This trip to Languedoc turned me into a wine snob October 17, 2024 I’m not a wine guy. The oenophile subjects alcohol to a level of scrutiny that, to me, feels antithetical to the loosening joys of boozing. I enjoy wine. I prefer wine that tastes nice. But to theorise about it, to intellectualise it, to hold it to the light and inspect its colour, to soliliquise about [...]
Les Gets: A smaller alternative to crowded giant ski resorts October 15, 2024 From a musician in a balloon to a connection with the rocks beneath her skis, Sophie Ibbotson finds bliss in the Alpine resort of Les Gets. The music-maker stood in the forest preparing his hot air balloon for a flight. It was the perfect night for storytelling, inky dark and with a thick crunch of [...]
Skyscanner: Profit jumps to almost £100m at travel search engine October 14, 2024 Profit at travel search engine Skyscanner has rocketed to almost £100m thanks to the final Covid-19 restrictions coming to an end. The Edinburgh-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax profit of £95.2m for 2023, up from the £31.5m it achieved in 2022. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its revenue rose from £283.8m to £349.4m [...]
Why Panama is an undiscovered wonder for nature lovers October 9, 2024 I spot a cayman a couple of metres away on the umber riverbank. It is as still as a park bench, its jaws wide open. I’m not describing a Porsche Cayman with its bonnet up awaiting a recovery truck, I’m talking about a crocodile with a hungry look in its eyes. It surveys me with [...]
McLaren W1: A ‘once in a generation’ hybrid hypercar October 8, 2024 When the opening gambit is ‘a successor to the McLaren F1 and P1’ – two of the greatest supercars in history – you know what follows will be something special. Or it certainly needs to be. The McLaren W1 does not disappoint. Welcome to the inner sanctum of a futuristic, semi-subterranean factory in Woking: home [...]
Inside the SHA Wellness retreat, the world’s most high-tech spa resort October 8, 2024 With private heli-pads, NASA-backed technologies and high-powered guests, does SHA Wellness retreat's brain spa deliver what it promises?
These amazing apartments are designed to look like your supercar October 7, 2024 Do you love your car? Enough to sleep in it? Or, more accurately, do you love your car enough to sleep in a residence built from the ground up to reflect its shape, its personality, its philosophy? A growing number of (extremely rich) people do, with such branded residences popping up from Dubai to Spain [...]
Why Georgia’s capital Tbilisi is the most fascinating city in Europe October 7, 2024 Towering over the Georgian capital of Tbilisi is Mtatsminda Park, a Soviet-era fairground and gardens set atop a craggy hill. Accessed by a funicular railway, you will find a host of terrifying, creaky old amusement rides, including the 65-metre-high Giant Wheel, which seems to bow outwards over the edge of a sheer cliff. Dotted around [...]
The best way to do the Alps, with champagne on tap, amazing food and perfect ski runs October 6, 2024 Combining service worthy of The White Lotus with facilities straight out of Succession, Chalet Inoko in Val d’Isere high in the Alps is among the most spectacularly opulent ski destinations in the world, says Adam Bloodworth “Just say yes,” Armond, the long-suffering hotel manager in the inaugural season of The White Lotus, demands of his [...]
Booking.com: Wages and bonuses surge as UK sales jump October 4, 2024 Wages and bonuses surged at the UK arm of Booking.com as its turnover jumped by £50m during its latest financial year. The division’s wage bill jumped from £20.7m to £32.2m in 2023 because of a surge in salaries and bonuses handed out to top staff. The increase comes as its headcount grew to almost 300 [...]