Tasmania holiday ideas: Beaches, mountains, wildlife and food August 11, 2025 A poster catches my eye while I’m waiting to catch my connecting flight from Sydney Airport. It shows four hikers – a family, perhaps, or maybe just a close group of friends – standing on the summit of a small mountain draped in moss. Warmed by the orange glow of an early sunrise, the hikers [...]
Artist residences: why wealthy travellers pay to be around good art August 10, 2025 Hotel groups have caught onto the idea that corporate types like hanging around with artists. The rise of ‘artist residences’ across the capital and further afield proves artists have clout that bankers will buy their way closer to, if only for the night. Properties often house artists for free or cheap in return for them [...]
The fabulously old school Bangkok hotel with proper Thai hospitality August 9, 2025 Amari Bangkok hotel review: impressively fresh thinking from this Bangkok hotel entering its fifth decade Walking into the Amari Bangkok, you enter into a spectacular atrium where there is dozens of storey’s worth of space above your head. Here in the lobby, there are five staff to every guest and check-in – this is Thailand, [...]
Amazing Miami, from incredible food to miles of beaches and modern art August 8, 2025 Given that Florida’s most famous resident is a six-foot talking mouse, and its second most recognised face is that of a President who’s never more than three words away from a headline, it should come as little surprise that the Sunshine State enjoys putting on a show. Throw in a recent smattering of Michelin stars [...]
Inside the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’, a short distance from London August 8, 2025 Taylor Swift retreated here after her Wembley shows, and Ellen Degeneres is the latest A-Lister to flee Trump by moving to the Cotswolds, already home to the Beckhams, Kate Moss, Damien Hirst and Jeremy Clarkson. In short, the Cotswolds is popping off, and has been for a number of years, thanks to its easy commute [...]
Wilderness festival review: silliness and beauty combine to offer five-star escapism August 7, 2025 Around a quarter of the people who attended Wilderness festival this year glamped, swerving the surely horrifying idea of pitching their own tent, and they quaffed champagne at banquet feasts and from lakeside hot tubs. There is no getting around it: Wilderness attracts what the festival likes to call a “bouji” crowd (bosses don’t like [...]
Airline hails spike in premium bookings to the UK August 4, 2025 Airline Emirates has recorded a surge in bookings from affluent visitors to the UK, which it claimed is “driving forward economic growth” in the country.
Libby in Paris: How to drink wine like the French August 2, 2025 There’s something so effortlessly chic about Parisians. The French way of life is tightly woven with centuries of excellent wine-making, and they seem to drink it beautifully. I popped over for Bastille Day to see if I could learn to sip with similar sophistication. It began as soon as I arrived. I had booked a [...]
Inside incredible new Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Los Angeles that sets a new standard July 31, 2025 It was only a matter of time before Virgin Atlantic opened its very own Clubhouse at Los Angeles International Airport. After all, it’s the only airline that can claim its founder, Sir Richard Branson, has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I flew through LAX recently and was one of the Clubhouse’s [...]
Brussels is cool now – we got the Eurostar to check out the new Standard hotel July 25, 2025 The Belgian capital is often referred to as ‘boring Brussels’ owing to its status as the de facto capital of the European Union and many other big political establishments. However, this stereotype and the city’s reputation for politics, doesn’t reflect the creative culture, multiculturalism or vibrancy of the city, which is exemplified with the recent [...]