Interiors: Westfield London’s flagship John Lewis wants to usher the high street into the 21st century with ‘experiential’ shopping March 24, 2018 It’s been 10 years since Westfield shopping centre opened its doors to much fanfare in White City, and this week its £600m expansion opened a full six months early. Westfield London, as the west London outlet is called, is already the largest retail destination in Europe and it has more potential customers than ever as [...]
Feeling brave? Then try bob rafting on the slopes of La Plagne March 23, 2018 If you’re the kind of skier for whom speeding backwards down a black run in an ice storm no longer delivers the requisite adrenalin kick, you need to try bob rafting. Mooted as an amateur’s alternative to bob sledding or the luge — which really should only be attempted by those with a death wish [...]
Focus On Hackney: How the London Overground caused a price surge in E8 March 23, 2018 Though the area around Hackney Central is better known as hipster central, the property prices certainly don’t reflect the salaries of young, freelance creatives. The E8 postcode has seen some of the most dramatic house price rises in the whole of London, a trend that has survived the plateau-ing – and declines – of recent [...]
Focus On Hackney: How the London Overground caused a price surge in E8 March 23, 2018 Though the area around Hackney Central is better known as hipster central, the property prices certainly don’t reflect the salaries of young, freelance creatives. The E8 postcode has seen some of the most dramatic house price rises in the whole of London, a trend that has survived the plateau-ing – and declines – of recent [...]
Can Eco-Tourism Help Cape Town During Its Worst Ever Drought? March 19, 2018 You wouldn’t suspect there was anything odd about the bathrooms at the Cape Grace hotel. Until, that is, you looked inside the tub. There, dangling uselessly from the porcelain, you’ll see a neatly snipped-off inch of chain that once held a bath plug. This plug, along with every other in the hotel, has vanished. Clues [...]
Interiors: Boudoir, millennial or Scandi pink – it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s the hot colour trend of 2018 March 16, 2018 Despite February’s snowdrops and a smattering of spring bulbs, winter wasn’t done with us this week. So let’s look on the bright side with the hot trend for 2018 – luscious, glamorous pink. We saw it emerge a couple of years ago with blush home accessories, but now interior designers have gone to town to [...]
Peter Rabbit review: Highly irritating bunnies ruin a charming rom-com loosely based on Beatrix Potter’s book March 16, 2018 From Paddington to the Big Friendly Giant, British children’s literature is killing it at the box office. It was only a matter of time, then, before someone snapped up the film rights to Beatrix Potter and her merry band of trouserless critters. It’s attracted some big stars, too; Sam Neill as the ultimate nimby Farmer [...]
Cliveden House review: Celebrate your last moments of childlessness with a luxury babymoon to this stately home March 9, 2018 A babymoon may sound like a wheeze designed to milk that most susceptible of consumers, the prospective parent, but dismiss it at your peril: it’s a last chance to indulge your egocentric childless selves, so grab it with both hands. With that in mind, I whisked my better half to Cliveden House and Spa. Where: [...]
The region around Vietnam’s UNESCO heritage city of Hoi An is home to tourist sites worthy of Lara Croft herself March 9, 2018 The narrow stone passageway opened into a small stone altar featuring the carved statue of a goddess. Was this a place of worship, I wondered, or sacrifice? At this stage it was hard to tell, but I was enjoying scaring myself. The shadowy passageway curved around again, this time leading to a set of steps [...]
Macbeth at the National Theatre: Rufus Norris’ stars fail to shine in this cautious production March 9, 2018 Rufus Norris, the artistic director at the National Theatre, isn’t having a great time right now. While his predecessor Nicholas Hytner is having a ball at the helm of the new Bridge Theatre down the riverbank, Norris has suffered a string of flops in the Olivier, from a sand-blasted Salome to the bafflingly coarse Common. [...]