Motor chic: look the part on an autumn drive in the Alps September 5, 2011 AUTUMN breaks don’t come much more spectacular than driving holidays in the Alps, where the summer season still has a month and a half to go. Hiring a classic set of wheels for a buzz along the snaking Stelvio Pass or the Grossglockner High Alpine road still has the glamour of the great age of [...]
HOW TO GET DRESSED: EUROPE CITY BREAK September 5, 2011 FOUNDERS OF ROUS ILAND MEMBERS’ BOUTIQUE, WWW.ROUSILAND.COM Q. I’m grabbing an early-autumn break in Rome, rather than heading to the beach. It’s still hot there: what do I need to look cool in the city? A.Rome in September can be pretty sweltering but you need to dress city (and sometimes Vatican) appropriate. Set yourself apart from [...]
FASHION NEWS September 5, 2011 WINDOWS ON THE FASHION WORLD The self-proclaimed hub of London Fashion Week, the May Fair Hotel, is going all out for fashion week (16-21 Sep). For one thing, its windows will be transformed into works of fashion art, a la Champs Elysee. Elsewhere there you’ll find fashion week cocktails and even a themed spa treatment. Stratton [...]
Peathead’s paradise on the Hebrides September 5, 2011 FOR the malt whisky enthusiast, the Scottish island of Islay is undoubtedly the place to visit when it comes to exploring some of the finest and most flavoursome whiskies in the world. Once the staple preserve for a generation of rosy-cheeked grandfathers, malt whisky is currently enjoying something of a renaissance with a new group [...]
Chilled red wine? You must be…deadly serious September 5, 2011 HEAD SOMMELIER AND MANAGER OF LUTYENS RESTAURANT IMAGINE for a moment that the English weather hasn’t let you down, that you’re basking in the sunshine of a glorious late summer (or early autumn) day. You want the refreshment of a white wine but you’re more of a red drinker. You could reach for the rosé [...]
Housing boom would create 200k new jobs September 4, 2011 AS the government’s proposed planning rules are debated by environmentalists and concerned “nimbys”, a report out today claims a housing boom could create 201,000 jobs. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that policies which free up the housing market supply to match the level of demand would create a housing explosion. In [...]
Ritblat nears Plantation Place takeover September 4, 2011 DELANCEY Estates, the investment vehicle led by Jamie Ritblat, is poised to take control of Plantation Place, one of the largest buildings in the City of London, in a deal valuing the property at £500m. Delancey, which is backed by George Soros’s Quantum fund, is understood to be in exclusive talks to buy the 550,000 [...]
Ronson targets Millbank flats September 4, 2011 BUSINESS magnate Gerald Ronson is to purchase yet more of the capital’s prime property, it has emerged. Riverwalk House, a series of luxury riverside apartments on Millbank, is set to be bought for around £70m. Ronson Capital Partners are in talks with vendors Derwent London. The deal will see Derwent share a portion of Ronson’s [...]
China’s answer to Vegas is Eastern gambling paradise September 4, 2011 OF all the improbable consequences of China’s headlong rush into beating capitalism at its own game, Macau is the weirdest.In common with nearby Hong Kong, the former Portuguese colony returned to Chinese ownership in 1999, but remains largely self-determining. As a result, gambling is legal. And not just legal: Macau is known as the Vegas [...]
A home of very grand designs September 1, 2011 Buying an old home to do it up is one thing. Doing it in the teeth of a major recession, in a house with no heating, collapsing ceilings, shot plumbing and rampant damp, and living there while you renovate it from scratch, is probably rather beyond the call of duty. It’s arguably rather a miracle [...]