From Russia with love – and money January 24, 2010 THE OLIGARCH’S WIFE By ANNA BLUNDY Preface, £12.99 Anna Blundy, an impossibly glamorous-looking journalist and daughter of the late foreign correspondent Peter Blundy, knows her subject well. A graduate of a Russian at Oxford, she lived in Russia first as a translator, then a blues singer and then as foreign correspondent for a national newspaper. [...]
OUT OF OFFICE January 24, 2010 Van gogh comes to the r.a. Incredibly, this is the first major Van Gogh exhibition in London for over 40 years, and it will shed extra light on the impulses and inspirations of the troubled Dutch painter with the inclusion of 35 of his letters, as well as 65 paintings and 30 drawings. Whether your [...]
A hotel that’s fit for a king January 24, 2010 ON walking into the lobby of Paris’ George V you can tell it’s a grande dame, but it has a twist which makes it immediately memorable. There’s the immaculately designed wrought-iron door frame, 17th century tapestries adorning the walls and acres of marble lining the floors, but it is far from stuffy. Smartly-suited staff smile [...]
We’ll always have Paris January 24, 2010 NOBODY does romance better than the French. Paris might no longer be the centre of world when it comes to business or culture, but in terms of places to spend Valentine’s Day nothing comes close. The French capital has a huge spectrum of hotels for every budget and taste, but the knowledgeable people at the [...]
TRAVEL NOTES FOR VALENTINE’S DAY January 24, 2010 Fall in love in New York You and your partner can enjoy some top quality pampering and fabulous food, along with the best of the Big Apple, at New York’s famous slice of Upper East Side luxury, The Carlyle. In the swankiest city on Earth, it doesn’t get swankier than this Art Deco landmark on [...]
Clive Owen proves that he’s the daddy January 21, 2010 Film THE BOYS ARE BACK Cert: 12A NOTHING to do with Thin Lizzy (sadly), this adaptation of Simon Carr’s memoir stars Clive Owen as Joe, a macho Brit sports journalist living in happy isolation on the Australian coast with his wife and young son, whose cosy idyll is swept away by her sudden death from [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND January 21, 2010 FILM BROTHERS Powerful post-Afghanistan drama with Toby Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhal. A PROPHET Stunning French film about an Arab man who becomes a kingpin in a French prison. BROTHERS Heist movie about security guards who turn robbers, with Matt Dillon and Jean Reno. DVD (500) DAYS OF SUMMER Hit indie rom-com, with Zooey [...]
Spend £3m to live in a former youth hostel January 21, 2010 PROPERTIES at Wellgarth Manor, a luxury residential development in north London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb, start at a cool £3m. Cynicism might be your reaction – it’s a hefty price tag for a development in a former youth hostel who’s closest Tube station is scruffy Golders Green in Zone 3. But not every re-vamped youth hostel [...]
Q&A: BUYING January 21, 2010 Russell Hunt MANAGING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY HUNT Q.Dear Russell, I am after a standard London property but am short on time. Even if I’m not after something high-end, is it still worth me using a buying agent? A.Even if you aren’t after an expensive property, there’s no reason why you can’t use a buying agent – [...]
FOCUS ON: RICHMOND, SURREY January 21, 2010 THE GRAND TERRACE, RICHMOND LOCK, TW1 1PX Price: From £1.35m The last phase of this development is scheduled for release at the end of this month and there will be 12 five-bedroom, period-style properties available to buy. The development is set close to the Thames and next to the Richmond promenade. Each property has four [...]