Taking the easy route February 13, 2011 GRINNING broadly, my daughter proudly displayed her Ski Esprit certificate – a Little Miss Sunshine award. All week she had smiled as a child helper trudged up the slopes and made sure her boots and gloves were fitting snugly before she practised her “pizza” turns down the nursery trails at Meribel, in France’s Three Valleys. [...]
TRAVEL NOTES February 13, 2011 Cut-price luxe chalets Ultra high-end ski operator Scott Dunn is offering savings of up to £4,000 per group for two of its luxury chalets for the week departing 27 March. Spa-tastic Chalet Louise in Zermatt and Chalet Pauline in Val d’Isere both sleep 10. They’re going for £1,395 and £1,595 per person respectively, including flights, [...]
Live at the most famous 18th hole February 10, 2011 THE most famous building in golf is, without question, the Royal & Ancient Clubhouse at St Andrews. But the most recognisable? Arguably it’s the tall, turreted eruption of high Victoriana that overshadows it, the Hamilton Grand. So the story goes, it was originally built by a chap named Thomas Hamilton in 1895, after he was [...]
Chelsea’s superluxe new development February 10, 2011 LIKE bees to a hive, wealth comes to London property. Certain prime areas of the capital are magnets for international superstars in finance and business – Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair. But if you’re truly discerning, do you aim to be Harrods’ neighbour? Perhaps not, according to the people behind Henry Moore Court, a super-luxe development [...]
ROCHESTER February 10, 2011 WHORNES PLACE, CUXTON Price: £850,000 A magical home with a unique blend of old and new qualities. This property is grade II listed and steeped in history. It even has a coat of arms inscribed above the front door. However, it has been renvovated to the highest standards of modern luxury. The walled garden is more [...]
PROPERTY NEWS February 10, 2011 HEATHROW GETS PROPERTY BOOST The regeneration of West London’s “Heathrow Quarter” has been given a further boost by the launch of The Hurley Apartments at St George’s innovative Parkwest development. The anticipated arrival of Crossrail is giving this up-and-coming area an added edge, and investors in The Hurley’s apartments can look forward to a rental [...]
BUYING February 10, 2011 Q.I am thinking of buying a buy-to-let property in central London. What type of property makes the best rental and which tenant market should I be going after? A.We tend to advise our investment clients to opt for a two double bedroom, two bathroom configuration for a rental investment. This set-up will appeal to a [...]
From scruffy hack to dashing banker February 10, 2011 I MUST make a confession. Before researching this piece, I had only visited Selfridges once, and only then to buy Lucky Charms and jelly beans. So going in to meet Ben Leaver, Selfridges’ exceedingly well-dressed men’s formal wear buyer, was frankly rather daunting. What would he make me wear? What are these … looks? Surely [...]
Coens inspire with a gritty Western February 10, 2011 Film TRUE GRIT Cert: 15 In this Coen Brothers-directed re-make of a John Wayne Western, Jeff Bridges is the maverick, whisky-slugging gun-slinger Marshall Rooster Cogburn, a self-professed “foolish old-man who has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop”. The harpy is 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), who, [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND February 10, 2011 FILMS JUST GO WITH IT Rom com with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston. For masochists only. YOGI BEAR New animated version of the Sixties cartoon, with Dan Ackroyd on “pick-a-nick basket” duties. SON OF BABYLON Iraqi drama about a boy and his grandmother in the chaos of modern Iraq. DVD EAT PRAY LOVE Julia Roberts [...]