Relishing wine and luxury in Porto September 12, 2010 BOTH port (the drink) and Portugal tend to be the victims of limited appreciation in this country. The latter is best known for the golf resorts and tourist traps of the Algarve, and for football’s premier golden-booted poseur; the former is the tipple you pass to the left during the cheese course. Well there’s a [...]
TRAVEL NOTES September 12, 2010 See Country Antrim in a classic car Up in the north eastern corner of Ireland, the Country Antrim coast – which takes in the Giant’s Causeway – is a place of rugged, unfettered beauty, and perfect for a bit of romantic exploring in a classic car. Hastings Hotels – a group including a number of [...]
UK HOTEL REVIEW: HAWKE’S POINT, CARBIS BAY September 12, 2010 WHEN it comes to staying by the sea, sophistication can be hard to find, with B&Bs stuck in a time warp and once grand seafront hotels now little more than retirement homes with a good view. Hawke’s Point is a series of new apartments in Cornwall; the exterior might resemble student halls but inside it’s [...]
LIFE BEYOND BEYOND MANHATTAN September 9, 2010 LIVING among the skyscrapers of central Manhattan or the spacious brownstones of Greenwich village is often the British idea of New York living – in the same way that Kensington and Knightsbridge are every American’s idea of London. Yet New Yorkers in the know consider other boroughs, particularly Brooklyn and Queens, as clever and rather [...]
Take your very own bite of the Big Apple September 9, 2010 IN ANY job transfer abroad, top of the list of concerns is finding a place to call home. This is particularly overwhelming if your destination is New York: finding a cosy foothold in this concrete jungle can be a confusing affair. But rather than making a beeline for an estate agent, or realtor, as yanks [...]
FOCUS ON: CAMDEN September 9, 2010 BAYHAM STREET, NW1 Price: £925,000 This four-bed house is located between Camden Town and Mornington Crescent. It has been renovated to provide a home with master suite, an open-plan kitchen and a reception on the first floor. The house has a landscaped garden with a terrace and a balcony. Contact: Chesterton Humberts on 020 7267 [...]
PROPERTY NEWS September 9, 2010 HAMPTONS RELEASES IPAD APPLICATION Hamptons International has this week become the first UK residental estate agent to launch an app for the iPad. The app allows you to view high-resolution photos and floorplans for properties and to pinpoint the location of properties on a full-screen map. You can also use GPS to search for properties [...]
LETTING September 9, 2010 Q.My tenant emailed me to say she had pest controllers in to remove mice from her kitchen. This was the first I knew of a problem. She expects me to pay. Am I liable? A.As a general rule, if the problem was there before she moved in, then you should pay for pest control; if [...]
A spa in the home is the ultimate in luxury city living September 9, 2010 IN the past a health club was where you went to get pampered, a spa was a resort with natural springs and “wellness” was a hippy concept. Now that we’re both more health-conscious and luxe-conscious, however, spa facilities – meaning pools, treatment rooms, gyms, saunas, steam rooms and more – are a part of people’s [...]
PREVIEW: KINGS PLACE FESTIVAL September 9, 2010 AS YOU’D expect from one of the world’s great cultural cities, London is not without its fair share of arts festivals. Not many of them, however, enable you to see world-class performers for a mere £4.50. Just one in fact, and it’s running until Sunday at Kings Place, the multi-arts venue in King’s Cross which [...]