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 [...]
Who you gonna call? These guys January 10, 2013 FILM GANGSTER SQUAD Cert 15 **** What KIND of a name is Gangster Squad? It sounds like something a bunch of unimaginative children might have come up with. But Gangster Squad is the perfect name for this movie. Perfect. The eponymous squad are essentially a group of superheroes with badges, assembled to defeat an evil [...]
Les Misérables is one for afficionados of the musical only January 10, 2013 FILM LES MISÉRABLES Cert 12A ***** (fans of the stage musical) * (everybody else) I TELL you what, there ain’t half a lot of singing in Les Misérables. If you’re not au fait with musicals, it doesn’t go: acting, acting, acting, song, acting, acting, acting, song. It goes: song, song, song, song, song, song, song. [...]
London Collections: Men shows the capital has what it takes January 9, 2013 DAY TWO THERE HAS always been a tension between “fashion”, as opposed to “style”, where menswear is concerned. For many men, the collections shown on the runway represent something confined to a very small circle of “fashion folk”. It’s not hard to understand where that perception comes from: how many men outside the fashion world [...]
The XFR is a truly astonishing beast January 8, 2013 WHEN Jaguar Cars came up with the inspired tagline “Grace, space and pace” in the 1960s, they set up their stall as a brand that considered overt displays of power somewhat vulgar. Even this XFR model, despite its capacity to boost you up to speeds that will make your hair stand on end, looks more [...]
Get set for Europe’s finest boatshow January 7, 2013 The Tullett Prebon London Boat Show returns to ExCeL London from 12-20 January 2013 and promises to light up the capital with a stunning showcase of all things marine. The annual Show, this year situated within ExCeL’s South hall, is widely renowned for being the first place to see the newest marine innovations, designs and [...]
London Collections Men: day one January 7, 2013 The inaugural three-day showcase is back and bigger than ever AFTER A stellar debut last summer, London Collections: Men kicked off in style yesterday with David Cameron officially opening the festivities with a reception at Downing Street. This year’s event will showcase over 60 of the capital’s best menswear designers, cementing the capital’s position as [...]
UK house prices enjoy December rise January 7, 2013 UK house prices enjoyed a last-minute boost to 2012 and rose by 1.3 per cent in December, according to Halifax’s house price index out this morning. On an annual basis, house values edged down by 0.3 per cent over the year, the lender said. Overall, there were six monthly rises and six decreases during 2012. [...]
St Tropez: glitz, glamour and a little genuine beauty January 6, 2013 IT HAS become a cliche to mourn the death of the once unspoiled fishing “village” that was St Tropez – the days when Brigitte Bardot walked barefoot along the Quai de L’Epi and you could barter over a freshly caught sea bass at the pier. Or even the days when you could still get a [...]