Egypt to Morocco. Egypt was really fun — we visited Luxor, Cairo, the pyramids — until my sister got bad food poisoning from a salad and had to be hospitalised. But one of my most emotional trips was a visit to India when I was 11. We drove around for hours, visiting orphanages and charities. Seeing such poverty was awful and made me realise how lucky I was.
My mum is from the city of Rijeka in Croatia, so we’d also visit the country three times a year, either staying in a rented house with all my extended family or on my dad’s boat. The country has changed a lot since I was a child — nowadays there are luxury hotels, but there weren’t any back then.
Petra goes skiing in Aspen, Colorado
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We’d also regularly return to Gstaad in Switzerland, where we had a chalet. My dad lives in Gstaad now (he owns a hotel there, Hotel Olden), but I visit less nowadays because it’s so far from the US. I have to say, though, skiing in America is better. We go to Aspen, Colorado, and it has wider runs, better snow and a longer season.
My first holiday without my parents was a week in Mykonos with four girlfriends after my GCSEs, and it was a crazy one. The trip was a gift from my dad. We went on his boat, and I just remember going out late at night and sleeping on the top deck, thinking it would be dreamy … until I woke up sunburnt to a crisp.
Petra Ecclestone is the founder of the beauty brand Crickle Daisy crickledaisy.com
In our weekly My Hols interview, famous faces from the worlds of film, sport, politics, and more share their travel stories from childhood to the present day. Read more My Hols interviews here