Badrutt’s Palace hotel: a history January 27, 2013 THE INCEPTION of winter tourism to the Alps is attributed to one man – Johannes Badrutt. A hotelier of the late 19th century, Badrutt bet a group of English summer alpine tourists that they would love the winter sunshine of St Moritz as much as the summer meadows. They did. He opened the grande dame [...]
Ben Fogle: everything I’ve done has built up to swimming the Atlantic January 27, 2013 I’M SERIOUSLY afraid of heights and I’m not the best swimmer,” Ben Fogle says as I catch up with him over the phone just after he landed in New York before jetting off to Buenos Aires. But scared isn’t exactly the first word that springs into mind when you think of the 39 year-old father [...]
Hel-Yeah January 13, 2013 YOU can’t see much from the back of a twin-engine Bell 212 helicopter when it’s packed with eleven adventurous skiers. Resembling ski-masked marines on a mission, we sit opposite each other, tightly buckled into our seats as we fly through the Canadian Rockies in spectacular fashion. Heli-skiing is the ultimate off-piste, backcountry skiing experience, in [...]
Forget hotels – live it up in the flat of your dreams January 13, 2013 If you’re on holiday, there are few places in the world better to hang your hat than a luxury hotel. But if you’re a regular business traveller, hotels can be a soul-crushing reminder that you’re a rootless member of the 21st century workforce, eking out your existence in a series of increasingly similar rooms, no [...]
It is more like house sitting for a friend than staying in a hotel January 13, 2013 I STAYED in one of Lauren Berger’s affiliate properties, a traditional two-story townhouse located at the foot of Primrose Hill. I met the owner on the evening of my check-in day, who handed over the keys and gave a tour of the two-story property – and it really is quite a tour, compared to the [...]
Small but perfectly formed: we put the iPad Mini through its paces November 7, 2012 Apple’s great skill lies in creating products you didn’t know you needed. Nobody thought they wanted a little metal box with all their music on it, but when it arrived, the world went all doe-eyed and declared its undying love. Tablets had been around for years and made no impact on the public consciousness. “Fingerprints,” [...]
Treks Appeal July 14, 2008 The early summer is the only time of year to visit Marrakesh, reckons Victoria Bates A shimmering wall of heat welcomes you as you step out of the plane onto the tarmac at Marrakesh Menara Airport. And although it’s a dry heat, rather than the smothering humidity of the tropics, the first thing that strikes [...]
King of the swingers July 7, 2008 A visit to a nature reserve that rescues orangutans feels like a privilege, writes David Jesudason Borneo is a country of immense beauty, where there are rainforests, mountain ranges and also massive biodiversity: more than 360 new species of animals were discovered in the last decade. Sadly, though, this incredible habitat is under threat, with [...]
Airport deal off October 26, 2005 A group controlled by Australia’s Macquarie Bank has walked away from a deal to buy Exeter Airport complaining about the length of the process after the deal was referred to the Competition Commission. The deal collapsed after Macquarie, which formed half of the South West Airports consortium, said that a Commission investigation into the purchase [...]