Long Weekend in Wallops Wood Cottages: This baby-friendly cottage retreat is perfect for families October 10, 2016 Hidden off the back roads in the beautiful Meon Valley, Wallops Wood Cottages offer a perfect rural retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life. Less than a two hour drive from central London these relaxing holiday homes are an ideal destination for families looking for a long weekend or short trip to the [...]
Renting in Havana: How Airbnb started its own Cuban revolution October 10, 2016 On the face of it, Cuba is everything you imagine it to be. Cuba libres drunk on verandas in the tropical heat, Fidel Castro’s tobacco plantations for his Cohiba cigars, taxi-rides in buffed vintage cars, horse rides in the rainforest, palm-fringed beaches and salsa rhythms. But as vibrant and appealing a destination it is, there’s [...]
Focus On Earl’s Court: Around 7,500 new homes and a brand new high street coming to west London by 2033 October 7, 2016 Best known for its (closed) Exhibition Centre, Earl’s Court is not the sort of place you’d expect to attract million-pound investment. But it’s currently undergoing its biggest upheaval in over a century and this west London outpost is set to be a very different place in a couple of decades. The last huge change in [...]
Opinion: the Chancellor’s housing plans need to cater to everyone’s needs, including downsizers October 7, 2016 Earlier this week, the government announced two major housing initiatives; a £3bn Home Building Fund to help smaller developers enter the market, and a £2bn Accelerated Construction Programme, which aims to get houses built quickly on public land. There was no mention of extending Help to Buy mortgage guarantees (due to end soon) or of [...]
CEO of Johns & Co has just launched a custom furnishing business for busy – and overseas – landlords October 7, 2016 In this bustling metropolis of ours, some of us are landlords, some of us are renters and some of us are both. It’s complicated. Now both can benefit from an innovative new scheme that allows tenants to have input in how their flat looks, and lets landlords divorce themselves from the aesthetic side of things [...]
Michelin Guide 2017: The 15 new Bib Gourmand restaurants in London October 7, 2016 The UK’s Michelin Guide 2017 has been unveiled, and there’s new addition to the accolades handed out to restaurants with exceptional cuisine. Bib Gourmands are given to less formal restaurants offering exceptional good food at moderate prices. Restaurants which achieve this special honour are not required to offer the same level of service as those [...]
New homes on sale in London: from riverside homes in Woolwich to an old furniture factory in Hackney October 7, 2016 Royal Arsenal Riverside, Woolwich From £422,500 The first homes with a view of the river are on sale at Berkeley Homes’ new scheme. The 20-storey building also overlook a new four-acre Waterside Park that connects Woolwich Town centre to the river path. In total, there are 266 studio to three bedroom flats on sale at [...]
Lord Sugar is back: Here’s what happened in the first episode of The Apprentice October 7, 2016 It’s that time of year again, when wannabe business people climb over one other to peddle knick knacks, design advertising campaigns and generally make cringe worthy TV, all in an effort to win the heart and cash of Lord Alan of Sugar. Here’s happened in last night’s first episode: Read more: Five things we learned from The [...]
The world’s 50 best bars have been named and nine of them are in London October 7, 2016 It's official: we live in the capital of cocktails – in fact, London has claimed nine of the spots in this year's World's 50 Best Bars ranking. We'll drink to that. The ranking, which was compiled by an "academy" of 476 experts from 57 countries, put New York's The Dead Rabbit at the top – but included three [...]
The Greasy Strangler review: a gross-out B-movie that will turn even the strongest stomach October 7, 2016 The Greasy Strangler is gross, but also kind of compelling, like picking a giant scab and rummaging around in the wound with your fingernail. It’s a carnival of the grotesque, wilfully offensive, trying every trick in the book – and some it came up with itself – to turn your stomach. As the title suggests, [...]